JP5779488B2 - Shield connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a shield connector.

A shield connector including a grounded shield member (shell) is known (for example, Patent Document 1). In such a shielded connector, both the shielded connector and the mating connector are fitted with a shield member in a housing that holds contacts (terminals), thereby dropping noise to the grounding portion through the shield member.
Also, in the connector, it is possible to prevent the electrostatic discharge (electro-static discharge) to the contact that may occur when a charged object such as the mating connector or other foreign matter approaches, and to protect the circuit part to which the contact is connected. preferable. For that purpose, a method is adopted in which a grounded metal body is arranged in front of the contact toward the side where the mating connector or the like approaches, and the metal body is electrostatically discharged.
The shield connector of Patent Document 1 includes a resin housing that holds contacts and a shield case made of a metal plate that accommodates the housing, and the shield case is connected to a grounding portion. The shield case is a member for noise countermeasures, and also functions as a member for preventing electrostatic discharge to the contact (the above-described metal body).
In this Patent Document 1, when a large number of contacts are arranged in a plurality of rows and the interval between the contact rows is large, the possibility of discharging to the contacts instead of the shield case increases. A bridge is provided integrally with the front surface (fitting surface) of the shield case between the contact rows arranged. In this way, the discharge current is allowed to flow to the grounding portion through the bridge having both ends connected to the shield case.

JP-A-5-13131

In recent years, for example, in shielded connectors used for communication devices mounted on automobiles, demands for improving communication quality and reliability are increasing. Therefore, it is desired to sufficiently suppress the generation of noise from the device to the outside and the influence of the noise from the external device, and more reliably prevent electrostatic discharge to the contact when the connector is inserted or removed. In order to respond to this, it is not sufficient to house the housing in a shield case or to provide a bridge on the fitting surface as in Patent Document 1, and a contact structure is provided for bringing the shield member into contact with the shield member of the mating connector. I want to ensure high shielding performance.
As the contact structure, for example, there is a cantilever spring type contactor. The shield connector 7 shown in FIG. 9A has one fitting recess 85, a housing 80 that holds the contacts 84, and a shield made of a conductive material provided so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the housing 80. And a shell 81. A portion where both side portions of the shield shell 81 are cut and raised inward is a contact 82 which is a cantilever spring. The contact 82 is a member for causing noise to flow to the grounding portion via the shield shell 81 by being in contact with and electrically connected to the shield member of the mating connector, and further forward of the front end of the contact 84. It is also a member that prevents electrostatic discharge to the contact 84 by extending to the contact.

By the way, since two or more fitting recessed parts may be needed for one shielded connector, the present inventors examined as follows. First, similarly to FIG. 9A, when the shield shell 81 is provided so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the housing 80, a form like the shield connector 8 shown in FIG. 9B is obtained. That is, the shield connector 8 includes a housing 80 having two fitting recesses 85A and 85B and a shield shell 81. In the form of FIG. 9 (B), the distance between the contacts 82 and 82 is larger than that of the form of (A) because the number of the fitting recesses 85A and 85B is large. Then, even if the discharge current from the charged body such as the human body to the contact 84 in the vicinity of both sides of the shield shell 81 or the wire contact including the mating contact can be captured by the contacts 82, 82, The contact 84 near the boundary between 85A and 85B is far from the contact 82, and the distance between the charged object and the contact 84 is smaller than the distance between the charged object and the contact 82 approaching the fitting recesses 85A and 85B. Therefore, there is a possibility of short-circuiting to the contact 84 instead of the shield shell 81.
Here, in order to prevent a short circuit from the contact 82 to the contact 84 far from the contact 82 and to ensure high shielding performance, the contact 82 facing the fitting recess 85A is formed between the fitting recesses 85A and 85B. It is conceivable to provide a shield wall and a shield wall formed with a contact 82 facing the fitting recess 85B. In other words, if the shield shell 81 and the shield wall between the fitting recesses 85A and 85B surround the fitting recesses 85A and 85B, respectively, and the contactor 82 is also disposed at the boundary between the fitting recesses 85A and 85B, a high shield is achieved. It is ideal from the viewpoint of ensuring performance and more reliably preventing short circuit to the contact 84.
However, the connector is increased in size by the thickness of the shield wall provided between the fitting recesses 85A and 85B and the protrusion width of the contact. There is a high demand for connector space saving, and this thickness cannot be ignored.

Accordingly, the present inventors have studied for the purpose of downsizing while satisfying a predetermined shielding performance and maintaining a countermeasure against electrostatic discharge for preventing a short circuit to the contact. In the meantime, the idea of providing some metal piece along the front surface of the housing 80 was obtained.
However, when the metal piece is a bridge as in Patent Document 1, there are the following concerns. That is, if the contacts 82 and 82 are provided on both sides of the shield shell 81 and a bridge is provided between the fitting recesses 85A and 85B, the housing 80 prevents the bridge from interfering with the mounting of the shield shell 81. The shield shell 81 is mounted from the front of the. If it does so, the hole for letting the contacts 82 and 82 pass will be needed along a side wall inner surface from the front edge of fitting recessed part 85A, 85B. If such a hole is formed, the strength of the housing may be insufficient.

