JP4632604B2 - FPC connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an FPC connector capable of connecting the end of an FPC (in this specification, generally referred to as a “FPC”, which is generally referred to as a flat flexible cable called FPC, FFC, etc.). About.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, this FPC connector includes a housing in which an FPC insertion cavity is defined, a plurality of conductive terminals provided in parallel with the housing with a contact piece facing the FPC insertion cavity of the housing, and contacts and conductive of the FPC. It is composed of an actuator for engaging the contact pieces of the terminal with a predetermined contact pressure, a pressing member called a slide member, a retainer and the like. Japanese Patent No. 2874594, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-162908, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-83652, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-326439, etc. disclose such a structure.
[0003]
By the way, the contact formed at the end of the FPC may be located on the upper surface of the FPC or on the lower surface of the FPC depending on the routing of the FPC in the electronic device. The actual situation is that the arrangement of the contact piece in the FPC insertion cavity and the pressing member for operating the contact piece are individually designed according to the position of the contact of the FPC.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In recent years, as is well known, with the miniaturization of electronic components and electronic devices, the FPC connector is also strongly required to be miniaturized, in particular, low profile. In particular, there is a strong demand for a low-profile structure in which the contact portion of the FPC can be connected to the upper surface of the FPC.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-profile FPC connector that can be connected to an FPC having contacts on the upper surface.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention based on the above object includes a housing in which an FPC insertion cavity is defined,
A plurality of conductive terminals provided in parallel with the housing with the contact piece facing the FPC insertion cavity of the housing;
An FPC connector including an actuator for bringing a contact piece of a conductive terminal into contact with a contact of an FPC inserted into an FPC insertion cavity.
A plurality of hold terminals having an FPC support piece for supporting the lower surface of the FPC inserted into the FPC insertion cavity and an actuator engagement piece extending substantially parallel to the FPC support piece are adjacent to the conductive terminal in the housing. The actuator is engaged with the actuator engaging piece of the hold terminal and can be rotated, and the contact piece of the conductive terminal is directed to the FPC support piece by the rotation of the actuator. The FPC connector is characterized in that it is displaced so as to be brought into contact with the upper surface contact of the FPC supported by the FPC support piece.
[0007]
[Action]
According to the FPC connector of the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to provide a low-profile FPC connector that can be connected to an FPC having contacts on the upper surface. This low profile is brought about by a configuration in which the hold terminal is provided adjacent to the conductive terminal.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0009]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the FPC connector 1 of the embodiment includes a housing 2, a conductive terminal 3, a hold terminal 4, and an actuator 5.
[0010]
The housing 2 is formed by molding an insulating plastic into the illustrated shape.
A plurality of conductive terminals 3 arranged side by side at a predetermined pitch are insert-molded. The conductive terminal 3 has a solder tail 6 at one end and a contact piece 7 at the other end, and an intermediate portion sandwiched between the solder tail 6 and the contact piece 7 is embedded in the housing 2. The contact piece 7 is exposed and faces the FPC insertion cavity 8 defined in the housing 2 in a cantilever state. The contact piece 7 is formed in an arc shape with a tip protruding downward, and the lower surface is a contact portion 7a so as to face the upper surface of the FPC 10 (see FIG. 4) inserted into the FPC insertion cavity 8 through the insertion port 9. It is. The solder tail 6 is substantially flush with the bottom surface of the housing 2 and extends outward.
[0011]
The hold terminal 4 is attached to the housing 2 in which the conductive terminal 3 is insert-molded by press-fitting from the upper surface (the upper side in FIG. 1). The hold terminals 4 are installed adjacent to the conductive terminals 3 between and on the outer sides of the parallel conductive terminals 3.
