JP7779801B2 - Flat Cable Connectors - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connector for flat cables.

For example, in the electrical wiring of automobiles, it may be necessary to connect a flat cable, which consists of multiple rectangular conductors (flat conductors) arranged in parallel across the width at a predetermined pitch and coated with an insulator, to a mating connector. Known flat cable connectors that connect flat cables to mating connectors include the connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the flat cable connector disclosed in Patent Document 2.

For example, the flat cable connector disclosed in Patent Document 2 comprises a flat cable in which the outer periphery of multiple rectangular conductors arranged in parallel at a predetermined pitch in the width direction is covered with an insulator; a terminal block in which multiple connector terminals that are electrically connected to the rectangular conductors are arranged in parallel; a connector housing that accommodates the terminal block; and a cover that engages with the connector housing and prevents the terminal block from being removed.

In such flat cable connectors, the flat conductors exposed by stripping the insulation from the flat cable are electrically connected to connector terminals arranged in parallel on a terminal block by methods such as ultrasonic welding, resistance welding, laser welding, crimping, soldering, crimping, etc. The welding of the flat conductors to the connector terminals provides a low-resistance, high-strength conductor connection between the flat cable and the connector terminals, resulting in a highly reliable electrical connection.
By integrally molding the connector terminals with the terminal block, the accuracy of their relative position with respect to the terminal block is improved, and the accuracy of alignment between the flat conductors of the flat cable attached to the terminal block and the connector terminals is also improved.

JP 2009-158337 A JP 2011-113678 A

However, when the rectangular conductor and connector terminal are electrically connected by soldering, the terminal block and flat cable have different thermal expansion coefficients, so the amount of dimensional change that occurs when heat is applied differs between the terminal block and flat cable. Therefore, due to the difference in the amount of dimensional change between the terminal block and flat cable, stress is generated in the solder that solders the rectangular conductor of the flat cable to the connector terminal arranged next to the terminal block, raising the concern that this could lead to solder cracks.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a flat cable connector that can prevent solder cracks from occurring in the solder that solders the flat conductor and connector terminal.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the flat cable connector according to the present invention has the following features.
a flat cable in which a plurality of flat conductors are arranged in parallel in the width direction at a predetermined pitch and the outer periphery of each conductor is covered with an insulator;
a connector terminal in which a conductor soldering portion is soldered to a terminal soldering portion provided at an end of the flat conductor;
an inner housing in which a plurality of terminal accommodating portions for accommodating and holding the terminal connection portions of the connector terminals are arranged in a line;
an outer housing that holds the stacked inner housings together;
a slit formed in the insulator between adjacent terminal soldering portions along an extending direction of the flat conductor;
A flat cable connector comprising:

The flat cable connector of the present invention can prevent solder cracks that occur in the solder that solders the flat conductor and connector terminal.

