Electrical Connector for Connecting FPC to Printed Circuit With Means for Fixedly Connecting FPC to the Connector Without Removal of FPC From the Connector

This invention relates to an electrical connector device, and in particular, to an connecting member for connecting a wiring member such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC), a flexible flat cable (FFC) and others to an electrical device such as a printed circuit board.

A known connecting member of the type is described, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication, JP-U-5-6759.

In the JP-U, an electrical connector and a slide insulator are disclosed as a connecting member for connecting a wiring member such as FPC, FFC, or others to a printed circuit board. FPC and FFC will be collectively referred to as a flat cable, hereinafter. The electrical connector is mounted on a printed circuit board. An end of FPC is inserted together with a slide insulator into the electrical connector and is mechanically and electrically connected to the electrical connector. In the case, the slider insulator is used as the connecting member for connecting the FPC to the electrical connector mounted on the printed circuit.

The electrical connector comprises a base insulator, a holddown for fixedly holding the base insulator mounted on the printed circuit board, a slide insulator combined with the base insulator, and a plurality of conductive contact fitted in the base insulator to be brought into contact with the FPC.

The FPC is inserted together with the slide insulator into an insert cavity formed in the base insulator. At this time, conductive patterns of the FPC are faced to contacting portions of the contacts in one-to-one correspondence. Simultaneously, the FPC is pressed by a plate portion of the slide insulator. Thus, the conductive patterns are brought into contact with contacting points of the contacting portions in one-to-one correspondence.

With the above-mentioned structure, the FPC is put into contact with the contacting points under a pressing force of the plate portion to be simply clamped between the plate portion and the contacting portions having elasticity. Therefore, the FPC can be unfortunately easily released from the electrical connector if it is pulled in a releasing direction.

In view of the above, it is proposed to design the electrical connector such that the contacting portions of the contacts have strong elastic force sufficient to obtain increased contacting force. On the other hand, the electrical connector is generally desired to have a compact structure such that the contacts are fitted in the base insulator of a small size with a very high density. Therefore, each of the contacts comprises a thin plate having a reduced thickness and a small size and can not have such strong elastic force as desired.

In the electrical connector, it is also desired to easily connect and disconnect the FPC to the connector mounted on the printed circuit.

It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide a connecting member for connecting a wiring member to an electrical connector mounted onto a printed circuit which allows easy connection of the wiring member to the electrical connector but inhibits easy release of the wiring member from the electrical connector against vibration or any other external force.

It is another object of this invention to provide a connecting member which is fixedly connected to an end of the wiring member and is impossible to release the connection once they are connected together.

