JP4807395B2 - Receptacle connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a receptacle connector to which a plurality of types of plug connectors having different numbers of contacts are detachably connected.

  As a conventional receptacle connector and plug connector, there are a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector described in Patent Document 1 and a connector described in Patent Document 2. The plug connector of the USB connector described in Patent Document 1 includes a synthetic resin plug body formed in a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a metal plug shell formed in a rectangular tube shape and covering the outer peripheral surface of the plug body And. The plug body has a square hole-shaped fitting recess that opens to the front surface, and a plurality of plug contacts (not shown) are arranged in the fitting recess so as to be flexible.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, the receptacle connector R ′ has a receptacle body 200 made of synthetic resin in which a fitting projection 201 that fits into a fitting recess of the plug connector protrudes on the front surface, and an outer peripheral surface of the receptacle body 200. A metal receptacle shell 202 is provided. A plurality (five in the illustrated example) of receptacle contacts 203 that are in contact with the plug contacts of the plug connector are arranged side by side on the side surface (lower surface in FIG. 9) of the fitting protrusion 201.

Thus, if the plug shells are connected so as to be accommodated inside the receptacle shell 201, the fitting protrusion 201 of the receptacle shell 201 is fitted into the fitting recess of the plug connector, and as a result, the plug contact and the receptacle are connected. The contacts 203 are brought into electrical contact along the vertical direction in FIG. 9 so that they are electrically connected.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-40271 JP 2002-75510 A

  By the way, when the number of contacts is defined as five according to the standard or the like as in the conventional example, if six or more contacts are necessary, for example, the shell of the plug connector is expanded in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. It is conceivable to arrange the sixth and subsequent contacts in a space generated by this. At this time, when the receptacle shell is expanded in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction according to the shell shape of the plug connector, when the plug connector having the conventional number of contacts (for example, five) is connected, A large gap is formed between the receptacle shell and the receptacle shell. As a result, when a plug connector with the number of contacts conforming to the standard is connected, the holding force of the receptacle shell of the receptacle connector with respect to the plug shell of the plug connector may be weakened and the operability during connection may be reduced. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle connector in which a plurality of types of plug connectors having different numbers of contacts can be connected and workability at the time of connection is not reduced.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first plug connector in which a plurality of plug contacts are disposed inside a plug shell formed in a rectangular tube shape, and a plug shell of the first plug connector. The same number of first plug contacts as the first plug connectors are disposed at the same position inside the cylindrical plug shell having a larger dimension than the first plug contact, and one or more second plug contacts are disposed at positions different from the first plug contacts. A receptacle connector to which a second plug connector on which a plug contact is arranged is alternatively connected so as to be freely insertable / removable, and a plurality of receptacles that are in contact with each other with a plurality of plug contacts of the first and second plug connectors. A contact, a body having insulating properties, and supporting the plurality of receptacle contacts; A receptacle shell containing a receptacle contact and a body, wherein the receptacle shell has one or more projecting holding portions projecting inward to hold the plug shell of the first plug connector; When the plug shell of the plug connector is engaged with the receptacle shell and the plug contacts of the first plug connector are in contact with the receptacle contacts, respectively, from the back of the receptacle shell along the insertion direction of the plug connector and from the insertion direction. A receptacle contact that is in contact with and in conduction with the plug contact of the second plug connector is supported at a position that does not overlap the protrusion holding portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the plug shell of the first plug connector is held by the protrusion holding portion provided in the receptacle shell, workability when connecting the first plug connector is not lowered.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the body is configured to bendably support the receptacle contact which is in contact with the plug contact of the second plug connector.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the body supports the receptacle contact that is in contact with the plug contact of the second plug connector so as to be freely bent, the plug contact of the second plug connector needs to be configured to be freely bent. Therefore, the height of the receptacle connector can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the receptacle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the body is in contact with the plug contact of the second plug connector at positions on both sides of the protrusion holding portion in a direction intersecting the insertion direction. Each of the contacts is supported.

