Patent Description:
The present invention also relates to a connecting method for electrically connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a contact portion exposed on a bottom surface of a sheet type connection object.

In recent years, attention has been drawn to so-called smart clothes that can obtain user's biological data such as the heart rate and the body temperature only by being worn by the user. Such smart clothes have an electrode disposed at a measurement site and constituted of a flexible conductor, and when a wearable device serving as a measurement device is electrically connected to the electrode, biological data can be transmitted to the wearable device.

The electrode and the wearable device can be interconnected by, for instance, use of a connector connected to the flexible conductor.

However, when the wearable device is situated away from the measurement site, it is necessary to provide an electric path connecting the electrode disposed at the measurement site to the place where the connector is attached, and if such an electric path is formed from a flexible conductor, this causes higher electric resistance and higher cost.

To interconnect an electrode constituted of a flexible conductor and a wearable device by use of an electric wire that has low electric resistance and is inexpensive, it has been desired to develop a small-sized connector connecting the electric wire to the flexible conductor disposed on a garment.

For instance, <CIT> discloses a connector shown in <FIG> as a connector used for connecting an electric wire to a flexible conductor. This connector includes a first connector <NUM> connected to an end of a substrate <NUM> and a second connector <NUM> attached to tips of electric wires <NUM>, and the electric wires <NUM> can be connected to a flexible conductor of the substrate <NUM> by fitting the second connector <NUM> to the first connector <NUM>.

However, the first connector <NUM> and the second connector <NUM> that are separately attached to the end of the substrate <NUM> and the tips of the electric wires <NUM> need to be fitted to each other in order to connect the electric wires <NUM> to the flexible conductor of the substrate <NUM>, and this causes a larger size of a device; and there is a separable connection portion between the first connector <NUM> and the second connector <NUM>, which impairs the reliability of electric connection.

<CIT> discloses a flat cable connection structure. Therein, bus bars are integrally fitted to a resin-made bus-bar holder by molding, conductor exposed sections of a flat cable and conductor exposed sections of wires are connected to these bus bars either by welding or by soldering, and the flat cable is inverted to the rear surface of the bus-bar holder and is sandwiched between the bus-bar holder and an under case.

<CIT> discloses an electrical connection system for contacting an electronic module with multiple printed conductors of a flexible printed circuit.

The present invention has been made to overcome the conventional problems as above and aims at providing a connector and a connector assembly that can have a small size while electrically connecting, with high reliability, a conductor portion of an electric wire to a contact portion exposed on a bottom surface of a sheet type connection object.

The present invention also aims at providing a connecting method for electrically connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a contact portion exposed on a bottom surface of a sheet type connection object.

A connector according to the present invention is one connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a contact portion exposed on a bottom surface of a sheet type connection object, the connector comprising:.

A connector assembly according to the present invention comprises:.

A connecting method according to the present invention is one for connecting a conductor portion of an electric wire to a contact portion exposed on a bottom surface of a sheet type connection object, the method comprising:.

An embodiment of the present invention is described below based on the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> shows a connector assembly according to the embodiment. The connector assembly is obtained by connecting conductor portions 31A of a plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> to a sheet type connection object <NUM> by means of a connector <NUM>.

The connector <NUM> includes an insulator <NUM> of substantially flat plate shape made of an insulating resin material, and a plurality of metal terminals <NUM> retained by the insulator <NUM>.

The coated electric wires <NUM> are aligned in a predetermined alignment direction and each extend in a direction orthogonal to the alignment direction in parallel to the surface of the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM>. Each coated electric wire <NUM> has a structure in which the outer periphery of the conductor portion 31A is covered with an insulating coating portion 31B. With the use of the connector <NUM>, the conductor portions 31A of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> are electrically connected to a plurality of contact portions, which will be described later, exposed on the bottom surface of the connection object <NUM>. The conductor portion 31A of the coated electric wire <NUM> may be either a so-called solid wire constituted of one conductor or a so-called stranded wire constituted of plural conductors being stranded.

For convenience, the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM> is defined as extending along an XY plane, the alignment direction of the coated electric wires <NUM> is referred to as "X direction," the direction in which each coated electric wire <NUM> extends toward the connector <NUM> is referred to as "+Y direction," and the direction orthogonal to an XY plane is referred to as "Z direction.

As shown in <FIG>, the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM> has a rectangular shape extending along an XY plane and elongated in the X direction, and has a flat surface 12A extending along the XY plane and facing the +Z direction.

At each of a -X directional end portion, a +X directional end portion, and a -Y directional end portion of the insulator <NUM>, a wall portion 12B is formed to project in the +Z direction, and at the -Y directional end portion of the insulator <NUM>, a plurality of electric-wire accommodating grooves 12C are formed to be aligned in the X direction. The electric-wire accommodating grooves 12C separately correspond to the coated electric wires <NUM>, and each groove 12C extends in the Y direction across the wall portion 12B, is recessed from the flat surface 12A toward the -Z direction, and has an X directional groove width corresponding to the diameter of the coated electric wire <NUM>.