  The present invention has been made based on such a problem, and it is possible to reduce the size while ensuring the housing strength while taking a countermeasure against electrostatic discharge while preventing a short circuit to the contact while ensuring a predetermined shielding performance. An object is to provide a shielded connector.

Shield connector of the present invention includes a plurality of insulative housing comprising a fitting recess mating connector is fitted into their respective, and a conductive member mounted on the housing.
The housing includes a housing main body having a base portion that holds the contact and a peripheral wall portion that rises from the base portion, and a boundary portion that forms a plurality of fitting recesses by dividing an inner space of the peripheral wall portion.
The conductive member has a shield shell provided on the outer periphery of the housing body, and a boundary piece for preventing electrostatic discharge that is provided separately from the shield shell and provided at the boundary.
The shield shell contacts the conductive member of the mating connector fitted to one of the fitting concaves at both ends of the plurality of fitting concaves, and the conductive member of the mating connector fitted to the other Contactor.
In the shield connector, when the front end side of the peripheral wall portion and the side fitted to the mating connector is the front side and the base side is the rear side, the front ends of the contacts are respectively positioned forward of the front ends of the contacts.
The boundary piece extends along a surface facing the mating connector at the boundary portion (hereinafter, this surface is appropriately referred to as a “front surface”), and an opposing portion positioned forward of the front end of the contact, A contact portion that is continuous with at least one end portion and is in contact with the shield shell . The contact portion is elastically deformed by being sandwiched between the shield shell and the peripheral wall portion, and is in contact with the shield shell by an elastic force. To do.

According to the present invention , the shield shell is provided on the outer periphery of the housing, and the contact that contacts the conductive member of the mating connector is formed on the shield shell. Therefore, a predetermined shielding performance can be ensured.
Further, in addition to the front end of the contact of the shield shell being positioned in front of the front end of the contact, the opposing portion of the boundary piece is also positioned in front of the front end of the contact, thereby being far from the contact of the shield shell. It is possible to prevent electrostatic discharge to each contact including the contact near the boundary of the fitting recess. That is, since a discharge current that is about to flow to the contact from a mating connector or a charged object such as a foreign object is short-circuited to the contactor and the boundary piece in front of the contact, a short circuit to the contact can be prevented.
Here, since the boundary piece only needs to be a conductive member that extends along the front surface of the boundary part and is thinner than the boundary part, the shield connector can be downsized in the direction (width direction) in which the fitting recesses are arranged.

In addition, since the boundary piece is separated from the shield shell, the direction in which the shield shell is assembled to the housing body does not have to coincide with the direction in which the boundary piece is assembled to the boundary of the housing. The shield shell can be assembled to the housing body from the base side (rear side), while the boundary piece can be assembled to the boundary portion from the front end side (front side) of the peripheral wall.
In other words, the shield shell can be attached (assembled) to the housing from the rear without hindering the boundary piece. For this reason, unlike the case where a bridge is provided at the front end of the shield shell as in Patent Document 1, a hole through which the contact is passed when the shield shell is attached is formed from the base side along the inner wall of the peripheral wall portion. It is not formed on the tip side of the part. Thereby, the intensity | strength of a housing is securable.
Further, when the shield shell is mounted from the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the fitting recesses are arranged on the base, in the case of a shield connector having a bridge integral with the shield shell as in Patent Document 1, the bridge The size of the shield connector is increased by the thickness and the gap necessary for mounting. On the other hand, in the shield connector of the present invention, assembling the opposing portion of the boundary piece to the front surface of the boundary portion does not have to be from the same direction as the direction in which the shield shell is assembled to the housing. Even when the shield shell is mounted on the housing from the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the fitting recesses are arranged on the base, it faces the front end of the boundary (housing) so that the facing portion does not hinder the mounting. The part does not need to be located forward. For this reason, the opposing part of a boundary piece can be arrange | positioned in the same level with the front surface of a housing, or offset from the front surface of a housing to the back side. Thus, the shield connector can be reduced in size.

In the present invention , the contact portion of the boundary piece is elastically deformed by being sandwiched between the shield shell and the peripheral wall portion, and is brought into contact with the shield shell by an elastic force .
In this configuration, after the contact portion of the boundary piece is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the peripheral wall portion of the housing body, the shield shell is attached to the outside of the housing body and the contact portion, or after the shield shell is attached to the housing body. The contact portion is brought into contact with the shield shell by inserting the contact portion between the peripheral wall portion and the shield shell. In other words, since the boundary piece can be brought into contact with the shield shell simply by mounting the shield shell on the housing, the man-hour is not increased as compared with the case where the boundary piece is brought into contact with the shield shell separately from the attachment of the shield shell. . Further, since the contact portion located between the shield shell and the peripheral wall portion is not exposed to the outside of the shield connector, it is easy to maintain the conduction quality.
Since the contact conduction is made by the elastic force, a dedicated member (for example, a conductive adhesive or a lead wire) for conducting the boundary piece and the shield shell becomes unnecessary.

