Electric connector for circuit board

Abstract

To provide an electric connector for a circuit board, capable of favorably avoiding adhesion of dust to a terminal even if a part of a terminal connected to a circuit board is exposed from a housing.SOLUTION: An electric connector 1 for a circuit board includes a housing 10, and a plurality of terminals 20 held by the housing 10 while being arranged in one direction parallel to a mounting surface of the circuit board, as a terminal arrangement direction, each terminal 20 having, at an extension extending from the rear of the housing 10, a connection 23A connected to a circuit on the mounting surface. The electric connector has a cover member 40 attached to the housing 10 so as to cover the extension, the cover member 40 has a notch 43B formed through the cover member 40 in a thickness direction thereof, and a partition wall 44 separating the notch 43B from the extension is formed inside the cover member 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electrical connector for a circuit board that is mounted on the mounting surface of a circuit board and to which a mating connector is connected from the front. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of such an electrical connector for a circuit board, Patent Document 1 discloses a board-side connector in which a mating cable-side connector is connected from the front in a front-rear direction parallel to the circuit board. In this board-side connector, multiple terminals held in a housing have extensions (legs) extending from the rear surface of the housing. The extensions are bent in a crank shape, and their lower ends are soldered to the mounting surface of the circuit board. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2020-187945 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In Patent Document 1, the extensions of the terminals are exposed from the rear surface of the housing. One possible measure to protect these extensions is to attach a cover member to the housing to cover the extensions. However, if the cover member has a notch that penetrates through its thickness for the purpose of engaging with the housing, for example, dust (particles) from outside the connector may enter the cover member through the notch. In this case, there is a risk that the dust that has entered will adhere to the extensions of the terminals.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide an electrical connector for a circuit board that can effectively prevent dust from adhering to the terminals even if part of the terminals to be connected to the circuit board are exposed from the housing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) The electrical connector of the present invention comprises a housing and a plurality of terminals held in the housing in an arrayed state with a direction parallel to the mounting surface as the terminal array direction, and the terminals have connecting portions on extension portions extending from the rear of the housing that are connected to the circuit portion of the mounting surface.

[0007] In such an electrical connector for a circuit board, the present invention is characterized in that it has a cover member attached to the housing so as to cover the extension portion, the cover member having a notch formed through the cover member in the thickness direction of the cover member, and a partition portion separating the notch and the extension portion being formed inside the cover member.

[0008] By providing such a partition on the cover member, even if dust (particles) from outside the connector enters the inside of the cover member through the notch, the partition can prevent the dust from flowing toward the extensions of the terminals, thereby effectively preventing dust from adhering to the extensions.

[0009] (2) In the invention of (1), the cover member has a rear plate portion that covers the extension portion from behind, the cutout portion is formed outside the arrangement range of the terminals in the terminal arrangement direction, and the partition portion may protrude from the front surface of the rear plate portion.

[0010] (3) In the invention of (1) or (2), the notch may be formed as a locking hole for locking with a locking protrusion provided on the housing.

[0011] (4) In the invention of (3), the notch portion is formed as a slit extending at a position different from the engaging hole portion in addition to the engaging hole portion, and the cover member has an elastic portion extending along the slit and elastically deformable in the thickness direction of the cover member, and the engaging hole portion may be formed in the elastic portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] The present invention can provide an electrical connector for a circuit board that can effectively prevent dust from adhering to the terminals even if some of the terminals to be connected to the circuit board are exposed from the housing. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector for a circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention mounted on a circuit board, as viewed from the front side; [Figure 2] 1A is a front view of the electrical connector for a circuit board as seen from the front, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the electrical connector for a circuit board as seen from above. [Figure 3] 2 is a perspective view showing the components of the electrical connector for a circuit board separated from one another; FIG. [Figure 4] 1 is a perspective view of the circuit board electrical connector before the cover member is attached, as viewed from the rear side; FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cover member as seen from below. [Figure 6] 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIA-VIA in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIB-VIB in FIG. 2A. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 2(B). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electrical connector 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as "connector 1") according to this embodiment mounted on a circuit board P, as viewed from the front. FIG. 2(A) is a front view of the connector 1 as viewed from the front, and FIG. 2(B) is a plan view of the connector 1 as viewed from above. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing each component of the connector 1 separated. The connector 1 is an electrical connector for a circuit board mounted on the mounting surface of the circuit board P, and is designed so that a mating connector (not shown) is inserted and removed in the front-to-rear direction (X-axis direction) parallel to the mounting surface. Specifically, the mating connector is mated and connected to the connector 1 from the front (X1 side). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the connector 1 is mounted on the front end side of the circuit board P, and the front end of the connector 1 slightly protrudes from the front end of the circuit board P. The mating connector is, for example, an electrical connector for a cable to which multiple cables extending in the front-to-rear direction are connected.

