ATBECHDEDKESFRGBGRITLILUNLSEMCPTIESILTLVFIROMKCYALTRBGCZEEHUPLSKBAHRIS..MTNORSMESMMAKHTNMD..........
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BDM Ver 1.7.2 (20 November 2019) - 1100000/0
3736914
EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
A1
20201111
EP
20173391.2
20200507
en
en
en
2019088663
20190508
JP
20201111
202046
20201111
202046
H01R 12/79 20110101AFI20200710BHEP
H01R 13/629 20060101ALI20200710BHEP
H01R 13/6471 20110101ALI20200710BHEP
H01R 13/6474 20110101ALI20200710BHEP
H01R 12/77 20110101ALI20200710BHEP
de
HOCHFREQUENZVERBINDER UND FLEXIBLE LEITERPLATTE
en
HIGH FREQUENCY CONNECTOR AND FLEXIBLE WIRING BOARD
fr
CONNECTEUR HAUTE FRÉQUENCE ET TABLEAU DE CONNEXION FLEXIBLE
1
Yamaichi Electronics Co., Ltd.
101425498
Y 1699EU-hy
2-16-2 Minamikamata Ota-ku
Tokyo 144-8581
JP
Yamada, Yoshiya
c/o Yamaichi Electronics Co., Ltd. 2-16-2, Minamikamata, Ota-ku
Tokyo, Tokyo 144-8581
JP
Müller-Boré & Partner Patentanwälte PartG mbB
100060440
Friedenheimer Brücke 21
80639 München
DE
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FI
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GB
GR
HR
HU
IE
IS
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MC
MK
MT
NL
NO
PL
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A connector having improved high-frequency transmission characteristics is provided. A high frequency connector (9) includes an insulator (10), and a plurality of contact terminals (20) arranged in a predetermined direction in the insulator (10). The plurality of contact terminals (20) include a plurality of ground terminals (20G) and a plurality of signal terminals (20S). Each of the ground terminals (20G) and the signal terminals (20S) includes an arm portion (20A) supported in a cantilever manner by the insulator (10). The arm portion (20A) includes a contact portion (22) and an inclined guide portion (23) extending from the contact portion (22) to a distal end of the arm portion (20A). The length of the inclined guide portion (23) of the signal terminal (20S) is shorter than the length of the inclined guide portion (23) of the ground terminal (20G).

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high frequency connector and a flexible wiring board.

Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 3029985 discloses that a contact obtained by punching a plate-like metal material is attached to a housing (see Fig. 3 of the document).
When a board is configured to be moved with respect to a connector to be electrically and mechanically coupled to the connector, a contact terminal of the connector is generally provided with a guide inclined portion in order to suppress the contact terminal of the connector from buckling. However, if the guide inclined portion functions as an open stub for a transmission line for a high-frequency signal transmitted through the contact terminal, this is not preferable because small mismatch in impedance affects a high-frequency band (30 GHz or more) and causes deterioration of high-frequency transmission characteristics. In view of such knowledge, the inventor of the present application has newly found the significance of providing a connector with improved high-frequency transmission characteristics.

SUMMARY
A high-frequency connector according to an aspect of the present disclosure comprises: an insulator; and a plurality of contact terminals that are arranged in a predetermined direction in the insulator, and include a plurality of ground terminals and a plurality of signal terminals, wherein each of the plurality of the ground terminals and the plurality of the signal terminals includes an arm portion supported in a cantilever manner by the insulator, the arm portion includes a contact portion, and an inclined guide portion extending from the contact portion to a distal end of the arm portion, and a length of the inclined guide portion of the signal terminal is shorter than a length of the inclined guide portion of the ground terminal.
In some embodiments, the length of the inclined guide portion of the signal terminal is equal to or less than half of the length of the inclined guide portion of the ground terminal.
In some embodiments, the contact portion of the signal terminal is offset to a base end side of the arm portion compared with the contact portion of the ground terminal.
In some embodiments, the insulator includes one or more guide protrusions that are provided farther away from a base end of the arm portion than the inclined guide portion, and the one or more guide protrusions are provided so as to correct warpage in a width direction of a flexible wiring board to be joined to the high-frequency connector.
In some embodiments, the one or more guide protrusions are provided so as to project in a direction identical to a direction in which the contact portion projects in a convex shape.
