Connector and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a connector and a manufacturing method thereof. The connector comprises at least one circuit substrate, at least one elastic sheet and a first insulating elastic body. The at least one circuit substrate has a first surface. The at least one elastic sheet comprises a fixing part and a first electric contact part which are connected with each other. The fixing part is arranged on at least one circuit substrate. The first electrical contact protrudes from the first surface and shields a portion of the first surface. The first insulating elastomer is arranged on the first surface. At least part of the first insulating elastomer is arranged between the first electric contact part and the first surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector and a manufacturing method thereof, and in particular to a connector including a spring sheet and a manufacturing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Generally speaking, the electrical connection between two circuit boards is achieved through a connector. Specifically, such a connector usually includes a circuit substrate and a plurality of springs protruding from the circuit substrate. When the springs are in electrical contact with the electrical connection structures in the two circuit boards, the springs are compressed and deformed.

[0003] However, when the spring sheet deforms too much, it may fail due to elastic fatigue. As a result, the spring sheet cannot effectively make electrical contact with the electrical connection structure in the circuit board, and the electrical connection between the circuit boards cannot be achieved. Therefore, in order to prevent the spring sheet from failing, it is necessary to make the spring sheet with more expensive high-strength materials such as beryllium copper or titanium copper. In other words, it is difficult for conventional connectors to prevent the spring sheet from failing while avoiding a significant increase in the manufacturing cost of the connector. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention provides a connector and a manufacturing method thereof, so as to prevent the failure of a spring sheet and avoid a significant increase in the manufacturing cost of the connector.

[0005] A connector disclosed in one embodiment of the present invention comprises at least one circuit substrate, at least one spring sheet and a first insulating elastic body. The at least one circuit substrate has a first surface. The at least one spring sheet comprises a fixing portion and a first electrical contact portion connected to each other. The fixing portion is disposed on the at least one circuit substrate. The first electrical contact portion protrudes from the first surface and shields a portion of the first surface. The first insulating elastic body is disposed on the first surface. At least a portion of the first insulating elastic body is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface.

[0006] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first insulating elastic body includes a base portion and at least one supporting portion. The base portion is stacked on the first surface of at least one circuit substrate. The at least one supporting portion protrudes from a side of the base portion away from the circuit substrate and is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface.

[0007] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first insulating elastic body directly contacts the first electrical contact portion.

[0008] In one embodiment of the present invention, at least one circuit substrate further includes a second surface facing away from the first surface. At least one spring further includes a second electrical contact portion. The first electrical contact portion and the second electrical contact portion are respectively connected to opposite sides of the fixing portion. The second electrical contact portion protrudes from the second surface and shields a portion of the second surface. The connector further includes a second insulating elastomer. The second insulating elastomer is disposed on the second surface. At least a portion of the second insulating elastomer is between the second electrical contact portion and the second surface.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, at least one circuit substrate further has a third surface connecting the first surface and the second surface. The fixing portion is fixed to the third surface.

[0010] In one embodiment of the present invention, the number of at least one circuit substrate is plural. The number of at least one spring sheet is plural. The spring sheets are arranged in a matrix form. Each row of spring sheets is located between two adjacent circuit substrates.

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, the fixing portions of each row of spring sheets are sandwiched between two adjacent ones of the circuit substrate.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first electrical contact portion and the second electrical contact portion are bent from the fixing portion along the same direction.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first insulating elastic body is made of rubber or an elastic insulating material.

[0014] A manufacturing method of a connector disclosed in another embodiment of the present invention includes: providing at least one circuit substrate having a first surface; setting at least one spring sheet on the at least one circuit substrate, the at least one spring sheet including a fixing portion and a first electrical contact portion connected to each other, the fixing portion being set on the at least one circuit substrate, the first electrical contact portion protruding from the first surface and shielding a portion of the first surface; and setting a first insulating elastomer on the first surface, at least a portion of the first insulating elastomer being between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present invention, the step of disposing the first insulating elastic body on the first surface includes: forming an insulating elastic material layer on the first surface; and removing a portion of the insulating elastic material layer using the first electrical contact portion as a mask to form the first insulating elastic body including a base portion and at least one supporting portion. The base portion is stacked on the first surface. The at least one supporting portion protrudes from a side of the base portion away from the at least one circuit substrate and is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface.

