JP3074583B2 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector for use in electronic equipment such as a communication system, and more particularly to a multi-terminal type electrical connector. In recent years, in order to increase the density of electronic devices such as LSIs and to develop the mounting technology of such electronic devices, the number of terminals of electrical connectors used in electronic devices has been increased, and accordingly, the number of electrical connectors of multi-terminal type has been increased. There is a need for improved operability at the time of connection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is well known that operability at the time of connection of a multi-terminal type electrical connector is deteriorated. That is, in the multi-terminal type electrical connector, for example, the insertion force when inserting the jack element into the socket element and the pulling force of the jack element from the socket element increase, which makes the connection operation troublesome. That is. Therefore, in order to improve the connection operability of a multi-terminal type electrical connector, a lubricant such as polyphenyl ether is applied to both contact portions to reduce the insertion / extraction force of the electrical connector. ing.

[0003]

However, since such a lubricant is an electrically insulating material, a so-called loose contact is formed when a lubricant film is formed between contact portions of a contact portion of an electric connector. Etc. In particular, such a lubricant film is likely to be formed during the operation of connecting the electric connector while the two contact portions are relatively moving in contact with each other, so that the livelines are added in the signal transmission device of the communication system. This is an important issue. That is, when a live contact is added to a signal transmission device, if a loose contact occurs due to a lubricant film formed between both contact portions while connecting the electrical connector, that is, conduction between them is interrupted This is because it is recognized as an error occurrence in the communication system. Of course, if the application of the lubricant is stopped, such a problem can be avoided. However, in recent years, there has been an advocacy of the Hemann-oriented orientation, and in the United States, the application of the lubricant to the electrical connector has become obligatory. The use of lubricants cannot be ruled out. Therefore, an object of the present invention is, for example, an electrical connector used in electronic devices such as a communication system,
Particularly, in a multi-terminal type electrical connector, it is possible to prevent the formation of a lubricant film between the contact portions of the contact portions when the two contact portions are relatively moving in contact with each other. The present invention is to provide an electric connector configured as described above.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An electrical connector according to the present invention comprises a jack member having a male contact element and a socket member having a female contact element, and the male contact element is provided when the jack member is connected to the socket member. The male contact element and the female contact element are moved relative to each other while the elastic contact is made with the female contact element. According to the present invention, in the electrical connector having such a configuration, the surface of the female contact element is provided with a film formation preventing means for preventing the formation of a lubricant film at the time of relative movement contact with the male contact element. It is characterized by being.

[0005]

As is apparent from the above configuration, in the electrical connector according to the present invention, the film for preventing the formation of the lubricant film on the surface of the female contact element at the time of relative movement contact with the male contact element. Since the formation preventing means is provided, during the connection operation between the jack member and the socket member, the formation of the lubricant film from the contact portion between the male contact element and the female contact element is eliminated, and therefore, the formation of the lubricant film is prevented. The resulting loose contact is prevented.

[0006]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 1 generally shows the jack member of the multi-terminal type electrical connector according to the present invention at reference numeral 10 and FIG. 2 generally shows the socket member of the multi-terminal type electrical connector at reference numeral 12. It is. FIG.
1 (a) is a plan view of the jack member 10, FIG. 1 (b) is an elevation view of the jack member 10, FIG. 1 (c) is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 1 (a), and FIG. 2A is a plan view of the socket member 12, FIG. 2B is an elevation view of the socket member 12, and FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 2A.

The jack member 10 has a long insertion portion 10a.
A cavity is formed inside the insertion portion 10a as is clear from FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (c). A large number of pairs of male contact elements 10b are arranged in the cavity of the insertion portion 10a along the longitudinal direction at a predetermined arrangement pitch, and each pair of male contact elements 10b is formed as a leaf spring. As shown in FIG. 1 (c), a contact portion 10c which is bent inward and projected is formed. Further, each pair of male contact elements 10b is fixed to the inner wall surface of the insertion portion 10a at the base end thereof, and the terminal 10d extends integrally from the base end and is projected outside from the bottom of the insertion portion 10a. .

The socket member 12 has a long receiving portion 12a, and a cavity is formed inside the receiving portion 12a as is clear from FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (c). Regarding the shape, the insertion portion 10a of the jack member 10
Can be accommodated. A plurality of pairs of female contact elements 12b are arranged in the cavity of the accommodating portion 12a along the longitudinal direction at the same pitch as the arrangement pitch of the male contact elements 10b of the jack member 10. 12c are bent so as to approach each other, and are appropriately fixed so as to maintain a predetermined interval therebetween. Further, the base end of each pair of female contact elements 12b is appropriately fixed on the bottom side of the accommodation portion 12a, and the terminal 12d extends integrally from the base end portion to project from the bottom of the accommodation portion 12a, It is bent to the side and penetrates a side wall provided below the bottom of the housing portion 12a.

When the jack member 10 is connected to the socket member 12, as shown in FIG.
0 is the insertion portion 10a of the socket member 12
To the cavity, and then the insert 10a
Is relatively pressed into the cavity of the accommodating portion 12a, so that the connection between the jack member 10 and the socket member 12 is achieved. During the pushing of the insertion part 10a into the cavity of the accommodation part 12a, the contact points 10c of the male contact elements 10b of each pair
Are moved relatively while being elastically contacted with the outer surfaces of the corresponding pair of female contact elements 12b, and when the connection between the jack member 10 and the socket member 12 is completed, the male contact element 10b Contact point 1
Oc is elastically pressed against its outer surface on the proximal side of its corresponding female contact element 12b, thus ensuring electrical continuity therebetween.