[0016] The connector 1 has a housing 10, a plurality of terminals 20 (see Figure 3) held in the housing 10 in an arrangement with the connector width direction (Y-axis direction) parallel to the mounting surface of the circuit board P as the terminal arrangement direction, fixing brackets 30 (see Figure 3) held at both ends of the housing 10 in the terminal arrangement direction, and a cover member 40 attached to the housing 10.

[0017] The housing 10 is made of an electrically insulating material such as resin and has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape with the terminal arrangement direction (Y-axis direction) as its longitudinal direction. The housing 10 has an upper wall 11 and a lower wall 12 that face each other in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction), side walls 13 provided at both ends of the housing 10 in the terminal arrangement direction, a rear wall 14 (see FIG. 4) provided at the rear end of the housing 10, and a central wall 15 (see FIG. 2(A)) that protrudes forward from the central region of the rear wall 14. The space surrounded by the upper wall 11, lower wall 12, side walls 13, and rear wall 14 and opening forward forms a receiving portion 16 for receiving a mating connector from the front.

[0018] 2(A), the housing 10 is also provided with terminal accommodating sections 17 arranged in the terminal arrangement direction for accommodating and holding portions of the terminals 20. These terminal accommodating sections 17 form two levels in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction). The terminal accommodating sections 17 extend in the front-rear direction and penetrate the housing 10, specifically the central wall 15 and rear wall 14, to receive, accommodate, and hold portions of the terminals 20 from the rear (X2 side).

[0019] As shown in Fig. 3, upper wall 11 has upper recesses 11A formed on both ends in the terminal arrangement direction, which recess from the upper surface of upper wall 11 and extend in the front-to-rear direction. Upper recesses 11A are capable of collecting water droplets adhering to the upper surface of upper wall 11. Two locking holes 11B are formed in the front part of upper wall 11 at intermediate positions in the terminal arrangement direction, penetrating upper wall 11. Locking holes 11B can be engaged with locking protrusions (not shown) provided on a mating connector.

[0020] The side wall 13 extends in the vertical direction, connecting the ends of the upper wall 11 and the lower wall 12 in the terminal arrangement direction, and its outer surface intersects (orthogonal in this embodiment) with the terminal arrangement direction. A side recess 13A is formed in the front portion of the side wall 13, recessed from the outer surface of the front portion and extending from the upper end to the lower end of the side wall 13. The side recess 13A has a groove-shaped upper groove 13B extending in the vertical direction and a groove-shaped lower groove 13C extending in the front-rear direction below the upper groove 13B. The side recess 13A has the function of allowing water droplets adhering to the upper surface of the housing 10, for example, water droplets accumulated in the upper recess 11A, to flow downward when they flow onto the side wall 13.

[0021] The upper groove 13B communicates with the upper recess 11A at its upper end and with the rear of the lower groove 13C at its lower end. The upper groove 13B functions as a guide that guides the front locked protrusion 42A (described later) of the cover member 40 downward during the process of attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10. The upper portion of the upper groove 13B has a groove width that increases upward (see FIG. 6(A)), making it easier to receive the locked protrusion 42A from above. In this manner, in this embodiment, the upper groove 13B has both the function of allowing water droplets to flow downward and the function of acting as a guide that guides the locked protrusion 42A. This eliminates the need to form separate components that perform each function, thereby simplifying the shape of the housing 10 and preventing the housing 10 from becoming larger.

[0022] A front locking projection 13D for attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10 is formed at the bottom of the upper groove 13B and protrudes from the outer surface of the side wall 13. The rear end of the front locking projection 13D is connected to the rear edge 13B-1 of the upper groove 13B within the upper groove 13B, and a small gap is formed between the front end and the front edge 13B-2 of the upper groove 13B (see FIGS. 4 and 6(A)). Therefore, water droplets flowing down the upper groove 13B can pass through the gap and flow down to the lower groove 13C without being blocked by the front locking projection 13D.

