Abstract:
A flexible circuit board connecting device comprises a flat connector ( 10 ) to be connected to a predetermined circuit member, a flexible circuit board ( 1 ) to be connected to the circuit member via the connector ( 10 ). The connector ( 10 ) comprises a flat housing having a plurality of holding holes ( 12 ), a plurality of terminals ( 14 ) held in the holding holes ( 12 ). Each terminal ( 14 ) has a connection section ( 14 A) to be connected to the circuit board and a contact section ( 14 D) to be connected to the flexible circuit board. The contact points between the flexible circuit board and the terminals are made movable along the flexible circuit board from the zero insertion position to the contact position under spring forces.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a technology of an electrical connector, particularly, to a mechanism to connect a flexible circuit board to a connector. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A flexible circuit board is comprised of a flexible board, wirings provided on the flexible board and connection pads to be conductive through wirings, which are provided on the edge of the flexible board. When the flexible circuit board is used, it is placed onto a flat type connector, and then pressed and held, so that the connection pads contact with corresponding terminals of the connector. Such connection structure is known, for example, by disclosures in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 8-255961, 8-227745 and 3-182075. 
     In this type of connectors, the flexible circuit board or the connector has a flat connecting section (e.g. connection pad), and the other, the one between the flexible board and the connector which does not have the flat connect section, has a protruding elastic contact section. By putting in place and then pressing the flexible circuit board and the connector, such that the protruding elastic contact section is pressed to/into the flat contact section, the connection between the flexible circuit board and the connector is achieved and maintained. Therefore, the connection is achieved without an inserting force for engagement, such as the one required for the connection of terminals of normal connector. Also, since the terminals are arranged in columns and rows in those methods, the contact points to prevent the inserting force from becoming too large. 
     In such publicly known devices, a pressuring member is used to press the flexible circuit board towards the connector. According to the mechanism of the pressuring member, it is difficult to press the whole area of the connecting section of the flexible circuit board by the pressuring member to connect with the connector. Therefore, the pressuring member merely presses locally, for example, on both edges. 
     Since the flexible circuit board is flexible itself, it causes a distortion, such as deflection or torsion, if it is locally pressed. In other words, the connecting pressure is not uniformly applied to an area of the connecting section, which causes poor connection or the like, so that its electrical properties become unstable. Those problems are more conspicuously observed for flexible circuit boards having a large number of connection pads (contact points). 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure for the connection of the flexible circuit board, which enables uniform and stable connection without such problems even when the flexible circuit board has a large number of contact points. 
     According to the present invention there is provided the flexible circuit board connecting device comprises a flat-type connector to connect with a specified circuit member and a flexible circuit board to connect with the circuit member via the connector. 
     In the flexible circuit board connecting device according to the present invention, the connector holds a plurality of terminals in holding holes of a housing, and each terminal has a connecting section on one side of the housing to connect with a circuit board and a contact section on the other side to contact with the flexible circuit board. The contact section between flexible circuit and the terminal can move opposing each other in a direction parallel to the surface of the flexible circuit board from specified zero inserting force position, where the flexible circuit board and the connector are contacted over the surface by zero inserting force, to a contact position, where the flexible circuit board and the connector are contacted under elastic pressure. 
     According to the present invention, the flexible circuit board is brought to a position, where its contact portion is close to the contact position of the corresponding terminal, by zero inserting force, and then moved in a direction of the surface, so that the contact portion comes to contact with the contact section under an elastic pressure. Each contact portion and its corresponding contact section simultaneously contact under the same condition, so that all the contact portions and their corresponding sections can evenly be contacted without uneven contact due to the flexibility of the flexible circuit board. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the device is made as follows. The contact section of the connector is formed on an elastic arm, which protrudes from the other side of the housing and extends along the surface. A window is provided to the housing for receiving the elastic arm at the zero inserting force position, and a connection pad is provided near the window. The contact portion is contacted with the connection pad under an elastic pressure at the time of relative movement towards the contact position. 
