ELECTRICAL L-CONNECTOR FOR A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREFOR

Abstract

An electrical L-shaped connector (1) with a printed circuit board (B1), comprising a housing (10) made of an electrically insulating material, which is attached to the printed circuit board (B1) and on which a plug-in portion (11) is plugged into a connector counterpart (2) in a direction along a mounting surface of the printed circuit board (B1), and a terminal holding portion (12) are formed, which holds a terminal, one end of which forms a contact portion (23, 33) on the plug-in portion (11) and comes into contact with a terminal counterpart provided on a connector counterpart (2), and the other end of which forms a connecting portion (22A, 32A) that projects from a bottom surface of the terminal holding portion (12) and is connected to the printed circuit board (B1), and a shielding plate (40, 70) attached to the housing (10) and shields the terminal, characterized in that the plug-in section (11) of the housing (10) forms a receiving recess section (16) which opens forwards towards the connector counterpart (2) to receive a corresponding plug-in section (11) of the connector counterpart (2), wherein the contact section (23, 33) of the terminal is accommodated inside the receiving recess section (16), the shielding plate (40, 70) comprises a lower shielding plate (70) mounted on the housing (10) at a position close to the circuit board (B1) and an upper shielding plate (40) mounted on the housing (10) at a position remote from the circuit board (B1), the upper shielding plate (40) has an upper outer shielding portion (50) with a rear grounding portion (53) grounded to the circuit board (B1) at a position at the rear portion of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10), which is L-shaped and arranged on an outer surface of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10), and an upper inner shielding portion (60) which is formed separately from the upper outer shielding portion (50) and, in a state of conductive connection with the upper outer shielding portion (50), is arranged inside the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and is connectable to a corresponding shielding plate (40, 70) of the connector counterpart (2), the lower shielding plate (70) has a lower inner shielding portion (71) with a front grounding portion (72A) which is grounded to the circuit board (B1) at a position at the front portion of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10) and is arranged inside the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and is connectable to the corresponding shielding plate (40, 70) of the connector counterpart (2), by extending forwardly over an upstanding portion (72B) extending upwardly from the front grounding portion (72A) at the upper end of the upstanding portion (72B) to the lower inner shielding portion (71), the front grounding portion (72A), the upstanding portion (72B) and the lower inner shielding portion (71) are formed as a single element, and a through-hole (18, 19) extending from the receiving recess portion (16) to the underside surface of the terminal holding portion (12) and open in the underside surface is formed on the housing (10), wherein the through-hole (18, 19) is formed as a space which, when the lower inner shield portion (71) is inserted rearwardly into the interior of the receiving recess portion (16), allows the upstanding portion (72B) and the front grounding portion (72A) to advance and allows the front grounding portion (72A) to move downwards as far as the circuit board (B1).

Description

Technical area

[0001] The present invention relates to an electrical L-connector for a printed circuit board, which is mounted on the printed circuit board and is mated with a connector counterpart in a direction along a circuit surface of the printed circuit board, and a manufacturing method thereof. General state of the art

[0002] Since such a connector has a contact portion in which a terminal held by a housing faces the connector counterpart along the circuit surface of the printed circuit board, and a connecting portion which faces the circuit surface at a right angle with respect to the latter, it is an L-type connector.The housing has a plug-in portion forming a receiving recess portion opened forwardly such that a contact portion of the terminal is accommodated therein and receives a corresponding plug-in portion of the connector counterpart, and a terminal holding portion holding the terminal between a contact portion and the connecting portion, wherein a bottom surface of the terminal holding portion is arranged to be positioned on the circuit board of the circuit board, and a connecting portion projecting from the bottom surface of the terminal holding portion is positioned to face the circuit surface, wherein the connecting portion projecting from the bottom surface of the terminal holding portion is connected to the circuit board by soldering.

[0003] Such a connector is disclosed, for example, in JP 5 711 137 B2, wherein in the connector of JP 5 711 137 B2, as inFig. 6, a shielding plate is attached to the housing. The shielding plate comprises an upper shielding plate (referred to as upper shield 22a in JP 5 711 137 B2) and a lower shielding plate (lower shield 34a), wherein the upper shielding plate (upper shield 22a) connects two elements, namely a connector-side upper shielding element 24a attached to the plug-in portion of the connector and a rear upper shielding element 26a attached to the terminal holding portion, and is formed in an L-shape, while the lower shielding plate (lower shield 34a) connects two elements, namely a connector-side lower shielding element 36a attached to the plug-in portion and a (rear) lower shielding element 38a attached to the terminal holding portion, and is formed in an L-shape.

[0004] Thus, the connector of JP 5 711 137 B2 receives a shielding function through the upper shield 22a and lower shield 34a attached to its housing.

[0005] It is believed that in JP 5 711 137 B2, in an effort to form the connector-side upper shielding member 24a on the upper shielding 22a and the connector-side lower shielding member 36a on the lower shielding 34a as an identical plate-shaped member, the upper shielding 22a and the lower shielding 34a are each divided into two members, thereby forming them as an identical member to the upper shielding. Summary of the inventionObject of the present invention

[0006] In JP 5 711 137 B2, the upper shield 22a and the lower shield 34a are each divided into two elements, and both are attached to the outer surface of the housing, which is why attachment to the housing is easy.

[0007] However, in an L-type connector with a shield plate, it is necessary to also accommodate the part with the shield plate positioned at the mating portion in the receiving recess portion. Since, according to the disclosure in JP 5 711 137 B2, the upper shield and the lower shield are each divided into two members, this requirement can be met by inserting the connector-side upper shield member 24a and the connector-side lower shield member 36a into the receiving recess portion with the mating portion facing front to back, positioning them so that the rear end of the two members protrudes outward from the housing, and connecting the rear upper shield member 26a and the lower shield member 38a, which are positioned on the housing outer surface, to the protruding part of the two members, respectively.

[0008] However, since the upper shield 22a is positioned on the upper outer surface of the housing, i.e. on the L-shaped curved outer surface, the two elements 24a, 26a of the upper shield 22a are comparatively large in the upper shield 22a, while due to the positioning of the lower shield 34 on the lower outer surface of the housing, i.e. on the L-shaped curved inner surface, of the two elements 36a, 38a of the lower shield 34, the rear lower shield element 38a is extremely small in relation to the rear upper shield element 26a of the upper shield 22a.

[0009] In a connector, as with other components, a small number of components is desirable. Regarding the shield plate of the connector described above, if at least the lower shield plate (the lower shield in JP 5 711 137 B2) attached to the bottom surface of the housing is divided into two parts, at least one of the two elements becomes extremely small, making manufacturing and connecting the two elements difficult. Therefore, a single element without division is required.In a connector in which a part of the shield plate is accommodated in the receiving groove portion, in order to position one part of a lower shield plate constructed as a single element (the part including the contact portion that comes into contact with the shield member of the connector counterpart inside the receiving groove portion) inside the housing, and the other part (the part including the connection portion that connects to the printed circuit board) on the outer surface of the housing, one part and the other part are bent at right angles, which makes it impossible to easily assemble from the front of the housing, and leaves the question of how to manufacture and assemble the lower shield plate and the housing.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and has for its object to provide an L-shaped electrical connector for a printed circuit board, which has a shield plate whose lower shield plate is formed as a single member and a part of which is received inside the receiving recess portion while the other part is positioned outside the housing, and which is assemblable with the housing, and a manufacturing method thereof. Means of solving the task

[0011] According to the present invention, the object is achieved by an electrical L-connector for a printed circuit board according to a first invention below and by a manufacturing method of an electrical L-connector for a printed circuit board according to a second invention below. First invention

[0012] The L-shaped electrical connector with a printed circuit board according to the first invention comprises a housing made of an electrically insulating material, which is attached to the printed circuit board and on which are formed a plug-in portion which is plugged into a connector counterpart in a direction along a mounting surface of the printed circuit board, and a terminal holding portion which holds a terminal, one end of which forms a contact portion on the plug-in portion and comes into contact with a terminal counterpart provided on a connector counterpart, and the other end of which forms a connecting portion which projects from a bottom surface of the terminal holding portion and is connected to the printed circuit board, and a shield plate which is attached to the housing and shields the terminal.

