Cable assembly, connector cable, locator

Abstract

To provide a locator that can be manufactured inexpensively and have the prescribed accuracy and strength, and a cable assembly and a connector cable that incorporate such the locator.SOLUTION: A locator 10 is cut from a flat printed circuit board, has a plurality of holes 16 for inserting a coaxial cable 42 in the direction of the thickness of the flat plate, and the plurality of holes 16 into which the coaxial cable 42 is inserted are through hole plated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cable assembly, a connector cable, and a locator usable therewith. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, when manufacturing a harness product, it is preferable in terms of accuracy and labor to connect the cables to the connector by soldering or the like in an aligned state at the connection part where the connector and the cable are connected, so that the cables are aligned using a part called a locator. For example, in the housing (1) as a locator disclosed in the following Patent Document 1, as shown in Figures 22 and 23, a configuration is adopted in which an inner conductor member (6) that contacts the outer conductor of the coaxial cable (10) is provided on the inner circumference of the cable connection hole (3). This configuration is effective not only for aligning the end of the coaxial cable (10) from which the outer conductor has been stripped, but also for shielding and impedance matching. Note that the symbols related to the explanations of the prior art documents are distinguished from the embodiments of the present invention by adding parentheses. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-67297 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the housing (1) as a locator disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires that a separate inner conductor member (6) be attached to each of the cable connection holes (3) of the insulating resin housing (1) and assembled, which presents a problem that it is not suitable for mass production. In addition, the locators according to the conventional technology require the creation of mass-production equipment such as a mold for mass production, and require the use of a manufacturing machine such as a laser shaping machine for prototype production, which results in high manufacturing costs and inability to obtain the required strength.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a locator that can be manufactured inexpensively and has a predetermined level of precision and strength, and a cable assembly and a connector cable incorporating such a locator. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The cable assembly according to the present invention is a cable assembly having a locator, in which a coaxial cable with its outer conductor stripped is inserted into each of a plurality of holes in the locator, the locator being cut out from a flat printed circuit board, the locator having the plurality of holes for inserting the coaxial cables in the thickness direction of the flat board, and the plurality of holes for inserting the coaxial cables being through-hole plated.

[0007] The connector cable of the present invention has a locator, and a coaxial cable with its outer conductor stripped is inserted into each of a plurality of holes of the locator, the locator being cut out from a flat printed circuit board, and having the plurality of holes for inserting the coaxial cable in the thickness direction of the flat plate, an oval hole for inserting a paddle card in the thickness direction of the flat plate, and notch-shaped portions formed at the four corners of the locator when viewed from the insertion direction of the coaxial cable, the plurality of holes for inserting the coaxial cable are through-hole plated, a paddle card is inserted into the oval hole, the locator is fitted into one opening of a shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector, and protrusions formed at the four corners of the opening of the shell are fitted into the notch-shaped portions formed at the four corners of the locator.

[0008] In other words, in the connector cable having a locator according to the present invention, the printed circuit board that constitutes the locator is a double-sided board with copper foil layers on both sides, so that when it is fitted into the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector like a lid, it provides a shielding effect.

[0009] The locator of the present invention is a locator cut out from a flat printed circuit board, and is characterized in that it has a plurality of holes for inserting coaxial cables in the thickness direction of the flat board, and the plurality of holes for inserting the coaxial cables are through-hole plated.

[0010] That is, in the locator according to the present invention, the holes into which the coaxial cables are inserted are through-hole plated, so that impedance matching and shielding can be achieved even if the shield of the coaxial cable is stripped and inserted.

[0011] In the locator according to the present invention, the printed circuit board may be a double-sided board having copper foil layers on both sides.

[0012] That is, since the locator according to the present invention can be manufactured by the same manufacturing method as a printed circuit board, multiple panels can be produced, and in particular, through-hole plating can be performed on a large number of holes at once by batch processing.

