Patent Description:
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 cloth has an electrode disposed at a measurement site, 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 a conductor drawn from the electrode.

As a connector of this type, for example, <CIT> discloses a connector as illustrated in <FIG>. The connector includes a housing <NUM> and a base member <NUM> that are disposed on the opposite sides of a flexible substrate <NUM> to sandwich the flexible substrate <NUM> therebetween. Tubular portions 4A of contacts <NUM> are passed through contact through-holes 2A of the housing <NUM>, and flanges 4B of the contacts <NUM> are sandwiched between the housing <NUM> and conductors 1A exposed on a top surface of the flexible substrate <NUM>.

In this state, when the base member <NUM> is pressed against the housing <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, a projection 3A of the base member <NUM> is inserted into a projection accommodating portion 4C of the contact <NUM> with the flexible substrate <NUM> being sandwiched therebetween, and the inner surface of the projection accommodating portion 4C makes contact with the conductor 1A with a predetermined contact force, whereby the contact <NUM> is electrically connected to the conductor 1A.

Further, housing fixing posts 3B formed to project from the base member <NUM> are press-fitted into post accommodating portions 2B of the housing <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, so that the housing <NUM> and the base member <NUM> are fixed to each other.

When fitted to the connector disclosed in <CIT>, a wearable device can be connected to electrodes constituted of the conductors.

However, when the conductors 1A are exposed on the bottom surface of the flexible substrate <NUM>, the connector of <CIT> would be useless in electrically connecting the conductors 1A to the contacts <NUM>.

<CIT> discloses an electrode formed by a riveted eyelet-and-stud, the male part of a snap fastener, thus making electrical contact with both sides of a piece of cloth comprising a conductive yarn.

The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problem and aims at providing a connector that enables to make an electrical connection of a contact to a conductor of a connection object regardless of whether the conductor is exposed on the top surface or the bottom surface of the connection object.

The connector according to the invention comprises:.

An embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> shows a connector <NUM> according to the embodiment. The connector <NUM> is, for instance, used as a garment-side connector for fitting a wearable device and has a housing <NUM> made of an insulating material. Four plug contacts <NUM> are retained in the housing <NUM>, and a reinforcement sheet <NUM> and a sheet type conductive member <NUM> being superposed on each other are retained by the housing <NUM>. The sheet type conductive member <NUM> constitutes a connection object to which the connector <NUM> is connected.

The four plug contacts <NUM> are arranged in two rows parallel to each other and disposed to project perpendicularly to the sheet type conductive member <NUM>.

For convenience, the reinforcement sheet <NUM> and the sheet type conductive member <NUM> are defined as extending in an XY plane, the arrangement direction of the four plug contacts <NUM> is referred to as "Y direction," and the direction in which the four plug contacts <NUM> project is referred to as "+Z direction. " The Z direction is a fitting direction in which the connector <NUM> is fitted to a counter connector.

<FIG> shows an exploded perspective view of the connector <NUM>. The connector <NUM> includes a top insulator <NUM> and a bottom insulator <NUM>, and these top and bottom insulators <NUM> and <NUM> constitute the housing <NUM>.

The four plug contacts <NUM> are retained in the top insulator <NUM>. The reinforcement sheet <NUM> is disposed on the bottom surface, on the -Z direction side, of the top insulator <NUM>, and the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is disposed on the -Z direction side of the reinforcement sheet <NUM>. Further, four inner contacts <NUM> are disposed on the -Z direction side of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, and the bottom insulator <NUM> is disposed on the -Z direction side of the inner contacts <NUM>. The four inner contacts <NUM> separately correspond to the four plug contacts <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the top insulator <NUM> includes a recessed portion 16A opening in the +Z direction and four contact through-holes 16B formed within the recessed portion 16A. The recessed portion 16A constitutes a counter connector accommodating portion in which part of a counter connector (not shown) is to be accommodated, and the four contact through-holes 16B correspond to the four plug contacts <NUM>. On a surface of the top insulator <NUM> facing in the -Z direction, a plurality of bosses 16C are formed to project in the -Z direction.