[0016] In one embodiment of the present invention, the number of at least one circuit substrate is plural, and the circuit substrates are bonded to each other in a partially melted state.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present invention, there are a plurality of circuit substrates, and the circuit substrates are bonded to each other by an adhesive.

[0018] According to the connector and the manufacturing method thereof disclosed in the above embodiments, since at least a portion of the first insulating elastic body is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface, the first insulating elastic body can prevent the first electrical contact portion from being deformed too much. In this case, even if a relatively cheap low-strength material is used to make the spring sheet, the first insulating elastic body can ensure that the spring sheet will not fail. In this way, the manufacturing cost of the connector can be prevented from significantly increasing while preventing the spring sheet from failing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figures 1 to 9 A method for manufacturing a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is presented. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The detailed features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention are described in detail in the following embodiments, and the contents are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art to understand the technical contents of the embodiments of the present invention and implement them accordingly. According to the contents disclosed in this specification, the claims and the drawings, any person skilled in the art can easily understand the relevant purposes and advantages of the present invention. The following embodiments further illustrate the viewpoints of the present invention in detail, but do not limit the scope of the present invention in any viewpoint.

[0021] See also Figures 1 to 9 , Figures 1 to 9 A method for manufacturing a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is presented. Figures 1 to 9 The manufacturing method of the connector 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps.

[0022] like Figure 1 As shown, a circuit substrate 100 is provided, and the circuit substrate 100 has a first surface 101, a second surface 102, and a third surface 103. The second surface 102 faces away from the first surface 101. The third surface 103 connects the first surface 101 and the second surface 102. The circuit substrate 100 is made of FR-4 glass epoxy resin, for example.

[0023] like Figure 2As shown, a plurality of spring pieces 200 are disposed on the circuit substrate 100. Specifically, in the present embodiment, each of the spring pieces 200 includes a fixing portion 210, a first electrical contact portion 220, and a second electrical contact portion 230. The fixing portion 210 is fixed to the third surface 103, for example, by pressing or bonding. The first electrical contact portion 220 and the second electrical contact portion 230 are respectively connected to opposite sides of the fixing portion 210. The first electrical contact portion 220 and the second electrical contact portion 230 protrude from the first surface 101 and the second surface 102, respectively. The first electrical contact portion 220 shields a portion of the first surface 101, and the second electrical contact portion 230 shields a portion of the second surface 102. In addition, in the present embodiment, the first electrical contact portion 220 and the second electrical contact portion 230 are bent from the fixing portion 210, for example, in the same direction. That is, the first electrical contact portion 220 and the second electrical contact portion 230 protrude from the same side of the fixing portion 210, so that the fixing portion 210, the first electrical contact portion 220 and the second electrical contact portion 230 are, for example, collectively in a C shape. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first electrical contact portion and the second electrical contact portion may also be bent in opposite directions from the fixing portion, so that the fixing portion, the first electrical contact portion and the second electrical contact portion are collectively in an S shape.

[0024] like Figure 3 As shown, a plurality of circuit substrates 100 and a plurality of springs 200 are provided. Figure 3 These spring pieces 200 are arranged in a matrix form, for example. Moreover, each row of spring pieces 200 is located between two adjacent circuit substrates 100. More specifically, each row of spring pieces 200 is sandwiched between two adjacent circuit substrates 100. It should be noted that in this embodiment or other embodiments, for example, an adhesive (not shown) can be used to bond these circuit substrates 100 to each other. Since the thickness of the adhesive is relatively thin, the drawing of the adhesive is omitted in the accompanying drawings. Further, the adhesive fills the gap between two adjacent circuit substrates 100 to bond the two adjacent circuit substrates 100 to each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In this embodiment or other embodiments, it is also possible not to use an adhesive to bond these circuit substrates 100, but instead to allow these circuit substrates 100 to be directly bonded to each other in a partially molten state.

[0025] Then, if Figures 4 to 9 As shown, the steps of disposing the first insulating elastic body 300 and the second insulating elastic body 350 on the first surface 101 and the second surface 102 respectively are performed.

[0026] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, insulating elastic material layers 20 and 30 are formed on the first surface 101 and the second surface 102 of the circuit substrates 100 , respectively.

[0027] like Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, the insulating elastic material layer 20 with the first electrical contact portion 220 as a mask to remove the portion is formed into an insulating elastic semi-finished product 21, and the insulating elastic material layer 30 with the second electrical contact portion 230 as a mask to remove the portion is formed into an insulating elastic semi-finished product 31. In this embodiment, Figure 6 and Figure 7 The steps in the above are performed by, for example, a photolithography process, and the insulating elastic material layers 20 and 30 are made of, for example, photosensitive rubber, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, Figure 6 and Figure 7 The process may also be performed by a dry etching process, and the insulating elastic material layer may be made of, for example, silicone, plastic or any other elastic insulating material.

[0028] like Figure 8 and Fig. 9 As shown, the first insulating elastic body 300 is formed by using the first electrical contact portion 220 as the insulating elastic semi-finished product 21 with the mask removed, and the second insulating elastic body 350 is formed by using the second electrical contact portion 230 as the insulating elastic semi-finished product 31 with the mask removed. At this point, the manufacture of the connector 10 has been completed.

[0029] In this embodiment, Figures 6 to 9 The process is performed in a manner of using the first electrical contact portion 220 and the second electrical contact portion 230 as masks, thereby eliminating the cost of providing additional masks, thereby reducing the cost of manufacturing the first insulating elastic body 300 and the second insulating elastic body 350 .

[0030] In this embodiment, Figure 4 and Figure 5 The insulating elastic material layers 20 and 30 in the embodiment are subjected to two photolithography processes to form the first insulating elastic body 300 and the second insulating elastic body 350, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Figure 6 and Figure 7 The steps in the above step can be performed to remove part of the insulating elastic material layers 20 and 30 at one time to form the first insulating elastic body 300 and the second insulating elastic body 350; or, the steps in the above step can be omitted. Figure 8 and Fig. 9 The insulating elastic semi-finished products 21 and 31 are respectively used as the final first insulating elastic body 300 and the second insulating elastic body 350 through the steps in FIG.

[0031] It should be noted that, since the first insulating elastic body 300 and the second insulating elastic body 350 have similar structures and are disposed on the circuit substrate 100 in a similar manner, the detailed structure and the disposition of the first insulating elastic body 300 will be mainly described below.

[0032] The first insulating elastic body 300 includes a base portion 310 and a plurality of supporting portions 320. The base portion 310 is stacked on the first surface 101 of the circuit substrate 100. The supporting portion 320 protrudes from the side of the base portion 310 away from the circuit substrate 100, and is between the first electrical contact portion 220 and the first surface 101. In addition, in this embodiment, the supporting portion 320 directly contacts the first electrical contact portion 220 to strengthen the effect of the supporting portion 320 preventing the first electrical contact portion 220 from excessive deformation, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the supporting portion may also be separated from the first electrical contact portion, and only after the first electrical contact portion has a certain degree of deformation, it contacts the first electrical contact portion to provide a supporting effect.

[0033] In this embodiment, the base portion 310 not only connects the supporting portions 320 to each other to improve the overall structural strength of the first insulating elastic body 300, but also facilitates the process of forming the first insulating elastic body 300. However, in other embodiments, without considering the complexity of the process, the first insulating elastic body may not need to include the base portion.

[0034] The connector 10 according to the present invention is used, for example, to electrically connect two circuit boards (not shown) through the spring 200. The present invention is not limited to the structure of the spring 200. In other embodiments, the spring may not include the second electrical contact portion, and the second electrical contact portion may be replaced by a solder ball.

[0035] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the number of circuit substrates and springs. In other embodiments, the number of circuit substrates may be single and the connector may include only one row of springs (e.g. Figure 2 or, in still other embodiments, the number of the spring pieces may be single, and the number of the supporting portions may be correspondingly changed to single.

