Abstract:
A cable connector ( 1 ) for receiving a flexible circuit member ( 101 ) includes an insulative housing ( 11 ) with a receptacle ( 13 ) for receiving the flexible circuit member therein. A plurality of terminals are provided in terminal receiving cavities ( 14   a   , 14   b ). The housing includes a pair of end portions located at opposite ends of said housing with the end portions having a pair of spaced apart walls ( 16, 35 ) to provide flexibility to at least one of said walls. Each the flexible wall has a locking member ( 30 ) thereon. An actuator i( 21 ) is mounted on the housing and moveable between first and second operative positions. The flexible circuit member being insertable when the actuator is at the first open position and being engaged by the terminals in an operative manner when the actuator is at the second closed position. The actuator includes an actuator body generally extending along the receptacle when in the second closed position and a locking portion ( 26 ) disposed on opposite ends of the actuator body. Each of the housing locking members engaging one of the locking portions disposed on the actuator when the actuator is in the second closed position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a connector and, more specifically, to a connector for receiving a cable such as a flexible printed circuit. 
         [0002]    Conventionally, in order to connect a flexible circuit member, typically referred to as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC), to another circuit member, a cable connector has been used. (See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H10-12331.) For convenience, such FPC and FFC are hereinafter referred to as FPC. 
         [0003]    As shown in  FIG. 18 , the conventional cable connector has a housing  801  made of an insulative material such as a synthetic resin and a plurality of terminals  804  made of a conductive material such as a metal, each of which is held in the housing  801 . Further, an actuator  802  made of an insulation material such as a synthetic resin is rotatably mounted on an upper surface of the housing, so that the actuator  802  may rotate between an open position (illustrated in  FIG. 18 ) and a closed position. 
         [0004]    A metal plate support fitting member  811  is positioned on each of the opposite sides of the housing  801  and includes a circular shaft bore  812  formed thereon, so that a support shaft  806  projected from each of the respective sides of actuator  802  is rotatably inserted in the shaft bore  812 . The actuator  802  can rotate about the support shafts  806  on the opposite sides with respect to the housing  801 . 
         [0005]    When the actuator  802  is moved to the open position thereof, an FPC may be inserted into the connector from an open front portion of the housing  801 . After insertion of the FPC to the back of the housing  801 , the actuator  802  is manually rotated to the closed position thereof by a finger or the like of an operator. In such position, a locking projection  807  formed on each side of the actuator  802  is engaged in an engagement hole  813  formed on the metal support fitting member  811  and, therefore, the actuator  802  is locked relative to the housing  801 . The FPC is engaged by the locked actuator  802  from above, and conductive contact pads (not shown) on the lower surface of the FPC contacts the terminals  804 . 
         [0006]    In such a conventional cable connector, upon opening or closing actuator  802 , the locking projections  807  of actuator  802  engages against the periphery of the respective engagement holes  813  of the support fitting member  811 . Since locking projections  807  are made of plastic and support fitting member  811  is made of metal, the locking projections will eventually be subject to wear. Therefore, the operational durability of the actuator  802  and thus the durability of the entire FPC connector may be degraded. 
         [0007]    Another conventional cable connector (not shown) in which a locking projection provided on the actuator engages a plastic locking portion on the housing. According to such a conventional cable connector, the locking projection of the actuator is made of plastic and the locking portion of the housing it engages is similarly made of plastic so that abrasion of the locking projection is reduced. However, in such a conventional FPC connector, the strength of a support member supporting the locking projection must be reduced. In the alternative, if the support member is made thicker in order to improve the strength of the locking portion, the size of the housing must be increased and this in turn brings about an increase in the size of the entire cable connector. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention was made to solve the foregoing problems of the above-described conventional cable connector, and has an object to provide a small cable connector having a higher operation durability, which includes locking portions provided for a housing so as to have therein a hollow cross section, respectively, and engaged with locked portions disposed on opposite sides of an actuator mounted on the housing so as to be capable of changing its posture between a first position where a FPC is permitted to be inserted in the cable connector, and a second position where conductive wires and terminals of the FPC are permitted to be electrically connected, which is able to disperse a stress applied on the locking portion without abrasion of the locked portion even though the present cable connector has a simple structure; can enhance the strength of the locking portion, can reduce the thickness of the locking portion thinner; and can ensure locking of an actuator to thereby reliably connect the FPC to the cable connector without occurrence of any unnecessary change of a posture of the actuator from the second position. 