In addition, a plurality of protrusion portions 12D are formed near a +Y directional end portion of the insulator <NUM> so as to be aligned in the X direction and project in the +Z direction.

The insulator <NUM> is provided with a through-hole 12E penetrating the insulator <NUM> in the Z direction at a position adjacent to the plurality of protrusion portions 12D, aligned in the X direction, on the -Y direction side thereof. The through-hole 12E extends in the X direction over all of the protrusion portions 12D aligned in the X direction.

Further, the plurality of metal terminals <NUM> are exposed on the flat surface 12A at positions adjacent to the through-hole 12E on the -Y direction side thereof.

As shown in <FIG>, the electric-wire accommodating grooves 12C, the protrusion portions 12D, and the metal terminals <NUM> are separately aligned in the X direction with an alignment pitch P1, and when viewed in the Z direction, the electric-wire accommodating groove 12C, the protrusion portion 12D, and the metal terminal <NUM>, which correspond to one another, are arranged on one straight line along the Y direction.

As shown in <FIG>, the metal terminal <NUM> is formed of a single bent metal sheet and has a flat plate portion 13A extending along an XY plane, a spring portion 13B connected to a +Y directional end portion of the flat plate portion 13A, and a bottom plate portion 13D connected to a -Y directional end portion of the flat plate portion 13A via a step portion 13C and extending along the XY plane.

The flat plate portion 13A has a top surface 13E facing in the +Z direction and is provided with two projections 13F projecting in the +Z direction from the top surface 13E. The two projections 13F each extend in the X direction and are disposed with a distance therebetween in the Y direction.

The spring portion 13B forms a pressing portion that presses the sheet type connection object <NUM> against the conductor portion 31A drawn from the coated electric wire <NUM>, and is formed from a rising portion <NUM> rising toward the +Z direction from the +Y directional end portion of the flat plate portion 13A, and an arm portion <NUM> bent from a +Z directional end portion of the rising portion <NUM> and extending in the -Y direction. With the rising portion <NUM> and the arm portion <NUM> configured as above, the spring portion 13B has a cantilever shape projecting in the +Z direction from the flat plate portion 13A and extending toward the -Y direction (first direction).

In addition, a slit 13J is formed at a middle part in the X direction of the spring portion 13B so as to extend from a -Z directional end portion of the rising portion <NUM> connected to the flat plate portion 13A to the vicinity of a -Y directional end portion of the arm portion <NUM>.

Further, at a -Y directional end portion of the spring portion 13B, a curved portion <NUM> is formed to be curved toward the +Z direction.

In addition, due to the presence of the step portion 13C, the bottom plate portion 13D is disposed at a position deviated in the -Z direction from the flat plate portion 13A.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the metal terminal <NUM> is retained by the insulator <NUM> such that the top surface 13E of the flat plate portion 13A forms the same plane as the flat surface 12A of the insulator <NUM> and is exposed toward the +Z direction. The flat surface 12A of the insulator <NUM> and the top surface 13E of the flat plate portion 13A of the metal terminal <NUM> form a conductor-portion placement surface S on which the conductor portion 31A of the coated electric wire <NUM> is to be placed. The conductor-portion placement surface S extends in the X direction (third direction) along the flat surface 12A of the insulator <NUM>.

The spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM> projects in the +Z direction from the conductor-portion placement surface S, and a +Y directional end portion of the spring portion 13B is situated above the through-hole 12E penetrating the insulator <NUM> in the Z direction.

The step portion 13C of the metal terminal <NUM> is embedded in the insulator <NUM>, and the lower surface on the -Z direction side of the bottom plate portion 13D forms the same plane as the lower surface of the insulator <NUM> and is exposed from the insulator <NUM> toward the -Z direction. The bottom portion of the electric-wire accommodating groove 12C of the insulator <NUM> is formed by the bottom plate portion 13D of the metal terminal <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, a Z directional height H1 to the conductor-portion placement surface S from a top surface on the +Z directional side of the bottom plate portion 13D of the metal terminal <NUM> forming the bottom portion of the electric-wire accommodating groove 12C of the insulator <NUM> is set to be substantially equal to the thickness of the insulating coating portion 31B covering the outer periphery of the conductor portion 31A of the coated electric wire <NUM>. Therefore, when the coated electric wire <NUM> is accommodated in the electric-wire accommodating groove 12C in the state where the conductor portion 31A is drawn from a tip of the coated electric wire <NUM>, the insulating coating portion 31B is disposed on the bottom plate portion 13D of the metal terminal <NUM>, and the conductor portion 31A drawn from the insulating coating portion 31B is disposed on the conductor-portion placement surface S.

