WO1998049756A1

WO1998049756A1 - Electrical connector

Info

Publication number: WO1998049756A1
Application number: PCT/US1998/008050
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ping Chen; Akira Nagamine
Original assignee: The Whitaker Corporation
Priority date: 1997-04-25
Filing date: 1998-04-22
Publication date: 1998-11-05
Also published as: JPH10302914A; AU7253098A

Abstract

An electrical connector provides an easy and reliable connection with printed circuit boards and flexible printed circuits. Electrical connector (10) for interconnection with electrical circuit boards has a mounting member (53) extending from a mounting surface (55) having projections (54) protruding sidewise therefrom. The printed circuit board (100) has an opening (110) with wide sections (120a, 120b) and narrow sections (130a, 130b). The electrical connector (10) is first installed on the printed circuit board (100) so that the projections (54) pass through the wide sections (120a, 120b) of the opening (110). At this time the mounting surface (55) of the electrical connector (10) is adjacent the surface of the printed circuit board (100). Thereafter, the electrical connector (10) is slid along the opening (110), thereby forming interconnection between electrical contacts (20) and corresponding conductive pads (150) on the printed circuit board. In this position, the projections (54) engage against the narrow sections (130a, 130b) of the printed circuit board (100), thereby preventing the electrical connector from disconnecting from the printed circuit board.

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR

The present invention relates to electrical connectors for mounting on printed circuit boards, more specifically, for mounting on rigid printed circuit boards and on flexible printed circuits.

Electrical connectors mounted on printed circuit boards are known. Electrical connectors of this type are usually soldered to conductive pads on a surface of printed circuit boards. In many cases, a cream solder is applied to the conductive pads on the printed circuit board in advance and an electrical connector is placed over the board so that its electrical contacts are aligned with the conductive pads, after which the solder is heated, thus effecting soldered electrical connection between the printed circuit board and the electrical connector.

However, it is desirable to have electrical connectors that effect a more reliable electrical connection with printed circuit boards by a less complicated method, especially electrical connectors which can be installed on a printed circuit board without the use of soldering.

The present invention is directed to an electrical connector having contact sections of electrical contacts arranged along a surface of a dielectric housing having a latching device for the purpose of engaging with an interconnection member that has conductive pads, the engagement device serving as a guide when the surface of the housing is positioned at almost the same height as a receiving surface of the interconnection member with the conductive pads and when it is slid along the receiving surface, the latching device plays the role of a guide and makes it possible to form electrical connection between the contact sections and the conductive pads at the time when sliding motion is completed.

The latching device has a latching member which becomes engaged with the interconnecting member when the contacts are in a position to form electrical connection with corresponding conductive pads, thereby restricting the electrical connector in the direction of the receiving surface. The latching member can be an integral part of the housing and connected thereto by means of a narrow beam.

The latching device includes a mounting member extending in a lengthwise direction of the housing. The mounting member has protrusions which at the time of engagement with the interconnection member engage against a bottom surface of the interconnecting member. In addition, slots corresponding to the protrusions are located in the interconnecting member in its longitudinal direction.

The contacts are arranged in at least two rows in the housing and the mounting member is positioned along a centerline of the rows.

The interconnection member is a rigid printed circuit board or a flexible printed circuit having a supporting member supporting the flexible printed circuit.

The electrical connector according to the present invention comprises electrical contacts forming electrical connection with conductive pads on a surface of a printed circuit board and the contacts are located in a housing having a mounting member provided with a mating surface extending toward the printed circuit board and projections laterally extending from the mounting member and located separately from the mating surface; the projections are inserted through wide sections of an opening of the printed circuit board, after which the electrical connector is slid along the opening, thereby effecting electrical connection between the contacts and conductive pads, at which time the projections become latched at narrow sections of the opening, thus securing the connector on the printed circuit board.

The electrical connector according to the present invention comprises electrical contacts forming electrical connection with conductive pads on a surface of a flexible printed circuit and the contacts are located in a housing equipped with a mounting member extending from a mating surface of the housing toward the flexible printed circuit, and projections laterally extending from the mounting member and located separately from the mating surface; the flexible printed circuit has a first opening therein, and slots in a crosswise direction forming narrow tongues extending inside the first opening; a supporting member positioned under the flexible printed circuit in which a second opening is located having wide sections and narrow sections corresponding to the configuration of the first opening and the tongues; the projections bend tongues thus making it possible to insert the projections in the second opening, after which the electrical connector is slid along the second opening, thereby effecting electrical connection between the contacts and conductive pads, at which time the projections become latched at the narrow sections of the supporting member, thus securing the connector on the flexible printed circuit.

