JP5480185B2 - Connection structure between board and connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connection structure between a plurality of boards and connectors arranged in parallel so as to overlap each other in a parallel arrangement direction orthogonal to a plane direction.

  In general, an electrical connection box mounted on an automobile or the like contains a board on which a plurality of circuit elements are mounted, but from the fact that the circuit has become complicated due to an increase in in-vehicle electrical components, etc. The number of circuit elements and conductors on the substrate has increased, and as a result, there has been a problem that the substrate is enlarged in the planar direction.

  Therefore, conventionally, it has been proposed to divide a circuit into a plurality of circuits and to arrange a plurality of substrates in parallel so as to overlap each other in a parallel arrangement direction orthogonal to the planar direction of the substrates. (See Patent Documents 1 to 3 below).

  By the way, when a plurality of boards are arranged in parallel as described above, when connecting the plurality of boards to an external connector having a plurality of external terminals, the plurality of external terminals are individually connected to the corresponding boards. There is.

  Therefore, a board-side connector that can be connected to an external connector is mounted on any of the plurality of boards, and as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the board-to-board connection terminals that connect the boards to each other It is conceivable that the terminal of the board-side connector (referred to as a board-side terminal) is connected to another board via a conductor on the board and the inter-board connection terminal.

  However, in this case, an inter-board connection terminal is newly required, which leads to an increase in the connection terminal, and a conductor for connecting the board-side connector and the inter-board connection terminal must be provided on the board. In this case, in addition to the increase in cost, depending on the required circuit specifications, the inter-board connection terminals and the conductors may be placed on the board in relation to other mounting parts (including circuit elements and connectors) and conductors. It is conceivable that the circuit itself cannot be constructed because it is difficult to provide the circuit board, and the degree of freedom in laying out the mounting components and conductors on the substrate is significantly limited.

  When one external connector having a plurality of external terminals is connected to a plurality of substrates, the substrate-side connector needs to have a plurality of substrate-side terminals corresponding to the plurality of external terminals and the substrate.

  By the way, in the following Patent Document 3, two (board side) terminals having different lengths in the parallel arrangement direction are provided in order to individually connect two independent relays to two boards, and one of the terminals However, there is disclosed a structure that penetrates an upper substrate that is not electrically connected in a contact state.

  However, Patent Document 3 below is a structure in which two independent relays are individually connected to corresponding boards, and one external connector is not connected to a plurality of boards.

  Further, in Patent Document 3 below, if a through-hole that penetrates the board-side terminal is displaced due to tolerance or the like, the board-side terminal that penetrates the through-hole is inclined by contact with the board, and one end thereof is at a predetermined position. There is a risk of dislodging.

  Here, consider the case where the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 3 below is applied to a structure in which one external connector is connected to a plurality of substrates. In this case, if the through hole is displaced, there is a possibility that the substrate side terminal penetrating the through hole is inclined and one end thereof is shifted from a predetermined position. If this happens, it is not possible to properly fit a plurality of external terminals with the corresponding board-side terminals, so that both connectors cannot be connected to each other, and eventually one external connector is connected to a plurality of boards. Will not be able to.

  Therefore, extremely high accuracy is required in the design stage for determining the position of the through hole and the processing stage for forming the through hole in the substrate, resulting in a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased. .

JP 2005-312132 A JP 2006-33941 A JP 2007-227304 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a connection structure between a board and a connector that can reduce the cost while improving the degree of freedom in laying out mounting components and conductors on the board.

