EP0642700A1 - Holdown system for connector. - Google Patents
Holdown system for connector.Info
- Publication number
- EP0642700A1 EP0642700A1 EP92913297A EP92913297A EP0642700A1 EP 0642700 A1 EP0642700 A1 EP 0642700A1 EP 92913297 A EP92913297 A EP 92913297A EP 92913297 A EP92913297 A EP 92913297A EP 0642700 A1 EP0642700 A1 EP 0642700A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- peg
- board
- clip
- connector
- clips
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
- H01R12/70—Coupling devices
- H01R12/7005—Guiding, mounting, polarizing or locking means; Extractors
- H01R12/7011—Locking or fixing a connector to a PCB
- H01R12/7064—Press fitting
Definitions
- One type of connector which mounts near the edge of a circuit board includes a housing molded of a polymer.
- the housing includes a main portion which rests on the upper surface of the circuit board and several depending pegs that extend through round holes in the circuit board. After the pegs are inserted through the holes, downwardly protruding portions of the pegs are heat staked to melt the ends of the plastic legs so portions thereof extend against the bottom surface of the circuit board and thereby lock the connector to the board.
- Companies which purchase the connectors to mount on circuit boards often wish to avoid the secondary operation of heat staking. Heat staking adds cost to the assembly and is often perceived as unreliable and as being inconsistent or difficult to monitor in a manufacturing environment. If the pegs could be constructed by the connector manufacturer, so the pegs automatically securely locked to the board upon merely pressing the connector down against the board, the assembly cost for the customer could be significantly reduced.
- a board-mounted connector assembly of low cost which enables the connector to be mounted on the board by merely pressing the connector into place.
- the connector includes a polymer-molded housing with a main part that lies above the board and with integrally molded pegs which each projects down into a board hole.
- a plurality of metal clips are provided, each mounted on one of the pegs and having resilient arms that press outwardly against the walls of the hole.
- the connector manufacturer installs the clips on the pegs, and the customer can mount the connector on a board by merely drilling round holes in a board and pressing down the connector so the pegs with the clips thereon move down into the board holes and automatically held in place.
- Each clip can be constructed with a band that mounts about a portion of the peg, a plurality of arms extending largely downwardly but with a bowed portion for bearing against the walls of the hole, and an upper portion which locks into place on the peg.
- the arms have free lower ends which slidably bear against lower portions of the peg, so opposite ends of each arm are supported although the lower end can slide as the middle is deflected.
- the upper portion of each clip includes a leg with one end extending upwardly from the band but bent around in a 180° loop, to form a downwardly-extending part with a tip that lies against an upwardly-facing shoulder formed on the peg.
- Fig. 1 is an exploded isometric view of a connector and a portion of a circuit board on which the connector can mount.
- Fig. 2 is an exploded side elevation view of the connector of Fig. 1, but without the contacts, and showing in phantom lines a portion of the circuit board.
- Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3 - 3 of Fig. 2.
- Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 - 4 of Fig. 3.
- Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 5 - 5 of Fig. 3.
- Fig. 6 is a partial exploded bottom view of a portion of the connector of Fig. 1, showing a peg and a clip that can mount thereon, and also showing in phantom line the clip mounted on the peg.
- Fig. 7 is a plan view of the clip of Fig. 6.
- Fig. 8 is a view taken on the line 8 - 8 of Fig. 7, and also showing in phantom lines, a carrier which holds the clip prior to its installation.
- Fig. 9 is a view taken on the line 9 - 9 of Fig. 7.
- Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line 10 - 10 of Fig. 7.
- Fig. 11 is a plan view of the clip of Fig. 7, showing it after it has been blanked from a metal sheet, but prior to bending thereof.
- Fig. 12 is an enlarged view of a portion of the connector of Fig. 3 without the clip.
- Fig. 13 is a view taken on the line 13 - 13 of Fig. 12.
- Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken on the line
- Fig. 1 shows a board-mounted connector assembly 10 which includes a circuit board 12 having a plurality of peg- receiving holes 14, and a connector 16 having a plurality of peg assemblies 20 which mount in the board holes 14.
