JP3356061B2 - Flat cable connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat cable connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A connector for a flat cable is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-36367. In this type of connector, as shown in FIG. 7, a bifurcated elastic contact piece b is provided in a connector housing a, and a flat cable d is inserted from a lead-out port c of the connector housing a to be sandwiched between the elastic contact pieces b. The contact e of the elastic contact piece b
And the electrical connection part f of the flat cable d.

[0003]

In such a connector,
In order to give priority to ensuring the contact pressure between the contact e of the elastic contact piece b and the electrical connection portion f of the flat cable d, the elastic contact piece b
If the elasticity of the flat cable d is increased, the elasticity of the elastic contact piece b becomes a resistance when the flat cable d is inserted, so that it easily buckles and the insertion operability deteriorates. Conversely, if the elasticity of the elastic contact piece b is weakened to give priority to ease of insertion, there is a problem that a sufficient contact pressure cannot be obtained between the elastic contact piece b and the flat cable d. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to secure a contact pressure while improving the operability of inserting a flat cable.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a flat cable having a thick portion on a tip end side and having an electrical connection portion on the thick portion can accommodate the thick portion. A connector housing; and a resilient contact piece held in the connector housing and extending from the inner side to the outlet of the flat cable, and a contact provided on a distal end side of the resilient contact piece sandwiches the thick portion. In a flat cable connector adapted to be pressed against the electrical connection part, the length of the elastic contact piece is set to be longer than the thick part, and the flat cable is provided on a side of the connector housing. The flat cable can be inserted from the side of the connector housing into the inside of the connector housing in a state where the thick part of the elastic contact piece is located behind the contact point of the elastic contact piece. The side opening is provided that, the Furattoke
Cable from the side opening into the connector housing.
The thick part moves toward the outlet
So that the flat cable electrical connection
When electrically connected to the contact of the elastic contact piece,
The flat cable can be pulled by contacting the thick part.
With a stopper for retaining that regulates the extension amount
The thick portion is sandwiched between the stopper for retaining
A back-stop prevention stock for preventing the thick portion from returning.
In this configuration, a pad was provided .

[0005]

[0006]

[0007]

When connecting a flat cable, a thick portion of the flat cable is inserted from a side opening of the connector housing, and then the flat cable is pulled out from the connector housing. When it is moved, the electrical connection portion comes into contact with the contact of the elastic contact piece while the thick portion is elastically sandwiched by the elastic contact pieces. When the flat cable is inserted, it is inserted into the side opening without resistance, and then pulled toward the front side, so that the flat cable does not buckle and is excellent in operability. In addition, since there is no possibility that the flat cable will buckle, the elasticity of the elastic contact piece can be increased to increase the contact pressure.

Further , when the flat cable is pulled toward the outlet, the thick portion comes into contact with the stopper for retaining, so that the flat cable is held at a predetermined position without being removed from the connector housing. Further, since the thick portion is sandwiched between the stopper for preventing falling off and the stopper for preventing reverse movement, the floating movement of the flat cable in the inserting / removing direction is restricted.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the flat cable F attached to the flat cable connector 10 of the present embodiment, a plurality of conductive paths Fb are provided along the length direction on the lower surface of a sheet-shaped resin base material Fa, and the connection ends thereof are provided. It is folded, and a circular pin Fp is sandwiched between the folded portions and adhered. The folded portion is a thick portion Fc having a water drop-shaped cross section, and a conductive path Fb is formed on the arc-shaped outer surface of the thick portion Fc and on the surface of the overlapping portion Fd on which the base material Fa is overlapped by the folding. Is exposed. And the conductive path F
b along the outer periphery of the thick portion Fc is the electrical connection portion F
e.

The flat cable connector 10 of the present embodiment includes a resin connector housing 11 attached to a circuit board (not shown),
1 and a plurality of terminal fittings 20 attached thereto. A horizontally long cavity 12 is formed in the connector housing 11 on both front and rear sides (both right and left sides in the figure), and the opening on the front end face is an outlet 13 from which the flat cable F is led out. A plurality of holding grooves 14U, 14L which are elongated in the front-rear direction are formed on both upper and lower surfaces in the cavity 12.
Are formed side by side at predetermined intervals. Further, a mounting groove 15U communicating with each of the upper holding grooves 14U and a mounting groove 15L communicating with each of the lower holding grooves 14L are formed on the rear end surface of the connector housing 11.

