Substrate connector
View Patent ↗There are provided in the substrate connector a connector main body that has a leading end face butted against the circuit board, thereby bringing leading end faces of terminal fitting, which are housed and retained in the connector main body, with contact point patterns on the circuit board, thereby butting; and a connector receiving member that is attached to the circuit board and that holds the leading end face of the connector main body butted against the surface of the circuit board. The terminal fitting is provided by spring pieces that impart predetermined contact pressure as a result of contact points, which contact the contact point patterns, experiencing elastic deformation upon contact with the corresponding contact point patterns.
1. A substrate connector that conductively connects a terminal fitting connected to a cable from an external device with contact point patterns arrayed at a predetermined array pitch on one side of a circuit board, the connector comprising:
a connector main body that houses and retains pieces of the terminal fitting at an array pitch corresponding to the array pitch of the contact point patterns and having a leading end face butted against a surface of the circuit board on which the contact point patterns are arrayed, so as to bring leading end faces of the pieces of the terminal fitting with the contact point patterns; and
a connector receiving member that is attached to the circuit board and that holds the leading end face of the connector main body butted against the surface of the circuit board;
wherein the terminal fitting is provided with a spring piece that imparts a predetermined contact pressure to the contact point patterns by a predetermined elastic deformation upon contact with the corresponding contact point patterns and served as contact points to be contacted with the contact point patterns, and
the spring piece is formed integrally on the terminal main body by folding a strip-shaped plate piece continued from the one sidewall of the terminal main body such that a portion of the plate piece projects from the leading end of the terminal main body.
2. The substrate connector according to claim 1 , wherein, when elastically deformed upon contact with the contact point patterns, the contact points of the terminal fitting are elastically displaced along a planar direction of the contact point patterns so as to slide over surfaces of the contact point patterns.
3. The substrate connector according to claim 1 , wherein the spring piece is placed between a pair of sidewalls of the terminal fitting such that a portion of the spring piece projects from the leading end of the terminal main body;
a leading end of the portion of the spring piece that projects from the leading end of the terminal main body is served as the contact point; and
a portion of the spring piece situated in the terminal main body is served as a spring for elastically displacing the corresponding contact point in a direction opposite to a projecting direction.
4. The substrate connector according to claim 1 , wherein the connector receiving member has a tubular section to which the connector main body fits and a boss provided projectingly on an exterior surface of the tubular section, and
wherein the connector main body includes a fitting control lever attached so as to be turnable and a cam groove that is formed in the fitting control lever and that draws the boss in a fitting direction of the connector main body by turning action of the fitting control lever, so as to connect the connector main body to the connector receiving member.