- the connector has a plurality of socket contacts 22 with socket portions 24 mounted in a connector housing 26 for receiving pin contacts.
- the contacts have tails 28 which project from the housing and are designed to be received in board contact holes 30 formed by plated holes and surrounding traces of the circuit board.
- This general type of connector assembly has been widely used, but instead of the peg assemblies 20, simple pegs were used in the form of simple cylindrical rods that projected through holes in the circuit board.
- a metal clip 32 (Fig. 2) which fits on a plastic peg 34 that is molded integrally with a main housing part 35 of the housing 26.
- the clip 32 locks onto the peg 34, and has spring arms 36, 38 that bear against the walls of the peg-receiving hole 14 of the circuit board.
- the peg-and-clip assembly secures the connector to the board.
- each peg 36 has a tapered lower portion 40 which is of progressively smaller width at progressively lower locations along the axis 42 of the peg and clip, the illustrated peg having a lower portion that is largely conical.
- the peg has an upper portion 44 which is largely cylindrical, and which includes cutouts 46 forming upwardly-facing shoulders 48.
- the peg also forms a pair of grooves 50 that lie on opposite sides of the peg and extend along the lower portion 40 and partially into the upper portion 44.
- Each groove has an inner wall 91 that extends downwardly and with a radially inward directional component (i.e. toward axis 42).
- the clip 32 includes a band portion or band 52 which is designed to closely surround the upper portion 44 of the peg.
- the arms 36, 38 each have upper portions 60 mounted on the band, lower portions 62 designed to lie in the grooves 50, and outwardly-bowed middle portions 64.
- the middle portions 64 are designed to press against the walls of the board hole to anchor the peg-pin assembly 20 to the circuit board. Since both ends 60, 62 of each arm are supported, they both resist inward deflection of the middle 64 of the arm, to enable the arm to provide large resistance against deflection by the walls of the board hole.
- the lower part 62 of each arm can shift position upwardly or downwardly along a corresponding groove 50 of the peg, to accommodate inward and outward deflection of the arm middle 64.
- the clip has an upper portion 70 that includes a pair of locking legs 72, 74 lying on opposite sides of the axis 42. Each leg has a downwardly-facing tip 76 which is designed to engage a corresponding upwardly-facing shoulder 48 of the peg 48, to thereby lock the clip onto the peg.
- Figs. 7 - 11 illustrate details of the clip 32.
- the clip is originally cut from a sheet of metal, and originally has the shape shown at 32A, with the sheet of metal including a carrier strip 80 which will eventually be cut away along the line 82.
- the band portion or band 52 of the clip is bent into a circle as shown in Fig. 7.
- the locking legs 72, 74 are bent approximately 180° about axis 84 (Fig. 11) to form the legs.
- Each leg initially extends upwardly, but is bent over to form an end portion 86 (Fig. 10) furthest from the band 52, with the end portion 86 extending downwardly and with the tip 76 of the leg facing downwardly to abut a shoulder on the peg.
- Figs. 12 - 14 show details of the plastic peg 36. It is noted that the top part 90 of the peg upper portion extends upwardly into a recess 92 formed in a lower wall 96 of the connector housing. The recess 92 enables a somewhat longer peg to be used, to accommodate the considerable vertical length of the clip, without the peg projecting very far below the bottom surface of the circuit board. It is noted that prior connectors of this type, wherein the bottom of a peg was heat staked, resulted in the heat staked part projecting below the lower surface of the circuit board by only about one half the thickness of the circuit board. Applicant constructs the peg-clip assembly so it does not project any further than the stake portion of prior connectors.
- Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the clip 32 mounted on the peg 36, and with the peg-and-clip assembly mounted in a hole 14 of the circuit board 12. It can be seen that the spring arms such as arm 38, initially lies in a position shown at 38B. However, as the peg and clip are inserted into the circuit board hole, the middle 64 of each arm deflects radially inwardly, towards the axis 42, while the lower part 62 of the arm slides along the walls of the peg groove 50.