[0013] The electrical L-shaped connector with a printed circuit board in the first invention is characterized in that the plug-in portion of the housing forms a receiving recess portion that opens forward toward the connector counterpart for receiving a corresponding plug-in portion of the connector counterpart, wherein the contact portion of the terminal is accommodated inside the receiving recess portion, the shield plate has a lower shield plate attached to the housing at a position close to the printed circuit board and an upper shield plate attached to the housing at a position remote from the printed circuit board, the upper shield plate has an upper outer shield portion with a rear grounding portion grounded to the printed circuit board at a position at the rear portion of the terminal holding portion of the housing,which is L-shaped and is arranged on an outer surface of the terminal holding portion of the housing, and has an upper inner shielding portion formed separately from the upper outer shielding portion and, in a state of conductive connection with the upper outer shielding portion, is arranged inside the receiving recess portion of the housing and is connectable to a corresponding shielding plate of the connector counterpart; the lower shielding plate has a lower inner shielding portion with a front grounding portion that is grounded to the circuit board at a position at the front portion of the terminal holding portion of the housing and is arranged inside the receiving recess portion of the housing and is connectable to the corresponding shielding plate of the connector counterpart;by extending forwardly over an upstanding portion extending upwardly from the front grounding portion at the upper end of the upstanding portion to the lower inner shielding portion, the front grounding portion, the upstanding portion, and the lower inner shielding portion being formed as a single element, and a through-hole extending from the receiving recess portion to the underside surface of the terminal holding portion and open in the underside surface being formed on the housing, wherein the through-hole is formed as a space which, when the lower shielding plate is inserted rearwardly into the interior of the receiving recess portion, allows the upstanding portion and the front grounding portion to advance and allows the front grounding portion to move downwardly to the circuit board.

[0014] In the first invention, a through-hole is formed in the housing. The through-hole is formed as a space that allows the protruding portion and the front grounding portion to protrude when the lower shield plate is inserted rearward into the receiving recess portion, and allows the front grounding portion to descend to the printed circuit board. Therefore, even if the lower shield plate has the dimension of the protruding portion part as the up-down dimension, it is possible to insert the protruding portion and the front grounding portion rearward in the through-hole and allow the front grounding portion to descend in the through-hole, thus enabling the lower shield plate to be mounted on the housing.

[0015] In the first invention, it is also possible for the lower shield plate to have a restricting portion by bending the front end portion of the lower inner shield portion of the lower shield plate downward, and when the lower inner shield portion is inserted rearward into the inside of the receiving recess portion, the restricting portion is positioned so that it can be locked into an opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion of the housing and a rearward protrusion of the lower shield plate beyond a certain position is restricted.

[0016] By forming the restriction portion at the front end portion of the lower inner shield portion in this way, the restriction portion can be locked in the opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion of the housing when the lower inner shield portion is inserted rearward into the receiving recess portion during installation of the lower shield plate to the housing. Since the lower shield plate is restricted from projecting rearward beyond a certain position, the lower shield plate can be installed at a precise position.

[0017] In the first invention, an elastic piece can be attached to the lower shielding plate be provided, wherein a part of the lower inner shielding portion of the lower shielding plate is cut open, and a shielding contact portion may be formed on the elastic piece, which comes into contact with the corresponding shielding plate of the connector counterpart.

[0018] By using the elastic piece provided on the lower shield plate as a shield contact portion, in the mating state with the connector counterpart, elastic contact can be made with the corresponding shield plate of the connector counterpart by means of the shield contact portion, whereby the lower shield plate and the corresponding shield plate can be connected to each other more securely. Second invention

[0019] In the method for manufacturing an L-shaped electrical connector for a printed circuit board, the L-shaped electrical connector for a printed circuit board according to the second invention comprises a housing made of an electrically insulating material, which is attached to a printed circuit board and on which are formed a plug-in portion which is plugged into a counterpart connector in a direction along a mounting surface of the printed circuit board, and a terminal holding portion which holds a terminal, one end of which forms a contact portion on the plug-in portion and comes into contact with a counterpart terminal provided on a counterpart connector, and the other end of which forms a connecting portion which projects from a bottom surface of the terminal holding portion and is connected to the printed circuit board, and a shield plate which is attached to the housing and shields the terminal.

[0020] The second invention is characterized in that, in the manufacturing method, a contact portion is accommodated in a receiving recess portion which opens forward toward the connector counterpart to receive a corresponding plug-in portion of the connector counterpart and is formed in a plug-in portion of the housing, the shield plate forms a lower shield plate which is attached to the housing at a position close to the circuit board and an upper shield plate which is attached to the housing at a position remote from the circuit board, an upper outer shield portion having a rear grounding portion grounded to the circuit board at a position at the rear portion of the terminal holding portion of the housing, which is L-shaped and is arranged on an outer surface of the terminal holding portion of the housing, and an upper inner shield portion,which is formed separately from the upper outer shielding portion and is arranged in a state of conductive connection with the upper outer shielding portion inside the receiving recess portion of the housing and is connectable to a corresponding shielding plate of the connector counterpart, are formed by the upper shielding plate, a lower inner shielding portion is formed with a front grounding portion, which is grounded to the circuit board at a position at the front portion of the terminal holding portion of the housing and is arranged inside the receiving recess portion of the housing and is connectable to the corresponding shielding plate of the connector counterpart,The lower shielding plate extends forwardly over a raised portion extending upwardly from the front grounding portion at the upper end of the raised portion to the lower inner shielding portion, and is formed as a single element with the front grounding portion, the raised portion, and the lower inner shielding portion. A through-hole extending from the receiving recess portion to the underside surface of the terminal holding portion and opening in the underside surface is formed on the housing. The lower inner shielding portion is inserted into the receiving recess portion with the raised portion and the front grounding portion facing backward, and then the front grounding portion is moved downwards to the circuit board.

[0021] In the second invention, it is also possible that a restricting portion is provided on the lower shield plate by curving the front end portion of the lower inner shield portion of the lower shield plate downward, and when the lower inner shield portion is inserted rearward into the inside of the receiving recess portion, the restricting portion is positioned so that it can be locked in an opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion of the housing and a rearward protrusion of the lower shield plate beyond a certain position is restricted.

[0022] In the second invention, an elastic piece may be provided on the lower shield plate by cutting a part of the lower inner shield portion of the lower shield plate, and the elastic piece may be brought into contact with a corresponding shield plate of the connector counterpart as a shield contact portion. Effect of the invention

[0023] Although in the lower shield plate as shown above, the side of the lower inner shield portion and the side of the front contact portion are formed into an L-shape via the rising portion, by moving the front grounding portion downward inside the through-hole after inserting the rising portion in the receiving recess portion toward the through-hole, the mounting operation of the lower shield plate can be easily performed, and in addition, the mounting to the housing is simple, and an L-type electrical connector for a printed circuit board having a lower shield plate comprising a single element and a manufacturing method thereof can be obtained. Short description of the characters

[0024] They show: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a male connector and a female connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state before mating from the female connector side; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the connector plug and the connector socket according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state after mating from the connector socket side; Fig. 3 a sectional view of the connector plug and the connector socket Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 in a plane perpendicular to the connector width direction, which is a section at a position of the terminal in the connector width direction; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the connector in a state where the entire shielding plate has been removed from the housing; Fig. 5 a sectional view of the connector plug Fig. 4 in a plane at right angles to the connector width direction, omitting the terminal; Fig. 6(A) to (C) are views showing the steps for attaching the lower shield plate to the case; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the connector socket in a state where the entire shield plate has been removed from the housing; Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of an attachment piece of the shielding plate of the connecting socket of Fig. 7 and a mounting groove of the housing in a state before mounting; and Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken at right angles to the top-bottom direction of a shield plate attachment part of the connector socket, showing a state in which the shield plate attachment part is pressed into the attachment groove of the housing, as seen from above. Embodiment of the invention

[0025] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures.

[0026] Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are perspective views showing a connector plug 1 and a connector socket 2 of the present embodiment, wherein Fig. 1 shows a state before mating as seen from the side of the connection socket 2 (Y1 side) and Fig. 2 shows a state before mating as viewed from the side of connector 1 (Y2 side). Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the connector plug 1 and the connector socket 2 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 in a plane (YZ plane) perpendicular to the connector width direction (X-axis direction), showing a section at a terminal position in the connector width direction. Viewed from the connector plug 1, the connector socket 2 is the connector counterpart, and viewed from the connector socket 2, the connector plug 1 is the connector counterpart.

[0027] The connector 1 is an electrical connector for a printed circuit board, which is mounted on a mounting surface of a printed circuit board B1 (see Fig. 3) and the connecting socket 2 is an electrical connector for a printed circuit board, which is mounted on the mounting surface of another printed circuit board B2 (see Fig. 3). As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 3, the connecting plug 1 and the connecting socket 2 are plugged together in a position in which the mounting surfaces of the printed circuit board B1 and the printed circuit board B2 are at right angles to each other.

[0028] The connector 1 is mounted from above on the mounting surface of the circuit board B1 (see Fig. 3) and is mated with the female connector 2 with the direction along the mounting surface of the printed circuit board B1 (the Y-axis direction in this embodiment) as the mating direction. That is, the male connector 1 is a so-called L-shaped electrical connector (right-angle connector) in which the mounting direction on the printed circuit board B1 (Z-axis direction) and the mating direction (Y-axis direction) are perpendicular to each other. Hereinafter, for the male connector 1, the Y1 direction is referred to as the front direction and the Y2 direction is referred to as the rear direction in the mating direction (Y-axis direction).

