Electrical connectors – Having circuit interrupting provision effected by mating or...
Reexamination Certificate
2004-03-08
2004-10-26
Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Having circuit interrupting provision effected by mating or...
C439S944000, C439S039000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06808405
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coaxial connector and a communication device, and more particularly to a coaxial connector for use in, for example, mobile communication devices such as portable telephones, etc., and to be able to change signal lines, and a communication device including such a coaxial connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, in communication devices such as portable telephones, etc., there are cases in which a surface-mount type coaxial connector having a function for changing signal lines is used. The present applicant has proposed various coaxial connectors having such a switching function disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-245907, Japanese Patent No. 3064906, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-265761, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-359032, and others.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, such a coaxial connector is basically constructed such that a movable terminal
92
made of a conductive thin plate, a fixed terminal
93
, and an external terminal
94
are attached to an insulating case
91
, and a contact portion
92
a
at the tip of the movable terminal
92
is arranged so as to be generally in contact with the contact portion
93
a
of the fixed terminal
93
by the elastic restoring force of the thin plate.
When a probe
80
for measuring characteristics is mounted, the central contact
81
is put in through the opening portion
95
of the insulating case
91
, the movable terminal
92
is displaced downward by the central contact
81
(see the dotted line in FIG.
9
), the contact portion
92
a
is disconnected from the contact portion
93
a
, and then the signal line is changed from the fixed terminal
93
to the central contact
81
. At the same time, the external conductor
82
comes into contact with the external terminal
94
, which is grounded.
On the other hand, a coaxial connector in which a magnetic force is utilized to perform a switching operation (changing signal lines) is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-359032.
In a related coaxial connector
90
shown in
FIG. 9
, the opening and closing of the contact portions
92
a
and
93
a
are performed by the spring function of the movable terminal
92
. Then, with a coaxial connector
90
, which has a small size and a reduced height, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient stroke of the movable contact portion
92
a
. On the contrary, if a sufficient stroke is secured, the total length of the movable portion of a spring becomes larger and the contact pressure becomes smaller.
Accordingly, it is necessary to reduce the total length of the movable portion of a spring to a certain extent in order to secure a necessary contact pressure. However, in a short movable spring portion, plastic deformation may occur and the contacting reliability cannot be ensured. In order to prevent the plastic deformation, it may be considered to limit the stroke, but further shortening the originally small stroke makes the gap between the contact portions shorter, which may cause unstable disconnection.
On the other hand, in a coaxial connector using the magnetic force described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-359032, since a part of the magnetic circuit is made open, the efficiency of making use of the magnetic flux is not necessarily high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a low-cost, compact coaxial connector, in which the efficiency of making use of the magnetic flux is high and the reliability of contacting of the movable terminal to the fixed terminal is excellent, and also provide a communication device including such a novel connector. Also, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a low-cost, compact coaxial connector as described in the preceding sentence that also has a reduced number of parts, requires much fewer man-hours for production, and which can be produced at a greatly reduced cost, and also provide a communication device including such a novel connector. In addition, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a low-cost compact coaxial connector as described in the preceding sentences, and which can prevent corrosion of the contact portions, increase and secure the reliability of contact, and have terminal portions thereof be reliably soldered, and also provide a communication device including such a connector.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a coaxial connector includes switching signal lines with a probe having a central contact and an external conductor, the probe being mounted thereto or dismounted therefrom, and including a first fixed yoke terminal made of a conductive magnetic material, a second fixed yoke terminal made of a conductive magnetic material, a movable terminal made of a conductive magnetic material, and a permanent magnet made of a ferromagnetic material. In the coaxial connector, the first fixed yoke terminal, the second fixed yoke terminal, the movable terminal, and the permanent magnet constitute a magnetic circuit, at least one mechanical contact portion is provided between the first and second fixed yoke terminals in the magnetic circuit, and the contact portion is connected by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet when the probe is dismounted and the contact portion is disconnected by the movable terminal being pressed by the central contact when the probe is mounted.
In the coaxial connector of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a signal line is provided in the magnetic circuit defined by the first fixed yoke terminal, the second fixed yoke terminal, the movable terminal, and the permanent magnet so as to have at least one mechanical contact portion. This contact portion is changed to a connected state by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet to form a closed magnetic circuit, and, since the efficiency of using the magnetic flux is high, a stable connected state can be maintained. Then, since the contact portion is disconnected by the central contact pressing the movable terminal when the probe is mounted, the performance of the disconnection is reliable.
In a coaxial connector of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the contact portion is connected, the first fixed yoke terminal and the second fixed yoke terminal are electrically connected through the movable terminal and, when the contact portion is disconnected, the first fixed yoke terminal and the second fixed yoke terminal are electrically disconnected. The construction of the coaxial connector, in which the magnetic circuit and the signal line are combined into one, becomes compact, the number of parts and the number of man-hours required for manufacturing are also reduced, and it becomes possible to build the coaxial connector at low cost.
Furthermore, the contact portion being disconnected returns to the contact portion being connected by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet. Since the maintenance of the contact pressure and the return to the connected state from the disconnected state are performed by the magnetic force, even if the opening and closing of the contact portion are repeated, the contact pressure hardly changes and the opening and closing operation can be stably performed.
The permanent magnet has anisotropic magnetic characteristics. In the anisotropic permanent magnet, the flux centers on the magnetic pole surfaces and leakage of the magnetic flux is reduced. As a result, the contact pressure increases.
The first fixed yoke terminal and the second fixed yoke terminal are integrally provided with input-output terminals for an electrical signal. The number of parts and the number of man-hours required for production are reduced.
Furthermore, the direction of the magnetic flux passing through the movable terminal is substantially perpendicular to the magnetization direction of the permanent m
Kushihi Yuichi
Maruyama Yuichi
Okada Takekazu
Uratani Chikara
Keating & Bennett
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Ta Tho D.
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