Electrical connectors – Including or for use with tape cable – With mating connection region formed by bared cable
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-03
2002-11-05
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Including or for use with tape cable
With mating connection region formed by bared cable
C439S342000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06475025
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector to which is connected a terminal of a flexible wiring member, such as a flexible flat cable (FFC) in which a plurality of conductors are arranged parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction and a flexible printed circuit (FPC) having a circuit printed on a flexible base material.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, as a means for connecting a terminal of a flexible wiring member to, for example, a circuit board, one is known in which a connector to which the terminal is connectable is mounted on a substrate. In such a connector, in view of the fact that the flexible wiring member which is connected is liable to deflect and the insertion is difficult, an arrangement is provided such that the terminal of the flexible wiring member is made insertable in a housing in a state in which the resistance is practically nil, and after the insertion a slider is pushed into the housing in a direction parallel to the inserting direction of the flexible wiring member, thereby restraining the flexible wiring member at a connecting position.
However, with the connector in which the slider is thus pushed in in a direction parallel to the inserting direction of the flexible wiring member, there is a drawback in that the slider which is pulled out toward this side constitutes a hindrance, so that the insertion of the flexible wiring member into the housing is difficult. Accordingly, as a means for overcoming such a drawback, the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei8-83631 discloses a connector in which when the slider is pulled out, the overall slider is arranged to tilt in a direction in which a terminal on this side of the slider is oriented diagonally upward, thereby widening the insertion gap for the flexible wiring member by the tilting of the slider at this pulled-out position.
[Problems to be Solved]
With the connector of the above-described publication, since the motion of rotating the slider is involved at the beginning of the pushing in or before completion of the pulling out of the slider, there is a drawback in that the operation of the slider becomes complicated. Particularly with the connector in which the flexible wiring member is inserted in a state in which the flexible wiring member is mounted on a substrate, there are many cases where the connecting operation in a narrow space is required, so that it is desirable to simplify the slider operation as much as possible.
It should be noted that although the Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei5-69880 concerning a microfilm discloses a substrate-mounted connector in which a slider is pulled out from a housing diagonally upward in a straight manner (i.e., the slider is pushed into the housing diagonally downward), this connector is aimed at avoiding interference between the slider which is pulled out of the housing and an electronic part mounted on this side of the connector. Since the arrangement provided is such that a terminal of the flexible wiring member is inserted into the housing over the slider which is pulled out diagonally upward, the insertion operation is even more difficult, and it is very difficult to visually confirm the inserted state.
In addition, with the connector disclosed in the Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei5-69880 concerning a microfilm, the slider is arranged to slide in a diagonal direction over its entire stroke, and since it does not provide the operation of pushing in the slider in a direction parallel to the inserting direction of the flexible wiring member, it is difficult to reliably hold the flexible wiring member at a position of contact with connector terminals. Furthermore, in a case where the slider is retained at its insertion-completed position in such a manner as to be incapable of moving backward, if there is any slight deviation in its retaining position, the force for restraining the flexible wiring member by the slider at that retaining position varies, so that there is a drawback in that the connection reliability declines by that margin.
An example of such a connector is shown in FIG.
16
and
FIGS. 19A
to
19
C. A multiplicity terminal accommodating chambers
182
arranged in a lateral direction are formed in an illustrated housing
180
, and terminals
184
are respectively accommodated in the terminal accommodating chambers
182
. A vertically deflectable deflecting piece
183
for connection is formed at a tip of each of the terminals
184
.
To effect connection by using this connector C
1
for a circuit board, the housing
180
is first fixed to a circuit board side by a pair of holders
186
, and leg portions
185
of the terminals
182
are connected to lands on an unillustrated board by means of soldering or the like. Meanwhile, in a flexible wiring member
140
, its terminal is processed to expose terminals of respective conductors
141
on the upper side, and a reinforcing plate
142
for restraining the deflection of the terminal of the flexible wiring member
140
is bonded in advance to a reverse surface of the terminal. Then, after the terminal of the flexible wiring member
140
is inserted into the housing
180
in a loosely fitted state, as shown in
FIGS. 19A and 19B
, a slider
190
having a tongue
192
is inserted from the inserting side. Upon completion of the insertion of the slider
190
(FIG.
19
C), the tongue
192
pushes up the terminals of the conductors
141
of the flexible wiring member
140
, thereby allowing the terminals of the conductors
141
to be brought into contact with the deflecting pieces
183
of the terminals
182
. Through this contact, the flexible wiring member
140
is set in a state of being connected to a circuit on the circuit board side by means of the terminals
182
.
With the above-described connector C
1
, it is difficult to confirm to what extent the terminal of the flexible wiring member
140
has been inserted in the housing
180
. Accordingly, due to the fact that the slider
190
is pushed in in a state in which the flexible wiring member
140
is in a semi-inserted state, there is a possibility of the occurrence of faulty connection. In addition, even if the connecting operation is conducted satisfactorily, since the restraint of the flexible wiring member
140
is effected only by the clamping by the tongue
192
and the deflecting pieces
183
, if the flexible wiring member
140
is, for example, pulled with a relatively strong force, the position of the terminal in the housing can be offset, possibly causing faulty connection.
To hold down nearly the entire region extending in the direction of width of the flat wiring member
240
, the slider
290
is shaped in such a manner as to extend in the direction of the member
240
. Moreover, both terminals in the direction of width of the flat wiring member
240
are restrained to the housing
280
, while a middle portion in the direction of width thereof freely operates at least in the direction in which the slider
290
is pushed into the housing
280
. Therefore, as the width of the flat wiring member
240
is increased by multipolarization thereof, the width dimension of the slider
290
increases. Thus, the middle portion in the direction of width of the slider
290
becomes more flexible (that is, becomes more liable to perform displacement) in the direction in which the slider
290
is inserted (that is, in a direction nearly parallel to the direction in which the flat wiring member
240
is inserted). When such displacement occurs, the middle portion in the direction of width thereof cannot reliably restrain the flat wiring member
240
at a normal connection position (that is, the position at which the member
240
touches the terminal
284
). There is a fear that contact failure occurs at worst.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-described circumstances, an object of the invention is to provide a connector which facilitates the operation of connection between the flexib
Autonetworks Technologies Ltd.
Luebke Renee
Nguyen Phuong
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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