JP3096891B2 - 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 connector,
In particular, flat ribbon cables and FPCs (Flexible Pri
The present invention relates to a flat cable connector used to connect a cable such as an nted circuit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a flat cable connector used for connecting a cable such as a flat ribbon cable includes a plurality of contacts fixedly held at a predetermined pitch in an insulator, and a plurality of these contacts. It is constituted by an operation member pivotally supported on the upper portion of the insulator so as to be able to open and close to receive and fix a cable such as a flat ribbon cable to be connected.

When receiving the cable, the operating element is rotated by approximately 90 ° from a horizontal state to an open state, and after receiving the cable, returns to a horizontal closed state again. In this state, the cable receives downward pressure from the upper side by the operation element, and receives upward pressure from the lower side by a plurality of contacts arranged alternately in a staggered manner, and is fixed and supported in the insulator.

[0004]

However, as described above, in the conventional flat cable connector, unexpected tension is applied to the cable fixed and supported in the insulator or vibration or impact is applied to the connector. When an excessive external force is applied, the operator is rotated from the horizontal state to the vertical direction to be in the open state, and the fixing of the cable becomes unstable, and there is a possibility that a poor connection may occur.

An object of the present invention is to provide a flat cable connector which can prevent the operation element from rotating due to an unexpected external force and can securely fix and support the cable.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a contact portion is formed at a free end, and a plurality of contacts housed in an insulator are arranged so that the contact portions extend alternately in opposite directions. An open position for receiving a flat cable in which a conductor contacting the plurality of contacts is wired on one surface and pressing the other surface of the flat cable so as to press the conductor of the flat cable against a contact portion of the plurality of contacts. An operator rotatably supported by the insulator so as to be rotatable between closed positions, wherein contact portions of the plurality of contacts are alternately extended on both sides of a pivot shaft of the operator, and each contact portion Wherein the sum of the rotational moments around the pivot shaft is configured to impart a moment for rotating the operation element in the closed position direction. Connector for a flat cable is obtained, wherein.

According to the present invention, among the plurality of contacts, a contact for applying a moment in the direction of the open position to the operation element is a first contact, and a contact in the direction opposite to the open position direction is applied to the operation element. When the contact for applying a moment is the second contact, the distance between the contact portion of the first contact and the pivot is set to the second contact.
The connector for a flat cable, which is smaller than the distance between the contact portion of the contact and the pivot shaft, is obtained.

According to the present invention, among the plurality of contacts, a contact for giving a moment in the direction of the open position to the operator is a first contact, and a contact in the direction opposite to the direction of the open position is applied to the operator. When the contact that gives the moment is the second contact, the contact pressure of the contact portion of the first contact on the cable surface is made smaller than the contact pressure of the contact portion of the second contact on the cable surface. The flat cable connector is obtained.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a flat cable connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The flat cable connector 1 includes an insulator 10 into which the flat ribbon cable 3 is inserted,
A contact 13 fixedly held on the insulator 10,
14, an operation element 15 rotatably engaged with the pivot portion 13e of the contact 13.

Here, the operation element 15 is the first element shown in FIG.
From the open position, ie, the open position, to the second position, ie, the closed position shown in FIG. And in the open position,
As shown in FIG. 3, the operator 15 temporarily holds the flat ribbon cable 3 in cooperation with the contact 13. In the closed position, the state where the flat ribbon cable 3 is pressed against the contacts 13 and 14 is maintained as shown in FIG.

The flat ribbon cable 3 is inserted into the receiving hole 11 of the insulator 10 from the front of the flat cable connector 1 as shown in FIG. Also,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the insulator 10
Inside, a plurality of contacts 13 and 14 are alternately arranged in a staggered pattern at a predetermined pitch. These contacts 1
The soldering portions as electrical connection portions 3 and 14 are exposed on the lower surface of the flat cable connector 1 as shown by 13b and 14b in FIGS. Also, on the surface of the flat ribbon cable 3, that is, on the upper surface in the figure,
An insulating reinforcing plate 31 is provided. Hereinafter, the reinforcing plate 31 is also referred to as a flat ribbon cable 3.