According to this invention, there is provided a combination of a conductor member and a connecting member for electrically and mechanically connecting the conductor member to an electrical connector. The conductor member comprises an elastic insulator element having an end portion and projection means projecting from the end portion, and at least one conductor line supported by the insulator element and having an exposed portion exposed from the insulator element at the end portion. The connecting member comprises at least one contact element of elastic metal to be connected with the exposed portion of the at least one conductor line and to be electrically connected with the electrical connector, the contact element having a contact portion; an insulator body to be removably and mechanically connected to the electrical connector, the insulator body having at least one contact room in which the at least one contact element is fixedly accommodated, the insulator body further having a hole continuing to the contact room, in which hole the contact portion projects; a slider of insulator material having a receiving surface for receiving the conductor member and engaging means formed in the receiving surface for engaging with the projection means to prevent the conductor member from moving in a direction opposite to the end portion when the conductor member is received on the receiving surface, the slider being slidable into the hole together with the conductor member whereby the exposed portion comes into contact with the contact portion; and locking means for locking the slider in the hole when the slider inserted into the hole together with the conductor member being received on the receiving surface while the projection means engaging with the engaging means, whereby the conductor member and the slider being prevented from being removed out of the hole in the insulator body.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided an electrical connector device for electrically connecting a flat wiring member with an electrical device, comprising a pair of first and second connector units mating to each other, the first and second connector units mating to each other, the first connector unit being mounted on and electrically connected to the electrical device having terminals, the second connector unit being fixedly connected to an end portion of the flat wiring member. The flat wiring member comprises a plurality of strip-like conductor lines spaced from each other, an insulator element of first and second insulator sheets laminated together and holding the conductor lines therebetween, the first flexible insulator sheet being short of an end at the end portion to provide exposed portions of the conductor lines which portions are exposed from the first insulator sheet; and projection means projecting from the insulator means at the end portion. The first connector unit comprises a first insulator body having a plurality of first contact holes, and a plurality of first contact elements fixedly held in the first contact holes, each of the first contact elements having a terminal portion to be connected to corresponding ones of the terminals of the electrical device when the first connector unit is mounted onto the electrical device. The second connector unit comprises a plurality of second contact elements of elastic metal to be brought into contact with corresponding ones of the first contact elements of the first electrical connector unit, the second contact elements having a plurality of contact portions to be connected with corresponding ones of the exposed portions of the conductor lines; a second insulator body to be removably and mechanically connected to the first insulator body, the second insulator body having a plurality of contact rooms in which the second contact elements are fixedly accommodated, respectively, the second insulator body further having a hole continuing to the contact rooms, in which hole the contact portions project; a slider of insulator material having a receiving surface for receiving the flat wiring member and engaging means formed on the receiving surface for engaging with the projection means to prevent the flat wiring member from moving in a direction opposite to the end portion when the flat wiring member is received on the receiving surface, the slider being slidable into the hole together with the flat wiring member whereby the exposed portions come into contact with the contact portions, respectively; and locking means for locking the slider in the hole when the slider is inserted into the hole together with the flat wiring member being received on the receiving surface while the projection means engaging with the engaging means, whereby the flat wiring member and the slider being prevented from being removed out of the hole in the second insulator body.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided an electric apparatus which has a printed circuit board, a flat cable, and the first and the second connector units for connecting between the printed circuit board and the flat cable.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional electrical connector;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electrical connector in FIG. 1 before an FPC is connected thereto;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the electrical connector in FIG. 1 when the FPC is connected thereto;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to a first embodiment of this invention before it is coupled to a mating connector;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the electrical connector in FIG. 4 before it is couple to the mating connector;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an example of an FPC illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the FPC illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a rear view of another example of the FPC illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a cross section view of the electrical connector illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the electrical connector in a state where the FPC is inserted into the electrical connector and a slide insulator is movably engaged with a base insulator;

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 10 in a state where the slide insulator is being inserted into the base insulator;

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view similar to FIG. 11 in a state where the slide insulator is inserted to a predetermined position in the base insulator and the electrical connector is coupled to the mating connector;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of an electrical connector according to a second embodiment of this invention when it is coupled to a mating connector;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the electrical connector in FIG. 13 before the FPC is connected thereto;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to a third embodiment of this invention before it is coupled to a mating connector;

FIG. 16 is a cross sectional view of the electrical connector in FIG. 15 before it is coupled to the mating connector;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the electrical connector in FIG. 15 with a base insulator and a slide insulator separated;

FIG. 18 is a side view of the base insulator and the slide insulator illustrated in FIG. 17; and

FIG. 19 is a front view of the base insulator in FIG. 17.

In order to facilitate an understanding of this invention, description will at first be made about a conventional electrical connector.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, a conventional electrical connector comprises a base insulator 3, a pair of generally L-shaped holddowns 2 for fixedly holding the base insulator 3 mounted on a circuit board 8 (FIG. 3) such as a printed circuit board, a slide insulator 4 to be combines with the base insulator 3, a plurality of conductive contacts 5 fitted in the base insulator 3, and a wiring member object (herein, an FPC) 6 to be brought into electrical contact with the contacts 5.

The contacts 5 are formed by punching a single conductive plate of a thin thickness with a punch press. Each contact 5 has a contacting portion 5a, a holding portion 5c connected to one end of the contacting portion 5a, a terminal portion 5b connected to the holding portion 5c and extending in a direction opposite to the contacting portion 5a, and an engaging portion 5d extending from the holding portion 5c in parallel to the contacting portion 5a with a predetermined space kept from the contacting portion 5a.