The plurality of contact terminals include a plurality of subsets including one or more ground terminals and one or more signal terminals, and the one or more guide protrusions include an intermediate guide protrusion that is provided in association with (or corresponding to) an intermediate region between the subsets arranged adjacently to each other.
The one or more guide protrusions include at least three guide protrusions that are provided in association with (or corresponding to) a center in a width direction of the flexible wiring board and both ends in the width direction of the flexible wiring board.
A flexible wiring board according to an aspect of the present disclosure which is a flexible wiring board to be joined to any high-frequency connector described above, includes one or more openings or notches for avoiding interference with the one or more guide protrusions.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a connector having improved high-frequency transmission characteristics can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
- Fig. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a high-frequency connector according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure when the high-frequency connector is perspectively viewed from a front side thereof;
- Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure when the high-frequency connector is perspectively viewed from a rear side thereof;
- Fig. 4 is a schematic top view of the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 5 is a schematic front side view of the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, which is taken along VI-VI line of Fig. 5 when a lock cover is in a locking state;
- Fig. 7 is a schematic view of the connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, which is taken along VII-VII line of Fig. 5 when the lock cover is in an unlocking state;
- Fig. 8 is a schematic side view showing a positional relationship between a signal terminal and a ground terminal in the connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 9 is a schematic top view of joint ends of a flexible wiring board to be joined to the connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 10(a) shows the flexible wiring board in a state where a right-and-left center is depressed with respect to right-and-left ends, and Fig. 10(b) shows that warpage of the flexible wiring board is reduced by guide protrusions of the connector;
- Fig. 11 (a) shows the flexible wiring board in a state where the right-and-left center protrudes with respect to the right-and-left ends, and Fig. 11(b) shows that the warpage of the flexible wiring board is reduced by the guide protrusions of the connector;
- Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram showing that the flexible wiring board is inserted in the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure when the lock cover is in the unlocking state;
- Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram showing that the flexible wiring board is guided by an inclined guide portion of the ground terminal in the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram showing that the lock cover is turned from the unlocking state to a locking state, and the flexible wiring board is sandwiched between the lock cover and an insulator in the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the flexible wiring board is sandwiched between the lock cover and the insulator and a pad of the flexible wiring board is in contact with the contact terminal in the high-frequency connector according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;
- Fig. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a high-frequency connector according to another embodiment of the present disclosure in which a signal terminal is not offset backward with respect to the ground terminal; and
- Fig. 17 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement of the ground terminal and the signal terminal in the high-frequency connector according to the other embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Hereinafter, various embodiments and features according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 17. Those skilled in the art can combine the respective embodiments and/or features without excessive description, and can also understand the synergistic effect of this combination. Duplicative description between the embodiments is basically omitted. The drawings to be referred to are mainly for the purpose of describing the invention and are simplified for convenience of drawing. Each feature is understood to be a universal feature that is not valid for only the high-frequency connectors disclosed herein, but also applies to various other high-frequency connectors which are not disclosed herein.
Fig. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a high-frequency connector 9. Figs. 2 and 3 are schematic perspective views of the high-frequency connector 9. In order to describe the structure of the high-frequency connector 9, directions are defined as follows. As shown in Fig. 1, a width direction is specified by a double-headed arrow extending between L and Ri. As will be understood from the following description, the width direction is equal to a direction along a turning axis of a lock cover. Alternatively, the width direction may be referred to as a right-and-left direction. A thickness direction is specified by a double-headed arrow extending between U and D. A front-and-rear direction is specified by a double-headed arrow extending between F and Re. A direction from Ri to L is referred to as "leftward", and the opposite direction thereto is referred to as "rightward". A direction from D to U is referred to as "upward", and the opposite direction thereto is referred to as "downward". A direction from Re to F is referred to as "forward", and the opposite direction thereto is referred to as "rearward". The directions set forth in this paragraph shall be redefinable in light of the following description of the specification or the contents of the drawings.