The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, details of the present invention will become clearer by reading the detailed description of the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector device including a flat cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the flat cable connector shown in FIG. 3A and 3B are perspective views of the inner housing shown in FIG. 2 as seen from above and below, respectively. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a flat cable to be assembled into the inner housing shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part for explaining the operation of assembling the end portion of the flat cable shown in FIG. 4 into the wiring material receiving portion of the inner housing. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the inner housing to which the end of the flat cable shown in FIG. 5 is attached. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the state in which the conductor soldering portion of the connector terminal is laser soldered to the terminal soldering portion provided at the end of the flat conductor. FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating how a plurality of stacked inner housings are housed in the housing main body of the outer housing. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating how a plurality of inner housings housed in a housing main body are held and prevented from coming off by a retaining cover. FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing a stacked state of a plurality of inner housings housed in a housing main body. FIG. 12 is an enlarged plan view of a main part for explaining the function of the slits formed in the end portion of the flat cable.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a connector device 1 equipped with a flat cable connector 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the flat cable connector 10 shown in Fig. 1. In this specification, the front-rear direction, the up-down direction, and the left-right direction correspond to the directions of the arrows shown in Fig. 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the connector device 1 includes a flat cable connector 10 according to this embodiment and a mating connector 90 .
1, the mating connector 90 is a male connector that houses a plurality of male terminals 95 in a rectangular parallelepiped connector housing 91. The mating connector 90 is a mounting connector that is mounted on a circuit board 93, and the circuit of the circuit board 93 and the male terminals 95 are electrically connected.
An engaging projection accommodating groove 97 is formed on the inner wall surface of the opposing long side of the connector housing 91. The engaging projection accommodating groove 97 extends from the opening end toward the rear in the connector fitting direction (the up-down direction in FIG. 1 ). The engaging projection accommodating groove 97 has a locking portion 99 that engages with an engaging projection 77 of the lever 70, which will be described later.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the flat cable connector 10 comprises a flat cable 50 in which the outer peripheries of multiple flat conductors 51 arranged in parallel in the width direction at a predetermined pitch are covered with an insulator 53, connector terminals 60 connected to the ends of the flat conductors 51, inner housings 40 that each house and hold the connector terminals 60, an outer housing 20 that holds the stacked multiple inner housings 40 together, and a lever 70.
The flat cable connector 10 is an LIF connector that can be inserted into or removed from a mating connector 90 with a low insertion force by operating a lever 70 .

The flat conductors 51 of the flat cable 50 are made of, for example, copper or a copper alloy. The insulator 53 is made of polypropylene (PP), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), or similar material. The flat conductors 51 are integrally formed with a resin coating made of the insulator 53, giving the flat cable 50 electrical insulation and flexibility.

As shown in FIG. 4, the flat cable 50 has a terminal soldering portion 51a formed on the upper surface at the longitudinal end thereof, where the insulator 53 is stripped away to expose the flat conductor 51.
5, a slit 57 is formed in the insulator 53 between adjacent terminal soldering portions 51a along the extension direction of the flat conductor 51. Therefore, the terminal soldering portion 51a located between a pair of slits 57 becomes a cantilever-shaped protrusion, allowing deformation in the width direction of the flat conductor 51.

In addition, boss through-holes (locking holes) 55 are formed at both ends of the flat cable 50 in the left-right width direction, corresponding to the locking bosses (locking portions) 47 of the inner housing 40. When the boss through-holes 55 of the flat cable 50 are locked into the locking bosses 47 protruding from the wiring material storage portion 41 of the inner housing 40, relative movement between the flat cable 50 and the inner housing 40 in the longitudinal and width directions of the flat cable 50 is restricted.

As shown in Figure 5, the connector terminal 60 is a female terminal that is integrally formed with a rectangular cylindrical terminal connection portion 61 that mates with the male terminal 95 of the mating connector 90, and a tab-shaped conductor soldering portion 63 that is soldered to the terminal soldering portion 51a provided at the end of the flat conductor 51.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the inner housing 40 is integrally molded into a flat rectangular shape from a resin material such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate).
As shown in (a) of Figure 3, the upper surface (surface side) of the inner housing 40 has a wiring material storage section 41 provided on one long side to store the end of the flat cable 50, and a plurality of terminal storage sections 42 arranged in a row along the long side on the other long side to store and hold the terminal connection sections 61 of the connector terminals 60.

A locking boss 47 having a truncated cone-shaped enlarged portion at its tip is protruded from both left and right ends of the wiring material storage section 41.
The terminal accommodating portion 42 is a groove with a U-shaped cross section, one end of which communicates with a terminal insertion port 44 opening in the front wall 45, and the other end of which communicates with the wiring material accommodating portion 41. Each terminal accommodating portion 42 is provided with a locking claw 43 that locks the accommodated connector terminal 60.

As shown in Figure 3(b), the underside (rear side) of the inner housing 40 has multiple terminal locking portions 46 arranged in a row along the long side to prevent the connector terminals 60 housed in the lower terminal housing portions 42 from coming loose when stacked, and cable pressing portions 48 protruding from both left and right ends to press down on the ends of the flat cable 50 housed in the lower wiring material housing portion 41.

