Patent Publication Number: US-7708601-B2

Title: Connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to a connector, more particularly to a connector which is reduced in depth dimension. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Conventionally, there has been proposed a connector which is provided with a plurality of L-shaped contacts and an insulator holding the contacts, and is mounted on a printed board (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-334748). 
   The insulator has a fitting portion for fitting to a mating connector. Each L-shaped contact has a contact portion, a held portion, and a terminal portion. The contact portion extends in a fitting direction in which the insulator is fitted to the mating connector. The contact portions are arranged in the fitting portion of the insulator in two rows one above the other in a contact arranging direction. The held portion is continuous with the contact portion, extends in a direction in which the connector is fitted, and is held in the insulator. The terminal portion is soldered to a through hole in the printed board. 
   In general, the held portion of the L-shaped contact is press-fitted in the insulator along the fitting direction of the connector. 
   In the connector having L-shaped contacts, the held portions of the contacts extending in the fitting direction of the connector are held by the insulator, and hence it is impossible to obtain a sufficient holding force for holding the held portions of the contacts, unless holding portions of the insulator which hold the held portions of the contacts have a length (in the fitting direction) not shorter than a predetermined length. 
   In the case of the above-described connector in which the contact portions of the L-shaped contacts are arranged in two rows one above the other, it is necessary to make the length of the held portions of contacts of the upper row longer than that of the held portions of contacts of the lower row, because if the length of the held portions of contacts of the upper row is equal to that of the held portions of contacts of the lower row, the terminal portions of the contacts of the upper row and those of the contracts of the lower row come into contact with each other. Further, the respective lengths of holding portions of the insulator for holding the held portions of the contacts are determined by setting the length of a holding portion of the insulator for holding the held portions of the contacts of the lower row to a reference length as a shortest required length, and hence the length of a holding portion of the insulator for holding the held portions of the contacts of the upper row becomes longer than the reference length. The lengths of holding portions of the insulator are thus determined because if the length of the holding portion of the insulator for holding the held portions of the contracts of the upper row is set to the reference length, the length of the holding portion for holding the held portions of the contacts of the lower row becomes too short to secure a sufficient holding force for holding the contacts. 
   Therefore, the conventional connector suffers from the problem that the holding portion of the insulator for holding the held portions of the contacts of the upper row becomes long, increasing the depth dimension in the direction of the depth of the connector. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connector which is reduced in depth dimension. 
   To attain the above object, the present invention provides a connector comprising a housing that is capable of being fitted to a mating housing of a mating connector, and a plurality of L-shaped contacts that are held by the housing, the plurality of L-shaped contacts including first contacts and second contacts, wherein each of the first contacts and the second contacts has a contact portion which is capable of being brought into contact with a mating contact of the mating connector, a connection portion which is connected to an object to be connected, and a fixing portion which is fixed to the housing, wherein the contact portions of the first contacts are arranged in at least one row in a contact arranging direction which is orthogonal to a connector fitting direction, wherein the contact portions of the second contacts are arranged in at least one row in the contact arranging direction, wherein the row formed by the contact portions of the first contacts, and the row formed by the contact portions of the second contacts are parallel to each other, wherein the row formed by the contact portions of the first contacts is disposed upward in a direction of height of the housing which is orthogonal to both the connector fitting direction and the contact arranging direction, with respect to the row formed by the contact portions of the second contacts, wherein the connection portions of the first contacts are arranged in at least one row in the contact arranging direction, wherein the connection portions of the second contacts are arranged in at least one row in the contact arranging direction, wherein the row formed by the connection portions of the first contacts and the row formed by the connection portions of the second contacts are parallel to each other, wherein the row formed by the connection portions of the first contacts is disposed rearward in the connector fitting direction with respect to the row formed by the connection portions of the second contacts, and wherein the fixing portions of the second contacts are disposed between the contact portions of the first contacts and the connection portions of the first contacts in the connector fitting direction, and are press-fitted in the housing along the direction of height of the housing. 
   With the arrangement of the connector according to the present invention, the fixing portions of the second contacts are disposed between the contact portions of the first contacts and the connection portions of the first contacts in the connector fitting direction, and are press-fitted in the housing along the direction of height of the housing. This makes it possible to shorten the length of the second contacts in the connector fitting direction, and shorten the length of the first contacts in the connector fitting direction. As a result, the dimension in the direction of depth of the housing is reduced. 
