Electric connector with deformable terminals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9252508-B2
Application number	US-201313937601-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2013
Priority date	Jul 10, 2012
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

An electric connector includes at least one terminal pin having, at opposite ends thereof, terminals to be inserted into through-holes formed through printed circuit boards spaced away from and facing each other, and an aligner for aligning the terminal pins in a row in such a condition that the terminal pins are movable relative to the aligner, the terminal pin including a movement-limiter which restricts movement of the terminal pin in a direction of an axis thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric connector comprising:
an aligner for aligning terminal pins in a row; and
at least one terminal pin of the terminal pins, said at least one terminal pin having:
terminals, located at opposite ends of said at least one terminal pin, to be inserted into through-holes formed through printed circuit boards spaced away from and facing each other, said terminals being coaxial with an axial line of the at least one terminal pin;
a buffer zone which is deformable in accordance with displacement of at least one of said terminals from the axial line of said at least one terminal pin; and
two movement-limiters between which said buffer zone is formed, each of said two movement-limiters perpendicularly extending from said at least one terminal pin, and each of said movement-limiters restricting movement of said at least one terminal pin in a direction of the axial line thereof, wherein
said buffer zone is disposed on the axial line between said terminals located at said opposite ends of said at least one terminal pin,
said aligner includes a pair of claws extending from a support that guides said at least one terminal pin having been inserted thereinto to a storage space, said claws being resiliently deformed when said at least one terminal pin is inserted into said claws, and
one of said claws aligns said at least one terminal pin such that said at least one terminal pin is not movable relative to said one claw, and another of said claws aligns said at least one terminal pin such that said at least one terminal pin is movable relative to said other claw.

2. The electric connector as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said buffer zone comprises a plurality of resilient pieces.

3. The electric connector as set forth in claim 2 , wherein said buffer zone has a central portion closer to the axial line of said at least one terminal pin than both ends of said buffer zone.

4. The electric connector as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said buffer zone comprises a resilient piece including a smaller width portion than a rest of said resilient piece.

5. The electric connector as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said aligner includes:
said support extending in a direction in which the terminal pins are aligned; and
a projection extending into said storage space and keeping said at least one terminal pin in said storage space.

6. The electric connector as set forth in claim 1 , wherein
each of said movement-limiters includes a pair of projections making contact with one of inner and outer sides of said aligner to restrict movement of said at least one terminal pin in the direction of the axial line of said at least one terminal pin.

7. The electric connector as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said buffer zone is deformable in any direction perpendicular to the axial line of said at least one terminal pin.

Assignees

• Dai Ichi Seiko Co Ltd

Inventors

• Endo Takayoshi
• Yagi Sakai
• Takeda Takuya

Classifications

• H01R12/585

  Terminals having a press fit or a compliant portion and a shank passing through a hole in the printed circuit board · CPC title

• H01R12/73

  connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures · CPC title

• H01R9/00 Primary

  Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, e.g. terminal strips or terminal blocks; Terminals or binding posts mounted upon a base or in a case; Bases therefor · CPC title

• H01R12/7082

  Coupling device supported only by cooperation with PCB · CPC title

• H01R12/7023

  integral with the coupling device · CPC title