Patent Publication Number: US-2007105449-A1

Title: Contact holding structure of connector

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      This invention relates to a structure for holding contacts by an insulator in a connector and, more specifically, relates to a connector that can firmly hold a plurality of the same contacts by an insulator and further that can change a position of each contact with respect to the insulator.  
     BACKGROUND ART  
      Referring to FIGS.  8  to  10 , description will be made about contact holding structures of first conventional connectors.  
      At first, a plug connector  21  will be described. A contact  23  is continuously and integrally formed by a contact portion  23   a  having a projected shape, a spring portion  23   b , a holding portion (press-fitting portion)  23   c  to be held by an insulator  22 , and a connecting portion  23   d  where an electric wire of a cable (not shown) is soldered, in the order named from the tip end. The holding portion  23   c  is formed with two latches  23   c   1  and  23   c   2 .  
      A contact receiving portion  22   a  is formed through the insulator  22  from its front to back. Further, the outer periphery of the insulator  22  is covered with a shell  24 .  
      When the contact  23  is inserted into the receiving portion  22   a , the respective latches  23   c   1  and  23   c   2  of the contact  23  engage with the receiving portion  22   a  so that the contact  23  is fixed to the insulator  22 .  
      Next, a receptacle connector  31  will be described. A contact  33  is continuously and integrally formed by a linear contact portion  33   a , a linear holding portion (press-fitting portion)  33   b  to be held by an insulator  32 , and a generally L-shaped connecting portion  33   c , in the order named from the tip end. The insulator  32  is formed with a pass-through receiving portion  32   a  and a support portion  32   b  continuous with the receiving portion  32   a . The outer periphery of the insulator  32  is covered with a tubular shell  34 .  
      When the contact  33  is inserted into the receiving portion  32   a , the holding portion  33   b  is fixed to the receiving portion  32   a  and the contact portion  33   a  is supported by the support portion  32   b.    
      When the plug connector  21  is fitted into the receptacle connector  31 , the contact portion  23   a  of the contact  23  is brought into contact with the contact portion  33   a  of the contact  33  and the shell  24  is brought into contact with the shell  34 .  
      A contact holding structure of a second conventional connector will be described (e.g. see Patent Document 1).  
       FIG. 11 , (A) shows a state before assembly of a male connector, while  FIG. 11 , (B) shows a state after the assembly of the mail connector.  
      An insulator  42  of a male connector  41  is formed with through holes  42   a  at three positions and the same contacts  43  are inserted into the respective through holes  42   a . Each contact  43  has a flange  43   a . After attaching a stepped plate  44  to the insulator  42 , the contacts  43  are press-fitted into the insulator  42 . Then, since the flanges  43   a  of the contacts  43  abut against the insulator  42 , a lower step of the stepped plate  44 , and a higher step thereof, respectively, in order from the left side, the lengths of the contacts  43  differ from each other in the insulator  42 .  
      In this manner, in order to prevent influence on the contacts due to power supply voltage fluctuation when connection or disconnection is performed between electronic circuit boards that are turned on and thus in an operating state, it is configured that a time difference occurs in connection or disconnection between the contacts of the connector connecting between the electronic circuit boards.  
      Incidentally, in a hot-swap connector, for the purpose of an IC destruction prevention measure, a low insertion force of the connector, and so on upon hot swap (insertion or removal of a package in the energized state), the order of insertion or removal, i.e. the sequence, is set, for example, in three stages (ground terminal, power supply terminal, and signal terminal).  
      Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2973924 (page 3, paragraph 5, line 26 to paragraph 6, line 3, FIGS. 1 to 3)  
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION  
     Problem to be Solved by the Invention  
      In the contact holding structure of the first conventional connector as described above, the contact  23  is fixed to the insulator  22  by the engagement of the latches  23   c   1  and  23   c   2  of the contact  23  into the receiving portion  22   a . Therefore, the contact  23  easily comes off the insulator  22  due to an accidental external force.  
      In the contact holding structure of the second conventional connector as described above, the excessive member, i.e. the dedicated stepped plate  44 , is employed for causing the position of a contact portion of the contact  43  to differ from the positions of contact portions of the other contacts  43 . Further, since the contacts  43  are inserted into the respective through holes  42   a  of the insulator  42  by the means such as press-fitting, the contacts easily come off the insulator  42  due to an accidental external force.  