   Preferably, the connection portions of the first contacts each have a planar shape of a surface-mounting type, and the connection portions of the second contacts each have a pin shape of a through hole insertion type. 
   More preferably, the connection portions of the first contacts each protrude out of the housing. 
   Preferably, the housing has recesses formed therein, and the second contacts have engaging portions formed for engagement with the recesses, respectively. 
   Preferably, the first contacts are contacts for high-speed transmission, and the second contacts are contacts for non-high-speed transmission. 
   More preferably, the contacts for high-speed transmission include pairs of signal contacts for high-speed transmission, and ground contracts for high-speed transmission, and the connection portions of the pairs of signal contacts for high-speed transmission are disposed between the connection portions of ones of the ground contacts for high-speed transmission which are adjacent in the contact arranging direction. 
   Further preferably, the connection portions of the contacts for non-high-speed transmission are in staggered arrangement in the contact arranging direction. 
   According to this invention, it is possible to reduce the dimension of the connector in the direction of the depth thereof 
   The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  is a front view of a connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 1B  is a side view of the connector; 
       FIG. 1C  is a rear view of the connector; 
       FIG. 1D  is a bottom view of the connector; 
       FIG. 2A  is a cross-sectional view taken on line IIA-IIA of  FIG. 1C ; 
       FIG. 2B  is an expanded view of an S portion appearing in  FIG. 2A ; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an arrangement of contact portions of contacts of the connector shown in  FIGS. 1A to 1D ; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an arrangement of terminal portions of the contacts of the connector shown in  FIGS. 1A to 1D ; 
       FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of a developed shape of contacts for non-high-speed transmission appearing in  FIGS. 1A to 1D ; 
       FIG. 5B  is a perspective view of a bent state of the contacts shown in  FIG. 5A ; 
       FIG. 5C  is a perspective view of the contacts shown in  FIG. 5B ; 
       FIG. 6  is a plan view of part of a printed board on which the connector shown in  FIGS. 1A to 1D  are mounted. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1A to 2B , a connector  1  is comprised of a housing  3 , a plurality of contacts  5 , and a shell  7 . 
   The housing  3  is made of a resin having insulation properties. As shown in  FIG. 2A , the housing  3  includes a bottom board  31 , a rear wall portion  32 , side wall portions  33 , a holding portion  34 , and a projecting portion  35 . The bottom board  31  has a plate-like shape, and has a bottom surface formed with a pair of positioning bosses  36 . The positioning bosses  36  are inserted in positioning holes  21   d  of a printed board  21  (object to be connected), shown in  FIG. 6 . The rear wall portion  32  is continuous with the rear of the bottom board  31 . The rear wall portion  32  has a front-side surface (inner surface) thereof formed with a plurality of press-fitting grooves  32   a , and a rear-side surface (outer surface) thereof formed with a plurality of press-fitting grooves  32   b , at equally-spaced intervals, respectively. The press-fitting grooves  32   a  and  32   b  extend in a direction H of the height of the housing  3  (direction orthogonal to a contract arranging direction C and a fitting/removing direction A). Two side wall portions  33  are continuous with the opposite sides of the rear wall portion  32 . The holding portion  34  has a plate-like shape, and is continuous with the rear wall portion  32 . The holding portion  34  extends along the fitting/removing direction A (connector fitting direction) in which the housing  3  is fitted in and removed from a mating housing of a mating connector, not shown, and is parallel to the bottom board  31 . The holding portion  34  has recesses  34   a  formed in a lower surface of a front end thereof (see  FIG. 2B ). The projecting portion  35  is continuous with the rear wall portion  32 , both of the side wall portions  33 , and the holding portion  34 . The projecting portion  35  has a hole  35   a  formed therein for adjusting the impedance value. 
   The contact  5  includes contacts (first contacts) for high-speed transmission, and contacts (second contacts)  54 ,  54 ′ for non-high-speed transmission. The contacts for high-speed transmission includes first signal contacts (signal contacts for high-speed transmission)  51 , second signal contacts (signal contacts for high-speed transmission)  52 , and ground contacts (ground contacts for high-speed transmission)  53 . These contacts  51 ,  52 , and  53  are disposed at predetermined space intervals in the housing  3 . The contacts  54  for non-high-speed transmission and the contacts  54 ′ for non-high-speed transmission are alternately arranged in the housing  3  at equally-spaced intervals. One first signal contact  51  and one second signal contact  52  form a pair of signal contacts for high-speed transmission. A pair of signal contacts  51 ,  52  for high-speed transmission, and one ground contact  53  form one contact group for differential signal transmission. 
