CONNECTOR

Abstract

A connector including an insulating housing, a plurality of terminals arrayed and held on the housing, and a conductive shell, wherein the housing is positioned within the shell in island form. The shell is formed of a single metal plate, and includes a peripheral wall surrounding the housing, bottom plates extending from lower ends of the peripheral wall on a side of mounting to the board to inside of the peripheral wall, and a pair of supporting pieces extending from the bottom plates and supporting the housing. The pair of supporting pieces are formed by being raised from the bottom plates so as to respectively conform to side surfaces of the housing that are opposite each other, and then being folded with their tips press-fit in the housing. The peripheral wall is of a single-ply structure of the metal plate without a seam throughout a periphery thereof.

Claims

1. A connector configured to be mounted on a board, the connector comprising an insulating housing, terminals arrayed and held on the housing, and a conductive shell, wherein the housing is positioned within the shell in island form, the shell is formed of a single metal plate, and includes a peripheral wall surrounding the housing, bottom plates extending from lower ends of the peripheral wall on a side of mounting to the board to inside of the peripheral wall, and a pair of supporting pieces extending from the bottom plates and supporting the housing, the pair of supporting pieces are formed by being raised from the bottom plates so as to respectively conform to side surfaces of the housing that are opposite each other, and then being folded with their tips press-fit in the housing, and the peripheral wall is of a single-ply structure of the metal plate without a seam throughout a periphery thereof.

2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a bent portion formed by being bent outward is provided at an upper end of the peripheral wall throughout the periphery.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first connector for a conventional board-to-board connector.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a second connector for the conventional board-to-board connector.

[0018] FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a first shell in FIG. 1.

[0019] FIG. 3B is a perspective view showing a first insulator having first contacts held thereon from FIG. 1.

[0020] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the first connector shown in FIG. 1 and the second connector shown in FIG. 2 in a connected state.

[0021] FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment as seen from above.

[0022] FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 5A as seen from below.

[0023] FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a housing shown in FIG. 5A having terminals held thereon as seen from above.

[0024] FIG. 6B is a perspective view of the housing shown in FIG. 6A having terminals held thereon as seen from below.

[0025] FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a shell shown in FIG. 5A as seen from above.

[0026] FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the shell shown in FIG. 7A as seen from below.

[0027] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a mating connector to be fitted with the connector shown in FIG. 5A.

[0028] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the connector shown in FIG. 5A and the mating connector shown in FIG. 8 in a connected state.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0029] 10: first connector [0030] 11: first insulator [0031] 11a: bottom plate portion [0032] 11b: side wall [0033] 11c: central protruding portion [0034] 11d: lateral protruding portion [0035] 11e: recessed portion [0036] 11f: recessed portion [0037] 11g: recessed portion [0038] 11h: step portion [0039] 11i: hole [0040] 12: first contact [0041] 13: first shell [0042] 14: outer wall portion [0043] 15: outer wall portion [0044] 16: inner wall portion [0045] 17: inner wall portion [0046] 17a: projection [0047] 18: coupling portion [0048] 19: arm portion [0049] 19a: tip portion [0050] 20: second connector [0051] 21: second insulator [0052] 21a: retaining wall [0053] 22: second contact [0054] 23: second shell [0055] 24: outer wall portion [0056] 25: outer wall portion [0057] 26: coupling portion [0058] 30: housing [0059] 30a: upper surface [0060] 30b: lower surface [0061] 30c: side surface [0062] 30d: side surface [0063] 30e: side surface [0064] 30f: side surface [0065] 31: groove [0066] 32: recessed portion [0067] 33: recessed portion [0068] 34: hole [0069] 35: recessed portion [0070] 40: terminal [0071] 41: connecting portion [0072] 50: shell [0073] 51: peripheral wall [0074] 51a: bent portion [0075] 51b: lug [0076] 51c: lug [0077] 52: bottom plate [0078] 52a: notch [0079] 53: supporting piece [0080] 53a: raised portion [0081] 53b: extension portion [0082] 53c: tip portion [0083] 60: housing [0084] 70: terminal [0085] 80: shell [0086] 81: outer wall portion [0087] 82: outer wall portion [0088] 81a: lug [0089] 82a: extension portion [0090] 83: coupling portion [0091] 84: inner wall portion [0092] 100: connector [0093] 200: mating connector

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0094] An embodiment is described with reference to drawings.

[0095] FIGS. 5A and 5B show an embodiment of a connector of the present invention, where a connector 100 is a connector for mounting on one board as a board-to-board connector, for example, and is a connector on the side to which the mating connector is fitted (a connector for receiving the mating connector), corresponding to the aforementioned first connector 10 shown in FIG. 1.

[0096] The connector 100 is formed of an insulating housing 30, multiple (forty in this example) terminals 40 arrayed and held on the housing 30, and a conductive shell 50. FIGS. 6A and 6B show a state in which the shell 50 has been removed from the connector 100, and FIGS. 7A and 7B show details of the shell 50.

[0097] The housing 30 is made of resin and in this example is in the shape of an elongated, flat substantially rectangular parallelepiped. The housing 30 has two elongated grooves 31 formed in parallel to each other and extending in a longitudinal direction except for longitudinal ends. In the longitudinal inner walls of these grooves 31 that are opposite each other, recessed portions 32, 33 are formed, respectively, being arrayed in the longitudinal direction at a predetermined pitch, where twenty pairs of the recessed portions 32, 33 formed opposite each other are present in each of the grooves 31. At the longitudinal ends of the housing 30, holes 34 positioned in the center of a width direction of the housing 30 are formed respectively in upper surfaces 30a of the housing 30.