The contacting portion 5a has a contacting point 5e protruding therefrom to be brought into contact with a plurality of conductive patterns 6a formed on one surface of the FPC 6. The terminal portion 5b protrudes outward from the base insulator 3.

The base insulator 3 has a hollow insert cavity 7 (FIG. 3) and a number of comb-like upper and lower projecting pieces 3a and 3b formed on upper and lower walls of the base insulator 3, respectively, for fitting the contact 5 inserted from a side opposite to the FPC 6. Between the upper and the lower projecting pieces 3a and 3b, the contacting portion 5a and the engaging portion 5d of each contact 5 are fitted. The base insulator 3 has a pair of engaging pieces 3c formed at longitudinal opposite ends thereof. Between each of the engaging pieces 3c and the base insulator 3, a space for receiving each of the holddowns 2 is defined and a protrusion (not shown) is formed to be inserted into an engaging groove 2a formed at an upper side of each of the holddowns 2. The holddowns 2 have lower portions 2b mounted on the circuit board 8 and fixed by screws.

The slide insulator 4 has a pair of locking protrusions 4a formed at longitudinal opposite ends thereof to be engaged with the engaging pieces 3c, respectively. Each of the engaging pieces 3c is provided with tapered locking portions 3d. A combination of the locking portions 3d and the locking protrusions 4a of the slide insulator 4 forms a locking mechanism.

The slide insulator 4 has sliding plate 4b to be inserted into the insert cavity of the base insulator 3.

The electrical connector of the above-mentioned structure is assembled as follows. In the disassembled state illustrated in FIG. 1, the holddowns 2 are attached to the base insulator 3. The slide insulator 4 is slid towards the base insulator 3 so that the locking protrusions 4a are locked to the locking portions 3d of the base insulator 3. The assembled state is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

As seen from FIG. 2, the lower portions 2b of the holddowns 2 protrude outward from the longitudinal opposite ends of the base insulator 3. As seen from FIG. 3, the engaging portion 5d of each contact 5 is fitted between the base insulator 3 and the sliding plate 4b of the slide insulator 4. A gap is formed between the upper projecting pieces 3a and the sliding plate 4b of the slide insulator 4. The contact point 5e of the contacting portion 5a of each contact 5 protrudes above-mentioned gap. The FPC 6 is inserted between the contact points 5e and the sliding plate 4b. The contact points 5e are put into contact with the conductive patterns 6a of the FPC 6 in one-to-one correspondence. Each contact point 5e is brought into contact with each conductive pattern 6a in a direction perpendicular to an inserting direction depicted at I in FIG. 3. When the conductive patterns 6a are located at a predetermined position in the insert cavity 7, the FPC 6 is pressed by the sliding plate 4b to be put into contact with the contacting points 5e.

The FPC is inserted into the insert cavity 7 together with the slide insulator 4. Then, the contacting portions 5a are faced to the conductive patterns 6a in one-to-one correspondence and the FPC 6 is pressed by the sliding plate 4b of the slide insulator 4. In this condition, the contacting points 5e and the conductive patterns 6a are brought into one-to-one contact.

In the meanwhile, the terminal portions 5b of the contacts 5 are soldered and electrically connected to a plurality of conductive portions of the circuit board 8 in one-to-one correspondence.

With the above-mentioned structure, the FPC 6 is put into contact with the contacting points 5e under a pressing force of the sliding plate 4b to be simply clamped between the sliding plate 4b and the contacting portions 5a having elasticity. Therefore, the slide insulator 4 is used as the connecting member for connecting the FPC 6 to the electrical connector mounted on a printed circuit.

The electrical connection by use of the slide insulator inserted into the electrical connector together with the wiring member has problems as described in the preamble.

Now, description will proceed to this invention in conjunction with several preferred embodiments thereof.