   As shown in  FIG. 2A , each first signal contact  51  has a contact portion  51   a , a fixing portion  51   b , a connecting portion  51   c , and a terminal portion (connection portion)  51   d , and is formed by blanking and bending a metal plate having elasticity. The contact portions  51   a  are brought into contact with mating contact portions of mating contacts, not shown. The contact portions  51   a  are disposed on the upper surface of the holding portion  34 . The fixing portion  51   b  is embedded the housing  3  by a so-called mold-in method. The connecting portion  51   c  connects the fixing portion  51   b  and the terminal portion  51   d . The terminal portion  51   d  is continuous with the connecting portion  51   c . The terminal portion  51   d  has a planar shape of a surface-mounting type and is soldered to a pad  21   a  (see  FIG. 6 ) on the printed board  21 . 
   The second signal contact  52  has the same shape as the first signal contact  51 , and hence reference numerals associated with the second signal contact  52  ( 52 ,  52   a  to  52   d ) are shown in parentheses beside reference numerals associated with the first signal contact  51  ( 51 ,  51   a  to  51   d ), and illustration of the second signal contacts  52  is omitted from  FIG. 2A . Each second signal contact  52  has a contact portion  52   a , a fixing portion  52   b , a connecting portion  52   c , and a terminal portion (connection portion)  52   d , and is formed by blanking and bending a metal plate having elasticity. The contact portions  52   a  are brought into contact with the mating contact portions of the mating contacts. The contact portions  52   a  are disposed on the upper surface of the holding portion  34 . The fixing portion  52   b  is embedded in the housing  3  by the so-called mold-in method. The connecting portion  52   c  connects the fixing portion  52   b  and the terminal portion  52   d . The terminal portion  52   d  is continuous with the connecting portion  52   c . The terminal portion  52   d  is soldered to the pad  21   a  (see  FIG. 6 ) on the printed board  21 . 
   The ground contact  53  has the same shape as the first signal contact  51 , and hence reference numerals associated with the ground contact  53  ( 53 ,  53   a  to  53   d ) are shown in parentheses beside the reference numerals associated with the first signal contact  51  ( 51 ,  51   a  to  51   d ), and illustration of the ground contacts  53  is omitted from  FIG. 2 . Each ground contact  53  has a contact portion  53   a , a fixing portion  53   b , a connecting portion  53   c , and a terminal portion (connection portion)  53   d , and is formed by blanking and bending a metal plate having elasticity. The contact portions  53   a  are brought into contact with mating contact portions of mating contacts. The contact portions  53   a  are disposed on the upper surface of the holding portion  34 . The fixing portion  53   b  is embedded in the housing  3  by the so-called mold-in method. The connecting portion  53   c  connects the fixing portion  53   b  and the terminal portion  53   d . The terminal portion  53   d  is continuous with the connecting portion  53   c . The terminal portion  53   d  is soldered to the pad  21   a  (see  FIG. 6 ) on the printed board  21 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , each contact  54  for non-high-speed transmission has a contact portion  54   a , a press-fitting portion (fixing portion)  54   b , a connecting portion  54   c , a terminal portion (connection portion)  54   d , an position changing portion  54   e , and a disconnection prevention portion (engaging portion)  54   f . The contact portions  54   a  are brought into contact with mating contact portions of mating contacts. The contact portions  54   a  are disposed on the lower surface of the holding portion  34 . The press-fitting portion  54   b  is press-fitted in a associated one of the press-fitting grooves  32   a  of the housing  3 . The connecting portion  54   c  connects the contact portion  54   a  and the press-fitting portion  54   b . The terminal portion  54   d  has a pin shape of a through hole insertion type, and is inserted into a through hole  21   b  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the printed board  21 , and is soldered thereto. The position changing portion  54   e  connects the press-fitting portion  54   b  and the terminal portion  54   d . The position changing portion  54   e  is bend rearward, and changes the position (position in the fitting/removing direction A) of the terminal portion  54   d  with respect to the press-fitting portion  54   b . The terminal portion  54   d  is located rearward of the press-fitting portion  54   b . The disconnection prevention portion  54   f  is engaged with an associated one of the recesses  34   a  of the holding portion  34 , and is fixed to the holding portion  34  e.g. by an adhesive (see  FIG. 2B ). 