[0029] The connector plug 1 comprises a substantially cuboid-shaped housing 10 made of an electrically insulating material, a plurality of metal upper plug terminals 20 and metal lower plug terminals 30 held in a row by the housing 10, and an upper shielding plate 40 and a lower shielding plate 70 made of metal attached to the housing 10. If no distinction needs to be made between the upper plug terminals 20 and the lower plug terminals 30 below, they are collectively referred to as plug terminals 20, 30.

[0030] In the housing 10, a front portion in the mating direction (part on the Y1 side) is formed as a plug-in portion 11 for mating with the connecting socket 2, and a rear portion in the same direction (part on the Y2 side) is formed as a terminal holding portion 12 for holding the plug-in terminals 20, 30. As Fig. 1, the plug portion 11 includes an upper wall 13 and a lower wall 14 that oppose each other in the up-down direction and extend in the connector width direction (X-axis direction), and, at positions at both ends of the plug portion 11 in the connector width direction, a pair of end walls 15 that extend in the up-down direction and couple the end portion of the upper wall 13 and the end portion of the lower wall 14 to each other. A space surrounded by the upper wall 13, the lower wall 14, and the pair of end walls 15 is formed as a receiving recess portion 16 that opens forward (in the Y1 direction) to receive a corresponding plug portion provided on the female connector 2.

[0031] On the upper wall 13, as shown in Fig. 1, an upper mounting groove 13A is formed at several locations (four locations in the present embodiment) in the connector width direction, recessed from the underside surface of the front end portion of the upper wall 13 (the part constituting the opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion 16). The upper mounting groove 13A is open downward and forward, and, as described below, holds a front-pressing crimping portion 64A of an attachment piece 64 of the upper inner shield portion 60. In the front end portion of the upper wall 13, a lower side surface of the front end portion is formed as a front-rising upper slant surface 13B in the entire region except for the region where the upper mounting grooves 13A are formed in the connector width direction (see also Fig. 3 and Fig. 5).

[0032] On the lower wall 14, as Fig. 1, a lower mounting groove 14A is formed at several locations (four locations in the present embodiment) in the connector width direction, recessed from the upper surface of the front end portion of the lower wall 14 (the part constituting the opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion 16). The lower mounting groove 14A is open upward and forward, and, as described below, holds a front-pressing crimping portion 73A of an attachment piece 73 of the lower shield plate 70. The lower mounting groove 14A is formed at a position slightly offset from the upper mounting groove 13A in the connector width direction. At the front end portion of the lower wall 14, as shown in Fig. 1, a top surface of the front end portion is formed as a forwardly sloping lower inclined surface 14B in the entire area except for the area where the lower mounting grooves 14A are formed in the connector width direction (see also Fig. 3 and Fig. 5).

[0033] As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 3, the terminal holding portion 12 has a slot-shaped terminal holding groove 17 extending perpendicular to the connector width direction. The terminal holding portion 12 is formed with a groove width dimension (dimension in the connector width direction) slightly larger than the plate thickness of the plug-in terminals 20, 30 and can accommodate the plug-in terminals 20, 30.

[0034] Before describing the shape of the terminal holding groove 17, the shape of the plug-in terminals 20, 30 held by the terminal holding groove 17 will be described. The plug-in terminals 20, 30 are manufactured by cutting out a sheet metal element in the direction of its plate thickness and, as Fig. 3, are essentially L-shaped and are, as shown in Fig. 1, are held in a row in the connector width direction (X-axis direction) in the terminal alignment direction in the housing 10. In addition, the plug terminals 20, 30, as shown in Fig. 3, the upper male terminals 20, 30 are held in the terminal holding groove 17 in a position in which the plate surface is rectangular with respect to the connector width direction. Of the male terminals 20, 30, the upper male terminals 20 have a horizontal portion 21 extending linearly in the mating direction (Y-axis direction) in the terminal holding groove 17, a vertical portion 22 extending linearly downward in the terminal holding groove 17 from the rear end portion of the horizontal portion 21 (end portion on the Y2 side), and a contact portion 23 extending linearly forward (in the Y1 direction) from the front end portion of the horizontal portion 21 (end portion on the Y1 side) and disposed in the receiving recess portion 16.

[0035] At the upper edge of the front half portion of the horizontal portion 21, a plurality of locking projections are formed, and by engaging with an inner wall surface of an upper groove portion 17A of the terminal holding groove 17, described below, the locking projections are held in the upper groove portion 17A. The vertical portion 22 extends downward from the bottom surface of the terminal holding portion 12 to a slightly projecting position, and its projecting lower end portion is formed as a connecting portion 22A for soldering to the mounting surface of the circuit board B1. The contact portion 23 is narrower than the horizontal portion 21, that is, its dimension in the up-down direction is smaller, and, as shown in FIG. Fig. 1, is essentially pin-shaped.

[0036] The lower terminals 30, like the upper terminals 20 described above, have a horizontal portion 31, a vertical portion 32, and a contact portion 33, but they differ from the upper terminals 20 in that the horizontal portion 31 and the vertical portion 32 are each shorter than the horizontal portion 21 and the vertical portion 22 of the upper terminals 20. A plurality of locking lugs are formed at the lower edge of the horizontal portion 31, and the locking lugs are held in the lower groove portion 17B by engaging with an inner wall surface of a lower groove portion 17B of the terminal holding groove 17, described below.The vertical portion 32 extends downward from the bottom surface of the terminal holding portion 12 to a slightly projecting position, namely, to the same position as the lower end of the vertical portion 22 of the upper male terminals 20, and its projecting lower end portion is formed as a connecting portion 32A for soldering to the mounting surface of the circuit board B1. The contact portion 33 is formed with the same dimension as the contact portion 23 of the upper male terminals 20 and extends, as shown in FIG. Fig. 3, to the same position as the front end of the contact section 23.

[0037] The description of the housing 10 is now continued. The terminal holding groove 17 of the housing 10, which holds the plug-in terminals 20, 30, has, as shown in Fig. 3, an upper groove section 17A, which receives the horizontal section 21 of the upper plug-in terminals 20, a lower groove section 17B, which receives the horizontal section 31 of the lower plug-in terminals 30, and a rear groove section 17C, which extends in an area further back than the upper groove section 17A and the lower groove section 17B up to a rear end and lower end of the terminal holding section 12 (see also Fig. 5).

[0038] How good in Fig. 5, the upper groove portion 17A extends in the front-to-back direction (fitting direction (Y-axis direction)) at the upper portion of the terminal holding portion 12, with the front end being open to the receiving recess portion 16 and communicating with the receiving recess portion 16, while the rear end is communicating with the rear groove portion 17C. The lower groove portion 17B is disposed below the upper groove portion 17A and extends in the front-to-back direction, and is formed shorter in the front-to-back direction than the upper groove portion 17A.The front end of the rear groove portion 17C opens forward toward the receiving recess portion 16 at the same position as the front end of the upper groove portion 17A and communicates with the receiving recess portion 16, and the rear end is located further forward than the rear end of the upper groove portion 17A and communicates with the rear groove portion 17C. The rear groove portion 17C extends to the rear end and lower end of the terminal holding portion 12 as mentioned above, is open rearward and downward, and communicates with the outside.

[0039] The terminal holding grooves 17 adjacent to each other in the connector width direction are, as shown in Fig. 4, by a partition wall 12A extending parallel to the terminal holding grooves 17. Of a plurality of partition walls 12A formed in a row in the connector width direction, a holding hole 12A-1 recessed from the rear surface is formed at the lower portion of a plurality of partition walls 12A (five in the present embodiment) arranged in correspondence with a held piece 52A of the upper outer shield portion 50 described below. The held piece 52A of the upper outer shield portion 50 is held in the holding hole 12A-1 by pressing, as described below.

[0040] At the upper section of the housing 10, as shown in Fig. 5, the upper surface of the terminal holding portion 12 is arranged further down than the upper surface of the plug-in portion 11, and a step portion 10A is formed in a boundary region between the plug-in portion 11 and the terminal holding portion 12. An upper through-hole 18 is formed on the step portion 10A, which extends in the front-to-rear direction through the rear portion of the rear plug-in portion 11. The upper through-hole 18 is, as shown in Fig. 4 can be seen, in the connector width direction at several points (in Fig. 4 at five locations) and is designed such that an inner connecting portion 63 of the upper inner shielding portion 60 described below is inserted therein from the front (see Fig. 3).

[0041] At the lower section of the housing 10, as shown in Fig. 5, the bottom surface of the terminal holding portion 12 is positioned higher than the bottom surface of the plug portion 11, and a step portion 10B is formed in a boundary region between the plug portion 11 and the terminal holding portion 12. In a region extending from the front end portion at the bottom of the terminal holding portion 12 to the step portion 10B, a lower through-hole 19 is formed, which extends from the receiving recess portion 16 to the bottom surface of the terminal holding portion 12 and is open toward the front. A space formed below the terminal holding portion 12 and the receiving recess portion 16 communicate via the lower through-hole 19.