The high-frequency connector 9 is a composite of a resin part and a metal part, and has a role of mechanically fixing a wiring board and a role of electrically connecting the wiring board to an external wiring, and furthermore, to an external circuit. Hereinafter, a flexible wiring board is referred to as an example of the wiring board to be joined to the high-frequency connector 9, but the wiring board is not limited to the flexible wiring board. A configuration in which the wiring board to be joined to the high-frequency connector 9 has no flexibility may be naturally supposed. The external wiring is, for example, a wiring on a substrate (not shown) on which the high-frequency connector 9 is mounted. The high-frequency connector 9 can be fixed to a mount board by a reflow step. The external circuit is, for example, a circuit on the substrate on which the high-frequency connector 9 is mounted.
As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the high-frequency connector 9 includes an insulator 10 and a lock cover 30 which is turnably supported by the insulator 10. In Fig. 1, in order to clearly illustrate contact terminals 20 and pressing pieces 40 which are provided to the insulator 10, the lock cover 30 is removed upward from the insulator 10. The insulator 10 is provided with the contact terminals 20 and the pressing pieces 40 in the width direction thereof. The lock cover 30 is provided with lock portions 34 and slots 35 in the width direction thereof. The lock portion 34 is pressed by the pressing piece 40 to press the flexible wiring board 8 to the contact terminal 20 side. As a result, the flexible wiring board 8 is locked between each lock portion 34 and each contact terminal 20. Note that a form in which the high-frequency connector 9 does not have the lock cover 30 or the pressing pieces 40 may also be supposed. Note that the insulator 10 and the lock cover 30 are made of a plastic material (for example, LCP), and the contact terminals 20 and the pressing pieces 40 are made of a conductive material (for example, metal such as phosphor bronze). The contact terminals 20 may be plated (for example, plated with gold) to secure surface protection or solder wettability.
The insulator 10 is elongated in the width direction (right-and-left direction) of the high-frequency connector 9, and has a first end portion 11 and a second end portion 12 in the width direction. The first end portion 11 may be referred to as a right end portion, and the second end portion 12 may be referred to as a left end portion. The insulator 10 further includes a flat plate portion 13 and a wall portion 14 which extend between the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 12. The flat plate portion 13 is arranged in front of the wall portion 14 so as to be spaced from the wall portion 14. A mounting portion 18 is provided to each of the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 12, and a metal reinforcing member 19 is mounted in each mounting portion 18. The lock cover 30 is pivotably supported so as to be turnable between the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 12.
The lock cover 30 is pivotably supported so as to be turnable between the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 12 of the insulator 10. The lock cover 30 is formed by injection molding separately from the insulator 10 and attached to the insulator 10. The lock cover 30 has a first end portion 31, a second end portion 32, and a cover body 33 extending between the first end portion 31 and the second end portion 32. The first end portion 31 is provided with a convex portion 36 projecting rightward, and fitted into a concave portion 66 of the first end portion 11 of the insulator 10. A configuration in which the first end portion 31 is provided with a concave portion and the first end portion 11 of the insulator 10 is provided with a convex portion may also be supposed. The second end portion 32 is provided with a convex portion 37 projecting leftward, and fitted into a concave portion 77 of the second end portion 12 of the insulator 10. A configuration in which the second end portion 32 is provided with a concave portion, and the second end portion 12 of the insulator 10 is provided with a convex portion may also be supposed.
As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the insulator 10 is provided with a plurality of signal terminals 20S and a plurality of ground terminals 20G, and in short, two or more terminal array subsets 20U each including a combination of one or more signal terminals 20S and one or more ground terminals 20G are provided. The terminal array subsets 20U are arranged in the width direction of the insulator 10. Although not necessarily limited to the following array, the terminal array subset 20U is a four-terminal subset including paired signal terminals 20S and paired ground terminals 20G between which the paired signal terminals 20S are sandwiched. The terminal array subset 20U may be referred to as a GSSG terminal array subset, where G represents a ground terminal and S represents a signal terminal. The paired signal terminals 20S can be used for transmission of a differential signal. A pressing piece 40 is arranged between the terminal array subsets 20U adjacent to each other in the width direction of the high-frequency connector 9.
Each pressing piece 40 provided to the insulator 10 is provided between at least one signal terminal 20S contained in one of terminal array subsets 20U adjacent in the arrangement direction of the terminal array subsets 20U and at least one signal terminal 20S contained in the other terminal array subset 20U. An electrical effect of the pressing piece 40 which acts on the signal terminal 20S which is a transmission line of a high-frequency signal, for example, a parasitic capacitance component is reduced.
The contact terminals 20 are partially embedded and fixed in the insulator 10 by insert molding (see Figs. 6 and 7). The contact terminal 20 includes an arm portion 20A which is supported in a cantilever manner by the insulator 10, directly by the wall portion 14 of the insulator 10, an embedded portion embedded in the insulator 10, and an external connection portion 27 for electrical connection to an external wiring. The arm portion 20A can swing up and down around a base portion thereof. The embedded portion 26 extends flatly in the front-and-rear direction. The external connection portion 27 is bent at two places. A rear end portion of the external connection portion 27 is mounted on the mounting board of the high-frequency connector 9.
The spring property of the arm portion 20A enables the arm portion 20A to elastically return to an initial position thereof from a position where the arm portion 20A is pressed by the flexible wiring board 8 and displaced downward. The arm portion 20A is a metal plate shaped as shown in Fig. 8. The thickness direction of the arm portion 20A is coincident with the up-and-down direction, and the width direction of the arm portion 20A is coincident with the right-and-left direction. A manner of fixing the contact terminal 20 to the insulator 10 is not limited to one shown in the figures, and a configuration in which the thickness direction of the arm portion 20A is coincident with the up-and-down direction or other directions may also be supposed. Needless to say, a configuration in which the contact terminal 20 is press-fitted into the insulator 10 and fixed may also be supposed.
The arm portion 20A includes an inclined portion 21 (which is positioned at the side of a base/proximal end of the arm portion 20A), a contact portion 22, and an inclined guide portion 23 extending from the contact portion 22 to a distal end of the arm portion 20A. The inclined portion 21 extends between the base portion of the arm portion 20A and the contact portion 22, and in this case, it extends obliquely upward as it shifts forward. The contact portion 22 is a portion to be in contact with and electrically connected to a pad of the flexible wiring board 8. In this case, the contact portion 22 is curved to be upward convex between the inclined portion 21 and the inclined guide portion 23. The inclined guide portion 23 is a portion that guides the flexible wiring board 8 in a direction in which the contact terminals 20 do not buckle, and in this case, it extends obliquely downward as it shifts forward.
As shown in Fig. 8, the length L1 of the inclined guide portion 23 of the signal terminal 20S is shorter than the length L2 of the inclined guide portion 23 of the ground terminal 20G. As a result, an open stub contained in the contact terminal 20 has a shorter length, small impedance mismatch affecting a high-frequency band (30 GHz or more) is suppressed, and the high-frequency transmission characteristics of the high-frequency connector 9 are enhanced. Although not necessarily limited to the following manner, the boundary between the contact portion 22 and the inclined guide portion 23 in the contact terminal 20 can be determined by the boundary between a curved surface of the contact portion 22 and a flat surface of the inclined guide portion 23. In some cases, the length L1 of the inclined guide portion 23 of the signal terminal 20S is equal to or less than half of the length L2 of the inclined guide portion 23 of the ground terminal 20G.
In addition, the contact part 22 of the signal terminal 20S is offset to be closer to the base end side (proximal end side) of the arm portion 20A than the contact portion 22 of the ground terminal 20G. The longer inclined guide portion 23 of the ground terminal 20G is promoted to come into contact with the flexible wiring board 8 earlier than the shorter inclined guide portion 23 of the signal terminal 20S. As a result, the flexible wiring board 8 is guided more smoothly by the inclined guide portion 23 of the ground terminal 20G, so that the buckling of the contact terminal 20 is suppressed. Note that in the illustrated example, in the GSSG terminal array subset 20U, the inclined guide portions 23 of the paired signal terminals are sandwiched by the inclined guide portions 23 of the paired ground terminals on both right and left sides, so that the buckling of the contact terminals 20 is further suppressed.