According to this invention, an electrical connector is used as a connecting member for connecting a wiring member such as FPC to another electrical connector mounted on an electrical device such as a printed circuit board. Although it is easy to connect the electrical connector to an end of the FPC, it is impossible to remove the connector from the FPC once both are connected.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, an electrical connector 11 as a connecting member according to a first embodiment of this invention is electrically and mechanically connected to one end of an FPC 14. The electrical connector 11 is used as a relay connector for electrically connecting a first electric apparatus connected to the other end of the FPC 14 and a second electric apparatus having a mating connector 30. The mating connector 30 is mounted on a circuit board 50 such as a printed circuit board.

The electrical connector 11 comprises an insulator 12, a plurality of conductive contacts 13 fitted in the insulator 12 and arranged in parallel to one another at a predetermined interval, and a slide insulator 15 for bringing the FPC 14 into contact with the contacts 13.

The insulator 12 has a base portion 12c, an insert cavity 120 defined in the base portion 12c to receive the FPC 14 and the slide insulator 15 in an inserting direction depicted at I in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a plurality of contact rooms 12a each connecting the insert cavity 120. The insulator 12 further has a fitting portion 12d formed on a base surface 12e of the base portion 12c to be coupled to the mating connector 30.

Each contact 13 is disposed in each of the contact rooms 12a. Each contact 13 has a holding portion 13c fixed to an inner wall of the contact room 12a, a first contacting portion 13a extending within the contact room 12a along the insert cavity 120 from the holding portion towards an opening end 12r of the insert cavity 120 in the inserting direction I, and an engaging portion 13b also extending within the contact room 12a in the inserting direction I from the holding portion towards the opening end 12r of the insert cavity 12a in parallel to the first contacting portion 13a with a predetermined space therebetween. The contact 13 further has a second contacting portion 13d of a socket-like shape extending from the holding portion 13c and received in an insertion hold 12f formed in the fitting portion 12d, and an additional holding portion 13g extending from the opening end 12r in the inserting direction I above the first contacting portion 13a and connected to the holding portion 13c.

The contacts 13 are formed by punching a conductive plate of a thin thickness with a punch press.

The first contacting portion 13a has a contacting point 13e projecting into insert cavity 120 to be brought into contact with a corresponding one of conductive patterns 14a of the FPC 14. The contacting point 13e protrudes from a free end of the first contacting portion 13a in a first direction (depicted at II in FIG. 5) and perpendicular to the inserting direction I to project into the insert cavity 120. The contacting point 13e is substantially faced to a top end of the engaging portion 13b.

The slide insulator 15 has a slider insert portion 15a to be inserted into the insert cavity 120 and between the first contacting portion 13a and the engaging portion 13b in the inserting direction I. The slide insulator 15 is provided with a flat reciving surface 15g for mounting the FPC 14. When the slider insert portion 15a and an end portion of the FPC 14 are inserted to a predetermined position of the insert cavity 120, the FPC 14 is pressed by the slider insert portion 15a towards the contacting point 13e, namely, in the first direction II.

When the slider insert portion 15a and the FPC 14 are not inserted into the insert cavity 120, the first contacting portion 13a is slightly inclined in a second direction (depicted at III in FIG. 5) opposite to the first direction II. In this state, the first contacting portion 13a exhibits zero elastic force.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 in detail, the FPC 14 has a strap-like flat shape and a flexible nature. The FPC 14 comprises a flexible insulating base member 14k, and a plurality of conductive patterns 14a formed on one surface of the insulating base member 14k. The conductive patterns 14a are arranged in parallel to one another in a widthwise direction of the insulating base member 14k at a predetermined interval. Each conductive pattern 14a extends in a longitudinal direction on the one surface of the insulating base member 14k. As shown in FIG. 7, a thin insulating member 14c is coated onto the insulating base member 14k and the conductive patterns 14a except an end portion of both surfaces. End portions of the conductive patterns 14a are exposed to form exposed ends for transmitting and receiving electric signals to and from contacting elements engaged therewith. As shown in FIG. 7, another thin insulating member 14c may preferably be coated onto the opposite side of the insulating base member 14k.