[0042] The lower through hole 19 is, as in Fig. 5, it communicates with the receiving recessed portion 16 via a forwardly open portion 19A and with the space below the terminal holding portion 12 via a downwardly open portion 19B. The dimension in the top-bottom direction (Z-axis dimension) of the forwardly open portion 19A is larger than the top-bottom dimension of a rising portion 72B of the lower shield plate 70. The dimension in the mating direction (Y-axis dimension) of the downwardly open portion 19B is, in turn, larger than the mating dimension of a front grounding portion 72A of the lower shield plate 70. The lower through-hole 19 is formed at a plurality of locations (six locations) in the connector width direction corresponding to leg portions 72 of the lower shield plate 70 described below, and receives the leg portions 72 from the front (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 6(A) to (C)).

[0043] The shield plates attached to the housing 10 include an upper shield plate 40 attached to the housing 10 at a position away from the circuit board B1, and a lower shield plate 70 attached to the housing 10 at a position close to the circuit board B1. The upper shield plate 40 includes an upper outer shield portion 50 covering outer surfaces (top surface and back surface) of the terminal holding portion 12 of the housing 10, and an upper inner shield portion 60 covering an upper inner wall surface of the receiving recess portion 16 of the housing 10.

[0044] The upper outer shield portion 50 is formed by bending a sheet metal member in the plate thickness direction into a substantially L-shaped overall shape when viewed in the connector width direction. The upper outer shield portion 50 includes an upper plate portion 51 extending along the top surface of the terminal holding portion 12, a rear plate portion 52 extending along the rear surface of the terminal holding portion 12, and a rear grounding portion 53 curved rearward from the lower end of the rear plate portion 52. The upper outer shield portion 50 covers substantially the entire area of ​​the top surface of the terminal holding portion 12 at the upper plate portion 51 and substantially the entire area of ​​the rear surface of the terminal holding portion 12 at the rear plate portion 52.

[0045] The upper plate section 51 is, as shown in Fig. 2, in the connector width direction at several locations corresponding to the upper through holes 18 of the housing 10 (in Fig. 2 at five locations) when viewed in the connector width direction at the front end portion of the upper plate portion 51 is formed in a crank shape curved in the plate thickness direction (see also Fig. 3 or Fig. 5). As in Fig. 3, the outer connecting portion 51A is arranged higher than the other portions of the upper plate portion 51 and forms a gap between itself and the upper surface of the terminal holding portion 12 to receive the inner connecting portion 63 of the upper inner shielding portion 60 described below from the front. The outer connecting portion 51A is in contact with the upper surface of the inner connecting portion 63 on the underside surface, thereby electrically connecting the upper outer shielding portion 50 and the upper inner shielding portion 60 (see Fig. 3).

[0046] On the rear plate portion 52, at a plurality of locations in the connector width direction corresponding to the holding holes 12A-1 of the terminal holding portion 12 of the housing 10 (in Fig. 4 at five locations) by cutting the lower portion of the rear plate portion 52 forwards a retained piece 52A is formed (see also Fig. 5). When the upper outer shield portion 50 is attached from behind with respect to the terminal holding portion 12 as described below, the retained piece 52A is pressed and held from behind in the holding hole 12A-1. Specifically, pressing protrusions are formed on the upper and lower edges of the retained piece 52A (both edge portions in the mating direction), and the pressing protrusions engage the inner wall surface of the holding hole 12A-1 for holding.

[0047] From the rear grounding section 53, as shown in Fig. 4, two are provided at positions in the connector width direction corresponding to the outer connecting portion 51A. The rear grounding portions 53 are, as shown in Fig. 3, are arranged at the same height as the connecting sections 22A, 32A of the plug-in terminals 20, 30, and are soldered to corresponding circuit sections on the mounting surface of the printed circuit board B1 and are thus capable of being earthed.

[0048] The upper inner shielding section 60 is formed by bending a sheet member in the plate thickness direction separately from the upper outer shielding section 50. The upper inner shielding section 60 covers, as shown in Fig. 3, in the receiving recess portion 16 of the housing 10, below the inner wall surfaces forming the receiving recess portion 16, at a position along the upper inner wall surface, substantially the entire area of ​​the inner wall surface.

[0049] The upper inner shield portion 60 includes a plurality of upper long shield contact pieces 61 and upper short shield contact pieces 62 (hereinafter collectively referred to as upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 as needed) formed in a row in the connector width direction, a plurality of inner connecting portions 63 formed at the rear end portion of the upper inner shield portion 60, and a plurality of attachment pieces 64 and guide portions 65 formed at the front end portion of the upper inner shield portion 60.

[0050] The upper long shielding contact pieces 61 and upper short shielding contact pieces 62 are, as in Fig. 4, are formed alternately in the connector width direction. Fig. 4, five upper long shielding contact pieces 61 and four upper short shielding contact pieces 62 formed between respective adjacent upper long shielding contact pieces 61 are shown. The upper long shielding contact pieces 61 and upper short shielding contact pieces 62 are formed by cutting open the upper inner shielding section 60, extend slightly forward (in the Y1 direction) downwardly sloping, and are formed as beam-shaped elastic pieces with a tab elastically displaceable in the top-bottom direction (plate thickness direction) (see also Fig. 3). The upper short shielding contact pieces 62 are formed shorter in the mating direction than the upper long shielding contact pieces 61.

[0051] The upper long shield contact pieces 61 extend to a position close to the front end of the upper inner shield section 60 and have an upper front shield contact section 61A at the front end portion (free end portion) that contacts an upper shield plate 100 provided on the connector socket 2. The upper front shield contact section 61A is formed by bending the front end portion of the upper long shield contact piece 61 downwardly projecting in the plate thickness direction. The upper short shield contact pieces 62 are arranged so that their front ends are further rearward than the front ends of the upper long shield contact pieces 61. An upper rear shield contact section 62A is also formed at the front end portion of the upper short shield contact pieces 62, just as in the upper long shield contact pieces 61. As shown in Fig. 3, the upper rear shield contact portion 62A is arranged further rearward than the upper front shield contact portion 61A. Hereinafter, the upper front shield contact portion 61A and the upper rear shield contact portion 62A are collectively referred to as "upper shield contact portions 61A, 62A" as needed.

[0052] In the present embodiment, the upper inner shield portion 60 is in elastic contact with the upper shield plate 100 at the upper shield contact portions 61A, 62A of the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62, whereby the upper inner shield portion 60 and the upper shield plate 100 can be securely connected to each other.

[0053] The inner connecting section 63 is, as in Fig. 4, in the connector width direction at several locations corresponding to the upper through-holes 18 of the housing 10 (in the present embodiment at five locations) when viewed in the connector width direction at the rear end portion of the upper inner shielding portion 60 is formed in a crank-shaped curve (see also Fig. 3 and Fig. 5). The inner connecting section 63 is, as shown in Fig. 3, is arranged further down than the other sections of the upper inner shielding section 60 (see also Fig. 5), penetrates from the front through the upper through-holes 18 of the housing 10 and into a gap between the outer connecting portion 51A of the upper outer shielding portion 50 and the upper surface of the terminal holding portion 12. The inner connecting portion 63 arranged in the gap is in contact with the lower surface of the outer connecting portion 51A at the upper surface of the inner connecting portion 63.

[0054] The attachment piece 64 is provided in the connector width direction at a plurality of locations (in the present embodiment at four locations) corresponding to the upper attachment grooves 13A of the housing 10 between adjacent guide portions 65 (see Fig. 4) and is formed by crank-shaped curving of the front end portion of the upper inner shielding portion 60 (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 5). As in Fig. As can be seen in Figure 3, the attachment piece 64 initially extends upward and is then curved forward, with the forward-extending part being formed as a crimping portion 64A for crimped retention in the upper attachment groove 13A. The crimping portion 64A is arranged offset upward with respect to the shielding surface of the upper inner shielding portion 60 (plate surface covering the inner wall surface of the receiving recess portion 16) and forms a flat plate parallel to the shielding surface. Crimping lugs 64A-1 are formed on both side edges of the crimping portion 64A (the side edges extending in the mating direction) (see Fig. 4 and Fig. 5), and when the crimping portion 64A is pressed into the upper attachment groove 13A from the front, the crimping projections 64A-1 engage the inner wall surface of the upper attachment groove 13A, thereby attaching the upper inner shielding portion 60 to the plug-in portion 11 of the housing 10.

[0055] The guide portion 65 is formed by the front end portion of the upper inner shield portion 60 being curved upwardly toward the front. The guide portion 65 extends, as shown in Fig. 3 can be seen along the upper inclined surface 13B of the upper wall 13. The guide section 65 serves to guide the connecting socket 2 into the interior of the receiving recess section 16 during mating along the underside surface of the guide section 65.