         [0009]    In order to attain the above-described object, a cable connector according to the present invention is a cable connector, which is mounted on a substrate and comprises: a housing having an insertion port for inserting a FPC therethrough; terminals which are attached on the housing and are electrically connected to a conductive wire of the FPC; an actuator including an actuator body configured to be capable of changing its posture between a first position enabling insertion of the FPC and a second position enabling connection of the conductive wire of the inserted FPC to the terminals, the actuator body being disposed to be approximately parallel with an inserting and extracting direction of the FPC, and locked portions disposed on opposite sides of the actuator body, respectively; and locking portions disposed on opposite sides of the housing so as to be engaged with the locked portion at the second position; wherein the locking portion has a hollow cross sectional shape, in other words, a cross section crossing the insertion and extracting direction of the FPC is hollow. 
         [0010]    According to another cable connector, further, the locking portion may include a region having a hollow cross sectional shape with a partially opened portion. 
         [0011]    According to a still another cable connector, further, the locking portion may include a locking projection to be engaged with the locked portion in the vicinity of a front end and the region of the hollow cross sectional shape with a partially unlocked portion corresponds to the vicinity of the front end. 
         [0012]    According to a still further cable connector, further, the locking portion may include an outside part and an inside part of the housing, an inside step portion which is provided on the inside part, a bottom portion for connecting respective lower ends of the outside and inside parts with each other, a lock support arm portion connected to respective upper ends of the outside part and the inside part, and a locking projection which is formed at a corner portion where the lock support arm portion and the inside part are connected with each other to be engaged with the locked portion. 
         [0013]    According to a further cable connector, further, the region having the hollow cross sectional shape with the partially unlocked portion may include an outside part and an inside part of the housing, an inside step portion which is provided on the inside part, a lock support arm portion connected to upper ends of the outside part and the inside part, and a locking projection which is formed at a corner portion where the lock support arm portion and the inside part are connected to each other to be engaged with the locked portion. 
         [0014]    According to a further cable connector, further, the outside part may include an approximately triangular notch portion which is formed in a lower end on the inlet side of the outside part. 
         [0015]    According to a still further connector for a cable, further, there is provided a cavity portion with a partially unlocked portion, which permits an auxiliary fitting for attaching the connector to be accommodated therein, at least a part of the said auxiliary fitting being arranged to be visually checked through the notch portion. 
         [0016]    According to another cable connector, further, the outside part may include a rigidity-adjustable projecting portion which projects into the notch portion. 
         [0017]    In accordance with the present invention, the cable connector includes the locking portions of the housing, the locking portions having the hollow cross section, respectively, and being able to be engaged with locked portions disposed on the opposite sides of the actuator attached to the housing so as to be capable of changing its posture between the first position enabling insertion of the FPC and a second position enabling electrical connection of a conductive wire and a terminal. Therefore, the cable connector, in spite of the simple structure thereof, is able to disperse a stress applied to the locking portion without abrasion of the locked portion; to enhance the strength of the locking portion; to make the locking portion thinner; and to reliably connect the FPC due to the reliable locking of the actuator without occurrence of any unnecessary change of a posture the actuator from the second position. Further, the cable connector of the present invention can be small in its size and enhance its durability in use. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a cable connector according to an embodiment of the present invention when an actuator thereof is in an opening position; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating the cable connector of the embodiment of the present invention when the actuator thereof is in a closing position; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention when the actuator thereof is in the closing position; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention when the actuator thereof is in the closing position; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention when the actuator is in the closing position; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention when the actuator of is in the closing position; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a cross sectional view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 3  and illustrating a state where the actuator thereof is in the closing position; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, taken along a line B-B of  FIG. 3  and illustrating a state where in the actuator thereof is in the closing position; 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, similar to  FIG. 7  and illustrating a state where the actuator is in the opening position; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, similar to  FIG. 8  and illustrating a state where the actuator is in the opening position; 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  is a plan view of a cable according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 12  is a partial cross sectional view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the actuator thereof is in the closing position; 
           [0030]      FIG. 13  is a first front view illustrating a state where the actuator of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention shifts from an unlocked state into a locked state; 
           [0031]      FIG. 14  is a second front view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state where the actuator shifts from the unlocked state into the locked state; 
           [0032]      FIG. 15  is a third front view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state where the actuator is shifted from the unlocked state into the locked state; 
           [0033]      FIG. 16  is a first perspective view showing the state that the actuator of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is removed; 
           [0034]      FIG. 17  is a second perspective view showing the state that the actuator of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is removed; and 
           [0035]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view showing a conventional cable connector. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0036]    Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinbelow in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an FPC connector generally designated  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown and may be mounted on a surface of a substrate or a board (not illustrated) such as a circuit board and is used for electrically connect an FPC or the like. In this case, the bottom surface in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  7  through  10  is the surface to be used as a mounting surface by which the connector  1  is mounted on the substrate, and this surface confronts the mounting surface of the substrate. As stated above, the FPC  101  is a generally planar flexible cable, for example, referred to as a FPC and FFC, however, the cable  101  may be any kind of cable as long as it is a plate-like cable provided with a conductive traces or wire. In addition, in this embodiment, representations of directions such as up, down, left, right, front, rear, and the like, used for explaining the structure and movement of each part of the connector  1 , and the like, are not absolute, but relative. These representations are appropriate when the connector  1  or its constituent part is in the position shown in the figures. If the position of the connector  1  or its constituent part changes, however, it is assumed that these representations are to be changed according to the change of the position of the connector  1  or its constituent part. 
