Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-06
2002-05-28
Arbes, Carl J. (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S884000, C029S880000, C439S188000, C439S944000, C439S063000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06393698
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coaxial connector used for portable, small electronic equipment or the like and, more particularly, to a coaxial connector which has a movable terminal and a fixed terminal disposed in an insulating case thereof so that the movable terminal and the fixed terminal are connected to or disconnected from each other as a mating coaxial connector is attached thereto or detached therefrom.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional coaxial connector used for portable communications equipment such as a portable telephone has a construction shown in
FIG. 11
, for example. A conventional coaxial connector
80
has a fixed terminal
83
and a flexible movable terminal
84
provided in a cavity
82
of a cylindrical insulating case
81
. The fixed terminal
83
and the movable terminal
84
have the left ends thereof fixed and they respectively extend rightward along the top and bottom surfaces of the cavity
82
as illustrated in
FIGS. 11 and 12
. A predetermined interval is provided between the fixed terminal
83
and the movable terminal
84
at their fixed ends. Provided on the outer surface of the insulating case
81
is a cylindrical outer terminal
86
which is disposed in close contact with a cylindrical peripheral surface
85
of the insulating case
81
. Also, an additional component
89
is located on the outside of the coaxial connector
80
to make it flat and square.
When no mating coaxial connector is attached to this coaxial connector
80
, the urging force of the flexible movable terminal
84
holds itself in contact with the fixed terminal
83
. When a mating coaxial connector is attached to the coaxial connector, the movable terminal
84
is pushed up by a central contact
88
of a mating coaxial connector, which has been introduced through an inlet
87
of the coaxial connector
80
, and disconnected from the fixed terminal
83
, bringing the central contact
88
into contact with the movable terminal
84
as shown in FIG.
12
. When the mating coaxial connector is attached, an outer conductor, not shown, of the mating coaxial connector is brought into contact with the external terminal
83
of the coaxial connector
80
.
In the foregoing conventional coaxial connector
80
, however, the fixed terminal
83
and the movable terminal
84
are so disposed that they are axially aligned and serially positioned with the central contact
88
of the mating coaxial connector, making it impossible to reduce the lateral dimension of the coaxial connector
80
from the sum of the full length of at least the fixed terminal
83
and the full length of the central contact
88
. This has posed a problem in that it is difficult to reduce the length as well as thickness of the coaxial connector
80
, failing to fulfill the demand for further compacted portable communications equipment and the like.
An attempt to reduce the size of a coaxial connector with the construction illustrated in
FIG. 11
would require that the dimension of the inlet
87
through which the central contact
88
is introduced be reduced. This, however, would inevitably make smaller the interval between the fixed and movable terminals
83
and
84
when they are set apart from each other, presenting a problem of insufficient electrical isolation between the fixed and movable terminals
83
and
84
against high-frequency signals.
The difficulty of reducing the thickness is attributable to a considerable distance LY provided to set the fixed terminal
83
and the movable terminal
84
apart vertically; the distance LY must be added to the thickness of the coaxial connector
80
, thus preventing the reduced thickness from being achieved. The thickness would be of course reduced by reducing the distance LY; however, doing so would make the fixed terminal
83
and the movable terminal
84
closer, resulting in inadequate electrical isolation between the fixed terminal
83
and the movable terminal
84
against high-frequency signals when they are in a disconnected state as described above. This means that the reduction in the thickness is unlikely to be accomplished by shortening the distance LY in a practical coaxial connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made with a view toward solving the foregoing problems, and it is an object thereof to provide a coaxial connector which ensures reliable, stable contact and permits sufficient reduction in size and thickness compared to the prior art.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided a coaxial connector including:
an insulating case having a cavity for accommodating at least a central contact of a mating coaxial connector;
an internal terminal, in the cavity of the insulating case, including a fixed terminal and a movable terminal positioned to be connected to and disconnected from each other, a portion of at least the movable terminal projecting approximately at a right angle to an axis of the central contact of the mating connector accommodated in the cavity;
an elastic member located between a bottom surface in the cavity of the insulating case and the movable terminal such that the elastic member is compressed under pressure applied by the movable terminal when the central contact of the mating connector is accommodated in the cavity of the insulating case; and
an external terminal on an outer surface of the insulating case and which comes in contact with the outer conductor of the mating connector when the mating connector is attached to the insulating case;
wherein the movable terminal of the internal terminal is urged in a direction opposite to the introducing direction of the central contact by at least an elastic force of the elastic member such that the fixed terminal comes in contact with the movable terminal and both terminals come into conduction when the central contact of the mating connector not is accommodated in the cavity of the insulating case, and wherein the central contact introduced in the cavity pushes the movable terminal down toward a bottom surface of the cavity to cause the movable terminal to be detached from the fixed terminal when the central contact of the mating connector is accommodated in the cavity of the insulating case.
In a preferred form of the present invention, the projecting portion of at least the movable terminal and a projecting portion of the fixed terminal of the internal terminal are spaced by a predetermined distance from the bottom surface in the cavity such that the projecting portions are approximately opposed to each other.
In another preferred form of the present invention:
the insulating case can have an approximately hexahedron shape;
the lead sections of the movable terminal and the fixed terminal can extend to a rear of the insulating case to provide connection ends nearly flush with the rear surface of the insulating case; and
the external terminal can be a plate-like member which is attached to the insulating case and which has an approximately U-shaped longitudinal cross-section comprising a central flat section and two bent sections, a through-hole for receiving a mating coaxial connector into the cavity of the insulating case at the central flat section which covers the top surface of the insulating case, and the bent sections on both sides of the flat section extending to the rear of the insulating case along the outer surface of the side walls of the insulating case to provide connection ends nearly flush with the rear surface of the insulating case.
In still another preferred form of the invention, the insulating case is formed integrally with the external terminal.
In yet another preferred form of the invention, the elastic member is a rubber elastic member, or a spring including a helical coil spring.
Unlike the conventional example as shown in FIG.
11
and
FIG. 12
, both the movable and fixed terminals are disposed nearly at right angles to the central contact of the mating coaxial connector rather than being disposed in parallel direction thereto. Thus, the
Kuriyama Toshitaka
Okada Takekazu
Arbes Carl J.
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Smith Sean
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