Method for producing a connector for a circuit board

Abstract: To make terminal fittings unlikely to be struck against an external matter. In a connector for a circuit board in which terminal fittings are bent downward after being pulled backward of a connector housing 1 so as to be connectable with a circuit board 5, protection walls including an upper protection wall 10 extend behind the connector housing 1 to surround the terminal fittings 2 lest the terminal fittings 2 should project. Thus, the protection walls prevent the terminal fittings 2 from being directly struck by an external matter. Furthermore the invention relates to an improved method for producing a connector.

Description: The present invention relates to a method for producing a connector for a circuit board, having substantially bent terminal fittings, preferably for producing a connector according to the invention. FIG. 6 shows a prior art connector for a circuit board as known from JP 8-315930, in which a receptacle 31 into which a mating housing is fittable is formed at a front part of a housing 30. A plurality of terminal fittings 32 are pressed into the inner wall of the housing 30. The portions of the terminal fittings 32 on one side project into the receptacle 31, and those on the other side extend straight backward of the housing 30 and are then bent downward. The ends of the terminal fittings 32 on the other side are, if necessary, inserted through an unillustrated alignment plate to be mounted on the housing 30 to be positioned. In this state, the connector is conveyed to a place of operation for the connection with a circuit board. In this connection process, the other ends of the respective terminal fittings 32 are inserted into through holes formed in an unillustrated circuit board and then soldered to be connected. The respective terminal fittings 32 are bent as shown in FIG. 7 after being pressed into the wall of the housing 30. First, the housing 30 with the terminal fitting 32 mounted thereon is set in a positioning jig 35. At this time, a receiving portion 36 is located below portions of the terminal fittings 32 to be bent, and portions thereof which are more toward their leading ends than these portions to be bent are not supported at all. Subsequently, when a bending jig 37 is lowered toward the portions of the terminal fittings 32 to be bent, the terminal fittings 32 are bent substantially at right angles about the portions thereof to be bent as indicated in phantom line in FIG. 7. Since the above bending operation is premised on with the prior art connector, the housing 30 needs to be so formed as to leave an open space behind and above the receptacle 31 in order to avoid the interference with the bending jig 37. Thus, the ends of the respective terminal fittings 32 to be bent need to be exposed upward, with the result that the terminal fittings 32 may be deformed upon being subjected to an external force. Even in the case where the terminal fittings 32 are positioned by the alignment plate as described above, if an external force acts, for example, on the bent portions of the terminal fittings 32, the leading ends of the terminal fittings 32 may be opened wider, thereby making the connection with the circuit board 34 difficult. WO 95/17775 discloses a method for producing a connector in which the free ends of connection pins are bent in a angle of substantially 90°. For the bending process a bending mandrel is used. The bending mandrel includes curved rib parts forming substantially a quarter circle. For bending the free ends of the connection pins the mandrel is moved to the free ends of the connection pins in the longitudinal direction of the connection pins. The free ends of the connection pins come into contact with the curved rib parts and are guided along these parts so that the connection pins are bent in a quarter circle. To enable the movement of the free end of the connection pin a large radius of the curved rib parts is required. Therefore, by use of this method it is impossible to provide small bending radii which are necessary to provide a compact connector design. The present invention was developed in view of the problems residing in the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an improved method for producing a connector. This object is solved by a method according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of the dependent claims. Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a side view in section of a connector, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the connector before an alignment plate is mounted, FIG. 3 is a side view in section showing a state at the start of a terminal fitting bending operation, FIG. 4 is a side view in section showing a state during the insertion of a jig, FIG. 5 is a side view in section showing a state during the bending operation, FIG. 6 is a side view in section of a prior art connector for a circuit board, and FIG. 7 is a side view in section showing a bending operation of the prior art connector. Hereafter, one embodiment of the invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. A connector for a circuit board is comprised of at least two kinds of a plurality of male terminal fittings 2 having lengths different from each other and/or from that of the connector housing 1. The