In the present invention, it is preferable that a part of the extending direction in the facing portion is arranged so as to intersect a line orthogonal to the approximate center of the holding region where the contact is held in the base portion.
In the present invention, as described above, in addition to the facing portion being disposed in front of the front end of the contact, a part of the extending direction of the facing portion is located near the front end of the contact extending forward from the holding region. Be placed. As a result, when a charged object such as a mating connector approaches the fitting recess, the distance between the starting point of the path that can be discharged in the charged object (discharge path starting point) and the opposing part is almost always the discharge path starting point. And smaller than the distance between the contacts. As described above, since the facing portion is closer to the discharge path start point than the contact, the discharge current is captured by the boundary piece, and discharge to the contact can be avoided.
According to the present invention, since the facing portion is arranged as described above, discharge to the contact can be effectively prevented.
Further, if the range in which the facing portion extends from one end thereof is limited to the vicinity of the position intersecting the line orthogonal to the approximate center of the holding region, the vicinity of the position is the end of the facing portion. Since the effect of sufficiently preventing electrostatic discharge can be obtained, it is possible to reduce the weight as compared with the case where a bridge is installed on the shield shell by not extending the facing portion earlier than that.

In the present invention , it is preferable that the shield connector is supported on the circuit board arranged along the plane including the direction in which the fitting recesses are arranged.
Due to the above-described miniaturization, the occupied space on the circuit board of the shield connector can be reduced. As a result, the degree of freedom in layout of circuit patterns and the like formed in the vicinity of the shield connector is improved.

  According to the shield connector of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the size while securing the housing strength while securing the predetermined shield performance and taking the countermeasure against electrostatic discharge for preventing the short circuit to the contact.

1 is a perspective view of a shield connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the shield connector of a 1st embodiment. It is the III-III arrow directional view of FIG. It is the IV-IV arrow line view of FIG. It is a perspective view of a shield shell and a boundary piece. It is a schematic diagram which shows the short circuit path | route of an external charged material and a boundary piece or a side contact. It is a perspective view of the shield connector which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the IX-IX arrow directional view of FIG. (A) is a perspective view of the shield connector which has one fitting recessed part, (B) is a perspective view of the shield connector which has two fitting recessed parts.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
[First Embodiment]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the shield connector 10 of this embodiment includes a housing 20 that holds a plurality of contacts 11, and a conductive member 30 that is attached to the housing 20. The shield connector 10 is supported on a circuit board S (shown in FIG. 1).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the housing 20 includes a rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped housing main body 21 that opens toward a side on which a mating connector 90 (FIG. 6) described later is fitted, and a boundary portion 22. ing. The housing 20 is an insulating resin integral molding member.
The housing main body 21 has a plate-like base portion 23 that holds the contacts 11 and a cylindrical peripheral wall portion 24 having a rectangular cross section that rises from the periphery of the base portion 23.
The boundary portion 22 is formed in the center of the long sides 24A and 24A facing each other of the peripheral wall portion 24 along the direction connecting the long sides 24A and 24A. The boundary portion 22 has the same thickness as the side surface portions 27 and 28.
The inner space of the peripheral wall portion 24 is partitioned by the boundary portion 22, so that two fitting recesses 20 </ b> A and 20 </ b> B are formed across the boundary portion 22. The mating connectors 90 are fitted into these fitting recesses 20A and 20B, respectively.
Below, the direction orthogonal to the surface of the base 23 will be referred to as the front-rear direction, the front end side of the peripheral wall 24 will be described as the front, and the base 23 side will be described as the rear.

  The housing 20 is formed with side holes 271, 281 and boundary grooves 220 into which side contacts 371, 372 and a boundary piece 40 described later are respectively inserted. Specific configurations of the side holes 271 and 281 and the boundary groove 220 will be described below.

In the present embodiment, the base portion 23 is disposed in a plane perpendicular to the circuit board S and has a hole 231 into which the contact 11 is inserted.
The peripheral wall portion 24 includes a lower surface portion 25 disposed along the circuit board S, an upper surface portion 26 facing the lower surface portion 25, and side surface portions 27 and 28 orthogonal to the lower surface portion 25 and the upper surface portion 26. Yes.
As shown in FIG. 4, an upper surface groove 261 that extends from the front end portion 26 </ b> F to the front of the rear end portion 26 </ b> B and forms a part of the boundary groove 220 is formed at the longitudinal center of the upper surface of the upper surface portion 26.
Further, in the fitting recesses 20A and 20B, for example, two ridges 262 extending in the front-rear direction are formed on the surface of the upper surface portion 26 facing the lower surface portion 25, for example. Although not shown, the mating connector 90 has a groove into which the protrusion 262 is inserted. These protrusions 262 and grooves function as a guide when the connector is fitted.
In addition, these protrusions 262 and grooves change their shape and position between the fitting recess 20A (or 20B) in which they are formed and the adjacent fitting recess 20B (or 20A). Is preferred. Thereby, the mating connector 90 can be prevented from being erroneously fitted into another fitting recess different from the fitting recess to be fitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the side surface portion 27 has a side surface hole 271 that penetrates in the thickness direction (the direction connecting the outer side and the inner side of the housing 20). The side hole 271 is formed over a range from the rear end of the side portion 27 to the vicinity of the front end. Further, the side hole 271 has a hole inlet E (FIG. 3) opened to the base 23 side. The width of the hole entrance E is set to a dimension in which a front end 30F of a side contact 371 described later can be inserted.
The other side surface portion 28 also has a side surface hole 281 formed in the same manner as the above-described side surface hole 271.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the boundary portion 22 has a front surface groove 221 that extends downward from one end connected to the upper surface groove 261 on the front surface 22 </ b> F that faces the mating connector 90. A boundary groove 220 is configured by having the front surface groove 221 and the upper surface groove 261. As shown in FIG. 4, a holding hole 223 that extends further downward and holds the lower end of the boundary piece 40 is formed slightly behind the front face 22 </ b> F of the lower end portion of the front face groove 221.