A plurality of contacts 13 and 14 are arranged alternately in a direction perpendicular to the paper of FIG. 3 at the same pitch as a conductor (not shown) on the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable 3. Each contact 13, 14 has a contact portion 13 a, 14 a at the free end extended in an arm shape for contacting a conductor on the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable 3, and the insulator 10.
Soldering portions 13b and 14b protruding outward from the contact portions 13a and 14a, and fixed holding portions 13c and 14c fixed and held to the insulator 10 at opposite ends of the contact portions 13a and 14a, respectively. The contact 13 further has a limb 13d integrally formed in parallel with and separated from the contact portion 13a, and a pivot 13e formed at the tip of the limb 13d. That is, the contact 14 has a shape excluding the upper part including the limb 13d and the pivot 13e from the contact 13.

The contact portion 13a is located so as to face the receiving hole 11 of the insulator 10, and the contact portion 14a is arranged to extend in a direction opposite to the contact portion 13a, and is arranged so as to rise from the inner bottom surface of the insulator 10, respectively. . Therefore, the contact portions 13a and 14a are provided with elasticity in the vertical direction, respectively, and can be elastically displaced. The soldering portion 13b is soldered to a pattern on a printed board (not shown) located below the flat cable connector 1, for example. The fixed holding portion 13c is press-fitted into the insulator 10. Also, the upper part of the limb 13d is not restrained by the insulator 10, so that the limb 13d and the pivotal support 13e at the tip thereof are elastically displaceable by imparting a spring property in the vertical direction in FIGS. is there. The pivot portion 13e is formed above the contact portions 13a and 14a of the contacts 13 and 14, respectively.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Both ends are rotatably held by bearing portions 10 a formed on both sides of the insulator 10. The rotating shafts EE connecting these bearing portions 10a are in a positional relationship of passing through the pivot portions 13e of the respective contacts 13. As shown in FIG. 6, the contact portions 13a and 14a of the contacts 13 and 14 are arranged on both sides of a vertical line V0 set at the position of the rotation axis EE. That is, each contact 13,
14, perpendicular lines V1 passing through the contact portions 13a, 14a, respectively.
V2 is arranged on both sides of the perpendicular V0. Here, the horizontal distance between the vertical line V0 and the vertical line V1 is L1, the horizontal distance between the vertical line V0 and the vertical line V2 is L2, and the elastic force for pushing the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable 3 upward by the contact portion 13a of the contact 13. Is P1, and the elastic force of pushing up the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable 3 by the contact portion 14a of the contact 14 is P2, where P1 · L1 <P
It is designed to be 2 · L2 (Equation 1). FIG.
Since L2 is shorter than L1, P2 is made larger than P1 to satisfy the above inequality. This can be realized by selecting the shape and material of the portions where the contact portions 13a and 14a of the contacts 13 and 14 are formed. Instead of making P2 larger than P1, L2 may be made larger than L1.

On the other hand, the operating element 15 includes an arc-shaped concave portion 15a which engages with the pivotal support portion 13e of the contact 13;
5c and a connection holding portion 15b. Recess 15
“a” is a rotation center of the operation element 15 and is rotatably fitted to the pivot 13 e of the contact 13 as described above. Further, when the operating element 15 is at the open position shown in FIG.
The flat ribbon cable 3 is provisionally held in cooperation with a.
Further, the connection holding section 15b holds the flat ribbon cable 3 in a state where the flat ribbon cable 3 is pressed against the contact 13 when the operation element 15 is at the closed position shown in FIG.

Next, in the embodiment described above,
A procedure until the flat ribbon cable 3 is connected to the flat cable connector 1 will be described.

First, in a state where the flat ribbon cable 3 is positioned on all of the flat cable connectors 1 as shown in FIG. 1, the operator 15 is turned upward to stand up, and as shown in FIG. Of the flat ribbon cable 3 can be inserted. From this state, the tip of the flat ribbon cable 3 is inserted into the receiving hole 11 from the opening of the receiving hole 11. At this time, the temporary holding projection 15c of the contact 15 is
As shown in FIG. 3, the cable 3 is cut into the upper surface of the cable 3, and the movement of the cable 3 is restricted inside the receiving hole 11.