[0056] In addition, the guide section 65, as in Fig. 3, the upper inclined surface 13B is arranged in a region overlapping the upper inclined surface 13B in the top-bottom direction. That is, when attaching the upper inner shield portion 60, when the upper inner shield portion 60 is inserted rearward (in the Y2 direction) into the receiving recess portion 16, the guide portion 65 faces the upper inclined surface 13B and can be locked from the front. That is, the guide portion 65 also functions as a restriction portion that restricts the upper inner shield portion 60 from intruding rearward beyond a certain position, and this restriction achieves a correct attachment position of the upper inner shield portion 60.

[0057] The lower shield plate 70 is formed by bending a sheet metal member in the plate thickness direction. The lower shield plate 70 includes a lower inner shield portion 71 disposed in the receiving recess portion 16 of the housing 10 along the lower inner wall surface of the receiving recess portion 16 and covering substantially the entire area of ​​the inner wall surface, a plurality of leg portions 72 extending in a crank-shaped curve from the rear end edge of the lower inner shield portion 71, and a plurality of attachment pieces 73 and guide portions 74 extending in a curve from the front end edge of the lower inner shield portion 71.

[0058] The shape of the lower inner shield portion 71 is the inverted shape of the upper inner shield portion 60. That is, on the lower inner shield portion 71, lower long shield contact pieces 75 and lower short shield contact pieces 76 (hereinafter referred to collectively as "lower shield contact pieces 75, 76" as needed) are formed as elastic pieces elastically displaceable in the up-down direction, alternately arrayed in the connector width direction. The lower shield contact pieces 75, 76 are also inverted in shape to the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 of the upper inner shield portion 60. That is, the lower front shield contact portion 75A is formed on the lower long shield contact pieces 75, and the lower rear shield contact portion 76A is formed on the lower short shield contact pieces 76.Hereinafter, the lower front shield contact portion 75A and the lower rear shield contact portion 76A are collectively referred to as "lower shield contact portions 75A, 76A" as appropriate. The lower shield contact pieces 75, 76 can elastically contact the lower shield plate 110 provided on the connector socket at the lower shield contact portions 75A, 76A. The lower shield contact pieces 75, 76 are provided at the same positions with respect to the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 in the mating direction, but slightly offset in the connector width direction.

[0059] In the present embodiment, the lower shield plate 70 is in elastic contact with the lower shield plate 110 at the lower shield contact portions 75A, 76A of the lower shield contact pieces 75, 76, whereby the lower shield plate 70 and the lower shield plate 110 can be securely connected to each other.

[0060] The leg portions 72 are provided at a plurality of locations (six locations in the present embodiment) corresponding to the lower through holes 19 of the housing 10 in the connector width direction (see Fig. 4). The leg sections 72 are, as in Fig. 3, are arranged at a front position of the terminal holding portion 12 along the mounting surface of the circuit board B1, and include a front grounding portion 72A grounded to the mounting surface, and an upwardly extending upstanding portion 72B curved at the front end of the front grounding portion 72A and coupled to the rear end of the lower inner shield portion 71. That is, by extending forwardly over the upstanding portion 72B extending upward from the front grounding portion 72A at the upper end of the upstanding portion 72B to the lower inner shield portion 71, the front grounding portion 72A, the upstanding portion 72B, and the lower inner shield portion 71 are formed as a single element.

[0061] In the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4, the leg portions 72, except for the leg portions 72 located at both ends in the connector width direction (X-axis direction), are formed from the front grounding portions 72A extending in the connector width direction at positions where two upstanding portions 72B are spaced apart from each other. In contrast, the leg portions 72 located at both ends in the connector width direction are formed narrow and have only one upstanding portion 72B.

[0062] The attachment piece 73 is provided at a plurality of locations (four locations in the present embodiment) corresponding to the upper attachment grooves 13A of the housing 10 in the connector width direction between adjacent guide portions 65 and is formed by bending the front end edge of the lower inner shield portion 71 into a crank shape when viewed in the connector width direction. As shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. As can be seen in Figure 5, the attachment piece 73, with an inverted shape of the attachment piece 64 of the upper inner shielding section 60, initially extends downward and is then curved forward, with the forward-extending part being formed as a crimping section 73A for crimped retention in the lower attachment groove 14A. The crimping section 73A is arranged offset downward with respect to the shielding surface of the lower shielding plate 70 (plate surface of the lower inner shielding section 71) and forms a flat plate parallel to the shielding surface. Crimping lugs 73A-1 are formed on both side edges of the crimping section 73A (the side edges extending in the mating direction) (see Fig. 4 and Fig. 5), and when the crimping portion 73A is pressed into the lower mounting groove 14A from the front, the crimping projections 73A-1 engage the inner wall surface of the lower mounting groove 14A, thereby attaching the lower shield plate 70 to the plug-in portion 11 of the housing 10.

[0063] The guide section 74 has the inverted shape of the guide section 65 of the upper inner shielding section 60 and extends, as shown in Fig. 3, along the lower inclined surface 14B of the lower wall 14. The guide section 74 serves to guide the connecting socket 2 into the interior of the receiving recess section 16 during mating along the upper surface of the guide section 74.

[0064] In addition, the guide section 74, as in Fig. 3, the lower inclined surface 14B is arranged in a region overlapping the top-bottom direction. That is, when the lower shield plate 70 is inserted rearward (in the Y2 direction) into the receiving recess portion 16 during attachment of the lower shield plate 70, the guide portion 74 faces the lower inclined surface 14B and can be locked from the front. That is, the guide portion 74 also functions as a restriction portion that restricts the lower shield plate 70 from being inserted rearward beyond a certain position, and this restriction achieves a correct attachment position of the lower shield plate 70.

[0065] The connector 1 constructed as described above is assembled in the following manner. First, the lower terminals 30 are inserted into the terminal holding groove 17 of the housing 10 from the rear, the horizontal portion 31 of the lower terminals 30 is crimped into the lower groove portion 17B of the terminal holding groove 17, and the lower terminals 30 are attached to the housing 10. Then, the upper terminals 20 are inserted into the terminal holding groove 17 of the housing 10 from the rear, the horizontal portion 21 of the upper terminals 20 is crimped into the upper groove portion 17A of the terminal holding groove 17, and the upper terminals 20 are attached to the housing 10. In this state, in which the terminals 20, 30 are attached to the housing 10, the contact portions 23, 33 of the terminals 20, 30 are lined up in the receiving recess portion 16 of the housing 10.

[0066] Next, the retained pieces 52A of the upper outer shield portion 50 are pressed from behind into the retaining holes 12A-1 of the terminal retaining portion 12 of the housing 10, and the upper outer shield portion 50 is attached to the terminal retaining portion 12. In the attached state of the upper outer shield portion 50, a gap is formed between the outer connecting portion 51A of the upper outer shield portion 50 and the upper surface of the terminal retaining portion 12.

[0067] Next, the crimping portions 64A of the upper inner shield portion 60 are pressed into the upper mounting grooves 13A of the housing 10 from the front, and the upper inner shield portion 60 is attached to the plug-in portion 11 of the housing 10. When the upper inner shield portion 60 is attached to the plug-in portion 11, the inner connecting portion 63 of the upper inner shield portion 60 penetrates from the front through the upper through-holes 18 of the housing 10 and into the space between the outer connecting portion 51A and the upper surface of the terminal holding portion 12, and comes into contact with the lower surface of the outer connecting portion 51A, establishing an electrically conductive state. The part of the upper inner shield portion 60 disposed in the receiving recess portion 16 covers the upper inner wall surface of the receiving recess portion 16 along the inner wall surface.

[0068] Next, as explained with reference to Fig. 5 and Fig. 6(A) to (C), the lower shield plate 70 is attached to the plug-in portion 11 of the housing 10. Fig. 6(A) to (C) show the mounting process of the lower shielding plate 70 using only the front half portion of the lower portion of the housing 10 of Fig. 5. After, as in Fig. 5, the lower shielding plate 70 has been arranged in front of the receiving recess portion 16 at the same height as the lower through-holes 19, the lower shielding plate 70 is moved backward. The backward movement of the lower shielding plate 70 is carried out until the leg portions 72 of the lower shielding plate 70, i.e., the front grounding portions 72A and upstanding portions 72B, have been brought into the lower through-holes 19 via the forward-opening portion 19A of the lower through-holes 19, as shown in Fig. 6(A) can be seen.

[0069] Next, the lower shielding plate 70 is moved downward. In doing so, the front grounding portions 72A and the protruding portions 72B in the lower through-holes 19 move downward. The downward movement of the lower shielding plate 70 is performed until the front grounding portions 72A are brought out of the lower through-holes 19 via the downwardly open portion 19B of the lower through-holes 19, as shown in Fig. 6(B), and the pressing portions 73A of the attachment pieces 73 are at the same height as the lower attachment grooves 14A of the housing 10.