An electrical connector for electrical connection to an interconnection member comprises a dielectric housing having electrical contacts secured therein having contact sections for electrical connection to conductive pads on the interconnection member, mounting members on the housing and the interconnection member for mounting the electrical connector onto the interconnection member, wherein the mounting members include a mounting member extending along a bottom surface of the housing and having projections extending outwardly therefrom, the interconnection member has an elongated opening provided with spaced wide sections through which the projections extend and narrow sections which are engaged by the projections when the electrical connector is slid along the interconnection member thereby mounting the electrical connector on the interconnection member with the contact sections electrically connecting the conductive pads.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector shown in Figure 1 and a printed circuit board to which it is to be electrically connected.

Figure 3a is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3a-3a of Figure 2.

Figure 3b is a side view of the electrical connector for Figure 2.

Figure 3c is a bottom view of Figure 3b.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing completion of a first stage of installation of the electrical connector shown in Figure 1 on the printed circuit board.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the completion of a second stage of the installation of the electrical connector shown in Figure 1 on the printed circuit board. Figures 6a-6c are respective part cross-sectional views showing preparation for the second stage of installation of the electrical connector of Figure 1 on the printed circuit board, an intermediate position of the second stage of installation and completion of the second stage of installation.

Figure 7 is a plan view showing a flexible printed circuit intended for interconnection with the electrical connector .

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure for the interconnection of the electrical connector and the flexible printed circuit.

Electrical connector 10 has electrical contacts 20 connected to electrical wires , and a dielectric housing 50. All contacts 20 arranged in the housing 50 of electrical connector 10 are of the same type. Contacts 20 have crimping sections 22 (shown in the drawing prior to crimping) intended for electrical connection to electrical wires by crimping and contact sections 21 intended for electrical connection to conductive pads on a circuit board (to be explained below) . An edge 21c of the contact section 21 is formed by bending the metal blank back to form double metal sheets. The first metal sheet 21a is linked to the crimping section 22. First section 24 and second section 25 of first sheet 21a are separated by a slot 23 extending from edge 21c so that they are joined by a middle section 26 forming a spring-loaded structure. The first section 24 is joined to the second metal sheet 21b by the edge 21c. In the vicinity of the edge 21c at the edge 21d of the second section 25, a contact tab 27 is located and bent in a U-shape configuration so that it overlaps the second metal sheet 21b. The second metal sheet 21b is substantially a flat sheet and of such dimensions that its edges coincide with the edges 21d and 21e of the first metal sheet 21a. As explained below, the contact tab 27 of the first metal sheet 21a forms electrical connection with the respective conductive pad on the printed circuit board. The pressure required for electrical connection is provided by the U-shape contact tab 27 and the slot 23 featuring a spring-loaded contact member. In this situation, the edge 21d of the second metal sheet 21b located against a back surface of the contact tab 27 plays the role of an anti-overstress component; similarly, anti-overstress functions for the first metal sheet are performed by an edge 24a of the first section 24 and by an edge 25a of the second section 25 separated by the slot 23. The housing 50 is shaped in the form of an elongated square box and includes a mounting surface 55 located at the bottom intended for attachment to the printed circuit board and a wire lead-out surface 56 at the top. As shown, the housing 50 has two rows of cavities 68 accommodating the contacts 20. Side surfaces 51 of the housing 50 contain a hinged-contact retainer 52, the purpose of which is to secure contacts 20 in the housing. In addition, along the mounting surface 55 of the housing 50, mounting member 53 is provided and projections 54, which extend outwardly from mounting member 53 at locations near the ends of the housing 50. At one end of the housing 50, a sliding latch 57 is provided which can slide up and down along an end of the housing. At a bottom end of the sliding latch 57, latching lugs 58 are provided, the design and operation of which will be described below.

Figure 2 shows the assembled electrical connector and the printed circuit board to which it is going to be mounted. For convenience, only a portion of the printed circuit board, which is directly related to the interconnection with the connector, is shown. The same is true for Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8 where only a relevant portion of the printed circuit board or the flexible printed circuit and supporting housing are shown.

