Connector and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

To facilitate development of variations of a connector.SOLUTION: A connector 10 comprises: terminals 40, 50 each having terminal-side connection parts 45, 55 that are brought into contact with a connection object 11; additional members 90 each having an additional-side connection parts 91 that are brought into contact with the connection object 11; and a housing 30 that holds the terminals 40, 50 and the additional members 90. The additional members 90 are formed as separate bodies from the terminals 40, 50.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a connector, a manufacturing method thereof, a mating connector, and a connector set. [Background technology]

[0002] In the floating connector described in Patent Document 1, the terminals have displacement portions that displace together with the movable housing. The displacement portions have one-side contact portions that contact the connection object from one side, another-side contact portions that contact the connection object from the other side, and a connecting portion that integrally connects the one-side contact portions and the other-side contact portions. Therefore, the movable housing is not directly pressed against the object to be connected, and creep of the movable housing is suppressed.

[0003] In the right-angle floating connectors described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, the movable housing has legs that protrude downward. Therefore, excessive downward displacement of the movable housing is restricted by the legs coming into contact with the base plate or the fixed housing, which is the fixed member.

[0004] The connector described in Patent Document 3 includes a housing and a terminal that is press-fitted into the housing in a predetermined press-fitting direction and held therein. The terminal has a press-fit portion formed on an extension portion that extends along the press-fitting direction, a displacement portion that is displaceable relative to the press-fit portion, and an intermediate portion between the extension portion and the displacement portion. The intermediate portion has multiple bent portions that are bent in the plate thickness direction. Therefore, deformation of the intermediate portion allows the displacement portion to be displaced.

[0005] The connector set described in Patent Document 4 comprises a right-angle type internal connector that is attached to an internal board placed inside the case, and a relay connector that is attached to an opening in the case and relays between the internal connector and a connection object (external connection object) outside the case. Therefore, it is possible to realize connection between an internal substrate arranged perpendicular to the wall in which the opening is formed and an external object to be connected through the opening of the case. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-206623 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-091649 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-129084 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-177665 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] When a floating connector such as that described in Patent Document 1 is used in a vibration environment, such as in an automobile, if the vibration frequency matches the resonant frequency of the floating connector when connected to the connection object (hereinafter simply referred to as the resonant frequency of the connector), the displacement part vibrates violently together with the connection object, which can cause wear to the contact part. For this reason, in recent years, there has been a demand to increase the resonant frequency of the connector. Therefore, an object of a first aspect of the present disclosure is to suppress the creep phenomenon of a movable housing in a floating connector and to increase the resonant frequency of the connector.

[0008] Another common problem with connectors is that when the electrical equipment in which the connector is installed changes, the dimensions of the connected object and the performance required of the connector also change, so it is necessary to design and manufacture the connector from scratch according to the number of variations in the dimensions of the connected object and the required specifications. Therefore, a second aspect of the present disclosure aims to facilitate the development of connector variations.

[0009] The inventors also considered that increasing the resonant frequency of the connector is important in right-angle floating connectors such as those described in Patent Documents 2 and 3. Therefore, an object of a third aspect of the present disclosure is to limit excessive downward displacement of the movable housing in a right-angle floating connector and to increase the resonance frequency.

[0010] Furthermore, the connector described in Patent Document 3 has a problem in that when the displacement portion is displaced and the intermediate portion is deformed, stress tends to concentrate on the curved portion that constitutes the intermediate portion. Therefore, an object of a fourth aspect of the present disclosure is to suppress stress concentration on a curved portion in a connector in which the intermediate portion of a terminal has one or more curved portions.

[0011] Furthermore, in the connector set described in Patent Document 4, it is conceivable that the relay connector has a first relay terminal and a second relay terminal that are arranged at different positions in the board vertical direction (direction perpendicular to the internal board) in order to match the structure of the external connection object. However, in this case, it becomes necessary to provide the internal connector with first internal terminals and second internal terminals that have different shapes and that come into contact with the first relay terminal and the second relay terminal, respectively, which results in an increase in the design cost of the internal connector. Therefore, an object of a fifth aspect of the present disclosure is to reduce the design cost of the internal connector in a connector set including an internal connector and a relay connector. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] Below, the connectors, etc. of the present disclosure will be described using directional concepts such as up and down, but these directional concepts are based on the connectors, etc., and do not limit the installation direction or installation posture when the connectors, etc. are used.

[0013] (First aspect) The connector according to aspect 1-1 is a connector that can be attached to an object to be attached, and comprises a terminal, a movable housing that can be displaced relative to the object to be attached, and an additional member that is formed separately from the terminal and is held by the movable housing, wherein the terminal has a displacement portion that is held by the movable housing and displaces together with the movable housing, the displacement portion has a one-side contact portion that contacts the object to be connected from one side, and the additional member has a other-side contact portion that contacts the object to be connected from the other side.

[0014] In this aspect, the connector includes a terminal and a movable housing that is displaceable relative to an attachment object. The terminal has a displacement portion. The displacement portion is held by the movable housing and displaces together with the movable housing. The displacement portion has a one-side contact portion that contacts the connection object from one side.

[0015] The connector also includes an additional member formed separately from the terminals and held by the movable housing. The additional member has an other-side contact portion that contacts the connection object from the other side. This prevents the movable housing from being directly pressed against the connection object, thereby suppressing creep of the movable housing. Furthermore, since the additional member is formed separately from the terminal, there is no need for a connecting part to integrally connect the one-side contact part and the other-side contact part, which allows the weight of the movable parts in the connector to be reduced, and as a result, the resonant frequency of the connector can be increased.

[0016] As described above, according to this aspect, in the floating connector, it is possible to suppress the creep phenomenon of the movable housing and to increase the resonant frequency of the connector.

[0017] In the embodiment described below, an example in which the connector includes a fixed housing will be described, but the connector of this type is not limited to this. In the embodiments described below, the terminal has an intermediate deformation portion, but the terminal is not limited to this. Even if the terminal does not have an intermediate deformation portion, it is possible to realize a displacement portion that displaces together with the movable housing.

[0018] A connector according to aspect 1-2 is the connector of aspect 1-1, wherein the additional member does not have a portion connected to the attachment object and a portion between the portion connected to the attachment object and the other-side contact portion.

[0019] In this configuration, the additional member does not have a portion that connects to the attachment object or a portion between that portion and the other-side contact portion, so there is no need to provide the additional member with that portion or the portion between that portion and the other-side contact portion, and the connector can be made smaller than in a configuration in which the additional member has these.

[0020] A connector according to a 1-3 aspect is the connector according to the 1-1 or 1-2 aspect, wherein the additional member does not have a structure for electrically connecting with the terminal.

[0021] In this aspect, the additional member does not have a structure for electrically connecting with the terminals, and therefore the connector can be made smaller and lighter than in an aspect having such a structure.

[0022] A connector according to a 1-4 aspect is any one of the 1-1 to 1-3 aspects, wherein the additional member is made of a material having a specific gravity lighter than that of the terminal.

[0023] In this embodiment, the additional member is made of a material having a specific gravity lighter than that of the terminal, so that the movable portion of the connector can be made lighter.

[0024] A connector according to a 1-5 aspect is any one of aspects 1-1 to 1-4, wherein the additional member is made of stainless steel, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, or nickel alloy.

[0025] In this embodiment, the additional member is made of stainless steel, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, or nickel alloy, so that the surface of the additional member is protected by a passivation film and is resistant to corrosion even if the additional member is not plated sufficiently or not plated at all, thereby enabling the connector to be manufactured inexpensively.

[0026] The connector according to aspect 1-6 is any one of aspects 1-1 to 1-5, in which the portion of the movable housing that holds the additional member and the portion that holds the displacement portion are integrally formed.

[0027] It is possible to configure the movable housing with two or more separate members, with the additional member and the displacement portion held in separate members, but this configuration would result in a complex structure of the movable housing. In this aspect, the portion of the movable housing that holds the additional member and the portion that holds the displacement portion are integrally formed, so the structure of the movable housing can be simplified.

[0028] The connector of aspect 1-7 is any of aspects 1-1 to 1-6, in which the one-side contact portion has a first contact piece that contacts the connection object and a second contact piece that contacts the connection object further back in the connection direction than the first contact piece, and is configured so that when the connection object is connected, the displacement amount of the contact of the first contact piece is greater than the displacement amount of the contact of the second contact piece, and when the connector is viewed from the back side in the connection direction, the contact of the second contact piece is not obscured by any member including the first contact piece and the additional member.

[0029] In this embodiment, the one-side contact portion has a first contact piece that contacts the connection object and a second contact piece that contacts the connection object further back in the connection direction than the first contact piece, so that foreign matter adhering to the connection object is removed by the first contact piece, and the portion of the connection object from which the foreign matter has been removed can be brought into contact with the second contact piece. Furthermore, the contact of the first contact piece is configured to have a larger displacement (for example, a displacement in a direction perpendicular to the connection direction) than the contact of the second contact piece when the connection object is connected, which increases the contact pressure of the first contact piece against the connection object and improves the function of scraping off foreign matter (so-called wiping function).

[0030] However, with the above configuration, when viewed from the front side in the connection direction, the contact of the second contact piece is covered by the first contact piece, making it difficult to inspect the height of the contact of the second contact piece. In this configuration, when the connector is viewed from the rear in the connection direction, the contact of the second contact piece is not covered by any of the components, including the first contact piece and the additional component, so that the height of the contact of the second contact piece can be inspected by inspecting the connector from the rear in the connection direction.

[0031] A connector according to a 1-8th aspect is the connector of any one of the 1-1 to 1-7 aspects, wherein a contact metal layer is formed on the one-side contact portion.

[0032] In this embodiment, a contact metal layer is formed on the one-side contact portion, and therefore, by forming an appropriate contact metal layer, it is possible to improve the connection reliability between the one-side contact portion and the connection target. However, if the terminal and the additional member were formed integrally, the additional member would get in the way when forming a contact metal layer on one contact portion, making it difficult to apply plating liquid to the appropriate position. However, in this embodiment, since the terminal and the additional member are separate, the additional member does not interfere with the formation of the contact metal layer on the one contact portion, making it easier to apply the plating solution to the appropriate position. As a result, the amount of metal (e.g., gold, palladium, silver, tin) used in the contact metal layer can be reduced, allowing the connector to be manufactured inexpensively.

[0033] A connector according to a 1-9th aspect is the connector according to the 1-8th aspect, wherein the contact metal layer includes a noble metal.

[0034] In this embodiment, since the contact metal layer contains a noble metal, the amount of metal used in the contact metal layer can be reduced, which is highly effective in reducing costs.

[0035] A connector according to aspect 1-10 is the connector according to aspect 1-8, wherein the contact metal layer contains tin or a tin alloy, and the portion of the additional member held by the movable housing is not adhered with tin or a tin alloy.

[0036] In this embodiment, the contact metal layer contains tin or a tin alloy, and no tin or tin alloy adheres to the portion of the additional member that is held by the movable housing, thereby preventing the formation of whiskers. If the terminal and additional member were formed integrally, there is a possibility that the plating liquid would adhere to the additional member when forming the contact metal layer on the one-side contact portion. However, because the terminal and additional member are separate, the plating liquid is prevented from unintentionally adhering to the additional member.

[0037] The connector according to aspect 1-11 is any one of aspects 1-1 to 1-7, in which the base material of the additional member is stainless steel, the additional member does not have a plated layer, and the additional member is not electrically connected to the object to which it is attached.

[0038] In this embodiment, the base material of the additional member is stainless steel, and the additional member does not have a plated layer. Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion without requiring time-consuming and expensive plating, and is also relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, since the additional member is not electrically connected to the object to which it is attached, the connector can be made smaller by the amount that such a structure is omitted.

[0039] (Second aspect) The connector according to aspect 2-1 is a connector comprising a terminal having a terminal side contact portion that contacts an object to be connected, an additional member having an additional side contact portion that contacts the object to be connected, and a housing that holds the terminal and the additional member, wherein the additional member is formed separately from the terminal.

[0040] In this aspect, the connector comprises a terminal having a terminal-side contact portion that contacts the connection object, an additional member having an additional-side contact portion that contacts the connection object, and a housing that holds the terminal and the additional member. Here, the additional member is formed separately from the terminal, which makes it suitable for manufacturing a variety of connectors. In other words, in the connector according to this aspect, the terminals and the housing can be common parts for each connector variation, and the additional member can be an additional member designed specifically for each connector variation. As a result, by changing only the additional member among the terminals, additional member, and housing that make up the connector, the performance of the connector can be changed. For example, by changing the shape or friction coefficient of the additional side contact portion of the additional member, the performance of the connector can be changed.

[0041] As described above, according to this aspect, it is possible to easily expand the variety of connectors.

[0042] In the embodiment described below, an example will be described in which the terminal-side contact portion contacts the connection object from one side and the additional-side contact portion contacts the connection object from the other side, but this is not limited to this. For example, the terminal-side contact portion may contact the connection object from a first direction and the additional member may contact the connection object from a direction perpendicular to the first direction. In addition, in the embodiment described below, an example will be described in which the "housing" is a movable housing, but this is not limited to this. For example, the connector may not include a movable housing, and the "housing" may be a fixed housing.

[0043] The manufacturing method of a connector according to aspect 2-2 is the manufacturing method of a connector according to aspect 1, in which the additional member is selected from a plurality of pre-designed types of additional members and is held in the housing.