The four plug contacts <NUM> are made of a conductive material such as metal, and are to be connected to corresponding contacts of a counter connector (not shown) when part of the counter connector is accommodated in the recessed portion 16A of the top insulator <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the plug contact <NUM> has a tubular portion 13A in the shape of a cylindrical tube extending in the Z direction along the fitting axis C and a flange 13B extending along an XY plane from the -Z directional end of the tubular portion 13A.

As shown in <FIG>, the tubular portion 13A is provided in its interior with a recessed portion 13C opening toward the -Z direction.

The fitting axis C is an axis passing through the center of the tubular portion 13A and extending in the direction in which the connector <NUM> and the counter connector are fitted to each other.

While the tubular portion 13A has the shape of a cylindrical tube, the cross section thereof is not limited to a circle and may be any of various shapes such as an ellipse and a polygon as long as the tubular portion 13A has the recessed portion 13C in its interior.

The four plug contacts <NUM> can be each used as a terminal for transmitting electric signals.

As shown in <FIG>, the bottom insulator <NUM> includes a flat plate portion 17A, and the flat plate portion 17A is provided with four recessed portions 17B opening in the +Z direction. The four recessed portions 17B correspond to the four plug contacts <NUM>. The recessed portions 17B are separately provided with four projections 17C each projecting in the +Z direction from a center portion of the recessed portion 17B.

Further, the flat plate portion 17A is provided with a plurality of through-holes 17D corresponding to the bosses 16C of the top insulator <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, a bottom surface of the recessed portion 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM> constitutes a support surface 17E extending along an XY plane and facing in the +Z direction.

The projection 17C is used to temporarily retain the inner contact <NUM> and includes a backrest surface 17F extending along a YZ plane and facing in the +X direction and a protrusion portion <NUM> projecting in the +X direction from a portion, situated at the center in the Y direction and on the -Z direction side, of the backrest surface 17F.

As shown in <FIG>, the inner contact <NUM> is formed of a conductive metal plate being bent and includes a retaining portion 18A and a flat plate portion 18B connected to the -Z directional end of the retaining portion 18A. When the connector <NUM> is assembled, the retaining portion 18A is inserted into the recessed portion 13C of the corresponding plug contact <NUM>, and the flat plate portion 18B is disposed on the support surface 17E of the corresponding recessed portion 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM>.

The retaining portion 18A has a flat plate shape extending along a YZ plane including the fitting axis C and is provided with a pair of contact point portions P1 separately at the +Y directional end and the -Y directional end of the retaining portion 18A, the contact point portions P1 being separated from each other in the Y direction.

In addition, the retaining portion 18A is provided with a notch 18C extending in the -Z direction from a vicinity of the +Z directional end of the retaining portion 18A and opening toward the -Z direction. When the connector <NUM> is assembled, the protrusion portion <NUM> of the projection 17C of the bottom insulator <NUM> is fitted in the notch 18C of the retaining portion 18A.

A distance in the Y direction between the pair of contact point portions P1 is designed to be slightly larger than an inner diameter of a part of the recessed portion 13C of the plug contact <NUM>, with which part the contact point portions P1 make contact when the retaining portion 18A is inserted in the recessed portion 13C.

With this constitution, by inserting the retaining portion 18A of the inner contact <NUM> into the recessed portion 13C of the plug contact <NUM>, the pair of contact point portions P1 make contact with an inner surface of the recessed portion 13C with a predetermined contact pressure while elastically displacing in a direction toward the fitting axis C.

The flat plate portion 18B is a band plate-shaped member curving around the fixing axis C and extending along an XY plane. On a top surface of the flat plate portion 18B facing in the +Z direction, a plurality of top surface-side projections 18D are formed to project in the +Z direction, and on a bottom surface of the flat plate portion 18B facing in the -Z direction, on the other hand, a plurality of bottom surface-side projections 18E are formed to project in the -Z direction.

As shown in <FIG>, the flat plate portion 18B has a U shape or a horseshoe shape extending as curving so as to encircle the retaining portion 18A, and the top surface side-projections 18D and the bottom surface-side projections 18E are alternately disposed in the direction in which the flat plate portion 18B extends.