         [0038]    The cable connector  1  includes a one-piece housing  11  which is formed of an insulative material such as a synthetic resin and an actuator  21  which is rotatably mounted on the housing  11  so as to be moveable between an opening position as a first position and a closed position as a second position. 
         [0039]    The housing  11  has a lower part  12 , an upper part  15 , right and left outside parts  16 , right and left inside parts  35 , and an insertion port or receptacle  13  as an opening, which is formed among the lower part  12 , the upper part  15 , and the inside part  35  and through which the end of the FPC  101  is inserted or is extracted from its front part (the left part in  FIGS. 7 through 10 ). Further, the FPC  101  is inserted toward right in  FIGS. 7 through 10 . According to the present embodiment, as a matter of convenience, it is defined that the inlet side of the insertion port  13  (the left side in  FIGS. 7 through 10 ) is referred to as the front side of the connector  1  and the back side of the insertion port  13  (the right side in  FIGS. 7 through 10 ) is referred to as the rear side of the connector  1 . In addition, the front and back direction of the connector  1  is referred to as an insertion and extraction direction of the cable. Then, on the back of the insertion port  13 , an abutting portion  18  with which the front end of the FPC  101  comes into contact is arranged. 
         [0040]    In addition, a plurality of terminal receipt grooves in which a terminal(s) made of a metal is mounted is formed on the housing  11 . According to the present embodiment, the terminal may include a first terminal  51  and a second terminal  61  and the terminal receipt groove may include a first terminal receipt groove  14   a  having the first terminal  51  mounted therein and a second terminal receipt groove  14   b  having the second terminal  61  mounted therein. In the example illustrated in the drawing figures, the odd number terminal receipt groove is the first terminal receipt groove  14   a  and the even number terminal receipt groove is the second terminal receipt groove  14   b . Then, the total of the first terminal receipt groove  14   a  and the second terminal receipt groove  14   b  is eleven, for example, at a pitch about 0.3 (mm). Further, the pitch and the number of the terminal receipt grooves may be appropriately changed. In addition, the first terminal receipt grooves  14   a  and the second terminal receipt grooves  14   b  are alternately arranged so that they are located side-by-side with each other. It is not always necessary that the first terminal  51  and the second terminal  61  are mounted in the all of the first terminal receipt grooves  14   a  and the second terminal receipt grooves  14   b , and the first terminals  51  and the second terminals  61  may be appropriately omitted in response to the layout of conductive wires  151  provided for the FPC  101 . 
         [0041]    Here, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the FPC  101  has a substrate portion  111  which is a thin insulating plate member having a long and thin band-like shape and plural number of, for example, eleven conductive wires  151  disposed on one surface of the substrate portion  111 . In  FIG. 11 , it is noted that a portion adjacent to a front end (i.e., the lower end shown in  FIG. 11 ) to be inserted in the insertion port  13  of the connector  1  of the FPC  101  is only illustrated and other portions are omitted. In addition, the conductive wires  151  are foil-like line-shape bodies made of a conductive metal such as copper, for example, and the conductive wires  151  are aligned in parallel at a predetermined pitch, for example, approximately 0.3 (mm). Further, the number and the pitch of the conductive wires  151  may be appropriately changed according to respective needs. Then, the upper side of all of the conductive wires  151  is coated with an insulating layer  121 . Further, the insulating layer  121  is removed from an area of a predetermined length from the front end of the FPC  101  and, therefore, the upper surface of the conductive wires  151  is exposed to the exterior. 
         [0042]    Moreover, on the upper part of the inside part  35 , an inside step portion  17  is formed. This inside step portion  17 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , is a recess portion which is formed in an intermediate part of the upper surface of the inside part  35  and the bottom surface of the recess portion is located higher than an upper surface  12   a  of the lower part  12 . 