[0044] In this embodiment, the additional member is selected from a plurality of pre-designed types of additional members and is held in the housing. Therefore, by selecting appropriate additional components, connectors that meet desired requirements can be manufactured at low cost. The above-mentioned "holding" includes not only holding by press fitting but also holding by insert molding.

[0045] A manufacturing method for a connector according to aspect 2-3 is aspect 2-2, in which in the connector, the terminal side contact portion contacts the connection object from one side and the additional side contact portion contacts the connection object from the other side, and the multiple types of additional members include two or more types of additional members configured so that the distances at which the terminal side contact portion and the additional side contact portion face each other are different.

[0046] In this embodiment, the terminal-side contact portion contacts the connection object from one side, and the additional-side contact portion contacts the connection object from the other side. The multiple types of additional members include two or more types of additional members configured so that the distances at which the terminal-side contact portion and the additional-side contact portion face each other are different. Therefore, by selecting the additional member, the opposing distance between the terminal side contact portion and the additional side contact portion can be changed to an appropriate distance.

[0047] A method for manufacturing a connector according to a second aspect of the present invention is the method of manufacturing a connector according to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the plurality of types of additional members include two or more types of additional members whose addition-side contact portions have different coefficients of friction.

[0048] In this embodiment, the multiple types of additional members include two or more types of additional members whose addition-side contact portions have different coefficients of friction. Therefore, by selecting the additional member, the force required to connect the objects to be connected can be set to an appropriate force.

[0049] The manufacturing method for a connector according to aspect 2-5 is any of aspects 2-2 to 2-4, in which the multiple types of additional members are configured so that the distance between the terminal side contact portion and the additional side contact portion is the same, but include two or more types of additional members having different friction coefficients for the additional side contact portion.

[0050] In this embodiment, the multiple types of additional members include two or more types of additional members that are configured so that the opposing distance between the terminal side contact portion and the addition side contact portion is the same, but have different friction coefficients of the addition side contact portion. Therefore, the variety of connectors can be increased without increasing the variety of shapes of the additional members.

[0051] (Third aspect) The connector of aspect 3-1 is a connector that can be attached to the mounting surface of an attachment object and can be connected to a connection object with the connection direction being along the mounting surface, and is equipped with a fixed housing fixed to the attachment object, a movable housing that can be fitted with the connection object and is displaceable relative to the attachment object, and terminals that have a connection portion connected to the attachment object and a displacement portion that is held by the movable housing and displaces together with the movable housing, and the fixed housing has a displacement regulating portion that is positioned to abut against the connection object when the connection object, while fitted with or in the process of being fitted to the movable housing, is displaced in a direction approaching the mounting surface.

[0052] In this aspect, the connector comprises a fixed housing, a movable housing, and a terminal. The fixed housing is a housing that is fixed to an attachment object. The movable housing is a housing that is displaceable relative to the attachment object and is capable of mating with a connection object. The terminal has a connection portion and a displacement portion. The connection portion is a portion that is connected to the attachment object. The displacement portion is a portion that is held by the movable housing and displaces together with the movable housing.

[0053] Here, the fixed housing has a displacement restriction portion that is provided at a position where it comes into contact with the connection object when the connection object is displaced toward the mounting surface while being fitted or in the middle of being fitted with the movable housing. Therefore, the displacement of the connection objects in the mated state or in the middle of mating is limited, and as a result, excessive displacement of the movable housing is suppressed.

[0054] In other words, in the technologies of Patent Documents 2 and 3, excessive displacement is restricted by providing downwardly protruding legs on the movable housing, but in this embodiment, excessive displacement is restricted by providing a part (displacement restriction part) on the fixed housing that abuts against the connection object in a mated state or in the process of mating.

[0055] As described above, according to this aspect, the displacement restricting portion restricts excessive displacement of the movable housing, so the legs are unnecessary or can be simplified, resulting in a reduction in the weight of the movable portion of the connector. Therefore, in the right-angle floating connector, excessive downward displacement of the movable housing can be restricted and the resonant frequency can be increased.

[0056] The connector according to aspect 3-2 is aspect 3-1, wherein the fixed housing has a passage space on the side of the placement surface relative to the space in which the movable housing is arranged, through which the movable housing can pass.

[0057] In this aspect, the fixed housing has a passage space through which the movable housing can pass, the passage space being on the placement surface side (below) of the space in which the movable housing is disposed. Therefore, when manufacturing the connector, the movable housing can be assembled to the fixed housing from below.

[0058] The connector according to aspect 3-3 is the connector according to aspect 3-1 or 3-2, wherein the fixed housing has an upward limiting portion that limits the range of movement of the movable housing in a direction away from the placement surface.

[0059] In this embodiment, the fixed housing has an upward limiting portion that limits the range of movement of the movable housing in the direction away from the mounting surface (upward), eliminating the need to separately attach a member that functions as the upward limiting portion to the fixed housing.

[0060] The connector according to aspect 3-4 is any one of aspects 3-1 to 3-3, wherein the terminal has a fixed-side held portion that is held by the fixed housing, and the displacement regulating portion holds the fixed-side held portion.

[0061] In this aspect, the terminal has a fixed-side held portion that is held by the fixed housing, and the displacement restricting portion holds the fixed-side held portion of the terminal. Therefore, the connector can be made smaller than in a configuration in which the displacement regulating portion is formed separately from the portion that holds the fixed-side held portion of the terminal.

[0062] A connector according to aspect 3-5 is any of aspects 3-1 to 3-4, in which the terminal has a deformable intermediate deformation portion between the connection portion and the displacement portion, and at least a portion of the intermediate deformation portion is positioned between the movable housing and the mounting surface in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface.

[0063] In this embodiment, the terminal has a deformable intermediate deformation portion between the connection portion and the displacement portion, and at least a portion of the intermediate deformation portion is located between the movable housing and the mounting surface in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface (height direction). Therefore, the length of the intermediate deformation portion can be ensured.

[0064] The mating connector of aspect 3-6 is a mating connector as the connection object that can be connected to the connector of any of aspects 3-1 to 3-5, and comprises a mating housing and a mating terminal held in the mating housing, and the mating housing has an opposing lower surface that faces the displacement control portion in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface when engaged with the movable housing or in the process of being engaged, and a downward protrusion that protrudes from the opposing lower surface toward the mounting surface, and is positioned to abut against the displacement control portion when the mating connector, engaged with the movable housing or in the process of being engaged, is displaced in a direction approaching the mounting surface.

[0065] The mating connector according to this aspect includes a mating housing and mating terminals held in the mating housing. The mating housing has an opposing lower surface that faces the displacement restricting portion in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface (up and down direction) when the mating housing is fitted to the movable housing or is in the process of being fitted to the movable housing. Furthermore, the mating housing has a downward protrusion that protrudes from the opposing lower surface toward the mounting surface. The downward protrusion is located at a position where it will abut against the displacement restriction portion when the mating connector, which is mated with the movable housing or is in the process of mating, is displaced toward the mounting surface. Therefore, the maximum downward displacement of the mating connector is reduced by the amount of the downward protrusion, thereby limiting excessive downward displacement of the mating connector while suppressing an increase in the mass of the mating housing of the mating connector.

[0066] The mating connector according to aspect 3-7 is the mating connector according to aspect 3-6, wherein the mating terminal has a mating contact portion that protrudes from the mating housing and contacts a contact portion formed in the displacement portion, and the opposing underside is the underside facing the placement surface of the adjacent support portion that supports the portion adjacent to the mating contact portion.

[0067] In this embodiment, the mating terminal has a mating contact portion that protrudes from the mating housing and contacts the contact portion formed on the displacement portion. The portion of the mating terminal adjacent to the mating contact portion is supported by an adjacent support portion of the mating housing. A downward protrusion protrudes from the underside of the adjacent support portion. Therefore, compared to a configuration in which the vertical dimension of the adjacent support portion is simply increased and its lower surface is abutted against the displacement regulating portion of the internal connector, excessive displacement of the movable housing can be suppressed while making the mating connector lighter.

[0068] A connector according to aspect 4-1 is a connector comprising a housing and a terminal held in the housing, wherein the terminal has a first held portion formed on a first extension extending along a first direction, a displacement portion displaceable relative to the first held portion, and an intermediate portion between the first held portion and the displacement portion, the intermediate portion having one or more curved portions bent in the thickness direction of the plate, the intermediate portion being connected to the first extension portion via a first curved portion among the one or more curved portions that is closest to the first held portion, and including a second extension portion extending along a direction perpendicular to the first direction, and the second extension portion having a second held portion formed thereon.

[0069] In this aspect, the connector includes a housing and a terminal held by the housing. The terminal has a first held portion formed on a first elongated portion extending along a first direction, a displacement portion displaceable relative to the first held portion, and an intermediate portion between the first elongated portion and the displacement portion. The intermediate portion has a plurality of bent portions bent in the plate thickness direction.

[0070] Here, the intermediate portion includes a second extending portion connected to the first extending portion via the first curved portion and extending along a direction perpendicular to the first direction, and the second extending portion forms a second held portion. Therefore, the second held portion formed on the second extending portion is held by the housing, so that deformation of the first bent portion is suppressed, and stress concentration on the first bent portion is suppressed.

[0071] As described above, according to this aspect, in a connector in which the intermediate portion of the terminal has one or more curved portions, stress concentration on the curved portions can be suppressed.

[0072] In the embodiment described below, the first held portion and the first curved portion are close to each other, but this is not limited to this. In the embodiment described below, the first curved portion and the second held portion are close to each other, but this aspect is not limited to this. In the embodiment described below, the housing is a fixed housing, but the housing in this aspect is not limited to this.

[0073] In the connector of aspect 4-2, in aspect 4-1, the portion of the second extension portion closer to the displacement portion than the second retained portion includes a gradually decreasing extension portion formed so that the plate width gradually decreases as it moves away from the second retained portion.

[0074] In this aspect, the portion of the second extension portion closer to the displacement portion than the second held portion includes a gradually decreasing extension portion formed so that the plate width gradually decreases with increasing distance from the second held portion. This makes it possible to prevent stress from concentrating on a specific portion of the second elongated portion.

[0075] In the connector according to aspect 4-3, in aspect 4-1 or 4-2, the second retained portion is formed with a larger plate width than the portion adjacent to the second retained portion, and the rate of change in plate width on the side of the first retained portion relative to the position of the second retained portion where the plate width is greatest is larger than the rate of change in plate width on the side of the displacement portion.

[0076] In this embodiment, the second retained portion is formed to have a larger plate width than the portion adjacent to the second retained portion. The rate of change in plate width on the first retained portion side relative to the position where the plate width of the second retained portion is greatest is greater than the rate of change in plate width on the displacement portion side. The rate of change in plate width refers to the amount of change in plate width relative to the distance toward the first retained portion side or the displacement portion side. Therefore, the second retained portion can be positioned close to the first bent portion, and stress can be prevented from concentrating on the portion of the intermediate portion that is close to the displacement portion side of the second retained portion. By positioning the second retained portion close to the first bent portion, a longer region of the intermediate portion that can actually be deformed can be secured.

[0077] The connector according to aspect 4-4 is any one of aspects 4-1 to 4-3, in which the terminal is pressed into the housing in a predetermined press-fit direction and held therein, the first direction being the press-fit direction, the first held portion being a first press-fit portion, and the second held portion being a second press-fit portion.

[0078] In this embodiment, the terminal is press-fitted into the housing in a predetermined press-fitting direction (first direction) and held therein.

[0079] A connector set according to aspect 5-1 is a connector set comprising a right-angle type internal connector attached to a board disposed inside a case, and a relay connector attached to an opening of the case and relaying between the internal connector and an external connection object outside the case, wherein the internal connector comprises a first internal terminal and a second internal terminal, the relay connector comprises a first relay terminal connected to the first internal terminal and a second relay terminal connected to the second internal terminal, the first internal terminal has a first contact portion contacting the first relay terminal and a first connection portion connected to the board, The second internal terminal has a second contact portion that contacts the second relay terminal and a second connection portion that connects to the board, the first relay terminal has a first internal contact portion that contacts the first internal terminal and a first external contact portion that contacts the external connection object, the second relay terminal has a second internal contact portion that contacts the second internal terminal and a second external contact portion that contacts the external connection object, the first external contact portion and the second external contact portion being arranged at different positions in a board vertical direction that is a direction perpendicular to the board, and the first internal contact portion and the second internal contact portion being arranged at the same position in the board vertical direction.

[0080] The connector set according to this embodiment comprises a right-angle type internal connector that is attached to a board placed inside the case, and a relay connector that is attached to an opening in the case and relays between the internal connector and an external connection object outside the case. The internal connector includes a first internal terminal and a second internal terminal, and the relay connector includes a first relay terminal connected to the first internal terminal and a second relay terminal connected to the second internal terminal. The first internal terminal has a first contact portion that contacts the first relay terminal and a first connection portion that connects to the substrate. The second internal terminal has a second contact portion that contacts the second relay terminal and a second connection portion that connects to the substrate. The first relay terminal has a first internal contact portion that contacts the first internal terminal, and a first external contact portion that contacts an external connection object. The second relay terminal has a second internal contact portion that contacts the second internal terminal, and a second external contact portion that contacts an external connection object.

