Patent Description:
As shown in <FIG>, a conventional connector generally includes a female connector <NUM> and a male connector <NUM> in a pair. An example of such conventional connector can be found for instance <CIT> or <CIT>. The female connector <NUM> has a plurality of pins corresponding to a contact, and the male connector <NUM> has a plurality of plug terminals that come into contact with the plurality of pins. The female connector <NUM> is mounted to the circuit board <NUM> by means of SMT (Surface Mounter Technology), and the male connector <NUM> is connected and fixed in the female connector <NUM>.

However, if both the female connector <NUM> and the male connector <NUM> are used, different bodies and contacts of the female connector <NUM> and the male connector <NUM> should be prepared using different molds, and any one connector must be surface-mounted to a circuit board, which makes the manufacturing process complicated and increases the manufacturing cost.

In addition, in the conventional male and female connectors, the number of pins is predetermined, and the number of pins determines compatibility with a usable device or circuit board. In other words, if the number of pins is not identical between any connector and a circuit board, the connector is not useable. In this case, it is required to use male and female connectors with exactly the same number of pins or newly fabricate male and female connectors with the required number of pins.

In particular, in order to transmit one more signal to an existing device or circuit board, the number of pins must be increased by one to the male and female connectors. In this case, due to the structure of the existing connectors the male and female connectors must be replaced entirely.

Thus, there is a demand for a new type connector, which allows a connector pin to be easily added without replacing the existing male and female connectors.

The present disclosure is directed to improving compatibility and economic efficiency of male and female connectors by implementing the male and female connectors in an expandable manner, where several unit connectors may be consecutively assembled when it is required to increase the number of pins of the connector.

In addition, the present disclosure is directed to providing a connector assembly which may be prevented from being detached or disconnected due to external shocks or vibrations and also allow male and female connectors to be conveniently assembled and disassembled.

The present disclosure provides a connector assembly as defined by the independent claim <NUM>. Preferred embodiments are defined in the appended dependent claims.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when it is necessary to increase the number of pins of a connector, it is possible to expand the male and female connectors by successively assembling several unit connectors, thereby improving compatibility and economic efficiency of the male and female connectors, compared to the conventional technique.

Also, by assembling unit male and female connectors, it is possible to easily construct a connector assembly with the required number of pins.

In addition, it is possible to provide a connector assembly, which may be prevented from being detached or disconnected due to external shocks or vibrations and also allow the male and female connectors to be conveniently assembled and disassembled.

Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, so it should be understood that other equivalents and modifications could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims.

In the following description, a circuit board may refer to a BMS (Battery Management System) circuit board applied to a battery pack for a vehicle. Here, the BMS circuit board is a component of the battery pack for controlling charge/discharge and cell balancing of battery cells. A connector assembly according to the present disclosure may be connected to the BMS circuit board to transmit voltage information or the like of the battery cells to the BMS.

Here, the connector assembly of the present disclosure may be connected to a printed circuit board of an electronic device such as a laptop, a tablet PC, a smart phone, or the like, in addition to the BMS circuit board, to transmit a signal necessary for the electronic device.

<FIG> is a schematic perspective view showing unit male and female connectors according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, <FIG> is a schematic perspective view showing male and female connectors, which are configured by assembling the unit male and female connectors of <FIG>, and <FIG> is a schematic top view showing the female connectors of this embodiment, which are installed to a circuit board.

The connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a plurality of female connectors <NUM> provided to be assembled with each other along one direction, and an at least one male connector <NUM> coupled to the female connectors <NUM>.

Each of the female connectors <NUM> accommodates a predetermined number of pins <NUM> therein. Although the female connector <NUM> according to this embodiment is illustrated as accommodating one pin <NUM>, the female connector <NUM> may accommodate two or more pins <NUM>. However, as will be explained later, in order to vary the overall number of pins <NUM> of the connector assembly, it may be advantageous to use the female connectors <NUM> respectively having one or two pins <NUM>, or to use the female connectors <NUM> respectively having one pin <NUM> and the female connectors <NUM> respectively having two pins in combination.

