Patent Publication Number: US-10777922-B2

Title: Flat wire direct coupling connector

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention belongs to the field of connectors, and more particularly, a flat wire direct coupling connector that can be fixed into a fixing device and guides a flat wire to be directly coupled with a circuit board. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In some applications, the flat wire will be electrically connected directly to a circuit board, whereas the conventional method is to solder the flat wire directly to the circuit board through surface mount technology. 
     The surface mount technology allows the flat wire to be electrically connected to the circuit board; however, if modification is required, the flat wire must be detached from the circuit board by separating the soldered part, which will result in inconvenience and complication in maintenance and error correction. 
     Therefore, the present invention provides a flat wire direct coupling connector for solving the defect caused by the conventional connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The first objective of the present invention is to provide a flat wire direct coupling connector that can be buckled directly onto a fixing device and guides a flat wire to be connected to a circuit board through a connector. 
     The second objective of the present invention is that the flat wire direct coupling connector can be separated into a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion, and by means of the openings and the hooks between the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion being buckled each other, the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion can be bonded tightly. 
     The third objective of this invention is to provide a flat wire direct coupling connector in accordance with the aforementioned, the alignment units are disposed respectively in the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion to accomplish smooth integration. 
     In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention provides a flat wire direct coupling connector which is buckled on a fixing device and applied to a flat wire. The flat wire direct coupling connector includes a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion. The first connecting portion forms a first opening, a second opening and a third opening. The first connecting portion has a first hook and a first alignment unit. The second connecting portion forms a second alignment unit. The second connecting portion has a diverging member, a second hook, a third hook and an insert. Wherein, the diverging member forms a first insertion opening and a second insertion opening in the second connecting portion. The first connecting portion can be buckled on the fixing device by the first hook, and after the first aligning unit and the second aligning unit are moved in alignment, the diverging member passes through the third opening, the second hook is inserted into the first opening and the third hook is inserted into the second opening, so that the flat wire is inserted into the side edge of the insert from at least one of the first insertion opening and the second insertion opening. 
     Compared with the prior technology, the flat wire direct coupling connector provided by the present invention can be directly disposed in the fixing device, so that the flat wire inside the fixing device can be passed through the connector for combining with the external circuit board. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  represents a schematic structural view of the flat wire direct coupling connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  are respectively a plan view and a bottom view illustrating the first connecting portion of  FIG. 1  of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  are respectively a plan view and a bottom view of the second connecting portion of  FIG. 1  of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  represents a schematic diagram showing the combination of the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion of  FIG. 1  of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing the flat wire direct coupling connector of  FIG. 1  clamped on the fixing device and applied to the first wire and the second wire of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     In order to fully understand the objects, features, and advantages of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with the accompanying drawings. 
     In the present invention, “a” or “an” is used to describe the various elements, parts and components. This is done for convenience of description only and provides a general meaning to the scope of the invention. 
     Therefore, unless expressly stated otherwise, the description should be understood to include one, at least one, and the singular also includes the plural. 
     In the context of the present invention, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “having” or “containing” are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusions. For example, an element, structure, article, or device that comprises a plurality of elements is not limited to such elements as listed herein but may include those not specifically listed but which are generally inherent in the element, structure, article, or device. In addition, the term or is used to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or” unless expressly stated to the contrary. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a structural schematic diagram of a flat wire direct coupling connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 1 , the flat wire direct coupling connector  10  includes a first connecting portion  12  and a second connecting portion  14 . 
       FIG. 2  can be considered together, a plan view and a bottom view of the first connecting portion  12  of  FIG. 1  of the present invention are respectively described. The first connecting portion  12  defines a first opening  124 , a second opening  126  and a third opening  128 . In the embodiment, the first connecting portion  12  is exemplified by a rectangle, and other shapes may be used in other embodiments. The rectangular first connecting portion  12  has a long side and a short side. There are four first openings  124  at the edges of the long sides and two second openings  126  at the short sides, that is, the number of the first openings  124  and the number of the second openings  126  are respectively set in pairs to provide a corresponding force for firmly fastening the first connecting portion  12  to the fixing device  2  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). The third opening  128  is at a central portion of the first connecting portion  12 . In this embodiment, the width of the third opening  128  is equal to or greater than the width of the flat wire (which may refer to the first wire  222  and the second wire  242  of  FIG. 5 ). 
