Connector

Abstract: A coaxial connector (FC) comprises a central conductor (16) and an outer conductor (13) disposed in an insulated state around the central conductor (16) and a plate-like connecting piece (14) having the central conductor (16) extending upwardly from a forward end portion (14a) of the connecting piece (14). The connecting piece (14) has a circular shape at the forward end portion (14a) thereof, and a belt-like shape at a base end portion (14b) thereof, with part (14c) of the circular shape at the forward end portion (14a) farthest from the base end portion side being cut off in an arcuate shape.

Description: The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector and more particularly, to a connector of a surface mounting type to be used for connecting various electrical parts or the like onto a circuit board. Conventionally, as a connector of a surface mounting type, there has been employed, for example, a connector A having a construction as shown in Figs. 12 to 15, and arranged to be coupled with a mating connector B provided with a housing 83, and a socket 82 connected to an inner conductor 81, etc. as illustrated in Fig. 16. The connector A includes a case 61 formed with a recess 61a and an inner contact 62 to be fitted into the socket 82 of the connector B and a connector outer conductor 63 provided in said recess 61a, with an inner contact terminal 64 connected with said inner contact 62, and an outer conductor terminal 65 connected with the connector outer conductor 63 being led out from a fixing surface 66 provided at a bottom wall of the case 61 so as to confront a circuit substrate 67 (Figs. 14 and 15). Thus, as shown in Fig. 12, by soldering the inner contact terminal 64 and the outer conductor terminal 65, respectively onto a microstrip line M and a grounding pattern G provided on the circuit substrate 67, the connector A is actually mounted on said substrate 67 through electrical and mechanical connection therewith. In Figs. 12,14 and 15, the solder protruding from the soldering surfaces 70 between the connector A and the substrate 67 is indicated at Numeral 70a. In the conventional arrangement as described so far, although the connector A is connected and fixed on the circuit substrate 67 at the soldering surfaces 70, since the soldering area is small, and moreover, the connector A is soldered only at two portions, i.e. at the inner contact terminal 64 and the outer conductor terminal 65 (Fig. 12), the fixing surface 66 of the case 61 is raised or floating without contacting the circuit substrate 67 at opposite sides of a line P connecting the inner contact terminal 64 and the outer conductor terminal 65, and therefore, if a prying force in a direction indicated by an arrow X or Y (Fig. 14) is applied during connection with or removal from the mating connector B, there is a possibility that the connector A is undesirably separated from the circuit substrate 67, while a sufficient reliability can not be achieved with respect to the electrical connection thereof. Furthermore, there is also involved such a problem that the connector A tends to be soldered onto the circuit substrate 67 in an inclined state as shown in Fig. 15, due to difficulty in mounting thereof on said substrate in a proper attitude. US-A-4,603,926 relates to a connector for microstrip transmission lines in which for achieving a good impedance match between the microstrip transmission line and a connector, the proper shaping of both the connector half and the conductive material on the face of the microstrip transmission line substrate is required. According to one embodiment, the microstrip line has a narrow strip conductor portion of a width of 0.061 cm in a region remote from the connector half to provide a 50 Ohm impedance in the operating frequency range with a microstrip transmission line substrate. The narrow strip conductor includes a segment which is narrower still and which is 0.013 cm wide to provide a relatively high impedance section to compensate for the capacitance of the connector half. It is the object underlying the present invention to provide a coaxial connector of a chip type in which the characteristic impedance is adapted to be constant over the entire unit through a reduction of portions with mismatching. This object is achieved by a coaxial connector according to claim 1. In accordance with the present invention, there is further provided a coaxial connector which includes a central conductor and an outer conductor disposed in an insulated state around said central conductor, and a plate-like connecting piece having said central conductor extending upwardly from a forward end portion of said connecting piece. The connecting piece has a circular shape at the forward end portion thereof, and a belt-like shape at a base end portion thereof, with part of the circular shape at the forward end portion farthest from the base end portion side being cut off in an arcuate shape. The arcuate portion is arranged in its cut off chord length to be equal to a width of the belt-like portion in the vicinity of said circular portion. By the above arrangement of the present invention, since the part of the circular shape at the forward end portion of the