The plurality of female connectors <NUM> respectively having one pin <NUM> may be connected successively in one direction as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>. If the unit female connectors <NUM> are successively assembled as above, it is possible to configure a female connector <NUM> having various numbers of pins <NUM>. In other words, if it is necessary to decrease or increase the number of pins <NUM> of the female connector <NUM> to be connected to a circuit board <NUM>, in the conventional art, the female connector itself must be replaced. However, according to the present disclosure, the number of pins <NUM> of the female connector <NUM> can be increased or decreased just by separating or adding one unit female connector <NUM>. Thus, the cost of replacing the female connector may be reduced and the labor required for mounting the female connector to the circuit board may be reduced.

The assembling structure and method of the plurality of female connectors <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as follows.

The unit female connector <NUM> includes a convex block <NUM> formed at one side thereof to protrude therefrom and a concave groove <NUM> formed at the other side thereof to be depressed in a shape corresponding to the convex block <NUM>.

For example, the convex block <NUM> has a cross-section of an approximately alphabetical "T" shape and extends along the height direction. Also, the concave groove <NUM> forms an empty space that engages with the convex block.

Any one unit female connector <NUM> and another female connector <NUM> may be connected to each other by fitting the convex block <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> vertically.

In other words, two unit female connectors <NUM> may be connected into one body by fitting the convex block <NUM> of any one unit female connector <NUM> into the concave grooves <NUM> of another female connector <NUM> the from top to bottom.

Since the two unit female connectors <NUM> engage with each other by means of the convex block <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> having a "T" shape, the two unit female connectors <NUM> may be tightly fastened with each other without relatively moving in the forward, backward, left and right directions.

Though the convex block <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> are formed in the "T" shape in this embodiment, the convex block <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> may have any shape such as an "L" shape as long as the convex block <NUM> convexly formed at one side surface of the unit female connector <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> concavely formed at the other side surface of the unit female connector <NUM> are capable of engaging with each other.

In such a pattern, other unit female connectors <NUM> may be assembled and connected to the two unit female connectors <NUM> such that a plurality of female connectors <NUM> having a required number of pins <NUM> are connected.

Meanwhile, the male connector <NUM> may include a plurality of unit male connectors <NUM> that are connected to the unit female connectors <NUM> in one-to-one relationship. In this case, the unit male connector <NUM> is implemented to have only one plug terminal <NUM> that contacts one pin <NUM> of the female connector <NUM>.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams for illustrating a fastening structure between the male and female connectors <NUM> of this embodiment.

Next, a fastening structure of the female connector <NUM> and the male connector <NUM> according to this embodiment will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG> along with <FIG>.

The female connector <NUM> has hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> bent in a vertical direction on at least one of an upper end and a lower end of a front surface thereof to which the male connector <NUM> is connected. Also, the male connector <NUM> has hooking grooves <NUM>, <NUM> provided to be hooked to the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> are provided to both the upper end and the lower end of the front surface of the female connector <NUM> for enhanced coupling, and the hooking grooves <NUM>, <NUM> corresponding thereto are provided to the upper end and the lower end of the front surface of the male connector <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, if the front end of the male connector <NUM> is inserted into the front end of the female connector <NUM>, the hooking grooves <NUM>, <NUM> of the male connector <NUM> are hooked by the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> of the female connector <NUM>, and thus the male connector <NUM> is not easily taken out of the female connector <NUM> in a reverse direction.

In order to separate the male connector <NUM> from the female connector <NUM>, in a state where the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> of the female connector <NUM> are slightly widened, the male connector <NUM> should be pulled in the reverse direction. Although not shown in detail, the plug terminal <NUM> of the male connector <NUM> may be inserted in a receptacle manner to contact the pin <NUM> of the female connector <NUM>, which is located inside the female connector <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram corresponding to <FIG> and showing a modified example of the male connector <NUM>.