Hereinafter, a locking function of the high-frequency connector 9 will be mainly described. As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, the plurality of lock portions 34 are coaxially arranged between the first end portion 31 and the second end portion 32 of the lock cover 30. Each lock portion 34 is turned between a locking position and an unlocking position with respect to the turning axis of the lock cover 30 according to the turning of the lock cover 30 just above the contact portion 22. When the lock portion 34 is located at the unlocking position, the flexible wiring board 8 is inserted into the high-frequency connector 9 (see Figs. 7 and 14). When the lock portion 34 is located at the locking position, the flexible wiring board 8 is locked between the lock portion 34 and the contact terminal 20 (see FIG. 15). When the flexible wiring board 8 is locked as described above, the flexible wiring board 8 is set to be urged to the lock portions 34 by the contact terminals 20, and the flexible wiring board 8 is more firmly sandwiched between the contact terminals 20 and the lock portions 34.
The lock portion 34 has one or more (preferably a plurality of) arcuate surfaces on a cross-section orthogonal to the width direction of the high-frequency connector 9. As shown in Fig. 7, the lock portion 34 includes first and second arcuate surfaces 34m and 34n which are provided so as to face opposite sides on a cross-section orthogonal to the turning axis of the lock cover 30. When the lock cover 30 is in the unlocking state (the lock portions 34 are located at the unlocking positions), the first arcuate surfaces 34m of the lock portions 34 face rearward, and the second arcuate surfaces 34n of the lock portions 34 face forward. When the lock cover 30 is in the locking state (the lock portions 34 are at the locking positions), the first arcuate surfaces 34m of the lock portions 34 face upward, and the second arcuate surfaces 34n of the lock portions 34 face downward. The first arcuate surface 34m has a larger radius of curvature than the second arcuate surface 34n. Tapered inclined surfaces approaching each other from the first arcuate surface 34m to the second arcuate surface 34n are provided between the first arcuate surface 34m and the second arcuate surface 34n.
Note that each lock portion 34 has the same cross-sectional shape on a cross-section orthogonal to the width direction of the high-frequency connector 9, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The number of the lock portions 34 provided to the lock cover 30 is the same as the number of the pressing pieces 40 to be attached to the insulator 10, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The lock portion 34 includes a portion placed on the turning axis of the lock cover 30, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. A configuration in which the lock portions 34 are arranged to be offset from the turning axis of the lock cover 30 may also be supposed. A configuration in which one lock portion 34 continuously extends between the first end portion 31 and the second end portion 32 of the lock cover 30 may also be supposed. In this configuration, a common single lock portion 34 is used for the plurality of pressing pieces 40 to be attached to the insulator 10.
A plurality of slots 35 are arranged in the width direction of the lock cover 30. Each slot 35 is arranged to be adjacent to the lock portion 34, whereby the interference between the lock cover 30 and the pressing piece 40 is avoided. The slot 35 penetrates between an upper surface 30p and a lower surface 30q of the lock cover 30 at a position adjacent to the lock portion 34. When the lock cover 30 is in the unlocking state, a pressing portion 44 (a front end thereof) is inserted into the slot 35. When the lock cover 30 is in the locking state, the pressing portion 44 (the front end thereof) is placed on the slot 35. The slot 35 has rectangular upper port and lower port. The upper port has a larger opening area than the lower port.
A portion of the cover body 33 extending in the width direction (see Fig. 6) exists between the slots 35 adjacent in the width direction of the lock cover 30. The number of the slots 35 provided to the lock cover 30 may be the same as the number of the lock portions 34 and the number of the pressing portions 44, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The slots 35 adjacent in the width direction of the lock cover 30 may be integrated to form a single wide slot.
Each of the pressing pieces 40 provided to the insulator 10 includes a flat plate portion (in short, a flat plate material) arranged to be orthogonal to the turning axis of the lock cover 30, and for example, it is manufactured by die-punching a metal plate with a press machine. The pressing piece 40 has the pressing portion 44 for pressing the lock portion 34 downward. The pressing portion 44 is appropriately shaped so as not to hinder the turning of the lock portion 34. The pressing portion 44 has a pressing surface 44p for pressing the first arcuate surface 34m of the lock portion 34 downward, and a relief surface 44q provided to be adjacent to the pressing surface 44p. When the lock cover 30 is turned from the locking state to the unlocking state, the first arcuate surface 34m of the lock portion 34 shifts from a state where it is in contact with or faces the pressing surface 44p to a state where it is in contact with or faces the relief surface 44q. The relief surface 44q is an inclined surface that gradually descends as it shifts to the rear side.