With no external force being applied to the inner contact <NUM>, the +Z directional end of the top surface-side projection 18D is assumed to be separated from the -Z directional end of the bottom surface-side projection 18E by a distance D1 in the Z direction as shown in <FIG>.

The sheet type conductive member <NUM> has a multilayer structure in which a plurality of wiring layers each formed of a conductor and a plurality of insulating layers are laminated.

As shown in <FIG>, four contact arrangement regions 15Aused to arrange the four plug contacts <NUM> are defined on the top surface, facing the +Z direction, of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>. At a center portion of each contact arrangement region 15A, a circular opening portion 15B through which the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is passed in the Z direction is formed, and around the opening portion 15B, a wiring layer 15C is exposed toward the +Z direction so as to surround the opening portion 15B. An insulating layer 15D is exposed in a region excluding the four contact arrangement regions 15A.

Since the opening portion 15B penetrates the sheet type conductive member <NUM> in the Z direction, as shown in <FIG>, the opening portions 15B are also seen on the bottom surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> facing in the -Z direction at positions separately corresponding to the four contact arrangement regions 15A.

On the bottom surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> facing in the -Z direction, a wiring layer 15E is exposed toward the -Z direction so as to surround the opening portions 15B separately formed at the positions corresponding to the four contact arrangement regions 15A, and an insulating layer 15F is exposed in the remaining region.

Further, the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is provided at its peripheral portion with a plurality of through-holes <NUM> corresponding to the bosses 16C of the top insulator <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, the reinforcement sheet <NUM> is provided to reinforce a mounting object (not shown), such as a garment, on which the connector <NUM> is to be mounted. The reinforcement sheet <NUM> is made of an insulating material and provided at its center with an opening 14A. Further, a plurality of notches 14B corresponding to the bosses 16C of the top insulator <NUM> are formed along the periphery of the opening 14A of the reinforcement sheet <NUM>.

The four contact through-holes 16B of the top insulator <NUM>, the four plug contacts <NUM>, the four contact arrangement regions 15A of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, the four inner contacts <NUM>, and the four recessed portions 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM> are arranged so as to align with one another in the Z direction.

The bosses 16C of the top insulator <NUM>, the notches 14B of the reinforcement sheet <NUM>, the through-holes <NUM> of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, and the through-holes 17D of the bottom insulator <NUM> are arranged so as to align with one another in the Z direction.

When the connector <NUM> is assembled, first, as shown in <FIG>, the inner contact <NUM> is temporarily retained by the projection 17C of the corresponding recessed portion 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM>. In this process, the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> is inserted in the recessed portion 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM>, and the protrusion portion <NUM> of the projection 17C of the bottom insulator <NUM> is fitted in the notch 18C of the retaining portion 18A, whereby the -X directional surface of the retaining portion 18A is brought into contact with the backrest surface 17F of the projection 17C.

The bottom surface-side projections 18E formed on the bottom surface, facing in the -Z direction, of the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> are disposed on the support surface 17E of the recessed portion 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM>.

Next, the bosses 16C of the top insulator <NUM> are separately inserted into the notches 14B of the reinforcement sheet <NUM>. At this time, the four contact through-holes 16B of the top insulator <NUM> are situated inside the opening 14A of the reinforcement sheet <NUM>.

Further, the tubular portions 13A of the plug contacts <NUM> are inserted correspondingly into the four contact through-holes 16B of the top insulator <NUM> from the -Z direction, and the bottom insulator <NUM> is pressed against the top insulator <NUM> in the +Z direction with the sheet type conductive member <NUM> being sandwiched therebetween.

In this process, the retaining portion 18A of the inner contact <NUM> temporarily retained by the projection 17C of the bottom insulator <NUM> is inserted into the recessed portion 13C of the corresponding plug contact <NUM> via the opening portion 15B of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, the flange 13B of the plug contact <NUM> is positioned on the corresponding contact arrangement region 15A of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, and the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is sandwiched between the top surface-side projections 18D formed on the top surface, facing in the +Z direction, of the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> and the bottom surface on the -Z direction side of the flange 13B of the plug contact <NUM>.

When the bottom insulator <NUM> is pressed against the top insulator <NUM>, the bosses 16C of the top insulator <NUM> sequentially pass through the notches 14B of the reinforcement sheet <NUM>, the through-holes <NUM> of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, and the through-holes 17D of the bottom insulator <NUM>. Then, the ends of the bosses 16C projecting on the -Z directional side of the bottom insulator <NUM> are heated and deformed, whereby the top insulator <NUM> and the bottom insulator <NUM> are fixed to each other as shown in <FIG>. Thus, the assembling operation of the connector <NUM> is completed.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, when the retaining portion 18A of the inner contact <NUM> is inserted in the recessed portion 13C of the plug contact <NUM>, the pair of contact point portions P1 separately formed at the +Y directional end and the -Y directional end of the retaining portion 18A are pressed against the inner surface of the recessed portion 13C of the plug contact <NUM>, whereby the inner contact <NUM> is electrically connected to the plug contact <NUM>.

In addition, when the bottom insulator <NUM> is pressed against the top insulator <NUM>, the top surface-side projections 18D formed on the top surface, facing in the +Z direction, of the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> receive pressing force acting in the -Z direction from the top insulator <NUM> via the flange 13B of the plug contact <NUM> and the sheet type conductive member <NUM>. At this time, the bottom surface-side projections 18E formed on the bottom surface, facing in the -Z direction, of the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> are disposed on the support surface 17E of the recessed portion 17B of the bottom insulator <NUM>, and hence due to the pressing force acting in the -Z direction on the top surface-side projections 18D, the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> elastically deforms such that the distance along the Z direction between the +Z directional end of the top surface-side projection 18D and the -Z directional end of the bottom surface-side projection 18E is narrowed.

Since in the flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM>, the top surface-side projections 18D and the bottom surface-side projections 18E are alternately disposed along the direction in which the flat plate portion 18B extends, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the flat plate portion 18B elastically deforms wavily with respect to an XY plane, so that a distance D2 along the Z direction between the +Z directional end of the top surface-side projection 18D and the -Z directional end of the bottom surface-side projection 18E becomes narrower than the distance D1 shown in <FIG>.

As a result, the top surface-side projections 18D are pressed against the bottom surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> in the +Z direction, and in addition, the top surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is pressed against the bottom surface of the flange 13B of the plug contact <NUM> in the +Z direction.

In the meantime, as shown in <FIG>, the wiring layer 15C is exposed around the opening portions 15B in the contact arrangement regions 15A on the top surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, and the wiring layer 15E is exposed around the opening portions 15B at the positions corresponding to the contact arrangement regions 15A on the bottom surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>.

Accordingly, the wiring layer 15C on the top surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> makes contact with the bottom surface of the flange 13B of the plug contact <NUM> with a predetermined contact pressure, and the wiring layer 15E on the bottom surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> makes contact with the top surface-side projections 18D of the inner contact <NUM> with a predetermined contact pressure.

Accordingly, the wiring layer 15C exposed on the top surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is electrically connected to the plug contact <NUM> directly, and the wiring layer 15E exposed on the bottom surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is electrically connected to the plug contact <NUM> via the inner contact <NUM>. In other words, both the wiring layers 15C and 15E are connected to the plug contact <NUM>.

Thus, with the connector <NUM>, both the wiring layer 15C formed of a conductor and disposed on the top surface side of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> and the wiring layer 15E formed of a conductor and disposed on the bottom surface side of the same can be electrically connected to one plug contact <NUM> by use of the inner contact <NUM>.

Therefore, when the connector <NUM> is connected to a sheet type conductive member having a conductor exposed only on the top surface side, the plug contact <NUM> can be electrically connected to the conductor on the top surface side of the sheet type conductive member, and when the connector <NUM> is connected to a sheet type conductive member having a conductor exposed only on the bottom surface side, the plug contact <NUM> can be electrically connected to the conductor on the bottom surface side of the sheet type conductive member.