Meanwhile, in a modified example, the male connector <NUM> according to this embodiment is provided in a single number. In other words, the male connector <NUM> according to the modified example integrally includes plug terminals <NUM> corresponding to the total number of pins <NUM> of the plurality of unit female connectors <NUM> and is connected to the female connectors <NUM>, which are assembled with each other on the circuit board <NUM>, in a multi-to-one structure.

As shown in <FIG>, the female connectors <NUM> assembled with each other have a front end opened in the lateral direction, and the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> of any one female connector <NUM> and the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> of another neighboring female connector <NUM> are connected along the assembling direction.

In addition, the hooking grooves <NUM>, <NUM> of the male connector <NUM> may be formed in a size corresponding to the connected hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM>. Thus, even if the front end of any one male connector <NUM> is inserted into the front end of the plurality of female connectors <NUM>, the hooking grooves <NUM>, <NUM> of the male connector <NUM> may be hooked to all of the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> of the female connectors <NUM>.

Since the male connector <NUM> also serves to bind a plurality of wires W into a bundle, it is advantageous to integrate the male connector <NUM> into one connector rather than dividing into several connectors. Also, since the male connector <NUM> is not mounted to the circuit board <NUM>, the male connector <NUM> may be exchanged more easily than the female connector <NUM>. For this reason, the connector assembly according to the modified example may be more effective than the connector assembly having the one-to-one connection structure of the male and female connectors <NUM> described above.

Next, a connector assembly according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to <FIG>.

When explaining the connector assembly according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, features different from the former embodiment will be described in detail, and features identical to the former embodiment will not be described in detail.

<FIG> are diagrams for illustrating a fastening structure between male and female connectors <NUM> according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the female connector <NUM> according to another embodiment of the present disclosure has a locking groove <NUM> formed by depressing an inner surface of at least one of an upper end and a lower end of a front surface thereof to which the male connector <NUM> is connected.

In addition, the male connector <NUM> has a locking pin <NUM> provided at an upper end or a lower end thereof to be locked to or unlocked from the locking groove <NUM> by means of a seesawing structure.

Referring to <FIG>, the locking pin <NUM> may be integrally formed at an outer side of a housing of the male connector <NUM> such that, if one end thereof based on a support point located at one site is pressed, the other end is lifted. The other end of the locking pin <NUM> may be provided with a projection 24a that at least partially engages with the locking groove <NUM> of the female connector <NUM>.

The fastening structure between the male and female connectors <NUM> according to this embodiment may the male and female connectors <NUM> from being broken or deformed when the male connector <NUM> is inserted into or separated from the female connector <NUM>.

In the above embodiment, when the male connector <NUM> is inserted into or separated from the female connector <NUM>, the hooking protrusions <NUM>, <NUM> of the female connector <NUM> should be widened so that the male connector <NUM> may pass into and out of the front end of the female connector <NUM>. However, even if the female connector <NUM> is made of a material elastically deformable within a certain range, when the female and female connectors <NUM> are repeatedly fastened, the coupling force of the female connector <NUM> is weakened due to deformation or breakage thereof.

Meanwhile, according to this embodiment, when the male connector <NUM> is inserted into or separated from the female connector <NUM>, the male connector <NUM> may be inserted or separated by appropriately using the locking pin <NUM> without widening the front end of the female connector <NUM>. In other words, the male connector <NUM> may be inserted into or separated from the female connector <NUM> in a state of pressing a front portion of the locking pin <NUM>. Alternatively, the male connector <NUM> may also be inserted into or separated from the female connector <NUM> in a state of slightly lifting up a rear portion of the locking pin <NUM> with a predetermined tool.

If the locking pin <NUM> according to this embodiment is used, there is no need to widen the front end of the female connector <NUM> or forcibly press the front end of the male connector <NUM> into the front end of the female connector <NUM>. Thus, while the male and female connectors <NUM> are fastened or released, it is possible to minimize the damage of the male and female connectors <NUM>, thereby improving the coupling force and durability of the male and female connectors <NUM>.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams for illustrating an assembling structure of a plurality of female connectors <NUM> according to an embodiment not forming part of the invention.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the female connector <NUM> according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure includes a first uneven portion <NUM> formed at one side surface thereof and having ridges and valleys repeatedly and a second uneven portion <NUM> formed at the other side surface thereof to engage with the first uneven portion <NUM>.