A predetermined number of contacts 11 are arranged in the fitting recesses 20A and 20B, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, each contact group G composed of the contacts 11 arranged in the fitting recesses 20 </ b> A and 20 </ b> B is arranged at the center in the vertical direction of the fitting recesses 20 </ b> A and 20 </ b> B.
As shown in FIG. 4, the front end side 111 of the contact 11 extends in the front-rear direction inside the housing 20. The rear end side 112 of the contact 11 is bent outside the housing 20 and is electrically connected to the circuit board S.

Next, the conductive member 30 formed by punching and bending the metal plate has a shield shell 31 provided on the outer periphery of the housing 20 and a boundary piece 40 for countermeasures against electrostatic discharge extending along the boundary portion 22. ing.
The shield shell 31 includes a shield rear surface portion 33 along the base portion 23, a shield upper surface portion 36 along the upper surface portion 26, and side surface portions 27 and 28, and a shield side surface portion 37 that contacts the counterpart shield member 92. , 38 and a plurality of support pieces 35 for supporting the lower surface portion 25.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the shield shell 31 has a dimension in the front-rear direction larger than that of the housing body 21. The shield shell 31 is mounted so that the position of the front end 31F of the shield shell 31 and the front end 21F of the housing main body 21 substantially coincide with each other, so that the shield rear surface portion 33 is located on the rear side of the base portion 23. A rear end side 112 of the contact 11 is disposed between the base portion 23 and the shield rear surface portion 33.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the one shield side surface portion 37 has a side contact 371 that is a cut and raised piece of a metal plate constituting the shield shell 31. The side contact 371 has a support end 371A (rear end in the present embodiment) continuous with the shield side surface portion 37, and a free end 371B (front end in the present embodiment) in contact with the mating shield member 92. It is a cantilever spring. The side contact 371 has a contact portion C that extends forward from the support end 371A along the shield side portion 37 and is bent in a mountain shape so as to protrude into the fitting recess 20A. Yes. As shown in FIG. 3, the front end 30 </ b> F of the contact portion C projects forward from the front end 11 </ b> F of the contact 11.

The other shield side surface 38 has a side contact 381 formed in the same manner as the side contact 371 described above.
Note that the height of the shield connector 10 from the circuit board S is kept low by arranging these side surface contacts 371 and 381 along the side surface portions 27 and 28 instead of the lower surface portion 25 and the upper surface portion 26. .

  Further, the shield side surfaces 37 and 38 are formed with projections 375 and 385 that are fixed to the circuit board S in a state of being electrically connected to a ground terminal (not shown) provided on the circuit board S, respectively. The ground terminal is grounded to a device housing or the like that accommodates the circuit board S and the shield connector 10. Thereby, the conductive member 30 shields an external electric field (or electromagnetic field).

The boundary piece 40 is bent in a substantially L shape, and is formed thin (narrow in width) so as to fit within the width of the boundary groove 220. The boundary piece 40 is sandwiched between the facing portion 41 facing the mating connector 90 at one end thereof and the other end side orthogonal to the facing portion 41 between the shield upper surface portion 36 and the upper surface portion 26. It has a clamping part (contact part) 42.
In this embodiment, the boundary piece 40 is formed by punching from a metal plate and bending. Since the boundary piece 40 is thin and occupies a small area on the metal plate as the material, it can be formed using the same metal plate as the shield shell 31. That is, the boundary piece 40 may be punched simultaneously with the shield shell 31 in a space around the region where the shield shell 31 is formed on the metal plate that is the material of the shield shell 31.
However, the boundary piece 40 does not need to be comprised from the metal plate, for example, can be comprised with arbitrary raw materials, such as a wire wire.

The facing portion 41 extends in the vertical direction along the front surface 22 </ b> F (FIG. 1) with the mating connector 90 in the boundary portion 22, and is disposed in the front surface groove 221. Moreover, the opposing part 41 has the to-be-held part 411 inserted in the holding hole 223 (FIG. 4). A plurality of protrusions 411 </ b> A that are locked to the inner wall of the holding hole 223 are formed on both sides in the width direction of the held portion 411.
In the present embodiment, the facing portion 41 is flush with the front surface 22F of the boundary portion 22, and is located on the foremost side in the shield connector 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the facing portion 41 extends from the upper end of the housing 20 to about half the vertical height of the fitting recesses 20 </ b> A and 20 </ b> B and does not reach the lower surface portion 25. . A lower end 41D, which is one end of the facing portion 41, is located at the center in the vertical direction of each contact group G. That is, the lower end portion 41D is disposed so as to intersect with the straight line L orthogonal to the approximate center of the holding region 232 in which the contact 11 is held in the base portion 23, whereby the lower end portion 41D is connected to the front end 11F of each contact 11. It is arranged in the vicinity. The facing portion 41 includes the lower end portion 41D, and is formed in a necessary and sufficient range that can ensure a predetermined shielding performance.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sandwiching portion 42 is continuous with the upper end portion of the facing portion 41, extends rearward, and is disposed in the upper surface groove 261. A contact portion 421 that is curved so as to protrude upward is formed at the center of the holding portion 42 in the longitudinal direction. The contact portion 421 is in contact with and electrically connected to the back side of the shield upper surface portion 36.