Further, when the connector <NUM> is connected to a sheet type conductive member having conductors exposed on both of the top and bottom surfaces like the sheet type conductive member <NUM> in the embodiment, the plug contact <NUM> can be electrically connected to both the conductor on the top surface side and the conductor on the bottom surface side of the sheet type conductive member. For instance, in the case of using, as the connection object, a sheet type conductive member having a multilayer structure in which conductors each constituting a shielding layer are exposed on both of the top and bottom surface sides separately and another conductor constituting a signal wiring layer is disposed between those shielding layers while being insulated from both of the shielding layers, when the plug contact <NUM> connected to the shielding layers on the top and bottom surface sides is connected to a ground potential, a shielding effect with respect to the signal wiring layer is demonstrated, and highly accurate signal transmission can be carried out with the influence of disturbance caused by electromagnetic waves being minimized.

The flat plate portion 18B of the inner contact <NUM> has a U shape or a horseshoe shape as shown in <FIG>, but the invention is not limited thereto, and the flat plate portion 18B may have a circular disc shape extending along an XY plane as with the flange 13B of the plug contact <NUM>.

In the embodiment described above, the plug contact <NUM> disposed in the contact arrangement region 15A of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is connected to both of the wiring layer 15C exposed on the top surface side of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> and the wiring layer 15E exposed on the bottom surface side of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, but the plug contact <NUM> disposed in the contact arrangement region 15A may be connected only to the wiring layer 15E exposed on the bottom surface side of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>, for example.

The sheet type conductive member <NUM> used in the embodiment described above has a multilayer structure, but the invention is not limited thereto, and it suffices if the sheet type conductive member <NUM> has a conductor exposed on at least one surface thereof.

In addition, a double-layered conductor comprising the wiring layer 15C and the wiring layer 15E of the sheet type conductive member <NUM> is connected to one plug contact <NUM> in the embodiment described above, but the invention is not limited thereto, and a triple- or more-layered conductor may be connected to one plug contact <NUM>.

In addition, while the connector <NUM> according to the embodiment described above includes four plug contacts <NUM>, the number of the plug contacts <NUM> is not limited thereto, and it suffices if at least the connector <NUM> includes one plug contact <NUM> to be electrically connected to a conductor exposed on at least one surface of the sheet type conductive member <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A connector comprising:
a plug contact (<NUM>) having conductivity and including a tubular portion (13A) and a flange (13B), the tubular portion extending along a fitting axis (C) and having a recessed portion (13C) formed therein, and the flange extending from an end portion of the tubular portion in a direction perpendicular to the fitting axis;
a bottom insulator (<NUM>) including a support surface (17E) that extends in the direction perpendicular to the fitting axis; and
an inner contact (<NUM>) having conductivity and disposed on the support surface, part of the inner contact being inserted in the recessed portion,
wherein the inner contact (<NUM>) includes: a retaining portion (18A) retained in the recessed portion and making contact with an inner surface of the recessed portion to be electrically connected to the plug contact; a flat plate portion (18B) being elastically deformable, joined to the retaining portion, extending in the direction perpendicular to the fitting axis, and facing a bottom surface of the flange; a plurality of top surface-side projections (18D) projecting toward the bottom surface of the flange from a top surface of the flat plate portion; and a plurality of bottom surface-side projections (18E) projecting toward the support surface from a bottom surface of the flat plate portion separately at positions different from positions of the top surface-side projections, and
part of a connection object (<NUM>) of sheet type having a conductor (15C, 15E) exposed on at least one surface of the connection object is sandwiched in a direction along the fitting axis between the bottom surface of the flange of the plug contact and the top surface-side projections of the inner contact, the bottom surface of the flange makes contact with a top surface of the connection object, and the top surface-side projections make contact with a bottom surface of the connection object, whereby the plug contact (<NUM>) is electrically connected to the conductor (15C) directly when the conductor is exposed on the top surface of the connection object, and the plug contact (<NUM>) is electrically connected to the conductor (15E) via the inner contact (<NUM>) when the conductor is exposed on the bottom surface of the connection object.