[0070] Next, the lower shielding plate 70 is moved rearward, and, as shown in Fig. As can be seen in Fig. 6(C), the crimping portions 73A are pressed into the lower mounting groove 14A from the front, and the lower shield plate 70 is attached to the plug-in portion 11 of the housing 10. When the lower shield plate 70 is attached to the plug-in portion 11, the lower inner shield portion 71 of the lower shield plate 70 is arranged along the lower inner wall surface of the receiving recess portion 16 and covers the inner wall surface.

[0071] By attaching the upper terminals 20, lower terminals 30, the upper outer shield portion 50, the upper inner shield portion 60, and the lower shield plate 70 to the housing 10 in this way, the connector 1 is completed. In the present embodiment, the upper outer shield portion 50, the upper inner shield portion 60, and the lower shield plate 70 were attached to the housing 10 in this order, but the attachment order is not limited to this, and any of the elements may be attached first, or all of the elements may be attached simultaneously.

[0072] In the present embodiment, when the lower shield plate 70 is inserted rearward into the receiving recess portion 16, the lower through-holes 19 of the housing 10 allow the front grounding portions 72A and the upstanding portions 72B to protrude and allow the front grounding portions 72A and the upstanding portions 72B to move downward until the printed circuit board B1 is reached. Therefore, even if the lower shield plate 70 has the dimension of the upstanding portions 72B part as the dimension in the up-down direction, it is possible to smoothly install the lower shield plate 70 on the housing 10 by moving the upstanding portions 72B and the front grounding portions 72A rearward in the lower through-holes 19 and moving the front grounding portions 72A and the upstanding portions 72B downward in the lower through-holes 19.

[0073] In the present embodiment, the lower shield plate 70 is formed as a single member including the front grounding portions 72A, the upstanding portions 72B, and the lower inner shield portion 71, therefore, it is not necessary to divide the lower shield plate as in the prior art, so that the number of components can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be lowered.

[0074] Next, the structure of the connector socket 2 is described. The connector socket 2 is mated with the connector plug 1 in the Y2 direction in the mating direction. Hereinafter, the Y2 direction of the connector socket 2 is referred to as facing forward and the Y1 direction as facing backward in the mating direction (Y-axis direction). The connector socket 2 has, as shown in Fig. 1 to 3, a substantially cuboid-shaped housing 80 made of an electrically insulating material, a plurality of metal connection sockets 90 held in a row by the housing 80, and an upper shielding plate 100 and a lower shielding plate 110 made of metal, which are attached to the housing 80 (see also Fig. 7). Hereinafter, the upper shielding plate 100 and the lower shielding plate 110 are collectively referred to as "shielding plates 100, 110" as needed.

[0075] The housing 80 in its entirety, in the assembled state, forms a plug-in section (a corresponding plug-in section with respect to the connecting plug 1), which is plugged into the receiving recess section 16 of the connecting plug 1. The housing 80 has, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, an upper wall 81 and a lower wall 82 which are opposite to each other in the up-down direction and extend in the connector width direction (X-axis direction), and at positions at both ends of the housing 80 in the connector width direction, a pair of end walls 83 which extend in the up-down direction and couple the end portion of the upper wall 81 and the end portion of the lower wall 82 to each other.

[0076] Furthermore, the housing 80 includes, at a central position in the up-down direction, a horizontal partition wall 84 extending in the connector width direction and coupling the inner wall surfaces of the end walls 83 to each other, and a plurality of vertical partition walls 85 extending in the up-down direction at a plurality of locations in the connector width direction and coupling the inner wall surfaces of the upper wall 81 and the lower wall 82 to each other. A space surrounded by a peripheral wall formed by the upper wall 81, the lower wall 82, and the two end walls 83 is divided into a plurality of small spaces by the horizontal partition wall 84 and the plurality of vertical partition walls 85.

[0077] The small spaces are formed as terminal receiving portions 86 for receiving and holding the female terminal 90. The terminal receiving portions 86 are formed at positions corresponding to the contact portions 23, 33 of the male terminals 20, 30 of the connector plug 1. That is, in the present embodiment, the terminal receiving portions 86 are formed in two stages in the top-bottom direction and in thirteen rows in the connector width direction. The terminal receiving portions 86 extend, as shown in Fig. 3, in the mating direction, and the connection socket 90 can be pressed into them from the rear (Y1 direction), as described below.

[0078] On the upper wall 81, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, upper mounting grooves 81A are formed at several locations (five locations in the present embodiment) in the connector width direction, which are recessed from the upper surface of the front end portion of the upper wall 81 (end portion on the Y2 side). The upper mounting groove 81A is, as also shown in Fig. 8, is open upwards (Z1 direction) and forwards (Y2 direction) and holds, as described below, a pressing section 102A of an attachment piece 102 of the upper shielding plate 100 pressed in from the front (see also Fig. 9). As in Fig. As shown in Fig. 7, a forwardly sloping upper slant surface 81B is formed on the upper surface of the front end portion of the upper wall 81 between adjacent upper attachment grooves 81A in the connector width direction. On the upper surface of the rear end portion (end portion on the Y1 side) of the upper wall 81, fixing portions 81C for fixing the upper shield plate 100 are formed at a plurality of locations (four locations in the present embodiment) in the connector width direction. Fixing holes 1C-1 extending in the fitting direction are formed at the fixing portions 81C for holding the fixed portions 104 of the upper shield plate 100 described below by inserting the fixed portions 104 thereinto from the front.

[0079] The lower wall 82 of the housing 80 is the inverted shape of the upper wall 81. Except for the inversion, the shape of the lower wall 82 is the same as that of the upper wall 81, so the reference numerals of the upper wall 81 are supplemented by 1 (for example, the lower attachment groove of the lower wall 82, which corresponds to the upper attachment groove 81A of the upper wall 81, is provided with reference numeral 82A), and a repeated description is essentially omitted.

[0080] A plurality of terminal sockets 90, which are held by the housing 80, are each formed in the same shape. The terminal socket 90 is formed by bending a sheet metal element in the plate thickness direction and has, as shown in Fig. 3, a base portion 91 arranged at a central portion of the terminal receiving portion 86 in the fitting direction, a pair of elastic arm portions 92 extending forward (in the Y2 direction) from the base portion 91 and elastically displaceable in the up-down direction, a held plate portion 94 coupled to a rear edge portion of the base portion 91 (edge ​​portion on the Y1 side) via a constriction 93, and a connecting portion 95 extending from the rear edge portion of the held plate portion 94 out of the housing 80.

[0081] The base portion 91 is curved so as to be U-shaped in the fitting direction, and has a vertical plate portion 91A extending on a wall surface of the vertical partition wall 85 and two horizontal plate portions 91B each extending from the upper and lower edges of the vertical plate portion 91A in the connector width direction (in the direction perpendicular to the paper direction in Fig. 3) extend.

[0082] The elastic arm portions 92 each extend forward from the two horizontal plate portions 91B of the base portion 91, and the two elastic arm portions 92 opposite each other in the up-down direction form a pair. The elastic arm portions 92 extend obliquely to approach each other forward and are curved at their front end portions to diverge from each other. The curved parts of the front end portions, i.e., the parts that protrude to approach each other, form contact protrusion portions 92A that are connectable to the contact portions 23, 33 of the male terminals 20, 30.The distance between the contact projection portions 92A in the top-bottom direction is smaller than the dimension of the contact portions 23, 33 of the plug terminals 20, 30 in the top-bottom direction, so that in the mated state, the pair of contact projection portions 92A presses the contact portions 23, 33 together in the top-bottom direction.

[0083] The retained plate portion 94 has a plate surface rectangular with respect to the connector width direction and extends along the wall surface of the vertical partition wall 85. Projecting crimping protrusions (not shown) are formed on the upper and lower edges of the retained plate portion 94, respectively. By engaging the crimping protrusions with the upper and lower inner wall surfaces of the terminal receiving portion 86, the terminal socket 90 is crimpedly held in the terminal receiving portion 86.

[0084] The connecting portion 95 is arranged outside the housing 80 and extends at the rear edge end of the held plate portion 94 curved in the connector width direction (see also Fig. 1). As in Fig. 3, in a state where the female connector 2 is disposed on the mounting surface of the circuit board B2, the connecting portion 95 is disposed such that the front surface of the connecting portion 95 (the board surface rectangular with respect to the mating direction) abuts the mounting surface, and can be soldered to a corresponding circuit portion of the mounting surface.

[0085] The upper shield plate 100 and the lower shield plate 110 have exactly the same shape. The description will be made here with a focus on the upper shield plate 100, and reference numerals for the lower shield plate 110 correspond to the reference numerals of the upper shield plate 100 with the addition of 10 (for example, a shield plate main body portion of the lower shield plate 110 corresponding to a shield plate main body portion 101 of the upper shield plate 100 described below is designated by reference numeral 111), and their description will be essentially omitted.

