JP3122964B2 - Wicking prevention mechanism for electrical connectors - 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, and more particularly, to a mechanism for preventing wicking of an electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various electrical connectors are mounted on printed circuit boards. Such electrical connectors include a housing having a terminal receiving passage, with the solder tails or feet of the terminals protruding from the housing and soldered to appropriate circuit traces on a printed circuit board. The solder tail may be inserted into a hole in the printed circuit board or may form a substantially flat foot for surface mounting to the printed circuit board. In any case, the circuit traces on the printed circuit board can be soldered to the solder tail, regardless of whether they are around holes or constitute flat contact pads.

[0003]

A problem with such electrical connectors is that the flowing solder and flux wet the surface mounting pads or through holes on the printed circuit board and cause the terminals of the connector to rise and cause wicking. is there. Wicking, as is well known in the art, is undesirable because it causes connector damage, connector malfunction, short circuits, and poor solder connections.

Heretofore, various solutions have been taken to prevent the phenomenon of solder wicking. Most of these solutions involve special parts and materials.
For example, additional mechanical components have been used to surround the terminals or close the terminal receiving passages to mechanically block solder wicking. For this, a material such as a polyester film, Teflon or ethoxy is used. An anti-wicking piece of aluminum material is also used.

[0005] Each of these solutions requires extra parts,
Because of the accompanying materials and fluids, the manufacturing cost of the connector is significantly increased. The present invention eliminates the need to provide these separate barriers, provides a protruding portion or extra material integrally with the housing, and heat-fixes the exterior of the housing to form an effective anti-wicking barrier to provide a connector It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution in which wicking of the solder and the flux material along the terminals is very easily and reliably prevented, and the manufacturing cost of the connector can be reduced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved anti-wicking mechanism for an electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit board having solderable circuit wiring.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following technical means. That is, the present invention will be described with reference to the reference numerals in the accompanying drawings corresponding to the embodiments.
0 anti-wicking mechanism, wherein the housing 1
2 has a front fitting end 14 and a rear terminal connecting end 16, and a plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 extending between the front fitting end 14 and the rear terminal connecting end 16. A plurality of terminals 34 are inserted into each of the terminal receiving passages 22 through openings 24 formed in the rear terminal connection end 16 of the housing 12, and each of the terminals 34 is connected to a circuit wiring of a printed circuit board. The rear end connection end 1 of the housing 12 so as to be soldered to
6 has a solder tail 34b protruding from the terminal 3.
4 is attached to each terminal receiving passage 22 after the housing 1
2 is an electrical connector 10 which prevents solder or flux material from flowing into the respective terminal receiving passages 22 along the terminals 34 to cause wicking by closing the respective openings 24 of the respective terminal receiving passages 22. The rear end connecting end 16 of the housing 12 has an outwardly projecting housing extending along a row of openings 24 in the plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 to provide extra housing material. Rib 4 integral with 12
0, and the rib 40 is connected to each of the terminal receiving passages 2.
2 is a wicking prevention mechanism for an electric connector, wherein the terminal receiving passages 22 are sealed by heat fixing so as to close the respective openings 24.

In the above configuration, the solder tail 34b of the terminal 34 can be configured to be bent at a right angle when leaving the opening 23 of the terminal receiving passage 22 so as to be surface-mounted on the printed circuit board. The terminal 34 may further include a barb 34c for holding the terminal 34 at an appropriate position in the terminal receiving passage 22 of the housing 12, and the heat fixing 40a may be a wicking prevention mechanism that functions as a holding mechanism. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, the integral housing 12 is provided with a plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 extending between the front fitting end 14 and the rear terminal connection end 16, and the opening of the rear terminal connection end 16 is provided. From 24, each of the plurality of terminals 34 is inserted into each of the terminal receiving passages 22, and each of the solder tails 34b of the terminals 34 is separated from the housing 12 so as to be soldered to the circuit wiring of the printed circuit board. Protruding and closing each terminal receiving passage 22 of the housing 12 after mounting each of the terminals 34 in each terminal receiving passage 22, whereby solder or flux material is transferred along the terminal 34 to each terminal receiving passage 22. A wicking prevention mechanism for the electrical connector 10 attached to a printed circuit board having solderable circuit wiring to prevent wicking from flowing into the circuit board. A method of, in the housing 12, the housing 1 at the rear terminating end 16
2 and a rib 40 that can be heat-fixed integrally with the opening 2 of the terminal receiving passage 22.
This is a method of forming a wicking preventing mechanism of the electrical connector 10, wherein the terminal receiving passages 22 are closed by heat-fixing the electric connector 10.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an electrical connector 10 for attachment to a printed circuit board (not shown). As is well known,
Printed circuit boards are solderable circuit wiring, for example,
It has plated through holes or flat solderable contact pads. The interconnection between the circuit wiring and the electrical connector 10 will be described below.

