Abstract:
An electrical connector ( 100 ) adapted to be detachably fitted with a sheet-like member includes a housing ( 1 ) defining a longitudinal direction (A) and a cavity ( 11 ) having a front opening for receiving the sheet-like member; terminals ( 2 ) arranged in the housing along the longitudinal direction and each having a contact portion ( 221 ) protruding into the cavity; pivot beams ( 3 ) loaded in the housing and separately set from the terminals; and an actuator ( 4 ) pivotally engaging with the pivot beams and rotatable between an open position and a closed position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for a sheet-like connection member such as a flexible printed circuit or cable (FPC), a flexible flat cable (FFC) and so forth. All of these cables and circuit hereafter will be generally referred to as “FPC” for simplification.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     A conventional FPC connector generally includes an insulative housing formed with an FPC inserting portion, a plurality of terminals loaded in parallel relationship with a predetermined pitch in the insulative housing and each including at least a contact beam for electrically contacting the FPC and a pivot beam integrally extending from the contact beam, and a pivoting actuator for establishing electrical contact between the conductors of the FPC and contact beams of the terminals. Typical connectors of this type can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,740 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-250147.  
         [0005]     However, as the terminal including at least two beams (the contact beam and the pivot beam) is a one-piece structure, it is required the housing to provide a substantially like cavity for correspondingly receiving the terminal. Forming of such kinds of terminal receiving cavities would diminish the structural strength of the FPC connector. On the other hand, as the contact beam extends down from the pivot beam and then is bent to be parallel to the pivot beam, there is a long way from the contact point (which is adapted to electrically contact the FPC) of the contact beam to the solder pat. Thus the transmission path of electrical signals in the terminal is long and the impedance of the terminal is large, which would largely reduce the transmission efficiency of the FPC connector.  
         [0006]     Therefore, a new FPC connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior arts.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     An object of the present invention is to provide an FPC connector which has a reliable structural strength.  
         [0008]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an FPC connector in which the impedance of terminals is reduced.  
         [0009]     In order to achieve above-mentioned objects, an FPC connector for connecting an FPC in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a housing defining a longitudinal direction and a cavity having a front opening for receiving the FPC; terminals arranged in the housing along the longitudinal direction and each having a contact portion protruding into the cavity; pivot beams loaded in the housing and separately set from the terminals; and an actuator pivotally engaging with the pivot beams and rotatable between an open position and a closed position.  
         [0010]     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of an FPC connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is another assembled perspective view of the FPC connector shown in  FIG. 1 , taken from another aspect;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a third assembled perspective view of the FPC connector shown in  FIG. 1 , taken from a third aspect;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the FPC connector shown in  FIG. 1  wherein an actuator has been removed;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  taken along line  5 - 5 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  taken along line  6 - 6 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is an assembled perspective view of an FPC connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 8  taken along line  9 - 9 ; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 8  taken along line  10 - 10 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail.  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , an FPC connector  100  for connecting an FPC (not shown) to a board or the like in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention comprises an insulative housing  1 , a plurality of terminals  2 , pivot beams  3 , and an actuator  4 .  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIGS. 2, 4 , and  5 , the insulative housing  1  is of an elongated form and defines a longitudinal direction A, and is provided with an FPC receiving cavity  11  having both a top opening (not labeled) and a front opening (not labeled). The terminals  2  are arranged in two rows along the longitudinal direction A in the insulative housing  1 , and the terminals  2  in each row are arranged in a side-by-side fashion, wherein the first row of terminals  2  are inserted from the rear side of the insulative housing  1  while the second row of terminals  2  are inserted from the front side of the insulative housing  1 . Referring to  FIGS. 4, 6  and  7 , the first and second rows of terminals  2  are arranged in a head-to-head relationship and terminals  2  in the first row and terminals  2  in the second row are alternatively arranged along the longitudinal direction A. Such an arrangement fashion of the terminals  2  makes the insulative housing  1  be able to accommodate as many terminals  2  as possible while there is still a enough space between each two adjacent terminals  2  and thereby will optimize the whole structure of the FPC connector  100 .  
