FPC connector

Abstract

The utility model discloses an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) connector, which is used for plugging an FPC board and comprises an insulating body and a metal cover plate pivoted on the insulating body. The insulation body is provided with a top wall, a bottom wall and two side walls connected to the two transverse sides of the top wall and the bottom wall, the top wall, the bottom wall and the two side walls jointly define a butt joint cavity, and the FPC board is inserted into the butt joint cavity. The metal cover plate is provided with a top plate covering the top surface of the top wall, a side plate extending downwards from the top plate and a pivoting hole penetrating through the longitudinal front part of the side plate, the side wall is provided with a pivoting part protruding outwards from the longitudinal front part, and the pivoting part extends into the pivoting hole. The FPC connector comprises a fixing piece which is fixedly held at the longitudinal front part of the side wall, and the fixing piece is at least partially embedded in the pivoting part so as to increase the strength of the pivoting part. And a gap is formed between the longitudinal front part of the side wall and the bottom wall, so that the metal cover plate can be conveniently assembled on the insulating body.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to flexible circuit board connecting structure technical field especially relates to a stable and firm FPC connector of holding. BACKGROUND

[0002] FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit, flexible printed circuit board) is with polyimide or polyester film as base material makes a kind of with highly reliable, excellent flexible printed circuit board, is widely used in aerospace, military, mobile communication, portable computer, computer peripheral, PDA, digital camera and other fields or product.

[0003] Flexible printed circuit board connector generally includes insulating body, metal cover plate on the insulating body and be connected to the flexible printed circuit board in the insulating body;In traditional process, flexible printed circuit board is inserted, first open metal cover plate, the butt joint of flexible printed circuit board is inserted into the insertion slot of insulating body, then close metal cover plate to lock the flexible printed circuit board. However, the plug assembly process of the above-mentioned flexible printed circuit board is more complex.

[0004] Therefore, a new FPC connector is desired to overcome the above-mentioned defects. INVENTION CONTENTS

[0005] The utility model discloses a kind of FPC connectors of stable holding and simple assembly.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the utility model adopts the following technical scheme: a FPC connector is used for inserting a FPC board, the FPC connector includes an insulating body extending in a transverse direction, a plurality of conductive terminals held in the insulating body, and a metal cover plate pivotally connected to the insulating body. The insulating body has a top wall, a bottom wall, and two side walls connected to the top wall and the bottom wall on both sides in the transverse direction. The top wall, the bottom wall, and the two side walls collectively define a mating cavity. The FPC board is inserted into the mating cavity. The metal cover plate has a top plate covering the top surface of the top wall, side plates extending downward from both sides of the top plate in the transverse direction, and a pivot hole penetrating the front part of the side plates in the longitudinal direction. The side plates at least partially cover the outer wall surface of the side walls. The side walls have pivot parts protruding outward in the transverse direction from the front part in the longitudinal direction. The pivot parts extend into the pivot hole, so that the metal cover plate is pivotally connected to the insulating body. The FPC connector includes a fixing piece held in the front part in the longitudinal direction of the side wall. The fixing piece is at least partially embedded in the pivot part, and a gap is formed between the front part in the longitudinal direction of the side wall and the bottom wall.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment, the fixing piece is provided with a vertical portion extending in the vertical direction and an extending portion extending outwardly in the lateral direction from the vertical portion, the vertical portion is embedded in the longitudinal front portion of the side wall, and the extending portion is embedded in the pivot portion.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the fixing piece is provided with a welding portion extending from the bottom edge of the vertical portion out of the insulating body, the welding portion extends longitudinally beyond the longitudinal front end surface of the insulating body and is welded to a circuit board.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the side wall is provided with a groove recessed inwardly in the lateral direction, the groove is communicated with the docking cavity, the side plate is provided with a spring piece extending inwardly in the lateral direction into the groove, and the fixing piece is located in front of the longitudinal end of the spring piece in the groove.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the FPC board is provided with a docking portion accommodated in the docking cavity and a notch portion located on both sides of the docking portion in the lateral direction, when the docking portion is inserted into the docking cavity, the docking portion pushes the spring piece to deform to avoid the docking portion, and when the docking portion is completely inserted into the docking cavity, the spring piece rebounds and is accommodated in the notch portion to limit the docking portion in the docking cavity.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment, the groove penetrates through the top surface of the top wall upwardly, so that when the metal cover plate pivots relative to the insulating body, the spring piece moves downwardly to be accommodated in the groove or moves upwardly to be separated from the groove.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the side wall is provided with a clamping portion protruding outwardly in the lateral direction from the longitudinal rear portion, the side plate is provided with a clamping hole penetrating through in the lateral direction, and when the metal cover plate covers the top surface of the insulating body, the clamping portion is buckled in the clamping hole.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, when the metal cover plate pivots and covers the top surface of the insulating body, the spring piece is accommodated in the groove, at this time, the docking portion is completely inserted into the docking cavity, and the spring piece can be automatically locked in the notch portion; when the metal cover plate pivots and exposes the top surface of the insulating body, the spring piece is separated from the groove, at this time, the docking portion can be pulled out from the docking cavity without any obstacle.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the conductive terminal is provided with a contact portion extending into the docking cavity, the conductive terminal includes a first terminal and a second terminal arranged in the lateral direction, and the contact portions of the first terminal and the second terminal are located at the same height.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the first terminal is inserted into the insulating body from a longitudinal front end of the insulating body, the second terminal is inserted into the insulating body from a longitudinal rear end of the insulating body, and the first terminal and the second terminal are inserted in opposite longitudinal directions.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the FPC connector has the following beneficial effects: the FPC connector includes a fixing piece held on the longitudinal front part of the side wall, the fixing piece is at least partially embedded in the pivot joint part to increase the strength of the pivot joint part, thereby preventing the strength of the pivot joint part from being insufficient and being damaged after multiple rotations; and a gap is formed between the longitudinal front part of the side wall and the bottom wall, so that the side wall has elasticity when the metal cover plate is assembled, thereby facilitating the assembly of the metal cover plate to the insulating body. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the FPC connector in the preferred embodiment of the utility model.