      Therefore, this invention improves the defects of both of the foregoing conventional techniques and provides a contact holding structure that is simple in structure and yet is rigid, in a connector where the positions of contact portions of a plurality of contacts differ from each other.  
     MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM  
      This invention adopts the following means in order to solve the foregoing problems.  
      1. A contact holding structure of a connector comprising a plurality of contacts each having a contact portion to be connected to a mating side, an insulator formed with a contact receiving portion receiving therein part of each of said contacts, and a holder, said contact holding structure characterized in that  
      said part of each contact is formed with a plurality of to-be-engaged portions at different positions in a fitting direction of said connector,  
      said insulator is formed with a holder receiving portion continuous with said contact receiving portion and adapted to receive therein said holder,  
      said holder has an engaging portion and is adapted to be mounted into said holder receiving portion in a direction crossing the fitting direction of said connector,  
      said holder is mounted into said holder receiving portion after said part of each contact is mounted in said contact receiving portion, so that said engaging portion engages with one of said to-be-engaged portions to thereby fix said part of each contact to said insulator, and  
      positions of the contact portions of part of said contacts are caused to differ from positions of the contact portions of the other contacts in the fitting direction of said connector.  
      2. The contact holding structure of a connector according to the above 1, characterized in that said part of each contact is further provided with a portion press-fitted into said insulator.  
      3. The contact holding structure of a connector according to the above 1, characterized in that said plurality of contacts are arranged in said insulator in two rows facing each other, two holders are provided in said insulator, and said holders engage with said plurality of contacts in the two rows, respectively.  
     EFFECT OF THE INVENTION  
      As clear from the description of the specification, this invention exhibits the following effects.  
      1. Even when the plurality of the same contacts (which, however, differ only in position of connecting portions) are employed, it is possible to cope with hot swap by forming the plurality of to-be-engaged portions at different positions in the fitting direction of the connector. Only by shifting the insertion positions while commonly using the components, the positions of the contact portions of the optional contacts and the positions of the contact portions of the other contacts can differ from each other.  
      2. By the engagement between the engaging portion of the holder and the to-be-engaged portion of the contact and further by the press-fitting of the press-fitting portion of the contact into the insulator, the contact is prevented from accidentally coming off the insulator.  
      3. The number of components does not increase, the structure is simple, rigid, and compact, the assembly and disassembly are easy, and further, the cost is low. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view, as seen from the front side, of a plug connector according to Embodiment 1 of this invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view, as seen from the rear side, of the plug connector before attaching a hood and so on.  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view, as seen from the rear side, of the plug connector before a holder is attached to an insulator.  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view, as seen from the rear side, of the plug connector with the holder attached to the insulator.  
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view showing the state before a contact is mounted in the insulator.  
       FIG. 6  is a sectional view showing the state where the contact is mounted in the insulator, wherein the upper side shows the state where the contact is deeply fitted and the lower side shows the state where the contact is shallowly fitted.  
       FIG. 7  is a sectional view showing the state where contacts are mounted in an insulator in a plug connector according to Embodiment 2 of this invention.  
       FIG. 8  is a sectional view showing the state before a plug connector and a receptacle connector are fitted together in the first conventional connectors.  
       FIG. 9  is a sectional view showing the state where the plug connector and the receptacle connector are fitted together.  
       FIG. 10  is a sectional view showing the state before a contact is mounted in an insulator in the plug connector.  
       FIG. 11  is a sectional view showing the states before and after assembly of a male connector in the second conventional connector, wherein (A) shows the state before the assembly and (B) shows the state after the assembly. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS  
     