     In this case, the terminal of the connector is made to have another arm to tightly press the flexible circuit board by moving in concert with the elastic arm. By doing this, the contact between the flexible circuit board and the connector is further ensured. In this embodiment, the connecting pad and the window of the flexible circuit board and their corresponding terminals are arranged in columns and rows so that the number of the contact points can be increased. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the flexible circuit board is made as follows. The flexible circuit board has a contact pin to connect with the terminal of the connector, which is provided so as to protrude from the surface of the flexible circuit board towards the connector. The contact pin is put into the holding hole of the connector at the zero inserting force position, and contacts with the contact section of the terminal under an elastic pressure through the movement of the flexible circuit board towards the contact position. 
     In this case, the terminal of the connector is made such that the contact section tightly presses the contact pin so that the contact can be further ensured. Even in this embodiment, each contact pin of the flexible circuit board and its corresponding terminal of the connector are arranged in columns and in rows, so that the number of the contact points can be increased. The embodiments of the present invention are described below, particularly referring to the accompanying figures, FIGS.  1  through  4 . 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the flexible circuit board according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIGS.  2 (A), (B), and (C) are sectional views of the connector in the first embodiment, illustrating the flow of the connecting process. 
     FIGS.  3 (A), (B) and (C) are sectional views of the flexible circuit board and the connector in the second embodiment of the invention, illustrating the flow of the connecting process. 
     FIGS.  4 (A), (B) and (C) are top views of the flexible circuit board and the connector in FIG. 3, illustrating the connecting process. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     First Embodiment 
     In FIG. 1, the flexible circuit board  1 , which is on an XY plane, has a cable band having wirings  2  extending in the right direction (X direction). The flexible circuit board  1  has a plurality of first connection pads  3  provided in rows along Y direction, which is parallel to a front edge (an edge extending along Y direction at left edge of the flexible circuit board), with a certain pitch interval in proximity to the front edge  1 A. Here, each first connection pad is comprised of an electrically conductive layer. The rows of pads, such as rows of second connection pads, third connection pads and fourth connection pads, are successively provided in similar manner to the first connection pads. The connection pads  4 ,  6  are arranged in the positions shifted for half pitch from the position of the connection pads  3 ,  5  respectively. 
     Long and narrow windows  7 ,  8 ,  9  are provided left of the connection pads  4 ,  5 ,  6  respectively. The interval between each connection pad and the window is substantially equal to the distance between the first connection pads  3  on the front row and the front edge of the flexible circuit board. The wirings  2  extend rightward from each connection pad in respective row of connection pads  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6  in a manner not to interfere with the windows and the other pads. Since the wirings  2  are more densely arranged in right side, it can be suggested to arrange the wirings in multiple layers, where the insulating layer is placed between the wirings, so that the wirings would not be unnecessarily too densely arranged. In this embodiment, the connection pads  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6  and their wirings are provided on both surfaces of the flexible circuit board, as illustrated in FIG. 2, but it is not limited to this, and they can be provided only on one surface, for example only on the upper surface of the flexible circuit board. 
     On the other hand, the connector  10  is also on XY plane corresponding to the flexible circuit board. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the connector  10  is comprised of a flat housing  11 . Here, the holding hole  12  goes through the housing and a long and narrow holding slot  13  is provided on the upper surface of the housing and links to the holding hole  12 . The terminal  14  is prepared by punching a metal sheet maintaining its flat surface parallel to the surface of the paper of the figure, and pressed into the holding hole  12 . As illustrated in FIG. 2, the terminal  14  has a fixing section  14 A, which is the connection section to be pressed into the holding hole  12 , a holding arm  14 B, which defines the position to press in and is held by the holding slot  13 , and an elastic arm  14 C extending parallel to the holding arm  14 B. The protruding contact sections  14 D,  14 E are formed at front ends of the elastic arm  14 C and the holding arm  14 B, respectively. The terminal  14  are provided corresponding to connection pads  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6  of the flexible circuit board  1 , and the elastic arm  14 C has such thickness and length as to link through the windows  7 ,  8 ,  9  of the flexible circuit board  1  when the windows  7 ,  8 ,  9  are placed onto the corresponding terminals. The terminal has a sphere-shaped solder ball, which is provided at the lower end of the fixing section  14 A, and protrudes from the lower surface of the housing  11 . 
     In this embodiment, the connector is connected to the flexible circuit board according to the following steps. 
     (1) First, connect the connector  10  to a specified connecting member such as a circuit board (not shown). The connection between the connector  10  and the circuit board is achieved by placing the connector  10  onto a specific position on the circuit board, and then connecting the terminal  14  and the corresponding circuit section via soldering by melting the solder ball  15  with hot air or the like. 