         [0024]     As best shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , each of the terminals  2  has a fixing arm  21  fixed in the insulative housing  1 , a contact arm  22  running parallel to the fixing arm  21 , and a solder foot  23  extending down from a joint of the fixing arm  21  and the contact arm  22 , wherein the fixing arm  21  is formed with a retaining pawl  211  clasping the insulative housing  1  for preventing the terminal  2  from being withdrawn, and the contact arm  22  is formed with a contact portion  221  protruding to the FPC receiving cavity  11 .  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIGS. 3-6 , now the pivot beams  3  will be explained in detail. The pivot beams  3  are also arranged in a row at the upper side of the first row of terminals  2 , and along the longitudinal direction A, each pivot beam  3  is located between some of two adjacent terminals  2  in the first row. The pivot beam  3  has a retaining tail  31  hooking at the insulative housing  1  for diverting or dispersing the force that the pivot beam  3  puts on the insulative housing  1 , thereby making the pivot beam  3  firmly retained in the insulative housing  1 . The retaining tail would be a right-angled hook as illustrated in  FIG. 6  and would also be other forms, such as a curve hook. The pivot beam  3  further defines a pivot concave  32  at a lower edge of the tip end thereof for pivotally engaging with the actuator  4 . By separating the pivot beam  3  from the terminal  2  and making it individual a one, the pivot beams  3  and the terminals  2  can be respectively assembled into the insulative housing  1 , and as the row of the pivot beams  3  and the first row of terminals  2  are separate and the space therebetween is filled with plastic of the insulative housing  1 , thus in certain extend enhancing the structural strength of the insulative housing  1 . Otherwise, the arrangement fashion that the pivot beams  3  are respectively located between some of two adjacent terminals  2  in the first row along the longitudinal direction A, as stated above, makes the pivot beams  3  and the terminals  2  in the first row be alternatively arranged along the longitudinal direction A, thereby further enhancing the structural strength of the insulative housing  1 .  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 3  and  6 , the actuator  4  is form into a plate form so as to open or close the top opening of the FPC receiving cavity  11 , and comprises a plate portion  41  and a pivot edge  42  on one side of the plate portion  41  adjacent to the pivot beams  3 . In order to engage with the pivot concave  32  provided in the pivot beam  3 , a shaft portion  425  (shown in  FIG. 6 ) is provided on the pivot edge  42  of the actuator  4  at a position corresponding to the position of pivot concave  32 . The shaft portion  425  is formed by providing a groove  423  corresponding to the pivot beam  3  on the pivot edge  42  of the actuator  4 . Between adjacent shaft portions  425  are pushing projecting portions  424  located between adjacent pivot beams  3 . The pushing projecting portions  424  extend from the lower surface of the actuator  4 , as best shown in  FIG. 7 . The pivot edge  42  further has a pair of support bosses  421  at longitudinal ends thereof which are respectively supported on support recesses  14  at the insulative housing  1  so as to prevent the actuator  4  from downward movement to maintain engagement between the shaft portion  425  and the pivot concave  32 . As best shown in  FIG. 6 , all the shaft portions  425  and the support bosses  421  have a common axis for pivotal rotation. By engaging the shaft portions  425  of the actuator  4  with the pivot concaves  32  of the pivot beams  3 , the actuator  4  is pivotable between an open position where the actuator  4  is raised so as to allow the FPC to be inserted into the FPC receiving cavity  11  with Zero-Insertion-Force and a closed position where the actuator  4  is oriented substantially parallel to the insulative housing  1  so as to push the FPC to electrically contact the contact portions  221 .  
         [0027]     The plate portion  41  is provided with lock cutouts  411  at longitudinal end portions thereof, and corresponding to these lock cutouts  411 , the insulative housing  1  is formed with lock blocks  12  at longitudinal end portions thereof. When the actuator  4  is rotated to the closed position substantially parallel to the insulative housing  1  to close the top opening of the FPC receiving cavity  11 , the lock cutouts  411  will engage with the lock blocks  12  for maintaining the actuator  4  in that closed position.  
         [0028]     Turning to  FIGS. 8-10 , description will be made as an FPC connector according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Similar parts are designated by like reference numbers.  
         [0029]     In the second embodiment, the terminals  2 ′ are arranged in two rows in the insulative housing  1 ′ wherein the terminals  2 ′ in different row are alternatively arranged along the longitudinal direction of the insulative housing  1 , and the pivot beams  3 ′ are disposed at the upper side of the first row of terminals  2 ′, as well as the first embodiment. The difference between the first and second embodiments is that the pivot beams  3 ′ in the second embodiment are disposed in the positions corresponding to the terminals  2 ′ in the first row as illustrated in  FIGS. 8-10 , rather than that the pivot beams  3  are disposed between some of two adjacent terminals  2  in the first row, as disclosed in the first embodiment. That is to say, each of the pivot beams  3 ′ in the second embodiment is exactly positioned at the upside of one of the terminals  2 ′ in the first row. As the shape and arrangement of other parts is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, it would be not repeated here.  
         [0030]     However, the disclosure is illustrative only, changes may be made in detail, especially in matter of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention.