Electrical connector
AssigneeAMP Incorporated
InventorAkira Imai
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical connector for a flat cable comprising a base housing (30) accommodating electrical contacts (50) and a cover housing (10) which is arranged to slide vertically with respect to the base housing. The cover housing and the base housing have grooves (11a, 11b) which mate with guide projections (31a, 31b) to guide the relative movement between the housings. The cover housing at a first position enables a part of a flat cable (1) to be positioned in an opening (45) of the base housing and upon movement of the cover housing to a second position, a projection (14) of the cover housing presses exposed conductors of the flat cable in engagement with the contacts. The cover housing can be maintained at its first position by a first locking means (31a) and at its second position by a second locking means (16, 37).
Claims20
An electrical connector for interconnecting a plurality of conductors on a flexible film substrate to conductors on a printed circuit board, the connector comprising:
- an insulative housing having side walls, end walls and a floor which forms an outwardly facing opening, the side walls having a plurality of laterally spaced channels therealong, extending from the opening to the floor;
- a plurality of contacts mounted within the housing, each contact comprising contact arms extending upwardly from a base portion and a tail portion extending from the base portion in the opposite direction as said contact arms, each contact being located within the housing with the contact arms within one of said channels, the contact arms being symmetrical about an axial centerline which is defined by a direction along the length of the contact arms, and having an inner contacting edge and an outer edge which is spaced from an adjacent surface of the channel, each of the contact arms of the contact being deflectable outwardly towards the adjacent surface of the channel, and the tail portion extending through an aperture in said housing floor;
- and
- a plug cap portion having an extending projection which is insertable into the insulative housing between the contact arms of the laterally spaced contacts, the plug cap portion having means allowing the plug cap portion to be movable relative to the housing between a first position allowing an access for the flexible film substrate into the housing between the extending projection and the contact arms, to a position where an end of the flexible film substrate abuts the base portions of the contacts, and a second position in which the extending projection cams the conductors on the flexible film substrate between the extending projection and one of the contact arms.
An electrical connector for interconnecting a plurality of conductors on a flexible film substrate to conductors on a printed circuit board, the connector comprising:
- an insulative housing having an opening therein defined by a front sidewall, a rear sidewall, endwalls, and a floor;
- a plurality of edge stamped contacts, each contact comprising a pair of contact arms upstanding from a base member, and a tail portion which extends below the base member, the contact arms, the base member and the tail portion being substantially uniplanar, the contacts being secured within the housing in lateral alignment with the tail portions extending through apertures in the floor of the housing for interconnection to a printed circuit board;
- a plug cap member profiled for reception over said opening, the plug cap member comprising a cover portion which substantially encloses the opening, the cover portion including a recessed portion along a front edge thereof adjacent to the front sidewall of the connector and further comprising an extension portion extending from an underside of said cover portion which extends into the opening between the contact arms, the recessed portion being profiled to admit a flexible film substrate therein between the extension portion and the contact arms, to a position in which an end of the substrate abuts the base members of the contacts;
- means to affix the plug cap portion to the housing and to allow the plug cap portion to traverse upwardly and downwardly relative to the housing, from a first flexible film substrate admitting position to a second terminated position in which the extension portion biases the conductors of the flexible film substrate against the contact arms which are adjacent the front side wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.