     (2) As illustrated in FIG.  2 (A), bring the flexible circuit board  1  over to the corresponding position on the upper side of the connector  10 . 
     (3) In next, place the flexible circuit board onto the connector  10 , such that they contact each other over the surface. The elastic arm  14 C of the terminal  14  protrude from the corresponding windows  7 ,  8 ,  9  without any resistance (See FIG.  2 (B)). 
     (4) Thereafter, move the flexible circuit board  1  leftward. The contact section  14 D provided at front end of the elastic arm  14  moves onto the front edge  1 A of the flexible circuit board  1  and then onto the edge of each window  7 ,  8 ,  9 . After that, the contact section  14 D moves onto the corresponding connection pad  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 . By doing this, the contact sections  14 D,  14 E contact with the connection pads  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6  by elastic pressure, in a manner that the connection pads are tightly pressed by the elastic recovery force of the elastic arm  14 . 
     Second Embodiment 
     The second embodiment is described below with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4. In this embodiment, the flexible circuit board  1  does not have the window as in the previous embodiment, but has a plurality of contact pins  21 . The electrically conductive layers  22  are formed on the flexible circuit board  1 , corresponding to the positions of the connection pads. The electrically conductive layers  22  are provided around holes for inserting the contact pins  21  on both upper and lower surfaces of the flexible circuit board, and also provided on the inner surfaces of cylindrical portions of the holes, such that the conductive layer is continuously provided around the holes from the upper surface through the lower surface. 
     The contact pin  21  has a shaft  21 A, a flange  21 B and a head part  21 C having substantially same diameter as that of the shaft  21  (double-dashed line in FIG.  3 (A)). To mount the contact pin  21  to the flexible circuit board  1 , the protruding head part  21 C is inserted through the hole from the bottom. Then, the head part  21 C is deformed though plastic deformation so as to shape like a flange (see FIG.  3 (A) for its sectional view). That is, the diameter of the head part  21 C is broadened by pressing the head part in the axial direction with an appropriate tool. 
     On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the connector  30  has a relatively thick flat housing  31  in comparison with the one in the previous embodiment. In this embodiment, the housing  31  has a dent  32  opening upward on its surface and a holding hole  33  which is located at edge of the dent and goes through to the lower surface of the housing. 
     As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the terminal  34  has a fixing section  34 A, which is a flat type connection section pressed into the holding hole  33 , and a U-shape elastic arm piece  34 B which consists of two facing arms in the dent  32 . The U-shape elastic arm piece  34 B is provided at the upper portion of the fixing section  34 A, and extends such that the U-shape elastic arm piece is angled from the direction of the fixing section  34 A. The distance between the two facing arms of the U-shape elastic arm piece becomes shorter as it goes to the ends (free ends), and the contact section  34 C is formed by those free ends. The distance between the two facing arms of the U-shape elastic arm piece  34 B is designed such that the contact pin can well fit in, and simultaneously the spacing between the contact sections  34 C is designed to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the shaft  21 A of the contact pin  21 A. Also, a solder ball  35  is provided on the lower end of the fixing section  34 A, in a similar manner to that in the previous embodiment. 
     In this embodiment, to use the device, the terminal  34  is first connected with the specified circuit board using the solder ball  35 . Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG.  3 (A), the flexible circuit board is brought onto the connector  1 , and then the contact pin  21  mounted to the flexible circuit board  1  is inserted with zero inserting force into the area on the connector, where the distance between the two facing arms of the U-shape arm piece  34 B is large (see FIGS.  3 (A) and  4 (B)). Then, the flexible circuit board is moved in a direction parallel to its surface, so that the contact pin  21  is pushed into the contact section  34 C and the connection between the flexible circuit board and the connector is completed. 
     As described above, in the present invention, each terminal of the connector and its corresponding portion of the flexible circuit board are made to elastically contact simply by inserting the flexible circuit board with zero inserting force into a position very close to the connection section and then by relatively moving the flexible circuit board parallel to its surfaces. Therefore, the problem of uneven pressure over the contacting surface due to local application of pressure onto the flexible circuit board is solved, and same pressure is equally applied to any portion over the surface. Accordingly, the device of the present invention is very effective, especially when many terminals are arranged in lines and rows.