[0013] Furthermore, the locator according to the present invention may have an oval hole in the thickness direction of the flat plate into which the paddle card is inserted.

[0014] That is, since the locator according to the present invention has an oval hole into which the paddle card is inserted, the paddle card can be easily attached.

[0015] Furthermore, in the locator according to the present invention, the oval hole into which the paddle card is inserted and the surface of the locator can be plated.

[0016] That is, the locator according to the present invention has an oval hole for inserting the paddle card and plated rectangular parallelepiped sides, so that it can be fixed to the paddle card and the shell that constitutes the outer periphery of the connector by soldering.

[0017] In the locator according to the present invention, notched portions can be formed at the four corners of the locator when viewed from the insertion direction of the coaxial cable.

[0018] That is, since the locator according to the present invention has notched portions at the four corners of a rectangular parallelepiped, it can be positioned and fixed when being fitted into the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector. Effect of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a locator that can be manufactured inexpensively and has a predetermined accuracy and strength, and a cable assembly and a connector cable incorporating such a locator. Also, the locator according to the present invention is effective for shielding and impedance matching in addition to aligning the ends of coaxial cables as in the prior art, and is suitable for mass production since a large number of them can be manufactured at once by batch processing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the locator according to the embodiment, as viewed from the upper left front. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a front view of the locator according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section along line AA in FIG. [Figure 4] 5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining a method of manufacturing the locator according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 5] 5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining a method of manufacturing the locator according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] 5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining a method of manufacturing the locator according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is an external perspective view of a cable assembly using a locator according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the upper left front side. [Figure 8] 1 is an external perspective view of a cable assembly using the locator according to the embodiment, as viewed from the lower right rear side. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is an external perspective view, viewed from the upper left front side, of the cable assembly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and a shell that can be installed in this cable assembly to form a connector cable. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to this embodiment, as viewed from the upper left front. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of the connector cable shown in FIG. 10, in which a shell constituting the outer casing of the connector is depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 12] 11 is an external perspective view of a shell unit used in the connector cable shown in FIG. 10 as viewed from the upper right rear side. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a locator according to a first modified example, as viewed from the upper left front side. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to a first modified example, viewed from the upper left front, with a partial see-through view of the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 15]FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to a first modified example, as viewed from the lower right rear view, with a partial see-through view in which the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector is depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a locator according to a second modified example, as viewed from the upper left front side. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to a second modified example, as viewed from the upper left front, with a partial see-through view of the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 18] FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to a second modified example, as viewed from the lower right rear view, with a partial see-through view in which the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector is depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 19] FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a locator according to a third modified example, as viewed from the upper left front side. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to a third modified example, as viewed from the upper left front, with a partial see-through view of the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of a connector cable using a locator according to a third modified example, as viewed from the lower right rear view, with a partial see-through view in which the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector is depicted semi-transparently. [Figure 22] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of use of a housing (1) as a locator disclosed in Patent Document 1. [Figure 23] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a housing (1) serving as a locator disclosed in Patent Document 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to each claim, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention. Furthermore, in this specification, for convenience of explanation, the directions of the locators 10, 100, 200, 300, the cable assembly 30, and the connector cables 50, 150, 250, 350 are defined as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and Figs. 7 to 21. However, these directions do not indicate the directions when the locators 10, 100, 200, 300, the cable assembly 30, and the connector cables 50, 150, 250, 350 according to this embodiment are used, and the locators 10, 100, 200, 300, the cable assembly 30, and the connector cables 50, 150, 250, 350 according to this embodiment can be used in any position. In other words, the directions of "front, back, top, bottom, left side, right side" shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and Figs. 7 to 21 have been determined solely for the convenience of explanation.