[0036] According to the connector and the manufacturing method thereof disclosed in the above embodiments, since at least a portion of the first insulating elastic body is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface, the first insulating elastic body can prevent the first electrical contact portion from being deformed too much. In this case, even if a relatively cheap low-strength material is used to make the spring sheet, the first insulating elastic body can ensure that the spring sheet will not fail. In this way, the manufacturing cost of the connector can be prevented from significantly increasing while preventing the spring sheet from failing.

[0037]

Explanation of symbols

[0038] 10: Connector

[0039] 100: Circuit board

[0040] 101: First surface

[0041] 102: Second surface

[0042] 103: Third surface

[0043] 200: Shrapnel

[0044] 210:Fixed part

[0045] 220: first electrical contact

[0046] 230: Second electrical contact

[0047] 300: first insulating elastic body

[0048] 310: base

[0049] 320: Supporting part

[0050] 350: Second insulating elastic body

[0051] 20,30: insulating elastic material layer

[0052] 21,31: Insulating elastic semi-finished products.

Claims

1. A connector, characterized in that: Include: At least one circuit substrate having a first surface; At least one spring sheet, comprising a fixing portion and a first electrical contact portion connected to each other, the fixing portion being disposed on the at least one circuit substrate, and the first electrical contact portion protruding from the first surface and shielding a portion of the first surface; as well as The first insulating elastic body is disposed on the first surface, and at least a portion of the first insulating elastic body is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface.

2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the first insulating elastomer includes a base portion and at least one supporting portion, the base portion is stacked on the first surface of the at least one circuit substrate, and the at least one supporting portion protrudes from a side of the base portion away from the circuit substrate and is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the first insulating elastic body directly contacts the first electrical contact portion.

4. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit substrate further includes a second surface opposite to the first surface, the at least one spring further includes a second electrical contact portion, the first electrical contact portion and the second electrical contact portion are respectively connected to opposite sides of the fixed portion, the second electrical contact portion protrudes from the second surface and covers a portion of the second surface, and the connector further includes a second insulating elastomer, the second insulating elastomer is disposed on the second surface, and at least a portion of the second insulating elastomer is between the second electrical contact portion and the second surface. 5 . The connector according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one circuit substrate further comprises a third surface connecting the first surface and the second surface, and the fixing portion is fixed to the third surface.

6. The connector according to claim 5, wherein the number of the at least one circuit substrate is multiple, the number of the at least one spring sheet is multiple, the multiple spring sheets are arranged in a matrix form, and the multiple spring sheets in each row are located between two adjacent ones of the multiple circuit substrates. 7 . The connector according to claim 6 , wherein the plurality of fixing portions of the plurality of spring sheets in each row are sandwiched between two adjacent ones of the plurality of circuit substrates. 8 . The connector according to claim 4 , wherein the first electrical contact portion and the second electrical contact portion are bent from the fixing portion along the same direction.

9. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the first insulating elastic body is made of rubber or an elastic insulating material.

10. A method for manufacturing a connector, characterized in that: Include: Providing at least one circuit substrate having a first surface; Disposing at least one spring sheet on the at least one circuit substrate, the at least one spring sheet comprising a fixing portion and a first electrical contact portion connected to each other, the fixing portion being disposed on the at least one circuit substrate, and the first electrical contact portion protruding from the first surface and shielding a portion of the first surface; as well as A first insulating elastic body is disposed on the first surface, and at least a portion of the first insulating elastic body is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface.

11. The method for manufacturing a connector according to claim 10, wherein the step of disposing the first insulating elastic body on the first surface comprises: forming an insulating elastic material layer on the first surface; and The insulating elastic material layer is removed with the first electrical contact portion as a mask to form the first insulating elastic body including a base portion and at least one supporting portion. The base portion is stacked on the first surface, and the at least one supporting portion protrudes from a side of the base portion away from the at least one circuit substrate and is between the first electrical contact portion and the first surface. 12 . The method for manufacturing a connector according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one circuit substrate is multiple in number, and the multiple circuit substrates are bonded to each other in a partially melted state. 13 . The method for manufacturing a connector according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one circuit substrate is multiple in number, and the multiple circuit substrates are bonded to each other by an adhesive.

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