Next, the operator 15 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, that is, counterclockwise about the pivot 13e. In the state of FIG. 3, the expected rotation position of the corner of the outer periphery of the operation element 15 is as shown by a broken line R, and partially overlaps with the flat ribbon cable 3.

When the operation element 15 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 3, the outer periphery of the operation element 15 is pressed against the upper surface of the flat ribbon cable 3 so that the contact portion 13a of the contact 13 moves downward and the pivot support portion. 13e moves together with the operation element 15 in the upward direction by being elastically deformed. FIG. 4 shows this state. At this time, the expected rotation position of the corner of the outer periphery of the operation element 15 moves upward as indicated by a broken line R and does not overlap with the flat ribbon cable 3. In this state, the temporary holding portion 15c of the operation element 15 is
3d is in contact with a part separated from the pivot 13e.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the operating element 15 is further rotated from the state shown in FIG. In the state shown in FIG. 5, the flat ribbon cable 3 is pushed into the inner part of the receiving hole 11 by the operating element 15 and is securely held in the insulator 10. At this time, the contact portion 13a of the contact 13
The pivotal support portion 13e has elastically returned to the original position, and the expected rotation position of the outer peripheral corner of the operation element 15 overlaps the flat ribbon cable 3 again as indicated by the broken line R.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable 3 has an elastic force P which is constantly pushed upward by the contact portions 13a and 14a of the contacts 13 and 14.
1 and P2 are working. This elastic force acts on the operation element 15 via the flat ribbon cable 3, and the rotational moment due to the elastic forces P <b> 1 and P <b> 2 around the rotation axis E-E is set so as to satisfy Expression 1 described above. Therefore, a moment is applied to the operation element 15 to rotate the operation element 15 in the closing position direction. Therefore, even if an unexpected external force such as a vertical external force is applied to the cable or vibration or shock is applied to the connector, the operator 15 moves to the open position and the conductor on the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable 3 is moved. (Not shown) and each contact 13, 1
There is no possibility that the contact between the contact portions 4a and 4a becomes unstable or defective, and a reliable connection state can be maintained.

[0023]

According to the present invention, even if unexpected external force such as tension is applied to the cable from the outside or vibration or impact is applied to the connector, the conductor on the lower surface of the flat ribbon cable is connected to each other. There is no possibility that contact with the contact becomes defective, and a reliable connection state can be maintained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a flat cable connector of the present invention in a state where an operation element is closed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the flat cable connector according to the present invention, in which an operation element is in an upright state (open state).

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the flat cable connector according to the present invention when an operator is in an upright state.

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the flat cable connector of the present invention at an intermediate position between an upright state and a closed state.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the flat cable connector according to the present invention when an operator is in a closed state.

FIG. 6 is a side view for explaining a configuration of a main part in the flat cable connector of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flat cable connector 3 Flat ribbon cable 10 Insulator 11 Reception hole 13 Contact 13a Contact part 13e Pivot part 14 Contact 14a Contact part 15 Operator

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 12/28 H01R 13/639

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of contacts housed in an insulator such that contact portions are formed at free ends, and the contact portions are alternately extended in opposite directions, and a conductor contacted by the plurality of contacts. The insulator is rotatable between an open position for receiving a flat cable wired on one surface and a closed position for pressing the other surface of the flat cable so as to press the conductor of the flat cable against the contact portion of the plurality of contacts. A contact portion of the plurality of contacts is alternately extended on both sides of a pivot shaft of the operator, and a rotational moment about the pivot shaft by each contact portion is provided. Characterized in that the sum of the two is configured to give a moment for rotating the operation element in the closed position direction. Nectar. 2. A contact which applies a moment in the direction of the open position to the operator among the plurality of contacts, and a contact which applies a moment in the direction opposite to the direction of the open position to the operator. The distance between the contact portion of the first contact and the pivot shaft is smaller than the distance between the contact portion of the second contact and the pivot shaft.
The flat cable connector described. 3. A contact that applies a moment in the direction of the open position to the operator among the plurality of contacts, and a contact that applies a moment in the direction opposite to the direction of the open position to the operator. The contact pressure of the contact portion of the first contact on the cable surface is made smaller than the contact pressure of the contact portion of the second contact on the cable surface when the second contact is used as the second contact. Flat cable connector.