In order to assemble the shield connector 10 described above, first, the boundary piece 40 is attached to the housing 20 with the contacts 11 assembled from above. Specifically, the held portion 411 of the boundary piece 40 is inserted into the holding hole 223, and the facing portion 41 and the sandwiching portion 42 of the boundary piece 40 are disposed in the boundary groove 220. In this state, the housing 20 and the boundary piece 40 are inserted into the shield shell 31 disposed behind the housing 20. Then, the clamping portion 42 is elastically deformed and compressed in the depth direction of the upper surface groove 261 between the shield upper surface portion 36 and the upper surface portion 26, and the contact portion 421 is shielded by the spring force (repulsive force). Since it is pressed against 31, the boundary piece 40 and the shield shell 31 are brought into electrical contact with each other.
Then, the side contacts 371 and 381 are arranged along the side portions 27 and 28, respectively, and the front end 30F projects forward from the front end 11F of the contact 11 as shown in FIG.

  After the conductive member 30 is mounted, the shield connector 10 is placed on the circuit board S, the projections 375 and 385 of the shield shell 31 are connected to the ground terminal of the circuit board S, and the contact 11 is connected to the circuit board S. Connect to each terminal with solder. Thus, the assembly of the shield connector 10 is completed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the mating connector 90 fitted to the shield connector 10 includes a housing 91 and a mating shield member 92 accommodated in the housing 91. The mating shield member 92 is electrically connected to, for example, a metal braided tube that covers a core wire of a cable connected to a contact (not shown) of the mating connector 90. A side surface 92 </ b> A of the mating shield member 92 is exposed to the outside of the housing 91 through a slit 911 formed on the side wall of the housing 91.

Next, the operation of the conductive member 30 will be described.
When the mating connector 90 is moved closer to the fitting recess 20A of the shield connector 10 as shown in FIG. 6, first, the facing portion 41 of the boundary piece 40 is placed on the facing surface 90F of the mating connector 90 with the shield connector 10. Proximity. When the mating connector 90 is further moved toward the back side of the fitting recess 20A, the front end 30F of the side contact 371 approaches the opposing surface 90F of the mating shield member 92 and then contacts the side surface 92A to electrically Connected. When the mating connector 90 is pushed into the back and completely fitted with the shield connector 10, the contact portion C of the side contact 371 is pressed against the side surface 92 </ b> A of the mating shield member 92.

When the mating connector 90 comes close to the facing portion 41 as described above, the mating connector 90, a plurality of electric wires connected to the contacts, a binding band provided on the electric wires, and a wire harness composed of fixing parts, etc. Alternatively, it can be discharged to the facing portion 41 from a charged object such as a finger having it.
Since the discharge current from the charge of the charged object (external charge of the shield connector 10) is discharged in the shortest distance in principle, the distance between the mating connector 90 and the contact 11 is greater than the distance between the mating connector 90 and the contact 11. There is a high possibility of discharging to the facing portion 41 having a short distance.
Therefore, by causing the opposing portion 41 to discharge and dropping the discharge current to the ground terminal of the circuit board S through the opposing portion 41, electrostatic discharge to the contact 11 in the vicinity of the boundary portion 22 among the contacts 11 is mainly performed. It can be prevented beforehand.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the facing portion 41 extends to the center in the vertical direction of the contact group G, so that the distance from the discharge path starting point P that can occur is almost equal to the facing portion 41. It becomes smaller than the contact 11.
In other words, the opposing portion 41 is arranged along the front surface 22F of the boundary portion 22 so that it is not only positioned on the front side of the front end 11F of the contact 11, but also the opposing portion 41 faces downward and the front end of each contact 11 By extending to a position close to 11F, electrostatic discharge to the contact 11 in the vicinity of the boundary portion 22 can be effectively prevented.

On the other hand, when the counterpart shield member 92 comes close to the side contact 371, the discharge current from the charged object such as the wire harness or the finger holding the wire harness is caused by the difference in the distance from the counterpart connector 90 described above. It can flow to the side contact 371 that is closer to the mating connector 90 than the distance between the contact 90 and the contact 11.
Accordingly, by discharging the side contact 371 and dropping the discharge current to the ground terminal of the circuit board S through the side contact 371, the contact 11 mainly to the contact 11 in the vicinity of the side portion 27 is connected. Electrostatic discharge can be prevented beforehand.

The mating connector 90 is fitted to the fitting recess 20B in the same manner as described above. By approaching the opposing portion 41 and the side contact 381 before the mating connector 90 approaches the contact 11, a boundary portion is obtained. The discharge to the contact 11 near 22 and the discharge to the contact 11 near the side portions 27 and 28 can be prevented.
Therefore, the circuit portion of the circuit board S to which the contact 11 is connected can be prevented from being damaged and malfunctioning.

