Electrical connectors – Including or for use with tape cable – Plural cables to multicontact connector or single cable...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-27
2002-11-19
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Including or for use with tape cable
Plural cables to multicontact connector or single cable...
C439S098000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06482028
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cable connectors, and more particularly to a cable connector for connecting electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent development in electronic technology has increased the amount of signals exchanged between remote electronic devices and realized a higher-speed transmission of signals. This inevitably requires cable connectors to be provided with an increased number of conductors, that is, to include thicker cables containing conductors.
On the other hand, however, there has been a strong demand for downsized cable connectors in response to the downsizing of electronic devices.
A description will now be given, with reference to
FIGS. 1A through 2
, of a conventional cable connector
1
.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
are a fragmentary perspective view and a fragmentary side view of the cable connector
1
, and
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of a lower half part
9
a
of a housing
9
of the cable connector
1
.
The cable connector
1
includes a terminal part
2
, a wiring board
3
for connection, a cable
5
including a plurality of conductors
4
, and the housing
9
containing these members. In
FIG. 2
, the upper half part of the housing
9
is not shown.
The terminal part
2
includes a resin insulator
6
and a plurality of terminals
7
provided in two rows in the insulator
6
. The insulator
6
has a plurality of holes
6
a formed therein in upper and lower two rows. Each terminal
7
has a first end part
7
a
formed into a straight linear shape and a second end part
7
b
formed into a tongue-like strip having a step-like-bent portion. Each terminal has the first end part
7
a
inserted into a corresponding one of the holes
6
a
of the insulator
6
to be used for connection with an electronic component, which is not shown in the drawings, and has the second end part
7
b
protruding in the rightward direction of FIG.
1
B.
In this case, the wiring board
3
has a plurality of interconnection lines
8
formed only on its upper surface, and pads
8
a
and
8
b
are provided on the first and second end parts of each interconnection line, respectively.
A skin
5
a
of the cable
5
is cut so that the conductors
4
are exposed. The tip part of the exposed portion of each conductor
4
is stripped off a coating layer
5
b
so as to be a bare wire.
The second end part
7
b
of each terminal
7
and the tip part of each conductor
4
are positioned on and fixedly soldered to a predetermined one of the pads
8
a
and a predetermined one of the pads
8
b
, respectively.
The housing
9
is made of a metal material. An engagement part
9
shaped like a half-cut flange is formed on a side of the lower half part
9
a
shown in
FIG. 2
from which side the cable
5
is inserted thereinto.
The terminal part
6
, the wiring board
3
, and the cable
5
are connected in the above-described manner to be contained in the housing
9
. At this point, as shown in
FIG. 2
, an end part of the cable
5
which part has the conductors
4
exposed is placed on the engagement part
9
, and a fastener
9
c
whose center portion is curved like an arc is screwed to the lower half part
9
b
from its upper side. As a result, the cable
5
is fixed to the lower half part
9
a
of the housing
9
. Thereafter, by placing the upper half part (not shown) of the housing
9
on the lower half part
9
a
, the cable connector
1
having the conductors
4
of the cable
5
connected via the wiring board
3
to the corresponding terminals
7
is completed.
In the case of the above-described cable connector
1
, all the conductors
4
are used for the same purpose, for instance, as signal lines. In other cases, two signal lines and one ground line may be grouped as conductors for balanced transmission to increase noise resistance. In such cases, the above-described wiring board
3
, for instance, has interconnection lines formed also on its lower surface. Then, one of the two signal lines is connected to the upper surface of the wiring board
3
and the other to the lower surface thereof. Further, the ground line is provided next to either signal line.
However, the above-described conventional cable connector
1
requires the terminals
7
and the conductors
4
provided on first and second parallel ends of the wiring board
3
, respectively, to be fixedly soldered one by one to the wiring board
3
, thus making this connection operation complicated and troublesome. Further, soldered parts included in the conventional cable connector
1
may cause the distortion of signals especially in a cable for high-speed transmission, which is another disadvantage in terms of a signal transmission characteristic. Furthermore, the conventional cable connector
1
includes the wiring board
3
, which is undesirable in terms of the signal transmission characteristic and also prevents the cable connector
1
from being downsized.
Further, the separated conductors
4
showing from the cable
5
should be positioned one by one on the pads
8
b
formed on the wiring board
3
. This makes the connection operation complicated and troublesome, and may decrease accuracy in positioning.
Moreover, if an external force to rotationally move the cable
5
is exerted thereon, the above-described fixing method using the faster
9
c
cannot completely prevent the rotational movement of the cable
5
. Thus, a force is exerted on the tip part of each conductor
4
so that each soldered tip part of the conductors
4
may come off the wiring board
3
or poor connections may be caused between the conductors
4
and the pads
8
b.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a cable connector in which the above-described disadvantages are eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a downsized cable connector that has a good signal transmission characteristic and has conductors positioned with good accuracy and contacted with terminals efficiently and easily in the production process of the cable connector.
Another more specific object of the present invention is to provide a cable connector that has a cable fixed reliably to a connector so that an external force generated to rotationally move the cable is prevented from being exerted on a part of the cable inside the connector.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by a cable connector including: a cable including a conductor; a contact connected to a tip part of the conductor; and a connector connected to the cable, the connector including a terminal part including an insulator having a hole formed therein, wherein the contact is pressed into the hole.
The above-described cable connector includes neither soldered parts nor a wiring board for connecting terminals and conductors. This is desirable in terms of a signal transmission characteristic and also allows the cable connector to be free of the poor connections of soldered parts. Further, the cable connector can be produced efficiently and easily, and be downsized by the size of a wiring board.
Additionally, the connector may include an arrangement member for arranging said cable.
Thereby, the cable can be positioned with good accuracy in the fabrication process of the cable connector. Further, even if the connector is connected to a plurality of cables, the cable connector can be produced efficiently and easily by pressing a plurality of contacts into corresponding holes at one time by using a jig.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a cable connector including: a balanced cable including a pair of signal lines and a ground line; a plurality of contacts connected to tip parts of the signal lines; and a connector connected to the cable, the connector including: a terminal part including an insulator having a plurality of holes formed therein, and a plurality of ground contacts penetrating the insulator; and an arrangement member which arranges the cable, wherein each of the contacts is pressed into a corresponding o
Akama Junichi
Kumamoto Tadashi
Miyazawa Hideo
Shimizu Manabu
Ueno Moriyuki
Fujitsu Takamisawa Component Limited
Prasad Chandrika
Sircus Brian
Staas & Halsey , LLP
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