  According to the invention of claim 3, it is possible to reduce the size by effectively utilizing the space in the receptacle shell.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the protrusion holding portion is a receptacle contact that is in contact with the plug contact of the first plug connector in a direction intersecting the insertion direction. It is provided in the position which opposes.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the contact pressure between the plug contact and the receptacle contact of the first plug connector can be increased.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the protrusion holding portion is formed in a protrusion shape along the insertion direction.

  According to the invention of claim 5, the holding force of the first plug connector with respect to the plug shell can be increased.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a receptacle connector in which a plurality of types of plug connectors having different numbers of contacts can be connected and workability at the time of connection is not deteriorated.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the technical idea of the present invention is applied to a connector conforming to the MicroUSB standard will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the connector to which the technical idea of the present invention can be applied is not limited to a connector conforming to a specific standard, and can be applied to all connectors conforming to an arbitrary standard (for example, USB standard or IEEE 1394 standard). is there.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the receptacle connector R of the present embodiment includes a plurality (ten in the illustrated example) of receptacle contacts 2, a receptacle body 1 that supports the plurality of receptacle contacts 2, and a plurality of receptacle contacts R on the inside. It includes a receptacle contact 2 and a receptacle shell 3 that houses a receptacle body 1. In the following description, the vertical direction in FIG. 1 is up and down, the left side in FIG. 1 is front (front), the right side is rear (back), and the left and right direction in FIG. The heading direction (rightward in FIG. 1) is referred to as the insertion direction, and the direction heading from the rear to the front (leftward in FIG. 1) is referred to as the anti-insertion direction.

  The receptacle body 1 is made of a synthetic resin molded product having insulating properties, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main portion 10, a prismatic protruding portion 11 protruding forward from the front surface of the main portion 10, and a front surface of the protruding portion 11. It has a rectangular plate-like post 12 protruding forward. A plurality (5) of receptacle contacts (hereinafter referred to as first receptacle contacts) 2A defined in the MicroUSB standard are insert-molded in the main portion 10 and other types not defined in the MicroUSB standard A plurality (five) of receptacle contacts (hereinafter referred to as second receptacle contacts) 2B are attached.

  The first receptacle contact 2A is formed by bending a strip-shaped metal plate into a bowl shape, and a main piece (not shown) inserted in the main portion 10 and a contact piece extending forward from the front end of the main piece. 21 and a terminal piece 22 extending rearward from the rear end of the main piece (see FIGS. 2B and 3). The contact pieces 21 of the first receptacle contact 2A are exposed on the lower surface side of the post 12 so as to be arranged at equal intervals in the left-right direction (see FIG. 3).

  The second receptacle contact 2B is formed by punching and bending a plate-like metal member, and is press-fitted into a press-fitting groove 13 (see FIG. 2B) provided in the main portion 10 as shown in FIG. The main piece 23 held in this way, the substantially L-shaped contact piece 24 extending downward and forward from the rear end of the main piece 23, and the terminal piece 25 extending downward from the rear end of the main piece 23 are integrally formed. Has been. And the 2nd receptacle contact 2B is attached to the receptacle body 1 by press-fitting the main piece 23 in the press-fit groove 13 opened to the rear end surface of the main part 10. Here, a plurality of holding grooves 14 (two on the left side and three on the right side) are arranged in parallel on the left and right sides of the post 12 when viewed from the front, as shown in FIG. The contact piece 24 of the second receptacle contact 2 </ b> B is exposed on the lower surface side of the projecting portion 11 in a state where the contact piece 24 is inserted into each holding groove 14. In addition, since there is a gap between the upper end of the contact piece 24 and the upper bottom surface of the holding groove 14, the contact piece 24 can be bent upward in the holding groove 14.