         [0043]    Between the outside part  16  and the inside part  35 , an auxiliary fitting accommodating recess portion  39  shaped in a slit (to be described later) elongated in the insertion and extracting direction of the FPC  101  is formed, and an auxiliary metal fitting  81  for use in attaching a connector (hereinafter referred to as merely an auxiliary fitting), commonly known as a fitting nail, is inserted into the auxiliary fitting accommodating recess portion  39  to be attached to the housing  11 . The auxiliary fitting  81  is a member having a downwardly projecting part of which a bottom surface  82  functions as a connection surface which is connected to the surface of the substrate and is then fixed on the surface of the substrate by fixing means such as soldering so that the housing  11  is fixedly attached to the substrate. Further, the upper end surface of the auxiliary fitting  81  may function as a support portion for supporting, from a lower side, first shaft portions  23   a  which are formed, respectively, on the opposite sides of an actuator body  25  of the actuator  21 . In addition, side faces  35   a  of the right and left inside step portions  17  may function as opposite guide faces when inserting and extracting the FPC  101  into and from the insertion port  13 . 
         [0044]    Then, on the upper ends at the inlet side ends of the outside part  16  and the inside part  35 , there are connected right and left lock support arm portions  31  of respective locking portions  30  which operate so as to lock the actuator  21  on the closing position through engagement thereof with locked portions  26 . The right and left lock support arm portions  31  are formed by plate-like members having the front ends directed toward the inside of the housing  11  and extended from the inlet side ends of the right and left outside parts  16  so as to confront to one another. Then, on each front end of the right and left lock support arm portions  31 , a locking projection  32  for fastening the locked portion  26  of the actuator  21  is integrally connected. This locking projection  32  is formed in a convex portion, which extends in the insertion and extracting direction of the FPC  101  and is provided with a sharp shape toward the inside of the housing  11 . 
         [0045]    The lock support arm portion  31 , the outside part  16 , and the inside part  35  are mutually connected so as to define a cavity portion  37  in its inside. This cavity portion  37  may configure the inlet side end of the auxiliary fitting accommodating recess portion  39 , however, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the cavity portion  37  is larger than the auxiliary fitting  81 , so that the cavity portion  37  has no function to hold the auxiliary fitting  81 . 
         [0046]    In addition, on the lower end of the inlet side of the outside part  16 , a notch portion  38  in an approximately triangular shape is formed and the outside part  16  is partially cut out. By forming the notch portion  38 , a second-order section modulus of the inlet side end face of the locking portion  30  is lowered and this enables to lower a rigidity of the locking portion  30 . As a result, by adjusting the size and the shape of the notch portion  38 , the rigidity of the locking portion  30  can be adjusted. 
         [0047]    Further, a rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , which is formed so as to project into the notch portion  38 ; is integrally connected to the outside part  16 . By forming the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , the rigidity of the inlet side end of the outside part  16  can be improved and the rigidity of the locking portion  30  can be improved. Accordingly, by adjusting the size and the shape of the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , the rigidity of the locking portion  30  can be adjusted. Further, the lower end of the outside part  16  is connected to the lower end of the inside part  35  by a bottom plate portion  33  on the back side from the inlet side end. Then, the bottom plate portion  33 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , is provided with a long rectangular shape which extends in the insertion and extracting direction of the FPC  101  and this inlet side end coincides with the lower end of the notch portion  38 . 
         [0048]    In other words, the locking portion  30  according to the present embodiment may include respective members such as the lock support arm portion  31 , the inside part  35 , the outside part  16 , the inside step portion  17 , and the bottom plate portion  33 ; and the notch portion  38 , the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , and the cavity portion  37 , respectively. In addition, the locking portion  30  has the locking projection  32 , which is formed at a corner part where the lock support arm portion  31  and the inside part  35  are mutually connected. 
         [0049]    Then, by adjusting the size and shape of the respective members that configure the locking portion  30  and that of the cavity portion  37 , the rigidity of the locking portion  30  can be adjusted and a degree of elastic deformation exhibited by the locking portion  30  can be adjusted. Further, it is possible to also adjust operability for locking the actuator  21  at the closing position thereof and sureness of locking and the like. 
         [0050]    On the other hand, the actuator  21  has the actuator body  25  which is a thick plate-like member shaped in an approximately rectangle, a plurality of terminal accommodating recess portions  22   a  and  22   b  formed in the actuator body  25 , the first shaft portions  23   a  which are formed so as to project from the opposite sides of the actuator body  25  outward, the locked portions  26  which are formed so as to protrude outward from the opposite sides of the actuator body  25  in a manner similar to the first shaft portion  23   a , and pressing portions  24  which are disposed on the lower surface of the actuator body  25 . When the actuator  21  is in the closing position, the respective pressing portions  24  may downwardly press the FPC  101  which is inserted from the insertion port  13 , namely, in a direction toward the lower part  12 . Further, it is to be noted that the pressing portion  24  enables insertion of the FPC  101  when the actuator  21  is in the opening position. 
