Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-19
2002-06-04
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
With provision to conduct electricity from panel circuit to...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06398559
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connecting terminal for establishing electrical connection between conductor portions of printed circuit boards disposed in a facing relation, and relates to a connecting terminal assembly comprised of a plurality of connecting terminals that are removably attached to a mount base and adapted to be mounted on printed circuit boards with use of an automatic loader.
2. Related Arts
Electronic equipment, such as personal computers and telephone sets, accommodates therein a large number of electronic component parts. Typically, these component parts are mounted on a plurality of printed circuit boards that are accommodated in a cabinet of electronic equipment. To reduce the space required for installation of the printed circuit boards in the cabinet and to facilitate easy assembly, these circuit boards are disposed in the cabinet in a facing relation to one another. In order to establish electric connection between conductive patterns respectively formed in adjacent printed circuit boards, connecting terminals, such as the one disclosed in Japanese provisional patent publication no. 9-115574, have been employed.
This conventional connecting terminal is comprised of a U-shaped metal plate fabricated by bending an elongated plate, punched out from a metal sheet having upper and lower surfaces thereof plated in advance, into a U-shape, as shown in FIG.
9
. The connecting terminal, having a first contact section
51
thereof formed by a longer half of the U-shaped plate, is adapted to be soldered at this contact section
51
to a conductor pattern (not shown) of a first printed circuit board
53
. To this end, a first and second soldered-connection portions
51
a,
51
b
are formed in the contact section
51
by cutting and upwardly raising a longitudinally intermediate portion and an outer end portion of the contact section
51
. These soldered-connection portions
51
a,
51
b
of the connecting terminal
50
are soldered to the conductor pattern of the first printed circuit board
53
, whereby the connecting terminal
50
is electrically and mechanically connected to the conductor pattern of the printed circuit board
53
. Subsequently, a second contact section
52
, formed by a shorter half of the U-shape plate, of the connecting terminal
50
is abutted against a conductor pattern formed in a second printed circuit board
54
, so as to be electrically connected thereto. In this manner, electrical connection between the conductor patterns of the first and second circuit boards
53
,
54
is established through the connecting terminal
50
having the first fixed-contact section
51
and the second free-contact section
52
elastically flexible relative to the contact section
51
.
To ensure that the connecting terminal
50
is properly joined to the printed circuit board
53
, with an intended orientation and at an intended position thereon, the soldered-connection portions
51
a,
51
b
of the connecting terminal
50
must be separated at a distance from each other and soldering flux or paste must be applied to surface areas of the conductor pattern of the first printed circuit board
53
that are apart from each other at a distance corresponding to the distance between the soldered-connection portions
51
a,
51
b.
This requirement must be satisfied, especially when the connecting terminal
50
is soldered to the printed circuit board
53
by reflowing-type soldering.
If the soldering-flux is applied to areas of the printed circuit board
53
which are not separated at a required distance but form a single area wide enough to cover a longitudinal zone including lengthwise portions of the circuit board
53
which respectively correspond to the soldered-connection portions
51
a,
51
b
of the connecting terminal
50
, molten solder flows into between the opposed flat surfaces of the first contact section
51
of the connecting terminal
50
and the printed circuit board
53
during the soldering process by reflowing-type soldering or the like. As a result, the connecting terminal
50
maybe in a floated state on the molten solder, since the circuit-board-side surface of the first contact section
51
is formed, as a whole, into a single flat plane. In such a floated state, the connecting terminal
50
can be directed to an unexpected orientation, and thus the connecting terminal
50
is sometimes joined, with an undesired orientation, to the printed circuit board
53
after the solder is solidified.
In surface-mounting the connecting terminal
50
to the printed circuit board
53
, a suction pickup device is often employed to pick up the connecting terminal by suction and transport the same to the circuit board. In this case, an upper face of the first contact section
51
of the connecting terminal
50
serves as a pickup face against which a suction nozzle of the pickup device is positioned. At the time of picking up the connecting terminal
50
, a movable part, including the suction nozzle, of the suction device is moved toward the connecting terminal
50
to permit the suction nozzle to be positioned on the pickup face. To avoid interference between the connecting terminal
50
and the movable part of the pickup device moved toward the connecting terminal
50
, the second contact section
52
of the connecting terminal, extending upwardly from the first contact section
51
toward the suction device, is bent at its proximal end so as to extend at an acute angle with respect to the first contact section
51
.
As the acute angle formed between the first and second contact sections
51
,
52
becomes small, the vertical dimension of the connecting terminal
50
becomes smaller. In order to electrically connect the circuit boards through such a low-profile connecting terminal
50
, the printed circuit boards must be disposed close to each other at a small distance. In other words, electric connection between the printed circuit boards cannot be established with use of the connecting terminal
50
, if one or more electric component parts, having a height greater than that of the connecting terminal
50
, are mounted to either one or both of the printed circuit boards.
Since the second contact section
52
of the connecting terminal
50
extends at an acute angle with respect to the first contact section
51
, the second contact section
52
can be flexed insufficiently in the vertical direction of the connecting terminal
50
when the second printed circuit board
54
is brought in urged contact with the second contact section
52
. In this case, a contact force large enough to eliminate a layer of oxide film or the like, if any, on the conductor pattern cannot be produced between a conductor pattern
54
p of the printed circuit board
54
and the second contact section
52
, so that defective electric connection may be caused between the printed circuit board
54
and the second contact section
52
.
Furthermore, the conventional connecting terminal
50
can be unsatisfactorily sucked by the suction pickup nozzle so that it may drop therefrom during the picking-up and transfer processes, since the center of the pickup face of the first contact section
51
is deviated from the center of gravity of the connecting terminal
50
whose first contact section
51
is provided at only one end with the second contact section
52
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a connecting terminal that can be easily surface-mounted on and accurately joined to a printed circuit board with an intended orientation and at an intended position thereon.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connecting terminal, interposed between a first and second printed circuit boards facing each other, for establishing electric connection between conductor portions respectively formed in the first and second printed circuit boards.
The connecting terminal of this invention comprises a central section having a major portion thereof extending longitudinally of the con
Kyoshin Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Sircus Brian
Webb Brian S.
LandOfFree
Connecting terminal and a connecting terminal assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Connecting terminal and a connecting terminal assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Connecting terminal and a connecting terminal assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2960447