More specifically, the electrical connector 10 is an integral one-piece having a front mating end 14 and a rear termination connection end 16.
A housing 12 made of a piece of insulating material is provided. The housing 12 is formed of an insulating material such as plastic. The mating plug portion 18 projects from the mating end 14,
A plurality of terminal blade receiving grooves 20 are included. A plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 extend through housing 12 between mating end 14 and rear termination connection end 16. These terminal receiving passages 22 have openings 24 at the rear terminal connection end 16.
The terminal receiving passages 22 and the openings 24 are spaced apart in a longitudinal row of the housing 12.

Further, the housing 12 includes a mounting nail 30.
Mounting blocks 26 on both sides. The two mounting nails 30 on both sides of the housing 12
Substantially flat feet 32 are provided for surface connection to mounting pads on the printed circuit board. The mounting nail 30 is stamped and formed of sheet metal material and has a substantially flat foot 32.
Is soldered to the mounting pads of the printed circuit board during the soldering process to secure the connector 10 to the printed circuit board.

Referring to FIG. 3 in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the terminal receiving passage 22 extends through the housing 12 between the mating end 14 and the rear terminating end 16. It can also be seen that each terminal blade receiving groove 20 provided on the outer surface of the mating plug portion 18 of the housing 12 forms an extension of the terminal receiving passage 22.

1 and 2, a plurality of terminals 34 are inserted into the terminal receiving passage 22 through the opening 24 in the direction of arrow A. These terminals 34
Can be loaded rearward into the housing 12 and all terminals 34 can be connected and loaded simultaneously.

Each terminal 34 is substantially L-shaped, and its first
Form a contact blade 34a that extends through the terminal receiving passage 22 to the terminal receiving passage 20 outside of the mating plug portion 18 of the housing 12. This contact blade 34a
Can be engaged with the contacts of a complementary mating connector (not shown). Each L-shaped terminal 34 further includes a second leg or terminal solder tail 34b that is bent substantially at a right angle when exiting the opening 24 in the terminal receiving passage 22. The solder tail 34b of this terminal is soldered to a flat solderable contact pad on the printed circuit board. Barbs 3 on both edges of the contact blade 34a of each terminal 34
4c is formed. These barbs 34c bite into the plastic material of the housing 12 within the terminal receiving passage 22 to hold the terminal 34 in place in the terminal receiving passage 22 of the housing 12.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, a space 36 exists between the contact blade 34a of the terminal 34 and the inner surface of the terminal receiving passage 22. This is true for all terminals 34. Without any anti-wicking mechanism,
The solder or the flux flows into the space 36 along the contact blade 34a of the terminal 34 due to the capillary phenomenon, causing a problem that the terminal 34 does not function or a short circuit occurs between the terminals 34. Conventionally, this problem has been solved by providing extra parts to block the terminal receiving passage, filling the terminal receiving passage with extra material such as epoxy, or providing a separate barrier such as a plastic film or aluminum strip. Extra parts or materials, such as provision, are mainly used. According to the present invention, it is possible to easily prevent the solder material from flowing into the terminal receiving passage 22 along the terminal 34 and causing wicking simply by thermally fixing the housing 12 so as to close the terminal receiving passage 22 in the opening 24. You.