  The receptacle shell 3 is formed in a rectangular tube shape by a metal (for example, stainless steel) plate material having corrosion resistance. Then, the receptacle body 1 is inserted into the receptacle shell 3 through the opening on the rear end side, and the receptacle shell 3 is fixed to the receptacle body 1 on the side surface of the main portion 10 (prevented from coming off). Further, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3, the protrusion-shaped protrusion holding part 30 extending in the front-rear direction is formed by bending the laterally central part on the lower side of the receptacle shell 3 upward. ing. The distance in the vertical direction between the upper surface of the protrusion holding portion 30 and the upper inner bottom surface of the receptacle shell 3 is set to be approximately equal to the external dimension in the vertical direction of the plug shell of the first plug connector described later. Therefore, the plug shell of the first plug connector inserted into the receptacle shell 3 is supported from below by the protrusion holding portion 30. That is, the receptacle shell 3 in the present embodiment has a dimension in the front-rear direction larger than the conventional receptacle shell compliant with the MicroUSB standard by the length of the protrusion 11 of the receptacle body 1 and the left and right sides of the protrusion holding portion 30. The vertical dimension is increased by this amount, but the horizontal dimension is the same.

  By the way, there are two types of plug connectors that are detachably connected to the receptacle connector R of the present embodiment. One is an existing plug connector (hereinafter referred to as “first plug connector”) compliant with the MicroUSB standard, and the other is a plug connector (hereinafter referred to as “second plug connector”) shown in FIGS. Called “plug connector”.) P. Since the first plug connector is well known in the art, illustration and description of the detailed structure are omitted. In the following description, the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, and the front-back direction are defined in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the second plug connector P includes a plug body 300 made of an insulating synthetic resin molded product, a plug shell 301 that houses the plug body 300 therein, and a plurality of pieces that are held by the plug body 300. (10 in this embodiment) plug contacts 302 are provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the second plug connector P is provided at the tip of the cable 400, and the connection portion between the cable 400 and the second plug connector P is molded with a rectangular parallelepiped synthetic resin molding 401. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the plug body 300 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main portion 300a, a rectangular plate-like post 300b that protrudes forward from the front surface of the main portion 300a, and a front portion that protrudes forward from both left and right end portions of the front surface of the post 300b. A pair of rectangular plate-shaped fitting protrusions 300c are integrally formed of a synthetic resin material having an insulating property. The front half of the upper surface of the main portion 300a is provided with a fitting recess 300d that opens upward and forward and fits with the post 12 of the receptacle connector R. Furthermore, a plurality of (five) grooves 300e extending in the front-rear direction are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in the left-right direction on the lower surface portion of the fitting recess 300d and the upper surface of the main portion 300a. In each of these five grooves 300e, five plug contacts (hereinafter referred to as first plug contacts) 302A defined by the MicroUSB standard are inserted. Here, since there is a gap between the lower surface of the first plug contact 302A and the lower surface of the groove 300e, these five first plug contacts 302A can be bent downward. Note that terminal pieces 303 formed integrally with the first plug contact 302A and connected to the core wire (not shown) of the cable 400 protrude rearward from the rear end surface of the main portion 300a.

  On the other hand, the top end portion of the remaining five plug contacts (hereinafter referred to as second plug contacts) 302B excluding the first plug contact 302A is exposed on the upper surface of the fitting protrusion 300c. However, of the five second plug contacts 302B, three are exposed on the upper surface of the left fitting protrusion 300c, and the remaining two are exposed on the upper surface of the right fitting protrusion 300c.