connector housing 1 is made e.g. of a synthetic resin material to have a substantially block-like shape and is to be closely fixed to the preferably upper surface of a circuit board 5. At a front part of the connector housing 1 is formed a substantially rectangular tubular receptacle 3 into which an unillustrated mating connector housing is fittable or insertable. Further, a plurality of press holes 6 (in this embodiment, five each of press holes 6 are formed on upper and lower levels as shown in FIG. 2) are formed preferably side by side along the widthwise direction of the connector housing 1 at each of upper and lower levels in a terminal support wall 4 of the connector housing 1, wherein the terminal support wall 4 preferably substantially closes the tubular receptacle 3 in a longitudinal direction A of the terminal fittings 2 or a mating direction A of the unillustrated mating female connector.. The male terminal fittings 2 are mounted or mountable by being pressed or inserted or arranged through the respective press holes 6. The male terminal fittings 2 mounted on the upper level are substantially longer than those mounted on the lower level. The former terminal fittings 2 along a direction of mating A into the receptacle 3 or horizontally project into the receptacle 3, and distal projecting portions thereof serve as engaging portions which are substantially parallel to each other and have the substantially same length. These engaging portions are brought or bringable into contact with unillustrated female terminal fittings being inserted in a mating direction A when the connector housing 1 is engaged with the mating connector housing 1. On the other hand, portions 2B of the male terminal fittings 2 projecting outside from the terminal support wall 4 are bent at angles different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles in a manner to be described later, and the leading ends thereof serve as mount portions 2A to the circuit board 5. The mount portions 2A are inserted into through holes or recesses 7 of the circuit board 5 and secured to the circuit board 5 by unillustrated solder, clamps or the like fixing means. In this embodiment, the opening edges of the upper press holes 6 and/or the terminal support wall 4 project backward or in a direction away from the receptacle behind the terminal support wall 4 of the connector housing 1, forming restricting projections 8 which receive the supported side of the male terminal fittings 2 over a specified or predetermined or predeterminable length. In this way, the deformation of the male terminal fittings 2 at their supported side (or their side away from their distal projecting portions projecting into the receptacle 3) is prevented. Further, a pair of side protection walls 9 and an upper protection wall 10 are so formed as to substantially surround the respective male terminal fittings 2 at a rear part or portion of the connector housing 1. These protection walls 9, 10 are so formed as to be substantially in flush with the connector housing 1, and have such lengths that the rear edges thereof are located more outside or backward than the rear edges of the upper male terminal fittings 2. In other words, the rear part of the connector housing 1 except the rear and lower surfaces is substantially covered by the protection walls 9, 10, thereby preventing the respective terminal fittings 2 from being damaged by an external matter hitting the rear part or projecting part 2B of the terminal fittings 2 from a lateral direction B (FIGS. 1 and 2) or B' (FIG. 2) or a direction at an angle different from 0° or 180° with respect to the mating direction A or longitudinal direction of the projecting portions 2B, preferably substantially normal thereto. The protection wall 10 preferably protects the projecting portions 2B of the terminal fittings 2 projecting backward from the terminal support wall 4 from being hit or damaged from a direction B substantially opposed to the longitudinal direction of the mount portion 2A of the terminal fittings 2. At an opening formed at a lower part of the connector housing 1 is mounted an alignment plate 11 for aligning the mount portions 2A of the respective male terminal fittings 2. The alignment plate 11 has a substantially platelike shape and has its side edges engaged with arm portions 12 (FIG. 2) projecting at the bottom and/or lateral portion of the rear surface of the connector housing 1 preferably from below and is held by an unillustrated locking means. The alignment plate 11 is formed with positioning holes 13 corresponding to the mount portions 2A of the terminal fittings 2. The mount portions 2A are aligned so as to substantially conform to the through holes 7 of the circuit board 5 by being inserted through or fitted in the positioning holes 13. An opening at the rear side of the connector housing 1 serves as an insertion space 14 for a jig 15 for bending the male terminal fittings 2. The male terminal fittings 2 are bent as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. Although the bending of the lower male terminal fittings 2 is shown in FIGURES, the upper male terminal fittings 2 are bent in a similar manner by providing a corresponding insertion space 14. A bending jig 15 is formed at its leading end with a receiving groove 16 into which the male terminal fitting 