     The first connecting portion  12  includes a first hook  122  and a first alignment unit  1210 . The number of the first hooks  122  is eight and is respectively disposed on the lower side of the first connecting portion  12 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The first hook  122  has a leg. In the present embodiment, the hook legs extend outward to enable the fastening device  2  to be buckled. Also, the length of the first hook  122  may be set to be equal to or smaller than the thickness of the fixing device  2 . The first aligning unit  1210  is exemplified by a cylinder (or a rib), and may be a slot in other embodiments, which belongs to the scope of the present invention as long as it can be aligned with the subsequent second aligning unit  1410 . It is worth noting that the foregoing numbers are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. 
       FIG. 3  can be considered together, a plan view and a bottom view of the second connecting portion  14  of  FIG. 1  of the present invention will be respectively described. The second connecting portion  14  forms a second aligning unit  1410 . The second aligning unit  1410  is exemplified by a slot for engaging the first aligning unit  1210  of the cylindrical shape. The second connecting portion  14  is exemplified by a rectangular shape and may be other shapes in other embodiments. The rectangular second connecting portion  14  also has a long side and a short side. The second connecting portion  14  has a diverging member  146 , a second hook  142 , a third hook  144  and an insert  148 . The diverging member  146  is formed on a central portion of the second connecting portion  14  to form a first insertion opening  1412  and a second insertion opening  1414  in the second connecting portion  14 . The slit width of the first insertion opening  1412  and the second insertion opening  1414  is equal to or larger than the thickness of the flat wire for the flat wire to be passed through. The insert  148  can be used to be interposed in a circuit board  4  having a slot  6  such as that of  FIG. 5 , which can be stably disposed in the flat wire direct coupling connector  10 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a schematic view of the combination of the first connecting portion  12  and the second connecting portion  14  of  FIG. 1  is illustrated. After the first connecting portion  12  is coupled with the second connecting portion  14 , the first connecting portion  12  can be buckled on the fixing device  2  by the first hook  122 , so that the first connecting portion  12  can be firmly fixed to the fixing device  2 . During the combination of the first connecting portion  12  and the second connecting portion  14 , the first aligning unit  1210  and the second aligning unit  1410  are moved in alignment to allow the diverging member  146  to be passed through the third opening  128 . At the same time, the second hook  142  is also inserted into the first opening  124  to be buckled, and the third hook  144  is inserted into the second opening  126  to be buckled, the flat wire is threaded into the side edge of the insert  148  from the first insertion opening  1412  and/or the second insertion opening  1414 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a schematic view of how the flat wire direct coupling connector  10  of  FIG. 1  is clamped on the fixing device  2  and can be applied to the first wire  222  and the second wire  242 , is illustrated. In  FIG. 5 , the fixing device  2  is designed with an inner circuit board, and the inner circuit board is provided with a first connector  22  and a second connector  24 . For example, the first connector  22  and the second connector  24  can be a type of connector having auto-lock mode. One end of the first wire  222  and the second wire  242  can be respectively and automatically locked and electrically connected, while the other end of the first wire  222  and the second wire  242  can be passed through the fixing device  2  by means of the first insertion opening  1412  and second insertion opening  1414  of the flat wire direct coupling connector  10 . At this time, the second connecting portion  14  of the flat wire direct coupling connector  10  is inserted into the slot  6  by means of the insert  148 , so that the first wire  222  and the second wire  242  are directly coupled to the circuit board  4 , in order to enable the other end of the first wire  222  and the second wire  242  to be electrically connected to the circuit board  4 . 
     The above-mentioned embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical ideas and features of the present invention, the purpose thereof is to enable those skilled in the art to understand the contents of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It should be noted that any equivalent changes and replacements to the embodiments should all be set to be within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be defined by the patent application area.