The electric connector according to the first embodiment is typically connected to the FPC 14 with the conductive patterns 14a formed on the one surface thereof, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. Alternatively, use can be made of the FPC 14 of the typed illustrated in FIG. 8. In addition to the conductive pattern 14a, this FPC 14 has a grounding conductive pattern 14b formed on the other surface opposite to the one surface with the conductive patterns 14a. In the illustrated FPC 14, the grounding conductive pattern 14b is formed on one end of the other surface of the insulating base member 14k.

The electrical connector 11 of the type adapted for use with the FPC 14 having the grounding conductive pattern 14b will later be described.

Turning back to FIG. 5, the slider insert portion 15a of the slide insulator 15 has first and second engaging arrangements. The first engaging arrangement is engaged with the FPC 14 to inhibit the FPC 14 from moving in a releasing direction opposite to the inserting direction I when the slider insert portion 15a and the end portion of the FPC 14 are located at the predetermined position in the insert cavity 120 of the base portion 12c. The second engaging arrangement is engaged with the engaging portion 13b of the contact 13 in the releasing direction when the slider insert portion 15a is located at the predetermined position.

The FPC 14 is provided with a reinforcing member 18 of a long plate shape formed at the top end portion of the other surface thereof. The reinforcing member 18 preferably comprises an insulating material. The reinforcing member projects downwards and engages with the first engaging arrangement of the slider insert portion 15a.

The first engaging arrangement comprises an engaging step portion 15d formed on the slider insert portion 15a in the form of a descending step to be faced to and engaged with the reinforcing member 18 in the releasing direction. The reinforcing member 18 has a thickness greater than the FPC 14 itself.

The engaging portion 13b of the contact 13 is provided with a contact-side engaging protrusion 13f. The contact-side engaging protrusion 13f protrudes towards the first engaging portion 13a. The second engaging arrangement has a slider-side engaging recess 15f formed in the slider insert portion 15a to be faced to and engaged with the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f in the releasing direction.

On the other hand, the mating connector 30 comprises a mating insulator 30a and a plurality of conductive mating contacts 31 fitted in the mating insulator 30a, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. The mating insulator 30a has a mating fitting portion 30b formed as a cavity having a size sufficient to be coupled with the fitting portion 12d.

Each of the mating contact 31 has a holding portion 31a held in the mating insulator 30a, a pin-like mating contacting portion 31b extending from the holding portion 31a in the releasing direction to be releasably connected to the second contacting portion 13d of the contact 13, and a terminal portion 31f extending from the holding portion 31a outward of the mating insulator 30a to be soldered to a corresponding one of a plurality of conducting portions of the circuit board 50 contained in an electric apparatus. In this embodiment, the mating contacting portions 31b are alternately arranged up and down in a longitudinal direction of the mating fitting portion 30b to form upper and lower rows within the mating fitting portion 30b.

Likewise, both of the second contacting portions 13d of the contacts 13 and the insertion holes 12f are alternately arranged up and down in a longitudinal direction of the insulator 15.

Referring to FIG. 4, the electrical connector 11 has a pair of hooks 12n on an outer surface of the insulator 12. On the other hand the mating connector 30 has a pair of grooves 30c in an outer surface of the mating insulator 30a. When the both connectors 11 and 13 are mated with each other, they are locked and maintained in the connection condition. Therefore, the connection condition is not destroyed by vibration of the electric apparatus, at all. The hooks 12n have elasticity so that the hooks 12n can be elastically bent to go out of the grooves 30c. Therefore, both connectors 11 and 30 can be easily disconnected.

Thus, it is preferably that the pair of connectors mating each other has releasable connector locking means for maintaining the connection condition.

Next referring to FIGS. 9 through 12, description will be made in detail as regard attachment of FPC 14 to the electrical connector 11.