Further, the shield shell 31 is provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the housing body 21, and the side surface contacts 371 and 381 are in contact with the side surface 92 </ b> A of the mating shield member 92. Therefore, noise can be reliably dropped to the ground terminal.
Even when the shield connector 10 and the mating connector 90 are fitted (during connection), or when the mating connector 90 is removed from the shield connector 10, the shield shell 31 is provided in the housing body 21 and the side contact is made. Since the contact portion C of the child 371, 381 is in contact with the mating shield member 92, noise can be reliably dropped to the ground terminal via the shield shell 31 and the mating shield member 92.

  Incidentally, a foreign object other than the mating connector 90 may be inserted into the fitting recesses 20A and 20B. Even when the foreign matter is charged, the foreign matter is electrostatically discharged in proximity to at least one of the facing portion 41 and the side contacts 371 and 381 before approaching the front end 11F of the contact 11. Electrostatic discharge to the contact 11 can be prevented.

As described above, according to the shielded connector 10 of the present embodiment, by dropping noise to the ground terminal, the influence of noise from the external device and the generation of noise toward the external device can be sufficiently suppressed. It can contribute to ensuring compatibility (EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility).
Furthermore, by taking measures against electrostatic discharge to prevent damage to the circuit portion due to a short circuit to the contact 11, the reliability of the device using the shield connector 10 can be improved.

In addition to this, the boundary piece 40 disposed between the fitting recesses 20A and 20B does not have a contactor that contacts the side surface 92A of the counterpart shield member 92, and is thin enough to fit within the wall thickness of the boundary portion 22. Since it is a metal piece, the shield connector 10 can be reduced in size in the width direction (direction in which the fitting recesses 20A and 20B are arranged).
Thereby, the occupation space on the circuit board S of the shield connector 10 can be made small. Accordingly, the degree of freedom in layout of the circuit pattern formed near the shield connector 10 is increased. For example, the pattern can be arranged in an empty space generated by the miniaturization of the shield connector 10.
Further, the facing portion 41 of the boundary piece 40 is formed only in a necessary and sufficient range that can avoid a short circuit to the contact 11 and ensure a predetermined shielding performance, and does not extend to the lower surface portion 25. The weight can be reduced as compared with the case of forming a bridge straddling the lower surface portion 25.

In addition, since the boundary piece 40 is separate from the shield shell 31, the shield shell 31 can be mounted from the rear side of the housing 20 opposite to the side where the facing portion 41 is disposed. As will be described, the strength of the housing 20 can be ensured.
If the opposing portion 41 of the boundary piece 40 is formed integrally with the shield shell 31 in the same manner as the bridge, if the shield shell 31 is attached from the rear of the housing 20, the housing 20 is divided. This is impossible, and the shield shell 31 must be mounted from the front of the housing 20 so that the opposing portion 41 does not interfere with the mounting of the shield shell 31. If it does so, it will be necessary to form the hole for allowing the side surface contacts 371 and 381 to pass along the inner wall of the surrounding wall part 24 from the edge of the surrounding wall part 24, and there exists a possibility that the intensity | strength of the housing 20 may be insufficient. . If the peripheral wall portion 24 is thickened in order to ensure the strength of the housing 20, the shield connector 10 will be enlarged.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, the shield shell 31 is mounted from the rear of the housing 20 so that the hole inlets E of the side holes 271 and 281 for passing the side contacts 371 and 381 are located on the base 23 side. That is, since it is possible to avoid the formation of a hole in the edge of the peripheral wall portion 24, the strength of the housing 20 can be ensured without increasing the size of the shield connector 10. By ensuring the strength of the housing 20, it is possible to satisfy the scouring performance that is often required particularly for automobile connectors.

  As described above, according to the shield connector 10 of the present embodiment, the shield connector 10 can be reduced in size and weight while taking measures against electrostatic discharge while preventing a short circuit to the contact while ensuring shielding performance and housing strength. Can also be achieved.

The shape of the boundary piece 40 is not limited to that illustrated in FIG. 5, and various types can be adopted as long as the boundary piece 40 is separate from the shield shell 31 and is electrically connected to the shield shell 31. When the shield shell 31 has a lower surface part, it can also be set as the substantially C-shaped member which the clamping part 42 continued on both sides across the opposing part 41. FIG.
Moreover, the boundary piece 40 is not restricted to what is contact-connected to the shield shell 31 with a spring force (elastic force). For example, a contact portion that is continuously formed on at least one end portion of the facing portion 41 of the boundary piece 40 and is in contact with the shield shell 31 may be joined to the shield shell 31 with a conductive adhesive or the like.
However, by conducting contact conduction with a spring force like the sandwiching portion 42 of the boundary piece 40 of this embodiment, a conductive member such as a conductive adhesive or a lead wire becomes unnecessary, and at the same time when the shield shell 31 is attached. The boundary piece 40 can be brought into contact with the shield shell 31. Furthermore, since the contact part 421 is not exposed to the outside of the shield connector 10, it is easy to maintain the conduction quality.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a shield connector 50 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those already described, and the description thereof is omitted or simplified.
The conductive member 60 included in the shield connector 50 includes a shield shell 61 and a boundary piece 70 formed integrally with the shield shell 61.
As shown in FIG. 7, a U-shaped notch 661 is formed in the shield upper surface portion 66 of the shield shell 61 by punching, and the inside of the notch 661 is a boundary piece 70. The boundary piece 70 is formed integrally with the shield upper surface portion 66 by bending the inner side of the notch 661 downward from the front base end 661A.
As illustrated in FIG. 8, the boundary piece 70 includes a folded portion 72 that is continuous with the base end 661 </ b> A and is folded back to the front side of the base end 661 </ b> A, and an opposing portion 41 that is continuous with the folded portion 72. The facing portion 41 is formed in the same manner as the facing portion 41 of the first embodiment except that the facing portion 41 is continuous with the folded portion 72. Therefore, in this embodiment, the facing portion 41 extends from the upper end of the housing 20 to about half of the vertical height of the fitting recesses 20A and 20B, and does not reach the lower surface portion 25. Only the upper end portion (one end portion) 41 </ b> U of the facing portion 41 continues to the shield shell 61 through the folded portion 72.
Further, the upper surface groove 265 formed on the upper surface portion 26 of the housing 20 and constituting the boundary groove 220 together with the front surface groove 221 extends from the front end portion 26F of the upper surface portion 26 to the rear end portion 26B.
On the other hand, the side holes 271 ′ and 281 ′ of the housing 20 are different from the side holes 271 and 281 of the first embodiment over the range from the upper end of the side portions 27 and 28 to the positions of the side contacts 371 and 381. Is formed.