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower groove 13C extends to the front end of the side wall 13, and the front end of the lower groove 13C is open toward the front (see also FIG. 6(A)). On the other hand, the rear end of the lower groove 13C is closed. The lower groove 13C has an opening 13C-2 formed by cutting out the front end of its lower edge 13C-1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the opening 13C-2 is located forward of the front end of the circuit board P and is open downward to communicate with the outside. Therefore, water droplets that flow down into the lower groove 13C flow forward and then flow downward toward the outside via the opening 13C-2.

[0024] In this embodiment, as described above, water droplets adhering to the upper surface of the housing 10 flow down along the side recess 13A, and therefore the water droplets do not flow down the rear surface of the housing 10, i.e., the surface on which the extension portion 23 (described below) of the terminal 20 is exposed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent water droplets from adhering to the extension portion 23.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the connector 1 before the cover member 40 is attached, as viewed from the rear side. As shown in FIG. 4, rear protruding walls 18 are provided at the rear of the lower part of the housing 10, protruding rearward from the side walls 13 at both ends in the terminal arrangement direction. The rear protruding walls 18 are located rearward of the rear wall 14 and are generally L-shaped when viewed in the terminal arrangement direction. The rear protruding walls 18 are provided with abutted portions 18A that can abut against a portion of the cover member 40, and a rear locking protrusion 18B for attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10. The rear locking protrusions 18B are claw-shaped and protrude rearward from the upper part of the abutted portions 18A.

[0026] Terminal 20 is formed by bending a metal plate member in the thickness direction, and as shown in Fig. 3, has a held portion 21 that is held in housing 10, a contact portion 22 that extends forward from the front end of held portion 21, and an extending portion 23 that extends from the rear end of the held portion. Terminal 20 is held by holding portion 21 being press-fitted from behind into terminal accommodating portion 17 of housing 10. Specifically, held portion 21 and contact portion 22 are housed in terminal accommodating portion 17, and extending portion 23 extends rearward from terminal accommodating portion 17 (see Fig. 4).

[0027] The contact portion 22 is an elastically deformable contact piece that can come into contact with a mating terminal (not shown) provided on a mating connector. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the extension portion 23 extends rearward, then bends downward, and then bends rearward again, forming a crank shape as a whole when viewed in the terminal arrangement direction. The lower end (free end) of the extension portion 23 that extends rearward is formed as a connection portion 23A for connection to a circuit portion (not shown) of the circuit board P. The connection portion 23A is soldered to the circuit portion of the circuit board P while its underside is in contact with the circuit portion.

[0028] The fixing bracket 30 is made by punching out a metal plate member, and as shown in Fig. 3, has a held plate portion 31 for being held in the housing 10 and a plurality of fixing portions 32 extending downward from the lower edge of the held plate portion 31. As shown in Fig. 4, the fixing bracket 30 is press-fitted from above into slit-shaped fitting holding portions 13E formed at both ends of the housing 10, and is held by both side edges extending in the vertical direction of the held plate portion 31. The fixing portions 32 also extend downward from the fitting holding portions 13E, and are soldered and fixed to the circuit board P while being inserted into holes (not shown) in the circuit board P.

[0029] 5 is a perspective view of cover member 40 as viewed from below. Cover member 40 is made of an electrically insulating material such as resin, and is provided to cover extension portions 23 of terminals 20 exposed from the rear of housing 10 for purposes such as protecting them from dust and water, or preventing contact with an operator's fingers. Cover member 40 has an upper plate portion 41 that covers housing 10 from above, side plate portions 42 that cover housing 10 from the sides, and a rear plate portion 43 that covers housing 10 from the rear.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 1 , the upper plate portion 41 covers almost the entire upper wall 11 of the housing 10 from above. The upper plate portion 41 has an inclined portion 41A on its upper surface, which extends from the center toward both end positions in the terminal arrangement direction. As shown in FIG. 2A , the inclined portion 41A slopes downward from the center toward both end positions in the terminal arrangement direction. In other words, the upper surface of the upper plate portion 41 has a roof-like shape. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2A , the inclination angle of the inclined portion 41A in the central region of the upper plate portion 41 in the terminal arrangement direction is larger than the inclination angle in both end regions (regions outside the central region in the terminal arrangement direction). In this embodiment, water droplets adhering to the upper surface of the upper plate portion 41 flow along the inclined portion 41A toward both end sides in the terminal arrangement direction. This prevents water droplets from flowing backward, i.e., toward the side where the extension portions 23 of the terminals 20 are provided.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 1, a protruding edge 41B is formed on part of the periphery of the upper plate 41, protruding from the upper surface of the upper plate 41. Specifically, the protruding edge 41B is formed along the rear edge of the upper plate 41 and along both side edges (edges extending in the front-to-rear direction) of the rear portion of the upper plate 41. The protruding edge 41B is designed to block water droplets adhering to the upper surface of the upper plate 41. Furthermore, the protruding edge 41B is not formed on both side edges of the front portion of the upper plate 41.

