Connector

Abstract: A surface mount connector for a flexible printed circuit board of low profile (low height) has contacts at a smaller pitch. A connector comprises an insulator (10), a plurality of contacts (20) aligned longitudinally of the insulator and a slider (30). The contacts are provided in the insulator with at least one end thereof and a portion of a central area thereof being exposed outward. The slider holds a flexible printed circuit board (40) between the slider and the insulator, longitudinal opposite ends of the slider are connected to opposite ends of the insulator and the contacts are electrically connected to a conductive pattern of the printed circuit board at positions corresponding to a node of the slider.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a surface mount type connector for a flexible printed circuit board. As a connector which is mounted to a surface of a printed circuit board for connection of other flexible printed circuit board, a slide type or a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) type has been known. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In electronic equipment such as a mobile telephone set, a demand to further reduce a size is strong and components used therefor are in many cases of smaller size and of high packing density. In a flexible printed circuit board used in such a small size electronic equipment, an electrode (conductive pattern) pitch is narrowed and a contact pitch in a connector for connection with the printed circuit board is also narrowed to increase the package density. However, in the prior art slide type of ZIF connector, there is a limit in narrowing the contact pitch by a structural reason. Thus, a connector which allows the reduction of the contact pitch to increase the package density without regard to the type of the connector has been demanded. United States Patent number 4,235,500 describes a connector assembly comprising a housing of insulating material, a plurality of unitary contacts, a cover in superposed spaced relation to a first conductor receiving surface on the housing, and a means for securing the cover to the housing. The cover may have a rib which is provided to minimise flexing of the cover. Similarly, United States Patent number 4,265,507 discloses a connector comprising a body member including a plurality of electrical terminals and a shell which fits over a first surface of the body member. The connector is for the connection of a multiple strip flexible conductor cable. The shell acts as a flat cover and has no additional structure thereon. Furthermore, United States Patent number 4,477,137 discloses a similar electrical connector although the cover section includes a non-planar contour which serves both to retain the cable in position and to stiffen and straighten the cable. It is an object of the present invention to provide a surface mount connector for a flexible printed circuit board which allows the provision of contacts at a smaller pitch and which is of low profile (low height). It is another object of the present invention to provide a surface mount connector for the flexible printed circuit board which permits automatic insertion of a connector body (insulator) and a slider. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a connector comprising an insulator, a plurality of contacts aligned longitudinally of said insulator and a slider, said contacts provided in said insulator with at least one end thereof and a portion of a central area thereof being exposed outward, wherein said slider is for holding a flexible printed circuit board between said slider and said insulator, longitudinal opposite ends of said slider are connected to opposite ends of said insulator, and said contacts are for serving as leaf springs to support said printed circuit board, characterised in that said slider comprises a node reduced inside said slider, said node is for pushing said printed circuit board against said contacts, and said contacts are for being electrically connected to a conductive pattern of said printed circuit board at positions corresponding to the node of said slider. In a preferred embodiment, the connector of the present invention fixes the opposite ends of the slider and the insulator while holding the flexible printed circuit board between the slider and the insulator, and electrically connects the contacts to the conductive pattern of the printed circuit board at the positions corresponding to the node of the slider. Thus, the package height is lower and the contact pitch is smaller than those of the prior art surface mount connector and the overall shape of the connector is reduced. Because of the above construction, the preferred embodiment of the present connector eliminates an actuator (operation lever) as compared with the prior art connector, for example, the ZIF connector, and the construction is simpler and operability is better (allowing the automatic packaging). In another preferred embodiment of the connector of the present invention, the contacts extend in the opposite directions from the opposite sides along the longitudinal direction. Thus, tandem connection of flexible printed circuit boards may be attained by connecting separate flexible circuit boards to the contact lines of the respective sides. Further, by providing holes or notches at appropriate positions of the flexible printed circuit board, the slider per se may be directly contacted to the contact to ground it, which is an advantage not attained in the prior art structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES Figure 1A shows a plan view of an insulator of a connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1B shows a front view of a slider of the connector in accordance with the first embodiment. Figure 1C shows a front view of the insulator of the connector in accordance with the first embodiment. Figure 2A shows a longitudinal sectional view of the insulator of the connector in accordance with the first embodiment. Figure 2B shows a longitudinal sectional view of a flexible printed circuit board connected by the connector of the first embodiment. Figure 2C shows a longitudinal sectional view of the slider in accordance with the first embodiment. Figure 3A shows a plan view of connection status of the connector in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3B shows a lateral sectional view of the connection status of the connector in accordance with the first embodiment. Figure 3C shows a longitudinal sectional view of the connection status of the connector in accordance with the first embodiment. Figure 4 shows a plan view of a connection status of a connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) Figures 1A to 3C show one embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment is explained with reference to the drawings. The connector of the present invention comprises an insulator (connector body) 10, a plurality of contacts 20 aligned longitudinally of the insulator and a slider 30. As will be described later, the insulator 10 comprises opposite ends 11 held by the slider 30 and a central area 12 for fixing a number of contacts 20 by molds. The material thereof is glass reinforced thermoplastic resin. As shown in figures 1A and 2A, steps 13 are formed at the opposite ends 11 of the insulator 10 to regulate the movement by the slider 30 to unidirection (an open side free of step). The contacts 20 are provided in the insulator 10 with at least one of ends thereof and a portion of a central area being exposed outward. In a hatched area shown in Figure 2A, the contacts 20 are packaged (buried) in the contact body. As seen from Figure 2A, the contacts 20 are formed such that a portion of the exposed central area thereof protrudes outward. As shown in Figure 1A, the plurality of contacts 20 are arranged to extend outward from a pair of sides which extend parallely to the longitudinal direction of the insulator 10. As shown, the width of the contact at the opposite ends may be widened to use for a power line or ground line. The slider 30 is formed of a metal and a node 32 thereof is reduced inside as seen from Figure 2C and holds the flexible printed circuit board 40 between the slider and the insulator 10. The longitudinal ends 31 of the slider are connected to the opposite ends 11 of the insulator and the contacts 20 are electrically connected to a conductive pattern of the printed circuit board at a position corresponding to the node 32 of the slider 30. In the illustrated embodiment, the longitudinal ends 31 of the slider 30 are formed to be bent inward (see Figures 1B, 2C and 3C) and the longitudinal ends 11 of the insulator 10 are formed with curved surfaces corresponding to the shape of the ends of the slider 30. The slider 30 fixedly holds the opposite ends 11 of the insulator 10 relative to the insulator 10 at the longitudinal ends so that it is movable laterally. Specifically, the printed circuit board 40 temporarily held to a back side of the node 32 by adhesive material is overlapped on the insulator 10 with the printed circuit board 40 being positioned down and the opposite ends 31 of the slider are pushed to fit the opposite ends 31 of the slider from the outside of the opposite ends 11 of the insulator. The contact 20 serves as a leaf spring and supports the printed circuit board 40 pushed in by the node 32 of the slider 30. Figures 3B and 3C show the printed circuit board 40 but Figure 3A does not show the printed circuit board for the sake of convenience. In the connector of the present invention, holes or notches are formed at appropriate positions of the flexible printed circuit board 40, and those contacts of the plurality of aligned contacts 20 which are located at the positions corresponding to the holes are directly contacted with slider 30. In the connector of the present invention, the width of the flexible printed circuit board 40 is narrower than the distance between the opposite ends of the plurality of aligned contacts 20 and those contacts of the plurality of contacts 20 which are located at the ends may be directly contacted with the slider (metal). As shown in the embodiment, contact is not provided in the central area of the insulator 10 and a suction area for the automatic mounting may be provided to attain the automatic mounting of the main body and the slider. As shown in Figure 4, the contact pitch may be widened by providing the plurality of contacts 20 to alternately extend outward from a pair of sides extending parallely to the longitudinal direction of the insulator 10.

