Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-31
2001-11-06
Paumen, Gary (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312263
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a board-to-board connector which is usable in a small electronic apparatus such as a mobile telephone, a mobile terminal, and a digital still camera.
In the manner known in the art, such a small electronic apparatus comprises an LCD board and a main board which are electrically connected to each other. For connecting the LCD board and the main board to each other, proposal has been made as follows.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a board-to-board connector comprises an elastomer connector
20
for electrically connecting a first or LCD board
21
and a second or main board
22
to each other. The connector
20
comprises an insulator
23
having elasticity and a number of contacts
24
fixed on the surface of the insulator
23
at a predetermined interval. The insulator
23
is formed into a shape such that a part of a cylinder is coupled with a rectangular parallelepiped body. The first board
21
has a primary surface
21
a
and a secondary surface
21
b
opposed to the primary surface
21
a
. Electrode patterns
25
are arranged on the primary surface
21
b
at the predetermined interval. The second board
22
has a principal surface
22
a
on which electrode patterns
26
are arranged at the predetermined interval.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, the connector
20
is interposed between the first and the second boards
21
and
22
that are parallel to each other. In other words, the first board
21
is placed on an upper surface of the connector
20
while the second board
22
is placed on a lower surface of the connector
20
with a space left between the first and the second boards
21
and
22
. In this state, the electrode patterns
25
and
26
are in contact with the contacts
24
, respectively. Therefore, the electrode patterns
25
of the first board
21
are electrically connected to the electrode patterns
26
of the second board
22
through the contacts
24
of the connector
11
.
However, the connector
20
is weak in contacting force per one terminal and unstable in contact resistance. Since silicone rubber is used as a material of the insulator, the profile deformation is great. It is therefore impossible to improve a positional accuracy. In addition, short-circuiting between the electrode patterns on the LCD board and short-circuiting between the electrode patterns on the main board are often caused to occur. Furthermore, durability is poor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a board-to-board connector which can considerably reduce the number of manufacturing steps of an LCD board and the production cost.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a board-to-board connector of the type described, which does not require an FPC and a solder to connect the LCD board and a main board.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a board-to-board connector of the type described, which is substantially free from short-circuiting between electrode patterns on each of the boards.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a board-to-board connector of the type described, which has a durability and a reworkability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a board-to-board connector of the type described, which is compact.
According to the present invention, there is provided a board-to-board connector for electrically connecting a first and a second board to each other, the first board having a primary surface and a secondary surface opposed to the primary surface in a first direction, the second board having a principal surface facing the secondary surface with a space left therebetween in the first direction, the first board having a plurality of first electrode patterns arranged on the primary surface, the second board having a plurality of second electrode patterns arranged on the principal surface. The board-to-board connector comprises an insulator and a plurality of conductive contacts assembled to the insulator. Each of the conductive contacts comprises a base portion placed in the space and held by the insulator, a first elastic portion extending from the base portion to face the primary surface, a first contact portion protruded from the first elastic portion towards the primary surface for coming in contact with one of the first electrode patterns, a second elastic portion extending from the base portion between the base portion and the principal surface, and a second contact portion protruded from the second elastic portion towards the principal surface for coming in contact with one of the second electrode patterns.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing a board-to-board connector in a previous technique together with two boards before connection;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of the board-to-board connector of
FIG. 1
together with the boards after connection;
FIG. 3A
is a front, top, and right side perspective view of a board-to-board connector according to a first embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 3B
is a front, bottom, and right side perspective view of the board-to-board connector of
FIG. 3A
;
FIG. 4A
is a top view of the board-to-board connector of
FIGS. 3A and 3B
;
FIG. 4B
is a front view of the board-to-board connector of
FIG. 4A
;
FIG. 5
is a sectional view taken along a line V—V in
FIG. 4B
;
FIG. 6
is a sectional view similar to
FIG. 5
, wherein the board-to-board connector connects two boards to each other;
FIG. 7
is a sectional view similar to
FIG. 5
, wherein a connector inserting jig is used for inserting a board into the board-to-board connector;
FIG. 8A
is an unassembled perspective view of connection structure for electrically connecting two boards to each other by the use of the board-to-board connector illustrated in
FIGS. 3A
,
3
B,
4
A, and
4
B;
FIG. 8B
is an enlarged sectional view taken along a line VIIIB—VIIIB in
FIG. 8A
;
FIG. 8C
is an enlarged sectional view similar to
FIG. 8B
, wherein one of boards is engaged with a hook of a fixing member;
FIG. 9
is an assembled perspective view of the connection structure of
FIG. 8A
;
FIG. 10
is a sectional view of the board-to-board connector according to a second embodiment of this invention, wherein the board-to-board connector connects two boards to each other; and
FIG. 11
is a sectional view of the board-to-board connector according to a third embodiment of this invention, wherein the board-to-board connector connects two boards to each other.
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patent: 4936784 (1990-06-01), Saito
patent: 5747877 (1998-05-01), Wilson
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patent: 6151219 (2000-11-01), Dye
Abe Hiroki
Higuchi Masao
Ibaraki Kazuaki
Ishiyama Yoshiaki
Matsuda Masakazu
Japan Aviation Electronics Industries Ltd.
Michael Best & Friedrich LLC
Nguyen Phuong
Paumen Gary
Whitesel J. Warren
LandOfFree
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