According to the present invention, a plurality of substrates are juxtaposed so as to overlap each other in a juxtaposed direction perpendicular to the planar direction of the substrates, and an external device having a plurality of external terminals on any of the plurality of substrates. A board-side connector connectable to the connector is mounted, and the board-side connector includes a plurality of board-side terminals that can be connected to the external terminals, and a housing that commonly accommodates one end of the plurality of board-side terminals. Each of the plurality of board-side terminals has a different length and extends in the juxtaposition direction, and the other end opposite to the one end is individually connected to the corresponding board. In the substrate, the housing is disposed so as to straddle the periphery of the contact avoiding portion that is cut out so as to be able to penetrate the substrate-side terminal connected to another substrate in a non-contact state, and holds the predetermined interval. And with In, characterized in that it is a connecting structure between the substrate and the connector having a planar direction position holding means for holding the relative position in the planar direction of the plurality of substrates.

The board-side connector includes a female connector having a plurality of rod-like or plate-like terminals as board-side terminals.
The housing includes a box-shaped housing having a rectangular cross-sectional shape and a cylindrical housing having a circular cross-sectional shape.
The external connector includes a male connector having a plurality of female terminals as external terminals.
The contact avoiding portion includes a cutout portion formed by cutting out a part of the edge of the substrate, or a through hole having a width larger than that of the substrate-side terminal in the vicinity of the edge of the substrate.
According to the present invention, when the external connector is connected to the board-side connector, one external connector can be connected to a plurality of boards. Specifically, the external terminals of the external connector are individually connected to the corresponding boards. Can be connected to.

  And the board | substrate connection terminal for connecting several board | substrates, and the conductor for connecting the board | substrate side connector and the board | substrate connection terminal can be abbreviate | omitted. For this reason, the freedom degree at the time of laying out mounting components and conductors on a plurality of substrates can be improved while reducing the cost of the connection structure.

Furthermore, by forming a contact avoidance portion that penetrates a substrate side terminal connected to another substrate in a non-contact state in the substrate, even if the contact avoidance portion has no high accuracy in designing and processing, the substrate And it can avoid reliably that the board | substrate side terminal connected to another board | substrate contacts, and the shift | offset | difference of the board | substrate side terminal resulting from both contact can be prevented reliably. In this case, while reducing the cost of the connection structure, one end of the board-side terminal accommodated in the housing can be reliably prevented from shifting from a predetermined position, and the external connector can be reliably connected to the plurality of boards via the board-side connector. Ru can be connected to.

In addition, with the above configuration , it is possible to reliably prevent the plurality of substrates from being relatively displaced in the juxtaposed direction, and as a result, it is possible to prevent one end of the substrate side terminal from being displaced in the juxtaposed direction. Thus, the so-called loose the fitting state between the substrate-side terminals and the external terminals is improperly can be reliably prevented, Ru can be securely connect the external connector by the substrate-side connector.

Furthermore, according to the above configuration , it is possible to reliably prevent the plurality of substrates from being relatively displaced in the planar direction, and as a result, it is possible to prevent one end of the substrate side terminal from being displaced in the planar direction. Thereby, the inconvenience that it becomes impossible to fit the board side terminal and the external terminal can be prevented more reliably, and the external connector can be reliably connected by the board side connector.

  As an aspect of the present invention, a terminal position holding portion that holds the relative positions of the plurality of board-side terminals in the planar direction can be provided in the housing.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to reliably prevent the board-side terminals having a long length in the juxtaposed direction from wobbling in the plane direction, and as a result, more reliably prevent one end of the board-side terminals from being displaced in the plane direction. it can. Thereby, the inconvenience that it becomes impossible to fit the board side terminal and the external terminal can be prevented more reliably, and the external connector can be reliably connected by the board side connector.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a connection structure between a board and a connector that can reduce the cost while improving the degree of freedom when laying out mounting components and conductors on the board.

