Multipolar electrical connector

Details Multipolar electrical connector Multipolar electrical connector

2000-08-01

2001-08-07

Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With insulation other than conductor sheath

Plural-contact coupling part

C439S939000, C200S051100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06270380

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multipolar electrical connector, and more particularly to a multipolar electrical connector that, as a counter connector, uses a single-head plug having a pole shaft in which center poles are disposed in plural positions in the axial direction, respectively (hereinafter, such a multipolar electrical connector is referred to merely as “multipolar connector”). The invention relates also to a multipolar connector wherein a boss portion protrudes from the body to which a predetermined contact piece is attached, and contact pieces of two or more poles can be added by using the boss portion. A multipolar connector of this kind can be preferably used in the field of a mobile communication apparatus such as a portable telephone, and that of an electric or electronic apparatus to which a portable cassette tape recorder, a radio receiver, and the like belong.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A single-head plug includes poles (the above-mentioned center poles) which are disposed in plural positions in the axial direction of a single pole shaft, respectively. A multipolar connector is structured so that the body has a space (insertion space) into which a pole shaft of such a single-head plug is to be inserted. A plurality of contact pieces are incorporated into the insertion space. Generally, such a multipolar connector is well known as a jack type multipolar connector. A multipolar connector of this kind has been developed so as to be used in a portable telephone, a portable cassette tape recorder, a portable radio receiver, and the like. In order to correspond to the recent tendency to miniaturization of an apparatus, such a multipolar connector is requested to be microminiaturized. Furthermore, in order to cope with increased functions of an apparatus, a multipolar connector is requested to have a larger number of poles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been conducted in view of the above-mentioned circumstances.
It is an object of the invention to increase the number of poles by disposing contact pieces by using a boss portion which protrudes from the front face of the body.
It is another object of the invention to enable the number of poles of a multipolar connector to be increased while preventing the size of the multipolar connector as far as possible from being increased.
Referring to the drawings, the multipolar connector of the invention will be described. The reference numerals in the figures are used in this paragraph in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention, and the use of the reference numerals is not intended to restrict the contents of the invention to the illustrated embodiment.
In the multipolar connector of the invention, a single-head plug including: a pole shaft
91
in which center poles
92
to
95
are disposed in plural positions in an axial direction; and at least one peripheral pole
96
which is opposed to an outside of a root of the pole shaft
91
with being separated from the root of the pole shaft
91
by a distance is used as a counter connector
90
.
The multipolar connector of the invention has: a body
10
comprising an insertion space
14
for the pole shaft
91
; a plurality of predetermined contact pieces
60
,
70
, and
80
attached to the body
10
and comprising predetermined contacts
63
,
73
, and
83
which are to be in contact with the center poles
92
to
94
other than the center pole in the root of the pole shaft
91
that is inserted into the insertion space
14
, respectively; and a cylindrical boss portion
30
which protrudes from a front end of the body
10
, and which forms an insertion/extraction port
37
communicating with the insertion space
14
.
In the multipolar connector of the invention, therefore, a given number of poles, for example, three poles or first to third poles are ensured by the predetermined contact pieces
60
,
70
, and
80
, and a larger number of poles are ensured by additional contact pieces which are placed on outer and inner peripheral sides of the boss portion
30
. Furthermore, one or plural poles are ensured by an additional contact piece(s) which is placed on the outer peripheral side of the boss portion
30
, and one or plural poles are ensured by an additional contact piece(s) which is placed on the inner peripheral side of the boss portion
30
.
The multipolar connector of the invention has: a plate-like first additional contact piece
40
which is placed in a placement position for the first additional contact piece
40
, the placement position being formed in at least one position of the outer peripheral side of the boss portion
30
; a first additional contact
42
which is disposed on the first additional contact piece
40
, and which is to be in contact with the peripheral pole
96
disposed in the counter connector
90
; a second additional contact piece
50
which is placed in a placement position for the second additional contact piece
50
, the placement position being formed in at least one position of the inner peripheral side of the boss portion
30
; and a second additional contact
58
which is disposed on the second additional contact piece
50
, and which is to be in contact with the center pole
95
in the root of the pole shaft
91
of the counter connector
90
.
According to the invention, therefore, the poles the number of which is equal to a sum of the number of the first additional contact piece(s)
40
, and that of the second additional contact piece(s)
50
are added to the poles which are ensured by the predetermined contact pieces
60
,
70
, and
80
. Since the first additional contact piece
40
which is disposed by using the boss portion
30
has a plate-like shape, miniaturization can be attained more easily as compared with the case where the first additional contact piece
40
is formed into a ring-like or cylinder-like shape. Particularly, the first additional contact piece
40
can be formed at least one of the right and left sides of the boss portion
30
. According to this configuration, the first additional contact piece
40
and the first additional contact
42
do not protrude into the spaces above and below the upper and lower faces of the body
10
, and hence increase of the size due to an increased height does not occur in the multipolar connector.
Preferably, the boss portion
30
is formed into a cylindrical shape having a flat circle-cutaway portion
31
which is formed by cutting away a part of an outer side of a peripheral wall of the boss portion, and the circle-cutaway portion
31
functions as the placement position for the first additional contact piece
40
. According to this configuration, the placement position for the first additional contact piece
40
can be made closer to the center of the boss portion
30
, and this is useful to suppress increase of the size of the multipolar connector.
Preferably, the first additional contact piece
40
has a first mounting plate portion
41
which is fixed to the body
10
, and forward elongates from the first mounting plate portion
41
along an outer face of the circle-cutaway portion
31
of the boss portion
30
, to form a gap between the piece and the outer face of the circle-cutaway portion
31
. According to this configuration, even when the multipolar connector is miniaturized, the first additional contact piece
40
can be easily incorporated through the first mounting plate portion
41
. When a configuration in which the first mounting plate portion
41
is fixed to the body
10
under a state where the portion is inserted into a mounting groove
15
that rearward elongates from a front end face of the body
10
is employed, particularly, the attachment of the first mounting plate portion
41
of the first additional contact piece
40
can be performed by inserting the portion into the mounting groove
15
from the front side of the body
10
.
Preferably, the first additional contact
42
outward protrudes from an inner side of a circle-cutaway space which is formed by the

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Multipolar electrical 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 Multipolar electrical connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Multipolar electrical connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2490293