[0081] Here, in this embodiment, the first external contact portion and the second external contact portion are positioned at different positions in the substrate vertical direction, but the first internal contact portion and the second internal contact portion are positioned at the same position in the substrate vertical direction. Therefore, the distance from the substrate of the first contact portion is the same as the distance from the substrate of the second contact portion, so that the shape of the first internal terminal and the shape of the second internal terminal can be made the same, or if not the same, can be made similar.

[0082] As described above, according to this aspect, in a connector set including an internal connector and a relay connector, the design cost of the internal connector can be reduced.

[0083] In the embodiment described below, an example will be described in which the "internal connector" is a floating connector, but the "internal connector" in this form is not limited to this. In addition, in the embodiment described below, the internal connector has a third internal terminal and a fourth internal terminal in addition to the first internal terminal and the second internal terminal, and the relay connector has a third relay terminal and a fourth relay terminal in addition to the first relay terminal and the second relay terminal, but this aspect of the "connector set" is not limited to this.

[0084] A connector set according to aspect 5-2 is the same as aspect 5-1, in which the first internal terminal has a first intermediate deformation portion located between the first contact portion and the first connecting portion and deforming to allow displacement of the first contact portion relative to the first connecting portion, and the second internal terminal has a second intermediate deformation portion located between the second contact portion and the second connecting portion and deforming to allow displacement of the first contact portion relative to the second connecting portion.

[0085] In this aspect, the first internal terminal has a first intermediate deformation portion located between the first contact portion and the first connecting portion and deforming to allow displacement of the first contact portion relative to the first connecting portion, and the second internal terminal has a second intermediate deformation portion located between the second contact portion and the second connecting portion and deforming to allow displacement of the second contact portion relative to the second connecting portion. Therefore, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are displaceable relative to the board, and can absorb misalignment between the board and the relay connector.

[0086] In this embodiment, the internal terminal has an intermediate deformation portion (first intermediate deformation portion or second intermediate deformation portion), which makes the design of the internal terminal particularly complex. Therefore, if the number of types of internal terminal shapes increases, the design cost will increase significantly. This problem is particularly pronounced in the case of internal connectors used in environments where strong vibrations are applied for long periods of time, such as in automotive equipment, where a high-performance intermediate deformation portion is required to maintain performance even under such conditions.

[0087] A connector set according to aspect 5-3 is the connector set according to aspect 5-1 or 5-2, wherein the internal connector comprises a third internal terminal and a fourth internal terminal, the relay connector comprises a third relay terminal connected to the third internal terminal and a fourth relay terminal connected to the fourth internal terminal, the third internal terminal has a third contact portion contacting the third relay terminal and a third connection portion connected to the board, the fourth internal terminal has a fourth contact portion contacting the fourth relay terminal and a fourth connection portion connected to the board, and the third relay terminal is in contact with the third internal terminal. The fourth relay terminal has a fourth internal contact portion that contacts the fourth internal terminal and a fourth external contact portion that contacts the external connection object, the first external contact portion, the second external contact portion, the third external contact portion and the fourth external contact portion being arranged at different positions in the board vertical direction, the first internal contact portion and the second internal contact portion being arranged at the same position in the board vertical direction, and the third internal contact portion and the fourth internal contact portion being arranged at the same position in the board vertical direction.

[0088] In this embodiment, the first outer contact portion, the second outer contact portion, the third outer contact portion, and the fourth outer contact portion are arranged at different positions in the substrate vertical direction, while the first inner contact portion and the second inner contact portion are arranged at the same position in the substrate vertical direction, and the third inner contact portion and the fourth inner contact portion are arranged at the same position in the substrate vertical direction. Therefore, the distance from the substrate to the first contact portion is the same as the distance from the substrate to the second contact portion, so the shape of the first internal terminal and the shape of the second internal terminal can be made the same or similar, which reduces the design cost of the internal connector. Furthermore, since the distance from the board to the third contact portion is the same as the distance from the board to the fourth contact portion, the shape of the third internal terminal and the shape of the fourth internal terminal can be made the same or similar, thereby reducing the design cost of the internal connector.

[0089] In the connector of aspect 5-4, in aspect 5-3, the first external contact portion and the fourth external contact portion are arranged at the same position in an arrangement direction that is perpendicular to the board vertical direction, the second external contact portion and the third external contact portion are arranged at the same position in the arrangement direction, and the first internal contact portion, the second internal contact portion, the third internal contact portion and the fourth internal contact portion are arranged at different positions in the arrangement direction.

[0090] In this embodiment, the second outer contact portion and the fourth outer contact portion are arranged at the same position in the arrangement direction, the first outer contact portion and the third outer contact portion are arranged at the same position in the arrangement direction, while the first inner contact portion, the second inner contact portion, the third inner contact portion and the fourth inner contact portion are arranged at different positions in the arrangement direction. Therefore, the positions of the first contact portion, the second contact portion, the third contact portion, and the fourth contact portion of the internal connector in the arrangement direction can be made different from one another. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0091] [Figure 1]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal connector and the relay connector before connection. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal connector and the relay connector in a connected state. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the internal connector. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the internal connector in the middle of assembly. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an internal connector. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a front view of the internal connector. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 10 is a side view showing the terminals and additional members provided in the internal connector. FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. [Figure 11] 11B-11B line cross-sectional view. [Figure 12] 11B, showing a different type of additional member. FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the fixed housing seen from a different direction. [Figure 15] 10 is an enlarged view showing a press-fit groove formed in a front frame portion of the fixed housing and a fixed-side held portion of a lower terminal. FIG. [Figure 16] 10 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of a second press-fit portion of the lower terminal. FIG. [Figure 17] FIG. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the movable housing as seen from another direction. [Figure 19] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing an arrangement space formed in a movable housing. [Figure 20] FIG. [Figure 21] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the relay connector as seen from another direction. [Figure 22] FIG. [Figure 23] FIG. [Figure 24] FIG. [Figure 25] FIG. [Figure 26] FIG. 4 is a side view of a plurality of relay terminals. [Figure 27] 3A and 3B are a top view and a side view of a first structure relay terminal; [Figure 28] 10A and 10B are a top view and a side view of a second structure relay terminal; [Figure 29] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state during fitting. [Figure 30] FIG. [Figure 31] FIG. 10 is another cross-sectional view showing the fitted state. [Figure 32] FIG. 10 is another cross-sectional view showing the fitted state. [Figure 33] FIG. 10 is another cross-sectional view showing the fitted state. [Figure 34] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example in which the rear wall of the fixed housing is omitted. [Figure 35] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the positions of plating treatments on the contact portions of the terminals of the internal connector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0092] In the following description, the ±X directions shown in each drawing are defined as the front-rear directions, the ±Y directions as the width directions, and the ±Z directions as the up-down directions.

[0093] (connector set) As shown in FIG. 1, the connector set 10, 11 includes an internal connector 10 and a relay connector 11. The internal connector 10 is attached to a substrate 14 (an attachment object) that is placed inside the case 13. The internal connector 10 is a right-angle type floating connector. The relay connector 11 relays between the internal connector 10 arranged inside the case 13 and a connection object (not shown, hereinafter referred to as an "external connection object") outside the case 13. The relay connector 11 is attached to an opening 13a of the case 13.

[0094] The internal connector 10 and the relay connector 11 are connected, for example, in the following procedure. First, the substrate 14 on which the internal connector 10 is attached is placed inside the case 13 and fixed. Next, the relay connector 11 is fitted into the opening 13 a of the case 13 and connected to the internal connector 10 . Finally, the relay connector 11 is fixed to the case 13 by bolts or the like (not shown).

[0095] (internal connector 10) Next, the internal connector 10 will be described.

[0096] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the internal connector 10. As shown in FIG. The internal connector 10 includes a plurality of terminals 40, 50, a fixed housing 20, a movable housing 30, a plurality of (four) fixing members 101, and a plurality of (28) additional members 90.

[0097] (Terminals 40, 50) The plurality of terminals 40, 50 includes a plurality (14) of upper terminals 40 and a plurality (14, the same number as the upper terminals 40) of lower terminals 50.

[0098] The upper terminals 40 each have the same structure, and the lower terminals 50 each have the same structure. The upper terminals 40 and the lower terminals 50 have different structures.

[0099] Hereinafter, when describing matters common to the upper terminal 40 and the lower terminal 50, the upper terminal 40 and the lower terminal 50 will be referred to as terminals 40, 50 without any particular distinction.

[0100] As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the terminals 40, 50 have connection portions 41, 51 connected to the board 14, fixed side held portions 42, 52 held by the fixed housing 20, intermediate deformation portions 43, 53 formed to be deformable, movable side held portions 44, 54 held by the movable housing 30, and contact portions 45, 55 that contact the relay terminals 60, 70 of the relay connector 11.

[0101] The connection portions 41, 51 are soldered to the surface (mounting surface) of the substrate 14, which is the object to be connected. The fixed-side held portions 42, 52 are press-fitted into the fixed housing 20. The movable-side held portions 44, 54 are press-fitted into the movable housing 30. The movable-side held portions 44, 54 and the contact portions 45, 55 function as displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 that are displaceable relative to the substrate 14.

[0102] (upper terminal 40) The connecting portion 41 of the upper terminal 40 extends rearward from a curved portion 404 formed on the lower side of a first extending portion 401 that extends in the vertical direction.

[0103] The fixed-side held portion 42 of the upper terminal 40 has a first press-fit portion 421 and a second press-fit portion 422 .

[0104] The first press-fit portion 421 is formed in the first extending portion 401 that extends in the up-down direction. The plate thickness direction of the first press-fit portion 421 is oriented in the front-rear direction. Press-fit protrusions are formed on both sides of the first press-fit portion 421 in the plate width direction. The second press-fit portion 422 is formed in the second extending portion 403 that extends forward from the curved portion 402 (first curved portion) formed on the upper side of the first extending portion 401. The second press-fit portion 422 is located in the vicinity of the curved portion 402 in the second extending portion 403. The plate thickness direction of the second press-fit portion 422 is oriented in the vertical direction. The plate width of the second press-fit portion 422 is formed to be larger than that of adjacent portions. The specific structure of the second press-fit portion 422 will be described later.

[0105] The fixed-side held portion 42 is press-fitted into the fixed housing 20 with the press-fit direction being the upward direction. Therefore, the first press-fit portion 421 is press-fitted in a direction perpendicular to the plate thickness direction, and the second press-fit portion 422 is press-fitted in a direction parallel to the plate thickness direction.

[0106] The intermediate deformation portion 43 of the upper terminal 40 has a forward extension portion 431, which is the portion of the second extension portion 403 that is closer to the displacement portions 44, 45 than the second press-fit portion 422, a curved portion 432, an upward extension portion 433, a curved portion 434, a rearward extension portion 435, a curved portion 436, an upward extension portion 437, a curved portion 438, and a forward extension portion 439.

[0107] The curved portion 432, the upward extending portion 433 and the curved portion 434 constitute folded portions 432, 433, 434 whose extending direction is changed from the front direction to the rear direction. The curved portion 436, the upward extending portion 437 and the curved portion 438 constitute folded portions 436, 437, 438 whose extending direction is changed from the rear direction to the front direction. In this way, the intermediate deformation portion 43 of the upper terminal 40 includes two folded portions whose extension direction is changed in the front-rear direction. The vertical dimensions of the lower folded portions 432, 433, and 434 are smaller than the vertical dimensions of the upper folded portions 436, 437, and 438.

[0108] The majority of the forward extension portion 431 is composed of a portion (gradually decreasing extension portion) whose plate width gradually decreases as it advances toward the displacement portions 44, 45. The curved portion 432 is formed with a plate width larger than that of the adjacent portions to prevent stress concentration. The forward extension portion 439 has a base end side portion 439a whose plate width does not change and a tip end side portion 439b whose plate width gradually increases as it approaches the displacement portions 44, 45.

[0109] (Lower terminal 50) The connecting portion 51 of the lower terminal 50 extends forward from a curved portion 504 formed on the lower side of a first extending portion 501 that extends in the vertical direction.

[0110] The fixed-side held portion 52 of the lower terminal 50 has a first press-fit portion 521 and a second press-fit portion 522 .

[0111] The first press-fit portion 521 is formed in the first extending portion 501 that extends in the up-down direction. The plate thickness direction of the first press-fit portion 521 is oriented in the front-rear direction. Press-fit protrusions are formed on both sides of the first press-fit portion 521 in the plate width direction. The second press-fit portion 522 is formed in the second extending portion 503 that extends rearward from the curved portion 502 (first curved portion) formed on the upper side of the first extending portion 501. The second press-fit portion 522 is located in the vicinity of the curved portion 502 in the second extending portion 503. The plate thickness direction of the second press-fit portion 522 is oriented in the vertical direction. The plate width of the second press-fit portion 522 is formed to be larger than that of adjacent portions. The specific structure of the second press-fit portion 522 will be described later.

[0112] The fixed-side held portion 52 is press-fitted into the fixed housing 20 with the press-fit direction being the upward direction. Therefore, the first press-fit portion 521 is press-fitted in a direction perpendicular to the plate thickness direction, and the second press-fit portion 522 is press-fitted in a direction parallel to the plate thickness direction.

[0113] The intermediate deformation portion 53 of the lower terminal 50 has a rearward extension portion 531, which is the portion of the second extension portion 503 that is closer to the displacement portions 54, 55 than the second press-fit portion 522, a curved portion 532, an upward extension portion 533, a curved portion 534, and a forward extension portion 535.