The fragmentary sectional view which shows the connection structure of the board | substrate and connector which concern on embodiment of this invention. The principal part enlarged plan view which shows the principal part periphery of a female connector. The fragmentary sectional view which shows the connection structure of the board | substrate and connector which concern on other embodiment of this invention. The fragmentary sectional view which shows the connection structure of the board | substrate and connector which concern on further another embodiment of this invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connection structure between the board and the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is such that a plurality of (here, two) boards 1A and 1B are orthogonal to the plane direction of the boards 1A and 1B. The female connector 20 that can be connected to the male connector 40 having two female terminals 41a and 41b is mounted on one substrate 1A. The female connector 20 includes two male terminals 21a and 21b that can be connected to the female terminals 41a and 41b, and a housing 22 that commonly accommodates one ends of the male terminals 21a and 21b. , 21b have different lengths and extend in the juxtaposed direction, and the other end opposite to the one end is individually connected to the corresponding substrate 1A, 1B, respectively. Connect to other board 1B To form a notch 11 through which the pin 21b in a non-contact state.

In addition, holding means 30 is provided that holds the predetermined distance between the substrates 1A and 1B and holds the relative positions of the substrates 1A and 1B in the planar direction.
Further, the housing 22 is provided with a bottom 22a that holds the relative positions of the male terminals 21a and 21b in the planar direction.

The configuration of the above-described connection structure between the board and the connector (hereinafter simply referred to as “connection structure”) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a connection structure, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a main part around a female connector.

  The connection structure according to the present embodiment can be applied to, for example, an electric connection box (not shown) mounted on an automobile or the like, and mainly includes circuit elements 2,... Constituting a circuit inside the electric connection box. The first board 1A, the second board 1B on which the circuit elements 3, 4,... Are mounted, the female connector 20, and the holding member 30 are included.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, two substrates 1A and 1B are juxtaposed so as to overlap each other at a predetermined interval in a juxtaposition direction orthogonal to the plane direction of the substrates 1A and 1B. Thus, the circuit inside the electric junction box is divided into two layers.

  Among them, the female connector 20 is mounted on the substrate 1A in the vicinity of the edge in addition to the circuit elements 2. The female connector 20 has two male terminals 21a and 21b corresponding to the number of the boards 1A and 1B, and a box having a rectangular cross-sectional shape that accommodates one end of each of the male terminals 21a and 21b in common. A mold housing 22 is provided. However, the housing 22 may be, for example, a cylindrical one having a circular cross-sectional shape.

  The male terminals 21a and 21b are both rod-shaped pins arranged so as to extend in the juxtaposed direction, and one end thereof is arranged at the same position in the terminal longitudinal direction (the juxtaposed direction). The male terminals 21a and 21b penetrate the bottom 22a of the housing 22 from the one end and extend toward the substrates 1A and 1B, respectively, as will be described later, and the positions in the planar direction are held at predetermined positions by the bottom 22a. ing.

  By the way, the member 40 shown with a dashed-two dotted line in FIG. 1 is an external male connector, and has the two female terminals 41a and 41b corresponding to the male terminals 21a and 21b of the female connector 20 mentioned above. . As described above, the male terminals 21a and 21b are held in place by the bottom 22a of the housing 22, so that when the male connector 40 is inserted into the housing 22, the male terminals 21a and 21b, the female terminals 41a, 41b can be made to oppose appropriately, and both can be made to fit reliably. The connectors 20 and 40 are connected to each other by fitting the male terminal 21a and the female terminal 41a, and the male terminal 21b and the female terminal 41b facing each other.

  The male terminals 21a and 21b have different lengths and extend from one end disposed inside the housing 22 toward the different substrates 1A and 1B in the juxtaposed direction.

  Of the two male terminals 21a and 21b, the shorter male terminal 21a is extended from the inside of the housing 22 to the substrate 1A and connected thereto, while the longer male terminal 21b is connected to the inside of the housing 22 It extends to the substrate 1B and is connected thereto. That is, the other end opposite to one end of the male terminals 21a and 21b is individually connected to the corresponding substrates 1A and 1B.