Referring to FIG. 9, the electrical connector 11 is illustrated before the FPC 14 is inserted into the insert cavity 120 of the insulator 12. In the illustrated state, the slide insulator 15 can be moved in the inserting direction I, the releasing direction, the first direction II, and the second direction III. In the figure, the slider-side engaging recess 15f of the slider insert portion 15a is engaged with the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f. Since the slider insert portion 15a is engaged with the engaging portion 13b but is still movable in the space between the first contacting portion 13a and the engaging portion 13b of the contact 13, the slide insulator 15 can be moved in the inserting direction I, the releasing direction, the first direction II, and the second direction III. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the slider-side engaging recess 15f can be disengaged from the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f so that the slide insulator 15 is released from the insulator 12.

In order to bring the FPC 14 into contact with the first contacting portion 13, the slide insulator 15 is removed from the state illustrated in FIG. 9. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the FPC 14 is inserted towards the holding portion 13c with the reinforcing member 18 directed forward in the inserting direction I and faced downward to the engaging portion 13b. Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the slide insulator 15 is relocated to support on the receiving surface 15g that part of the FPC 14 which is adjacent to the top end portion. Then, the slide insulator 15 is inserted into the insert cavity 120 in the inserting direction I. As a consequence, a leading end of the slider insert portion 15a is moved inward in the insert cavity 120. At this time, the reinforcing member 18 of the FPC 14 is located at the inner part of the insert cavity 120. When the slide insulator 15 is further moved in the inserting direction I to reach the predetermined position, the reinforcing member 18 and the engaging step portion 15d of the slider insert portion 15a are engaged with each other, as illustrated in FIG. 12. Simultaneously, the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f and the slider-side engaging recess 15f are engaged with each other. Therefore, the FPC 14 and the slide insulator 15 are inhibited from being moved in the releasing direction.

In the above-mentioned state, the receiving surface 15g which is an upper surface of the slider insert portion 15a presses the FPC 14 towards the contacting points 13e of the contacts 13. Therefore, the conductive patterns 14a are kept in contact with the contacting points 13e under appropriate pressing force of the slider insert portion 15a in addition to elastic force of the contacting portions 13a of a leaf spring shape.

In the condition illustrated in FIG. 12, the FPC 14 and the slide insulator 15 can not be moved in any one of the inserting direction I, the releasing direction, the first direction II, and the second direction III shown in FIG. 9. If the FPC 14 is forcibly pulled out in the releasing direction, any one of the FPC 14, the slide insulator 15, the reinforcing member 18, and the insulator 12 will be broken. Therefore, the electrical connector 11 of the above-mentioned structure assures permanent connection of the FPC 14.

Thus, the slide insulator 15 and the FPC 14 are locked in the electrical connector 11 and can not be removed therefrom without destroying the connector.

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the electrical connector 11 according to a second embodiment of this invention is similar to the first embodiment except the structures of the first engaging arrangement and the FPC 14 to be engaged by the first engaging arrangement. In this embodiment, the engaging step portion 15d and the reinforcing member 18 in the first embodiment are replaced by different structures which will hereafter be described. Similar parts are designated by like reference numerals and will not be described in detail.

The electrical connector 11 in the second embodiment is for use with the FPC 14 illustrated in FIG. 6. As seen from FIGS. 6 and 13, the FPC 14 has a pair of step portions 14e formed by widening the leading end portion of the FPC 14. The first engaging arrangement is formed on the slide insulator 15. As illustrated in FIGS. 6, 13, and 14, the first engaging arrangement comprises a pair of protrusions 15e formed on the receiving surface 15g of the slide insulator 15 to be engaged with the step portions 14e of the FPC 14 in the releasing direction.

Like in the first embodiment, the second engaging arrangement comprises the slider-side engaging recess 15f. The slider-side engaging recess 15f is engaged with the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f formed on the engaging portion 13b of the contact 13.

The slide insulator 15 is inserted into the insert cavity 120a with the protrusions 15e respectively engaged with the step portions 14e in the releasing direction as shown in FIGS. 6, 13, and 14. When the predetermined position is reached, the conductive patterns 14a are brought into contact with the contacting points 13e in one-to-one correspondence.