connecting piece is cut off in the arcuate shape, and the arcuate portion is arranged in its cut off chord length to be equal to the width of the belt-like portion in the vicinity of the circular portion, the connecting piece may be equivalently regarded as a belt-like member defined in its width from the forward end to the base portion, with the arcuate protrusions provided at the opposite sides thereof. The protrusions may be embedded in resin in the similar manner as in the conventional practice so as to be utilized for fixing of the forward end portion. Therefore, when the protrusions are fixed in the mold resin, even if coupling with or disengagement from the coaxial connector at the jack side is repeatedly effected, matching may be achieved over the entire unit in a state where falling off is prevented. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to he accompanying drawings, in which; Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a plug side connector C, Fig. 2 is a cross section taken along the line II-II in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a cross section taken along the line III-III in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the plug side connector C of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a substrate for mounting the connector C of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a jack side connector E which is to be coupled with the connector described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5, Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the jack side connector E of Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is a partial cross sectional view of the jack side connector E of Fig. 6 taken along the line VIII-VIII in Fig. 7, Fig. 9(A) is a cross sectional view of a jack side coaxial connector FE according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 9(B) is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a plug side connector FC to be connected with the jack side connector FE of Fig. 9(A), Fig. 10 is a fragmentary top plan view showing a connecting piece of the plug side coaxial connector FC of Fig. 9(B), Fig. 11 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the portion shown in Fig. 10, Fig. 12 is a top plan view showing a conventional connector and a substrate (already referred to), Fig. 13 is a cross sectional view of the conventional connector shown in Fig. 12 (already referred to), Fig. 14 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing the state where the conventional connector is mounted on the substrate in a proper state (already referred to), Fig. 15 is a view similar to Fig. 14, which particularly shows the conventional connector in another state (already referred to), and Fig. 16 is a cross sectional view of a mating connector to which the conventional connector of Fig. 12 is connected (already referred to). Before the description of the present invention proceeds, it is to be noted that like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the accompanying drawings. Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a plug side connector C to be mounted on a circuit substrate or the like, which includes a case 1 formed therein with a recess 2, an inner contact 3 of a circular columnar shape provided at a central portion of the recess 2, and a partially cylindrical or arcuate connector outer conductor 4 formed by curving a flat plate-like conductor and provided at part of an inner periphery of said recess 2. Adjacent to the upper edge of the connector outer conductor 4, another recess or groove 4a is formed in a circumferential direction thereof. Onto a bottom face 5 of the case 1 forming a fixing surface confronting a substrate D (Fig. 5), an inner contact terminal 6 connected with the inner contact 3 and an outer conductor terminal 7 connected with the connector outer conductor 4 are led out. Furthermore, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 4, there are also formed two fixing terminals 14 and 15 on the fixing surface 5 of the case 1. In the above arrangement, the inner contact terminal 6, the outer conductor terminal 7, and the at least two fixing terminals 14 and 15 are respectively disposed so that substantial portions thereof are positioned in regions divided into a first quadrant 16, a second quadrant 17, a third quadrant 18 and a fourth quadrant 19 by lines Q and R, with a central portion of the fixing surface 5 set as an original point. On the substrate D for mounting the above connector C thereon, there are formed, as shown in Fig. 5, land portions 20 and 21 for soldering a microstrip line M, a grounding pattern G, the inner contact terminal 6 and the outer conductor terminal 7, and similar land portions 22 and 23 for soldering the fixing terminals 14 and 15, and also, a through-hole 24. Thus, by soldering the inner contact terminal 6 onto the land portion 20 on the microstrip line M, the outer conductor terminal 7 onto the land portion 21 on the grounding pattern G, and the fixing terminals 14 and 15 respectively onto the soldering land portions 22 and 23, the plug connector C is actually mounted on the substrate D. The connector C thus mounted are stable, since the inner contact terminal 6, outer