Electrical connectors – With supporting means for coupling part – Having resilient means engaging panel opening
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-23
2004-07-13
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With supporting means for coupling part
Having resilient means engaging panel opening
Reexamination Certificate
active
06761586
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-14561, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of attaching a board connector to be attached to a circuit board, and the board connector as well as the attachment structure of the same.
2. Related Art
As shown in
FIGS. 6 and 7
, a conventional board connector
101
is provided with a multiplicity of print circuit board (PCB) terminals
107
protruding from the lower surface
105
(the lower direction in
FIG. 6
) of an insulation housing
103
and also provided with attachment brackets
109
protruding outside from the lower end portions of the left and right side surfaces (left and right side surfaces in
FIG. 6
)
103
L,
103
R of the insulation housing
103
, respectively.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, in the case of attaching the board connector
101
configured in the aforesaid manner to an electric circuit board
111
, it has been generally performed that the PCB terminals
107
are inserted into the predetermined through holes
113
of the electric circuit board
111
, and screws
117
are threaded into screw holes
115
provided at the electric circuit board
111
thereby to fix the attachment bracket
109
of the board connector
101
to the board.
However, in the case of fixing the board connector
101
to the board
111
by means of the screws
117
in the aforesaid manner, the number of the manufacturing processes increases due to the fastening process of the screws. Further, screw attachment portions such as the attachment brackets
109
may be broken due to an excessive torque caused by the fastening operation of the screws
117
, so that a worker is required to perform the fastening processes carefully. Thus, there arises a problem that the cost of a product increases.
Further, when the screws
117
are not suitably fastened, the board connector
101
is not surely fixed to the electric circuit board
111
and so may wobble thereby to cause loose connection.
Further, in the case of fixing the board connector
101
to the electric circuit board
111
, it is required to pass the multiplicity of PCB terminals
107
through the predetermined through holes
113
. Thus, the board connector
101
is required to be positioned accurately with respect to the electric circuit board
111
, and so there arises a problem that the positioning procedure is troublesome.
In view of such problems, a board connector as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP 06-A-52913 is proposed.
That is, as shown in
FIG. 9
, a board connector
119
is arranged so as to be attached to an electric circuit board easily in a manner that attachment leg portions
125
having engagement projections
123
at the tip portions thereof are provided at both side surfaces
121
L,
121
R of an insulation housing
121
, respectively, and the attachment leg portions are engaged with the not-shown attachment holes of the electric circuit board, respectively.
However, even in the board connector
119
disclosed in the aforesaid JP 06-A-52913, the positioning procedure is also difficult at the time of attaching the board connector
119
to the electric circuit board. That is, it is first required to insert PCB terminals
127
into not-shown predetermined through holes before engaging the attachment leg portions
125
with the attachment holes of the electric circuit board. In this case, there arises a problem that it is difficult to insert the multiplicity of the PCB terminals
127
into the plurality of the through holes simultaneously, and the PCB terminals
127
may be bent when these terminals are not being inserted correctly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to obviate the aforesaid problem of the conventional technique and to provide a method of attaching a board connector to a circuit board and the board connector which can easily insert Terminals into the through holes of a circuit board and prevent the wobbling of the connector with respect to the board.
The aforesaid object of the invention can be attained by A method of attaching a board connector, comprising the steps of:
positioning the board connector relatively with respect to the circuit board by inserting a tip end portion of a positioning projection protruding in an attachment direction from an attachment surface of the board connector opposing to a circuit board into a corresponding positioning hole provided at the circuit board;
inserting tip end portions of terminals protruding in the attachment direction from the attachment surface into through holes of the circuit board; and
fixing the board connector to the circuit board by engaging an attachment arm provided at a side surface of the board connector and extending in the attachment direction with an attachment portion provided at the circuit board.
The aforesaid object of the invention can be attained by a board connector attachment structure including terminals protruding in an attachment direction from an attachment surface thereof opposing to a circuit board, the attachment structure comprising:
a positioning projection protruding in an attachment direction from the attachment surface, the positioning projection having a projecting height higher than projection heights of the terminals from the attachment surface, the positioning projection being inserted into a positioning hole provided at the circuit board prior to insertion of the terminals into through holes; and
an attachment arm provided at a side surface of the board connector and protruding in the attachment direction, the attachment arm being engaged with an attachment portion provided at the circuit board, whereby the board connector is fixed to the circuit board.
That is, according to the aforesaid configuration, first, the tip end portion of the positioning projection provided at the attachment surface of the board connector is inserted into the positioning hole provided at the circuit board, whereby the terminals protruding in the attachment-direction from the attachment surface can be inserted into the through holes provided at the circuit board in the state where the board connector is relatively positioned with respect to the circuit board.
Further, since the attachment arm provided at a side of an insulation housing is engaged with the attachment portion of the circuit board, the board connector can be simply and surely fixed to the circuit board.
In the above attachment structure of the board connector, preferably, a groove is formed at a tip end portion of the positioning projection, and the groove is split into at least two pieces in a longitudinal direction of the positioning projection, and the tip end of the positioning projection is elastically deformed in a radial direction of the positioning hole when the positioning projection is inserted into the positioning hole.
Thus, the positioning projection is formed to have a relatively longer length so that the positioning projection can be inserted into the positioning hole of the circuit board prior to the insertion of the tip end portion of the terminals into the through holes. Thus, even when the positioning projection is inserted aslant with respect to the circuit board, since the tip end portion can be deformed elastically in the radial direction of the positioning hole, the insertion property of the positioning projection into the positioning hole is hardly degraded.
After the positioning projections are inserted into the positioning hole, due to the spring function of the positioning projection which tip end portion can be deformed elastically in the radial direction, the positioning projection is prevented from being wobbled with respect to the positioning hole.
In the above attachment structure of the board connector, the positioning projection may have a projecting height higher than a projection height of the attachment arm from the attachment surface.
Further another aspect of t
Kayama Shinobu
Kodama Shinji
Luebke Renee
McCamey Ann
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Board connector and method of attaching board connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Board connector and method of attaching board connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Board connector and method of attaching board connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3218782