A number of guide protrusions 49 are arranged in a row along the short side of each side wall of the inner housing 40. These guide protrusions 49 engage with the guide ribs 27 to guide the insertion when the inner housing 40 is inserted into the housing main body 21 of the outer housing 20.

As shown in Figure 6, when the end of the flat cable 50 is accommodated in the wiring material accommodation portion 41 of the inner housing 40, the locking boss 47 passes through a boss through-hole 55 drilled in the end of the flat cable 50, locking it in place to prevent it from coming loose. As shown in Figure 7, when the locking boss 47 is inserted through the boss through-hole 55 of the flat cable 50, the enlarged portion of the locking boss 47 catches on the opening edge of the boss through-hole 55, preventing the flat cable 50 from floating.

After the end of the flat cable 50 is accommodated in the wiring material accommodation portion 41 of the inner housing 40, the terminal connection portion 61 of the connector terminal 60 is accommodated and held in the terminal accommodation portion 42, as shown in Figure 8. With the terminal connection portion 61 accommodated and held in the terminal accommodation portion 42, the connector terminal 60 has its conductor soldering portion 63 positioned on the terminal soldering portion 51a of the flat cable 50 placed on the wiring material accommodation portion 41.

Then, with the terminal connection portions 61 of the multiple connector terminals 60 respectively housed and held in the multiple terminal accommodating portions 42 arranged side by side in a row of the inner housing 40, the solder 65 is melted with laser light 83 from the laser irradiation device 80 to laser solder the terminal soldering portions 51a and the conductor soldering portions 63. In other words, the conductor soldering portions 63 of the multiple connector terminals 60 can be connected to the terminal soldering portions 51a of the flat conductor 51 all at once by laser soldering.
Furthermore, the end of the flat cable 50 is prevented from floating by the retaining boss 47 of the terminal connection portion 61 being retained in the boss through-hole 55, so that laser soldering can be performed satisfactorily.

As shown in Figure 9, multiple inner housings 40, in which connector terminals 60 housed and held in terminal accommodating portions 42 are electrically connected to flat conductors 51 of flat cables 50, are stacked one on top of the other and held integrally in the housing body 21 of the outer housing 20.
As shown in Figure 10, the outer housing 20 has a housing main body 21 in which an inner housing accommodating section 26 is formed to accommodate multiple stacked inner housings 40 together, and a retaining cover 31 that holds the multiple inner housings 40 accommodated in the housing main body 21 in place.

As shown in FIG. 9 , the housing main body 21 has an inner housing accommodating portion 26 defined by a bottom wall 23, side walls 24 provided on both the left and right sides of the bottom wall 23, and a rear wall 25 provided behind the bottom wall 23 and the side walls 24.
A plurality of guide ribs 27 that engage and guide the guide protrusions 49 of the inner housing 40 are provided on the inner surface of the side wall 24 and protrude along the front-to-rear direction of the housing body 21. A locking protrusion 28 that locks the retaining cover 31 is provided on the outer surface of the side wall 24.
The rear wall 25 has a plurality of mating terminal insertion openings 25a that are opened corresponding to the terminal connection portions 61 of the connector terminals 60.

The retaining cover 31 has an upper wall 33 that covers the upper part of the inner housing 40 housed in the inner housing housing portion 26, and a pair of legs 35 that are provided on the left and right ends of the upper wall 33 and are placed on the outer surface of the side wall 24. The inner surface of the legs 35 is provided with a locking portion 36 that locks onto the locking protrusion 28 on the side wall 24.