[0022] First, the configuration of the locator 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. The locator 10 according to this embodiment is cut out from a flat printed circuit board, and is manufactured by utilizing a double-sided board using a glass epoxy material such as FR-4. This double-sided board is a printed circuit board having a flat board body 11 made of a glass epoxy material and copper foil layers 12 on the front and back sides of the board body 11. Therefore, the copper foil layers 12 are formed on the front and back surfaces of the locator 10 shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and the flat board body 11 made of a glass epoxy material is sandwiched between the copper foil layers 12 on the front and back sides.

[0023] An oval hole 13 is formed in the center of the locator 10. This oval hole 13 penetrates the plate in the thickness direction, and allows, for example, a paddle card to be inserted. The inner wall surface of the oval hole 13 is plated with plating 14, and is electrically connected to the copper foil layers 12 formed on the front and back surfaces of the locator 10.

[0024] 1 is also provided with plating 15. The plating 15 on the top and bottom surfaces of the locator 10 is also electrically conductive with the copper foil layers 12 formed on the front and back surfaces of the locator 10.

[0025] Furthermore, a plurality of round holes 16 are formed above and below the oval hole 13 formed at the center of the locator 10 as a plurality of holes according to the present invention penetrating in the thickness direction of the flat plate. In this embodiment, a total of 12 round holes 16 are formed, six above the oval hole 13 and six below the oval hole 13. These round holes 16 are used to insert the coaxial cables 42 in the thickness direction of the flat plate, and can function to align the multiple coaxial cables 42.

[0026] The twelve round holes 16 can be formed simply as holes, or, for example, a plurality of the round holes 16 can be through-hole plated to electrically connect them to the copper foil layers 12 formed on the front and back surfaces of the locator 10.

[0027] Furthermore, in the locator 10 according to this embodiment, notch portions 17 that are cut out in a curved shape are formed at the four corners of the locator 10 when viewed in the insertion direction of the coaxial cable 42, that is, in the penetrating direction of the twelve circular holes 16. The notch portions 17 are shaped portions that function to position the shell 51 when the locator 10 is fitted into the shell 51 described below to form a connector.

[0028] The configuration of the locator 10 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, a method for manufacturing the locator 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6.

[0029] To manufacture locator 10 according to this embodiment, first, a flat printed circuit board 20 is prepared as shown in Fig. 4. Printed circuit board 20 shown in Fig. 4 is a double-sided board having copper foil layers 12 on both sides, and is a member in which copper foil layers 12 are formed so as to sandwich the front and back of flat board main body 11 made of a glass epoxy material.

[0030] For example, by performing router processing on the printed circuit board 20 shown in Fig. 4, holes are processed in the printed circuit board 20 as shown in Fig. 5. The holes processed in Fig. 5 are an oval hole 13 for inserting a paddle card, a plurality of round holes 16 formed around the oval hole 13 for inserting coaxial cables 42, and a large oval waste hole 21 for forming the upper and lower surfaces of the locator 10.

[0031] 5 is completed, platings 14, 15 are applied to the inner wall surface of the oval hole 13 for inserting the paddle card and to the surfaces constituting the top and bottom surfaces of the locator 10. At this time, through-hole plating may also be applied to the multiple circular holes 16 for inserting the coaxial cables. By forming platings 14, 15 and through-hole plating, the copper foil layer 12 formed on the surfaces of the front and back sides of the locator 10 is electrically connected to the oval hole 13, the multiple circular holes 16, and the top and bottom surfaces of the locator 10.

[0032] Finally, the locator 10 according to this embodiment is completed by cutting out the left and right sides of the locator 10 shown in Fig. 6 along the lines indicated by reference numeral 22. This cutting out can also be done by using a router. During the cutting out process, notch shaped portions 17 that are notched in a curved shape can be formed at the four corners of the locator 10 to be cut out, as shown by the lines indicated by reference numeral 22.

[0033] 4 to 6, a large number of locators 10 according to this embodiment can be manufactured at once by batch processing, and therefore, this embodiment is suitable for mass production. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to obtain locators 10 that can be manufactured inexpensively and have a predetermined accuracy and strength.