The pressing piece 40 is a bent member including at least a pressing piece main portion 41 and a rotation preventing portion 42, and in short, is an L-shaped member. The pressing piece main portion 41 extends in the front-and-rear direction of the high-frequency connector 9 (a direction in which the flexible wiring board 8 is inserted into and removed from the high-frequency connector 9), and is inserted into a through-hole 15 of the insulator 10. The rotation preventing portion 42 extends in the thickness direction of the high-frequency connector 9, and is arranged behind the wall portion 14 of the insulator 10. When the flexible wiring board 8 is sandwiched between the lock portion 34 and the contact terminal 20, the flexible wiring board 8 is urged upward by the contact terminal 20, and the lock portion 34 and then the pressing portion 44 of the pressing piece 40 are pressed upward by the flexible wiring board 8. The pressing portion 44 of the pressing piece 40 is pressed upward, and the pressing piece 40 receives a clockwise rotational force as viewed from the front side in Figs. 6 and 7. By providing the rotation preventing portion 42 to the pressing piece 40, the contact between the rotation preventing portion 42 of the pressing piece 40 and the insulator 10, particularly the wall portion 14 thereof allows the pressing piece 40 to sufficiently withstand the above-described rotational force. As a result, it is promoted to more firmly attach the pressing piece 40 to the insulator 10.
The pressing piece main portion 41 is inserted into the through-hole 15 of the wall portion 14 of the insulator 10. The through-hole 15 has rectangular front opening and rear opening. When the pressing piece 40 is attached to the insulator 10, the pressing piece main portion 41 is inserted into the through-hole 15 through the rear opening of the through-hole 15. As a result of this insertion, the pressing piece main portion 41 sufficiently projects from the front opening of the through-hole 15, and the rotation preventing portion 42 is arranged to be in contact with or close to the wall portion 14. Note that the through-hole 15 is an opening that is narrow in the width direction of the high-frequency connector 9 and long in the thickness direction of the high-frequency connector 9. Various other manners may be supposed for the attachment of the pressing piece 40 to the insulator 10, and the present invention should not be limited to the illustrated example. A configuration in which a groove is provided on the upper surface of the wall portion 14 of the insulator 10 may also be supposed.
The contact terminal 20 and the pressing piece 40 are not electrically connected to each other and are separately provided to the insulator 10. As a result, the shape of the contact terminal 20 can be optimized for good electrical connection with the flexible wiring board 8. Further, the contact terminals 20 can be provided with a spring property, and good contact with the flexible wiring board 8 can be ensured. Further, since the contact terminal 20 and the pressing piece 40 are separated from each other so as not to be in contact with each other, the contact terminal 20 and the pressing piece 40 is neither in contact with each other, nor conducted with each other, and the shape of the contact terminal 20 is optimized for transmission of a high-frequency signal. As a result, for example, the high-frequency connector 9 can be used for transmission of high-frequency signals of 30 GHz or more.
The insulator 10 is provided with one or more guide protrusions, in an illustrated example, three guide protrusions 16a to 16c for suppressing the contact terminals 20 from buckling due to contact with the flexible wiring board 8. The three guide protrusions 16a to 16c are provided so as to correct warpage in the width direction of the flexible wiring board 8 to be joined to the high-frequency connector 9. Here, the three guide protrusions 16a to 16c are provided so as to correspond to the center and both ends in the width direction of the flexible wiring board 8. The positions or shapes of the guide protrusions 16a to 16c are designed according to a direction in which the flexible wiring board 8 is moved for electrical and mechanical coupling with the high-frequency connector 9. Note that the guide protrusion 16c is an intermediate guide protrusion provided in association with an intermediate region between the terminal array subsets 20U arranged to be adjacent to each other.
Each of the guide protrusions 16a to 16c is provided at a greater distance from the base (proximal) end side of the arm portion 20A than the inclined guide portion 23, and is also provided so as to project in the same direction as the direction in which the contact portion 22 projects in a convex shape. Each of the guide protrusions 16a to 16c is provided with a guide inclined surface extending obliquely upward as it shifts rearward, so that the flexible wiring board 8 is guided by the guide inclined surface. That is, when the flexible wiring board 8 is moved rearward to be joined to the high-frequency connector 9, the flexible wiring board 8 is guided obliquely upward by the guide inclined surfaces of the guide protrusions 16a to 16c.