         [0051]    Further, the terminal accommodating recess portions  22   a  and  22   b  may include first terminal accommodating recess portions  22   a  having bearing portions  54   a , respectively, on the front end of an upper arm portion  54  of every first terminal  51  accommodated therein and second terminal accommodating recess portions  22   b  having fastening portions  64   a , respectively, on the front end of every upper arm portion  64  of the second terminals  61  accommodated therein. Then, the numbers and the positions of the first terminal accommodating recess portions  22   a  and the second terminal accommodating recess portions  22   b  may correspond to the first terminal receipt grooves  14   a  and the second terminal receipt grooves  14   b . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 9 , a second axial portion  23   b  as an axle portion of the actuator  21  is arranged in the first terminal accommodating recess portions  22   a  so that the second axial portion  23   b  is engaged with the bearing portions  54   a . By means of the bearing portions  54   a , upward movement of the second axial portion  23   b  is restricted. Therefore, the actuator  21  is prevented from being separated apart from the housing  11  by means of the bearing portions  54   a.    
         [0052]    Then, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the actuator body  25  is located appropriately in parallel with the inserting and extracting direction of the FPC  101  when the actuator  21  is in the closing position, and as shown in  FIG. 1 , the front end of the actuator  21  is widely opened so as to be inclined toward the back part of the connector  1  when the actuator  21  is in the opening position. 
         [0053]    In addition, the above-mentioned respective locked portions  26  are formed at positions which are located frontward from the first shaft portion  23   a  at the time when the actuator  21  is in the closing position so as to be engaged with the locking projections  32 . In this case, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the locking projections  32  come to be situated on the locked portions  26  so as to prevent the actuator  21  from changing its posture from the closing position to the opening position. In other words, the locked portions  26  and the locking projections  32  may function as a locking mechanism for locking the actuator  21  at the closing position and preventing unlocking of the actuator  21 . Each locked portion  26  is formed to be lowered from the outside surface of the actuator body  25  by one step, and when the front edge of each locking projection  32  is situated on the corresponding locked portion  26  to lock it, the locking projection  32  does not come above the upper side of the actuator body  25  of the actuator  21 . Therefore, it is possible to control the height of the connector  1 . 
         [0054]    As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 9 , each first terminal  51  is provided with a linear connection chip  52 , which is elongated in the inserting and extracting direction of the FPC  101 , a lower arm portion  53  as the linear first arm portion extending in the inserting and extracting direction on the upper side of the connection chip  52 , an upper arm portion  54  as the linear second arm portion extending in the inserting and extracting direction on the upper side of the lower arm portion  53 , and a connection portion  55  which extends in a direction perpendicular to the inserting and extracting direction and is connected to the connection portions of a base portion of the connection chip  52 , a base portion of the lower arm portion  53 , and a base portion of the upper arm portion  54 . 
         [0055]    Here, it is to be noted that a tail portion  52   a  as a connection portion for a substrate which projects downward to be connected to a connection pad formed on the surface of the substrate by means of soldering and the like is connected to the front end (the left end in  FIGS. 7 and 9 ) of the connection chip  52 . Further, a projection  52   b  projecting backward is formed in the rear end of the tail portion  52   a , and a spine  55   a  in the form of a projection is formed on the upper edge of the connection portion  55 . 
         [0056]    Furthermore, the lower arm portion  53  is formed so as to be branched from the base portion of the connection chip  52  and the lower arm portion  53  may function as a contact piece to be electrically connected to the conductive wire  151  of the FPC  101 . The lower arm portion  53  is provided with a contact portion  53   a  functioning as an electrically contactable portion which is formed to project upward on its front end. Further, the bearing portion  54   a  on the front end of the upper arm portion  54  is engaged with the second axial portion  23   b  of the actuator  21 . 
         [0057]    Then, the first terminal  51  is inserted from the front side (the left side in  FIGS. 7 and 9 ) of the housing  11  into the first terminal receipt groove  14   a  to be mounted therein. In this case, the approximately linear lower end portion of the connection chip  52  comes into contact with the floor surface of the first terminal receipt groove  14   a , the projecting spine  55   a  grips the lower surface of the upper portion  15  of the housing  11 , and further, the projection  52   b  of the tail portion  52   a  grips the lower end of the front end surface on the lower part  12  of the housing  11 . Therefore, the first terminal  51  is fixedly positioned at a predetermined position in the housing  11 . 