conductor terminal 7 and the fixing terminals 14 and 15 are disposed so that the substantial portions thereof are respectively located in all of the four regions defined by the first to fourth quadrants of the fixing surface, and is sufficiently strong even against a prying force applied thereto, thereby providing a positive connection both mechanically and electrically. It should be noted here that in the foregoing example, although the connector C has been described as provided with two fixing terminals 14 and 15, the number of such fixing terminals may be further increased depending on necessity. It should also be noted here that in the foregoing example, the substantial portion of at least one terminal has only to be disposed in each of the quadrants, and the kinds of the terminals to be disposed in the respective quadrants are not limited, while one terminal may be disposed to bridge the respective quadrants. As is seen from the above description, in the connector C according to the foregoing example, since the terminals are so disposed that the substantial portion of at least one terminal is located in each of the four regions defined by the first, second, third and fourth quadrants, thereby to connect the respective terminal onto the substrate for fixing, the area at the soldering portion is enlarged for improved bonding strength, while owing to the fact that the fixing terminals are properly positioned, the connector may be mounted on the substrate in a proper attitude, and thus, strong connection which can fully cope with even a stress to pry out the connector, may be achieved. Reference is also made to Figs. 6 to 8 related to an application of the first example as described so far. In Figs. 6 to 8, there is shown a jack side connector E as a mating connector to be connected with the plug side connector C described so far. As shown in Fig. 8, the jack side connector E includes a housing 8 as an outer conductor provided with a cylindrical connecting portion 8a for connection with the plug side connector C, and a three-split type center socket 11 as an inner contact connected with an inner conductor 10, and held in an insulated state by an insulating material 9 within the connecting portion 8a. The above connecting portion 8a is formed with three slits 8b extending generally in a parallel relation in an axial direction at intervals of 120° so as to provide proper resiliency, while an annular protrusion 8c to be engaged with the groove 4a formed in the connector outer conductor 4 of the plug side connector C referred to earlier is formed, adjacent to the forward edge of said connecting portion 8a. Moreover, the connecting portion 8a of the housing 8 is applied with hardening to provide elasticity required for achieving sufficiently strong connection with the connector outer conductor 4. Subsequently, description will be given on the connection between the plug side connector C and the jack side connector E. Upon insertion of the connecting portion 8a of the jack side connector E into the recess 2 of the plug side connector C, the annular protrusion 8c formed adjacent to the forward edge of the cylindrical connecting portion 8a of the jack side connector E is brought into engagement with the corresponding recess or the groove 4a of the partially cylindrical connector outer conductor 4 of the plug side connector C. The protrusion 8c of the connecting portion 8a formed with the slits 8b is thus pressed against the inner wall of the groove 4a by the resiliency thereof for positive connection therebetween. Meanwhile, the inner contact 3 of the plug connector C is fitted into the three-split center socket 11 of the jack side connector E, and the center socket 11 of the connector E fixedly grasps the inner contact 3 of the connector C for coupling therebetween. Thus, positive electrical and mechanical connection between the plug side connector C and the mating jack side connector E may be achieved through simple construction. In the foregoing example, although hardening is applied to the connecting portion 8a of the housing 8 for imparting thereto, resiliency necessary for achieving positive connection with respect to the connector outer conductor 4, such hardening may be dispensed with if a proper material having necessary resiliency is selected to constitute the housing. It should also be noted that, the foregoing examples, although the connector and the connecting construction thereof in which the inner conductor is of a simple core are described, may also be applied to connectors and connecting construction thereof in which the inner conductors are of multi-cores. As is seen from the foregoing description, in the connectors and connecting construction thereof, the plug side connector makes it possible to achieve positive connection in the case where the outer conductor of the mating connector is of the cylindrical configuration, and moreover, since it is not intended to hold the housing by the resiliency of the connector outer conductor, the connector outer conductor may be reduced in its height for compact size. Furthermore, since the connector outer conductor is not required to have elasticity, it becomes possible to place the connector in a reflow furnace for