As can be seen from Figures 2, 3a-3c, the housing 50 of electrical connector 10 accommodates contacts 20 in respective cavities 68 which are retained therein. As shown in Figure 2, wires terminating the contacts 20 extend outside through the wire lead-out surface 56 of the connector in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the printed circuit board 100. Contact retainer 52 is secured in a slot 59 of the housing 50 (see Figure 1), the retaining ledge 52a engages the edges 21e of the contacts 20 thereby retaining them in their respective cavities. In this position, the contact tabs 27 of the contact sections 21 of the contacts 20 slightly extend outwardly from the mounting surface 55 of the housing 50. Since the width of the cavities 68 of the housing 50 is substantially the same as the width of the contact sections 21, the contacts fit snugly in the housing. The structure of the bottom of the housing 50 will now be described. As shown in Figure 3b, the mounting member 53 extends in the lengthwise direction of the housing 50. As can be seen from Figure 3c, the mounting member 53 has a cavity 53a. Near the ends of the mounting member 53, symmetrical projections 54 are provided. As shown in Figures 3a, 3c, projections 54 do not extend as far out as the side surfaces 51 of the housing 50, but they overlap the contact tabs 27 of the contacts 20. As can be seen from Figure 3c, the sliding latch 57 is connected to the mounting member 53 by means of a narrow beam 60 as an integral part thereof. As mentioned above, the sliding latch 57 can slide in a vertical direction, and the spring-loaded action of the beam 60 returns the sliding latch 57 to its original position every time it is deflected from such a position. When the sliding latch 57 is in its original position, the bottom surfaces of the latching lugs 58 are in the same plane as the bottom surfaces of the mounting member 53 and the projections 54. Also, as can be seen from Figure 3b, upper end 61 of the sliding latch 57 extends above the wire lead-out surface 56 of the housing 50. The sliding latch 57 is guided by a rail 67 disposed between L-shaped sections 50a at an end of housing 50 shown in Figure 1.

Figure 2 shows the electrical connector 10 together with the printed circuit board 100 to be interconnected therewith. The printed circuit board is made of a synthetic resin. As shown in Figure 1, the printed circuit board 100 has an elongated opening 110 extending in the longitudinal direction of the housing 50. As shown, the opening 110 has three wide sections, 120a, 120b, 120c, and two narrow sections 130a, 130b. On both sides of the opening 110, conductive pads 150 for electrical connection with electrical contacts 20 of the electrical connector 10 are arranged.

The process of mounting the electrical connector 10 to the printed circuit board 100 will now be explained. As can be understood from reference to Figures 2-4, at the first stage of installation, the electrical connector 10 is inserted in the opening 110 in a perpendicular direction relative to the printed circuit board 100. At the time of insertion, the projections 54 are aligned with the wide sections 120a, 120b of the opening 110. Mutual position of the electrical connector 10 and the printed circuit board 100 at this time is shown in Figures 3b, 4. As can be seen, the mounting surface 55 of the housing 50 extends along an upper surface 100a of the printed circuit board 100. As can be seen from Figure 3a, the projections 54 are already inserted through the opening 110 and are clear of the rear surface of the printed circuit board 100. At this time, the play of the housing relative to the circuit board 100 is very small, because the width of the mounting member 53 is practically the same as that of the narrow section 130a of the opening 110.

Figure 5 shows the second stage of installation. Figure 6a shows a preparation step for the second stage of installation, Figure 6b shows an intermediate position of the second stage of installation, and Figure 6c shows the completion of the second stage of installation. As shown in Figures 4, 5, the electrical connector 10 is slid along the longitudinal direction of the opening 110 of the printed circuit board 100. This direction is shown by arrow P in Figure 4 and in Figures 6a, 6b. Since the width of the mounting member 53 is practically the same as the narrow sections 130a, 130b, this operation is performed smoothly. As shown, the projections 54 are clear of the wide sections 120a, 120b and are now located under narrow sections 130a, 130b. Projections 54 have beveled surfaces 54a enabling projections 54 to slide easily under narrow sections 130a, 130b. In this position, the electrical connector 10 cannot be removed from the printed circuit board 100. The narrow sections 130a, 130b prevent play of the - y -

mounting member 53 in the direction perpendicular to the length of the opening 110 of the printed circuit board 100.