The retaining cover 31 has multiple terminal locking portions (not shown) protruding from the underside of the upper wall 33 that prevent the connector terminals 60 housed in the terminal accommodating portions 42 of the opposing inner housings 40 from falling out, thereby holding multiple stacked inner housings 40 housed in the inner housing accommodating portion 26.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the multiple inner housings 40 housed in the outer housing 20 have cable pressing portions 48 on the underside of the inner housing 40 that press down on the ends of the flat cables 50 housed in the lower wiring material storage portions 41. Furthermore, the retaining cover 31 has cable pressing portions 38 protruding from the underside of the upper wall 33 that press down on the ends of the flat cables 50 housed in the lower wiring material storage portions 41. Therefore, the ends of the flat cables 50 housed in the wiring material storage portions 41 of the multiple stacked inner housings 40 are prevented from floating up.

As shown in FIG. 1, a lever 70 made of insulating synthetic resin is attached to the outer housing 20 .
As shown in Figure 2, the lever 70 has a pair of side plates 71 arranged parallel to each other and separated from each other with a gap between their ends, and an operating portion 72 connecting the other ends of the pair of side plates 71. The operating portion 72 serves as a point of force when rotating the lever 70. An engaging protrusion 77 is provided at one end of the side plate 71. The engaging protrusion 77 enters an engaging protrusion receiving groove 97 formed in the connector housing 91 of the mating connector 90, and is caught by a locking portion 99. The engaging protrusion 77 serves as a fulcrum for the lever 70.

In addition, on the other end side of the engaging protrusion 77, a pair of first boss accommodating holes 73 and second boss accommodating holes 75 are formed which respectively engage with the first boss portion 37 and the second boss portion 39 which protrude outward from the bottom wall 23 of the housing main body 21 and the upper wall 33 of the anti-slip cover 31, respectively.
These first boss receiving hole 73 and second boss receiving hole 75 serve as points of action when rotating the lever 70 .

The connector device 1 therefore mates with the flat cable connector 10 by rotating the lever 70 of the flat cable connector 10, which is mated with the connector housing 91 of the mating connector 90.

As shown in Figure 12, in the flat cable connector 10 according to the present embodiment, slits 57 are formed in the insulator 53 between adjacent terminal soldering portions 51a of the flat cable 50. This allows the cantilevered terminal soldering portions 51a of each flat cable 50 to deform in the width direction of the flat conductor 51, creating freedom of movement due to deformation in the width direction.

Therefore, when heat is applied to the flat cable connector 10, dimensional changes occur in the inner housing 40 in the left-right width direction, causing the conductor soldered portions 63 of the connector terminals 60 housed in the terminal housing portions 42 of the inner housing 40 to displace in the left-right width direction. At this time, the terminal soldered portions 51a of the flat cable 50, which have freedom of movement due to deformation in the width direction, can follow the displacement of the conductor soldered portions 63 of the connector terminals 60 due to deformation of the inner housing 40, and can therefore absorb the difference in dimensional change between the inner housing 40 and the flat cable 50.

In other words, the terminal soldering portion 51a of the flat cable 50 absorbs the difference in dimensional change between the inner housing 40 and the flat cable 50, thereby reducing the stress generated in the solder 65 that solders the flat conductor 51 to the connector terminal 60 and preventing solder cracks.

Furthermore, with the flat cable connector 10 according to this embodiment, the locking boss 47, which is a locking portion provided on the wiring material accommodating portion 41 of the inner housing 40 that accommodates the end of the flat cable 50, is inserted into the boss through-hole 55 drilled in the end of the flat cable 50 to lock it in place, thereby positioning the flat cable 50 and preventing it from floating. Therefore, when the conductor soldering portion 63 of the connector terminal 60 is soldered to the terminal soldering portion 51a of the flat cable 50 by laser soldering, misalignment and floating of the flat cable 50 can be prevented, improving soldering accuracy.

Furthermore, with the flat cable connector 10 according to this embodiment, when stacked, the cable pressing portion 48 protruding from the rear surface of the wiring material accommodating portion 41 of the inner housing 40 abuts against the end of the flat cable 50 whose boss through-hole 55 is locked in the locking boss 47 of another inner housing 40. Therefore, by preventing the end of the flat cable 50 from floating and preventing the boss through-hole 55 of the flat cable 50 inserted through the locking boss 47 of the inner housing 40 from slipping out, the end of the flat cable 50 can be reliably prevented from coming off the inner housing 40.

