Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-21
2003-05-06
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
C439S567000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06558171
ABSTRACT:
This application is based on patent application No. 2000-393816 filed Dec. 25, 2000 in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed board connector capable of being mated with a male connector such as an insulation displacement plug having a cable, a contact of the printed board connector and a mating instrument. In particular, the present invention relates to improvements in the prevention of deterioration of electrical conductivity and spring property of contacts resulting from solder rising and/or flux rising which may occur when a printed board connector is mounted in a printed circuit board of electronic equipment by soldering.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electronic equipment such as cellular telephones, a mating instrument composed of an insulation displacement plug (male connector) and a printed board connector (female connector) is often used to connect two power cables of a speaker, a vibration motor, or the like, to a printed circuit board. In this case, the two power cables are fixed by insulation displacement to the insulation displacement plug respectively. The insulation displacement plug with the cables is mated with the printed board connector mounted in the printed circuit board.
With reference to
FIGS. 4
to
7
, conventional techniques for this kind of connectors will be described.
FIG. 4
is a plan view of an insulation displacement plug
10
.
FIG. 5
is a sectional view of a conventional printed board connector
20
. Also,
FIG. 6
shows that the insulation displacement plug
10
and the printed board connector
20
are mated with each other.
FIG. 7
is a conventional contact included in the printed board connector
20
.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, the insulation displacement plug
10
includes a plug main body
11
and a pair of insulation displacement contacts
12
. The plug main body
11
is made of an insulated material and has a generally rectangular shape. The insulation displacement contacts
12
are arranged in the plug main body
11
. The insulation displacement contact
12
has a base portion
13
, a pair of side walls
14
extending from the base portion
13
, and a contact portion
15
extending substantially in parallel with the respective side walls
14
. The pair of side walls
14
have slots
16
formed therebetween. Terminals of cables
17
are pressed in the slots
16
. This press-in process removes a part of sheathing
17
a
of each cable
17
to allow a core
17
b
of the cable
17
to come into contact with the corresponding side walls
14
. Each contact portion
15
is exposed from the plug main body
11
and extends along the corresponding side wall of the plug main body
11
. The contact portion
15
is engaged with the corresponding contact of the printed board connector
20
.
The printed board connector
20
is mounted at a predetermined location of the printed circuit board. As shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, the printed board connector
20
includes a housing
22
having a chamber
21
. The above described insulation displacement plug
10
is fitted into the chamber
21
of the housing
22
. Each side wall of the housing
22
has a recess
23
that receives the corresponding contact portion
15
of the insulation displacement plug
10
. Also, each side wall of the housing
22
has a contact
24
fixed thereto by press-in. The contact
24
is generally L-shaped as shown in FIG.
7
. That is, the contact
24
includes a base portion
25
, a pair of forks
26
extending from the base portion
25
substantially in parallel with each other, and a terminal
27
extending from the base portion substantially perpendicular to each fork
26
. The terminal
27
is fixed to the printed circuit board by soldering. Each fork
26
has a substantially triangular projection
28
formed on a side thereof. The projections
28
are used to fix the contact
24
to the housing
22
by press-in.
When the insulation displacement plug
10
is fitted in the chamber
21
of the printed board connector
20
, the contact portion
15
of the insulation displacement contact
12
is held between the pair of forks
26
of the contact
24
. The contact between the insulation displacement contact
12
and the contact
24
allows an electrical connection between the cable
17
connected to the insulation displacement plug
10
and the printed circuit board.
In the case of using a mating instrument such as the one described above, a reflow soldering device is often used to mount a printed board connector in a printed circuit board. However, during reflow soldering, surface tension of the solder may cause solder and/or flux to rise from the terminals to the pair of forks.
That is, if the printed board connector
20
is to be fixed to a printed circuit board, the bottom surface of the terminal
27
(
FIG. 7
) of the connector
20
is soldered to a predetermined location of the printed circuit board, as described above. At this time, solder (solder alloy) and/or flux supplied to the terminal
27
may rise beyond the base portion
25
and reach the forks
26
, extending substantially perpendicular to the terminal
27
. If the solder rises to the tips of the forks
26
, it may degrade the spring property of the forks
26
. Further, if the flux rises to the tips of the forks
26
, it may deteriorate an electrical conductivity between the insulation displacement contact
12
and the contact
24
.
The present invention is aimed to overcome the above-described problems and provides a printed board connector, a contact thereof, and a mating instrument that can prevent solder rising and/or flux rising so as to improve the reliability of the electric conductivity between contacts and the spring property of the contacts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first aspect of the present invention relates to a printed board connector capable of being mounted in a printed circuit board. This connector comprises a housing and a contact arranged in the housing. The contact includes a pair of forks opposing each other, a terminal capable of being soldered to the printed circuit board, and a spacer connecting the terminal and the pair of forks together. The spacer provides a predetermined distance between the terminal and the pair of forks to prevent solder and/or flux from rising to the forks. Accordingly, the present invention improves the reliability of the electric conductivity and the spring property of the contact.
In this specification, the “solder” essentially means both conventional tin/lead solder (Sn/Pb solder) and lead-free solder such as Sn/Ag solder.
Preferably, the spacer defines a predetermined interval between the terminal and the root of the pair of forks. This is achieved by providing the spacer with at least one folded portion. This configuration effectively prevents the solder rising and/or flux rising toward the forks.
Preferably, the terminal extend substantially perpendicular to the pair of forks. This enables another connector to engage with the printed board connector mounted in the printed circuit board, from over the printed circuit board.
Preferably, the spacer includes a base portion, a first intermediate portion, a turn-up portion and a second intermediate portion. The base portion is connected to the pair of forks. The first intermediate portion extends substantially in parallel with the forks from an end of the base portion. The end is opposite the forks. The turn-up portion is connected to the first intermediate portion. The second intermediate portion connects the turn-up portion and the terminal together. The second intermediate portion is farther from the pair of forks than the first intermediate portion. That is, the first intermediate potion is positioned between the forks and the second intermediate portion. In this configuration, solder essentially rises along a rear surface of the second intermediate portion, which is kept away from the forks. Consequently, the solder can be easily kept away from the forks.
Preferably, spaces are define
Igarashi Minoru
Ooya Masaaki
Bradley P. Austin
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
Hammond Briggitte R.
Yamaichi Electronics Co. Ltd.
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