Instead of use of the step portions 14e, the FPC 14 in the second embodiment may have a pair of insertion holes 14g (depicted at dotted-line circles in FIG. 6) formed in the widened portions at both sides of thereof, and a pair of protrusions (not shown) are formed on the receiving surface 15g of the slide insulator 15 to be fitted in the insertion holes 14g.

Referring to FIGS. 15 and 16, the electrical connector 11 according to a third embodiment of this invention is substantially similar to that of the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13. Similar parts are designated by like reference numerals and will not be described. The electrical connector 11 in this embodiment is for use with the FPC 14 having the conductive patterns 14a formed on one surface as signal lines and the grounding conductive pattern 14b formed on the other surface opposite to the one surface, as described in conjunction with FIG. 8. This structure enables both signal line connection and ground connection.

As seen from FIGS. 15 and 16, the insulator 12 has an outer surface covered by a conductive base shell member 41. The base shell member 41 is formed by punching and bending a thin conductive plate. On an under the fitting portion 12d, the base shell member 41 is provided with a pair of first cut-and-bent pieces 41a formed by cutting and outwardly bending small parts of each of upper and lower walls of the base shell member 41, and a pair of second cut-and-bent pieces 41b formed by cutting and inwardly bending small parts of both side walls.

The slide insulator 15 has an outer surface covered with a conductive slide shell member 42 except a part faced to the engaging portions 13b of the contacts 13. The FPC 14 is placed on the slide shell member 42 on the receiving surface 15g which is the upper surface of the slider insert portion 15a. The grounding conductive pattern 14b of the FPC 14 is brought into contact with the slide shell member 42 on the receiving surface 15g. The FPC 14 is clamped between the contacting points 13e of the contacts 3 and the slide shell member 42.

The first engaging arrangement comprises a pair of the protrusions 15e formed on the slide insulator 15 to engage in the releasing direction a pair of the step portions 14e formed by widening the leading end portion of the FPC 14, in the manner similar to that described in conjunction with FIGS. 6, 13, and 14. The second engaging arrangement comprises the slider-side engaging recess 15f formed in the slider insert portion 15a of the slide insulator 15 to be engaged in the releasing direction with the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f formed on the engaging portion 13b of the contact 13.

The slide insulator 15 is inserted into the insert cavity 120 with the protrusions 15e on the slider mount surface 15e engaged with the step portions 14e of the FPC 14 in one-to-one correspondence. Then, the conductive patterns 14a as the signal lines are brought into contact with the contacting points 13e at the predetermined position. At this time, the grounding conductive pattern 14b is put into contact with the slide shell member 42. Simultaneously, opposite side surfaces of the slide shell member 42 are put into contact with the second cut-and-bent pieces 41b of the base shell member 41.

On the other hand, the mating connector 30 comprises the mating insulator 30a, the conductive mating contacts 31 fitted in the mating insulator 30a, and a mating shell member 51 covering the mating insulator 30a and the mating contacts 31b so as to fit the fitting portion 12d therein. The mating shell member 51 is fixed to a grounding conductive portion of the circuit board 50 through holddowns 51a formed on the mating shell member 51, as illustrated in FIG. 16.

When the electrical connector 11 and the mating connector 30 are coupled to each other, the contacts 13 and the mating contacts 31 are connected to each other to enable signal transmission and reception. Simultaneously, the grounding conductive pattern 14b is connected to ground through the slide shell member 42, the second cut-and-bent pieces 41b of the base shell member 41, the base shell member 41, the first cut-and-bent pieces 41a of the base shell member 41, the mating shell member 51, and the holddowns 51a, and the grounding conductive portion of the circuit board 50.

Referring to FIGS. 17 through 19, the electrical connector 11 according to a fourth embodiment of this invention is related to an engaging structure between the insulator 12 and the slide insulator 15 in the electrical connector 11. Similar parts are designated by like reference numerals and will not be described in detail.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 9, 10, 17 through 19, the insulator 12 comprises the base portion 12c with the insert cavity 120 defined therein, and the fitting portion 12d formed on the base surface 12e of the base portion 12c to be fitted to the mating fitting portion 30b of the mating connector 30.