[0086] The upper shield plate 100 is formed by bending a part of a sheet member and is attached to an upper surface of the upper wall 81 of the housing 80. The upper shield plate 100 includes a shield plate main body portion 101 having a shielding surface opposite to the upper surface of the upper wall 81, an attachment piece 102 and a guided portion 103 provided at the front edge portion of the shield plate main body portion 101 (edge ​​portion on the Y2 side), and a fixed portion 104 and a shield plate grounding portion 105 provided at the rear edge portion of the shield plate main body portion 101 (edge ​​portion on the Y1 side).

[0087] The shield plate main body portion 101 has, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the shield plate 102 has the shape of a flat plate extending in the connector width direction over the entire terminal array area. The attachment piece 102 is provided in the connector width direction at a plurality of locations corresponding to the upper attachment grooves 81A of the housing 80 (five locations in the present embodiment) and is formed by bending the front end edge of the shield plate main body portion 101 into a crank shape when viewed in the connector width direction. The attachment piece 102 initially extends downward and is then curved forward, with the forwardly extending part being formed as a crimping portion 102A for crimpingly holding it in the upper attachment groove 81A (see also Fig. 8 and Fig. 9). The pressing portion 102A is arranged offset downward with respect to the shielding surface of the upper shielding plate 100 (plate surface of the shielding plate main body portion 101) and forms a flat plate parallel to the shielding surface. When the pressing portion 102A is pressed from the front into the upper mounting groove 81A (see arrow in Fig. 8), grip pressing lugs 102A-1, which are formed on both side edges of the pressing section 102A as locking sections (see Fig. 8 and Fig. 9), as in Fig. 9, into the inner wall surface of the upper mounting groove 81A, thereby attaching the upper shield plate 100 to the housing 80.

[0088] The guided section 103 is, as in Fig. 2 and Fig. 7, the guide portion 103 is provided between adjacent attachment pieces 102 in the connector width direction and is formed to be curved obliquely downward (in the Y2 direction) from the front end edge of the shield plate main body portion 101. The guided portion 103 extends along the upper inclined surface 81B of the upper wall 81. The guided portion 103 is guided into the receiving recess portion 16 of the connector 1 by the guide portion 65 of the connector plug 1 upon mating at the upper surface of the guided portion 103.

[0089] The fixed portions 104 are provided at a plurality of locations (four locations in the present embodiment) in the connector width direction, corresponding to the fixing portions 81C of the housing 80, and extend straight backward (in the Y1 direction) from the rear end edge of the shield plate main body portion 101. When the upper shield plate 100 is attached to the housing 80, the fixed portions 104 are inserted from the front into the fixing holes 1C-1 of the fixing portions 81C and held in the fixing holes 1C-1.

[0090] The shield plate grounding portion 105 is provided at a plurality of locations (in the present embodiment, five locations) in the connector width direction, namely at the same locations as the attachment pieces 102, and extends upwardly in a curved manner from the rear end edge of the shield plate main body portion 101. As shown in Fig. 3, in a state where the connector socket 2 is disposed on the mounting surface of the circuit board B2, the shield plate grounding portion 105 is disposed such that the front surface of the shield plate grounding portion 105 (the plate surface perpendicular to the mating direction) abuts against the mounting surface, and can be made groundable by soldering it to a corresponding circuit portion of the mounting surface.

[0091] As mentioned above, the lower shielding plate 110 has the same shape as the upper shielding plate 100, but is mounted in an inverted position relative to the upper shielding plate 100, covering the underside surface of the bottom wall 82 of the housing 80. In the present embodiment, the shielding plates 100, 110 are mounted on the top surface and the bottom surface of the housing 80, thereby shielding a large area and enhancing the shielding effect.

[0092] The connector socket 2 constructed as described above is assembled as follows. First, the terminal sockets 90 are press-fitted from the rear into the respective terminal receiving portions 86 of the housing 80 and received in the terminal receiving portions 86, thereby attaching the terminal sockets 90 to the housing 10. At this time, the terminal sockets 90 are held by the retained plate portion 94 on the inner wall surface of the terminal receiving portions 86.

[0093] Next, the pressing portions 102A of the attachment pieces 102 of the upper shield plate 100 are pressed into the upper attachment grooves 81A of the housing 80 from the front (from the Y2 side), and the fixed portions 104 are inserted into the fixing holes 1C-1 of the fixing portions 81C from the front (from the Y2 side). In this way, the pressing projections 102A-1 of the pressing portions 102A engage the side inner wall surface of the upper attachment grooves 81A, and the pressing portions 102A are held in the upper attachment grooves 81A, while the fixed portions 104 are held by the fixing portions 81C. In this way, the upper shield plate 100 is mounted on the upper surface of the housing 80. Next, in the same manner as already described for the upper shielding plate 100, the lower shielding plate 110 is attached to the bottom surface of the housing 80.

[0094] By attaching the connector socket 90, the upper shield plate 100, and the lower shield plate 110 to the housing 80, the connector socket 2 is completed. In the present embodiment, the connector socket 90, the upper shield plate 100, and the lower shield plate 110 were attached to the housing 80 in this order, but the attachment order is not limited thereto, and any of the elements may be attached first, or all of the elements may be attached at the same time.

[0095] In the present embodiment, the attachment pieces 102, 112 of the shielding plates 100, 110 have parallel plate-shaped crimping portions 102A, 112A with respect to the shielding surface (plate surface) of the shielding plate main body portions 101, 111, and crimping protrusions 102A-1, 112A-1 are provided at the side edges of the crimping portions 102A, 112A. Since the crimping portions 102A, 112A, including the crimping protrusions 102A-1, 112A-1, are plate-shaped, the manufacturing of the shielding plates 100, 110 is simple and the manufacturing precision is high. Since the pressing portions 102A, 112A are not subjected to bending processing, the strength of the pressing portions 102A, 112A as such is also high. Thus, the attachment force of the attachment pieces 102, 112 to the housing 80 is high, and the attachment pieces 102, 112 are not easily detached from the housing 80.In addition, since no force in the plate thickness direction acts on the pressing portions 102A, 112A, bending deformation due to fatigue does not easily occur even if the attachment force is high, so that the shielding plates 100, 110 can be used for a long time.

[0096] In the present embodiment, the attachment pieces 102, 112 of the shield plates 100, 110 and the attachment grooves 81A, 82A of the housing 80 are provided at a plurality of corresponding positions in the connector width direction (X-axis direction). This increases the attachment area of ​​the shield plates 100, 110 and makes it uniform. This further increases the attachment force of the attachment pieces 102, 112 to the housing 80, and the attachment pieces 102, 112 are not easily detached from the housing 80.

[0097] Next, the mating process of the connectors is described. First, the connector plug 1 is mounted by soldering on the mounting surface of the circuit board B1, and the connector socket 2 is connected by soldering to the mounting surface of the circuit board B2. Next, as shown in Fig. 1 to 3, the front sections of the connector plug 1 and the connector socket 2 are positioned facing each other. Then, the connector socket 2 is moved towards the connector plug 1, i.e., the connector socket 2 is moved forward (Y2 direction) in the mating direction of the connector socket 2 (see arrows in Fig.1 to 3), and the plug-in portion of the connecting socket 2 is inserted into the receiving recess portion 16 of the connecting plug 1. By guiding the guided portions 103, 113 of the connecting socket 2 by the guide portions 65, 74 of the connecting plug 1, the connecting socket 2 is securely guided into the receiving recess portion 16 of the connecting plug 1.

[0098] When the connectors are mated, the contact portions 23, 33 of the male terminals 20, 30 expand the pair of elastic arm portions 92 of the female terminal 90 by elastically displacing them and interpose between the elastic arm portions 92. After the connectors are mated (in the mated state), the elastically displaced state of the elastic arm portions 92 is maintained, and the contact portions 23, 33 are clamped in the up-down direction by the pair of contact projection portions 92A. Therefore, the contact portions 23, 33 and the pair of contact projection portions 92A are in pressure contact with each other, resulting in an electrically conductive state.

[0099] When the connectors are mated together, the shielding plate main body portion 101 of the upper shielding plate 100 provided on the connector socket 2 comes into contact with the upper shielding contact portions 61A, 62A of the upper inner shielding portion 60 provided on the connector plug 1. The shielding plate main body portion 111 of the lower shielding plate 110 provided on the connector socket 2, in turn, comes into contact with the lower shielding contact portions 75A, 76A of the lower shielding plate 70 provided on the connector plug 1.

[0100] As insertion of the connector socket 2 continues in this manner, the upper shield contact portions 61A, 62A are pushed upward by the upper surface of the shield plate main body portion 101 of the upper shield plate 100, thereby elastically displacing the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 upward. In turn, the lower shield contact portions 75A, 76A are pushed downward by the lower surface of the shield plate main body portion 111 of the lower shield plate 110, thereby elastically displacing the lower shield contact pieces 75, 76 downward. Insertion of the connector socket 2 is permitted by the elastic displacement of the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 and the lower shield contact pieces 75, 76.The insertion of the connecting socket 2 is carried out until the front end surface of the connecting socket 2 comes into contact with the bottom surface of the receiving recess portion 16 of the connecting plug 1 (the surface perpendicular to the Y-axis direction), whereby the mating operation of the connectors is completed and the mated state is established.