Any one female connector <NUM> and another female connector <NUM> may be connected to each other by fitting the first uneven portion <NUM> vertically into the second uneven portion <NUM>. The first uneven portion <NUM> and the second uneven portion <NUM> according to this embodiment may correspond to the convex block <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> of the former embodiment.

However, the first uneven portion <NUM> and the second uneven portion <NUM> according to this embodiment may easily adjust the number and depth of ridges and valleys at both side surfaces of the female connector <NUM>, compared to the convex block <NUM> and the concave groove <NUM> of the former embodiment having a "T" shape. Thus, the unit female connector <NUM> of this embodiment may be manufactured into a slim design more easily than the female connector <NUM> of the former embodiment.

The unit female connector <NUM> having one pin <NUM> should be made as slim as possible so that the entire female connector <NUM> formed by connecting unit female connectors may have a compact design. In this regard, the assembling structure of the female connectors <NUM> according to this embodiment may be more advantageous in slimming the unit female connector <NUM> and the entire female connector <NUM> formed by connecting unit female connectors, compared to the former embodiment.

The +X-axis direction of <FIG> is a direction in which the pin <NUM> of the female connector <NUM> is electrically connected to a conductive pattern of the circuit board <NUM> when the female connector <NUM> is mounted to the circuit board <NUM>. If vibration or an external force is applied, the female connectors <NUM> may be pushed in the +X-axis direction, which may cut the electrical connection between the pin <NUM> of the female connector <NUM> and the conductive pattern of the circuit board <NUM>. Thus, it is particularly needed to fix the female connector <NUM> to the circuit board <NUM> such that the female connector <NUM> is not pushed in the +X axis direction.

To this end, the first uneven portion <NUM> and the second uneven portion <NUM> according to this embodiment may be provided to have a saw-tooth form inclined in one direction as shown in <FIG>.

In a state where the first uneven portion <NUM> and the second uneven portion <NUM> formed as above engage with each other, even if an external force is applied, the possibility that any one unit female connector <NUM> is separated from another unit female connector <NUM> and moves in the +X axis direction of in <FIG> is very low. That is, if the unit female connectors <NUM> are connected as in this embodiment, even if there is external vibration, the possibility that the unit female connectors <NUM> are individually separated and move in the +X axis direction to cut the electric connection with the conductive pattern of the circuit board <NUM> may be greatly lowered.

Claim 1:
A connector assembly for a circuit board (<NUM>), comprising:
a plurality of female connectors (<NUM>) each configured to be individually mounted to a printed circuit board (<NUM>), wherein each female of the female connectors respectively having a predetermined number of pins (<NUM>) configured to be connected to the printed circuit board (<NUM>); and
at least one male connector (<NUM>) having a plug terminal (<NUM>) configured to be coupled with the pins of the plurality of female connectors,
wherein the female connectors are configured to be successively assembled with each other along a first direction (+Y),
wherein each of the plurality of female connectors has a hooking protrusion (<NUM>, <NUM>) protruding in second direction (+X) perpendicular to the first direction bent in a third direction perpendicular to both the first and the second direction, wherein the hooking protrusion is bent on at least one of an upper end and a lower end of a front surface thereof to which the male connector is connected,
wherein each of the at least one male connector has a hooking groove (<NUM>, <NUM>) provided to be hooked with the hooking protrusion,
characterized in that each female connector of the plurality of female connectors has a convex block (<NUM>) formed at a first side surface thereof to protrude in the first direction and a concave groove (<NUM>) formed at a opposite side surface thereof to be depressed in a shape corresponding to the convex block, and
in that adjacent female connectors of the plurality of female connectors are removably connected to each other by sliding in the third direction the convex block of one female connector into the concave groove of an adjacent female connector.