[0032] In this embodiment, even if water droplets flow rearward, they are blocked by the protruding edges 41B extending along the rear edge of the upper plate 41 and do not flow down the outer surface (rear surface) of the rear plate 43. Furthermore, water droplets that flow along the upper surface of the rear portion of the upper plate 41 toward both ends in the terminal arrangement direction are blocked by the protruding edges 41B extending along the side edges of the upper plate 41 and do not flow down the outer surfaces (outer surfaces) of the rear portions of the side plates 42. Therefore, water droplets flow down from both side edges of the front portion of the upper plate 41, i.e., portions where no protruding edges are provided, along the outer surfaces (outer surfaces) of the front portions of the side plates 42. In other words, water droplets flow down the rear side of the cover member 40, i.e., away from the side where the extensions 23 of the terminals 20 are exposed. As a result, adhesion of water droplets to the extensions 23 can be more reliably prevented.

[0033] As shown in Figures 2(A), 3, and 5, side plate 42 has, at the lower front portion thereof, a locking projection 42A that projects from the inner surface of side plate 42. Figure 6(A) is a VIA-VIA cross-sectional view of Figure 2(A), showing a cross-section of connector 1 at the position of locking projection 42A and locking hole 43B (described below) in the terminal arrangement direction. Locking projection 42A is a projection for attaching cover member 40 to housing 10, and as shown in Figure 6(A), can be locked from below by front locking projection 13D of housing 10.

[0034] As shown in Fig. 4, the rear plate 43 has resilient mounting portions 43A at both ends in the terminal arrangement direction, i.e., on both outer sides of the terminal arrangement range, which correspond to the rear locking projections 18B of the housing. As shown in Fig. 4, the mounting portions 43A are surrounded on three sides by slits 43D, which extend in a generally U-shape when viewed from the rear and serve as cutouts penetrating the rear plate 43 in its thickness direction, and extend along the slits 43D. The mounting portions 43A are cantilever-shaped elastic pieces extending downward and elastically deformable in the front-rear direction, and a locking hole 43B, which serves as a cutout penetrating the mounting portion 43A in its thickness direction, is formed at its lower end (free end) along the VIB-VIB cross section of Fig. 2A, showing a cross section of the connector 1 at the position of a rear abutment 43C, which will be described later, in the terminal arrangement direction. The engaging hole portion 43B is a hole portion for attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10, and as shown in Figures 6(A) and (B), by receiving the rear engaging protrusion 18B from the front, the lower edge of the engaging hole portion 43B can be engaged with the rear engaging protrusion 18B from below.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the rear plate portion 43 has a lower portion that protrudes rearward. When the cover member 40 is attached to the housing 10, the connection portions 23A of the terminals 20 are accommodated in the lower portion of the rear plate portion 43. As shown in FIG. 5 , the lower portion of the rear plate portion 43 has rear abutment portions 43C that protrude from the inner surface (front surface) of the lower portion at both ends in the terminal arrangement direction, i.e., on both sides outside the terminal arrangement range. As shown in FIG. 6(B) , the rear abutment portions 43C abut by having their protruding end surfaces (front end surfaces) contact the rear surfaces of the abutted portions 18A of the housing 10. In this embodiment, because the rear abutment portions 43C abut against the abutted portions 18A in this manner, the cover member 40 itself is less likely to vibrate, even if the connector is used in an environment prone to vibration. Therefore, noise caused by a collision between the vibrating cover member 40 and the housing 10 can be effectively suppressed.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 5, the cover member 40 is provided with partitions 44 protruding from the inner surface (front surface) of the lower portion of the rear plate 43 at both ends in the terminal arrangement direction, in other words, on both sides outside the terminal arrangement range. The partitions 44 are located more inward than the rear abutment portions 43C in the terminal arrangement direction. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of Fig. 2(B), showing a cross section of the connector 1 at the position of the partitions 44 in the front-to-rear direction. As shown in Fig. 7, the partitions 44 are located between the notches, i.e., the locking holes 43B and slits 43D, and the connection portions 23A of the terminals 20 in the terminal arrangement direction, and separate the locking holes 43B and slits 43D (see Fig. 4) from the lower portion of the extension portion 23, including the connection portions 23A. By providing this partition wall 44, even if dust (particles) from outside the connector 1 enters the inside of the cover member 40 through the locked hole portion 43B and the slit 43D, the partition wall 44 can prevent the dust from flowing toward the connection portion 23A of the terminal 20. Therefore, the adhesion of dust to the lower portion of the extension portion 23 can be effectively prevented.