improved workability. On the other hand, the jack side connector has a sufficient resiliency at the connecting portion of the housing, and thus, is improved in the holding force for holding the mating connector. The connector connecting construction of the present invention is advantageous in that, since the contact area between the connector outer conductor and the mating connector is increased, concentration of electric current is alleviated for reduction of VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio). Additionally, since sufficiently strong mechanical and electrical connection can be achieved, even when a prying force is applied to the mating connector, there is no possibility that electrical discontinuity takes place due to breakage of the electrical connection, etc. Referring to Figs. 9(A) to 11, coaxial connectors according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter. In Fig. 9(A), the jack side coaxial connector FE has the construction generally similar to that of the connector E of Figs. 6,7 and 8, and includes a housing 8' having an outer conductor 8a' formed with split grooves 8b' and a socket-like central conductor 11', with a coaxial cable CB being connected thereto as shown. Meanwhile, the plug side coaxial connector FC as shown in Fig. 9(B) includes a central conductor 16 and an outer conductor 13 disposed in an insulated state around the central conductor 16 so as to partially surround said central conductor 16, and a plate-like connecting piece 14 provided in a manner as describe hereinbelow. The connecting piece 14 has a forward end portion 14a in a circular shape provided with the central conductor 16 extending upwardly therefrom and a base end portion 14b connected thereto. The central conductor 16 is formed to extend upwardly from the forward end portion 14a of the connecting piece 14, with part of the base end portion 14b and the outer conductor 13, and the central conductor 16 being exposed form a molding resin 15 as shown in Fig. 9(B). Fixing of such a coaxial plug side connector FC onto the circuit board D is effected by soldering the under surface of the outer conductor 13 and the base end portion 14b of the connecting piece 14, respectively onto the grounding pattern G and the strip line M formed on the circuit board D. As illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, the base end portion 14b is formed with a small width portion a at its side leading to the forward end portion 14a, and a large width portion b at the side opposite thereto, with a stepped or folded portion f being formed at the portion between said small width portion a and large width portion b so that said small width portion a is higher than said large width portion b (Fig. 11). On the other hand, with respect to the forward end portion 14a set to be the same height as the small width portion a, its side remote from the portion connected with the base end portion 14b is cut off in an arcuate shape to form a cut off portion 14d (Fig. 10). The chord length ℓ at the cut off portion 14d, the width W of the large width portion b, the width W' of the small width portion a are so defined in dimensions as to achieve matching over the entire connecting piece 14, and the dimensions for the widths W and W' are determined based on the height between the undersurface of the substrate D and the large width portion b or the small width portion a and dielectric constants therebetween, with the cut off chord length ℓ being set to be equal to the width W' of the small width portion a. Subsequently, calculations with respect to the dimensions for the widths W and W' and the chord length ℓ will be explained. Firstly, the widths W and W' will be calculated. In the widths w and w', the width w is calculated, when a characteristic impedance Zo to be matched is determined, based on such impedance Zo, a height h from the undersurface of the circuit substrate D up to the large width portion b, and dielectric constant ∈r for the portion with the height h, i.e. the substrate D, and equations (1) and (3) given below, while through employment of equations (2) and (3) instead of the equations (1) and (3), two sets of values are to be computed. εeff=(εr+1)/2+(εr-1)[(1+12h/W) -0.5 +0.04(1-W/h) 2 ] εeff=(εr+1)/2+(εr-1)[(1+12h/W) -0.5 ] Zo=60 log e [8h/W+W/(4h)] ÷ (εeff) 0.5 where εeff represents effective dielectric constant. Thus, with respect to the calculated values, it is checked whether the values which employ the equations (1) and (3) satisfy the relation W/h≦1 or those which employ the equations (2) and (3) satisfy the relation W/h>1, and the value which satisfy such relation is to be adopted. It is to be noted that the equation (1) is a formula to be employed for the relation W/h≦1, while the equation (2) is a formula to be used for the relation W/h>1. The other width value W' is calculated in the similar manner by setting a height h' from the undersurface of the substrate D up to the small width portion a as the height h, and also, by using as the dielectric constant εr, a dielectric constant εr' in which the nature of a molding resin 15 present therebetween and made of a material different from that of the wiring substrate D of ceramics, alumina, etc. is taken