  In addition, with a connector conforming to the MicroUSB standard, it is difficult to hold the mechanical connection between the plug connector and the receptacle connector with the elastic force between the shells, unlike the connector conforming to the USB standard. In addition to providing a pair of engaging members, the receptacle connector is provided with an engaged portion that is detachably engaged with the pair of engaging members, and the plug connector and the receptacle are engaged by the engagement between the engaging member and the engaged portion. The connector connection is mechanically retained. Therefore, the second plug connector P is also provided with a pair of engaging members 304, and an engaged portion (engaged portion) in which an engaging claw 304a protruding from the tip of the engaging member 304 is detachably engaged. A to-be-engaged hole 31 is formed through the upper portion of the receptacle shell 3 (see FIG. 3). Note that the structure of the engaging member 304 is the same as that of the existing plug connector conforming to the MicroUSB standard, and therefore detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The plug shell 301 is formed in a rectangular tube shape by a metal (for example, stainless steel) plate material having corrosion resistance and covers the plug body 300. Here, a front end portion (hereinafter referred to as a fitting portion) 301a of the plug shell 301 that fits into the receptacle shell 3 is formed in a similar shape to the receptacle shell 3 as shown in FIG. In the fitted state of fitting inside, the outer wall surface is in elastic contact with the inner wall surface of the receptacle shell 3 and is electrically connected to the receptacle shell 3.

  Thus, when the first plug connector is connected to the receptacle connector R of the present embodiment, the plug shell of the first plug connector is above the protrusion holding portion 30 in the receptacle shell 3 and the protrusion portion of the receptacle body 1. 11, the plug contact of the first plug connector is bent downward and exposed to the first receptacle contact 2A exposed on the lower surface of the post 12 separately from each other (S1 in FIG. 1). Both contacts are conductive.

  On the other hand, when the second plug connector P is connected to the receptacle connector R of the present embodiment, the plug shell 301 of the second plug connector P is below the protrusion holding portion 30 in the receptacle shell 3 and the protrusion of the receptacle body 1. It fits in the space behind the part 11 (S2 in FIG. 1). Then, the first plug contact 302A of the second plug connector P is bent downward and is elastically contacted separately with the first receptacle contact 2A exposed on the lower surface of the post 12, and the first plug contact 302A and the first plug contact 302A The receptacle contacts 2A are brought into contact with each other. At the same time, the pair of fitting protrusions 300 c of the second plug connector P are accommodated in the space below the protrusion 11 on both the left and right sides of the protrusion holding part 30 and are exposed on the lower surface of the protrusion 11. The contact piece 24 of the second receptacle contact 2B bends upward and elastically contacts with the second plug contact 302B exposed on the upper surface of the fitting projection 300c. The second plug contact 302B and the second receptacle The contacts 2B are in contact with each other.

  As described above, in the receptacle connector R of the present embodiment, the two types of plug connectors (the first plug connector and the second plug connector P) differing in the number of contacts and the shape (mainly dimensions) of the shell (plug shell). Can be connected so as to be freely inserted and removed. When the first plug connector, which is smaller than the second plug connector P, is connected, the plug shell of the first plug connector is held by the protrusion holding portion 30 provided in the receptacle shell 3. Therefore, there is an advantage that workability when connecting the first plug connector is not lowered. In addition, the second receptacle contact 2B that is in contact with the second plug contact 302B of the second plug connector P is connected to the rear side of the receptacle shell 3 along the insertion direction of the second plug connector P and from the insertion direction. Since the receptacle body 1 supports the second plug contact 302B of the second plug connector P so as to be able to bend upward, the receptacle body 1 is supported so as to be able to bend upward at a position where it does not overlap the protrusion holding portion 30 when viewed. Therefore, since the second plug connector P does not require a space for the second plug contact 302B to bend, the vertical dimension of the fitting portion 301a of the second plug connector P can be made relatively small. As a result, the height of the receptacle connector R can be reduced.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the receptacle body 1 is in contact with the second plug contact 302B of the second plug connector P at positions on both sides of the protrusion holding portion 30 in the direction intersecting the insertion direction (left-right direction). Since the two receptacle contacts 2B are respectively supported, the space in the receptacle shell 3 can be effectively used to reduce the size. Further, the protrusion holding portion 30 is provided at a position facing the first receptacle contact 2A that is in contact with the plug contact of the first plug connector in the direction intersecting the insertion direction (vertical direction). The contact pressure between the plug contact of the plug connector and the first receptacle contact 2A can be increased. Furthermore, since the protrusion holding part 30 is formed in the shape of a protrusion along the insertion direction, the holding force of the first plug connector with respect to the plug shell can be increased.