[0037] When the cover member 40 is attached to the housing 10, the front end surface of the partition wall 44 faces the rear surface of the housing 10 with a small gap therebetween. As will be described later, this partition wall 44 functions as a restricting part that restricts the forward movement of the cover member 40 by coming into contact with the rear surface of the housing 10 when the cover member 40 is in an inclined position during the process of attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10.

[0038] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 , the partition wall 44 has a lateral contact portion 44A that protrudes from the outer surface in the terminal arrangement direction. The protruding end surface of the lateral contact portion 44A abuts with pressure against the side surface of the abutted portion 18A of the housing 10 (the surface located inside in the terminal arrangement direction). In this embodiment, because the lateral contact portion 44A abuts against the abutted portion 18A in this manner, the cover member 40 itself is less likely to vibrate, even if the connector is used in an environment prone to vibration. This effectively suppresses the generation of abnormal noise caused by a collision between the vibrating cover member 40 and the housing 10. Furthermore, because the lateral contact portion 44A abuts with pressure against the side surface of the abutted portion 18A, it is easy to ensure that the abutted state is always maintained.

[0039] The cover member 40 is attached to the housing 10 in the following manner. First, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the cover member 40 is placed above the housing 10 in an orientation that is not inclined relative to the vertical direction (hereinafter referred to as the "non-inclined orientation"). At this time, the locked protrusion 42A of the cover member 40 is positioned directly above the upper end opening of the upper groove portion 13B of the housing 10. Next, the cover member 40 is moved straight downward while maintaining the non-inclined orientation, and the locked protrusion 42A enters the upper groove portion 13B from above. The locked protrusion 42A moves downward while being guided by the upper groove portion 13B.

[0040] During the process of moving the cover member 40 downward, the rear locking projection 18B of the housing 10 presses rearward against the inner surface of the mounting portion 43A of the cover member 40, slightly elastically deforming the mounting portion 43A rearward. This elastic deformation of the mounting portion 43A allows the cover member 40 to move further downward. Then, when the mounting hole 43B reaches the position of the rear locking projection 18B, the mounting portion 43A returns to its free state, and the rear locking projection 18B enters the mounting hole 43B from the front. As a result, the lower edge of the mounting hole 43B is positioned so that it can be locked from below by the rear locking projection 18B (see FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B)).

[0041] Furthermore, the front locking projection 13D of the housing 10 abuts against the locked projection 42A of the cover member 40, slightly elastically deforming the side plate 42 outward in the terminal arrangement direction. This elastic deformation of the side plate 42 allows further downward movement of the cover member 40. When the locked projection 42A reaches a position below the front locking projection 13D, the side plate 42 returns to its free state, and the locked projection 42A is positioned so that it can be locked by the front locking projection 13D from below (see FIG. 6A).

[0042] In this way, the locked projections 42A and the front locking projections 13D can be locked, and the lower edges of the locked holes 43B and the rear locking projections 18B can be locked, completing the attachment of the cover member 40 to the housing 10. In this embodiment, the extensions 23 of the terminals 20 are covered by the cover member 40, so that water droplets generated outside the connector 1 are less likely to adhere to the extensions 23. Also, in this embodiment, drip-proofing can be easily improved by simply attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10. Therefore, the potting process used in the past is no longer necessary.

[0043] When cover member 40 is attached to housing 10, rear contact portion 43C and side contact portion 44A of cover member 40 contact contacted portion 18A of housing 10. Therefore, as described above, even if connector 1 is used in an environment where vibrations are likely to occur, the generation of abnormal noise caused by a collision between cover member 40 and housing 10 can be effectively suppressed.