[0114] The curved portion 532, the upward extending portion 533, and the curved portion 534 constitute folded portions 532, 533, and 534 whose extending direction is changed from the rearward direction to the forward direction. In this manner, the intermediate deformation portion 53 of the lower terminal 50 includes one folded portion whose extending direction is changed from the frontward direction to the rearward direction.

[0115] The majority of the rear extension portion 531 is composed of a portion (gradually decreasing extension portion) in which the plate width gradually decreases toward the displacement portions 54 and 55. The curved portion 532 is formed with a plate width larger than the adjacent portions to prevent stress concentration.

[0116] The displacement portions 44, 45 of the upper terminal 40 and the displacement portions 54, 55 of the lower terminal 50 have the same structure, and therefore will be described together.

[0117] The displacement portions 44, 45, 54, and 55 have movable-side held portions 44 and 54 and contact portions 45 and 55.

[0118] The thickness direction of the movable-side held portions 44, 54 faces the up-down direction. Press-fit protrusions are formed on both sides of the movable-side held portions 44, 54 in the plate width direction (width direction). The movable-side held portions 44, 54 are press-fitted into the movable housing 30 with the press-fit direction facing forward. Therefore, the movable-side held portions 44, 54 are press-fitted in a direction perpendicular to the plate thickness direction. The movable-side held portions 44, 54 are connected to the forward extending portions 439, 535 without a curved portion therebetween.

[0119] The contact portions 45, 55 have a first contact piece 45a, 55a that elastically contacts the connection object (relay terminal 60, 70) and a second contact piece 45b, 55b that elastically contacts the connection object further back in the connection direction (rear direction) than the first contact piece 45a, 55a.

[0120] The first contact pieces 45a and 55a have first contact portions 45a1 and 55a1 and a pair of first support portions 45a2 and 55a2. The first contact portions 45a1 and 55a1 are bent in a mountain shape so that the upper side is convex. The pair of first support portions 45a2, 55a2 elastically support the first contact portions 45a1, 55a1.

[0121] The second contact pieces 45b and 55b have second contact portions 45b1 and 55b1 and second support portions 45b2 and 55b2. The second contact portions 45b1, 55b1 are bent in a mountain shape so that they are convex upward. The second contact portions 45b1, 55b1 are located rearward of the first contact portions 45a1, 55a1. As a result, the second contact portions 45b1, 55b1 are located further back in the connection direction (rearward) than the first contact portions 45a1, 55a1. When the relay connector 11 is connected to the internal connector 10, the relay terminals 60, 70 of the relay connector 11 first slide and wipe against the first contact portions 45a1, 55a1, and then come into contact with the second contact portions 45b1, 55b1. The second support portions 45b2 and 55b2 are formed between the pair of first support portions 45a2 and 55a2. When the internal connector 10 is not connected to the relay connector 11, the vertex positions (contact points) of the second contact portions 45b1 and 55b1 are located lower than the vertex positions (contact points) of the first contact portions 45a1 and 55a1.

[0122] Next, the positional relationship between the upper terminals 40 and the lower terminals 50 will be described.

[0123] The displacement portions 54 and 55 of the lower terminal 50 are located below the displacement portions 44 and 45 of the upper terminal 40 . The starting end of the intermediate deformation portion 53 of the lower terminal 50 (the boundary between the rear extension portion 531 and the fixed-side held portion 52) is located lower than the starting end of the intermediate deformation portion 43 of the upper terminal 40. The vertical dimension of the intermediate deformation portion 53 of the lower terminal 50 is smaller than the vertical dimension of the intermediate deformation portion 43 of the upper terminal 40 .

[0124] The front-rear extending portion (front extending portion 431) at the start end of the intermediate deformation portion 43 of the upper terminal 40 is shorter than the front-rear extending portion (rear extending portion 531) at the start end of the intermediate deformation portion 53 of the lower terminal 50. The front-rear extending portion (front extending portion 439) on the terminal end side of the intermediate deformation portion 43 of the upper terminal 40 is longer than the front-rear extending portion (front extending portion 535) on the terminal end side of the intermediate deformation portion 53 of the lower terminal 50.

[0125] The positions of the upper terminals 40 in the width direction are different from the positions of the lower terminals 50. The upper terminals 40 and the lower terminals 50 are arranged alternately in the width direction (terminal arrangement direction).

[0126] (Additional member 90) The additional member 90 is formed as a separate member from the terminals 40 and 50 and is held by the movable housing 30 .

[0127] As shown in FIG. 11, the additional member 90 has a front end portion 90a that constitutes the vicinity of the front end of the additional member 90, a general portion 90b, and a rear end portion 90c that constitutes the vicinity of the rear end of the additional member 90. The front end portion 90a is formed so that the width dimension decreases as it advances forward. The general portion 90b has a constant width regardless of the position in the front-rear direction, except for the portions where press-fit protrusions 92 and 93, which will be described later, are formed. The rear end portion 90c has a constant width regardless of the position in the front-rear direction, and is narrower than the general portion 90b.

[0128] The additional member 90 is formed by punching a plate material, but is not bent. The additional member 90 is made of, for example, stainless steel, and is not plated.

[0129] The additional member 90 is formed with a bulging portion 91 that bulges downward by bead processing. The bulge portion 91 is formed at a position facing the contact portions 45, 55 of the terminals 40, 50 in the up-down direction. The bulge portion 91 contacts the relay terminals 60, 70 of the relay connector 11. The bulge portion 91 is formed to extend in the front-rear direction and faces both the first contact portions 45a1, 55a1 and the second contact portions 45b1, 55b1 in the up-down direction. The front end of the bulge portion 91 is located at the front end portion 90a of the additional member 90. The rear end of the bulge portion 91 is located at the general portion 90b of the additional member 90, specifically, located forward of the center position of the general portion 90a in the front-rear direction. The bulging portion 91 corresponds to the "addition side contact portion" and the "other side contact portion" of the present disclosure.

[0130] The additional member 90 has a plurality of press-fit projections 92 and 93 . The multiple press-fit protrusions 92, 93 are composed of a pair of front press-fit protrusions 92 and a pair of rear press-fit protrusions 93. The pair of front press-fit protrusions 92 are formed at positions in the front-rear direction that overlap with the area where the bulging portion 91 is formed. The pair of rear press-fit protrusions 93 are formed at positions in the front-rear direction that do not overlap with the area where the bulging portion 91 is formed, and that correspond to the rear end of the general portion 90b of the additional member 90. The additional member 90 is press-fitted into an additional member press-fitting groove 312b (see FIG. 19) formed in the upper part of the arrangement space 312 of the movable housing 30.

[0131] A part of the tip side of the front end portion 90a is a tip side inclined portion 90a1. The thickness of the tip-side inclined portion 90a1 decreases as it advances forward, so that the lower surface of the tip-side inclined portion 90a1 slopes upward as it advances forward.

[0132] Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view showing an additional member 90A of a type different from the additional member 90 shown in Figure 11. The additional member 90A has almost the same configuration as the additional member 90, but differs in that the amount of expansion of the bulging portion 91A is larger than that of the bulging portion 91 of the additional member 90. The additional member 90A can also be press-fitted into the additional member press-fitting groove 312b (see Figure 19) of the movable housing 30 instead of the additional member 90. In this embodiment, the bulging portion 91 is formed by bead processing (i.e., processing to create a recess in the plate thickness direction), so the amount of bulging (amount of protrusion / recess) of the bulging portion 91 can be easily changed, facilitating development of variations.

[0133] (Fixed housing 20) 13 and 14 show the fixed housing. The fixed housing 20 is a housing that is fixed to a board 14, which is an “object to be attached.” The fixed housing 20 is fixed to the board 14 via a plurality of terminals 40, 50 and a plurality of fasteners 101.

[0134] The fixed housing 20 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin.

[0135] The fixed housing 20 has lower frames 21, 22, and 23. The lower frames 21, 22, 23 each have a front frame portion 21, a rear frame portion 22, and a pair of side frame portions 23. The front frame portion 21 and the rear frame portion 22 extend in the width direction, and the pair of side frame portions 23 extend in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the lower frames 21, 22, 23 each have a rectangular frame shape in a plan view.

[0136] The front frame portion 21 functions as the lower terminal holding portion 21 that holds a part (fixed-side held portion 52) of the lower terminal 50 (see FIG. 7). The front frame portion 21 is formed with press-fit grooves 28 into which the fixed-side held portions 52 of the lower terminals 50 are press-fitted. Therefore, the front frame portion 21 is fixed to the board 14 via the lower terminals 50. The cross-sectional shape of front frame portion 21 perpendicular to the width direction is rectangular. The upper surface of front frame portion 21 is a plane with the upward direction as the normal direction. Press-fit groove 28 is a groove that is open only to the lower surface and rear surface sides of front frame portion 21.

[0137] The rear frame portion 22 functions as the upper terminal holding portion 22 that holds a portion (fixed-side held portion 42) of the upper terminal 40 (see FIG. 8). The rear frame portion 22 is formed with press-fit grooves 28 into which the fixed-side held portions 42 of the upper terminals 40 are press-fitted. Therefore, the rear frame portion 22 is fixed to the board 14 via the upper terminals 40. The structure of the press-fit grooves 28 of the rear frame portion 22 is substantially the same as the press-fit grooves 28 of the front frame portion 21, and will be described in detail below.

[0138] The pair of side frame portions 23 have a symmetrical structure. Fixture press-fitting grooves 231, 232 into which the fixture 101 is press-fitted are formed in the side frame portions 23. The fixture 101 is press-fitted into the fixture press-fitting grooves 231, 232 from above. Therefore, the side frame portions 23 are fixed to the substrate 14 via the fixture 101. The fastener press-fitting grooves 231, 232 include a front fastener press-fitting groove 231 and a rear fastener press-fitting groove 232. When the side frame portion 23 is divided into a front portion, a rear portion, and an intermediate portion therebetween, the front fastener press-fitting groove 231 is formed in the front portion of the side frame portion 23, and the rear fastener press-fitting groove 232 is formed in the rear portion of the side frame portion 23.

[0139] As described above, the lower frames 21, 22, 23 are fixed to the substrate 14 at all of the front frame portion 21, rear frame portion 22 and pair of side frame portions 23 that constitute the frame portions in the four directions.

[0140] A pair of outer recesses 211 are formed in the front frame portion 21 on the widthwise outer sides of the portion where the multiple press-fit grooves 28 are formed (see FIG. 14). The outer recesses 211 are recesses that are open downward and rearward. A pair of outer recesses 221 are formed in the rear frame portion 22 on the widthwise outer sides of the portion where the multiple press-fit grooves 28 are formed. The outer recesses 221 are recesses that are open downward and forward.

[0141] The space surrounded by the lower frames 21, 22, 23 is a space (passage space 29) through which the movable housing 30 can pass in the vertical direction. 14, the side frame portions 23 are formed with retraction recesses 233 recessed outward in the width direction so that the protruding portions 32 of the movable housing 30 can pass through in the up-down direction. The front-to-rear dimension of the retraction recess 233 is greater than the distance between the front stop wall 271 and the rear stop wall 272. Specifically, in terms of their positions in the front-to-rear direction, the rear end of the retraction recess 233 and the front surface of the rear stop wall 272 coincide with each other, but the front end of the retraction recess 233 is located forward of the rear surface of the front stop wall 271.

[0142] The stationary housing 20 has a pair of rear side walls 24 . The pair of rear side walls 24 have a symmetrical structure. The rear side walls 24 extend upward from the rear of the side frame portions 23. The rear side walls 24 are not formed in a position corresponding to the front of the side frame portions 23. The rear side walls 24 form outer walls in the width direction of the space in which the movable housing 30 is disposed.

[0143] The fixed housing 20 has a pair of restricting portions 27 . The pair of restricting portions 27 have a symmetrical structure. The restricting portion 27 is formed on the upper side of the middle portion of the side frame portion 23. The restricting portion 27 has a front restricting wall 271 and a rear restricting wall 272. The front restricting wall 271 and the rear restricting wall 272 face each other in the front-to-rear direction. The protruding portion 32 (see FIG. 17 ) of the movable housing 30 is disposed between the front restricting wall 271 and the rear restricting wall 272, thereby restricting the range of movement of the movable housing 30 in the front-to-rear direction. That is, the front restricting wall 271 limits the range of movement of the movable housing 30 in the front direction, and the rear restricting wall 272 limits the range of movement of the movable housing 30 in the rear direction.

[0144] Specifically, the front restriction wall 271 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and more specifically, a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose front-to-rear dimension is smaller than its up-down dimension and width dimension. The widthwise outer surface of the front stop wall 271 is flush with the widthwise outer surface of the side frame portion 23. In addition, the widthwise outer surface of the front stop wall 271 is located widthwise outer than the widthwise outer surface of the rear side wall 24. The upper surface of the front stop wall 271 is flush with the upper surface of the top wall 25. The front surface of the front stop wall 271 is flush with the front surface of the top wall 25.