  By the way, in this embodiment, one protrusion holding part 30 is provided in the left-right direction center part of the lower side of the receptacle shell 3, but as shown to Fig.8 (a), in the right-and-left both ends of the receptacle shell 3 lower side. Protrusion holding portions 30, 30 may be provided, and the second receptacle contact 2 </ b> B may be arranged at the center in the left-right direction below the receptacle shell 3 sandwiched between the both protrusion holding portions 30. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8B, a plurality (two in the illustrated example) of protrusion holding portions 30 are provided on the receptacle shell 3, and the second receptacle contacts 2B are disposed outside the protrusion holding portions 30 in the left-right direction. May be. Further, the arrangement of the terminal pieces 25 of the second receptacle contact 2B with respect to the back surface of the receptacle body 1 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2B, and the receptacle connector R of the present embodiment is mounted. The arrangement may be appropriately shifted in the left-right direction corresponding to the wiring pattern of the printed wiring board.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the second plug contact 302B provided only in the second plug connector P is configured not to bend (so-called tuning fork type contact), and the second plug contact 302B is elastically contacted with the second plug contact 302B. The receptacle contact 2B has a flexible structure (so-called bellows type contact), but the structure of each contact may be reversed. That is, the second plug contact 302B may have a flexible structure and the second receptacle contact 2B may have a flexible structure.

It is sectional drawing which shows embodiment of the receptacle connector which concerns on this invention. The same as above, (a) is a front view, (b) is a rear view. It is a partially broken perspective view same as the above. It is a perspective view of the 2nd receptacle contact in the same as the above. It is a perspective view of the 2nd plug connector. It is a front view of the 2nd plug connector. It is a perspective view in the state where the plug shell of the 2nd plug connector was removed. (A), (b) is a front view which shows the outline of another form same as the above. It is a front view which shows a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

R Receptacle connector 1 Receptacle body 2B Second receptacle contact 3 Receptacle shell 10 Main part 11 Projection part 12 Post

Claims (5)

A first plug connector in which a plurality of plug contacts are arranged inside a plug shell formed into a rectangular tube shape, and a first plug connector inside the cylindrical plug shell having a larger dimension than the plug shell of the first plug connector. Alternatively, a second plug connector in which the same number of first plug contacts as that of the first plug connector is disposed at the same position and at least one second plug contact is disposed at a position different from the first plug contact may be used. A receptacle connector that is detachably connected to
A plurality of receptacle contacts that are in contact with and electrically connected to the plurality of plug contacts of the first and second plug connectors, a body that has insulation and supports the plurality of receptacle contacts, and is formed in a rectangular tube shape; A plurality of receptacle contacts and a receptacle shell containing the body,
The receptacle shell has one or more protrusion holding portions that protrude inward to hold the plug shell of the first plug connector,
The body includes a back of the receptacle shell along the insertion direction of the plug connector in a state in which the plug shell of the first plug connector is engaged with the receptacle shell and the plug contacts of the first plug connector are in contact with the receptacle contacts. A receptacle connector characterized by supporting a receptacle contact that is in contact with and conductive with the plug contact of the second plug connector at a position that does not overlap the protrusion holding portion when viewed from the side and the insertion direction.   2. The receptacle connector according to claim 1, wherein the body is configured to flexibly support a receptacle contact that is in contact with and conductive with the plug contact of the second plug connector.   The body supports the receptacle contacts that are in contact with the plug contacts of the second plug connector at positions on both sides of the protrusion holding portion in a direction crossing the insertion direction, respectively. 2. The receptacle connector according to 2.   4. The protrusion holding portion according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion holding portion is provided at a position facing the receptacle contact that is in contact with the plug contact of the first plug connector in a direction intersecting the insertion direction. Receptacle connector according to item.   The receptacle connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the protrusion holding portion is formed in a protrusion shape along the insertion direction.

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