  On the board 1A, conductors (not shown) for connecting the connection points connecting the male terminals 21a and the respective circuit elements 2,... Are provided, and on the board 1B, connection points connecting the male terminals 21b. Are provided with conductors (not shown) for connecting the circuit elements 3, 4,. Thus, when the external male connector 40 is connected to the female connector 20, one male connector 40 can be connected to the two substrates 1A and 1B. Specifically, the male connector 40 The female terminals 41a, 41b can be individually connected to the corresponding circuit elements 2,... Of the substrate 1A and the circuit elements 3, 4,.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a notch 11 that is recessed inward in the planar direction is formed at a position corresponding to the female connector 20 at the edge of the substrate 1 </ b> A. In the substrate 1A, the female connector 20 (housing 22) is fixed and supported on the peripheral portion of the notch 11, and the male terminal 21b passes through the notch 11 so that the substrate 1A is not contacted. It penetrates in a state.

  In addition, columnar holding members 30 extending in the extending direction are provided in the vicinity of the edges of the substrates 1A and 1B so as to straddle the two substrates 1A and 1B. The holding member 30 is made of, for example, an insulator such as resin, and both ends thereof are connected to the substrates 1A and 1B. Accordingly, the relative positions of the substrates 1A and 1B in the juxtaposed direction are maintained to maintain the predetermined interval, and the relative positions of the substrates 1A and 1B in the planar direction are also maintained.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the male terminal 21a extends from the inside of the housing 22 to the substrate 1A and is connected thereto, while the male terminal 21b extends from the inside of the housing 22 to the substrate 1B and directly connected thereto. Thus, the inter-board connection terminals for connecting the boards 1A and 1B and the conductor for connecting the female connector 20 and the inter-board connection terminals on the board 1A can be omitted. Therefore, it is possible to improve the degree of freedom when laying out mounting components (circuit elements 2, 3, 4,..., Female connector 20) and conductors on the boards 1A and 1B while reducing the cost of the connection structure. it can.

  Furthermore, in the substrate 1A, by forming the notch portion 11 that penetrates the male terminal 21b in a non-contact state, even if the notch portion 11 is not designed and processed with high accuracy, It is possible to reliably avoid contact with the male terminal 21b connected to the other substrate 1B, and to prevent the displacement of the male terminal 21b due to the contact between the two. In this case, while reducing the cost of the connection structure, one end of the male terminal 21b accommodated in the housing 22 can be reliably prevented from shifting from a predetermined position, and the external male connector 40 can be connected via the female connector 20. Thus, it can be reliably connected to the substrates 1A and 1B.

  Further, by holding the predetermined interval by the holding member 30, it is possible to reliably prevent the substrates 1A and 1B from being relatively displaced in the juxtaposed direction, and as a result, the males in which the substrates 1A and 1B are connected to each other. One end of the terminals 21a and 21b can be prevented from shifting in the juxtaposed direction. Thereby, the so-called contact failure in which the fitting state between the male terminals 21a and 21b and the female terminals 41a and 41b becomes inappropriate can be surely prevented, and both the connectors 20 and 40 can be more reliably connected.

  Further, by holding the relative position in the planar direction between the substrates 1A and 1B by the holding member 30, it is possible to reliably prevent the substrates 1A and 1B from being relatively displaced in the planar direction. As a result, the male terminal It can prevent that the end of 21a, 21b slip | deviates to the said plane direction. Thereby, the inconvenience that the male terminals 21a and 21b and the female terminals 41a and 41b cannot be fitted can be prevented more reliably, and both the connectors 10 and 40 can be more reliably connected.

  In addition, the relative position in the planar direction between the male terminals 21a and 21b is held by the bottom 22a of the housing 22 to reliably prevent the male terminal 21b having a long length in the side-by-side direction from drifting in the planar direction. As a result, it is possible to more reliably prevent one end of the male terminal 21b from shifting in the planar direction. Thereby, the inconvenience that it becomes impossible to fit the male terminals 21a and 21b and the female terminals 41a and 41b can be prevented more reliably, and both the connectors 20 and 40 can be more reliably connected.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which only one holding member 30 is provided. However, in consideration of stabilization of the holding state of the substrates 1A and 1B, a plurality of holding members 30 are provided near the edges of the substrates 1A and 1B. It is preferable to provide it.

