Electrical connectors – Coupling part with actuating means urging contact to move... – Contractile receptacle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-09
2001-06-05
Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Coupling part with actuating means urging contact to move...
Contractile receptacle
C439S263000, C439S266000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241544
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an low-insertion-force (hereinafter LIF) connector having an actuator for adjusting the strength of the connection between the contacts of a jack and the pins of a plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the increasing density of substrate circuitry and the greater number of signal lines required by an increasing array of functions, the number of pins on the connectors of the substrates of communications devices, personal computers, workstations, large-scale calculators and the like has also increased. As a result, connectors into which multi-pin jacks and plugs are inserted require substantial force both to insert and to remove the jacks and plugs inserted therein. In such a situation, an LIF connector capable of opening or closing the connectors as appropriate and permitting the insertion and removal of even a multi-pin plug with a minimum amount of force is used.
FIG. 1
is a diagram of the structure of a conventional LIF connector. It should be noted that
FIG. 1
depicts only the jack portion of the connector.
The conventional LIF connector jack portion
101
comprises, for example, a jack base
102
in a state in which pins
106
for connection to the substrate are mounted on a bottom part and contacts
105
for inserting the pins of the plug portion are mounted on a top part, an actuator
103
for adjusting the strength of the connection between the pins of the plug and the contacts
105
by being moved up or down with respect to the base, and a jack cover
104
made of an insulating material for the purpose of preventing trouble such as a short circuiting caused by contact from external parts.
FIGS.
2
(A),
2
(B) and
2
(C) show external top, front and side views, respectively, of the-jack portion
101
in a state of being mounted on a substrate
111
. Normally, pins
106
for connection to the substrate are mounted and, as shown in the diagram, the pins
106
are inserted into through-holes in the substrate and soldered. Additionally, a slanted slot
112
is formed in the actuator and is used when adjusting the strength of the connection of the pins of the plug with the contacts
105
.
FIGS.
3
(A) and
3
(B) show top and side views, respectively, of a state in which an LIF connector tool is further mounted on the LIF connector depicted in FIG.
2
. As shown in the diagram, the LIF connector tool comprises an operating member
121
, an engaging portion
122
and a slide cam
123
, with the slide cam
123
positioned so as to sandwich the jack portion
101
.
FIGS.
4
(A) and
4
(B) show how the actuator
103
is moved by the LIF connector tool depicted in FIG.
3
. Initially, a projection
124
provided on a side surface of the slide cam
123
facing the jack
101
is accommodated at a predetermined initial position of a slot
112
in the actuator
103
, as shown in FIG.
4
(A). Additionally, when the projection
124
is at that initial position, as shown in FIG.
3
(A) and also in FIG.
4
(A), the operating member
121
is perpendicular to the plane of the slide cam
123
, the actuator
103
is positioned at a maximum low position and the contacts
105
of the jack portion
101
are opened. At this stage the strength of connection at the contacts
105
is at its weakest.
It is in such a state that by gradually depressing the operating member
121
toward the jack portion
101
that the teeth of the gears of the engaging portion
122
mesh, gradually drawing the slide cam
123
toward the engaging portion
122
. At the same time, the projection
124
of the slide cam
123
accommodated within the slot
112
moves gradually in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in FIG.
4
(A), that is, in a horizontal direction. As noted previously the slot
112
is slanted, so the actuator
103
is gradually lifted upward.
By depressing the operating member
121
so that it is in contact with the substrate
111
the projection
124
moves to the position shown in FIG.
4
(B), thus positioning the actuator
103
at a maximum high position and closing the contacts
105
of the jack portion
101
. At this stage the strength of contact at the contacts
105
is at its greatest.
As thus described the conventional connector, through the use of an LIF connector tool, operates by moving the actuator
103
up and down with respect to the substrate
111
so as to adjust the strength of contact between the contacts
105
of the jack portion
101
and the pins of the plug not shown in the diagram. It should be noted that it is normally not necessary to perpetually mount the LIF connector tool depicted in
FIG. 3
on the substrate
111
. Instead, it is sufficient to mount the LIF connector tool on the substrate
111
only when inserting or removing the plug pins.
However, conventionally a tool for inserting and removing the plug pins is mounted on the substrate together with the LIF connector jack portion, with the result that the load surface area of the connector increases substantially.
Moreover, even an arrangement whereby the above-described tool is only mounted when inserting and removing the plug pins is unsatisfactory because space must be secured for such insertion and removal and no reduction in load surface area is achieved as a result.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector in which the problems described above are solved.
Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an LIF connector that is capable of adjusting the strength of contact by moving the actuator up and down by using a member integrated into a single unit with either the jack or the plug and that, further, makes it possible to reduce the surface load area on the substrate and which does not require space for the insertion and removal of plug pins.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an LIF connector that is capable of adjusting the strength of contact by moving the actuator up and down by using a member integrated into a single unit with either the jack or the plug and that, further, requires minimal force to slide the integrated member in a horizontal direction when adjusting the strength of contact.
The above-described objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a connector comprising:
an actuator for adjusting the strength of contact between contacts of a jack and pins of a plug, the actuator moving vertically within the jack; and
an integrated member integrated into a single unit with the jack, the integrated member moving horizontally,
wherein by converting the horizontal movement of the integrated member into the vertical movement of the actuator the strength of contact between the contacts of the jack and the pins of the plug is adjusted.
By providing a member integrated into the jack, that is, by integrating the slide cam and the jack in a single unit, it is possible to provide an LIF connector that does not require a tool adjusting the strength of the connection between the pins and the connectors. As a result, the load surface area of the substrate can be greatly reduced and the need for space for inserting and removing the pins of the plug can be eliminated.
Further, the above-described objects of the present invention are also achieved by providing the connector as described above, wherein the projections are disposed at a uniform pitch and the slots are disposed at a pitch gradually greater than that of the projections, such that by sliding the integrated member horizontally the horizontal movement of the integrated member is converted into the vertical movement of the actuator at a gradually increasing time differential.
By providing a connector as described above, wherein the projections are disposed at a uniform pitch while the slots are disposed at a gradually increasingly different pitch from that of the projections, and hence converting the horizontal movement of the integrated member into the vertical movement of the actuator at an increasing time differential, it
Fukumoto Yutaka
Miyazawa Hideo
Okuyama Takeshi
Fujitsu Takamisawa Component Limited
Gilman Alexander
Paumen Gary F.
Staas & Halsey , LLP
LandOfFree
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 Connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2451685