[0101] In the mated state, the elastic displacement of the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 and the lower shield contact pieces 75, 76 is maintained, and the upper shield contact pieces 61, 62 are in press contact with the upper surface of the shield plate main body portion 101 of the upper shield plate 100 and the lower shield contact portions 75A, 76A are in press contact with the lower surface of the shield plate main body portion 111 of the lower shield plate 110, thereby resulting in an electrically conductive state.

[0102] In the present embodiment, the shielding plate of the connector socket is attached to both of an opposite pair of side walls of the housing, but instead, as long as sufficient shielding performance can be ensured, it is also possible to attach the shielding plate to only one side wall.

[0103] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the shield plate of the female connector is attached to the outer surface of the housing, but if the housing of the female connector has a receiving recess portion instead like the male connector of the present embodiment, the shield plate may also be attached to the inner surface of the housing. Explanation of reference symbols 1 connecting plug 2 connection sockets 10 engine housing 11 Plug-in section 12 Connection holding section 16 Recording recess section 18 upper through hole 19 lower through hole 20 upper plug connection 22A connecting section 23 Contact section 30 lower plug connection 32A connecting section 33 Contact section 40 upper shielding plate 50 upper outer shielding section 53 rear earthing section 60 upper inner shielding section 70 lower shielding plate 71 lower inner shielding section 72A front grounding section 72B upstanding section 74 Guide Section 75 lower long shielding contact piece 76 lower short shielding contact piece 80 housings 81A upper mounting groove 82A lower mounting groove 90 connection socket 92 elastic arm section 92A-1 contact projection 100 upper shielding plate 101 Shielding plate main body section 102 Attachment piece 102A grouting section 102A-1 Crimping nose (locking section) 105 Shielding plate earthing section 110 lower shielding plate 111 Shielding plate main body section

Claims

[1] An electrical L-shaped connector (1) with a printed circuit board (B1), comprising a housing (10) made of an electrically insulating material, which is attached to the printed circuit board (B1) and on which a plug-in portion (11) is plugged together with a connector counterpart (2) in a direction along a mounting surface of the printed circuit board (B1), and a terminal holding portion (12) are formed, which holds a terminal, one end of which forms a contact portion (23, 33) on the plug-in portion (11) and comes into contact with a terminal counterpart provided on a connector counterpart (2), and the other end of which forms a connecting portion (22A, 32A) which projects from a bottom surface of the terminal holding portion (12) and is connected to the printed circuit board (B1), and a shielding plate (40, 70) which is attached to the housing (10) and shields the terminal, characterized bythat the plug-in section (11) of the housing (10) forms a receiving recess section (16) which opens forwards towards the connector counterpart (2) to receive a corresponding plug-in section (11) of the connector counterpart (2), wherein the contact section (23, 33) of the terminal is accommodated inside the receiving recess section (16), the shielding plate (40, 70) comprises a lower shielding plate (70) mounted on the housing (10) at a position close to the circuit board (B1) and an upper shielding plate (40) mounted on the housing (10) at a position remote from the circuit board (B1), the upper shielding plate (40) has an upper outer shielding portion (50) with a rear grounding portion (53) grounded to the circuit board (B1) at a position at the rear portion of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10), which is L-shaped and arranged on an outer surface of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10), and an upper inner shielding portion (60) which is formed separately from the upper outer shielding portion (50) and, in a state of conductive connection with the upper outer shielding portion (50), is arranged inside the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and is connectable to a corresponding shielding plate (40, 70) of the connector counterpart (2), the lower shielding plate (70) has a lower inner shielding portion (71) with a front grounding portion (72A) which is grounded to the circuit board (B1) at a position at the front portion of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10) and is arranged inside the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and is connectable to the corresponding shielding plate (40, 70) of the connector counterpart (2), by extending forwardly over an upstanding portion (72B) extending upwardly from the front grounding portion (72A) at the upper end of the upstanding portion (72B) to the lower inner shielding portion (71), the front grounding portion (72A), the upstanding portion (72B) and the lower inner shielding portion (71) are formed as a single element, and a through-hole (18, 19) extending from the receiving recess portion (16) to the underside surface of the terminal holding portion (12) and open in the underside surface is formed on the housing (10), wherein the through-hole (18, 19) is formed as a space which, when the lower inner shield portion (71) is inserted rearwardly into the interior of the receiving recess portion (16), allows the upstanding portion (72B) and the front grounding portion (72A) to advance and allows the front grounding portion (72A) to move downwards as far as the circuit board (B1). [2] The L-shaped electrical connector (1) with a printed circuit board (B1) according to claim 1, wherein the lower shield plate (70) has a restricting portion in which the front end portion of the lower inner shield portion (71) of the lower shield plate (70) is curved downward, and when the lower inner shield portion (71) is inserted rearward into the interior of the receiving recess portion (16), the restricting portion is positioned so that it can be locked in an opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and a rearward protrusion of the lower shield plate (70) beyond a certain position is restricted. [3] An L-shaped electrical connector (1) with a printed circuit board (B1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an elastic piece is provided on the lower shield plate (70), a part of the lower inner shield portion (71) of the lower shield plate (70) is cut open, and a shield contact portion is formed on the elastic piece, which comes into contact with the corresponding shield plate (100, 110) of the connector counterpart (2). [4] A method for producing an electrical L-shaped connector (1) for a printed circuit board (B1), comprising a housing (10) made of an electrically insulating material, which is attached to a printed circuit board (B1) and on which a plug-in portion (11) is plugged together with a connector counterpart (2) in a direction along a mounting surface of the printed circuit board (B1), and a terminal holding portion (12) are formed, which holds a terminal, one end of which forms a contact portion (23, 33) on the plug-in portion (11) and comes into contact with a terminal counterpart provided on a connector counterpart (2), and the other end of which forms a connecting portion (22A, 32A) which projects from a bottom surface of the terminal holding portion (12) and is connected to the printed circuit board (B1), and a shielding plate (40, 70) which is attached to the housing (10) and shields the terminal, characterized bythat a contact section (23, 33) is accommodated in a receiving recess section (16) which opens forwards towards the connector counterpart (2) to receive a corresponding plug-in section (11) of the connector counterpart (2) and is formed in a plug-in section (11) of the housing (10), the shielding plate (40, 70) forms a lower shielding plate (70) which is attached to the housing (10) at a position close to the circuit board (B1), and an upper shielding plate (40) which is attached to the housing (10) at a position remote from the circuit board (B1), an upper outer shielding portion (50) having a rear grounding portion (53) grounded to the circuit board (B1) at a position at the rear portion of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10), which is L-shaped and is arranged on an outer surface of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10), and an upper inner shielding portion (60) formed separately from the upper outer shielding portion (50) and arranged in a state of conductive connection with the upper outer shielding portion (50) inside the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and connectable to a corresponding shielding plate (100, 110) of the connector counterpart (2), are formed by the upper shielding plate (100), a lower inner shielding portion (71) is formed with a front grounding portion (72A) which is grounded at a position at the front portion of the terminal holding portion (12) of the housing (10) on the circuit board (B1) and is arranged inside the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and is connectable to the corresponding shielding plate (40, 70) of the connector counterpart (2), the lower shielding plate (70) extends forwardly over a rising portion (72B) extending upwardly from the front grounding portion (72A) at the upper end of the rising portion (72B) to the lower inner shielding portion (71) and is formed as a single element with the front grounding portion (72A), the rising portion (72B) and the lower inner shielding portion (71), and a through-hole (18, 19) extending from the receiving recess portion (16) to the underside surface of the terminal holding portion (12) and open in the underside surface is formed on the housing (10), and the lower inner shield portion (71) is inserted into the interior of the receiving recess portion (16) with the upstanding portion (72B) and the front grounding portion (72A) facing rearward, and then the front grounding portion (72A) is moved downwards to the circuit board (B1). [5] A method for manufacturing an L-shaped electrical connector (1) for a printed circuit board (B1) according to claim 4, wherein a restricting portion is provided on the lower shield plate (70) by bending the front end portion of the lower inner shield portion (71) of the lower shield plate (70) downward, and when the lower inner shield portion (71) is inserted rearward into the inside of the receiving recess portion (16), the restricting portion is positioned so that it can be locked in an opening edge portion of the receiving recess portion (16) of the housing (10) and a rearward protrusion of the lower shield plate (70) beyond a certain position is restricted. [6] A method for manufacturing an L-shaped electrical connector (1) for a printed circuit board (B1) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein an elastic piece is provided on the lower shield plate (70) by cutting open a part of the lower inner shield portion (71) of the lower shield plate (70) and bringing the elastic piece into contact as a shield contact portion (23, 33) with a corresponding shield plate (100, 110) of the connector counterpart (2).

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