As shown in Fig. 9, the flexible wiring board 8 has openings or notches 86a to 86c for avoiding interference with the guide protrusions 16a to 16c. When the pads of the flexible wiring board 8 come into contact with the contact portions 22 and the flexible wiring board 8 is locked between the lock cover 30 and the insulator 10, the guide protrusions 16a to 16c are respectively fitted in the openings or notches 86a to 86c, whereby the flexible wiring board 8 is prevented from being released from the insulator 10.
The flexible wiring board 8 may have a warp as shown in Fig. 10(a) or Fig. 11(a). When the flexible wiring board 8 is moved to a position where it is electrically and mechanically joined to the high-frequency connector 9, the flexible wiring board 8 is guided obliquely upward by the above-described guide protrusions 16a to 16c. When the flexible wiring board 8 is warped as shown in Fig. 10(a), the center region of the flexible wiring board 8 is pressed to the lock cover 30 side by the guide protrusion 16c, whereby the warpage is reduced as shown in Fig. 10(b). When the flexible wiring board 8 is warped as shown in Fig. 11(a), the end regions on the right and left sides of the flexible wiring board 8 are pressed to the lock cover 30 by the guide protrusions 16a and 16b, whereby the warpage is reduced as shown in Fig. 11(b). In a state where the flatness of the flexible wiring board 8 is enhanced, the pads of the flexible wiring board 8 come into contact with the contact terminals 20, and stable electrical connection between the flexible wiring board 8 and the high-frequency connector 9 is promoted.
The insulator 10 includes a housing portion 10H for accommodating a dielectric substance 50. The dielectric substance 50 is made of, for example, a conductive resin such as a liquid crystal polymer (LCP). The pressing piece 40, particularly the rotation preventing portion 42 thereof, prevents the dielectric substance 50 from dropping from the housing portion 10H. The dielectric substance 50 is provided to suppress occurrence of ripples in the high-frequency signals.
A method of attaching the flexible wiring board 8 to the high-frequency connector 9 will be described with reference to Figs. 12 to 15. As shown in Fig. 12, first, the lock cover 30 is turned rearward to turn the lock portions 34 to the unlocking positions. When the lock cover 30 is in the unlocking state, the lock cover 30 is not placed on the flat plate portion 13. Therefore, the insertion end of the flexible wiring board 8 can be easily placed on the flat plate portion 13 without being obstructed by the lock cover 30.
As shown in Fig. 13, the flexible wiring board 8 is moved to the contact terminals 20. The insertion end of the flexible wiring board 8 is guided obliquely upward to the rear side by the guide protrusions 16a to 16c provided on the upper surface of the flat plate portion 13 of the insulator 10, and buckling of the contact terminals 20 is suppressed. The flexible wiring board 8 is not flat in the width direction. Therefore, the insertion end of the flexible wiring board 8 contacts the inclined guide portions 23 of the ground terminals 20G between the guide protrusion 16a and the guide protrusion 16c or between the guide protrusion 16a and the guide protrusion 16c, and can be guided obliquely upward to the rear side. The insertion end of the flexible wiring board 8 can contact not only the inclined guide portions 23 of the ground terminals 20G, but also the inclined guide portions 23 of the signal terminals 20S. For example, the ground terminals 20G are pushed rearward by the insertion end of the flexible wiring board 8, and the flexible wiring board 8 contacts the inclined guide portions 23 of the signal terminals 20S.
As shown in Fig. 14, the flexible wiring board 8 collides with the front wall surface of the wall portion 14 and stops. Subsequently, the lock cover 30 is turned to the front side to turn the lock portions 34 to the locking positions. As a result, as shown in Fig. 15, the flexible wiring board 8 is sandwiched and locked between the lock portions 34 of the lock cover 30 and the contact portions 22 of the contact terminals 20, and at the same time, the pads 88 of the flexible wiring board 8 are brought into contact with and conducted with the contact portions 22 of the contact terminals 20. Note that when the flexible wiring board 8 is sandwiched between the insulator 10 and the lock cover 30, the first arcuate surfaces 34m contact the pressing portions 44, and the second arcuate surfaces 34n contact the flexible wiring board 8.