         
         
           
               1  plug connector  
               2  insulator  
               2   a  contact receiving portion  
               2   b  holder receiving portion  
               3  contact  
               3   a  contact portion  
               3   b  spring portion  
               3   c  holding portion (press-fitting portion)  
               3   d  positioning portion  
               3   d   1  latch (to-be-engaged portion)  
               3   d   2  latch (to-be-engaged portion)  
               3   e  connecting portion  
               4  fitting portion  
               5  shell  
               6  cable  
               7  hood  
               8  holder  
               8   a  engaging portion  
               9  lock member  
           
         
       
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      Description will be made about contact holding structures of connectors according to two embodiments of this invention.  
     Embodiment 1  
      Referring to FIGS.  1  to  6 , description will be made about a plug connector of Embodiment 1 of this invention.  FIG. 1  is a perspective view, as seen from the front side, of the plug connector,  FIG. 2  is a perspective view, as seen from the rear side, of the plug connector before mounting a hood and so on,  FIG. 3  is a perspective view, as seen from the rear side, of the plug connector before a holder (a member for fixing respective contacts to an insulator) is attached to the insulator,  FIG. 4  is a perspective view, as seen from the rear side, of the plug connector with the holder attached to the insulator,  FIG. 5  is a sectional view showing the state before the contact is mounted in the insulator, and  FIG. 6 , on its upper side, is a sectional view showing the state where the contact is deeply fitted into the insulator, while, on its lower side, is a sectional view showing the state where the contact is shallowly fitted into the insulator.  
      At first, a schematic structure of a plug connector  1  will be described with reference to FIGS.  1  to  4 .  
      A number of the same contacts  3  are held by an insulator  2  at a constant pitch, wherein contact portions  3   a  are held in a single tier while connecting portions  3   e  are held alternately in upper and lower two tiers. Lock members  9  are formed on both sides of an upper surface of the insulator  2  at a fitting portion  4  provided on the front side of the plug connector  1 . The outer side of the fitting portion  4  is covered with a shell  5 . The fitting portion  4  of the plug connector  1  is adapted to be fitted into a fitting portion of a receptacle connector (not shown). A cable  6  is coupled to the insulator  2  on the back side of the plug connector  1  and the contacts  3  are connected to electric wires of the cable  6 , respectively. The outer side of the insulator  2  except the fitting portion  4  of the plug connector  1  is covered with a hood  7 . A holder  8  will be described later.  
      Now, referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , description will be made about a method of mounting the contacts  3  in the insulator  2 .  
      The contact  3  is continuously and integrally formed by the contact portion  3   a  having a projected shape, a spring portion  3   b , a holding portion (press-fitting portion)  3   c  to be held by the insulator  2 , a positioning portion  3   d  formed with two latches (to-be-engaged portions)  3   d   1  and  3   d   2 , and the connecting portion  3   e  where the electric wire of the cable  6  is soldered, in the order named from the tip end. Note that the positions of the connecting portions  3   e  of half the number of the contacts  3  are vertically reversed with respect to the positions of the connecting portions  3   e  of the other half of the contacts  3 .  
      The insulator  2  has a contact receiving portion  2   a  extending through the insulator  2  from its front to back portions and further has a holder receiving portion  2   b  extending from its upper portion to reach the contact receiving portion  2   a  so as to be perpendicular to the contact receiving portion  2   a . The holder  8  to be received into the holder receiving portion  2   b  has an engaging portion  8   a  at its lower part.  
      When deeply fitting the contact  3  into the insulator  2 , the contact  3  is, at first, inserted into the contact receiving portion  2   a  in an arrow direction of step  1  in  FIG. 5 . Next, the holder  8  is inserted into the holder receiving portion  2   b  in an arrow direction of step  2  so as to engage the engaging portion  8   a  with the latch (to-be-engaged portion)  3   d   2  as shown in the upper figure of  FIG. 6 . Thereupon, the contact  3  is fixed to the insulator  2 . When shallowly fitting the contact  3  into the insulator  2 , the engaging portion  8   a  is engaged with the latch (to-be-engaged portion)  3   d   1  as shown in the lower figure of  FIG. 6 . As a result, a position difference D is provided between the contact portion  3   a  of the contact  3  in the upper figure of  FIG. 6  and the contact portion  3   a  of the contact  3  in the lower figure of  FIG. 6 .  
      Therefore, since the contacts  3  shallowly fitted in the insulator  2  in FIGS.  1  to  4  are fixed at the certain position of the insulator  2 , the desired position difference D can be provided between the contact portions  3   a  of the contacts  3  shallowly fitted in the insulator  2  and the contact portions  3   a  of the contacts  3  deeply fitted in the insulator  2 .  
      Although each contact  3  is formed with the two latches  3   d   1  and  3   d   2 , three or more latches can be formed.  
     Embodiment 2  
      Embodiment 2 of this invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 7 . In Embodiment 1, the contacts  3  are arranged in a single row. In contrast, in Embodiment 2, contacts  3  are arranged in two rows of upper and lower two tiers so as to face each other and holders  8  are inserted into an insulator  2  in upward and downward two directions.