Electrical connectors – With supporting means for coupling part – Flange on coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-10
2004-03-02
Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With supporting means for coupling part
Flange on coupling part
C439S566000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06699069
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an on-board type connector which is adapted to be mounted on a circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, the on-board type connector is constructed in such a manner that its terminals are respectively provided with leg portions, and the leg portions are connected to and fixed on the circuit board by soldering or so. However, with such fixation of the connector only by means of soldering between the leg portions of the terminals and the circuit board, high connection reliability cannot be obtained, because an outer force exerted on the relevant connector will be transferred as it is, to the soldered parts (terminal connecting parts) and will cause a large overload in strength on the soldered parts. In view of the circumstances, it has been considered heretofore to decrease the overload in strength by fixing a reinforcing metal to a housing of the connector, and fixing this metal on the circuit board by soldering or so independently of the terminals.
One example of such a structure is shown in
FIGS. 9
to
11
. A connector illustrated on the drawings is intended to electrically connect a flat wiring member
40
which is flat and flexible, to a circuit board C as shown in FIG.
10
. The connector includes a number of terminals
10
, a housing
20
for holding the terminals, and a slider
30
attached to this housing
20
.
Each of the terminals
10
is formed of conductive material such as metal, and integrally has a leg portion
12
in a substantially L-shape which is mounted on the circuit board C as shown in
FIG. 10
, an upper horizontal portion
14
horizontally extending from an upper end of the leg portion
12
, a lower horizontal portion
16
branched off downward from a base end of the upper horizontal portion
14
and extending in parallel to the upper horizontal portion
14
, and a conductor contacting portion
18
which is turned back from an end of the lower horizontal portion
16
at an acute angle. These terminals
10
are held by the housing
20
in such a manner that they are directed in a back and forth direction and arranged in a row in a lateral direction.
The housing
20
is integrally molded of synthetic resin in its entirety, and has a body part
21
which extends laterally, and a top wall part
22
which extends in parallel to the body part
21
above a backward half part of the body part
21
. These body part
21
and top wall part
22
are connected vertically at a back part, and left and right sides of the housing. The body part
21
is formed with terminal containing grooves
21
a
extending in a back and forth direction which are adapted to contain the lower horizontal portions
16
of the aforesaid terminals
10
, so that the conductor contacting portions
18
of the terminals
10
may project upward from the terminal containing grooves
21
a
. There are formed, on a lower face of the top wall part
22
, terminal insertion grooves
22
a
into which the upper horizontal portions
14
of the terminals
10
are respectively inserted.
The slider
30
is also integrally formed of insulating material, and has a shape of extending in a lateral direction of the flat wiring member
40
. More specifically, the slider
30
integrally has a pair of left and right side walls
32
extending in a back and forth direction, and a laterally extending connecting part
34
which connects both the side walls
32
. A wiring member holding piece
35
extends backward from the connecting part
34
. There are further formed, on inner faces of both the side walls
32
, lockable portions
36
which project inwardly.
On the other hand, at an end of the flat wiring member
40
to be inserted into the housing
20
, an insulating layer on its lower face is peeled off to expose an inner conductor at its lower side, and a reinforcing plate
42
is fixed to an upper face of the end by means of boding or the like.
In a state where the slider
30
has been completely withdrawn forward from the housing
20
, the end of the flat wiring member
40
is inserted into a space between the upper horizontal portion
14
and the conductor contacting portion
18
of the terminal
10
in the housing
20
, from underneath of the connecting part
34
and the wiring member holding piece
35
of the slider
30
. Thereafter, the slider
30
is pushed into the housing
20
toward its backward end, and comes into a state where the wiring member holding piece
35
of the slider
30
has pressed the end of the flat wiring member
40
onto an upper side of the conductor contacting portion
18
, as shown in FIG.
10
. In this manner, the exposed portion of the conductor at the end of the flat wiring member is press contacted with the conductor contacting portion
18
, and both the members are electrically connected. When the slider
30
has been completely inserted, the lockable portions
36
come into engagement with the locking projections
28
provided on the side walls of the housing
20
, thereby to retain the slider
30
from dropping.
It is intended with this connector that a pair of left and right metal plates
50
for reinforcement as shown in
FIGS. 11A and 11B
are fixed to this connector. Each of the reinforcing metal plates
50
is formed of a single metal plate by bending work, and integrally has a part
51
to be fixed on the circuit board C, and apart
52
to be fixed to the housing which is erected upward from a side of a backward end of the part
51
to be fixed on the board. There is formed a cut-out
52
a
at a middle position of a front edge of the part
52
to be fixed to the housing.
On the other hand, at both ends in a lateral direction of the housing
20
, there are formed backwardly opening slits
23
along an entire length of the housing
20
in a vertical direction. At a middle position of each of the slits
23
, there is formed a backwardly projecting projection
23
a.
By press fitting the parts
52
of the reinforcing metal plate
50
to be fixed to the housing into the slits
23
from the back side (in other words, by press fitting the projections
23
a
into the cut-outs
52
a
), the reinforcing metal plate
50
is fixed to the housing
20
. Then, by fixing the parts
51
to be fixed on the board in this reinforcing metal plate
50
to the circuit board C which is not shown in the drawing, by soldering or so, the overload in strength exerted on the connecting positions between the leg portions of the terminals
10
and the circuit board C can be reduced.
Recently, the above described connector, particularly the connector for an automobile has come to have multi-contacts, and accordingly, requires a larger force than ever for inserting and detaching the slider
30
as described above or a connector to be mated. In the conventional connector as described above, the parts
52
of the reinforcing metal plate
50
to be fixed to the housing are inserted into the slits
23
of the housing
20
from the back side. Accordingly, it is difficult to withstand a force of pulling the housing
20
forward, that is, a force exerted on the housing
20
(a leftward force in
FIGS. 11A and 11B
) when the slider
30
is extracted from the relevant connector (when the relevant connector is detached in case where the connector is to be mated), and there is a fear that the force may exert a large overload on the connecting positions between the leg portions of the terminals
10
and the circuit board C.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above described circumstances, it is an object of the invention to provide an on-board type connector which is simple in structure, and in which an overload in strength exerted on connecting positions between terminals and a circuit board can be effectively reduced, even when a slider or a connector to be mated is connected to or detached from a housing.
To solve the above described problems, there is provided according to the invention, an on-board type connector comprising a housing made of synthetic resin which holds a plurality of terminals to be conn
Autonetworks Technologies Ltd.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
Vu Hien
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