More specifically, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the housing 12 is provided with a protruding portion, or extra material, near the terminal 34, and this is applied to the terminal 34 by heat. Fix to prevent wicking of solder. As shown, outwardly projecting ribs 40 are integrally formed with housing 12 and extend the length of the row of terminals 34. The terminals 34 are bent in an alternating arrangement with respect to the opposite ends of the housing 12, so that, as is evident from FIG. 2, the ribs 40 extend between the alternately bent solder tails 34b of the terminals 34. Extends along the columns. Also, the rib 40 is located very close to the opening 24 of the terminal receiving passage 22, as is apparent from FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
The excess material of the second rib 40 is thermally fixed as in the case of 40a, and the opening 24 is completely closed.
The terminal receiving passage 22 is completely closed at the second rear end connection end 16. Thus, the heat set portion 40a of the housing 12 forms a barrier to prevent a substantial amount of solder or flux material from flowing along the terminals 34 into the housing 12 and causing wicking.
In addition, the heat-fixed portion 40a also serves to hold the terminal 34 in place in the terminal receiving passage 22 of the housing 12.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an effective anti-wicking barrier is formed by heat-fixing the outside of the housing to prevent wicking of solder and flux material along connector terminals. It is evident that an electrical connector with a very simple mechanism has been provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a fitting end of an electric connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an opposite end, that is, a terminal connection end of the electrical connector before heat fixing.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 after the housing has been heat set.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial perspective view showing a finally heat-fixed portion of the housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electric connector 12 Housing 14 Front fitting end 16 Rear terminal connection end 18 Fitting plug part 20 Terminal blade receiving groove 22 Terminal receiving passage 24 Opening 34 Terminal 34a Contact blade of terminal 34b Solder tail of terminal 40 Rib 40a Heat fixed part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor George M. Simmel Singapore Tanjung Ruardi 9 The Waterside 04-02 (56) References JP-A-4-39878 (JP, A) Jpn. JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 12/04 H01R 12/22

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wicking prevention mechanism for an electrical connector having an integral housing, wherein the housing includes a front mating end and a rear termination connection end.
And a plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 extending between the front fitting end 14 and the rear terminal connection end 16. The housing 12 is formed at the rear terminal connection end 16 of the housing 12. The terminal receiving passage 2 through the opening 24
2, a plurality of terminals 34 are inserted into each of the terminals, and each of the terminals 34 protrudes from the rear terminal connection end 16 of the housing 12 so as to be soldered to circuit wiring of a printed circuit board. A tail 34b is provided. After the terminals 34 are mounted in the terminal receiving passages 22, the openings 24 of the terminal receiving passages 22 of the housing 12 are closed, so that the solder or the flux material is removed from the terminals 3.
4 is an electrical connector 1 which is prevented from flowing into each of the terminal receiving passages 22 along line 4 to cause wicking.
0 in the anti-wicking mechanism.
The two rear termination connection ends 16 are formed with ribs 40 integral with the outwardly projecting housing 12 extending along rows of openings 24 of the plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 to provide extra housing material; A wicking prevention mechanism for an electrical connector, wherein the ribs (40) are heat-fixed so as to close the openings (24) of the terminal receiving passages (22) to seal the terminal receiving passages (22). 2. The wicking prevention mechanism of an electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the solder tail of the terminal is bent when leaving the opening of the terminal receiving passage so as to be surface-mounted on a printed circuit board. 3. The terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a barb for holding the terminal in an appropriate position in the terminal receiving passage of the housing, and wherein the heat fixing member also functions as a holding mechanism. A wicking prevention mechanism for the electrical connector described in the above. 4. A plurality of terminal receiving passages 22 extending between the front fitting end 14 and the rear terminal connection end 16 are provided in the integral housing 12, and the terminal receiving passages are formed through openings 24 in the rear terminal connection end 16. Each of the plurality of terminals 34 is inserted into each of the terminals 22, and the solder tail 34 b of each of the terminals 34 is
The terminals protrude from the housing 12 so as to be soldered to the circuit wiring of the printed circuit board, and after the terminals 34 are mounted in the respective terminal receiving passages 22, the terminal receiving passages 22 of the housing 12 are closed. A wicking prevention mechanism for the electrical connector 10 attached to a printed circuit board having solderable circuit wiring to prevent solder or flux material from flowing into each terminal receiving passage 22 along the terminals 34 to cause wicking. In the forming method, the housing 12 is provided with a heat-fixable rib 40 integral with the housing 12 at the rear end connection end 16, and the rib 40 is connected to each of the terminal receiving passages 2.
A method for forming a wicking prevention mechanism of the electric connector 10, wherein each of the terminal receiving passages 22 is closed by heat-setting by closing the second opening 24.