[0034] Furthermore, by utilizing the locator 10 according to the present embodiment described above, the cable assembly 30 and the connector cable 50 can be manufactured.

[0035] 7 and 8, a cable assembly 30 according to this embodiment can be constructed by inserting a paddle card 41 into an oval hole 13 from the front side of locator 10, inserting a coaxial cable 42 with its outer conductor stripped into multiple circular holes 16 from the rear side of locator 10, and soldering exposed electric wires 42a of coaxial cable 42 to conductor portions 41a of paddle card 41. Such cable assembly 30 can align the ends of multiple coaxial cables 42, and when through-hole plating is applied to circular holes 16 into which coaxial cables 42 are inserted, impedance matching and shielding can be achieved even if the shield of coaxial cable 42 is stripped and inserted.

[0036] Furthermore, for example, as shown in Figs. 9 to 12, a connector cable 50 can be manufactured by fitting a shell 51 that constitutes the outer casing of the connector into the cable assembly 30 described above.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 12 , shell 51 in this embodiment is formed with positioning arms 52 that contact the front surface of locator 10 constituting cable assembly 30 to position cable assembly 30 relative to shell 51, protrusions 53 that fit into cutout shapes 17 formed at the four corners of locator 10 to fix cable assembly 30 to shell 51, and connection holes 54 used when connecting the upper and lower surfaces of locator 10 constituting cable assembly 30 to shell 51.

[0038] The connector cable 50 according to the present embodiment is completed by fitting the cable assembly 30 into the opening on the rear side of the shell 51 having such a shape, that is, by changing from the state shown in FIG. 9 to the state shown in FIG. 10. At this time, the positioning arm 52 formed on the shell 51 contacts the front surface of the locator 10 constituting the cable assembly 30, so that the cable assembly 30 fitted into the shell 51 is always installed in a predetermined position. At this time, the protrusions 53 formed at the four corners of the opening on the rear side of the shell 51 fit into the notch shaped portions 17 formed at the four corners of the locator 10, so that the shell 51 and the cable assembly 30 are fixed to each other. Furthermore, the upper and lower surfaces of the locator 10 are located at the positions of the connection holes 54 formed above and below the shell 51, and the shell 51 and the cable assembly 30 can be reliably fixed to each other by pouring solder into the connection holes 54. In the connector cable 50 of this embodiment as well, the ends of multiple coaxial cables 42 can be aligned, and if the round holes 16 into which the coaxial cables 42 are inserted are through-hole plated, impedance matching and shielding can be achieved even if the shields of the coaxial cables 42 are stripped before insertion.

[0039] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments.

[0040] For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a plurality of round holes 16 are formed penetrating the thickness direction of the flat plate, and these round holes 16 are through holes having the same diameter. In addition, a total of 12 round holes 16 are formed, six above the oval hole 13 formed at the center of the locator 10 and six below it. However, for the plurality of round holes (a plurality of holes) for inserting the coaxial cable 42 applicable to the locator according to the present invention, any combination of diameters, any number of holes, and any positions of holes can be arbitrarily set. As such modified examples, Figs. 13 to 15 show a locator 100 according to a first modified example and a connector cable 150 using this locator 100, Figs. 16 to 18 show a locator 200 according to a second modified example and a connector cable 250 using this locator 200, and Figs. 19 to 21 show a locator 300 according to a third modified example and a connector cable 350 using this locator 300. In the following description, the same or similar components as those in the above-described embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0041] For example, in locator 100 according to a first modification shown in Fig. 13, there are a large diameter round hole 116a and a small diameter round hole 116b among the multiple round holes 16 for inserting coaxial cable 42. For example, as shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15, a connector cable 150 can be configured in which a power coaxial cable 142a is placed in large diameter round hole 116a and a signal coaxial cable 142b is placed in small diameter round hole 116b.

[0042] 16, a second modified locator 200 has a plurality of circular holes 216 only above an oval hole 13 formed in the center of locator 200. For example, as shown in Fig. 17 and Fig. 18, the installation positions and the number of coaxial cables 242 can be set arbitrarily depending on the application of connector cable 250, etc.