When the sliding motion is completed, the sliding latch 57 reaches a latched position in the wide section 120c of the printed circuit board 100. Figures 6a-6c show this action in more detail. In the last step of the first stage of installation shown in Figures 4 and 6a, that is in the first step of the second stage of installation, the latching lugs 58 of the sliding latch 57 are positioned under the wide section 120b. Referring also to Figures 3b, 3c, it can seen that the latching lugs 58 and projections 54 are extended outward at substantially the same height. The latching lugs 58 have latching edges 63 which are located closer to the mounting surface 55 of the housing 50 than the projections 54. The latching lugs 58 have sloped surfaces 64. When the electrical connector 10 is slid along the opening 110, sloped surfaces 64 engage with an edge 135 of the bottom surface of the printed circuit board 100 in the area of the narrow section 130b. With the progress of the sliding motion of the connector, the edge 135 of the board applies pressure to the sloped surfaces 64. Since, as was mentioned above, the sliding latch 57 is connected to the main body of the housing 50 by spring-loaded beam 60, this pressure bends the sliding latch 57 down. This condition is shown in Figure 6b. As can be seen, the latching edges 63 engage against the bottom surface 136 of the printed circuit board 100 in the area of the narrow section 130b. At this time, the beam 60 moves downwardly. When the electrical connector is moved further to the final position, the latching edges 63 of the sliding latch 57 engage against a rear surface of the wide section 120c. At this time, the spring-loaded action of the beam 60 returns the latching edges 63 of the latching lugs 58 to the position shown in Figure 6c and becomes engaged with the rear surface of wide section 120c as shown in Figure 6c. This prevents the electrical connector 10 from moving in an opposite direction, thus securing it on the printed circuit board 100.

The electrical connector 10 secured as described above can be released by repeating the above steps in the reverse order. Since the sliding latch 57 is slightly offset with respect to the wire lead-out surface, the engagement between the latching edges 63 and the wide section 120c can be easily released by pressing the sliding latch 57 down. Thereafter, the electrical connector 10 can be slid along the opening 110 in the opposite direction to a position in which the projections 54 are located at the area of the wide sections 120a, 120b, at which position the electrical connector 10 can be disconnected from the printed circuit board 100.

The electrical connector 10 can be used with flexible printed circuits as well. Below, an explanation concerning the installation of the electrical connector 10 on a flexible printed circuit 300 is provided.

As can be seen from Figure 7, the flexible printed circuit 300 has an elongated opening 310. On both sides of the opening 310, multiple conductive pads 350 intended for interconnection with the electrical contacts 20 of the connector 10 are arranged. Several slots 330 perpendicular to the slot 310 are provided. Mutually opposed slots form tongues 340a, 340b facing inside the opening 310. Tongues 340a, 340b are arranged in pairs, with the tongues 340b being wider than tongues 340a. In addition, it should be noted that tongues 340a have an L-shaped configuration with the extensions arranged parallel to the opening 310. In the vicinity of the opening 310, two openings 360 are located to accept alignment posts. As can be seen from Figure 8, a supporting member 200 is used for the interconnection of the electrical connector 10 and the flexible printed circuit 300. As it was mentioned above, the supporting member 200 is a rigid member and has an opening 210 of substantially the same configuration as the opening 110 of the printed circuit board 100. The opening 210 has wide sections 220a, 220b, 220c and narrow sections 230a, 230b, Prior to the installation of the electrical connector 10, the flexible printed circuit 300 is positioned over the supporting member 200. The openings 360 in the flexible printed circuit 300 are placed onto alignment posts 250 of the supporting member 200, thereby providing for precise positioning of the flexible printed circuit onto the supporting member. At this time, tongues 340a, 340b are superimposed over the wide sections 220a, 220b.