2 is at least partially insertable or fittable, and the depth D of the groove 16 at least substantially corresponds to the length L (FIG. 5) between the rear ends of the male terminal fittings 2 and portions 2C thereof to be bent. Preferably the depth D is substantially equal to the length L. Accordingly, before the bending operation, the bending jig 15 is entered into the jig insertion space 14 preferably from substantially behind (arrow S1) the male terminal fitting 2 (state of FIG. 3) until the rear end of the male terminal fitting 2 reaches the corresponding insertion depth, preferably substantially the bottom end of the receiving groove 16 (state of FIG. 4), wherein the insertion depth substantially corresponds to the length L. Then, the bending jig 15 is rotated or displaced (arrow S2) by an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially by 90° by hand or an automatic machine. In this way, the male terminal fitting 2 is bent in its set position. If the respective male terminal fittings 2 are repeatedly bent in the aforementioned manner, the terminal fitting bending operation is completed. If the alignment plate 11 is then secured to the arm portions 12 of the connector housing 1 with the mount portions 2A of the male terminal fittings 2 substantially inserted in the respective positioning holes 13, the connector for the circuit board is assembled. Thereafter, by inserting the mount portions 2A into the through holes 7 of the circuit board 5 and performing soldering or the like, the securing of the connector to the circuit board 5 is completed. Preferably the alignment plate 11 laterally substantially closes the rear portion of the connector housing 1 such that the terminal fittings 2 do not project outside of the connector housing 1 along a longitudinal direction thereof or a mating direction A (or backward direction). As described above, according to this embodiment, the upper protection wall 10 is formed in addition to the side protection walls 9 to surround the respective male terminal fittings 2 so as not to project sideways. Accordingly, the deformation of the male terminal fittings 2 by an external matter during the transportation of the connectors can be prevented. Thus, when the connector is mounted on the circuit board 5, the alignment interval of the respective mount portions 2A is held proper, eliminating a likelihood that they are brought out of alignment. Therefore, the connector can be smoothly mounted on the circuit board. Since the space above the portions of the terminal fittings to be bent is closed by the upper protection wall 10 in this embodiment, the conventional method for bending the terminal fittings from above cannot be adopted. However, by adopting a new method of inserting the jig sideways, the problem in the bending can be overcome. It should be noted that a variety of changes can be made to the present invention and that the following modification is also embraced by the technical scope of the present invention as defined in the claims. 1 ○In the foregoing embodiment, the male terminal fittings 2 are arranged on two levels at the rear surface of the connector housing 1. However, the number of levels and the number of terminal fittings to be arranged side by side are not limited. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 ... Connector Housing 2 ... Male Terminal Fitting 5 ... Circuit Board 9 ... Side Protection Wall(s) 10 ... Upper Protection Wall 14 ... Jig Insertion Space 15 ... Bending Jig

Claims: A method for producing a connector for a circuit board (5), having substantially bent terminal fittings (2), comprising the steps of: positioning one or more terminal fittings (2) in a connector housing (1) such that a forward portion thereof projects in a connector receptacle (3) and that a backward projecting portion (2B) thereof extends into a jig insertion space (14); inserting a bending jig (15) into the jig insertion space (14) along a direction (S1) substantially parallel to the extending direction of the projecting portion (2B) of the terminal fittings (2) such that the backward projecting portion (2B) is inserted at least partially into a receiving groove (16) of the bending jig (15); and rotating and/or displacing the bending jig (15) such that the terminal fitting (2) is bent in a direction (S2) at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially normal to the projection direction (A) of the projecting portion (2B). A method according to claim 1, wherein the backward projecting portion (2B) is inserted into a receiving groove (16) of the bending jig (15) by a length (L) corresponding to the length of the portion of the terminal fittings (2) to be bent, wherein the receiving groove (16) has preferably a depth (D) corresponding to the length (L). A method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising the step of covering the terminal fittings (2) from a lateral direction (B) arranged at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably between about 40° and about 140° with respect to a longitudinal direction (A) of the projecting portions (2B) by forming at least one protection wall (9; 10) extending from the connector housing (1).

Inventors: TOKUWA KOICHIRO, TOKUWA, KOICHIRO
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: H01R12
IPC codes: H01R41, H01R12, H01R13, H01R43