When assembling the shield connector 50, the shield shell 61 is attached to the housing 20 from above. When mounting, the shield shell 61 in which the support piece 35 extends along the same surface as the side surface portions 37 and 38 is disposed above the housing 20, and the lower end of the facing portion 41 and the front groove 221 of the boundary portion 22. The housing 20 is inserted inside the shield shell 61 while guiding the facing portion 41 along the front groove 221.
Thereafter, the support piece 35 is bent along the lower surface portion 25 of the housing 20.

Similarly to the boundary piece 40 of the first embodiment, the shield connector 50 of the present embodiment also includes the boundary piece 70 having the facing portion 41. Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, electrostatic discharge to the contact 11 is performed. Can be prevented. In addition, since the housing 20 is covered by the grounded shield shell 61 and the side contacts 371 and 381 of the shield shell 61 are in contact with the mating shield member 92, the shield performance is ensured. it can.
Furthermore, since the boundary piece 70 of this embodiment is also thin like the boundary piece 40, the shield connector 50 can be reduced in size.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the facing portion 41 can be disposed flush with the front surface 22F of the boundary portion 22 by disposing the facing portion 41 in the front groove 221 formed in the front surface 22F of the boundary portion 22. Therefore, by providing the facing portion 41, it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the connector in the front-rear direction. In this embodiment in which the shield shell 61 is mounted from above the housing 20, the lower end of the facing portion 41 is not connected to the shield shell 61, so that the facing portion 41 is disposed in the front groove 221 from the lower end of the facing portion 41. It can be flush with the front face 22F. This is difficult when both ends of the facing portion 41 are integral with the shield shell 61.
And since the hole is not formed in the front-end | tip of the surrounding wall part 24 by attaching the shield shell 61 from the upper direction of the housing 20 unlike the case where it mounts from the front, the intensity | strength of the housing 20 is securable.

Moreover, according to the present embodiment, since the shield shell 61 is mounted on the housing 20 from the side opposite to the side supported by the circuit board S (here, the upper side), the contact 11 is a pattern on the surface of the circuit board S. It is easy to satisfy covenarity (uniformity of the lowermost surface of the terminal), which is important when mounted on the board. That is, in order to satisfy covenarity, the mounting state of the shield shell 61 with respect to the housing 20 can be finely adjusted from above.
In addition to the effects described above, according to the present embodiment, the boundary piece 70 is formed integrally with the shield shell 61, so that the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the first embodiment.
Furthermore, since the boundary piece 70 is formed integrally with the shield shell 61, the conduction quality can be maintained over a long period of time compared to the first embodiment in which the boundary piece 40 is brought into contact conduction with the shield shell 31 by a spring force. Also, there is an advantage that there is no heat generation due to contact resistance.

  The boundary piece 70 is easily handled because the external force is buffered by the folded portion 72 folded from the base end 661A of the notch 66, but as long as the boundary piece 70 is integrally continuous with the shield shell 61, various kinds of the boundary piece 70 are provided. Can be adopted. For example, the boundary piece 70 may be formed by bending a protruding piece obtained by extending a part of the front end of the shield upper surface portion 66 further forward.

  Furthermore, the form in which the boundary piece is integrally formed with the shield shell is configured such that the shield shell 61 is mounted from the rear of the housing in addition to the shield shell 61 mounted from above the housing 20 as in the second embodiment. You can also. For example, when the lower end of the facing portion 41 is not locked to the housing 20, the shield shell 61 is mounted from the rear of the housing 20 with the facing portion 41 extending forward without being folded with respect to the folded portion 72. Later, the facing portion 41 may be bent downward.

  Which of the first and second embodiments is selected is appropriately determined. For example, when the handling of components is easier in the first embodiment in which the boundary piece 40 is separated from the shield shell 31 than in the second embodiment in which the boundary piece 70 protrudes from the shield shell 61. Can select the first embodiment.