The connector <NUM> having the thus-configured metal terminals <NUM> and the insulator <NUM> that are integrally formed can be produced by, for instance, insert molding.

The sheet type connection object <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. The connection object <NUM> has a multilayer structure in which at least one wiring layer formed from a conductor and a plurality of insulating layers are laminated, for instance.

A top surface, extending along an XY plane and facing in the +Z direction, of the connection object <NUM> is covered with an insulating layer 21A.

In addition, a plurality of opening portions 21B are formed near a -Y directional end portion of the connection object <NUM> so as to be aligned in the X direction and penetrate the connection object <NUM> in the Z direction. The opening portion 21B has such a size that the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM> projecting in the +Z direction from the conductor-portion placement surface S of the connector <NUM> can be passed therethrough in the Z direction.

As shown in <FIG>, a plurality of contact portions 21C aligned in the X direction along the -Y directional end portion of the connection object <NUM> are exposed on the bottom surface, facing in the -Z direction, of the connection object <NUM>. The contact portions 21C separately correspond to the opening portions 21B, and the opening portions 21B are disposed adjacent to the contact portions 21C on the +Y direction side thereof. In other words, the corresponding contact portion 21C is disposed adjacent to the opening portion 21B on the -Y direction side thereof at the same X directional position as that of the opening portion 21B.

As with the electric-wire accommodating grooves 12C, the protrusion portions 12D, and the metal terminals <NUM> of the connector <NUM>, the opening portions 21B and the contact portions 21C are separately aligned in the X direction with the alignment pitch P1.

In addition, the contact portions 21C are formed from part of one wiring layer of the connection object <NUM> and connected to a plurality of wiring portions (not shown) covered with the insulating layer 21D.

When the connector assembly is assembled, first, the coated electric wires <NUM> are aligned in the X direction, the insulating coating portion 31B of each of the coated electric wires <NUM> is accommodated in the corresponding electric-wire accommodating groove 12C of the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM>, and the conductor portion 31A drawn from the coated electric wire <NUM> is disposed on the conductor-portion placement surface S of the connector <NUM> from the -Y direction, as shown in <FIG>.

At this time, as shown in <FIG>, the conductor portion 31A extends toward the +Y direction on the conductor-portion placement surface S formed by the flat surface 12A of the insulator <NUM> and the top surface 13E of the flat plate portion 13A of the metal terminal <NUM>, and is disposed on the two protrusions 13F of the metal terminal <NUM>.

In addition, as shown in <FIG>, the conductor portion 31A is disposed between the conductor-portion placement surface S and the spring portion 13B in the state where the conductor portion 31A penetrates, in the Y direction, the slit 13J formed in the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM>.

Next, as shown in <FIG>, the connection object <NUM> is disposed on the connector <NUM> in the state where the bottom surface of the sheet type connection object <NUM> extending from the +Y direction (second direction) toward the conductor-portion placement surface S of the connector <NUM> faces the conductor-portion placement surface S. As shown in <FIG>, the connection object <NUM> is positioned with respect to the connector <NUM> such that the opening portions 21B are separately situated right above the spring portions 13B of the metal terminals <NUM> of the connector <NUM>.

At this time, as shown in <FIG>, a part of the connection object <NUM> on the +Y direction side of the opening portion 21B makes contact with the top side of the protrusion portion 12D of the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM>, while a part of the connection object <NUM> on the -Y direction side of the opening portion 21B is situated on the conductor portion 31A disposed on the conductor-portion placement surface S.

In addition, the curved portion <NUM> formed at the -Y directional end portion of the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM> of the connector <NUM> and curved toward the +Z direction is situated on the +Z direction side of the connection object <NUM> through the opening portion 21B of the connection object <NUM>.

By pulling the connection object <NUM> in the +Y direction in this state, the connection object <NUM> is displaced in the +Y direction relatively to the connector <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Here, since the curved portion <NUM> of the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM> of the connector <NUM> is situated on the +Z direction side of the connection object <NUM> through the opening portion 21B, a part, adjacent to the -Y direction side of the opening portion 21B, of the connection object <NUM> displaced in the +Y direction with respect to the spring portion 13B pushes and spread the spring portion 13B and enters the -Z directional side of the spring portion 13B.

Consequently, the connection object <NUM> is sandwiched between the spring portion 13B passed through the opening portion 21B and the conductor portion 31A disposed on the conductor-portion placement surface S, and the contact portion 21C exposed on the bottom surface of the connection object <NUM> makes contact with the conductor portion 31A with predetermined contact pressure by the elastic force of the spring portion 13B and is electrically connected to the conductor portion 31A.