After the flexible printed circuit 300 is correctly positioned onto supporting member 200, the electrical connector 10 is installed on the flexible printed circuit 300 and the supporting member 200. The installation process is substantially similar to the installation of the connector 10 on the printed circuit board 100. During the first stage of installation, the projections 54 are superimposed over the tongues 340a, 340b of the flexible printed circuit 300, and then they are inserted in the opening 210 of the supporting member 200. The important moment in this stage is that the tongues 340a, 340b are bent by the projections 54 at a right angle and are pushed into the wide sections 220a, 220b of the supporting member 200. This is important for the second stage of installation. Upon completion of the first stage of installation, the mounting surface 55 of the housing 50 is positioned adjacent an upper surface 300a of the flexible printed circuit 300. During the second stage of installation, the electrical connector 10 is slid along the opening 210 of the supporting member 200, thereby effecting electrical connection of contact tabs 27 of contacts 20 to corresponding conductive pads 350. The tongues 340a, 340b bent into the wide sections 220a, 220b as described above prevent the flexible printed circuit 300 from being displaced during the sliding motion of the electrical connector 10. In the final position of the sliding motion, the tongues 340a, 340b are engaged with the projections 54. Since the mutual position of the components is very much similar to that of the first embodiment, no further description is necessary, but at the end of the sliding motion, the projections 54 are positioned against the narrow sections 230a, 230b of the opening 210 of the supporting member 200 thereby preventing the connector from being removed in a vertical direction. The mounting member 53 fits inside the narrow sections 230a, 230b, thus preventing sidewise play of the connector, and the latching edges 63 of the latching lugs 58 of the sliding latch 57 are engaged with the rear surface of the wide section 220c of the opening 210, thereby securing the interconnection between the electrical connector 10 and the flexible printed circuit 300. The action of the sliding latch 57 is the same as shown in Figures 6a-6c, with the only difference being that it is engaged with components of the supporting member 200. The operation described above makes it possible to accomplish interconnection between the electrical connector 10 and the flexible printed circuit 300. Since the disconnection of the connector from the flexible printed circuit can be accomplished according to the same procedure as for the printed circuit board 100, explanation concerning this operation is omitted.

Explanations concerning embodiments of the electrical connector according to this invention have been provided; however, they should be considered only as examples and should not limit the invention which covers also various modifications and changes.

The electrical connector according to this invention has electrical contacts whereby contact sections thereof are arranged along one surface of a housing and an engagement means intended for the connection of the connector to an interconnection member having conductive pads provides for an easy and reliable connection between the electrical connector and the interconnection member due to the fact that a surface of the housing is first placed next to a receiving surface of the interconnection member having the conductive pads and then the connector is slid along the receiving surface forming at the end of the sliding motion electrical connection between the conductive pads and the contact sections of the contacts. In addition, this sliding motion along the receiving surface of the interconnection member provides a wiping action between the contact sections and the conductive pads thereby making it possible to obtain an optimum electrical connection without soldering.

Claims

1. An electrical connector for electrical connection to an interconnection member (100, 300, 200) comprising a dielectric housing (50) having electrical contacts (20) secured therein having contact sections (21) for electrical connection to conductive pads (150, 350) on the interconnection member, mounting members (53, 54, 130a, 130b, 230a, 230b) on the housing (50) and the interconnection member (100, 300, 200) for mounting the electrical connector onto the interconnection member, characterized in that the mounting members include a mounting member (53) extending along a bottom surface of the housing (50) and having projections (54) extending outwardly therefrom, the interconnection member (100, 300, 200) has an elongated opening (110, 310, 210) provided with spaced wide sections (120a, 120b, 220a, 220b) through which the projections (54) extend and narrow sections (130a, 130b, 230a, 230b) which are engaged by the projections (54) when the electrical connector is slid along the interconnection member (100, 300, 200) thereby mounting the electrical connector on the interconnection member with the contact sections (21) electrically connecting the conductive pads (150, 350) .

2. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interconnection member (100) is a rigid circuit board.

3. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interconnection member (300, 200) is a flexible printed circuit (300) mounted on a rigid mounting member (200) .

4. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flexible printed circuit has tongues (340a, 340b) located at the wide sections (220a, 220b) , the tongues (340a, 340b) are pushed into the wide sections

(220a, 220b) by the projections (54) when the electrical connector is mounted onto the interconnection member (300, 200) .

5. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sliding latch (57) is connected to said mounting member (53) and has latching lugs (58) extending outwardly therefrom for engagement with the narrow sections (130b, 230b) when the sliding latch (57) is disposed in another wide section (120c, 220c) of the interconnection member (100, 200) .

6. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein a resilient beam (60) connects the sliding latch (57) to the mounting member (53) .

7. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact sections (21) have overlapping metal sheets (21a, 21b) , one of the metal sheets has first and second sections (24, 25) separated by a slot (23) and a U-shaped contact tab (27) extending outwardly from the second section (25) for engagement with the conductive pad.

8. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein said sliding latch (57) is slidably movable along an end of the housing (50) between L-shaped sections (50a) .

9. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting member (53) is disposed within the elongated opening (110, 310, 210) when the electrical connector is mounted onto the interconnection member.

10. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said housing (50) has a slot (59) in a side (51) of the housing, and a hinged retainer (52) is movable into the slot and engages the electrical contacts (20) thereby securing the electrical contacts in the housing.