The contact point 10c of the male contact element 10b
Is easily formed between the contact point 10c and the outer surface while the is moved relatively in a state of elastic contact with the outer surface of the corresponding female contact element 12b. As described above, however, in the present invention, since the outer surface of the female contact element 12b is provided with a film formation preventing means, the film formation of such a lubricant can be prevented. That is, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, such a film formation preventing means is formed on the outer surface of the female contact element 12b along its longitudinal direction (ie, the moving direction of the male contact element 10b). Three longitudinal grooves 14, which are preferably equally spaced from each other. Contact point 10c of male contact element 10b is female contact element 1
When being relatively moved in a state of being elastically contacted with the outer surface of 2b, a lubricant pool is formed on the leading end side of the contact portion 10c, but the lubricant is sequentially moved in the longitudinal direction. The contact portion 10c
Therefore, the formation of a lubricant film between the outer surface and the outer surface can be prevented, so that a so-called loose contact is prevented from occurring during the connection operation between the jack member 10 and the socket member 12.

FIG. 5 shows a contact state between the contact portion 10c of the male contact element 10b and the outer surface when the longitudinal groove 14 is not formed on the outer surface of the female contact element 12b. As can be seen from the figure, the lubricant pool 1 is located on the leading end side of the contact point 10c.
6 and the pool 16 loses its escape and loses contact 1
It is possible to form a lubricant film between the outer surface and the outer surface, and at this time, no electrical conduction is obtained between the contact point 10c and the outer surface.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the film formation preventing means to be applied to the outer surface of the female contact element 12b.
In this embodiment, the outer surface of the female contact element 12b is formed with inclined grooves 18 inclined with respect to its longitudinal direction, and these inclined grooves 18 are preferably arranged at equal intervals. Even with such an inclined groove 18, the contact portion 10c
Since the accumulation of lubricant generated on the leading end side of
Film formation of the lubricant will be prevented. As a modification of FIG. 6, such inclined grooves may be formed on the outer surface of the female contact element 12b so as to intersect each other.

FIG. 7 shows yet another embodiment of the film formation preventing means, in which the film formation preventing means is formed on the outer surface of the female contact element 12b along the longitudinal direction thereof. It comprises a direction groove 20 and an inclined groove 22 formed to branch obliquely from each longitudinal groove 20.

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the formation of the lubricant film from the contact point between the male contact element and the female contact element during the connection operation between the jack member and the socket member is eliminated. As a result, the loose contact in the meantime is prevented, so that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an error caused by the loose contact, for example, when adding a live line of the signal transmission device of the communication system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a jack member of a multi-terminal type electrical connector according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view of the jack member, FIG. 1 (b) is an elevation view of the jack member, FIG. (c)
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG.

2 (a) is a plan view of the socket member, FIG. 2 (b) is an elevation view of the socket member, and FIG. (c)
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a connection mode between the jack member of FIG. 1 and the socket member of FIG. 2;

4 shows the male contact element of the jack member of FIG. 1 and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a contact state of the socket member with a female contact element.

FIG. 5 is a partial side view showing a contact mode between a male contact element and a female contact element in a conventional electrical connector.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the film formation preventing means.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the film formation preventing means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Jack member 10a ... Insertion part 10b ... Male contact element 10c ... Contact point 10d ... Terminal 12 ... Socket member 12a ... Housing part 12b ... Female contact element 12c ... Tip part 12d ... Terminal 14 ... Longitudinal groove 16 ... Lubricant Pool 18: inclined groove 20: longitudinal groove 22: inclined groove

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-270251 (JP, A) JP-A-3-35625 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/11 H01R 24/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrical connector comprising a jack member having a male contact element and a socket member having a female contact element, wherein the male contact element is connected to the female contact when a connection operation between the jack member and the socket member is performed. An electrical connector, wherein said male contact element and said female contact element are moved relative to each other in a state of being elastically contacted with the element, wherein the male contact element and the female contact element are moved on a surface of the female contact element in a moving direction of the male contact element. An electrical connector characterized in that a groove is formed along the length of the electrical connector. 2. An electrical connector comprising a jack member having a male contact element and a socket member having a female contact element, wherein the male contact element is connected to the female contact when a connection operation between the jack member and the socket member is performed. An electrical connector, wherein said male contact element and said female contact element are moved relative to each other in a state of being elastically contacted with the element, wherein the male contact element and the female contact element are moved on a surface of the female contact element in a moving direction of the male contact element. An electric connector characterized by having an inclined groove inclined with respect to the electric connector. 3. An electrical connector comprising a jack member having a male contact element and a socket member having a female contact element, wherein the male contact element is connected to the female contact when a connection operation is performed between the jack member and the socket member. An electrical connector, wherein said male contact element and said female contact element are moved relative to each other in a state of being elastically contacted with the element, wherein the male contact element and the female contact element are moved on a surface of the female contact element in a moving direction of the male contact element. An electrical connector, characterized in that a longitudinal groove is formed along the groove, and an inclined groove is formed so as to branch obliquely from the longitudinal groove.