A side opening 16 communicating with the cavity 12 is formed on one side surface (a front side surface in the figure) of the connector housing 11. The rear half of the side opening 16 is a water drop opening 16R, and the front half is a slit-like opening 16F having a constant width reaching the front surface of the connector housing 11. The water droplet-shaped opening 16R is set to a size into which the thick portion Fc (including the electric contact portion Fe) of the flat cable F can be inserted. In addition, the opening height of the slit-shaped opening 16F is such that the overlapping portion Fd (including the conductive path Fb) thinner than the thick portion Fc of the flat cable F can be inserted, and is higher than the height of the thick portion Fc. Set to small dimensions.

The terminal fitting 20 includes a pair of upper and lower elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L housed in the cavity 12 and fitted into the holding grooves 14U and 14L, respectively.
It consists of a pair of upper and lower mounting portions 22U and 22L fitted to the mounting grooves 15U and 15L so as to be connected to the rear end of the 21L, and is mounted into the cavity 12 from behind the connector housing 11 by press fitting. In the mounted state, the tips of the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L face the outlet 13 of the connector housing 11, and the upper mounting portion 22U is flush with the upper and rear surfaces of the connector housing 11.
On the other hand, the lower mounting portion 22L is L-shaped,
L has a connecting portion 23 projecting rearward flush with the lower surface of the connector housing 11, and this connecting portion 23 is connected by soldering to a connection terminal (not shown) on the circuit board.

The elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L are vertically symmetrical, cantileverly project forward from the mounting portions 22U and 22L, and are elastically opened and closed in the vertical direction along the inner surfaces of the holding grooves 14U and 14L. I am getting it.
Between the upper and lower resilient contact pieces 21U and 21L, there are formed two front and rear gaps which are broadly communicated with each other, and a rear gap of the two gaps is substantially aligned with the water drop opening 16R of the connector housing 11. And the height of the water drop type space 24 is a flat cable F
Are set slightly larger than the height of the thick portion Fc. On the other hand, the gap at the front portion is a substantially circular space 25 opened to both the front and rear, and the height of the substantially circular space 25 is set to be slightly smaller than the height of the thick portion Fc. The arcuate inner peripheral surface of the portion forming the substantially circular space 25 of the two elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L is a contact 26 with the flat cable F. Note that the distance in the front-rear direction from the rear end of the contact 26 to the rear end of the water droplet type space 24 is as follows:
The dimension is set to be larger than the length of the thick portion Fc.

The distal ends of the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L serve as stoppers 27 for retaining the elastic contact pieces. That is, the gap (opening height) between the retaining stoppers 27 is such that the thick portion Fc is located in the substantially circular space 25 and the elastic contact piece 21
The dimensions are set to be smaller than the height of the thick portion Fc even when the U and 21L are elastically expanded and deformed. As a result, the thick portion Fc is
The U and 21L are prevented from falling out of the tip. still,
In a state where the thick portion Fc is located in the water droplet-shaped space 24, the single-layer portion Ff of the flat cable F (the portion behind the overlapping portion Fd) is located in the gap between the stoppers 27 for retaining. However, since the gap between the stoppers 27 for retaining is set to be larger than the thickness of the single layer portion Ff of the flat cable F, this single layer portion Ff
Is not sandwiched between the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L.

Further, a water drop type space 24 and a substantially circular space 25
A narrow portion between the two forms a return stopper 28. The height of the opening between the return stoppers 28 is large even when the thick portion Fc is located in the substantially circular space 25 and the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L are elastically expanded and deformed. The dimensions are set so as to be smaller than the height of the portion Fc. Thereby, the floating of the thick portion Fc from the substantially circular space 25 to the water droplet type space 24 is restricted.
The dimension between the back-stopping stoppers 28 is set to be larger than the plate thickness of the overlapping portion Fd. Therefore, when the thick portion Fc is located in the water droplet-shaped space 24, the overlapped portion Fd is not sandwiched between the stoppers 28 for preventing reverse movement.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The flat cable F has a thick portion Fc and an overlapping portion Fd.
Are inserted into the cavity 12 from the side so as to fit into the water-drop opening 16R and the slit opening 16F of the side opening 16 of the connector housing 11, respectively. At this time, the thick portion Fc, the overlapping portion Fd, and the single-layer portion Ff
Are not sandwiched by the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L, and are inserted when the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L are inserted.
21L does not need to receive the elastic resistance. In the state of being inserted from the side, as shown in FIG. The single-layer portion Ff is loosely fitted between the stoppers 27 for retaining and is led out from the outlet 13 to the outside front of the connector housing 11.