         [0058]    Further, as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 10 , each of the second terminals  61  has an approximately U-shape and is provided with a lower arm portion  63  as a first arm portion which extends in the inserting and extracting direction of the FPC  101 , an upper arm portion  64  as a second arm portion, and a connection portion  65  extending in a direction perpendicular to the inserting and extracting direction for connecting the base portion of the lower arm portion  63  to the base portion of the upper arm portion  64 . 
         [0059]    Here, it is to be noted that the lower arm portion  63  may function as a contact piece which is electrically connected to the conductive wire  151  of the FPC  101  and the lower arm portion  63  is provided with a contact portion  63   a  as an electrically contactatable portion which projects upward in the vicinity of the front end (the left end in  FIGS. 8 and 10 ). In addition, on the rear end of the connection portion  65 , there is provided a tail portion  62  functioning as a connection portion for a substrate, which projects downward to be capable of being connected, by means of soldering and the like, to a connection pad formed in the surface of the substrate. Further, in the base portion of the lower arm portion  63 , a projecting spine  63   b  is formed, which projects downward, and also an abutting portion  62   a  is formed in the front end of the tail portion  62 . 
         [0060]    In addition, a fitting portion  64   a  formed in the front end of the upper arm portion  64  comes into the second terminal accommodating recess portion  22   b  when the actuator  21  reaches the opening position. 
         [0061]    Then, the second terminal  61  is inserted from the rear side of the housing  11  (the right side in  FIGS. 8 and 10 ) into the second terminal receipt groove  14   b  so as to be fitted therein. In this case, the approximately linear upper end portions of the upper arm portion  64  and the connection portion  65  may come in contact with the lower surface of the upper part  15  of the housing  11 , the projecting spine  63   b  grips a portion of the floor surface of the second terminal receipt groove  14   b , and further, the abutting portion  62   a  abuts against the rear end surface of the lower part  12  of the housing  11 . Thus, the second terminal  61  is fixed at a predetermined position in the housing  11 . 
         [0062]    At this stage, in the first terminal  51 , the tail portion  52   a  is arranged at the front end of the housing  11 , and on the contrary, in the second terminal  61 , the tail portion  62  is arranged at the rear end of the housing  11 . Then, the first terminal  51  and the second terminal  61  are alternately mounted in the housing  11  as described above. Therefore, the tail portion  52   a , the tail portion  62 , and the connection pads and the like, which are formed in the mounting surface of the substrate so as to correspond to the tail portion  52   a  and the tail portion  62  are arranged in a staggering manner to be alternately shifted in a vertical direction (a longitudinal direction in  FIGS. 3 and 6 ) with respect to a direction in which the terminals are arranged (a lateral direction in  FIGS. 3 and 6 ) when viewed from the upper side of the connector  1 . Therefore, even if a pitch between the neighboring first and second terminals  51  and  61  is narrow, it is possible to provide a spacing between the tail portion  52   a  and the tail portion  62  and respective distances among the connection pads and the like corresponding to these tail portions wider. As a result, the connection pads and the like can be easily produced and even in the case of soldering the tail portion  52   a  and the tail portion  62  with the connection pads and the like corresponding to these tail portions, no solder bridge occurs, so that occurrence of a short circuit between the adjacent connection pads and the like may be prevented. 
         [0063]    Further, in the first terminal  51 , the position of the contact portion  53   a  with respect to the inserting and extracting direction of the FPC  101  is located nearer to the rear end of the housing  11  rather than the position of the contact portion  63   a  of the second terminal  61  because, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the positions of the contact portion  53   a  of the first terminal  51  and the contact portion  63   a  of the second terminal  61  are arranged in the staggering manner in order to make the width of the respective ends of the conductive wires  151  of the FPC  101  larger. In other words, in the case of arranging the ends of the conductive wires  151  on the same one line in a width direction of the FPC  101 , if the widths of the ends are made larger, the ends are brought into contact with each other and thus, in order to prevent this, it is necessary to alternately arrange the neighboring ends back and forth in the staggering manner and as a result, the contact portions to be brought into contact with the ends are also required to be arranged in the staggering manner. Further, by making the width of the end of the conductive wire  151  larger in this way, it is possible to prevent a dropout at a contact point of the contact portions  53   a  and  63   a.    
         [0064]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , when the actuator  21  is in the opening position, the pressing portion  24  is directed obliquely upward. Since the spacing between the actuator  21  and the contact portion  53   a  of the first terminal  51  and the spacing between the actuator  21  and the contact portion  63   a  of the second terminal  61  are sufficiently wide, the end of the FPC  101  is inserted from the insertion port  13  either without receiving any contact pressure from the contact portion  53   a  and the contact portion  63   a  or receiving a small amount of contact pressure, and accordingly, a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) structure is substantially realized. 