- the connector housing 26 is injection molded to the shape shown, with the pegs integral with the rest of the housing.
- the connector shown has four modules 98 whose housing are individually molded and then held to other housings, although the entire connector housing can be molded in a single cavity.
- the clips are blanked from sheet metal and are rolled and otherwise formed to the shape shown.
- the connector manufacturer installs each clip by moving the clip upwardly along the peg until the tips 76 (Fig. 5) of the clip arms "snap" above the peg shoulders 48.
- the connector with the peg-and-clip assemblies can be placed over the upper surface 100 of the circuit board and with the pegs aligned with the holes in the circuit board. The tapered lower ends of the peg help them align with the holes.
- the connector can be pressed down with a simple press to move all peg-and-clip assemblies into corresponding holes. When fully installed, the pegs extend below the lower surface 101 of the board. It may be noted that Fig. 1 shows small retention pins 102 on the lower surface of the connector housing, which are intended to insert into retention pin-receiving apertures 104 formed in a circuit board. Such retention pins provide additional guidance during installation of the connector on the PC board, and provide stress relief for the contact solder joints by withstanding stresses caused by repeated connector mate/unmate cycles.
- the connector can be installed in unplated peg holes, or in plated peg holes of a circuit board.
- the presence of the clip has an advantage when used in plated holes, in that it enables soldering of the clip to the walls of the circuit board holes.
- a metal plating 110 can be used on the circuit board hole 14.
- a soldering operation such as a wave soldering operation is commonly performed to solder the contact tail to the holes in the circuit board.
- soldering operation will result in quantities of solder indicated at 112 adhering to the metal plating 110 of the peg-receiving holes, as well as to the metal clip 32.
- soldering holds the peg-and-clip assembly even more securely to the circuit board.
- the invention provides a peg device or assembly which can securely hold a connector to a circuit board, which enables installation of the connector by merely pressing it down in place (which may be followed by a soldering operation) .
- This is accomplished by forming the connector housing with integrally molded pegs, and by mounting a spring clip on each plastic peg.
- the clips are preferably formed of copper alloy metal.
- Each clip has one or more resilient spring arms that are biased outwardly to press against the walls of a circuit board hole.
- the arms can have upper ends extending from a band which surrounds the peg, lower ends which are slidably supported by a lower portion of the peg, and a middle which is outwardly bowed (relative to the axis of the peg and clip) , to enable each arm to press forcefully against the walls of the circuit board hole.
- the clip can be locked to the peg by forming the peg with one or more upwardly-facing shoulder portions, and forming the clip with arms that are bent about 180° to form downwardly-facing tips that abut the shoulders of the peg.
- the bottom wall of the connector main housing portion can include a recess about the peg, to enable a longer peg to be accommodated.
Landscapes
- Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA002135177A CA2135177C (en) | 1992-05-29 | 1992-05-29 | Holddown system for connector |
PCT/US1992/004506 WO1993024974A1 (en) | 1992-05-29 | 1992-05-29 | Holdown system for connector |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0642700A1 true EP0642700A1 (en) | 1995-03-15 |
EP0642700B1 EP0642700B1 (en) | 1996-07-24 |
Family
ID=4154613
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP92913297A Expired - Lifetime EP0642700B1 (en) | 1992-05-29 | 1992-05-29 | Holddown system for connector |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0642700B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2667056B2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2135177C (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP4597416B2 (en) * | 2001-04-20 | 2010-12-15 | 日本圧着端子製造株式会社 | Electrical connector |
-
1992
- 1992-05-29 JP JP5509618A patent/JP2667056B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1992-05-29 CA CA002135177A patent/CA2135177C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1992-05-29 EP EP92913297A patent/EP0642700B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See references of WO9324974A1 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JPH07509092A (en) | 1995-10-05 |
CA2135177C (en) | 1998-06-23 |
EP0642700B1 (en) | 1996-07-24 |
CA2135177A1 (en) | 1993-12-09 |
JP2667056B2 (en) | 1997-10-22 |
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