  Hereinafter, a connection structure according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the connection structure according to this embodiment. In FIG. 3, the same components as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The description is omitted.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a non-contact through hole 12 having a larger width than the male terminal 21b is formed at a position corresponding to the male terminal 21b on the substrate 1A ′. By passing through the contact through hole 12, the substrate 1A 'is penetrated in a non-contact state.

  Thus, when the non-contact through hole 12 that penetrates the male terminal 21b in a non-contact state is formed in the substrate 1A ', even if the non-contact through hole 12 is designed and processed, it does not have high accuracy. The contact between the substrate 1A 'and the male terminal 21b can be reliably avoided, and the displacement of the male terminal 21b due to the contact between the two can be reliably prevented.

  Therefore, in this embodiment as well as the first embodiment described above, it is possible to reliably prevent one end of the male terminal 21b accommodated in the housing 22 from shifting from a predetermined position while reducing the cost of the connection structure. The external male connector 40 can be reliably connected to the substrates 1A and 1B via the female connector 20.

  Hereinafter, a connection structure according to still another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the connection structure according to this embodiment. In FIG. 4, the same components as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The description is omitted.

  The connection structure according to this embodiment includes a third substrate 50C together with the substrates 50A and 50B corresponding to the first and second substrates 1A and 1B of the first embodiment. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the three substrates 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> C are juxtaposed so as to overlap each other in a juxtaposed direction orthogonal to the planar direction of the substrates 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> C, The circuit is divided into three layers.

  In addition to the circuit elements 2,..., The female connector 60 is mounted in the vicinity of the edge portion of the circuit board 50A, while the circuit elements 3, 4,. Are implemented respectively.

  The female connector 60 has three male terminals 61a to 61c extending in the extending direction corresponding to the number of the boards 50A to 50C and having different lengths, and one end of each of the male terminals 61a to 61c. The housing 62 accommodates in common. One end of each of the male terminals 61a to 61c is arranged at the same position in the terminal longitudinal direction (the parallel arrangement direction), and penetrates the bottom 62a of the housing 62 from the one end toward the substrates 50A to 50C, respectively. The position in the planar direction is held at a predetermined position by the bottom 62a.

  As described above, the male terminals 61a to 61c are held at predetermined positions by the bottom 62a of the housing 62, so that when the male connector 80 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. -61c and the female terminals 81a-81c are made to oppose appropriately, and both can be reliably fitted now. The connectors 60 and 80 are connected to each other when the opposing male terminals 61a to 61c and female terminals 81a to 81c are fitted to each other.

  The male terminals 61a to 61c individually connect the other ends of the male terminals 61a to 61c on the opposite side to the corresponding substrates 50A to 50C, respectively.

  And the conductor which connects the connection point which connected male terminal 61a-61c, and circuit element 2, ..., circuit element 3,4, ..., circuit element 5,6, ... on board 50A-50C, respectively. (Not shown) is provided. Thus, when the male connector 80 is connected to the female connector 60, one male connector 80 can be connected to the three substrates 50A to 50C. Specifically, the female terminals of the male connector 80 can be connected to each other. 81a to 81c can be individually connected to the corresponding circuit elements 2,... Of the substrate 50A, the circuit elements 3, 4,... Of the substrate 50B, and the circuit elements 5, 6,. Yes.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a notch 51 that is recessed inward in the planar direction is formed at a position corresponding to the female connector 60 at the edge of the board 50 </ b> A. The male terminals 61b and 61c pass through the notch 51, thereby penetrating the substrate 50A in a non-contact state.