   The contact  54 ′ for non-high-speed transmission has a similar configuration as the contact  54  except an position changing portion  54   e ′. The position changing portion  54   e ′ is folded forward to thereby cause a terminal portion  54   d ′ to be positioned forward of the press-fitting portion  54   b . As a result, the terminal portions  54   d  and  54   d ′ are in staggered arrangement (see  FIG. 4 ). Therefore, if the terminal portions  54   d  and  54   d ′ are connected by imaginary straight lines, one zigzag line is formed in which mountain-like shapes each in bilateral symmetry are connected in the contact arranging direction C. The terminal portions  54   d ,  54   d ′ are inserted into the respective associated through holes  21   b  of the printed board  21 , and are soldered thereto. The through holes  21   b  in the printed circuit board  21  are in staggered arrangement matching the staggered arrangement of the terminal portions  54   d ,  54   d ′ (see  FIG. 6 ). 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5A to 5C , the contacts  54  and  54 ′ are formed by blanking and bending a metal plate having elasticity. The lengths of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ in the developed state are equal to each other, which makes it easy to perform bending after blanking. The blanked contacts  54  and  54 ′ are continuous with a carrier  54   g.    
   When performing bending, the position changing portion  54   e  of the contact  54  is bent in a predetermined direction, and the position changing portion  54   e ′ of the contact  54 ′ is bent in an opposite direction to the predetermined direction (see  FIG. 5C ). Even after bending, the contacts  54  and the contacts  54 ′ are continuous with the carrier  54   g . This makes it possible to press-fit the contacts  54  and the contacts  54 ′ in the press-fitting groove  32   a  along the direction of the height H of the housing  3  at a time. After press-fitting the press-fitting portions  54   b ,  54   b ′ of the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ in the press-fitting groove  32   a , the carrier  54   g  is cut off from the contacts  54  and  54 ′. 
   The shell  7  is made of a metal and, as shown in  FIGS. 1A to 1D , has leg parts  7   a , contact parts  7   b , and locking pieces  7   c . The leg parts  7   a  are soldered to through holes  21   c  of the printed board  21  (see  FIG. 6 ), and are grounded. The contact parts  7   b  are brought into contact with a mating shell, not shown, of the mating connector via window holes  7   d  formed in side walls of the shell  7 . The locking pieces  7   c  are disposed within holes  7   e  formed in the bottom of the shell  7 . The locking pieces  7   c  are engaged with the mating shell of the mating connector, to thereby lock the mating shell to the shell  7 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the contact portions  51   a  and  52   a  of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52 , and the contact portions  53   a  of the ground contacts  53  are arranged in a row in the contact arranging direction C which is orthogonal to the fitting/removing direction A, respectively. 
   The contact portions  54   a  and  54   a ′ of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ are also arranged in a row in the contact arranging direction C. 
   The row formed by the contact portions  51   a  and  52   a  of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52 , and the contact portions  53   a  of the ground contacts  53 , and the row formed by the contact portions  54   a  and  54   a ′ of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ are parallel to each other. 
   The contact portions  51   a  and  52   a  of each pair of first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  are disposed between the contact portions  53   a  of adjacent ones of the ground contacts  53  in the contact arranging direction C. A pitch of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  and the ground contacts  53  in the contact arranging direction C in their row and a pitch of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ in the contact arranging direction C in their row are different from each other. 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , the terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52 , and the terminal portions  53   d  of the ground contacts  53  are arranged in a row in the contact arranging direction C. 
   The terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of each pair of first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  are disposed between adjacent ones of the terminal portions  53   d  of the ground contacts  53  in the contact arranging direction C. 
