Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-01
2001-09-11
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
active
06287130
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a construction of and a method of connecting a connector to a base board, in which the connector can be provided on either side of the circuit board even in the case where solder portions are formed only on one side of the circuit board.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-52428, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6
shows a related construction of connecting a connector to a base board.
In this construction, a plurality of external board-connecting terminals
51
of the board-connecting connector (hereinafter referred to as “connector”)
40
are connected respectively to terminal-connecting portions of a printed circuit (not shown) on a front side or surface of an electronic circuit board (hereinafter referred to as “circuit board”)
50
by reflow soldering. The connector
40
is mounted on the surface of the circuit board
50
by soldering.
Rows of solder portions
52
are formed on the front side (upper surface) of the circuit board
50
, and the rows of board-connecting terminals
51
project outwardly respectively from lower portions of opposite side walls
54
of a connector housing
53
made of a synthetic resin. Each board-connecting terminal
51
is downwardly bent into a crank-shape, and a lower surface of a distal end portion
55
thereof is connected to the upper surface of the circuit board
50
through the solder portion
52
.
A flange
56
is formed integrally with a bottom portion of the connector housing
53
, and proximal end portions of the board-connecting terminals
51
are disposed on an upper surface of the flange
56
. Fixing metal members
60
of an L-shape are provided respectively at opposite end walls
59
of the connector housing
53
, and each fixing metal member
60
is engaged in grooves
61
, and a lower portion of each fixing metal member
60
is received in a notch
62
in the flange
56
, and is fixed at its lower surface to a solder portion
52
on the front side of the circuit board
50
. The soldering connection of the board-connecting terminals
51
to the circuit board
50
and the solder-fixing of the fixing metal members
60
are effected simultaneously by a reflow soldering apparatus (described later).
FIGS. 7A
to
7
D show a related reflow soldering method.
First, as shown in
FIGS. 7A and 7B
, a sheet
64
of a synthetic resin, having a plurality of holes
63
, is placed on the circuit board
50
, and a cream solder
65
is put on the sheet
64
, and is spread over this sheet, using a knife (not shown). The holes
63
in the sheet
64
are so arranged as to correspond to the relevant solder portions, respectively. The cream solder fills in the holes
63
, and deposits on the circuit board
50
. Then, the sheet
64
is removed as shown in
FIG. 7C
, and solder portions
52
are formed on predetermined portions of the circuit board
50
, respectively.
Then, the connector
40
is fixedly secured to the solder portions
52
by a thermosetting adhesive (not shown) as shown in FIG.
7
D. In this condition, the circuit board
67
with the connector is heated by a reflow soldering apparatus (not shown), and therefore the solder portions
52
are melted, so that the board-connecting terminals
52
(see
FIG. 6
) of the connector
40
are connected to the circuit board
50
by soldering.
In
FIG. 6
, when it is desired to provide the connectors
40
on the opposite (front and reverse) sides (surfaces) of the circuit board
50
, respectively, solder portions
52
are formed on each side of the circuit board
50
by the above method. By doing so, the two connectors
40
can be connected respectively to mating connectors (not shown) at the opposite sides of the circuit board
50
. In the case where such solder portions
52
can not be formed on one side (reverse side) of the circuit board
50
, for example, because of the form of the printed circuit on the circuit board
50
and the kind of the reflow soldering apparatus, a connector
41
of the through hole-connecting type is provided on the reverse surface of the circuit board
50
as shown in
FIG. 8
, board-connecting terminals
68
of the connector
41
are passed respectively through through holes
69
in the circuit board
50
, and are connected respectively to solder portions
70
(other than the reflow solder portions) on the front side of the circuit board
50
.
In the above construction and method of connecting the connector to the base board, however, in the case where the solder portions
52
can be formed only on one side of the circuit board
50
, there are required two steps, that is, the step of connecting the connector
40
to the front side of the circuit board
50
by the reflow soldering apparatus, and the step of subsequently connecting the reverse-side connector
41
to the through holes
69
in the circuit board
50
by soldering. Therefore, the productivity is low, and much time and labor are required for the assembling operation, and particularly when manually soldering the board-connecting terminals
68
to the respective through holes
69
, there has been encountered a problem that the efficiency of the operation is extremely low. In the case where the solder portions are formed on the opposite sides (surfaces) of the circuit board
50
, there have been encountered problems that the time and labor, twice larger than those required with the method of
FIG. 7
, are needed and that the operation is cumbersome. In the case where the connectors
40
are connected respectively to the opposite sides of the circuit board
50
by soldering, using the reflow soldering apparatus, the solder portions
52
on the lower side of the circuit board
50
drip, and therefore the soldering connection is difficult, which has resulted in a problem that complicated techniques and the high cost are required. A further problem is that the structure becomes bulky in the direction of the thickness of the circuit board
50
since the connector housing
53
projects from the surface of the circuit board
50
through the flange
56
.
With the above problems in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction and a method of connecting a connector to a base board, in which a board-connecting connector can be efficiently provided on either side of the circuit board with less time and labor even in the case where solder portions can be formed only on one side of the circuit board, and the increase of the time and labor due to the formation of solder portions on opposite sides of the circuit board are eliminated, and connectors can be positively and easily connected to the opposite sides of the circuit board, respectively, and the structure is prevented from becoming bulky.
To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a construction of connecting a connector to a circuit board, which comprises a circuit board having a connector insertion hole formed therethrough, a plurality of solder portions formed on one of opposite sides of the circuit board, and a plurality of board-connecting terminals attached to a connector, the board-connecting terminals being respectively connected to the solder portions, wherein the connector is inserted into the connector insertion hole from the one side of the circuit board, and each of the board-connecting terminals has a solder-connecting surface facing in a direction of insertion of the connector. According to the present invention, it is preferable that the above construction further comprises a plurality of fixing metal members provided on the connector, and each of the fixing metal members having a solder-fixing surface facing in the direction of insertion of the connector.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of connecting a connector to a circuit board. The method comprises the steps of forming a plurality of solder portions on a circuit board, forming a connector
Le Than-Tam
Sircus Brian
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Construction and method of connecting connector to base board does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Construction and method of connecting connector to base board, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Construction and method of connecting connector to base board will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2447260