SHIELD CASE OF RECEPTACLE Technical Field

The present invention relates to a shield case (also called a shell) of a receptacle (also called a receptacle connector) connected to a plug.

Background Art

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing a configuration of a receptacle which is an example of the related art disclosed in Patent Literature 1.

This receptacle 200 is provided with a housing 210 which holds a plurality of contacts 240, and a shield case 220 fixed to the housing 210.

The shield case 220 is equipped with: a shield case main body 221 with a rectangular tube shape which has an opening portion 222 opened to the front and used for inserting a plug, and which has a top plate portion 221A, a bottom plate portion 22 IB, and left and right side plate portions 221C so as to surround a fitting portion of a plug inserted in the opening portion 222; and protrusions 223 and 224 provided so as to protrude downward further than the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 221B at a low portion of the left and right side plate portions 221C of the shield case main body 221. Here, the protrusions 223 and 224 are set as substrate fixing leg portions (hereafter, both the substrate fixing leg portions and the protrusions are indicated by the same reference numerals 223 and 224) for fixing the receptacle 200 to a circuit substrate when the receptacle 200 is mounted on the circuit substrate (not shown).

Citation List

Patent Literature

Patent Literature l: JP-A-2007- 157378 Summary of Invention

Technical Problem

Here, when this receptacle 200 is mounted on a circuit substrate, fixing is performed by soldering the substrate fixing leg portions 223 and 224 of the shield case 220 to the circuit substrate; however, in a case where, in this fixed state, there is a distance between the lower surface of the bottom plate 221B of the shield case 220 and the upper surface of the circuit substrate, when the plug is forcibly inserted in a state of being half-fitted in the opening portion 222 of the receptacle 200, it is apparent that excessive stress is generated at the solder portions of the substrate fixing leg portions 223 and 224 and there is a concern that cracks may be generated at the solder portions.

The present invention is made in consideration of the above- described situation and an object thereof is to provide a shield case of a receptacle configured so that excessive stress is not generated in the solder portions of the substrate fixing leg portions when mounted on a circuit substrate and so that cracks are not generated in the solder portions. Solution to Problem

In order to achieve the above object, the shield case of the receptacle according to the present invention is characterized by the following (l).

(l) The shield case of the receptacle is connected to a plug and is provided with: a shield case main body with a rectangular tube shape which has an opening portion opened to the front and used for inserting a plug, and which has a top plate portion, a bottom plate portion, and left and right side plate portions so as to surround a fitting portion of a plug inserted in the opening portion; and protrusions provided so as to protrude downward further than the lower surface of the bottom plate portion at a low portion of the left and right side plates. Here, the protrusions are set as substrate fixing leg portions for fixing the receptacle to a circuit substrate when the receptacle is mounted on the circuit substrate.

Here, spring convex portions, which relieve stress on the substrate fixing leg portions by elastically contacting the upper surface of the circuit substrate when the receptacle is mounted by soldering the substrate fixing leg portions to the circuit substrate, are provided at two or more positions separated from each other in the left and right width direction at positions closer to the opening portion used for inserting a plug than the substrate fixing leg portions of the lower surface of the bottom plate portion.

According to the shield case of the receptacle with the configuration of (l) above, since spring convex portions, which relieve stress on the substrate fixing leg portions by elastically contacting the upper surface of the circuit substrate, are provided at two or more positions separated from each other in the left and right width direction at positions closer to the opening portion used for inserting a plug than the substrate fixing leg portions of the lower surface of the bottom plate portion, even in a case when the plug is forcibly inserted in a state of being half-fitted in the opening portion, this forcible insertion force may be absorbed by the spring convex portions and unnecessary stress may be prevented from being generated in the substrate fixing leg portions, whereby the generation of cracks in the solder portions of the substrate fixing leg portions may be prevented.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, excessive stress can be prevented from being generated in solder portions of substrate fixing leg portions when mounted on a substrate and the generation of cracks in the solder portions of the same leg portions may be prevented.

In the above, a brief description of the invention has been given. Further, by reading the " Description of Embodiments " described below and referring to the attached drawings, the details of the invention will be made further apparent.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a receptacle using the shield case of an embodiment of the invention.

Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) show an external configurational view of a receptacle using the shield case of an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2(a) is a perspective view from above and Fig. 2(b) is a perspective view from the opposite side.

Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) show a view illustrating a state where a forcible insertion force is absorbed by spring convex portions in a case where a plug is forcibly inserted in a state of being half-fitted in a receptacle using the shield case of an embodiment of the invention! Fig. 3(a) is a lateral cross- sectional view illustrating a state where a forcible insertion force is absorbed by spring convex portions in a case where a plug is half-fitted in the same receptacle and forcibly inserted and Fig. 3(b) is an expanded lateral cross -sectional view of main parts thereof.

Fig. 4 is an expanded lateral cross-sectional view of main parts illustrating a comparative example of a case where there are no spring convex portions.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a receptacle of the related art.

Fig. 6 is a lateral cross -sectional view of the same receptacle.