The base portion 12c has block portions 12h formed on both sides thereof. Each block portion 12h is provided with a base-side engaging recess 12m extending from the bottom in the inserting direction I and the first direction II.

The base-side engaging recess 12m has an internal wall surface provided with a first guide groove 12p extending from the open end of the insert cavity 120 in the inserting direction I, a second guide groove 12r continuously extending from the first guide groove 12p in the inserting direction I, and a first projecting portion 12t formed between the first and the second guide grooves 12p and 12r.

The slide insulator 15 has a pair of engaging plates 15m formed on longitudinal opposite sides thereof to be fitted in the base-side engaging grooves 12m in the inserting direction I. Each of the engaging plates 15m is provided with a second projecting portion 15r formed on an outer surface thereof.

When the slide insulator 15 is inserted into the insert cavity 120, the engaging plates 15m are inserted into the first guide grooves 12p, respectively. Each of the second projecting portion 15r passes through the first guide groove 12p, over the first projecting portion 12t, and into the second guide groove 12r to be engaged therewith in the releasing direction.

As seen from FIG. 17, the first projecting portion 12t has a slant surface and an orthogonal surface at the sides of the first and the second guide grooves 12p and 12r, respectively. With this structure, the second projecting portion 15r easily passes over the slant surface of the first projecting portion 12t in the inserting direction I. On the other hand, in the releasing direction, the second projecting portion 15r is received by the orthogonal surface of the first projecting portion 12t. With this structure, the slide insulator 15 can not easily released when it is located at the predetermined position within the insert cavity 120. In FIG. 18, the second projecting portion 15r inserted into the second groove 12r is depicted by a real-line circle.

When the second projecting portions 15r are inserted into the second guide grooves 12r, the slide insulator 15 can be rotated with the second projecting portions 15r as the center of rotation, as illustrated in FIG. 10. In this state, the FPC 14 is inserted into the insert cavity 120. Thereafter, the slide insulator 15 is rotated to the position illustrated in FIG. 11 and then inserted into the insert cavity 120. At this time, the second projecting portions 15r are guided by the second guide grooves 12r to be moved inward.

When the slide insulator 15 reaches the predetermined position in the insert cavity 120 as illustrated in FIG. 12, the contacting points 13e of the contacts 13 and the conductive patterns 14a of the FPC 14 are brought into contact with each other. Simultaneously, the engaging step portion 15d as the first engaging arrangement is engaged with the reinforcing member 18 while the slider-side engaging recess 15f as the second engaging arrangement is engaged with the contact-side engaging protrusion 13f of the contact 13. Thus, connection of the FPC 14 is completed.

As thus far been described, according to this invention, the FPC 14 is engaged with the slide insulator 15 in the releasing direction and the slide insulator 15 is engaged with the contacts 13 in the releasing direction. Therefore, even if the FPC 14 is pulled in the releasing direction, the connection object can not be easily released from the insulator 12 and the slide insulator 15.

Since the slide insulator 15 is engaged with the contacts 13 in the releasing direction and the FPC 14 is engaged with the slide insulator 15 in the releasing direction, sufficient resistant force is assured against pull-out force. Therefore, a compact and high-density arrangement of the contacts is achieved.

According to this invention, it is also possible to meet the demand for permanently maintaining the connection once the FPC 14 is connected to the electrical connector 11.

In addition, the slide insulator 15 and the insulator 12 are integrally held with the second projecting portions 15r inserted into and engaged with the second guide grooves 12r. Therefore, the slide insulator 15 is easily inserted into the insert cavity 120.

It will be noted that the second and the third embodiments are preferably provided with a releasable connector locking means similar to the locking means shown in FIG. 4, or modified or various connector locking means for the same purpose.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in connection with use of FPC as the wiring member, this invention is not restricted to use of FPC, but can be applied to use of FFC and other wiring member.