   The terminal portions  54   d  and  54   d ′ of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ are arranged in two rows in the contact arranging direction C. The row formed by the terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52 , and the terminal portions  53   d  of the ground contacts  53 , and the two rows formed by the terminal portions  54   d  and  54   d ′ of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ are parallel to each other. The terminal portions  54   d  of the contacts  54  and the terminal portions  54   d ′ of the contacts  54 ′, which form the two rows, are arranged in a staggered manner in the contact arranging direction C. Therefore, if the terminal portions  54   d  and  54   d ′ are connected by imaginary straight lines, one zigzag line is formed in which mountain-like shapes each in bilateral symmetry are connected in the contact arranging direction C. 
   As described above, according to the present embodiment, the press-fitting portions  54   b ,  54   b ′ of the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ are disposed between the contact portions  51   a ,  52   a ,  53   a  and the terminal portions  51   d ,  52   d ,  53   d  of the contacts  51 ,  52 ,  53 , and are press-fitted in the housing  3  along the direction of the height of the housing  3 . Therefore, it is possible to shorten the length of the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ in the fitting/removing direction A, and shorten the length of the contacts  51 ,  52 ,  53  in the fitting/removing direction A. As a result, the depth dimension of the housing  3  is reduced, and hence the depth dimension of the connector is also reduced. 
   Further, the contact portions  51   a  and  52   a  of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  for high-speed transmission, and the contact portions  53   a  of the ground contacts  53  for high-speed transmission are arranged in a row in the contact arranging direction C, and the contact portions  51   a  and  52   a  of each pair of first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  are disposed between the contact portions  53   a  of the adjacent ground contacts  53  in the contact arranging direction C. This suppresses variation in transmission characteristics or crosstalk between each pair of first and second signal contacts and other pairs of first and second signal contacts, whereby it is possible to prevent degradation in transmission. 
   Furthermore, the terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of each pair of first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  are disposed between the terminal portions  53   d  of adjacent ones of the ground contacts  53  in the contact arranging direction C. This suppresses crosstalk between the terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of each pair of first and second signal contacts  51  and  52 , and the terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of other pairs of first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  which are adjacent thereto, thereby preventing degradation in transmission. 
   Further, the row formed by the terminal portions  51   d  and  52   d  of the first and second signal contacts  51  and  52  and the terminal portions  53   d  of the ground contacts  53 , and the two rows formed by the terminal portions  54   d  and  54   d ′ of the contacts  54  and  54 ′ are parallel to each other. This makes it possible to reduce the length of the housing  3  in the contact arranging direction C, and downsize the connector  1 . Further, the terminal portions  54   d  of the contacts  54  and the terminal portions  54 ′ of the contacts  54 ′ are disposed in staggered arrangement in the contact arranging direction C. This makes it possible to shorten the dimension of part of the printed board  21  where the through holes  21   b  are provided, in the arrangement direction p. 
   Further, the terminal portions  51   d ,  52   d ,  53   d ,  54   d ,  54   d ′ of the contacts  51 ,  52 ,  53 ,  54 ,  54 ′ protrude out of the housing  3 , and hence it possible to easily check the soldered states of the terminal portions  51   d ,  52   d ,  53   d ,  54   d ,  54   d ′, and easily perform repair of the connector  1 . 
   Further, since the disconnection prevention portions  54   f ,  54   f ′ are secured to the respective associated recesses  34   a  of the holding portion  34  of the housing  3 , it is possible to prevent the contact portions  54   a ,  54   a ′ from wobbling. 
   Although the contacts  51 ,  52 ,  53  for high-speed transmission are employed as the first contacts, and the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ for non-high-speed transmission are employed as the second contacts, the first contacts are not limited to the contacts for high-speed transmission, and similarly, the second contacts are not limited to the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ for non-high-speed transmission. 
   Further, although the fixing portions  51   b ,  52   b ,  53   b  of the contacts  51 ,  52 ,  53  are embedded in the housing  3  by the so-called mold-in method, the fixing portions  51   b ,  52   b ,  53   b  may be fixed to the housing  3  by press-fitting them into the housing  3 . 
   Further, although the terminal portions  51   d ,  52   d ,  53   d  for SMT are employed as the connection portions of the contacts  51 ,  52 ,  53 , the connecting portions of the first contacts may be terminal portions to be inserted into through holed. 
   Furthermore, although the terminal portions  54   d ,  54   d ′ to be inserted into through holed are employed as the connection portions of the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ for non-high-speed transmission, the connecting portions of the contacts  54 ,  54 ′ may be terminal portions for SMT. 
   It is further understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing are the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and that various changes and modification may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.