Description of Embodiments

Below, description will be given of embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a receptacle using the shield case of an embodiment. Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) show an external configurational view of the same receptacle; Fig. 2(a) is a perspective view from above and Fig. 2(b) is a perspective view from the opposite side. Fig. 3(a) is a lateral cross-sectional view illustratin a state where a forcible insertion force is absorbed by spring convex portions in a case where a plug is half-fitted in the same receptacle and forcibly inserted and Fig. 3(b) is an expanded lateral cross -sectional view of main parts thereof.

This receptacle 1 is connected to a plug 100 (refer to Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)) and is provided with a plurality of contacts 40 at upper and lower stages, a housing 10 holding these contacts 40, and a shield case 20 mounted and fixed on the housing 10. The housing 10 has an insulator portion 12 having a thin plate shape protruding forward from the housing main body 11 and is configured so that electrical contact portions of the leading end sides of the upper and lower stage contacts 40 press-fitted to the housing main body 11 are respectively inserted and set in terminal arrangement grooves 13 formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the insulator 12.

The shield case 20 is equipped with a shield case main body 21 with a rectangular tube shape which has an opening portion 22 opened to the front and used for inserting a plug, and which has a top plate portion 21A, a bottom plate portion 2 IB, and left and right side plate portions 21C so as to surround a fitting portion of a plug inserted in the opening portion 22; and protrusions 23 and 24 provided so as to protrude downward further than the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 21B at a low portion of the left and right side plate portions 21C of the shield case main body 21. Here, the protrusions 23 and 24 are set as substrate fixing leg portions (hereafter, both the substrate fixing leg portions and the protrusions are indicated by the same reference numerals 23 and 24) for fixing the receptacle 1 to a circuit substrate when the receptacle 1 is mounted on the circuit substrate 80 (refer to Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)).

Further, conductive spring convex portions 25, which elastically contact and allow conduction with the shield case of the side of the plug 100 when the plug 100 is fitted to the opening portion 22 used for inserting a plug, are provided at the top plate portion 21A, the bottom plate portion 2 IB, and the left and right side plate portions 21C. Furthermore, spring convex portions 25, which relieve stress on the substrate fixing leg portions 23 and 24 by elastically contacting the upper surface of the circuit substrate 80 when the receptacle 1 is mounted by soldering the substrate fixing leg portions 23 and 24 to the circuit substrate 80, are provided at two positions separated from each other in the left and right width direction at positions closer to the opening portion 22 used for inserting a plug than the substrate fixing leg portions 23 and 24 of the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 21B.

As shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b), these spring convex portions 25 are provided so as to be positioned as far as possible at the forward end of the circuit substrate 80 when the receptacle 1 is mounted on the circuit substrate 80 and come into elastic contact with the upper surface of the circuit substrate 80. Accordingly, as shown in Figs. 3 (a) and 3(b), in a case where the plug 100 is forcibly inserted in a state of being half inserted into the opening portion 22, it is possible to absorb the forcible insertion force with the spring convex portions 25, to prevent unnecessary stress being generated in the substrate fixing leg portions 23 and 24, and to prevent the generation of cracks in the solder portions of the substrate fixing leg portions 23 and 24.

Incidentally, as shown in Fig. 4, in a case where there are no spring convex portions (in the drawings, a case shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) where there are no spring convex portions 25 at positions shown by a circle of a line with a pattern of a dash and two dots), since there is a distance d between the lower surface of the bottom plate 21B of the shield case 20 and the upper surface of the circuit substrate 80, when a forcible insertion force is applied from the plug 100, the shield case 20 is deformed to the extent of the distance d and stress acts upon the solder portions of the substrate fixing leg portions 23 according to this deformation. As a result, there is a possibility that cracks will be generated in the solder portions of the substrate fixing leg portions 23.

In this respect, in the receptacle 1 of the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent this by having two spring convex portions 25 in the bottom plate portion 2 IB of the shield case 20. Here, even with only one convex spring portion 25, it may be possible to perform such a function to a certain extent; however, from the viewpoint of left and right balance, at least two portions are necessary. When these two spring convex portions 25 absorb a forcible insertion force from the plug 100 with good balance, it is possible to relieve stress on the left and right substrate fixing leg portions 23. Accordingly, it is possible to preserve the quality of the solder portions of the left and right substrate fixing leg portions 23 when the receptacle 1 is mounted on the circuit substrate 80 and to achieve an improvement in the durability.

Here, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and suitable modifications, improvements, and the like are possible. Further, the material, shape, dimensions, numbers, arrangement positions and the like of each of the constituent elements in the above - described embodiments are arbitrary and not limited as long as they are capable of achieving the invention.

Industrial Applicability

According to the present invention, excessive stress can be prevented from being generated in solder portions of substrate fixing leg portions when mounted on a substrate and the generation of cracks in the solder portions of the same leg portions may be prevented.

The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-003166, filed on January 11, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Reference Signs List

1 RECEPTACLE

20 SHIELD CASE

21 SHIELD CASE MAIN BODY

21A TOP PLATE PORTION

21B BOTTOM PLATE PORTION

21C SIDE PLATE PORTION

22 OPENING PORTION USED FOR PLUG INSERTION

23, 24 SUBSTRATE FIXING LEG PORTIONS (PROTRUSIONS)

25 SPRING CONVEX PORTION