Claims: A connector comprising an insulator (10), a plurality of contacts (20) aligned longitudinally of said insulator (10) and a slider (30), said contacts (20) provided in said insulator(10) with at least one end thereof and a portion of a central area thereof being exposed outward, wherein said slider (30) is for holding a flexible printed circuit board (40) between said slider (30) and said insulator (10), longitudinal opposite ends (31) of said slider (30) are connected to opposite ends (11) of said insulator, and said contacts are for serving as leaf springs to support said printed circuit board (40), characterised in that said slider comprises a node (32) reduced inside said slider, said node is for pushing said printed circuit board (40) against said contacts (20), and said contacts (20) are for being electrically connected to a conductive pattern of said printed circuit board (40) at positions corresponding to the node (32) of said slider (30). A connector according to Claim 1 wherein the longitudinal ends (31) of said slider (30) are formed to be bent inward, the longitudinal ends of said insulator (10) form a surface curved in accordance with a shape of the ends of said slider(30), and said slider (30) is made of a metal and fixedly holds the opposite ends of said insulator (10) relative to said insulator (10) at the longitudinal opposite ends thereof to permit lateral movement thereof. A connector according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein said contacts (20) are formed such that a portion of the exposed central area protrudes outward. A connector according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein said plurality of contacts (20) are arranged to extend outward alternately from a pair of parallel sides extending along the longitudinal direction of said insulator (10). A connector according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein said flexible printed circuit board (40) is provided with holes or notches at appropriate positions thereof, and those contacts (20) of said plurality of aligned contacts (20) which are located at positions corresponding to the holes are directly contacted with said slider (30). A connector according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein contact is not provided at the central area of said insulator (10). A connector according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein said insulator (10) is formed of thermoplastic resin and a portion of said contacts (20) is buried in said insulator (10).

Inventors: SUZUKI MASAO, SUZUKI, MASAO
Applicants: THOMAS & BETTS CORP, THOMAS & BETTS CORPORATION
Application year: 1997
Main classification: H01R12
IPC codes: H01R12