[0012]
Each hold terminal 4 has the same shape formed by punching a thin metal plate, like the conductive terminal 3, and as shown in FIG. 1, a mounting portion provided with a press-fitting locking piece 11. 12, the FPC support piece 13 and the actuator engagement piece 14 are cantilevered. The FPC support piece 13 extends along the bottom of the FPC insertion cavity 8 defined in the housing 2 and supports the lower surface of the inserted FPC 10. The actuator engagement piece 14 extends substantially parallel to the FPC support piece 13 and adjacent to the contact piece 7 of the conductive terminal 3 above the FPC insertion cavity 8. The front end of the actuator engagement piece 14 has a crank shape on the upper side to form an engagement protrusion 15.
[0013]
The actuator 5 is formed by molding an insulating plastic like the housing. The size is such that the upper surface of the housing 2 can be substantially covered. A plurality of engagement windows 16 are formed through the actuator 5 so as to correspond to the positions of the actuator engagement pieces 14 provided on the hold terminal 4, and are provided at the tip of the actuator engagement pieces 14. The engagement protrusion 15 is inserted so that the actuator 5 and the hold terminal 4 are engaged.
[0014]
By such engagement between the actuator 5 and the hold terminal 4, the actuator 4 can be rotated between the open state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the closed state shown in FIGS. ing. That is, the end of the FPC 10 can be inserted into the FPC insertion cavity 8 with the actuator 5 open, and then the actuator 5 is rotated to a closed state, so that the inserted FPC 10 and the conductive terminal 3 The connection is made possible.
[0015]
At the edge portion defining the engagement window 16 of the actuator 5, the edge portion engaged with the lower edge of the engagement protrusion 15 is a cam portion 17 having an oval cross section. 17 and the engaging protrusion 15 constitute an engaging portion between the actuator 5 and the hold terminal 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the cam portion 17 is substantially horizontal when the actuator 5 is opened, and is below the engaging protrusion 15 that extends substantially horizontally above the FPC insertion cavity 8. Engage along the edges. Further, when the actuator 5 is rotated to the closed state, the cam portion 17 is also rotated by more than 90 degrees, and as shown in FIGS. One arcuate end is configured to engage with the lower edge of the engaging protrusion 15.
[0016]
A partition wall 18 is formed between the plurality of engagement windows 16 as described above. The partition wall 18 corresponds to the position of the contact piece 7 of the conductive terminal 3 provided in the housing 2. The partition wall 18 is formed to protrude toward the inner surface (lower surface) side of the actuator 5, and presses the contact piece 7 downward, that is, toward the FPC support piece 13 of the hold terminal 4 when the actuator 5 is closed. 19 is formed. In the case of this embodiment, the edge portion of the pressing portion 19 and the arc-shaped end portion (on the FPC support piece 13 side) of the cam portion 17 are aligned in a straight line without forming irregularities.
[0017]
Next, an operation for connecting the FPC 10 to the FPC connector 1 configured as described above will be described.
[0018]
When connecting the FPC 10, the actuator 5 is opened as shown in FIGS. In this state, the end of the FPC 10 is inserted into the FPC insertion cavity 8 of the housing 2 through the insertion port 9. The end of the inserted FPC 10 enters along the upper side of the FPC support piece 13 of the hold terminal 4, and the upper surface of the FPC 10 faces the actuator engagement piece 14 of the hold terminal 4 and the contact piece 7 of the conductive terminal 3. To do. By setting the distance between the FPC support piece 13 of the hold terminal 4 and the contact piece 7 of the conductive terminal 3 wider than the thickness of the FPC 10, the insertion of the FPC 10 is performed under a so-called ZIF (zero insertion force). It is something that can be done.
[0019]
After the FPC 10 is inserted, the connection can be completed simply by rotating the actuator 5 from the opened state to the closed state shown in FIGS. When the actuator 5 is closed, the pressing portion 19 of the partition wall 18 lowers the pressure on the contact piece 7 of the conductive terminal 3 while the cam portion 17 is engaged with the engagement protrusion 15 of the actuator engagement piece 14 of the hold terminal 4. Then, the contact portion 7a is engaged with the contact 20 provided on the upper surface of the FPC 10 to be electrically conducted. An upward force is applied to the actuator engaging piece 14 of the hold terminal 4 from the cam portion 17, while a downward force is applied to the FPC support piece 13 from the partition wall 18 to support the actuator engaging piece 14 and the FPC. The piece 13 is elastically deformed in the expanding direction. Since the restoring force of this elastic deformation stably maintains the engaged state between the contact portion 7a and the contact point 20, highly reliable conduction can be ensured.