[0145] Specifically, the rear restriction wall 272 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and more specifically, a rectangular parallelepiped shape whose front-to-rear dimension is smaller than its top-to-bottom dimension and width dimension. The widthwise outer surface of the rear limiting wall 272 is flush with the widthwise outer surface of the side frame portion 23. In addition, the widthwise outer surface of the rear limiting wall 272 is located widthwise outward of the widthwise outer surface of the rear side wall 24. The upper surface of the rear limiting wall 272 is flush with the upper surface of the top wall 25. The inner end of the rear regulating wall 272 in the width direction is connected to the front end of the rear side wall 24 .

[0146] The stationary housing 20 has a top wall 25 . The top wall 25 constitutes the upper wall of the space in which the movable housing 30 is disposed. The top wall 25 connects the upper ends of the pair of restricting portions 27 and the pair of rear side walls 24 in the width direction. The top wall 25 comes into contact with the movable housing 30 when the movable housing 30 is displaced upward. In other words, the top wall 25 functions as a portion (upward restricting portion) that restricts the range of upward movement of the movable housing 30.

[0147] If the fixed housing 20 is considered to be composed of three parts: a front part, a rear part, and a middle part between them, a top wall 25 is formed in the middle part and rear part of the fixed housing 20, whereas a top wall 25 is not formed in the front part of the fixed housing 20.

[0148] The stationary housing 20 has a rear wall 26 . The rear wall 26 extends upward from the rear frame portion 22 and connects the rear ends of the rear side walls 24 in the width direction. The front surface of the rear wall 26 is flush with the front surface of the rear frame portion 22, and the rear surface of the rear wall 26 is flush with the rear surface of the rear frame portion 22.

[0149] The rear wall 26 is formed with a plurality (five) of rear wall recesses 261 recessed forward relative to the rear surface of the rear wall 26. The rear wall recesses 261 are recesses that are open rearward and upward. The multiple rear wall recesses 261 are formed side by side in the width direction. The lower ends of the rear wall recesses 261 are located above the upper ends of the lower frames 21, 22, 23 (specifically, the upper surfaces of the side frame portions 23).

[0150] (Specific Shapes of the Second Press-Fit Portion 422 and the Press-Fit Groove 28 of the Fixed Housing 20) Next, the structures of the fixed-side held portions 42, 52 of the terminals 40, 50 and the press-fit groove 28 of the fixed housing 20 will be described in detail.

[0151] FIG. 15 is an enlarged perspective view showing the press-fit grooves 28 formed in the front frame portion 21 of the fixed housing 20 and the fixed-side held portions 52 of the lower terminals 50. As shown in FIG. The press-fit groove 28 of the front frame portion 21 and the press-fit groove 28 of the rear frame portion 22 have substantially the same structure. Hereinafter, when no particular distinction is made, they will simply be referred to as press-fit grooves 28.

[0152] The press-fit groove 28 is a groove that is open downward and inward in the front-rear direction, and is configured so that the fixed-side held portions 42, 52 can be press-fitted from below. The press-fit groove 28 has a first groove 281 into which the first press-fit portions 421, 521 are press-fitted, and a second groove 282 into which the second press-fit portions 422, 522 are press-fitted.

[0153] The second groove 282 has a wide portion 282a that forms its lower portion and a narrow portion 282b that forms its upper portion. The width dimension of the wide portion 282a is greater than the maximum plate width of the second press-fit portions 422, 522, and the width dimension of the narrow portion 282b is smaller than the maximum plate width of the second press-fit portions 422, 522. Therefore, the second press-fit portions 422, 522 do not bite into the fixed housing 20 at the wide portion 282a, but do bite into the fixed housing 20 at the narrow portion 282b. As a result, the second press-fit portions 422, 522 are held in the narrow portion 282b of the second groove 282. Since the lower part of the second groove 282 is a wide portion 282a, the timing at which the first press-fit portions 421, 521 are press-fitted into the first groove 281 and the timing at which the second press-fit portions 422, 522 are press-fitted into the second groove 282 are made as close as possible to the same.

[0154] A boundary portion 283 is formed between the first groove 281 and the second groove 282 . The groove width of the boundary portion 283 is smaller than the groove width of other portions of the press-fit groove 28. The groove width of the boundary portion 283 is constant over the entire length in the up-down direction.

[0155] FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of the second press-fit portion 522 of the lower terminal 50. As shown in FIG. The second press-fit portion 522 of the lower terminal 50 is formed to have a width greater than that of the adjacent portion. The arrow shown in FIG. 16 indicates the position of the second press-fitting portion 522 where the plate width is maximum (maximum plate width position). The rate of change in width on the first press-fit portion 521 side relative to the maximum width position of the second press-fit portion 522 is greater than the rate of change in width on the displacement portions 54, 55 side. The rate of change in width means the amount of change in width relative to the distance toward the first press-fit portion 521 side or the displacement portions 54, 55 side. A concave edge 522a that protrudes inward in the width direction is formed at the boundary between the second press-fit portion 522 and the intermediate deformation portion 53. The concave edge 522a is formed in a smooth curve. The configuration of the second press-fit portion 522 of the lower terminal 50 described here also applies to the second press-fit portion 422 of the upper terminal 40. Therefore, description of the configuration of the second press-fit portion 422 will be omitted.

[0156] (fixture 101) The fixture 101 is a component for fixing the fixed housing 20 to the substrate 14 . The fixing devices 101 are made of, for example, metal. As shown in FIG. 3, the four fixing devices 101 have the same structure. The fixing devices 101 have a held portion 101a that is held by the fixed housing 20 and a connecting portion 101b that is fixed to the substrate 14. The held portion 101a is press-fitted into the fixed housing 20 with the press-fit direction being the downward direction. The thickness direction of the held portion 101a is the width direction. The thickness direction of the connecting portion 101b is the up-down direction. A curved portion is formed between the held portion 101a and the connecting portion 101b.

[0157] (movable housing 30) The movable housing 30 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin.

[0158] As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the movable housing 30 has a main body portion 31. The upper surface 31a of the main body 31 is a flat surface with the upward direction as the normal direction. The lower surface 31b of the main body 31 is a flat surface having a normal direction in the downward direction. A pair of side surfaces 31c of the main body 31 are flat surfaces whose normal direction is the outer side in the width direction. When the movable housing 30 moves in the width direction, the pair of side surfaces 31c come into contact with a part of the fixed housing 20 (specifically, the front restriction wall 271). This limits the range of movement of the movable housing 30 in the width direction.

[0159] The main body 31 also has an upper curved surface 31d connecting the upper surface 31a and the side surface 31c, and a lower curved surface 31e connecting the lower surface 31b and the side surface 31c.

[0160] An upper surface recess 311 is formed in the main body 31. The upper surface recess 311 is a recess that is recessed downward relative to the upper surface 31a of the main body 31. No recess corresponding to the upper surface recess 311 is formed on the lower surface 31b side of the main body 31.

[0161] The main body 31 holds a plurality of terminals 40 and 50 and an additional member 90 . Specifically, the main body 31 has a plurality of arrangement spaces 312A, 312B that are open toward the rear. Parts of the terminals 40, 50 and the additional member 90 are press-fitted into the arrangement spaces 312A, 312B from the rear side.

[0162] The multiple arrangement spaces 312A, 312B include multiple upper arrangement spaces 312A aligned in the width direction and multiple lower arrangement spaces 312B aligned in the width direction. Displacement portions 44, 45 of upper terminals 40 are arranged in the upper arrangement space 312A, and displacement portions 54, 55 of lower terminals 50 are arranged in the lower arrangement space 312B. Because the multiple arrangement spaces 312A, 312B have the same structure, they will be simply referred to as arrangement spaces 312 when no distinction is made.

[0163] 19, the arrangement space 312 is open to the front via the insertion opening 313. When the relay terminals 60 and 70 of the relay connector 11 are inserted into the insertion opening 313, they come into contact with the terminals 40 and 50 inside the arrangement space 312. As shown in FIG. 17, a guide surface 314 for guiding the relay terminals 60 and 70 of the relay connector 11 toward the insertion opening 313 is formed on the front side of the insertion opening 313 .

[0164] As shown in FIG. 19, the arrangement space 312 is a space having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Near the lower end of the arrangement space 312, a terminal press-fitting groove 312a is formed into which the movable-side held portions 44, 54 of the terminals 40, 50 are press-fitted. Near the upper end of the arrangement space 312, an additional member press-fitting groove 312b is formed, into which the press-fitting protrusions 92, 93 of the additional member 90 are press-fitted.

[0165] The main body 31 has a pair of positioning holes 315 formed therein. The pair of positioning holes 315 are holes into which the pair of positioning protrusions 86 (see FIG. 20) of the relay connector 11 are inserted, and serve to position the internal connector 10 and the relay connector 11 when they are connected. The pair of positioning holes 315 have a symmetrical structure. The positioning holes 315 are located on the outer side in the width direction relative to the positions where the plurality of arrangement spaces 312 are formed. The positioning holes 315 penetrate the main body 31 in the front-rear direction.

[0166] The movable housing 30 has a pair of protrusions 32 . The pair of overhanging portions 32 are located on the widthwise outer sides of the main body portion 31. The overhanging portions 32 are respectively disposed between the front and rear restricting walls 271 and 272 of the restricting portion 27 of the fixed housing 20. This limits the range of movement of the movable housing 30 in the front-rear direction.

[0167] The protruding portion 32 is plate-shaped with its thickness in the front-rear direction. In terms of its vertical position, the lower end of the protruding portion 32 coincides with the lower surface 31b of the main body 31, and the upper end of the protruding portion 32 coincides with the upper surface 31a of the main body 31.

[0168] As shown in FIG. 18, the rear surface 32a of the extension portion 32 is flush with the rear surface 31f of the main body portion 31. The overhanging portion 32 is formed with rearward bulging portions 321 that bulge rearward relative to the rear surface 32a of the overhanging portion 32. As a result, the rear end of the overhanging portion 32 is located rearward relative to the rear surface 31f of the main body portion 31. The rearward bulging portions 321 are formed at positions corresponding to the upper end, lower end, and outer widthwise end of the overhanging portion 32.

[0169] (Assembly process) In the assembly process of the internal connector 10, the plurality of terminals 40, 50 and the plurality of additional members 90 are press-fitted into the movable housing 30 before the plurality of terminals 40, 50 are press-fitted into the fixed housing 20 (see FIG. 4). Then, the movable housing 30 into which the plurality of terminals 40, 50 and the plurality of additional members 90 are press-fitted is assembled to the fixed housing 20 from below, and the plurality of terminals 40, 50 are press-fitted into the fixed housing 20. At this time, the movable housing 30 passes through the passage space 29 of the fixed housing 20 in the vertical direction (see FIG. 5).

[0170] (Relay connector 11) Next, the relay connector 11 will be described.

[0171] The relay connector 11 includes a plurality of relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, and 70B (see FIG. 22) and a relay housing 80.

[0172] (Multiple relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, 70B) The relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, 70B electrically connect the terminals 40, 50 of the internal connector 10 (hereinafter referred to as internal terminals 40, 50) to an external connection target (not shown) outside the case 13. In the following description, the front side, which is the side of the external connection object in the front-rear direction, may be referred to as the "external side," and the rear side, which is the side of the internal connector 10 in the front-rear direction, may be referred to as the "internal side."

[0173] As shown in FIG. 22, the multiple relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, 70B include multiple first relay terminals 60A, multiple second relay terminals 70A, multiple third relay terminals 60B, and multiple fourth relay terminals 70B.

[0174] The multiple first relay terminals 60A have the same structure as each other, the multiple second relay terminals 70A have the same structure as each other, the multiple third relay terminals 60B have the same structure as each other, and the multiple fourth relay terminals 70B have the same structure as each other.

[0175] The first relay terminal 60A and the third relay terminal 60B have the same structure. However, the third relay terminal 60B is disposed in a position rotated 180 degrees around an axis in the front-rear direction relative to the position of the first relay terminal 60A. The second relay terminal 70A and the fourth relay terminal 70B have the same structure, except that the fourth relay terminal 70B is disposed in a position rotated 180 degrees around an axis in the front-to-rear direction relative to the position of the second relay terminal 70A. The first relay terminal 60A and the third relay terminal 60B have different structures from the second relay terminal 70A and the fourth relay terminal 70B. As a result, two types of terminals having mutually different structures are used for the plurality of relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, and 70B.

[0176] (Structure of relay terminals 60 and 70) The relay terminals having the structure of the first relay terminal 60A and the third relay terminal 60B are referred to as first structure relay terminals 60, and the relay terminals having the structure of the second relay terminal 70A and the fourth relay terminal 70B are referred to as second structure relay terminals 70.

[0177] As shown in Figures 27 and 28, the first structural relay terminal 60 and the second structural relay terminal 70 both have internal contact portions 61, 71 that contact the internal terminals 40, 50, and external contact portions 62, 72 that contact the external connection object.

[0178] In the first structural relay terminal 60, the inner contact portion 61 and the outer contact portion 62 are formed at different positions in the vertical direction. The first structural relay terminal 60 has a crank portion 66 formed between the inner contact portion 61 and the outer contact portion 62. The crank portion 66 has an outer curved portion 66a, a vertical extension portion 66b, and an inner curved portion 66c. The crank portion 66 has a width smaller than the adjacent portions. This makes it easy to form the crank portion 66 having curved portions (outer curved portion 66a, inner curved portion 66c).

[0179] In the second structural relay terminal 70, the inner contact portion 71 and the outer contact portion 72 are formed at the same position in the vertical direction. The second structural relay terminal 70 does not have a crank portion. The second structural relay terminal 70 is easy to manufacture because it does not have a curved portion.

