Connector for circuit board and method of forming it

#1. Field of the Invention

#The invention relates to a connector for circuit board and to a method of forming a connector for circuit board.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a connector according to one embodiment of the present invention showing a state where the connector is vertically mounted on a circuit board.

#FIG. 2 is a front view of the connector.

#FIG. 3 is a rear view of the connector.

#The letter C in FIGS. 1 to 4 and 6 identifies a connector according to the invention. The connector C includes a housing 10 that is mountable on a circuit board P. In the following description, a side of the housing 10 that can be mated with a mating connector (not shown), e.g. right side in FIGS. 1 and 6, is referred to as the front side, and reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 6 concerning the vertical direction.

#The housing 10 is formed e.g. of a synthetic resin and has a wide rectangular tubular receptacle 11 with a back wall 11A and an open front, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. A mating female connector (not shown) is fittable into the receptacle 11 at the open front end. Large and small terminal mount holes 12A, 12B penetrate the back wall 11A of the receptacle 11 along forward and backward directions. The small terminal mount holes 12A are arranged substantially along a widthwise direction at an upper part of the back wall 11A, and the straight terminal fittings 30S or the L-shaped terminal fittings 30L can be pressed through the small terminal mount holes 12A from the front. The large terminal mount holes 12B are arranged substantially along the widthwise direction at a lower part of the back wall 11A, and the straight terminal fittings 31S or the L-shaped terminal fittings 31L can be pressed through the large terminal mount holes 12B from the front.

#Each terminal fitting 30S, 31S, 30L, 31L is formed from a long narrow electrically conductive (metallic) plate and has a terminal connecting portion 32 at one end. The terminal connecting portion 32 projects into the receptacle 11 and is configured for connection substantially along a connecting direction CD with a female terminal fitting (not shown) in a female connector. Each terminal fitting 30S, 31S, 30L, 31L has a circuit board connecting portion 33 at the end opposite the terminal connecting portion 32. The circuit board connecting portion 33 is inserted through a terminal insertion hole 41 that penetrates the circuit board P for connection with a corresponding circuit on the circuit board P by soldering, ultrasonic welding, or the like. Each straight terminal fitting 30S, 31S is substantially straight and flat, and each L-shaped terminal fitting 30L, 31L is bent through a right angle at bend 34 to define a substantially L-shape. The straight terminal fittings 31S and the L-shaped terminal fittings 31L are wider than the straight terminal fittings 30S and the L-shaped terminal fittings 30L, and the circuit board connecting portions 33 of these wider terminal fittings 31S, 31L are forked, as shown in FIG. 4. Press-fitted projections (not shown) bulge laterally from the opposite sides of each of the terminal fittings 30S, 31S, 30L, 31L. The press-fitted projections bite in the inner walls of the terminal mount holes 12A, 12B to lock the terminal fittings 30S, 31S, 30L, 31L in the terminal mount holes 12A, 12B.