[0044] In this embodiment, the side contact portions 44A that contact the contacted portions 18A of the housing 10 with contact pressure are provided on the lower part of the cover member 40. With this configuration, for a while after the installation operation of the cover member 40 to the housing 10 is started, the side contact portions 44A do not contact the housing 10, or even if they do contact, they do not generate contact pressure. On the other hand, just before the installation operation is completed, the side contact portions 44A contact the contacted portions 18A of the housing 10 with contact pressure, and this state is maintained even after the installation operation is completed. Therefore, the installation operation of the cover member 40 to the housing 10 can be performed smoothly, and the state in which the side contact portions 44A contact the housing 10 with contact pressure can be reliably ensured after the installation of the cover member 40.

[0045] As described above, the partition wall 44 of the cover member 40 is positioned to separate the locking hole 43B and the slit 43D from the lower part of the extending portion 23 including the connecting portion 23A, thereby preventing dust from adhering to the lower part of the extending portion 23. In the present embodiment, the partition wall 44 separates the lower part of the extending portion 23 of the terminal 20 from the locking hole 43B and the slit 43D, but as a modified example, for example, the partition wall 44 may be formed even larger in the vertical direction so that parts of the extending portion 23 other than the lower part are also separated from the locking hole 43B and the slit 43D.

[0046] In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the cover member 40 is moved downward while maintained in a non-inclined position during the process of attaching the cover member 40 to the housing 10. However, during this attachment process, the cover member 40 may also be placed in an inclined position in which the front end is raised higher than the rear end. In such an inclined position, the lower end of the rear plate portion 43 of the cover member 40 approaches the extensions 23 of the terminals 20 from behind. However, the partition wall portion 44, which functions as a restricting portion, abuts against the rear surface of the housing 10 from behind, restricting the forward movement of the cover member 40, so that the lower end of the rear plate portion 43 does not collide with the extensions 23. Therefore, damage to the extensions 23 is effectively avoided. Note that the cover member 40 placed in an inclined position during the attachment process is placed in a non-inclined position immediately before the attachment is completed, and then attached to the housing 10.

[0047] In this embodiment, the partition wall 44 provided on the cover member 40 functions as a restricting portion, but instead, a restricting portion may be provided separately from the partition wall. In this case, the restricting portion only needs to be provided forward of the rear plate portion, and can be provided, for example, as a protrusion protruding from the rear plate portion or a protrusion protruding from the side plate portion.

[0048] In this embodiment, the cover member 40 abuts against the housing 10 using two types of abutment portions, namely the rear abutment portion 43C and the side abutment portion 44A, but it is not necessary to provide two types of abutment portions; it is possible to provide only one type of abutment portion, or to provide three or more types of abutment portions.

[0049] In this embodiment, of the rear abutment portion 43C and the lateral abutment portion 44A that abut the outer surface of the housing 10, contact pressure is generated only between the lateral abutment portion 44A and the housing 10, but as a variant, contact pressure may be generated only between the rear abutment portion 43C and the housing 10, or contact pressure may be generated between both the rear abutment portion 43C and the lateral abutment portion 44A and the housing 10. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1 connector 10. Housing 13A side recess 18B Rear locking protrusion (locking protrusion) 20 terminals 23 Extension 23A connection 40 Cover member 41A Inclined section 43 Rear plate part 43A Mounting part (elastic part) 43B Locked hole (notch) 43C Rear contact part (contact part) 43D slit (notch) 44 Bulkhead 44A Side contact part (contact part) P circuit board

Claims

1. An electrical connector for a circuit board that is mounted on a mounting surface of a circuit board and to which a mating connector is connected from the front, Housing and a plurality of terminals held in the housing in a state where the terminals are arranged in a terminal arrangement direction parallel to the mounting surface; In the electrical connector for a circuit board, the terminals have connecting portions at extension portions extending from the rear portion of the housing, the connecting portions being connected to the circuit portion on the mounting surface, a cover member attached to the housing so as to cover the extension portion, An electrical connector for a circuit board, characterized in that the cover member has a notch formed through the cover member in the thickness direction of the cover member, and a partition portion separating the notch and the extension portion is formed inside the cover member.

2. the cover member has a rear plate portion that covers the extension portion from behind, the notch is formed outside the arrangement range of the terminals in the terminal arrangement direction, 2. The electrical connector for a circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the partition wall protrudes from the front surface of the rear plate.

3. 3. The electrical connector for a circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the notch is formed as a hole to be locked to a locking projection provided on the housing.

4. The notch is formed as a slit extending at a position different from the engagement hole, in addition to the engagement hole, the cover member has an elastic portion that extends along the slit and is elastically deformable in a plate thickness direction of the cover member, 4. The electrical connector for a circuit board according to claim 3, wherein the engagement hole is formed in the elastic portion.

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