Furthermore, with the flat cable connector 10 according to this embodiment, after the end of the flat cable 50 is accommodated in the wiring material accommodation portion 41 of the inner housing 40, the terminal connection portions 61 of the multiple connector terminals 60 are accommodated and held in the multiple terminal accommodation portions 42 arranged in a row in the inner housing 40. Then, by laser soldering, the conductor soldering portions 63 of the multiple connector terminals 60 can be connected to the terminal soldering portions 51a of the flat conductor 51 all at once, thereby improving the ease of welding the connector terminals 60 and the flat conductor 51.

Then, multiple inner housings 40, each connected to the end of a flat cable 50, are stacked and housed integrally in the housing main body 21 of the outer housing 20. The multiple inner housings 40 housed integrally in the housing main body 21 are then held in place by the retaining cover 31, allowing for highly productive assembly of the flat cable connector 10 for connecting multiple flat cables 50 to the mating connector 90.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified, improved, etc. Furthermore, the material, shape, size, number, location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary and not limited as long as they can achieve the present invention.
In the above embodiment, an FFC (flexible flat cable) is used as the flat cable, but other flat cables such as an FPC (flexible printed circuit board) can also be used.
In addition, in the above embodiment, the locking boss 47 provided in the wiring material storage section 41 of the inner housing 40 is a locking section that is inserted through the boss through hole 55, which is a locking hole drilled in the end of the flat cable 50, to prevent it from coming loose, but the locking section of the present invention is not limited to this and can take various forms.

Here, the features of the above-described embodiments of the flat cable connector according to the present invention will be briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [4].
[1] A flat cable (50) in which a plurality of flat conductors (51) are arranged in parallel in the width direction at a predetermined pitch and the outer periphery of each conductor is covered with an insulator (53);
a connector terminal (60) in which a conductor soldering portion (63) is soldered to a terminal soldering portion (51a) provided at an end of the flat conductor (51);
an inner housing (40) in which a plurality of terminal accommodating portions (42) for accommodating and holding the terminal connection portions (61) of the connector terminals (60) are arranged in a row;
an outer housing (20) that holds the stacked inner housings (40) together;
a slit (57) formed in the insulator (53) between adjacent terminal soldering portions (51 a) along the extending direction of the flat conductor (51);
A flat cable connector (10) comprising:

According to the flat cable connector (10) having the configuration [1] above, a slit (57) is formed in the insulator (53) between adjacent terminal soldering portions (51 a) of the flat cable (50), which allows the terminal soldering portions (51 a) of each flat cable (50) to move freely due to deformation in the width direction. Therefore, the terminal soldering portions (51 a) of the flat cable (50) can absorb the difference in dimensional change between the inner housing (40) and the flat cable (50) when heat is applied.
That is, the terminal soldering portion (51a) of the flat cable (50) follows the movement of the conductor soldering portion (63) of the connector terminal (60) due to deformation of the inner housing (40) and absorbs the difference in the amount of dimensional change, thereby reducing the stress generated in the solder (65) soldering the flat conductor (51) and the connector terminal (60) together and preventing solder cracks.

[2] The flat cable connector (10) described in [1] above has a wiring material storage section (41) of the inner housing (40) that stores the end of the flat cable (50), and is provided with a locking section (locking boss 47) that passes through a locking hole (boss through hole 55) drilled in the end of the flat cable (50) to lock it in place.