When the connection object <NUM> is displaced in the +Y direction, the opening portion 21B of the connection object <NUM> moves to the position of the protrusion portion 21D of the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM>, and the protrusion portion 12D is inserted in the opening portion 21B.

Thus, the assembling operation of the connector assembly is completed.

The connector <NUM> has a simple configuration in which the plurality of metal terminals <NUM> are retained by the insulator <NUM> of substantially flat plate shape, and this makes it possible to obtain the thin connector <NUM> and the thin connector assembly.

Note that since the conductor portion 31A drawn from the coated electric wire <NUM> is disposed between the conductor-portion placement surface S and the spring portion 13B in the state where the conductor portion 31A penetrates the slit 13J formed in the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM>, positional deviation of the conductor portion 31A with respect to the metal terminal <NUM> can be prevented, and further, the conductor portion 31A is prevented from making contact with and being short-circuited to the adjacent metal terminal <NUM>.

In addition, since the metal terminal <NUM> is retained by the insulator <NUM> such that the +Y directional end portion of the spring portion 13B is situated above the through-hole 12E of the insulator <NUM>, one can visually check from the -Z direction side of the connector <NUM> through the through-hole 12E that a +Y directional end portion of the conductor portion 31A of the coated electric wire <NUM> penetrates the slit 13J of the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Thus, the reliability of connection of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> to the connection object <NUM> can be improved.

While the plurality of metal terminals <NUM> are retained by the insulator <NUM> by insert molding in the embodiment above, the invention is not limited thereto, and the plurality of metal terminals <NUM> may also be retained by the insulator <NUM> by, for example, press-fitting.

In addition, while the spring portion 13B of the metal terminal <NUM> retained by the insulator <NUM> forms a pressing portion that presses the sheet type connection object <NUM> against the conductor portion 31A of the coated electric wire <NUM> in the embodiment above, the invention is not limited thereto, and the connection object <NUM> may be pressed against the conductor portion 31A of the coated electric wire <NUM> by use of a pressing portion of cantilever shape integrally formed with the insulator <NUM> with an insulating resin material constituting the insulator <NUM>.

As the sheet type connection object <NUM>, either a flexible substrate or a rigid substrate may be used.

In the embodiment above, after the conductor portions 31A of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> are disposed on the conductor-portion placement surface S of the connector <NUM> from the -Y direction, the connection object <NUM> is disposed on the connector <NUM> such that the plurality of opening portions 21B of the connection object <NUM> are situated right above the spring portions 13B of the plurality of metal terminals <NUM> of the connector <NUM>, and the connection object <NUM> is pulled in the +Y direction, whereby the plurality of contact portions 21C exposed on the bottom surface of the connection object <NUM> are electrically connected to the conductor portions 31A of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM>. Therefore, even when a flexible substrate is used as the connection object <NUM>, it is not necessary to reinforce the flexible substrate with a reinforcing plate or the like, and a plurality of contact portions of the flexible substrate can be electrically connected to the conductor portions 31A of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> with high reliability.

In addition, when the insulator <NUM> of the connector <NUM> is made of a material having flexibility such as a rubber material, and a flexible substrate is used as the connection object <NUM>, a connector assembly that is deformable along the alignment direction of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> can also be configured, for instance.

While the conductor portions 31A of the plurality of coated electric wires <NUM> are separately connected to the contact portions 21C of the connection object <NUM> in the embodiment above, the invention is not limited thereto, and a connector assembly may be configured such that the conductor portion 31A of one coated electric wire <NUM> is connected to the contact portion 21C of the connection object <NUM> in the same manner.

Claim 1:
A connector (<NUM>) connecting a conductor portion (31A) of an electric wire (<NUM>) to a contact portion (21C) exposed on a bottom surface of a sheet type connection object (<NUM>), the connector comprising:
an insulator (<NUM>) forming at least a part of a conductor-portion placement surface (S) on which the conductor portion of the electric wire is placed; and
a pressing portion (13B) being retained by the insulator to project from the conductor-portion placement surface in a direction orthogonal to the conductor-portion placement surface and extending toward a predetermined first direction (-Y direction) along the conductor-portion placement surface,
characterised in that
the pressing portion is elastically deformable in the direction orthogonal to the conductor-portion placement surface, and
the conductor portion of the electric wire extending from the first direction along the conductor-portion placement surface is disposed between the conductor-portion placement surface and the pressing portion, and the connection object is sandwiched between the pressing portion passed through an opening portion (21B) of the connection object (<NUM>) extending from a second direction (+Y direction) along the conductor-portion placement surface and the conductor portion of the electric wire, the second direction being an opposite direction from the first direction, whereby the contact portion of the connection object makes contact with and is electrically connected to the conductor portion of the electric wire.