[0018] Figure 2 is Figure 1 is another perspective view of the FPC connector shown in the figure.

[0019] Figure 3 is Figure 1 is a bottom view of the FPC connector shown in the figure.

[0020] Figure 4 is Figure 1 is an exploded view of the FPC connector shown in the figure.

[0021] Figure 5 is Figure 2 is an exploded view of the FPC connector shown in the figure.

[0022] Figure 6 is Figure 3 is an exploded view of the FPC connector shown in the figure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Referring to Figures 1 to 6 The preferred embodiment of the utility model discloses an FPC connector 100, which is mainly applied to the connection and installation scene of an FPC board and facilitates repeated hot plug of the FPC board. The FPC connector 100 is used for inserting an FPC board (not shown) and includes an insulating body 10 extending in the transverse direction, a plurality of conductive terminals 20 held in the insulating body 10, a metal cover plate 30 pivotally connected to the insulating body 10, and two fixing pieces 40 held on the insulating body 10. In this embodiment, the FPC board is provided with a butt joint part inserted into the insulating body 10 and a notch part located on the transverse sides of the butt joint part.

[0024] Referring toFigures 3 to 6 As shown, the insulating body 10 is provided with a top wall 11 and a bottom wall 12 extending in the transverse direction, and two side walls 13 connected to the top wall 11 and the bottom wall 12 at the lateral sides of the top wall 11 and the bottom wall 12. The top wall 11, the bottom wall 12 and the two side walls 13 jointly define a mating cavity 101 in which the mating portion of the FPC board is inserted. The side wall 13 is provided with a recess 131 recessed inwardly in the transverse direction. The recess 131 is communicated with the mating cavity 101. When the mating portion of the FPC board is inserted into the mating cavity 101, the gap portion is at least partially exposed to the recess 131.

[0025] Meanwhile, a gap 121 is formed between the longitudinal front portion of the side wall 13 and the bottom wall 13. Thus, the bottom wall 12 and the side wall 13 of the insulating body 10 are separated from each other, so that the side wall 13 is flexible when the metal cover plate 30 is assembled to the insulating body 10, thereby facilitating the assembly of the metal cover plate 30 to the insulating body 10.

[0026] The conductive terminal 20 is provided with a fixed portion held in the insulating body 10, a contact portion extending from the fixed portion into the mating cavity 101 for contacting the gold fingers on the mating portion, and a soldering leg extending from the fixed portion out of the insulating body 10 for soldering to a circuit board. In the present embodiment, the conductive terminal 20 includes a first terminal 21 and a second terminal 22 arranged in the transverse direction with a spacing therebetween. The contact portions of the first terminal 21 and the second terminal 22 are located at the same height to jointly contact the gold fingers on the mating portion. The first terminal 21 is inserted into the insulating body 10 from the longitudinal front end of the insulating body 10, and the second terminal 22 is inserted into the insulating body 10 from the longitudinal rear end of the insulating body 10. The first terminal 21 and the second terminal 22 are inserted into the insulating body 10 in opposite longitudinal directions.

[0027] The metal cover plate 30 is provided with a top plate 31 covering the top surface of the top wall 11, and side plates 32 extending downwardly from the lateral sides of the top plate 31. The side plates 32 at least partially cover the outer wall surface of the side wall 13. The side plate 32 is provided with a spring piece 33 extending inwardly into the recess 131 in the transverse direction, and a pivot hole 34 penetrating through the longitudinal front portion of the side plate 32. The pivot hole 34 is arranged adjacent to the spring piece 33 in the longitudinal direction. The spring piece 33 is arranged adjacent to the insertion opening of the mating cavity 101 and extends obliquely away from the insertion opening in the longitudinal direction. The side wall 13 is provided with a pivot portion 132 protruding outwardly from the longitudinal front portion in the transverse direction. The pivot portion 132 extends into the pivot hole 34 to pivot the metal cover plate 30 to the insulating body 10.

[0028] The groove 131 penetrates the top surface of the top wall 11 upwardly, so that when the metal cover plate 30 pivots relative to the insulating body 10, the elastic sheet 33 moves downwardly to be accommodated in the groove 131 or moves upwardly to be separated from the groove 131. Specifically, when the metal cover plate 30 pivots and covers the top surface of the insulating body 10, the elastic sheet 33 is accommodated in the groove 131, at this time, the abutting portion is completely inserted into the abutting cavity 101, and the elastic sheet 33 can be automatically locked in the notch portion.

[0029] That is, when the abutting portion of the FPC plate is inserted into the abutting cavity 101, the abutting portion pushes the elastic sheet 33 to deform to avoid the abutting portion, and when the abutting portion is completely inserted into the abutting cavity 101, the elastic sheet 33 rebounds and is accommodated in the notch portion to limit the abutting portion in the abutting cavity 101, thereby realizing automatic locking of the FPC connector 100 and extremely simplifying the plug-in process of the FPC plate. Meanwhile, when the metal cover plate 30 pivots and exposes the top surface of the insulating body 10, the elastic sheet 33 is separated from the groove 131, at this time, the abutting portion can be pulled out from the abutting cavity 101 without any obstacle.

[0030] The fixing sheet 40 is fixed to the longitudinal front portion of the side wall 13 and is located at the longitudinal front end of the groove 131 and the elastic sheet 33. The fixing sheet 40 is a metal piece and is at least partially embedded in the pivot portion 132, and the provision of the fixing sheet 40 increases the strength of the pivot portion 132, thereby preventing the strength of the pivot portion 132 from being insufficient and being damaged after being rotated for many times.

[0031] Specifically, the fixing sheet 40 is provided with a vertical portion 41 extending along the vertical direction, an extension portion 42 extending outwardly along the horizontal direction from the vertical portion 41, and a welding portion 43 extending from the bottom edge of the vertical portion 41 and out of the insulating body 10. The vertical portion 41 is embedded in the longitudinal front portion of the side wall 13, and the extension portion 42 is embedded in the pivot portion 132, thereby further improving the strength of the pivot portion 132.

[0032] The welding portion 43 extends longitudinally beyond the longitudinal front surface of the insulating body 10 and is welded to the circuit board, and when the fixing sheet 40 is welded to the circuit board, the above-mentioned separation structure of the insulating body 10 has lost elasticity, thereby making the metal cover plate 30 not easy to be separated from the insulating body 10. Meanwhile, the side wall 13 is further provided with a clamping portion 133 protruding outwardly along the horizontal direction from the longitudinal rear portion, and the side plate 32 is provided with a clamping hole 35 penetrating along the horizontal direction, and when the metal cover plate 30 covers the top surface of the insulating body 10, the clamping portion 133 is clamped in the clamping hole 35, so that the metal cover plate 30 is fixed to the insulating body 10.

[0033] The utility model discloses, the FPC connector 100 includes the fixed sheet 40 of holding in the longitudinal front of side wall 13, the fixed sheet 40 is at least partially buried in pivot joint portion 132 to increase the strength at pivot joint portion 132 to prevent the strength of pivot joint portion 132 is not enough and has damage after rotating for many times, and the longitudinal front between the bottom wall 12 of side wall 13 is formed with gap 121, so that the side wall 13 has elasticity when assembling metal cover plate 30, thereby facilitating metal cover plate 30 to be assembled to the insulating body 10. Meanwhile, the side wall 13 is equipped with the recess 131 that recesses to the inside along the transverse direction, the side plate 32 is equipped with the elastic piece 33 that extends into the recess 131 and extends to the inside along the transverse direction, when the butt joint of FPC board is inserted butt joint cavity 101, the butt joint pushes the elastic piece 33 deformation to avoid the butt joint, when the butt joint is completely inserted to butt joint cavity 101, the elastic piece 33 rebounds and is contained in the notch portion to limit the butt joint in butt joint cavity 101, thereby realizing the automatic drop lock of FPC connector 100, and the plug-in process of FPC board is extremely simplified.