  A notch 52 that is recessed inward in the planar direction is formed at the edge of the substrate 50B at a position corresponding to the male terminal 61c. The male terminal 61c passes through the notch 52, thereby penetrating the substrate 50B in a non-contact state.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the notch 51 that allows the male terminals 61b and 61c to pass through in the non-contact state in the substrate 50A and the notch 52 that allows the male terminal 61c to penetrate in the non-contact state in the substrate 50B are provided. Even if the notches 51 and 52 are designed and processed with high accuracy, the board 50A and the male terminals 61b and 61c are in contact with each other, and the board 50B and the male terminals 61c are connected. The contact can be reliably avoided, and the displacement of the male terminals 61b and 61c due to the contact between the two can be reliably prevented.

  Therefore, also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment described above, one end of the male terminals 61b and 61c accommodated in the housing 62 is reliably prevented from shifting from a predetermined position while reducing the cost of the connection structure. The male connector 80 can be reliably connected to the boards 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> C via the female connector 60.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in the vicinity of the edges of the substrates 50A to 50C, a holding member 70 extending in the extending direction is provided so as to straddle the three substrates 50A to 50C. ~ 50C are connected.

  Accordingly, the relative positions of the substrates 50A to 50C in the juxtaposed direction can be maintained to maintain the predetermined interval, and the relative positions of the substrates 50A to 50C in the planar direction can also be maintained. For this reason, both the connectors 60 and 80 can be connected more reliably.

In addition, you may apply embodiment which forms a non-contact through-hole as shown in FIG. 3 to the structure which arranged the board | substrate 3 sheets in the said parallel direction.
Moreover, although each embodiment mentioned above demonstrated the case where 2 or 3 board | substrates were juxtaposed in the said parallel arrangement direction, you may apply this invention to the structure which arranged 4 or more board | substrates in parallel.
Moreover, although the male terminal of the female connector has a rod shape, it is not necessarily limited to this, and may be, for example, a flat plate shape.

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment,
The board-side connector of the present invention corresponds to the female connectors 20 and 60,
Similarly,
The external terminals correspond to the female terminals 41a, 41b, 81a to 81c,
External connectors correspond to male connectors 40 and 80,
The board side terminals correspond to the male terminals 21a, 21b, 61a to 61c,
The contact avoiding portion corresponds to the notches 11, 51, 52 and the non-contact through hole 12,
The interval holding means and the planar direction position holding means correspond to the holding members 30 and 70,
The terminal position holding portion corresponds to the bottom portions 22a and 62a,
The present invention is not limited only to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and many embodiments can be obtained.

1A, 1A ', 1B, 50A to 50C ... Substrate 11, 51, 52 ... Notch 12 ... Non-contact through-hole 20, 60 ... Female connector 21a, 21b, 61a-61c ... Male terminal 22, 62 ... Housing 22a , 62a ... bottom 30, 70 ... holding member 40, 80 ... male connectors 41a, 41b, 81a-81c ... female terminals 11c, 21c, 31c ... connection parts 12, 22, 32 ... metal coating layer 40 ... resin coating layer

Claims (2)

A plurality of substrates are juxtaposed so as to overlap with a predetermined interval in a juxtaposition direction orthogonal to the planar direction of the substrates,
A board-side connector that can be connected to an external connector having a plurality of external terminals is mounted on any of the plurality of boards.
The board side connector includes a plurality of board side terminals connectable to the external terminals,
A housing for commonly housing one end of the plurality of board-side terminals;
The plurality of board-side terminals have different lengths and extend in the juxtaposed direction,
The other end opposite to the one end is individually connected to the corresponding substrate,
In the substrate, the housing is arranged so as to straddle the periphery of the contact avoidance part cut out so as to be able to penetrate the substrate side terminal connected to another substrate in a non-contact state ,
While having an interval holding means for holding the predetermined interval,
A structure for connecting a board and a connector , comprising plane direction position holding means for holding relative positions of the plurality of boards in the plane direction . Connection structure between the substrate and the connector according to the terminal position holding portion for holding the relative position in the planar direction of the plurality of substrate terminals to claim 1 provided in the housing.

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