  By the way, the shield shell 31 may be mounted from above or below the housing 20 in the first embodiment, or the shield shell 61 may be mounted from below the housing 20 in the second embodiment. Even if it does in this way, as already demonstrated, since the opposing part 41 does not interfere with mounting | wearing and the opposing part 41 is arrange | positioned in the front-surface groove | channel 221, the enlargement of the housing 20 can be avoided. Furthermore, since the hole for passing the side contacts 371 and 381 is not formed at the tip of the peripheral wall portion 24, the strength of the housing 20 can be ensured.

Here, in the configuration in which the facing portion 41 is integrally formed with the shield shells 31 and 61 like a bridge and the shield shells 31 and 61 are mounted from the upper side or the lower side of the housing 20, the bridge shape is provided. The shield connectors 10 and 50 are increased in size by the thickness of the facing portion 41 and the gap between the facing portion 41 and the front surface 22F of the boundary portion 22 necessary for mounting. Further, as described above, when the facing portion 41 is formed integrally with the shield shells 31 and 61 like a bridge as described above, the facing portion 41 hinders the mounting. The shield shells 31 and 61 must be attached, and a hole is formed at the tip of the peripheral wall portion 24, which causes a reduction in strength of the housing 20.
That is, the bridge piece is not adopted, and the boundary piece 40 separated from the shield shell 31 or the shield shell 61 is integrated with only one end portion (upper end portion 41U) of the facing portion 41 (the clamping portion 42). By providing the boundary piece 70 that is continuous with the shield shell 61, the shield connectors 10 and 50 can be secured in a predetermined size without increasing the size of the shield connector 10 or 50, or reducing the strength of the housing 20. Since the discharge countermeasure can be taken, the object of the present invention can be achieved.

In the above embodiment, the orientation of the base 23 that holds the contact 11 is perpendicular to the circuit board S. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shield connector is configured so that the base 23 is parallel to the circuit board S. The present invention can also be applied.
In addition, the shield connector of this invention is not limited to what is supported by the circuit board S.

  The shield connectors 10 and 50 of the above embodiment include the two fitting recesses 20A and 20B. However, the shield connectors 10 and 50 may include three or more fitting recesses. In this case as well, the same effect as described above can be obtained by arranging the boundary piece along the boundary between adjacent fitting recesses.

  In addition to those described above, the configurations described in the above embodiments can be selected or changed to other configurations as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

10, 50 Shield connector 11 Contact 11F Front end 20 Housing 20A, 20B Fitting recess 21 Housing body 22 Boundary portion 22F Front surface 23 Base portion 24 Peripheral wall portion 25 Lower surface portion 26 Upper surface portion 26B Rear end portion 26F Front end portions 27, 28 Side surface portion 30, 60 conductive member 30F front end 31, 61 shield shell 33 shield rear surface portion 35 support piece 36 shield upper surface portion 37, 38 shield side surface portion 40 boundary piece 41 facing portion 41U upper end portion 41D lower end portion 42 clamping portion (contact portion)
66 Shield upper surface portion 70 Boundary piece 72 Folded portion 80 Housing 81 Shield shell 82 Contact 84 Contact 85, 85A, 85B Fitting recess 90 Mating connector 90F Opposing surface 91 Housing 92 Mating shield member 92A Side surface 111 Front end side 112 Rear end side 220 Boundary groove 221 Front groove 223 Holding hole 231 Hole 232 Holding region 261, 265 Top groove 262 Projection 265A Rear end opening 271, 281 Side hole 371, 381 Side contact 371A Support end 371B Free end 375, 385 Projection 411 Holding part 411A Protrusion 421 Contact portion 661A Base end 911 Slit C Contact portion E Hole entrance G Contact group L Straight line S Circuit board

Claims (3)

An insulating housing having a plurality of fitting recesses into which mating connectors are fitted, and a conductive member mounted on the housing;
The housing includes a base body that holds a contact, a housing main body having a peripheral wall portion that rises from the base portion, and a boundary portion that forms a plurality of fitting recesses by dividing an inner space of the peripheral wall portion. ,
The conductive member includes a shield shell provided on the outer periphery of the housing body, and a boundary piece for countermeasures against electrostatic discharge that is provided separately from the shield shell and provided at the boundary portion.
The shield shell includes a contact that contacts a conductive member of the mating connector fitted to one of the fitting recesses at both ends of the plurality of fitting recesses, and a mating connector fitted to the other. A contact that contacts the conductive member;
When the front side of the peripheral wall portion and the side to be fitted to the mating connector are the front and the base side is the rear, the front ends of the contacts are respectively positioned forward of the front ends of the contacts,
The boundary piece extends along a surface facing the mating connector in the boundary portion, and is opposed to the shield shell continuously to the facing portion positioned forward of the front end of the contact and at least one end portion of the facing portion. have a contact portion for contacting conductive,
The shield connector is characterized in that the contact portion is elastically deformed by being sandwiched between the shield shell and the peripheral wall portion and is brought into contact with the shield shell by an elastic force . 2. The shield connector according to claim 1, wherein a part of the facing portion in the extending direction is arranged to intersect a line orthogonal to a substantially center of a holding region where the contact is held in the base portion. Said fitting recess is supported on a circuit board is disposed along a plane including a direction aligned shield connector according to claim 1 or 2.

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