[0034] To sum up, the above is only the preferred embodiment of the utility model, and should not be limited to the range of the utility model, that is, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the utility model claims and the content of the specification should still belong to the scope of the utility model patent.

Claims

1. A FPC connector for plugging a FPC board, the FPC connector comprising an insulating body extending in a transverse direction, a plurality of conductive terminals held in the insulating body, and a metal cover plate pivoted to the insulating body, the insulating body being provided with a top wall, a bottom wall, and two side walls connected to the top wall and the bottom wall at both transverse sides, the top wall, the bottom wall, and the two side walls collectively defining a mating cavity in which the FPC board is plugged, the metal cover plate being provided with a top plate covering a top surface of the top wall, side plates extending downward from both transverse sides of the top plate, and a pivoting hole penetrating a longitudinal front portion of the side plates, the side plates at least partially covering outer wall surfaces of the side walls, the side walls being provided with pivoting portions protruding outward in the transverse direction from the longitudinal front portion, and the pivoting portions extending into the pivoting hole so that the metal cover plate is pivoted to the insulating body; characterized in that: The FPC connector comprises a fixing piece fixed to the longitudinal front part of the side wall, the fixing piece is at least partially embedded in the pivot part, and a gap is formed between the longitudinal front part of the side wall and the bottom wall.

2. The FPC connector according to claim 1, wherein: The fixing piece is provided with a vertical part extending in the vertical direction and an extension part extending outward in the horizontal direction from the vertical part, the vertical part is embedded in the longitudinal front part of the side wall, and the extension part is embedded in the pivot part.

3. The FPC connector of claim 2, wherein: The fixing piece is provided with a welding part extending out of the insulating body from the bottom edge of the vertical part, the welding part extends longitudinally beyond the longitudinal front end surface of the insulating body and is welded to a circuit board.

4. The FPC connector of claim 1, wherein: The side wall is provided with a groove recessed inward in the horizontal direction, the groove is communicated with the docking cavity, the side plate is provided with a spring piece extending inward into the groove in the horizontal direction, and the fixing piece is located at the longitudinal front end of the groove and the spring piece.

5. The FPC connector of claim 4, wherein: The FPC plate is provided with a docking part accommodated in the docking cavity and a notch part located on both sides of the docking part in the horizontal direction, when the docking part is inserted into the docking cavity, the docking part pushes the spring piece to deform to avoid the docking part, and when the docking part is completely inserted into the docking cavity, the spring piece rebounds and is accommodated in the notch part to limit the docking part in the docking cavity.

6. The FPC connector of claim 5, wherein: The groove penetrates through the top surface of the top wall upward, so that when the metal cover plate pivots relative to the insulating body, the spring piece moves downward to be accommodated in the groove or moves upward to be separated from the groove.

7. The FPC connector of claim 6, wherein: The side wall is provided with a clamping part protruding outward in the horizontal direction from the longitudinal rear part, the side plate is provided with a clamping hole penetrating in the horizontal direction, and when the metal cover plate covers the top surface of the insulating body, the clamping part is buckled in the clamping hole.

8. The FPC connector of claim 6, wherein: When the metal cover plate pivots and covers the top surface of the insulating body, the spring piece is accommodated in the groove, at this time the docking part is completely inserted into the docking cavity, and the spring piece can be automatically locked in the notch part; when the metal cover plate pivots and exposes the top surface of the insulating body, the spring piece is separated from the groove, at this time the docking part can be pulled out from the docking cavity without any obstacle.

9. The FPC connector of claim 1, wherein: The conductive terminal is provided with a contact part extending into the docking cavity, the conductive terminal comprises a first terminal and a second terminal arranged in the horizontal direction, and the contact parts of the first terminal and the second terminal are located at the same height.

10. The FPC connector of claim 9, wherein: The first terminal is inserted into the insulating body from the longitudinal front end of the insulating body, the second terminal is inserted into the insulating body from the longitudinal rear end of the insulating body, and the insertion directions of the first terminal and the second terminal in the longitudinal direction are opposite.

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