[0180] In the first structural relay terminal 60 and the second structural relay terminal 70, the inner contact portions 61, 71 and the outer contact portions 62, 72 are formed at different positions in the width direction. Specifically, the inner contact portions 61, 71 and the outer contact portions 62, 72 are shifted in the width direction by a distance D. When referring to the widthwise positions of the inner contact portions 61, 71 and the outer contact portions 62, 72, etc., the central axes of the inner contact portions 61, 71, etc. are used as references.

[0181] The first structural relay terminal 60 and the second structural relay terminal 70 have first widened portions 63a, 73a and second widened portions 63b, 73b. The first widened portions 63a, 73a are rectangular and have a larger width than the adjacent portions. The first widened portions 63a, 73a are formed with through-holes 63a1, 73a1 that penetrate in the thickness direction (i.e., vertical direction). The through-holes 63a1, 73a1 are circular. The resin that constitutes the relay housing 80 is filled inside the through-holes 63a1. The second widened portions 63b and 73b have a width dimension greater than that of the adjacent portions and are rectangular. The second widened portions 63b and 73b are located on the outer side of the first widened portions 63a and 73a. In the first structural relay terminal 60, the first widened portion 63a and the second widened portion 63b are located on the outer side of the crank portion 66.

[0182] In the first structural relay terminal 60, the portions located inside the first widened portion 63a are referred to as inside side portions 66, 65, 61, and the portions located outside the first widened portion 63a are referred to as outside side portions 64, 63b, 62. In the second structural relay terminal 70, the portions located inside the first widened portion 73a are referred to as inside side portions 75 and 71, and the portions located outside the first widened portion 73a are referred to as outside side portions 74, 73b and 72.

[0183] The inner side portions 66, 65, 61 of the first structural relay terminal 60 have a crank portion 66, a base-side wide portion 65, and a tip-side narrow portion 61. The tip-side narrow portion 61 is the inner contact portion 61. The base-side wide portion 65 has a first base-side wide portion 65a and a second base-side wide portion 65b. In terms of widthwise position, the crank portion 66 coincides with the first widened portion 63a and the outer side portions 64, 63b, 62. In terms of width, the first base end wide portion 65a is larger than the second base end wide portion 65b and the tip end narrow portion 61, and the second base end wide portion 65b is larger than the tip end narrow portion 61. The base end wide portion 65 and the tip end narrow portion 61 have ends on one widthwise side (upper side in FIG. 27) that are aligned in the widthwise direction, and ends on the other widthwise side that are positioned differently in the widthwise direction. As a result, the first base-side wide portion 65a, the second base-side wide portion 65b, and the tip-side narrow portion 61 are located at different widthwise positions. The tip-side narrow portion 61 is located on one side in the widthwise direction of the first base-side wide portion 65a and the second base-side wide portion 65b, and the second base-side wide portion 65b is located on one side in the widthwise direction of the first base-side wide portion 65a. Near the inner end of the base end wide portion 65, an inclined plate edge 651 is formed, the other end in the width direction of which is inclined inward in the width direction toward the inner side (rear side). Of the inner side portions 66 , 65 , 61 , only a portion of the tip narrow portion 61 is exposed from the intermediate housing 80 .

[0184] 27 and 28 indicate the boundary between the portion that is embedded inside the relay housing 80 and the portion that is exposed. The portion between the two dashed dotted lines is the portion that is embedded inside the relay housing 80, and the other portion is the exposed portion.

[0185] The inner side portions 75, 71 of the second structure relay terminal 70 have a base end wide portion 75 and a tip end narrow portion 71. The tip end narrow portion 71 is the inner contact portion 71. In terms of width, the base end widened portion 75 is larger than the tip end narrowed portion 71 . The base end wide portion 75 and the tip end narrow portion 71 have ends on one widthwise side (upper side in FIG. 28) that are aligned in the widthwise direction, and ends on the other widthwise side that are positioned differently in the widthwise direction. The base end wide portion 75 is located on one side in the width direction relative to the first wide portion 73a and the outer side portions 74, 73b, 72. Near the inner end of the base end wide portion 75, an inclined plate edge 751 is formed, the end on the other widthwise side of which is inclined inward in the widthwise direction toward the inner side. Of the inner side portions 75 and 71 of the second structure relay terminal 70 , only a part of the narrow tip portion 71 is exposed from the relay housing 80 .

[0186] The outer side portions 64, 63b, 62 of the first structural relay terminal 60 have a base end portion 64, a second widened portion 63b, and a tip end portion 62. The tip end portion 62 is the outer contact portion 62. The base end side portion 64, the second widened portion 63b, and the tip end side portion 62 are aligned with one another in terms of width direction. The outer side portions 64, 63b, 62 are aligned with the first widened portion 63a in terms of width direction. In terms of width, the second widened portion 63 b is larger than the base end side portion 64 and the tip end side portion 62 , and the tip end side portion 62 is slightly larger than the base end side portion 64 .

[0187] The outer side portions 74, 73b, 72 of the second structural relay terminal 70 have a base end portion 74, a second widened portion 73b, and a tip end portion 72. The tip end portion 72 is the outer contact portion 72. The base end portion 74, the second widened portion 73b, and the tip end portion 72 are aligned with one another in terms of width direction. The outer side portions 74, 73b, and 72 are aligned with the first widened portion 73a in terms of width direction. In terms of width, the second widened portion 73 b is larger than the base end side portion 74 and the tip end side portion 72 , and the tip end side portion 72 is slightly larger than the base end side portion 74 .

[0188] The base end portion 64 of the first structural relay terminal 60 is slightly longer than the base end portion 74 of the second structural relay terminal 70. Therefore, the first widened portion 63a of the first structural relay terminal 60 is located slightly more inward (rearward) than the first widened portion 73a of the second structural relay terminal 70.

[0189] (Regarding the placement of relay terminals 60 and 70)

[0190] 24, the first inner contact portion 61A and the second inner contact portion 71A are arranged at the same position in the vertical direction. The third inner contact portion 61B and the fourth inner contact portion 71B are arranged at the same position in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 23, the first outer contact portion 62A, the second outer contact portion 72A, the third outer contact portion 62B, and the fourth outer contact portion 72B are disposed at different positions in the up-down direction.

[0191] The first outer contact portions 62A are arranged in the width direction at predetermined intervals 8D. The second outer contact portions 72A are also arranged in the width direction at predetermined intervals 8D. The plurality of third outer contact portions 62B are also arranged in the width direction at predetermined intervals 8D. The plurality of fourth outer contact portions 72B are also arranged in the width direction at predetermined intervals 8D.

[0192] The first outer contact portions 62A and the fourth outer contact portions 72B are aligned in terms of widthwise position. In terms of arrangement in the width direction, the second outer contact portions 72A and the third outer contact portions 62B coincide with each other.

[0193] As shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, in both the first structural relay terminal 60 and the second structural relay terminal 70, the outer contact portions 62, 72 and the inner contact portions 61, 71 are formed so that their widthwise positions are offset by a distance D. The first relay terminal 60A and the fourth relay terminal 70B are arranged in an upside-down position such that the offset directions are opposite to each other. Therefore, for the first relay terminal 60A and the fourth relay terminal 70B, in which the first outer contact portion 62A and the fourth outer contact portion 72B are aligned in the widthwise positions, the first inner contact portion 61A and the fourth inner contact portion 71B are offset by a distance 2D in the widthwise positions. A similar relationship holds true for the second relay terminal 70A and the third relay terminal 60B. As a result, as shown in Figures 24 and 25, the multiple first outer side contact portions 62A, the multiple fourth outer side contact portions 72B, the multiple second outer side contact portions 72A, and the multiple third outer side contact portions 62B do not coincide with each other in terms of widthwise position.

[0194] (Relay housing 80) The relay housing 80 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin, etc. Specifically, the relay housing 80 is made by insert molding using the plurality of relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, and 70B as inserts.

[0195] The relay housing 80 has a fitting portion 81 that fits into an external connection object. The fitting portion 81 is formed in a cylindrical shape. The cylindrical fitting portion 81 has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front. The outer contact portions 62, 72 of the plurality of relay terminals 60, 70 are arranged inside the cylindrical fitting portion 81.

[0196] The intermediate housing 80 has a flange portion 82 . The flange portion 82 is disposed on the outside of the case 13, around the opening 13a of the case 13. Bolt insertion holes 82a are formed in the flange portion 82. Two bolt insertion holes 82a are formed. The two bolt insertion holes 82a are located on one widthwise side and the other widthwise side of the fitting portion 81. The vertical positions of the two bolt insertion holes 82a coincide with the vertical center position of the fitting portion 81.

[0197] The intermediate housing 80 has an opening arrangement portion 83 that is arranged in the opening 13 a of the case 13 . The opening arrangement portion 83 has a shape that is approximately similar to the shape of the opening 13a. A seal member 12a is attached to the circumferential surface of the opening arrangement portion 83.

[0198] The relay housing 80 has a base portion 84 . The base portion 84 is a portion that protrudes inward from the opening arrangement portion 83. The base portion 84 has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front-to-rear direction. The width and vertical dimensions of the base portion 84 are smaller than the width and vertical dimensions of the opening arrangement portion 83.

[0199] The relay housing 80 has a terminal protrusion 85 . The terminal protrusion 85 is a portion that protrudes inward from the base portion 84. The terminal protrusion 85 is generally rectangular when viewed from the front-to-rear direction. The width and vertical dimensions of the terminal protrusion 85 are smaller than the width and vertical dimensions of the base portion 84. A plurality of relay terminals 60A, 60B, 70A, and 70B protrude inward from the rear surface of the terminal protrusion 85.

[0200] The relay housing 80 has two positioning protrusions 86 . Each of the two positioning protrusions 86 protrudes inward from the base portion 84. When connecting the connectors to each other, the tip of the positioning protrusion 86 reaches the positioning hole 315 of the movable housing 30 before the relay terminals 60, 70 reach the insertion opening 313 of the internal connector 10. The two positioning protrusions 86 are located on the outer sides in the width direction of the terminal protrusion 85. The bases of the two positioning protrusions 86 are integral with the terminal protrusion 85. The outer side surface 86a2 of the positioning protrusion 86 in the width direction is flush with the outer side surface of the base portion 84 in the width direction. The vertical dimension of the positioning protrusion 86 is such that it can hide the inner contact portions 61, 71 of the multiple relay terminals 60, 70 in a side view. The positioning protrusion 86 has a general portion 86a and a tip portion 86b. The general portion 86a has a constant cross-sectional shape regardless of the extension direction (front-rear direction) of the positioning protrusion 86. The tip portion 86b does not have a constant cross-sectional shape along the extension direction (front-rear direction) of the positioning protrusion 86, but rather the cross-section gradually becomes smaller toward the tip side (inner side). This makes it easier to insert the positioning protrusion 86 into the positioning hole 315. During insertion, even if the relay connector 11 and the internal connector 10 are misaligned in the YZ directions, the positioning protrusion 86 can be brought into contact with the inside of the positioning hole 315 of the movable housing 30, thereby displacing the movable housing 30. The general portion 86a of the positioning projection 86 has a widthwise inner surface 86a1, a widthwise outer surface 86a2, and a pair of upper and lower curved surfaces 86a3. The widthwise inner surface 86a1 has a larger vertical dimension than the widthwise outer surface 86a2. The tip of the positioning protrusion 86 is located more inward (rearward) than the tip (tips of the inner contact portions 61, 71) of the relay terminals 60, 70. This allows the inner contact portions 61, 71 of the relay terminals 60, 70 to be hidden by the positioning protrusion 86 in a side view and appropriately protected, and also allows the tip of the relay terminals 60, 70 to be appropriately prevented from colliding with the movable housing 30 in an embodiment in which the positioning hole 315 and the insertion opening 313 are formed at the same position in the front-to-rear direction. Even if the positioning projection 86 is omitted, the tips of the relay terminals 60 and 70 can be brought into contact with the guide surface 314 of the movable housing 30 to displace the movable housing 30.

[0201] The intermediate housing 80 has a downward contact protrusion 87 . The downward contact protrusion 87 is a portion that comes into contact with the front frame portion 21 (displacement restricting portion 21) of the inner connector 10 when the relay connector 11 is displaced downward in a mated state or during mating. There are provided a plurality (two) of downward contact protrusions 87. The downward contact protrusions 87 are provided so as to be arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the relay connector 11 in the width direction. The downward contact protrusion 87 protrudes downward from the lower surface (opposite lower surface) of the terminal protrusion 85. The downward contact protrusion 87 has a shape that is long in the front-to-rear direction. The front end of the downward contact protrusion 87 is connected to the base portion 84. The rear end of the downward contact protrusion 87 is aligned with the rear surface of the terminal protrusion 85 in the front-to-rear direction.

[0202] <Action and effect> (First viewpoint) Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described from a first perspective.