[0098] The terminals 40 have been inserted from a lower surface 30b of the housing 30 and attached to the housing 30. Each terminal 40 straddles the recessed portions 32 and 33, where twenty terminals 40 are arranged in each groove 31 of the housing 30. A connecting portion 41 of each terminal 40 to be soldered to a pad on the board is positioned in a recessed portion 35 formed in the lower surface 30b of the housing 30, with the tips of the terminals 40 slightly protruding from side surfaces 30c, 30d of the housing 30, respectively.

[0099] The shell 50 is formed by processing of a single metal plate, having a peripheral wall 51 in the form of a rectangular frame, bottom plates 52 formed extending from lower ends of the peripheral wall 51 on the side of mounting to the board to inside of the peripheral wall 51, and a pair of supporting pieces 53 formed extending from the bottom plates 52.

[0100] The bottom plates 52 are positioned at longitudinal ends of the shell 50 and slightly block an opening formed by the peripheral wall 51. The pair of supporting pieces 53 are formed by being raised so as to face each other from the bottom plates 52, which are positioned at the longitudinal ends of the shell 50. Each supporting piece 53 is formed of a raised portion 53a, an extension portion 53b extending being folded from the raised portion 53a inwardly with respect to the opposite extension portion 53b, and a tip portion 53c extending being folded downward from the extension portion 53b. Each bottom plate 52 is provided with notches 52a positioned on the opposite sides of the supporting piece 53 in the width direction.

[0101] The peripheral wall 51 is of a single-ply structure of a metal plate which is continuous without a seam throughout the periphery, and a bent portion 51a formed by being bent outward is provided at an upper end throughout the periphery. Two lugs 51b protruding inward are formed respectively on the upper end side of the opposing two sides of the peripheral wall 51 representing the longer sides of the rectangle, while one lug 51c which also protrudes inward is formed respectively on the upper end side of the other opposing two sides representing the shorter sides of the rectangle.

[0102] The shell 50 structured as described above is formed by drawing a blank (flat plate) cut into a required shape and then performing bending of the supporting pieces 53 and processing for making lugs 51b, 51c stick out. In FIG. 7A, arrow D indicates the direction of drawing. The bottom plate 52 defines the bottom in the drawing process.

[0103] Attachment of the shell 50 to the housing 30 is done by pushing down the shell 50 from above the housing 30 having the terminals 40 held thereon, and press-fitting the tip portions 53c of the pair of supporting pieces 53 into the holes 34 of the housing 30. The housing 30 is supported by the pair of supporting pieces 53 and positioned within the shell 50 in island form, creating a structure in which its entire periphery is surrounded by the peripheral wall 51 of the shell 50, thus completing the connector 100 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The raised portions 53a of the pair of supporting pieces 53 are positioned so as to respectively conform to side surfaces 30e, 30f of the housing 30 at the longitudinal ends (side surfaces of the housing 30 that are opposite each other), making a structure of sandwiching the housing 30.

[0104] FIG. 8 shows a mating connector 200 which is connected with the connector 100 described above to constitute a board-to-board connector. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 60 indicates an insulating housing and 70 indicates a terminal. Reference numeral 80 indicates a conductive shell. The terminals 70 are insert-molded on the housing 60 and arranged in two rows, where there are twenty terminals per row, or forty terminals in total in the two rows.

[0105] The shell 80 in the form of a rectangular frame is formed by folding of a metal plate in this example, and has outer wall portions 81 positioned on the opposing two sides as the longer sides of the rectangle, respectively, outer wall portions 82 positioned on the opposing two sides as the shorter sides of the rectangle, respectively, coupling portions 83 coupling upper ends of the outer wall portions 81 and 82, and inner wall portions 84 folded inward from the respective outer wall portions 82 and positioned inside the outer wall portions 82. Each outer wall portion 82 is split into two due to lack of a center of the side direction, and has extension portions 82a (see FIG. 9 discussed later) which extend being folded from the opposite ends of the side direction, and are positioned inside the outer wall portions 81, and overlap the outer wall portions 81.

[0106] Attachment of the shell 80 to the housing 60 is done by placing the shell 80 over the housing 60 having the terminals 70 held thereon and pushing in the shell 80. Two lugs 81a protruding outward are formed on each of the two outer wall portions 81 of the shell 80 on the upper end side.

[0107] FIG. 9 shows the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 in a connected state, where the boards on which the connector 100 and the mating connector 200 are mounted respectively are not illustrated. The mating connector 200 is structured to be fitted into the shell 50 of the connector 100 and connected with the connector 100.

[0108] While the structure of the connector 100 as an embodiment of the connector according to the present invention has been described and further the structure of the mating connector 200 and the state of connection with the mating connector 200 have been described, the structure of the connector 100 can provide the effects (1) and (2):

(1) Since the peripheral wall 51 of the shell 50 defining the outer enclosure of the connector 100 and responsible for electromagnetic shielding is structured such that a metal plate runs continuously throughout the periphery and there is no seam throughout the periphery, electromagnetic leakage or the like does not occur as in the conventional first connector 10 and hence good shielding performance can be obtained.

[0109] In addition, as the connector 100 is a connector into which the mating connector 200 is fitted and which receives the mating connector 200, the mating connector 200 is also enclosed by the peripheral wall 51 of the shell 50 when the mating connector 200 is connected. Accordingly, sufficient shielding performance can be achieved in a state of connection even if the shielding performance of the mating connector 200 is not sufficient, for example.

(2) The peripheral wall 51 of the shell 50 is formed of a single-ply metal plate unlike the conventional first connector 10 where two layers of metal plates are present inside and outside. Also, the housing 30 is not present in the portion where the peripheral wall 51 is positioned but the peripheral wall 51 is present alone, and the housing 30 is configured to be positioned within the shell 50 in island form. These aspects facilitate downsizing of the connector.

[0110] The foregoing description of the embodiment of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive and to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiment was chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application, and to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.