JPH0317355B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] "Industrial application field" The present invention relates to a connector.

"Prior Art" By attaching a first and a second base to each other, a male contact provided on the first base and a female contact provided on the second base are brought into contact and an electrical connection is established. connector is used.

In this type of connector, a pin contact is generally used as the male contact, and the pin contact is inserted and fitted into the female contact by attaching the first and second bases.

The main parts of this type of conventional connector are constructed as shown in FIG. 7, with male contacts 12 protruding from a first base 11. A storage chamber 1 is provided in the second base body 13 attached to the first base body 11.
5 is provided, and a female contact 14 is housed in this housing chamber 15.

The male contact 12 is formed into a pin shape, and the female contact 14 is configured such that the contact pieces 14 are arranged opposite to each other, and the ends of the contact pieces 14 facing the opening of the storage chamber 15 are arranged close to each other. bent,
An elastic clamping portion 16 is formed at this bent portion. The pin diameter of the male contact 12 is set to be slightly larger than the clamping interval of the elastic clamping part 16.

When attaching the first and second bases 11 and 13,
The male contact 12 is inserted and fitted between the contact pieces 14 by expanding the gap between the elastic clamping parts 16.
When the male contact 12 and the female contact 14 are in a completely fitted state, the outer circumferential surface of the male contact 12 is brought into contact with the elastic clamping portion 16 at two points at opposing positions.

Generally, as shown in Figure 9, the contact force is P, the wedge angle is θ, the friction angle is θ _f , the friction force is P _N , the spring constant of the contact is k, the displacement per contact is δ, and the insertion force is F. Then, the following equation holds.

F=2Ptan(θ+θ _f )...(1) P=k・δ...(2) In the conventional connector with the configuration shown in Fig. 7,
When the relationship between the insertion force F and the fitting depth D is actually measured, a relationship curve as shown in FIG. 8 is obtained, and when the male contact 12 is inserted into the female contact 12,
A maximum insertion force designated Fmax results.In this conventional connector, the spring constant k, which is set in the final contact state, is constant and the displacement δ increases as the insertion process progresses. Therefore, according to equation (2), as the insertion process progresses, the displacement δ increases and the contact force P increases. Normally, the wedge angle θ is small in the vicinity where the contact force P is at its maximum value, and the insertion force F is almost only the frictional force P _N .

In the process of inserting the male contact 12 into the female contact 14, the contact force P becomes large before the wedge angle θ becomes sufficiently small, and the maximum insertion force Fmax is obtained in the vicinity thereof.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" In recent years, this type of connector has been significantly downsized as a whole, and the number of signal wires to be connected per base is also increasing. For example, some have been proposed in which the number of signal wires to be connected reaches several hundred.

For this reason, in this type of connector, the insertion force F per one core is made as small as possible, so that even if the number of signal wires to be connected is large, the connector can be attached easily and smoothly. It is necessary to do so. However, in conventional connectors of this type, the maximum insertion force per core is relatively large, and those with a multi-core structure require a large force to attach.

In addition, from the perspective of miniaturizing connectors, the male contacts in conventional connectors of this type are pin-shaped, and when miniaturizing, the pin diameter cannot be reduced beyond a certain level from the viewpoint of strength. There are drawbacks.

This invention was made in view of the current state of conventional connectors of this type, and its purpose is to reduce the insertion force per core, to allow even multi-core structures to be attached lightly and smoothly, and to improve male and female connectors. The object of the present invention is to provide a connector having a structure in which the contacts are formed into thin plate shapes and the overall thickness can be reduced.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In the connector of the present invention, a male contact is attached to the first base body, a female contact is attached to the second base body, and the male contact is attached to the first base body and the female contact is attached to the second base body. A contact is inserted into the female contact to make an electrical connection.

In this invention, the male contact is composed of first and second elastic contact pieces that face each other in close proximity, and the width of the first and second elastic contact pieces is narrowed at the distal end side, and the width of the first and second elastic contact pieces is narrowed at the tip side. Narrow strips are formed and the narrow strips are configured to lie on the same plane.

On the other hand, the female contact is made up of first and second elastic holding pieces arranged opposite to each other, and the female contact has an elastic holding piece on its tip side with a gap between opposing surfaces narrower than the outer width of the first and second elastic contact pieces. A clamping portion is formed.

"Operation" According to the present invention, in the process of inserting the male contact into the female contact, the male contact side also undergoes elastic deformation, so that the mutual contact force between the male contact and the female contact can be significantly reduced. Therefore, even a multi-core connector can be smoothly attached with a light insertion force. Further, since the male contact has a thin plate-like structure, the overall structure can be made thinner, and the entire connector can be made smaller.

"Embodiments of the Invention" Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments thereof using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of the main parts of an embodiment of the connector of the present invention. The female contact 24 is housed therein.

The male contact 22 has a first contact as shown in FIG.
The second elastic contact pieces 26 and 27 are configured to closely face each other. These first and second elastic contact pieces 26 and 27 have their plate surfaces narrowed in width on the tip side, and have first and second narrow piece portions 28 and 29, respectively.
is formed. These first and second narrow pieces 28, 29 are configured so that their tips lie on the same plane. For this purpose, the first and second elastic contact pieces 26, 27 have bent portions 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, 30-1, and 30-1, which are bent in a direction toward each other at an intermediate position.
0-2 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, the female contact 24 has a structure in which first and second elastic holding pieces 32 and 33 made of an elastic conductive material are arranged facing each other.

The tips of the first and second elastic holding pieces 32 and 33 are bent toward each other, and an elastic clamping portion 35 is formed at this bent portion. This elastic clamping part 35
The distance between the first and second elastic holding pieces 32 and 33 is narrower than the outer width of the first and second elastic contact pieces 26 and 27 of the male contact 22.

The female contacts 24 are each housed in a housing chamber 40 formed in the second base body 23 . An opening 41 is formed on the surface side of the second base body 33 of the storage chamber 40, and a taper 41T is formed at the end of the opening 41.

The male contact 22 is fixed to protrude from the first base 21;
The movable guide plate 37 covers the protruding end of the first
It is movably attached to the base body 21 of.

The movable guide plate 37 is provided with openings 38 corresponding to the protruding positions of the respective male contacts 22,
A taper 38T is formed on the first base body 21 side of the opening 38. The movable guide plate 37 protects the male contacts 22 protruding from the first base 21 and protects the female contacts 23 of the male contacts 22.
Guide you to insert it inside.

In FIGS. 2A, B, and C, the first base body 21 and the second base body 21 are shown.
The respective mounting processes during mutual mounting with the base body 23 are shown. Figure 2 A shows the state before installation.
The protruding end portion of the male contact 22 is covered and held by a movable guide plate 37.

When the attachment of the first and second base bodies 21 and 23 is started, the state progresses from state A to state B, and the first and second thin plate-shaped narrow pieces 28 are arranged in parallel on the same surface. , 29 pass between the elastic clamping portions 35 of the female contact 24 without resistance. In the process of fitting the male contact 22 and the female contact 24, the presence of the tapers 38T and 41T causes the male contact 22 to
is smoothly inserted into the female contact 24. As the male contact 22 is further inserted, the elastic clamping portion 35, which has a narrower interval than the outer width of the first and second elastic contact pieces 26 and 27, is pushed and expanded by the first and second elastic contact pieces 26 and 27. It will be done. female contact 24
By the first and second elastic holding pieces 32 and 33,
Insertion of the male contact 22 into the female contact 24 progresses while being elastically clamped, and the movable guide plate 37
moves to the first base body 21 side, and the mutual attachment of the first and second base bodies 21 and 23 is completed at the position shown in FIG. 2C.

In the final contact state shown in FIG. 2C, the contact force P ₁ is expressed by the following equation, where k _s is the spring constant of the female contact and δ is the displacement per contact point.

P ₁ =k _s · δ ... (3) In this invention, the first and second base bodies 21, 23
During the mounting process, the male contact 22 also elastically deforms. In this mounting process, when k _p is the spring constant of the male contact, the contact force P ₂ during the mounting process is given by the following equation.

P ₂ =k _p・k _s /k _p +k _s δ=k _s /1+k _s /k _p δ...(4) In equation (4), k _p gradually increases and reaches the limit.
The state where k _p →∞ is the final wearing state, in which case P ₁ =P ₂ and equation (4) matches equation (3).

During the installation process, P ₂ < P ₁ always holds, and until just before the installation is completed when the wedge angle θ becomes sufficiently small,
The bottom contact force _P2 can be kept low.

Therefore, it is also possible to reduce the value of the insertion force F shown by equation (1) during the installation process. In addition, in the final installed state, the contact force is as large as that of a normal one, and stable and firm installation is achieved.

Further, since the male contact 22 is formed into a thin plate shape, the connector can be made thinner, and the overall size can be reduced. FIG. 6 is an example of actual measurement showing the relationship between the mating depth D of the male and female contacts and the insertion force P, which was carried out by the inventors for the embodiment of this invention. This indicates that the connector can be attached.

As a result of actual measurements by the inventors, the maximum value P _n of the insertion force of the present invention shown in FIG. 6 is P _n ≒ with respect to the maximum value Fmax of the insertion force F of the conventional connector shown in FIG.
It was confirmed that there is a relationship of 1/2Fmax, and it is clear that the insertion force is significantly reduced compared to the conventional one.

In the embodiment, a configuration was described in which the male contact was disposed protruding from the first base body and the female contact was housed in the second base body, but the male contact was housed in the first base body and the female contact It is also possible to realize a structure in which the second base body is provided so as to protrude from the second base body.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, the insertion force of the male contact into the female contact can be significantly reduced, and even a multi-core structure can be smoothly installed with low insertion force. Moreover, it becomes possible to provide a connector that can also realize miniaturization of the whole.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the main parts of an embodiment of this invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the mounting process in an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 3 is a main part of a male contact in an embodiment of this invention. 4 is a side view showing the main part structure of a male contact in an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a side view showing the main part structure of a female contact in an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the fitting depth D and the insertion force P between the male and female contacts in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a conventionally used connector, and FIG. Figure 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the mating depth D and insertion force F of the male and female contacts in a conventionally used connector, and Figure 9 is a diagram showing the contact state between the male and female contacts. . 21: first base, 22: male contact, 2
3: second base body, 24: female contact, 26: first elastic contact piece, 27: second elastic contact piece, 2
8: First narrow piece, 29: Second narrow piece, 30-
1, 30-2: Bent part, 35: Elastic clamping part, 3
7: Movable guide plate, 38: Opening, 38T: Taper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A male contact is attached to the first base,
A connector in which a female contact is attached to a second base, and when the first and second bases are attached, the male contact is inserted into the female contact to establish an electrical connection, wherein the male contacts face each other in close proximity. The width of the first and second elastic contact pieces is narrowed on the tip side to form first and second narrow piece parts, respectively. The narrow piece portion is configured to be located on the same plane at the tip, and the female contact is composed of first and second elastic holding pieces disposed opposite to each other, and the first and second elastic holding pieces are arranged to face each other. A connector characterized in that an elastic holding part is formed on a distal end side of the elastic holding piece, the spacing between opposing surfaces being narrower than the outer widths of the first and second elastic contact pieces facing each other.