[0020]
The structure in which the hold terminal 4 installed so that the actuator 5 is rotatably provided is adjacent to the side portion of the conductive terminal 3 is low in reducing the dimension in the height direction (vertical direction) of the FPC connector 1. It greatly contributes to the height change. By avoiding the conductive terminal 3 for electrical connection and the hold terminal 4 for forming the contact pressure between the contact piece 7 and the FPC 10 in a two-story structure, an increase in the dimension in the height direction is avoided. Because it can.
[0021]
Thus, the configuration in which the conductive terminal 3 and the hold terminal 4 are adjacent to each other is not limited to the configuration in which the contact piece 7 of the conductive terminal 3 is opposed to the upper surface of the FPC 10 as in the embodiment. 7 can be employed even in a configuration in which the FPC 10 is opposed to the lower surface of the FPC 10 (in this case, the shape of the conductive terminal and the hold terminal is different from that of the above-described embodiment). Is something that can be done.
[0022]
In addition, the structure in which the conductive terminal 3 is provided in the housing 2 by insert molding while the hold terminal 4 is provided in the housing 2 by press-fitting is such that each of the terminals 3 and 4 is assembled individually and sequentially in the manufacture of the FPC connector 1. Can be done in a lump. As a result, it is effective in streamlining manufacturing and improving efficiency.
[0023]
Furthermore, the configuration in which the actuator engagement piece 14 of the hold terminal 4 extends through the engagement window of the actuator 5 can widen the rotation range of the actuator 5 and reduce the thickness of the actuator 5 as much as possible. It is effective in that it is possible.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the hold terminal is provided so as to be adjacent to the conductive terminal, and the actuator can be rotated by the hold terminal. can do. Then, the contact piece of the conductive terminal is pressed down by the rotating actuator so as to come into contact with and engage with the contact on the upper surface of the FPC. As a result of the drawing, the FPC can be connected to the FPC having the contact on the upper surface. A connector can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an FPC connector according to an embodiment of the present invention with an actuator opened.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the FPC connector according to the embodiment with the actuator opened.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the FPC connector according to the embodiment with the actuator closed.
4 is a cross-sectional view of the FPC connector according to the embodiment in a state where the actuator is closed after the FPC is inserted. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector for FPC 2 Housing 3 Conductive terminal 4 Hold terminal 5 Actuator 7 Contact piece 8 FPC insertion cavity 10 FPC
13 FPC support piece 14 Actuator engagement piece 16 Engagement window 20 Contact

Claims (3)

And Haujin grayed the FPC insertion sky-dong has been defined,
The FPC inserted empty sinus Haujin grayed to face the contact pieces, a plurality of conductive pin disposed in parallel to Haujin grayed,
Oite contact piece conductive pin in the actuator and an FPC connector which has a for causing the contact to contact points of the inserted FP C to FPC insertion empty dong,
And FPC support pieces for supporting the lower surface of the FP C to be inserted into the FPC insertion air sinus, a plurality of holding pin having an actuator engaging pieces extending substantially parallel to the FPC support piece, the Haujin grayed, conductive as adjacent to the pin is installed,
The actuator engages the actuator engagement pieces hold end element is rotatable, and, with the contact piece of the conductive pin is displaced toward the FPC support piece by the rotation of the actuator, FPC connector being characterized in that so as to abut on face contacts the supported FP C in FPC support piece. Conductive pin is insert-molded to Haujin grayed, hold pin is FPC connector according to claim 1 that is mounted by press-fitting from above into Haujin grayed. The actuator engagement pieces hold end child is, extends through the engagement windows of the actuator, FPC connector according to claim 1 or 2 engaged with the actuator.

Images