Electrical connectors – Including or for use with tape cable – With mating connection region formed by bared cable
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-11
2001-02-13
Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Including or for use with tape cable
With mating connection region formed by bared cable
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186823
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector equipped with a flexible printed circuit, both ends of which are connected to electrical terminals protruding from a dielectric housing, and a slider which is clamped by the flexible printed circuit and which is inserted between rows of electrical contacts of a mating electrical connector so that conductive pads of the flexible printed circuit are caused to electrically engage the rows of contacts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Electrical connector
100
disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-237666 and shown in
FIG. 6
is equipped with an insulating housing
110
including upper and lower housing members
111
,
112
, upper electrical terminals
121
and lower electrical terminals
122
in rows which protrude from respective wall surfaces
113
,
114
of the housing members
111
,
112
, a flexible printed circuit (FPC)
130
has conductive pads (not shown) on an upper surface, and both ends of which are respectively electrically connected to the upper and lower terminals
121
,
122
, and a slider
140
is clamped within sections of the FPC
130
and is inserted between the rows of electrical contacts
161
,
162
of a mating electrical connector
160
so that the conductive pads electrically engage the rows of contacts
161
,
162
. The slider
140
is used in order to facilitate the engagement of the conductive pads of the FPC
130
with the rows of contacts
161
,
162
of the mating connector
160
. A supporting member
150
fastens the upper and lower housing members
111
,
112
, and regulates the movement of the slider
140
in the vertical direction.
Next, the method of assembly of the electrical connector
100
will be described. First, for each of the upper and lower terminals
121
,
122
of the upper and lower housing members
111
,
112
, the upper terminals
121
and conductive pads disposed on an upper surface of one end
131
of the FPC
130
, and the lower terminals
122
and conductive pads disposed on an upper surface of the other and
132
of the FPC
130
, are connected by soldering via a base plate
133
attached to an undersurface of the first end
131
of the FPC
130
and a base plate
134
attached to the undersurface of the second end
132
of the FPC
130
. Next, the slider
140
is clamped from above and below by the sections of the FPC
130
, and the upper and lower housing members
111
,
112
are fastened by means of the supporting member
150
while both ends of the slider
140
are also supported by the supporting member
150
. As a result, the electrical connector
100
is completely assembled.
However, in conventional electrical connector
100
, since the housing
110
is constructed from upper and lower housing members
111
,
112
, the number of parts required in order to construct the housing
110
is increased, so that parts control is a problem. Furthermore, since the housing members
111
,
112
must be formed using a different mold, mold costs are increased.
On the other hand, if the housing
110
is formed as a single integral housing, parts control is facilitated and mold costs are decreased. In such a case, however, since soldering connections must be made while the slider
140
is clamped between sections of the FPC
130
when the conductive pads disposed on the upper surface of one end
131
of the FPC
130
and the conductive pads disposed on the upper surface of the other end
132
of the FPC
130
are respectively connected by soldering the upper and lower terminals
121
,
122
thereto, this connection work, and by extension the work of assembling the electrical connector
100
is time consuming and therefore expensive.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which has an FPC and slider, in which the manufacturing cost is low, and the assembly work is simple.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The electrical connector of the present invention is equipped with an insulating housing having a plurality of electrical terminals that protrude from a wall of the housing, a flexible printed circuit, both sections of which are connected to the electrical terminals and which has a plurality of conductive pads formed on a surface thereof, and a slider is clamped by the flexible printed circuit is inserted between rows of electrical contacts of a mating electrical connector so that the conductive pads electrically engage the rows of electrical contacts, a lower surface of a second section of the flexible printed circuit is folded back and fastened to a lower surface of a first section of the flexible printed circuit, and selected terminals among the plurality of terminals are connected to the conductive pads on an upper surface of the first surface of the flexible printed circuit, while the other terminals among the plurality of terminals are electrically connected to the conductive pads on an upper surface of the second section of the flexible printed circuit via the first section of the flexible printed circuit.
It is effective if the selected terminals among the plurality of terminals and the other terminals among the plurality of terminals are arranged in different rows, and the housing is a single integral housing of an insulating resin material.
It is much more effective if positioning pin holes which allow the passage of positioning pins that position the second section and first section of the flexible printed circuit when the lower surface of the second section is fastened to the lower surface of the first section are located in the first section and second section of the flexible printed circuit.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4975068 (1990-12-01), Squires
patent: 6039600 (2000-03-01), Etters et al.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-237666.
Futatsugi Takashi
Ito Tsukasa
Obata Hiroyuki
Watanabe Yoshinori
Donovan Lincoln
The Whitaker Corporation
Webb Brian S.
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