In the flat cable connector (10) configured as described in [2] above, a locking portion (locking boss 47) provided on the wiring material storage portion (41) of the inner housing (40) that stores the end of the flat cable (50) is inserted into a locking hole (boss through-hole 55) drilled in the end of the flat cable (50) to lock it in place, thereby positioning the flat cable (50) and preventing it from floating. Therefore, when the conductor soldering portion (63) of the connector terminal (60) is soldered to the terminal soldering portion (51a) of the flat cable (50) by laser soldering, for example, it is possible to prevent the flat cable (50) from shifting or floating, thereby improving soldering accuracy.

[3] A flat cable connector (10) as described in [2] above, in which the inner housing (40) has the locking portion (locking boss 47) protruding from its front surface (upper surface) and a cable pressing portion (48) protruding from its back surface (lower surface) that abuts against the end of the flat cable (50) that is locked to the locking portion (locking boss 47) of another opposing inner housing (40) when stacked.

In the flat cable connector (10) configured as described in [3] above, when stacked, the cable pressing portion (48) protruding from the back side (underside) of the wiring material storage portion (41) of the inner housing (40) abuts against the end of the flat cable (50) whose locking hole (boss through-hole 55) is locked in a locking portion (locking boss 47) of another inner housing (40). This prevents the end of the flat cable (50) from floating and prevents the locking hole (boss through-hole 55) of the flat cable (50) inserted through the locking portion (locking boss 47) of the inner housing (40) from slipping out, thereby reliably preventing the end of the flat cable (50) from coming off the inner housing (40).

[4] The flat cable connector (10) described in any one of [1] to [3] above, wherein the outer housing (20) includes a housing main body (21) that houses multiple stacked inner housings (40) together, and a retaining cover (31) that holds the multiple inner housings (40) housed in the housing main body (21) in place.

According to the flat cable connector (10) having the configuration [4] above, after the end of the flat cable (50) is accommodated in the wiring material accommodating portion (41) of the inner housing (40), the terminal connection portions (61) of the multiple connector terminals (60) are accommodated and held in the multiple terminal accommodating portions (42) arranged in a row in the inner housing (40). Then, the conductor soldering portions (63) of the multiple connector terminals (60) and the terminal soldering portions (51 a) of the flat conductor (51) can be connected together by laser soldering, thereby improving the welding workability between the connector terminals (60) and the flat conductor (51).
Thereafter, a plurality of inner housings (40) each connected to an end of a flat cable (50) are stacked and housed integrally in the housing body (21) of the outer housing (20). The plurality of inner housings (40) housed integrally in the housing body (21) are then held in place by a retaining cover (31), thereby enabling the flat cable connector (10) for connecting a plurality of flat cables (50) to a mating connector (90) to be assembled with high productivity.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 connector device 10 flat cable connector 40 inner housing 42 terminal accommodating portion 50 flat cable 51 flat conductor 51a terminal soldering portion 53 insulator 57 slit 60 connector terminal 63 conductor soldering portion

Claims (4)

a flat cable in which a plurality of flat conductors are arranged in parallel in the width direction at a predetermined pitch and the outer periphery of each conductor is covered with an insulator;
a connector terminal in which a conductor soldering portion is soldered to a terminal soldering portion provided at an end of the flat conductor;
an inner housing in which a plurality of terminal accommodating portions for accommodating and holding the terminal connection portions of the connector terminals are arranged in a line;
an outer housing that holds the stacked inner housings together;
a slit formed in the insulator between adjacent terminal soldering portions along an extending direction of the flat conductor;
A flat cable connector comprising: The flat cable connector according to claim 1, wherein the wiring material accommodating portion of the inner housing that accommodates the end of the flat cable is provided with a locking portion that locks into a locking hole drilled in the end of the flat cable to prevent it from slipping out. A flat cable connector as described in claim 2, wherein a cable pressing portion protrudes from the rear surface of the wiring material accommodating portion of the inner housing, which faces the locking portion when stacked, and abuts against the end of the flat cable locked in the locking portion to prevent it from floating. The flat cable connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outer housing comprises a housing main body that houses the stacked inner housings together, and a retaining cover that holds the inner housings housed in the housing main body so as to prevent them from coming loose.