Next, when the lead-out portion of the flat cable F is pulled forward, the thick portion Fc is formed by the elastic contact pieces 21U, 21U.
L is expanded and deformed, passes through the stopper 28 for preventing reverse movement, and is fitted into the substantially circular space 25. At this time, the flat cable F does not buckle because only the tensile force acts on the flat cable F instead of the pushing force. When the thick portion Fc is fitted in the substantially circular space 25, the elastic contact pieces 21U, 2
1L presses the thick portion Fc by its elastic restoring force, and the contact 26 and the electric connection portion Fe are connected to be electrically conductive at a predetermined contact pressure. Thus, the connection of the flat cable F is completed.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the thick portion Fc is sandwiched in the front-rear direction between the stopper 27 for retaining and the stopper 28 for preventing reverse movement, thereby restricting play in the inserting / removing direction. , The contact state between the contact 26 and the electric connection part Fe is stabilized. Further, a slit-shaped opening 16F having an opening width narrower than the height of the thick portion Fc is located on the side of the substantially circular space 25 in which the thick portion Fc is accommodated. The movement to the side is restricted, thereby preventing the flat cable F from being pulled out to the side and preventing the contact 26 from being displaced from the electric connection part Fe.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the flat cable F is inserted, the flat cable F is inserted into the side opening 16 without receiving the elastic resistance of the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L, and then pulled toward the near side. Therefore, there is no possibility that the flat cable F buckles, and the operability is excellent. further,
Since there is no possibility that the flat cable F will buckle, the elasticity of the elastic contact pieces 21U and 21L can be increased to increase the contact pressure between the contact 26 and the electric connection part Fe. Also, when the flat cable F is pulled toward the outlet 13 side, the thick portion F
When c passes through the stopper 28 for preventing reverse movement, the operating resistance increases, and after passing, the operating resistance sharply decreases. When the thick portion Fc contacts the stopper 27 for retaining, the operating resistance increases again. The operator can feel that the flat cable F has been moved to a predetermined position by the change in the operation resistance, and it is possible to prevent the flat cable F from being improperly mounted.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the flat cable C attached to the flat cable connector 30 of the second embodiment, a plurality of conductive paths Cb are provided along the length direction on the upper surface of a sheet-shaped resin base material Ca, and the connection ends thereof are provided. , A wire connecting portion Cd is formed by exposing the conductive path Cb, and a flat plate-like thick portion Cf is formed by fixing a reinforcing plate Ce having high bending rigidity to the lower surface of the connecting end.

In the connector housing 31 constituting the flat cable connector 30 according to the second embodiment, horizontally long cavities 32 are formed on both front and rear surfaces thereof.
The opening at the front end is an outlet 33 for the flat cable C. A plurality of holding grooves 34U and 34L are formed in parallel on both upper and lower surfaces in the cavity 32, and upper and lower holding grooves 34U and 34U are formed on the rear end surface of the connector housing 31.
Mounting grooves 35U and 35L communicating with 34L are formed.

A side opening 36 communicating with the cavity 32 is formed in a side surface of the connector housing 31.
A long range extending from the rear end to the front end of the side opening 36 is a horizontally long rectangular opening 36R, and the front end has a slit-like opening 36 having a lower opening height than the rectangular opening 36R.
It is F. The square opening 36R is set to a size that allows the thick portion Cf of the flat cable C to be inserted.
The opening height of the slit-like opening 36F is such that the single-layer portion Cg of the flat cable C can be inserted and the thick portion Cf
Is set to a size smaller than the thickness.

The terminal fitting 40 includes a pair of upper and lower elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L housed in the cavity 32 and fitted into the holding grooves 34U and 34L, respectively.
It consists of a pair of upper and lower mounting portions 42U and 42L fitted to the mounting grooves 35U and 35L so as to be connected to the rear end of the 41L, and is mounted into the cavity 32 from behind the connector housing 31 by press fitting. In the mounted state, the distal ends of the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L face the outlet 33 of the connector housing 31, and the upper mounting portion 42U is flush with the upper and rear surfaces of the connector housing 31.
On the other hand, the lower mounting portion 42L has an L-shape,
L has a connection portion 43 protruding rearward flush with the lower surface of the connector housing 31 and is connected to a connection terminal (not shown) on the circuit board by soldering.

The elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L are vertically symmetrical, cantileverly project from the mounting portions 42U and 42L so as to be substantially straight forward and slightly narrow toward the distal end, and along the inner surfaces of the holding grooves 34U and 34L. In addition, it can be opened and closed elastically in the vertical direction. The distance between the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L is set to be slightly larger than the plate thickness of the thick portion Cf.
The accommodation space 45 formed between 1U and 41L is substantially aligned with the rectangular opening 36R of the connector housing 31. Further, projecting contacts 46 are formed at the tips of the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L, and the interval between the contacts 46 is larger than the plate thickness of the single layer portion Cg of the flat cable C, and the thick portion is formed. The dimension is set smaller than the plate thickness of Cf. The position of the contact 46 is the slit-shaped opening 36.
It is located so as to correspond to F. The distance from the contact 46 to the rear ends of the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L is equal to the thickness of the thick portion C.
f is set to be larger than the length in the front-rear direction.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The flat cable C is inserted into the cavity 32 from the side so that the thick portion Cf and the single-layer portion Cg are fitted into the rectangular opening 36R and the slit-shaped opening 36F of the side opening 36 of the connector housing 31, respectively. At this time, the thick portion Cf and the single-layer portion Cg are not sandwiched by the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L, and do not receive elastic resistance due to the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L during insertion.
In the state of being inserted from the side, as shown in FIG. 5, the thick portion Cf is loosely fitted in the accommodation space 45, and the single-layer portion Cg is loosely fitted between the contact points 46, and the connector housing 31 is inserted through the outlet 33. Is derived to the outside front of. In this state, when the leading portion of the flat cable C is pulled forward, the thick portion Cf
Engages the contact 46 to elastically expand and deform the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L. At this time, since only the tensile force acts on the flat cable C, it does not buckle.
When the pulling operation on the flat cable C is stopped when the rear end of the thick portion Cf slightly protrudes from the outlet 33, the attachment of the flat cable C is completed.

In this state, the contact 46 penetrates into the thick portion Cf, thereby restricting the movement of the flat cable C in the insertion / removal direction.
d is connected with a predetermined contact pressure. In addition, the thick portion C
A slit-like opening 36F having a narrower opening width than the height thereof is located on the side of the first half (the right half in the figure) of f, so that the thick part Cf is prevented from moving sideways. Thereby, the flat cable C is prevented from being pulled out to the side, and the contact 46 and the wire connection portion Cd
Is prevented from being displaced.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the flat cable C is inserted, the flat cable C is inserted into the side opening 36 without receiving the elastic resistance of the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L, and then pulled toward the near side. Therefore, there is no possibility that the flat cable C buckles, and the operability is excellent. further,
Since there is no possibility that the flat cable C will buckle, it is possible to increase the elasticity of the elastic contact pieces 41U and 41L to increase the contact pressure between the contact 46 and the wire connection portion Cd.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the stopper for preventing the stopper and the stopper for preventing the return movement are formed on the terminal fitting. However, according to the present invention, one or both of the stoppers may be formed on the connector housing. .

(2) In the above embodiment, a pair of upper and lower elastic contact pieces are formed so as to elastically sandwich the flat cable. However, according to the present invention, the elastic contact piece is elastic only from one of the upper and lower sides. The contact piece may elastically contact the flat cable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state before a flat cable is inserted in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a flat cable is inserted from a side.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the flat cable is held between a stopper for retaining and a stopper for preventing reverse movement.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state before a flat cable is inserted in the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a flat cable is inserted from a side.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a state in which the flat cable is connected to the elastic contact piece.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 F: Flat cable Fc: Thick section Fe: Electrical connection section 10: Connector housing 13: Outlet 16: Side opening 21U, 21L: Elastic contact piece 26: Contact 27: Stopper 28: Stopper 28: Reverse stopper C ... Flat cable Cf ... Thick part Cd ... Electrical connection part 30 ... Connector housing 33 ... Outlet 36 ... Side opening 41U, 41L ... Elastic contact piece 46 ... Contact

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 23/66 H01R 9/07 H01R 23/68 H01R 13/422 H01R 13/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A thick part is provided on the tip side, and the thick part is
The thick portion of the flat cable having an electrical connection portion
And a connector housing capable of accommodating the
Contact extending from the flat cable to the outlet of the flat cable
And a contact provided on the tip side of the elastic contact piece sandwiches the thick portion.
So that it can be pressed against the electrical connection.
In the flat cable connector, the length of the elastic contact piece is set to be longer than the thick portion.
And the flat cable on the side of the connector housing.
The thick part of the
The flat cable is connected to the connector
Side opening that allows insertion from the side of the jing
Establishment, Connect the flat cable to the connector from the side opening.
After being inserted into the housing, the thick part
Pull to move to the mouth side,
Electrical connection between the electrical connection part of the
When the thick part touches, the flat part
Use a stopper to prevent the cable from being pulled out.
Along with Sandwiching the thick part between the stopper for retaining and the stopper,
A stopper for preventing the return of the thick portion from returning
Established A connector for a flat cable, characterized in that: