Abstract:
A connector includes: a housing; and a plurality of metal contacts supported so as to be parallel to each other with respect to the housing, each contact having a first contact arm and a second contact arm, and electrically connecting a first member and a second member to each other by bringing a first contact terminal of the first contact arm and a second contact terminal of the second contact arm into elastic contact with a conductive connection portion of the first member and a conductive connection portion of the second member respectively, the first member and the second member being disposed on both sides of the housing, wherein the housing has a through hole penetrating therethrough and formed on a side of the first contact terminal with respect to a first separation start position at which the first contact arm starts separation from the housing, and a second separation start position at which the second contact arm starts separation from the housing is disposed farther apart from the through hole than the first separation start position.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates to a connector including a plurality of metal contacts supported so as to be parallel to each other with respect to the housing, each contact having a first contact arm and a second contact arm, and electrically connecting a first member and a second member to each other by bringing contact terminals of the first contact arm and the second contact arm into elastic contact with a conductive connection portion of the first member and a conductive connection portion of the second member, the first member and the second member being disposed on both sides of the housing and a recording apparatus having the connector. 
   2. Related Art 
   A connector used for interconnection between a substrate on the side of a cartridge mounted to a carriage of a recording apparatus and a substrate on a side of a recording apparatus body is disclosed in Patent Document 1. A plurality of contacts of the connector are pressed and fixed to a horizontal barrier wall from one end wall surface of a housing. At least a continuous end wall extending from both side walls and the horizontal barrier wall of the housing is disposed on the other end opposed to the one end wall surface. A space surrounded with the horizontal barrier wall and the continuous end wall and extending in a horizontal direction is formed in the back of contact arms constituting the contacts on one side of the horizontal barrier wall. In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 which provides such a space, when ink is unintentionally attached to one side of the horizontal barrier wall from the ink cartridge, the attached ink is collected to the space so as to prevent the attached ink from moving to the other side of the horizontal barrier wall, thereby suppressing the attached ink from reaching the main body side substrate. 
   Patent Document 1:JP-A-2000-208184 
   However, when the ink is attached to the housing in the vicinity of a separation start position at which a contact arm of the contact starts a separation from the horizontal barrier wall (housing), that is, in the vicinity of a bent portion of the contact arm, the attached ink enters the space formed in a portion of the bent portion where the contact arm and the housing contact each other by means of a capillary phenomenon, and thus easily gathers there. Then, the contact may be corroded at the position to deteriorate the elasticity of the contact arm and a predetermined contact load may not be obtained, thereby causing contact failure. The conductivity of the contact may be deteriorated due to the corrosion. 
   SUMMARY 
   An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a connector having a configuration for preventing ink from gathering in the vicinity of a bent portion of a contact arm close to an ink cartridge. 
   The advantage can be attained by at least one of the following aspects: 
   A first aspect of the invention provides a connector comprising: a housing; and a plurality of metal contacts supported so as to be parallel to each other with respect to the housing, each contact having a first contact arm and a second contact arm, and electrically connecting a first member and a second member to each other by bringing a first contact terminal of the first contact arm and a second contact terminal of the second contact arm into elastic contact with a conductive connection portion of the first member and a conductive connection portion of the second member respectively, the first member and the second member being disposed on both sides of the housing, wherein the housing has a through hole penetrating therethrough and formed on a side of the first contact terminal with respect to a first separation start position at which the first contact arm starts separation from the housing, and a second separation start position at which the second contact arm starts separation from the housing is disposed farther apart from the through hole than the first separation start position. 
   For example, when ink is attached to a first surface of the connector from an ink cartridge and the ink gathers in the vicinity of the separation start position of the first contact arm from the housing, that is, in the vicinity of the bent portion, the contact may be corroded at the position. The through hole disposed in the vicinity of the bent portion prevents such a phenomenon and serves to actively discharge the ink gathering in the vicinity of the bent portion to the second surface through the through hole by means of the principle of capillary. Accordingly, the attached ink does not gather in the vicinity of the bent portion of the contact arm, thereby avoiding the corrosion of the contact at the position and thus stably maintaining a contact load of the first contact arm without any change. 
   On the second surface to which the attached ink is discharged, the separation start position of the second contact arm from the housing, that is, the bent portion, is more apart from the through hole than the bent portion of the first contact arm. Accordingly, the possibility that the ink enters the space formed in the bent portion of the second contact arm is small. The most ink discharged to the second surface stays in a region of the housing apart from the second contact arm and is dried with the lapse of time, thereby causing no problem. 
   A connector according to a second aspect of the invention is the connector according to the first aspect, wherein the contacts are arranged so that the first separation start positions of the first contact arms adjacent to each other are alternately arranged in a zigzag manner, and the through holes are arranged in the zigzag manner to correspond to the first separation start positions of the first contact arms. 
   In the second aspect, since the through holes are arranged in a zigzag manner to correspond to the separation start positions of the first contact arms, it is first possible to prevent the deterioration in rigidity of the housing due to the disposition of the through holes. Second, when the ink is discharged to the second surface through the through holes, the discharged positions are arranged in the zigzag manner, thereby facilitating the drying of the ink. 
   A connector according to a third aspect of the invention is the connector according to the first or second aspect, wherein the housing includes a thin plate-shaped portion to which a side of a base end portion of the contact is attached and a thick base portion located close to a side of the contact terminals of the contact. 
   In the use of the connector electrically connecting the first member and the second member to each other by bringing both contact arms into elastic contact with the conductive connection portion of the first member and the conductive connection portion of the second member with a predetermined contact load, a pressing force as a reaction of the elastic contact of the contact arms is applied to the housing from the separation start positions (bent portions). When the rigidity of the housing is small, the housing may be deformed by the pressing force and thus the predetermined contact load of the contact arms may not be guaranteed. However, in the third aspect, since the entire rigidity of the housing is enhanced due to the existence of the thick base portion, it is possible to suppress the deformation of the housing to a negligible extent against the pressing force. Therefore, since the housing is not deformed, the contact load of the contact arms can be stably maintained, thereby avoiding the contact failure of the contact terminals. 
   A connector according to a fourth aspect of the invention is the connector according to the third aspect, where in the second contact arm is shorter than the first contact arm, a tapered portion inclined so as to be apart from the second contact terminal of the second contact arm is formed at a position of the base portion facing the second contact terminal of the second contact arm, and the tapered portion is formed to extend from the through hole. 
   According to the fourth aspect, since the ink guided to the second surface through the through hole is guided along the tapered portion in a direction apart from the second contact arm and the contact terminal there of, the possibility that the ink comes in contact with the second contact arm and the contact terminal there of is very small. 
   According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording apparatus comprising the connector according to claim  1 , wherein the conductive connection portion of the first member is a conductive connection portion of a cartridge side substrate disposed in an ink cartridge which is mounted to a carriage mounting a recording head and reciprocating in a scanning direction, and the conductive connection portion of the second member is a conductive connection portion of a main body side substrate disposed in the carriage. 
   According to the fifth aspect, even when the ink is attached to the surface of the housing of the connector close to the ink cartridge at the time of mounting or demounting the ink cartridge to or from the recording apparatus, a problem due to the attached ink can be avoided by means of the operation of the connector described above, thereby stably maintaining the electrical connection between the cartridge side substrate and the main body side substrate with a predetermined contact load. That is, since the transmission of information based on the ink cartridge in use can be reliably carried out between the cartridge side substrate and the main body side substrate, operational disorders in printing can be reduced. 
   The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese patent application No. 2006-045905 filed on Feb. 22, 2006, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a carriage of a recording apparatus employing a connector according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a side sectional view illustrating a state where an ink cartridge is mounted into the carriage. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating a relation between the ink cartridge and the connector. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the entire configuration of the connector. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  are front views illustrating a side of the connector facing the ink cartridge, where  FIG. 5A  is a front view illustrating a state where contacts are attached to the connector and  FIG. 5B  is a front view illustrating a state where the contacts are detached from the connector. 
       FIG. 6  is a side sectional view of the connector taken along Line VI-VI of  FIG. 5A . 
       FIG. 7  is a side sectional view of the connector taken along Line VII-VII of  FIG. 5A . 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view illustrating a relation between the connector and the ink cartridge. 
       FIG. 9  is a side sectional view illustrating a state right before the mounting of the ink cartridge is completed. 
       FIG. 10  is a side sectional view illustrating a state after the mounting of the ink cartridge is completed. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
   Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.  FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a carriage of a recording apparatus employing a connector according to an embodiment of the invention,  FIG. 2  is a side sectional view illustrating a state where an ink cartridge is mounted into the carriage,  FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating a relation between the ink cartridge and the connector, and  FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the entire configuration of the connector.  FIGS. 5A and 5B  are front views illustrating a side of the connector facing the ink cartridge, where  FIG. 5A  is a front view illustrating a state where contacts are attached to the connector and  FIG. 5B  is a front view illustrating a state where the contacts are detached from the connector.  FIG. 6  is a side sectional view of the connector taken along Line VI-VI of  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 7  is a side sectional view of the connector taken along Line VII-VII of  FIG. 5A . 
     FIG. 8  is a perspective view illustrating a relation between the connector and the ink cartridge,  FIG. 9  is a side sectional view illustrating a state right before the mounting of the ink cartridge is completed, and  FIG. 10  is a side sectional view illustrating a state after the mounting of the ink cartridge is completed. 
   In  FIG. 1 , reference numeral  1  denotes a carriage and a recording head  2  (see  FIG. 2 ) is disposed on the bottom of the carriage  1 . The carriage  1  can reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to a feed direction of a printing medium along a carriage guide shaft  3  and performs a printing operation to the printing medium. A plurality of cartridge receiving sections  7  for receiving an ink cartridge  5  corresponding to a first member are formed in the carriage  1 . A main body side substrate  9  (see  FIG. 2 ) corresponding to a second member is disposed on the rear surface of the carriage  1 . Conductive connection portions  12  are formed on the main body side substrate  9 . A connector  11  is disposed on the inner surface of the carriage  1  facing the rear surface so as to correspond to each cartridge receiving sections  7 . Each connector  11  is held by a connector holder  13  (see  FIG. 3 ) and the connector holder  13  can be maintained in the carriage  1 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 8 , in each ink cartridge  5 , a cartridge side substrate  15  is formed on the surface facing the connector  11  and a lock lever  17  for fixing the ink cartridge  5  to the carriage  1  is disposed above the cartridge side substrate. Conductive connection portions  10  are formed on the cartridge side substrate  15 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the ink cartridge  5  is mounted into the carriage  1 , the lock lever  17  is opened in the direction indicated by an arrow  19  by means of an operation portion (not shown) close to the carriage  1 . A locking portion  23  is formed right below a handle  21  at the uppermost end of the lock lever  17  and the lower side of the locking portion  23  forms an inclined surface  25  obliquely formed. An arm portion  27  extending substantially linearly is formed below the locking portion  23 . 
   By pushing the ink cartridge  5  into the cartridge receiving section  7 , the inclined surface  25  is guided by a locking protrusion  29  formed in the carriage  1  and thus the lock lever  17  is temporarily deformed slightly elastically in the opposite direction of the arrow  19 . Then, after the locking portion  23  passes through the locking protrusion  29 , the shape of the lock lever  17  is restored in the direction of the arrow  19 , whereby the locking portion  23  is locked to the lower portion of the locking protrusion  29  to fix the ink cartridge  5 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 10 . 
   Next, a configuration of the connector  11  will be described with reference to  FIGS. 4 to 7 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , a first surface  37  of the connector  11  comes in contact with the cartridge side substrate  15  and a second surface  39  of the connector  11  comes in contact with a main body side substrate  9  disposed on the rear side of the carriage  1 , whereby the cartridge side substrate  15  and the main body side substrate  9  are electrically connected to each other. As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) , the connector  11  is disposed on the housing  31  made of a known material so that 9 metal contacts  33  are parallel to each other. As show in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 A,  6 , and  7 , the  9  contacts  33  are arranged in two lines so as to be located at the same position every two contacts in a side view and the adjacent contacts  33  are disposed so as to depart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the housing  31 , thereby forming a zigzag manner as a whole. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the contacts  33  have the same shape and each contact  33  mainly includes a first contact arm  41  extending toward the first surface  37  from a base end portion  35  and a second contact arm  43  extending toward the second surface  39 . The second contact arm  43  is shorter than the first contact arm  41 . Contact terminals  45  and  47  having a substantially semicircular shape are formed at the ends of the contact arms  41  and  43 , respectively. The second contact arm  43  has a length smaller than that of the first contact arm  41 . The contact  33  is pressed onto a thin plate-shaped portion  49  formed in the housing  31  and thus supported by the housing  31 . 
   The first contact arm  41  extends in contact with the plate-shaped portion  49  in the middle portion there of, is bent outwardly from a bent portion  50  as a separation start portion from the plate-shaped portion  49 , whereby the contact terminal  45  protrudes from the first surface  37  of the housing  31 . When a load is applied to the contact terminal  45 , the first contact arm  41  is curved inwardly like a leaf spring. The second contact arm  43  is opened outwardly from a bent portion  52  as a separation start portion which is disposed right aside the base end portion  35  and thus the contact terminals  47  protrudes from the second surface  39  of the housing  31 . When a load is applied to the contact terminal  47 , the second contact arm  43  is curved inwardly like a leaf spring. 
   A thick base portion  51  located close to the contact terminals  45  and  47  is formed in the housing  31 , in addition to the thin plate-shaped portion  49 . This configuration is not included in any known connector and is a feature of the invention. Since the total rigidity of the housing  31  is enhanced by forming the thick base portion  51  in the housing  31 , it is possible to prevent the decrease in contact load due to the deformation of the housing  31  and contact failure of the contact terminals based thereon. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5B ,  6 , and  7 , a small through hole  53  penetrating the housing  31  from the first surface  37  to the second surface  39  is formed closer to the contact terminal  45  of each first contact arm  41  than the bent portion  50 . Then bent portion  52  which is located on the second surface  39  of the small through hole  53  and which is the separation start position of the second contact arm  43  from the plate-shaped portion  49  is disposed more apart from the bent portion  50  of the first contact arm  41  than the small through hole  53 . 
   By forming such a small through hole  53 , the following advantage can be obtained. That is, when ink from the ink cartridge  5  is attached to the first surface  37  of the connector  11  and thus the ink gathers in the vicinity of the bent portion  50  as the separation start position of the first contact arm  41  from the plate-shaped portion  49 , the contact  33  may be corroded at the position. The small through hole  53  formed in the vicinity of the bent portion  50  serves to prevent such a corrosion and to actively discharge the ink gathering in the vicinity of the bent portion  50  to the second surface  39  through the small through hole  53  in a principle of capillary. Accordingly, the attached ink does not gather in the vicinity of the bent portion  50  of the first contact arm  41  and thus the corrosion of the contact  33  at the position can be prevented, thereby stably maintaining the contact load of the first contact arm  41  in a predetermined range without any change. 
   On the second surface  39  to which the attached ink is discharged, the bent portion  52  at the separation start position of the second contact arm  43  from the plate-shaped portion  49  is located more apart from the small through hole  53  than the bent portion  50  of the first contact arm  41 . Accordingly, the possibility that the ink enters a gap formed in the bent portion  52  of the second contact arm  43  is small. The most ink discharged to the second surface  39  stays in a region of the housing  31  spaced apart from the second contact arm  43  and is dried with the lapse of time, thereby causing no problem. 
   Since the contacts  33  are arranged in a zigzag manner as a whole as described above, the bent portions  50  of the first contact arms  41  adjacent to each other are arranged in the zigzag manner. The small through holes  53  are also arranged in the zigzag manner to correspond to the positions of the bent portions  50  of the first contact arms  41 . Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the deterioration in rigidity of the housing  31  due to the disposition of the small through holes  53 . In addition, when the ink is discharged to the second surface  39  through the small through holes  53 , the discharged positions are arranged in the zigzag, thereby facilitating the drying of the ink. 
   In this embodiment, a tapered portion  55  inclined to become apart from the contact terminal  47  of the second contact arm  43  is formed in a portion of the base portion facing the contact terminal  47  of the second contact arm  43 . The tapered portion  55  extends successively from the small through hole  53 . Accordingly, since the ink K guided into the second surface  39  through the small through hole  53  is guided along the surface of the tapered portion  55  in a direction apart from the second contact arm  43  and the contact terminal  47  there of, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the possibility that the second contact arm  43  and the contact terminal  47  come in contact with the ink K becomes very small. 
   Departure preventing protrusions  57  are formed on both side surfaces of the housing  31  at positions substantially corresponding to the contact terminals  45  and  47  so as not to cause the connector  11  to depart in a direction parallel to the plane of the main body side substrate  9 . The positional departure of the housing  31  is prevented by the protrusions  57 . 
   Next, a structure for bringing the contact terminals  45  and  47  into reliable contact with the conductive connection portions  10  of the cartridge side substrate  15  and the conductive connection portions  12  of the main body side substrate  9  will be described. When the ink cartridge  5  is correctly set into the cartridge receiving section  7 , as shown in  FIG. 10 , the locking portion  23  of the lock lever  17  engages with the locking protrusion  29  and the contact terminals  45  and  47  come in correct contact with the conductive connection portions  10  of the cartridge side substrate  15  and the conductive connection portions  12  of the main body side substrate  9 , respectively. However, this is true when the arm portion  27  of the lock lever  17  has an original shape extending linearly. When the arm portion  27  is warped due to any reason such as a shaping problem, the conductive connection portions  10  of the cartridge side substrate  15  may be located above the original positions and thus may not come in correct contact with the contact terminals  45  of the connector  11 , in spite of the engagement of the locking portion  23  of the lock lever  17  with the locking protrusion  29 . 
   For this reason, as shown in  FIG. 10 , a lever shape correcting mechanism  59  shaped integrally with the housing  31  so as to extend upwardly from both sides of the connector  11  in the width direction of the housing  31  is provided. In The lever shape correcting mechanism  59 , when the ink cartridge  5  is correctly mounted to the cartridge receiving section  7 , a correcting operation portion  61  formed at the upper end of the lever shape correcting mechanism  59  presses the warped arm portion  27  to correct the warping. The lever shape correcting mechanism  59  has such a length that the correcting operation portion  61  of the lever shape correcting mechanism  59  corrects the warping when the ink cartridge  5  is correctly mounted to the cartridge receiving section  7  and thus the contact terminals  45  can come in correct contact with the conductive connection portions  10  of the cartridge side substrate  15  when the ink cartridge  5  is pushed to a predetermined depth position. 
   The connector according to the invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but may be modified in various forms as long as they can accomplish the advantage.