         [0065]    Next, the structure of the locking portion  30  will be described in detail. 
         [0066]      FIG. 12  is a partial cross sectional view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the actuator thereof is in the closing position,  FIG. 13  is a first front view illustrating a state where the actuator of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention shifts from an unlocked state into a locked state,  FIG. 14  is a second front view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state where the actuator shifts from the unlocked state into the locked state,  FIG. 15  is a third front view of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state where the actuator is shifted from the unlocked state into the locked state,  FIG. 16  is a first perspective view showing the state that the actuator of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is removed, and  FIG. 17  is a second perspective view showing the state that the actuator of the cable connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is removed. 
         [0067]    As described above, in the locking portion  30 , the locking projection  32  is formed at a corner portion where the lock support arm portion  31  and the inside part  35  are mutually connected to one another and, the lock support arm portion  31  connects the outside part  16  to the inside part  35  on the inlet side upper ends of the opposite side parts of the actuator, however, the inlet side lower ends of the same opposite side parts are not connected to each other. Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 12 , when viewing the cross section extending across the inserting and extracting direction of the FPC  101  in the vicinity of the inlet side ends of the outside part  16  and the inside part  35 , it is known that the locking portion  30  has a hollow and approximately rectangular cross sectional shape which is formed by the lock support arm portion  31 , the inside part  35 , and the outside part  16  with its lower side being opened, and the locking portion  30  encircles and defines the cavity portion  37 . The locking portion  30  having the described cross sectional structure can have a large second-order section modulus, so that even when the structural members thereof are not formed to have a large thickness, respectively, the rigidity and strength of the locking portion  30  can be high. Accordingly, when the locking portion  30  is elastically displaced, a high coefficient of elasticity of the locking portion  30  is exhibited and thus, the actuator  21  is surely and reliably locked. 
         [0068]    Then, since the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  is integrally connected to the inlet side end of the outside part  16 , particularly, in the region of this rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , it is understood that the entire cross sectional area of the locking portion  30  is wider as compared to the case that the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  is not connected integrally to the inlet side end of the outside part  16 . Therefore, a second-order section modulus thereof is large, so that it is possible to improve the rigidity and the strength of the locking portion  30 . Further, on the lower end of the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , a rib portion  34   a  projecting toward the inside part  35  is integrally formed. By forming the rib portion  34   a , not only the strength of the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  itself is improved but also the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  is made similar to the shape where the cross section of the locking portion  30  is closed. Therefore, a second-order section modulus thereof is large, so that the rigidity and the strength of the locking portion  30  can be further improved. 
         [0069]    In addition, assuming that the cross section of the locking portion  30  is inclined than that shown in  FIG. 12 , in other words, supposing the state that the locking portion  30  is cut on a surface connecting from the lock support arm portion  31  up to the front end of the bottom plate portion  33 , it can be understood that the locking portion  30  has a completely closed and approximately rectangular hollow sectional shape, which is formed by the lock support arm portion  31 , the inside part  35 , the outside part  16 , and the bottom plate portion  33  to encircle the cavity portion  37 . Thus, since the locking portion  30  is also provided with the completely closed and approximately rectangular hollow sectional shape, a second-order section modulus thereof is large and the rigidity and the strength thereof are very high. Accordingly, even if the structural members are not so thick and the sizes of the same members are not so large, the locking portion  30  has a sufficient physical strength. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size and the thickness of the housing  11 , and it is possible to reduce the size and the weight of the cable connector  1 . 
         [0070]    In order to lock the actuator  21  at the closing position thereof or to unlock the actuator  21  at the closing position thereof, it is necessary that the locking portion  30  is elastically deformed and the locking projection  32  is elastically displaced in an outward direction of the housing  11  with respect to the locked portion  26  of the actuator  21 . 
         [0071]    In other words, according to the present embodiment, in the state that the actuator  21  is not locked as shown in  FIG. 13  and in the state that the actuator  21  is locked as shown in  FIG. 15 , the locked portion  26  of the actuator  21  must be brought into contact with the locking projection  32  during shifting from one to the other state. Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 14 , unless the locking projection  32  is not elastically displaced in the outward direction of the housing  11 , the actuator  21  can be shifted neither to the locked condition nor to the unlocked condition. 
         [0072]    Therefore, it is necessary to facilitate elastic deformation of the locking portion  30  to some extent by lowering the rigidity of the locking portion  30 , particularly, the rigidity on the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end to some extent. 