[0203] 7 and 8, in this embodiment, the internal connector 10 includes terminals 40, 50 and a movable housing 30 that is displaceable relative to the attachment object 14. The terminals 40, 50 have displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 that displace together with the movable housing 30. The displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 have one-side contact portions 45, 55 that contact the connection object 11 (specifically, relay terminals 60, 70; see FIGS. 30 to 33) from one side (the lower side in this embodiment). The internal connector 10 also includes an additional member 90 formed separately from the terminals 40, 50 and held by the movable housing 30. The additional member 90 has an other-side contact portion 91 that contacts the connection object 11 from the other side (the upper side in this embodiment). This prevents the movable housing 30 from being directly pressed against the connection object 11, thereby suppressing creep of the movable housing 30. Furthermore, since the additional member 90 is formed separately from the terminals 40, 50, there is no need for a connecting portion to integrally connect the one-side contact portion 45, 55 and the other-side contact portion 91, and as a result, the movable parts in the internal connector 10 (such as the movable housing 30 and displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55) can be made lighter. As described above, according to this embodiment, in the floating connector, it is possible to suppress the creep phenomenon of the movable housing 30 and to increase the resonant frequency of the connector.

[0204] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the additional member 90 does not have a portion that connects to the attachment object 14, nor a portion between that portion and the other-side contact portion 91. Therefore, there is no need to provide the additional member 90 with that portion and the portion between that portion and the other-side contact portion 91, and the internal connector 10 can be made smaller than in an embodiment in which the additional member 90 has these.

[0205] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the additional member 90 does not have a structure for electrically connecting with the terminals 40, 50, so the internal connector 10 can be made smaller and lighter than a connector having such a structure.

[0206] In this embodiment, the additional member 90 is preferably made of a material having a specific gravity lighter than that of the terminals 40, 50. In this case, the weight of the movable parts in the internal connector 10 can be reduced.

[0207] In this embodiment, the additional member 90 is preferably made of stainless steel, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, or nickel alloy. In this case, even if the additional member 90 is not plated sufficiently or not plated at all, the surface of the additional member 90 is protected by a passivation film and is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, the internal connector 10 can be manufactured inexpensively.

[0208] Incidentally, it is also possible to configure the movable housing 30 with two or more members formed separately from each other, with the member that holds the additional member 90 being separate from the member that holds the displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 of the terminals 40, 50. However, such a configuration would result in a complex structure of the movable housing 30. In this embodiment, the portion of the movable housing 30 that holds the additional member 90 and the portion that holds the displacement portions 44, 45, 54, and 55 are integrally formed, so the structure of the movable housing 30 can be simplified.

[0209] 9, the one-side contact portions 45, 55 have first contact pieces 45a, 55a that contact the connection object 11, and second contact pieces 45b, 55b that contact the connection object 11 on the inner side in the connection direction of the first contact pieces 45a, 55a. Therefore, foreign matter adhering to the connection object 11 is removed by the first contact pieces 45a, 55a, and the portion of the connection object 11 from which the foreign matter has been removed can be brought into contact with the second contact pieces 45b, 55b. Furthermore, the contacts (first contact portions 45a1, 55a1) of the first contact pieces 45a, 55a are configured to have a larger displacement (amount of displacement in a direction perpendicular to the connection direction) than the contacts (second contact portions 45b1, 55b1) of the second contact pieces 45b, 55b when the connection object 11 is connected. This increases the contact pressure of the first contact pieces 45a, 55a against the connection object 11, improving the function of scraping off foreign matter (so-called wiping function). However, when configured as described above, when viewed from the front side in the connection direction, the contact points of the second contact pieces 45b, 55b are covered by the first contact pieces 45a, 55a, making it difficult to inspect the height of the contact points of the second contact pieces 45b, 55b. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the terminals 40, 50 alone (or the terminals 40, 50 held in the movable housing 30) are viewed from the rear side in the connection direction, the height of the contact points of the second contact pieces 45b, 55b can be inspected. In this embodiment, when the internal connector 10 is viewed from the rear side in the completed state of the internal connector 10, the rear wall 26 of the fixed housing 20 gets in the way and the above inspection cannot be performed (see FIGS. 7 and 8). Therefore, the rear wall 26 of the fixed housing 20 may be omitted in part or in whole so that the above inspection can be performed in the completed state of the internal connector 10 (see FIG. 34).

[0210] In this embodiment, a contact metal layer may be formed on the one-side contact portions 45, 55 by plating. FIG. 35 is a diagram showing the position where the contact metal layer is formed, using the contact portion 45 as an example. Forming an appropriate contact metal layer can improve the connection reliability between the one-side contact portions 45, 55 and the connection target object 11. From the viewpoint of saving plating liquid, it is preferable to form the contact metal layer only near the portion that comes into contact with the relay terminals 60, 70, as shown in FIG. However, if the terminals 40, 50 and the additional member 90 were formed integrally, the additional member 90 would get in the way when forming a contact metal layer on the one-side contact portions 45, 55, making it difficult to apply the plating liquid to the appropriate position. However, in this embodiment, the terminals 40, 50 and the additional member 90 are separate, so the additional member 90 does not get in the way when forming the contact metal layer on the one-side contact portions 45, 55, making it easier to apply the plating liquid to the appropriate position. As a result, the amount of metal (e.g., gold, palladium, silver, tin) used in the contact metal layer can be reduced, allowing the internal connector 10 to be manufactured inexpensively.

[0211] The contact metal layer may also contain tin or a tin alloy. Even in this case, it is preferable that no tin or tin alloy adheres to the portions of the additional member 90 that are held by the movable housing 30 (the press-fit protrusions 92, 93). This prevents the generation of whiskers. If the terminals 40, 50 and the additional member 90 were formed integrally, there is a possibility that the plating liquid will also adhere to the press-fit protrusions 92, 93 of the additional member 90 when forming a contact metal layer on the one-side contact portions 45, 55. However, because the terminals 40, 50 and the additional member 90 are separate bodies, the plating liquid is prevented from unintentionally adhering to the additional member 90.

[0212] In this embodiment, the base material of the additional member 90 is stainless steel, and it is preferable that the additional member 90 does not have a plated layer. Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion even without plating, which is time-consuming and expensive, and is also relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, since the additional member 90 is not electrically connected to the attachment object 14, the internal connector 10 can be made smaller by the amount corresponding to the omission of such a structure.

[0213] (Second viewpoint) Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described from a second perspective.

[0214] In this embodiment, the internal connector 10 comprises terminals 40, 50 having terminal side contact portions 45, 55 that contact the connection object 11, an additional member 90 having an additional side contact portion 91 that contacts the connection object 11, and a housing 30 that holds the terminals 40, 50 and the additional member 90. Here, the additional member 90 is formed as a separate member from the terminals 40, 50. This makes it suitable for manufacturing a plurality of variations of the internal connector 10. That is, in the internal connector 10 according to this embodiment, the terminals 40, 50 and the housing 30 can be common components for all variations of the internal connector 10, and the additional member 90 can be designed specifically for each variation of the internal connector 10. As a result, by changing only the additional member 90 among the terminals 40, 50, additional member 90, and housing 30 that constitute the internal connector 10, the performance of the internal connector 10 can be changed. For example, by changing the shape or friction coefficient of the additional side contact portion 91 of the additional member 90, the performance of the internal connector 10 can be changed. In particular, in this embodiment, since the terminals 40, 50 have the intermediate deformation portions 43, 53, the molds for manufacturing the terminals 40, 50 tend to be complex. It is uneconomical to prepare as many complex molds as there are connector variations. In this regard, in this embodiment, the terminals 40, 50 having the intermediate deformation portions 43, 53 are used as common parts across the variations, and multiple additional members 90 without intermediate deformation portions are prepared. This makes it easy to develop variations of the internal connector 10.

[0215] In the manufacturing method according to this embodiment, the additional member 90 may be selected from a plurality of types of pre-designed additional members 90 and held by the housing 30 . In this case, by selecting an appropriate additional member 90, the internal connector 10 can be manufactured at low cost in accordance with the required requirements.

[0216] In the present embodiment, the terminal-side contact portions 45, 55 contact the connection object 11 from one side, and the additional-side contact portion 91 contacts the connection object 11 from the other side. In the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, the multiple types of additional members 90 may include two or more types of additional members 90, 90A configured so that the distances at which the terminal-side contact portions 45, 55 and the additional-side contact portions 91, 91A face each other are different. In this case, by selecting the additional member 90, the distance at which the terminal side contact portions 45, 55 and the additional side contact portions 91, 91A face each other can be changed to an appropriate distance.

[0217] In this embodiment, the multiple types of additional members 90 may include two or more types of additional members 90 whose addition-side contact portions 91 have different coefficients of friction. In this case, the force required to connect the connection object 11 can be set to an appropriate force by selecting the additional member 90. The coefficient of friction of the addition-side contact portion 91 can be changed, for example, by the method of plating the addition-side contact portion 91 (plating material, etc.).

[0218] In addition, in this embodiment, the multiple types of additional members 90 are configured so that the distance between the terminal side contact portions 45, 55 and the additional side contact portion 91 is the same, but may include two or more types of additional members whose additional side contact portions 91 have different friction coefficients. In this case, the variations in the internal connector 10 can be increased without increasing the variations in the shape of the additional member 90.

[0219] (Third perspective) Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described from a third perspective.

[0220] 7 and 8 , the internal connector 10 includes a fixed housing 20 fixed to the attachment object 14, a movable housing 30 displaceable relative to the attachment object 14, and terminals 40, 50. The movable housing 30 is engageable with the connection object 11. The terminals 40, 50 have connection portions 41, 51 connected to the attachment object 14 and displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 displaceable relative to the attachment object 14. The displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 are held by the movable housing 30.

[0221] The fixed housing 20 also has a displacement restriction portion 21. The displacement restriction portion 21 is provided at a position where it comes into contact with the connection object 11 when the connection object 11 is displaced in a direction (downward) approaching the placement surface 14a while fitted to the movable housing 30 or in the middle of being fitted (see FIG. 29). Therefore, excessive displacement of the connection object 11 in the mated state or in the middle of mating is restricted, and as a result, excessive displacement of the movable housing 30 is suppressed. As described above, according to this embodiment, excessive displacement of the movable housing 30 is restricted by the displacement restricting portion 21, so that the legs as in the prior art are not required or can be simplified. Therefore, in the right-angle floating connector, excessive downward displacement of the movable housing can be restricted and the resonant frequency can be increased. In particular, in this embodiment, since the terminals 40, 50 have the intermediate deformation portions 43, 53, plastic deformation of the intermediate deformation portions 43, 53 can be suppressed by limiting excessive displacement of the movable housing.

[0222] In this embodiment, the fixed housing 20 has a passage space 29, which is a space on the placement surface side (below) of the space in which the movable housing 30 is disposed, and through which the movable housing 30 can pass. Therefore, when manufacturing the internal connector 10, the movable housing 30 can be assembled to the fixed housing 20 from below (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

[0223] 7 and 8, the fixed housing 20 has an upward direction limiting portion 25. The upward direction limiting portion 25 is a portion that limits the range of movement of the movable housing 30 in the direction away from the mounting surface 14a (upward direction). Therefore, there is no need to separately attach a member that functions as an upward direction limiting portion to the fixed housing 20.

[0224] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the terminal 50 has a fixed-side held portion 52 that is held by the fixed housing 20, and the displacement restricting portion 21 holds the fixed-side held portion 52 of the terminal 50. Therefore, compared to an embodiment in which the displacement restricting portion 21 is formed separately from the portion that holds the fixed-side held portion 52 of the terminal 50, the internal connector 10 can be made smaller.

[0225] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, at least a portion of the intermediate deformation portion 43, 53 of the terminal 40, 50 (for example, the forward extension portion 431 or the rearward extension portion 531) is located between the movable housing 30 and the mounting surface 14a in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 14a (height direction). Therefore, the length of the intermediate deformation portions 43, 53 can be ensured.

[0226] The relay connector 11 according to this embodiment also includes a mating housing 80 and mating terminals 60, 70 held in the mating housing 80. The mating terminals 60, 70 protrude from the mating housing 80 and have mating contact portions 61, 71 that come into contact with the contact portions 45, 55. The mating housing 80 has adjacent support portions 85 that support portions of the terminals 40, 50 that are adjacent to the mating contact portions 61, 71. The adjacent support portions 85 have a lower surface 85a that faces the mounting surface side. 21 and 28, the mating housing 80 has a downward contact protrusion 87 that protrudes from the lower surface 85a of the adjacent support portion 85 (terminal protrusion 85) toward the mounting surface (downward). The downward contact protrusion 87 is provided at a position where it will come into contact with the displacement restricting portion 21 when the relay connector 11, which is fitted to or in the process of being fitted to the movable housing 30, is displaced in a direction approaching the mounting surface 14a. Therefore, by providing the downward abutment protrusion 87, it is possible to reduce the weight of the relay connector 11 while suppressing excessive displacement of the movable housing 30, compared to a configuration in which the vertical dimensions of the adjacent support portion 85 are simply expanded and the lower surface 85a of the terminal protrusion 85 is abutted against the displacement control portion 21 of the internal connector 10.

[0227] (Fourth viewpoint) Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described from a fourth perspective.