Fig. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a high-frequency connector 9 according to another embodiment. Fig. 17 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement of ground terminals 20G and signal terminals 20S in a high-frequency connector according to the other embodiment. As shown in Figs. 16 and 17, the signal terminals 20S are not required to be offset rearward with respect to the ground terminals 20G.
In view of the above teachings, those skilled in the art can make various modifications to each embodiment and each feature. Reference numerals in the claims are only for reference, and should not be referred to for the purpose of limiting the claims.

[Reference Signs List]
8
Flexible wiring board
9
High frequency connector
10
Insulator
13
Flat plate portion
14
Wall portion
16a to 16c
Guide protrusion
20
Contact terminal
20A
Arm portion
20G
Ground terminal
20S
Signal terminal
20U
Terminal array subset
22
Contact portion
23
Inclined guide portion
30
Lock cover
40
Pressing piece
1. A high-frequency connector comprising:
an insulator (10); and
a plurality of contact terminals (20) that are arranged in a predetermined direction in the insulator (10), and include a plurality of ground terminals (20G) and a plurality of signal terminals (20S), wherein each of the plurality of the ground terminals (20G) and the plurality of the signal terminals (20S) includes an arm portion (20A) supported in a cantilever manner by the insulator (10),
the arm portion (20A) includes a contact portion (22) and an inclined guide portion (23) extending from the contact portion (22) to a distal end of the arm portion (20A), and
a length of the inclined guide portion (23) of the signal terminal (20S) is shorter than a length of the inclined guide portion (23) of the ground terminal (20G).
2. The high-frequency connector according to claim 1, wherein the length of the inclined guide portion (23) of the signal terminal (20S) is equal to or less than half of the length of the inclined guide portion (23) of the ground terminal (20G).
3. The high-frequency connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the contact portion (22) of the signal terminal (20S) is offset to a base end side of the arm portion (20A) compared with the contact portion (22) of the ground terminal (20G).
4. The high-frequency connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the insulator (10) includes one or more guide protrusions (16a-16c) that are provided farther away from a base end of the arm portion (20A) than the inclined guide portion (23), and the one or more guide protrusions (16a-16c) are provided so as to correct warpage in a width direction of a flexible wiring board (8) to be joined to the high-frequency connector.
5. The high-frequency connector according to claim 4, wherein the one or more guide protrusions (16a-16c) are provided so as to project in a direction identical to a direction in which the contact portion (22) projects in a convex shape.
6. The high-frequency connector according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the plurality of contact terminals (20) include a plurality of subsets (20U) including one or more ground terminals (20G) and one or more signal terminals (20S), and the one or more guide protrusions (16a-16c) include an intermediate guide protrusion (16c) that is provided in association with an intermediate region between the subsets (20U) arranged adjacently to each other.
7. The high-frequency connector according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the one or more guide protrusions (16a-16c) include at least three guide protrusions (16a-16c) that are provided in association with a center in a width direction of the flexible wiring board (8) and both ends in the width direction of the flexible wiring board (8).
8. A flexible wiring board to be joined to the high-frequency connector according to any one of claims 4 to 7, including one or more openings or notches (86a-86c) for avoiding interference with the one or more guide protrusions (16a-16c).
Y 1699EU-hy
EP
20173391.2
Yamaichi Electronics Co., Ltd.
1
DH
20200716
H01R
US
5309630
A
BRUNKER DAVID L [US] ET AL
19940510
X
1-3
Y
4-8
* column 1, line 13 - column 4, line 67; figure 2 *
US
2011189896
A1
OKAMURA SEIJI [JP]
20110804
X
1,3
Y
4-8
* paragraph [0001] - paragraph [0050]; figures 1,3A *
US
2016365658
A1
HIKOSAKA TOMOHIRO [JP]
20161215
Y
4-8
* paragraph [0056] - paragraph [0079]; figures 3,6,7B *
US
6099328
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NELSON RICHARD A [US] ET AL
20000808
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2,3
* column 3, line 33 - column 5, line 12; figures 1,3-6 *
US
9153888
B2
KAJIURA MOTOMU [JP]; SASAME NAOTAKA [JP] ET AL.
20151006
A
6
* column 3, line 11 - column 3, line 20; figure 2 *
Mateo Segura, C
The Hague
20200706
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20120426

REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.

Patent documents cited in the description
- JP
3029985
B
[0002]