         [0073]    Therefore, according to the present embodiment, as described above, the notch portion  38  is formed, and also any portion of the bottom plate portion  33  is not disposed in the inlet side end. Therefore, the rigidity in the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end of the locking portion  30  is lowered to some extent. As a result, by adjusting the size and the shape of the notch portion  38  and the size of the range where any portion of the bottom plate portion  33  is not disposed, the rigidity in the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end of the locking portion  30  can be freely appropriately adjusted. In addition, by adjusting the sizes and the shapes of the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  and the rib portion  34   a , the rigidity in the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end of the locking portion  30  can be further finely adjusted. 
         [0074]    Incidentally, due to formation of the notch portion  38 , it is possible to visually inspect the state that the bottom surface  82  of the auxiliary fitting  81  is connected to the surface of the substrate by soldering and the like from the outside of the side part of the housing  11 . Therefore, also in the case of adjusting the rigidity of the locking portion  30 , the sizes and the shapes of the notch portion  38  and the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  are preferably determined to be large to thereby be able to visually inspect the connection state that the auxiliary fitting  81  is connected to the surface of the substrate. 
         [0075]    Further, also by adjusting the size and the shape of the cavity portion  37 , it is possible to adjust the rigidity in the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end of the locking portion  30 . According to the present embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 17 , the cavity portion  37  may define the inlet side end of the auxiliary fitting accommodating recess portion  39 . In this case, the auxiliary fitting accommodating recess portion  39  may hold the auxiliary fitting  81  by keeping in contact with the auxiliary fitting  81 , but on the contrary, the cavity portion  37  is formed to be large enough for keeping in no contact with the auxiliary fitting  81  to be used for the attachment of the cable connector. The auxiliary fitting  81  is inserted from the front side of the housing  11  into the auxiliary fitting accommodating recess portion  39  to be mounted therein, so that the larger the cavity portion  37  is, more easily the operation for mounting the auxiliary fitting  81  can be achieved. However, in order to increase the rigidity in the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end of the locking portion  30 , for example, when it is necessary to make the outside part  16  thicker, the size of the cavity portion  37  can be reduced. 
         [0076]    Further, the rigidity in the region in the vicinity of the inlet side end of the locking portion  30  can be freely adjusted as required also by adjusting the sizes and the shapes of respective structural members such as the lock support arm portion  31 , the inside part  35 , the outside part  16 , the bottom portion  33 , and the inside step portion  17 . 
         [0077]    Thus, according to the present embodiment, the locking portion  30  is provided with the closed approximately rectangular hollow cross sectional shape. Therefore, with a simple structure, it is possible to increase the strength of the locking portion  30  and to reduce the thickness of the locking portion  30 . In addition, it is possible to disperse the stress on the locking portion  30  to respective members, so that the durability of the locking portion  30  can be improved. Then, since the actuator  21  can be surely and reliably locked, the actuator  21  does not change its posture from the closing position unnecessarily. As a result, the actuator  21  can connect the FPC to the housing  11  with certainty. Further, the housing  11  can be reduced in the size and the weight and the connector  1  can be entirely reduced in the size and the weight. 
         [0078]    In addition, the locking portion  30  may include a region having a hollow cross sectional shape with a partially opened portion. Hence, by lowering the rigidity in the region of the locking portion  30  to some extent, the locking portion  30  can be easily elastically deformed to some extent and this makes it possible to improve the operability when locking the actuator  21  in the closing position. 
         [0079]    Further, the locking portion  30  has the locking projection  32  to be engaged with the locked portion  26  in the vicinity of the front end and the region having the hollow cross sectional shape with the partially opened portion is located in the vicinity of the front end. Therefore, the locking projection  32  can be elastically displaced with respect to the locked portion  26  of the actuator  21  and this enables to easily perform the operations to lock the actuator  21  in the closing position or to unlock the actuator  21 . 
         [0080]    Further, the outside part  16  may include the notch portion  38  formed in the approximately triangle shape, which is formed on the lower end at the inlet side. Therefore, by adjusting the size and the shape of the notch portion  38 , the rigidity of the locking portion  30  can be freely appropriately adjusted. 
         [0081]    Further, the auxiliary fitting  81  for attaching the connector is inserted in the cavity portion  37  and at least a part of the auxiliary fitting  81  can be visually inspected through the notch portion  38 . Consequently, it becomes possible to visually inspect the state that the bottom surface  82  of the auxiliary fitting  81  is connected to the surface of the substrate by means of soldering and the like from the outside of the side part of the housing  11 . 
         [0082]    Further, the outside part  16  may include the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34  formed so as to project into the notch portion  38 . Therefore, by adjusting the size and the shape of the rigidity-adjustment projecting portion  34 , the rigidity of the locking portion  30  can be arbitrarily adjusted. 
         [0083]    The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be changed in various ways based on the gist of the present invention, and these changes are not eliminated from the scope of the present invention.