[0228] In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 10, 15, etc., the internal connector 10 includes a housing 20 and terminals 40 that are press-fitted into and held in the housing 20 in a predetermined press-fitting direction. The terminal 40 has a first press-fit portion 421 formed on a first extending portion 401 extending along the press-fit direction, displacement portions 44, 45 displaceable relative to the first press-fit portion 421, and intermediate portions 402, 422, 43 between the first extending portion 401 and the displacement portions 44, 45. The intermediate portions 402, 422, 43 have a plurality of bent portions 402, 432, 434, 436, 438 bent in the plate thickness direction. Here, the intermediate portions 402, 422, 43 include a second extending portion 403 that is connected to the first extending portion 401 via a curved portion 402 and extends along a direction perpendicular to the press-fitting direction. A second press-fit portion 422 is formed in the second extending portion 403. Therefore, the second press-fit portion 422 formed in the second extending portion 403 is held by the housing 20, so that deformation of the curved portion 402 is suppressed, and stress concentration on the curved portion 402 is suppressed.

[0229] In this embodiment, the terminal 50 has a first press-fit portion 521 formed on a first extending portion 501 extending along the press-fit direction, displacement portions 54 and 55 displaceable relative to the first press-fit portion 521, and intermediate portions 502, 522, and 53 between the first extending portion 501 and the displacement portions 54 and 55. The intermediate portions 502, 522, and 53 have a plurality of bent portions 502, 532, and 534 bent in the plate thickness direction. Here, the intermediate portions 502, 522, 53 include a second extending portion 503 that is connected to the first extending portion 501 via the curved portion 502 and extends along a direction perpendicular to the press-fitting direction. Then, a second press-fit portion 522 is formed in the second extending portion 503. Therefore, the second press-fit portion 522 formed in the second extending portion 503 is held by the housing 20, so that deformation of the curved portion 502 is suppressed, and stress concentration on the curved portion 502 is suppressed.

[0230] In particular, in this embodiment, since the curved portions 402, 502 are located near the first press-fit portions 421, 521, if the second press-fit portions 422, 522 were not formed, stress concentration at the curved portion 502 would be particularly problematic.

[0231] In addition, in this embodiment, the portion of the second extension portion 403, 503 that is closer to the displacement portion 44, 45, 54, 55 than the second press-fit portion 422, 522 includes a gradually decreasing extension portion (front extension portion 431, rear extension portion 531) that is formed so that the plate width gradually decreases as it moves away from the second press-fit portion 422, 522. Therefore, stress can be prevented from concentrating on a specific portion of the second elongated portions 403, 503.

[0232] In this embodiment, the second press-fit portions 422, 522 are formed to have a larger width than the portions adjacent to the second press-fit portions 422, 522. The rate of change in width on the first press-fit portion 421, 521 side relative to the position where the width of the second press-fit portions 422, 522 is largest (see FIG. 16 ) is larger than the rate of change in width on the displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 side. The rate of change in width refers to the amount of change in width relative to the distance toward the first press-fit portion 421, 521 side or the displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 side. This allows the second press-fit portions 422, 522 to be positioned close to the bending portions 402, 502, and also prevents stress from concentrating on the portions close to the displacement portions 44, 45, 54, 55 relative to the second press-fit portions 422, 522. When the second press-fit portions 422, 522 can be positioned close to the bending portions 402, 502, it is possible to ensure a long region of the intermediate portions 402, 422, 43, 502, 522, 53 that can actually be deformed (intermediate deformation portions 43, 53).

[0233] Note that effects similar to those from the fourth viewpoint described above can be achieved even in an embodiment in which the terminals 40 are held in the housing by insert molding, rather than being held by being press-fitted into the housing 20 in a predetermined press-fitting direction. In this case, the above-mentioned first press-fit portion and second press-fit portion may be read as a first held portion and a second held portion, etc., respectively.

[0234] (Fifth viewpoint) Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described from a fifth perspective.

[0235] The connector set 10, 11 of this embodiment comprises a right-angle type internal connector 10 attached to a substrate 14 placed inside the case 13, and a relay connector 11 attached to an opening 13a of the case 13 and relaying between the internal connector 10 and an external connection object (not shown) outside the case 13. The internal connector 10 includes a first internal terminal 40A, a second internal terminal 40B, a third internal terminal 50A, and a fourth internal terminal 50B. The relay connector 11 includes a first relay terminal 60A connected to the first internal terminal 40A, a second relay terminal 70A connected to the second internal terminal 40B, a third relay terminal 60B connected to the third internal terminal 50A, and a fourth relay terminal 70B connected to the fourth internal terminal 50B. The first internal terminal 40A has a first contact portion 45A that contacts the first relay terminal 60A, and a first connection portion 41A that connects to the substrate . The second internal terminal 40B has a second contact portion 45B that contacts the second relay terminal 70A and a second connection portion 41B that connects to the substrate 14. The third internal terminal 50A has a third contact portion 55A that comes into contact with the third relay terminal 60B, and a third connection portion 51A that connects to the substrate 14. The fourth internal terminal 50B has a fourth contact portion 55B that contacts the fourth relay terminal 70B and a fourth connection portion 51B that connects to the substrate 14. The first relay terminal 60A has a first internal contact portion 61A that comes into contact with the first internal terminal 40A, and a first external contact portion 62A that comes into contact with an external connection object. The second relay terminal 70A has a second internal contact portion 71A that comes into contact with the second internal terminal 40B, and a second external contact portion 72A that comes into contact with an external connection object. The third relay terminal 60B has a third internal contact portion 61B that comes into contact with the third internal terminal 50A, and a third external contact portion 62B that comes into contact with an external connection object. The fourth relay terminal 70B has a fourth inner contact portion 71B that comes into contact with the fourth inner terminal 50B, and a fourth outer contact portion 72B that comes into contact with an external connection object.

[0236] Here, the first outer contact portion 62A, the second outer contact portion 72A, the third outer contact portion 62B, and the fourth outer contact portion 72B are arranged at different positions in the board vertical direction (up and down direction). On the other hand, the first inner contact portion 61A and the second inner contact portion 71A are arranged at the same position in the board vertical direction, and the third inner contact portion 61B and the fourth inner contact portion 71B are arranged at the same position in the board vertical direction. Therefore, the distance from the substrate 14 to the first contact portion 45A is the same as the distance from the substrate 14 to the second contact portion 45B, so the shapes of the first internal terminals 40A and the second internal terminals 40B can be made the same or similar, which reduces the design cost of the internal connector 10. Furthermore, since the distance from the board 14 of the third contact portion 55A and the distance from the board 14 of the fourth contact portion 55B are the same, the shapes of the third internal terminals 50A and the fourth internal terminals 50B can be made the same or similar, thereby reducing the design cost of the internal connector 10.

[0237] In this embodiment, the first inner terminal 40A has a first intermediate deformation portion 43A that is located between the first contact portion 45A and the first connecting portion 41A and that deforms to allow displacement of the first contact portion 45A relative to the first connecting portion 41A. The second inner terminal 40B has a second intermediate deformation portion 43B that is located between the second contact portion 45B and the second connecting portion 41B and that deforms to allow displacement of the second contact portion 45B relative to the second connecting portion 41B. Therefore, the first contact portion 45A and the second contact portion 45B are displaceable relative to the board 14, and can absorb misalignment between the board 14 and the relay connector 11 and between the internal connector 10 and the relay connector 11. Furthermore, the internal terminals 40 have intermediate deformation portions 43, which makes the design of the internal terminals 40 particularly complex. Therefore, if the number of different shapes of the internal terminals 40 increases, the design costs will increase significantly. This problem is particularly pronounced in the case of internal connectors 10 used in environments where strong vibrations are applied for long periods of time, such as in in-vehicle equipment, where the intermediate deformation portions 43 are required to have high performance so as to maintain performance even in such environments. In particular, in this embodiment, the first intermediate deformation portion 43A and the second intermediate deformation portion 43B have the same shape, which reduces design costs. The above description applies not only to the internal terminal 40 but also to the internal terminal 50.

[0238] In this embodiment, the first outer contact portions 62A and the fourth outer contact portions 72B are arranged at the same position in the arrangement direction (width direction), and the second outer contact portions 72A and the third outer contact portions 62B are arranged at the same position in the arrangement direction. On the other hand, the first inner contact portion 61A, the second inner contact portion 71A, the third inner contact portion 61B, and the fourth inner contact portion 71B are arranged at different positions in the arrangement direction. Therefore, the positions of the first contact portion 45A, the second contact portion 45B, the third contact portion 55A, and the fourth contact portion 55B of the internal connector 10 in the arrangement direction can be made different from one another. In particular, in this embodiment, the positions of the first contact portion 45A, the second contact portion 45B, the third contact portion 55A and the fourth contact portion 55B in the arrangement direction are different from each other, so that the contact portions 55 of the third internal terminal 50A and the fourth internal terminal 50B are not hidden by the intermediate deformation portions 43 of the first internal terminal 40A and the second internal terminal 40B when viewed from the connector side.

[0239] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it goes without saying that the configurations of the connector, mating connector, connector set, etc. of the present disclosure are not limited to those of the above-described embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0240] 10,11 Connector set 10 Internal Connector (Connector) 11 Relay connector (connection object) 13 cases 13a aperture 14. Circuit board (object to be mounted) 14a Placement surface 20 Fixed housing (housing) 21 Front frame portion (displacement control portion, lower terminal holding portion) 22 Rear frame (upper terminal holding section) 25 Ceiling wall (upward restriction) 29 Passage space 30 Movable housing (housing) 40 Upper terminal (internal terminal, terminal) 40A Upper terminal connected to the first relay terminal (first internal terminal) 40B Upper terminal connected to the second relay terminal (second internal terminal) 401 First extension section 402,422,43 Middle section 402,432,434,436,438 Multiple bends 402 Song section (first song section) 403 Second extension part 41 Connection 41A First Connection 41B Second connection part 42 Fixed side held part 421 First press-fitting part (first held part) 422 Second press-fitting part (second held part) 43 Intermediate deformation section 43A First intermediate deformation section 43B Second intermediate deformation section 431 Anterior extension (decreasing extension) 44,45 Displacement section 45 Contact part (terminal side contact part, one side contact part) 45A First contact part 45B Second contact part 45a,55a First contact piece 45b,55b Second contact piece 50 Lower terminal (internal terminal, terminal) 50A Lower terminal connected to the third relay terminal (third internal terminal) 50B Terminal connected to the fourth relay terminal among the lower terminals (fourth internal terminal) 501 First extension part 502 Song section (first song section) 502,522,53 Middle section 502,532,534 Multiple bends 503 Second extension part 51 Connection 52 Fixed side held part 521 First press-fitting part (first held part) 522 Second press-fitting part (second held part) 53 Intermediate deformation section 531 Posterior extension (decreasing extension) 54,55 Displacement section 55 Contact part (terminal side contact part, one side contact part) 55A Third contact part 55B Fourth contact part 60A, 60B, 70A, 70B Relay terminal (mating terminal) 60A First relay terminal 60B Third relay terminal 61 Narrow tip side part (inner side contact part) 61A First relay terminal internal contact (first internal contact) 61B Inner contact portion of third relay terminal (third inner contact portion) 62 Tip side (external contact part) 62A First external contact part 62B Third external contact part 70A Second relay terminal 70B Fourth relay terminal 71 Narrow tip side part (inner side contact part) 71A Second relay terminal internal contact (second internal contact) 71B Inner contact portion of fourth relay terminal (fourth inner contact portion) 72 Tip side (external contact part) 72A Second relay terminal external contact (second external contact) 72B External contact portion of fourth relay terminal (fourth external contact portion) 80 Relay housing (mating housing) 85 Terminal protrusion (adjacent support part) 85a Bottom side 87 Downward contact convex part 90 Additional parts 90A Additional parts 91 Swelling part (additional side contact part, other side contact part) 91A Swelling part (additional side contact part, other side contact part)

Claims

1. A connector that can be connected to a connection object, The connector comprises: a terminal having a terminal-side contact portion that comes into contact with the connection object; an additional member having an additional side contact portion that comes into contact with the connection object; a housing for holding the terminals and the additional member; Equipped with The terminal has a connection portion connected to an attachment object to which the connector is attached and a held portion held by the housing, The additional member is formed separately from the terminal, The terminal side contact portion is A contact piece having a contact portion and a support portion that elastically supports the contact portion. having connector.

2. A connector set comprising a mating connector and a connector, The mating connector includes a mating terminal, The mating terminal is a rod-shaped, solid mating contact portion extending linearly along the connecting direction of the connector set; Equipped with The connector comprises: a terminal having a terminal-side contact portion that contacts the mating contact portion; an additional member having an additional contact portion that contacts the mating contact portion; a housing for holding the terminals and the additional member; Equipped with The terminal has a connection portion connected to an attachment object to which the connector is attached and a held portion held by the housing, The additional member is formed separately from the terminal. Connector set.

3. A method for manufacturing the connector according to claim 1, The additional member is selected from a plurality of pre-designed types of additional members and is held by the housing. Connector manufacturing method.

4. In the connector, the terminal-side contact portion contacts the connection object from one side, the additional-side contact portion contacts the connection object from the other side, The plurality of types of additional members include two or more types of additional members configured such that the distances at which the terminal-side contact portions and the additional-side contact portions face each other are different. A method for manufacturing the connector according to claim 3.

5. The plurality of types of additional members include two or more types of additional members having different coefficients of friction of the addition-side contact portions. The method for manufacturing a connector according to claim 3 or 4.

6. the plurality of types of additional members include two or more types of additional members configured so that the opposing distances between the terminal-side contact portion and the addition-side contact portion are the same, but having different coefficients of friction of the addition-side contact portion; A method for manufacturing the connector according to any one of claims 3 to 5.

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