into consideration, and then, the value ℓ is set to be equal to the value W' thus obtained. Since the connecting piece 14 is prepared so as to satisfy the dimensions W,W' and ℓ thus obtained, the portion ranging from the narrow portion a of the base end portion 14b to the forward end portion 14a may be regarded equivalently as the belt-like portion with a predetermined width defined by W' having protrusions 14c at opposite sides thereof (Fig. 10). Although it is preferable to substantially eliminate the projections 14c for the purpose of matching, such protrusions 14c are required, since, if they are not formed, the forward end portion 14a can not be positively secured. It should be noted that, in the foregoing embodiment, although the width of the base end portion 14b of the connecting piece 14 is varied on the way, the present invention is not limited in its application to such an arrangement alone, but may be similarly applied, for example, to a case where the base end portion 14b is set to be constant in width over its entire length, or where its width is altered in more than three levels at more than two places on the way. As is clear from the foregoing description, according to the connector FC of the present invention, since the forward end portion of the connecting piece is formed into a circular shape cut in an arcuate shape at its one portion, with the cut off chord length at said cut off portion being made equal to the with of. the portion connected with the forward end of the base end portion, the connecting piece may be regarded equivalently as an belt-like member restricted in its width and having the arcuate protrusions at its opposite sides, and when the protrusions are fixed in the mold, even if coupling or disengagement with respect to the jack side coaxial connector is repeatedly effected, matching may be achieved on the whole in the state where falling off of said connector is advantageously prevented. Accordingly, for example, in the case where the connector of the present invention is mounted on a wiring substrate made of alumina, VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) may be limited below 1.2 at 1.09 during 2GHz.

Claims: A coaxial connector comprising: a central conductor (16); an outer conductor (13) disposed in an insulated state around the central conductor (16); a plate-like connecting member (14) having the central conductor (16) extending upwardly from a forward end thereof (14a), a circular portion at the forward end thereof (14a), and a belt-like portion at a base end portion (14b) thereof and connected to the circular portion, wherein the belt-like portion comprises a first belt-like portion (b) at the base end portion (14b) and a second belt-like portion (a) extending from the circular portion is connected to the first belt-like portion (b), and a substrate (D) on which said plate-like connecting member (14) is arranged, wherein the circular portion defines protrusions (14c) at opposite sides of the belt-like portion, said protrusions (14c) extending a predetermined distance beyond the edges of the belt-like portion; wherein an arcuate portion of the circular portion arranged at the opposite side of the belt-like portion is cut along a chord and a length (1) of the chord is equal to the width (W') of the belt-like portion in the vicinity of the circular portion; and wherein the width (W') of said belt-like portion is determined so as to achieve an impedance matching of the connecting member (14) using equations (1), (2) and (3) as below: where the equations (1) and (3) are employed for the relation W'/h' ≤ 1, and the equations (2) and (3) are employed for the relation W'/h'> 1, and where ε eff represents the effective dielectric constant, h' is a height between an undersurface of the substrate (D) and the second belt-like portion (a), ε' r represents the dielectric constant between the undersurface of the substrate (D) and the second belt-like portion (a), and Zo represents a characteristic impedance to be matched. The coaxial connector according to claim 1, wherein the first belt-like portion (b) is wider than the second belt-like portion (a). A coaxial connector according to claim 2, wherein the widths (W,W') of the first and second belt-like portions (b,a) and the length (l) of the chord are determined so as to achieve the impedance matching of the connecting member (14). A coaxial connector according to claim 2, wherein a folded portion (f) formed at one end of the first belt-like portion (b) is connected to one end of the second belt-like portion (a) such that the second belt-like portion (a) is disposed higher than the first belt-like portion (b). A coaxial connector according to claim 1, wherein the width (W') of the belt-like portion in the vicinity of the circular portion is about 1,6 times the predetermined distance.

Inventors: MARUYAMA YUICHI, NISHIKAWA TOSHIO, ONISHI TOMOYOSHI, MARUYAMA, YUICHI, NISHIKAWA, TOSHIO, ONISHI, TOMOYOSHI, MARUYAMA, YUICHI, C/O MURATA MANUFACT. CO., LTD., NISHIKAWA, TOSHIO, C/O MURATA MANUFACT. CO., LTD., ONISHI, TOMOYOSHI, C/O MURATA MANUFACT. CO., LTD.
Applicants: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO, MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13