[0043] 19 illustrates a locator 300 according to a third modified example, in which a plurality of circular holes 316 formed above and below an oval hole 13 formed in the center of the locator 300 are arranged at a plurality of different intervals rather than at equal intervals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the installation intervals of a plurality of coaxial cables 342 can be set arbitrarily depending on the application of the connector cable 350, etc.

[0044] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment and the first to third modified examples, the multiple holes according to the present invention for inserting the coaxial cables 42, 142a, 142b, 242, 342 are formed as multiple round holes 16, 116a, 116b, 216, 316. However, the shape of the multiple holes according to the present invention is not limited to a round shape. For example, any shape can be adopted for the multiple holes according to the present invention, such as an oval hole, an elliptical hole, or a hole having a serration shape on the inner wall surface.

[0045] It will be apparent from the description of the claims that such modified or improved forms may also be included within the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 10 Locator 11 Board body 12 Copper foil layer 13 Oval Hole 14 Plating 15 Plating 16 Multiple round holes (multiple holes) 17 Notch shape 20 Printed Circuit Board 21 Large oval waste hole 22 Cutting line 30 Cable Assembly 41 Paddle Card 41a Conductor 42 Coaxial Cable 42a electric wire 50 Connectors and Cables 51 Shell 52 Positioning arm 53 Protrusion 54 Connection hole 100 (First Modification) Locator 116a Large diameter round hole (large diameter hole) 116b Small diameter round hole (small diameter hole) 142a coaxial cable for power 142b Signal Coaxial Cable 150 (related to the first modification) connector cable 200 (Second Modification) Locator 216 Multiple round holes (multiple holes) 242 Coaxial Cable 250 (related to the second variant) connector cable 300 (related to the third modification) Locator 316 Multiple round holes (multiple holes) 342 Coaxial Cable 350 (related to the third modification) connector cable

Claims

1. A cable assembly having a locator, wherein a coaxial cable with its outer conductor stripped is inserted into each of the multiple holes in the locator, The aforementioned locator is, A locator cut from a flat printed circuit board, The plate has a plurality of holes for inserting the coaxial cable in the thickness direction, A cable assembly characterized in that the plurality of holes into which the coaxial cable is inserted are plated with through-hole plating.

2. A connector cable having a locator, wherein a coaxial cable with its outer conductor stripped is inserted into each of the multiple holes in the locator, The aforementioned locator is, A locator cut from a flat printed circuit board, The plurality of holes in the thickness direction of the flat plate into which the coaxial cable is inserted, An oval hole for inserting a paddle card in the thickness direction of the flat plate, Notched portions formed at the four corners of the locator as viewed from the insertion direction of the coaxial cable, It has, The multiple holes into which the coaxial cable is inserted are plated with through-hole plating. A paddle card is inserted into the aforementioned oval-shaped hole. The locator is fitted into one of the openings in the shell that constitutes the outer casing of the connector, and A connector cable characterized in that protrusions formed at the four corners of the opening of the shell fit into notched portions formed at the four corners of the locator.

3. A locator cut from a flat printed circuit board, It has multiple holes for inserting a coaxial cable in the thickness direction of the flat plate, A locator characterized in that the plurality of holes into which the coaxial cable is inserted are plated with through-hole plating.

4. A locator according to claim 3, The locator is characterized by being a double-sided printed circuit board having copper foil layers on both sides.

5. A locator according to claim 3 or 4, A locator characterized by having an oval-shaped hole for inserting a paddle card in the thickness direction of a flat plate.

6. A locator according to claim 5, A locator characterized by having an oval-shaped hole for inserting the paddle card, and having a plated surface.

7. A locator according to claim 3 or 4, A locator characterized in that notched portions are formed at the four corners of the locator when viewed from the direction in which the coaxial cable is inserted.

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