US-12627088-B2 - Connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board

Abstract

A connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board includes: a flexible printed circuit board; a connector having a terminal to be connected to a line provided for the flexible printed circuit board and joined to the flexible printed circuit board; and a reinforcing plate fixed to a surface of the flexible printed circuit board opposite to a portion joined to the connector, in which the connector has a joint protrusion configured to penetrate the flexible printed circuit board, and a stopper structure that restricts movement of the connector in a direction apart from the flexible printed circuit board is provided in addition to joint between the line and the terminal and the joint protrusion.

Inventors

• Shuzo Yamada
• Tomoki Kanayama
• Tasuku Ono

Assignees

• MEKTEC CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231005

Priority Date

20221227

Claims (5)

1. 1 . A connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board comprising: a flexible printed circuit board; a connector having a terminal to be connected to a line provided for the flexible printed circuit board and joined to the flexible printed circuit board; and a reinforcing plate fixed to a surface of the flexible printed circuit board opposite to a portion joined to the connector, wherein the connector has a joint protrusion configured to penetrate the flexible printed circuit board, a stopper structure that restricts movement of the connector in a direction apart from the flexible printed circuit board is provided in addition to joint between the line and the terminal and the joint protrusion, the stopper structure includes a support member, and the support member has a support plate portion contacting a surface of the connector opposite to a surface joined to the flexible printed circuit board, a pair of side plate portions extending from both sides of the support plate portion toward the reinforcing plate, and engagement portions each provided at tip ends of the pair of side plate portions to engage with the reinforcing plate.
2. 2 . The connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the support member includes a cover that covers the terminal and an exposed portion of the line on the flexible printed circuit board.
3. 3 . A connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board comprising: a flexible printed circuit board; a connector having a terminal to be connected to a line provided for the flexible printed circuit board and joined to the flexible printed circuit board; and a reinforcing plate fixed to a surface of the flexible printed circuit board opposite to a portion joined to the connector, wherein the connector has a joint protrusion configured to penetrate the flexible printed circuit board, a stopper structure that restricts movement of the connector in a direction apart from the flexible printed circuit board is provided in addition to joint between the line and the terminal and the joint protrusion, the stopper structure includes a pair of side plate portions extending along side wall surfaces of the connector, and engagement portions each provided at tip ends of the pair of side plate portions to engage with the side wall surfaces of the connector, and the pair of side plate portions and the engagement portions are included in the reinforcing plate.
4. 4 . The connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board according to claim 3 , wherein the stopper structure includes a reinforcing support member, and the reinforcing support member has a support plate portion contacting a surface of the connector opposite to a surface joined to the flexible printed circuit board, a pair of reinforcing side plate portions extending from both sides of the support plate portion along the pair of side plate portions of the reinforcing plate, and reinforcing engagement portions each provided at tip ends of the pair of reinforcing side plate portions to engage with the pair of side plate portions.
5. 5 . The connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board according to claim 4 , wherein the reinforcing support member includes a cover that covers the terminal and an exposed portion of the line on the flexible printed circuit board.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-209734 filed with the Japan Patent Office on Dec. 27, 2022, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board. 2. Related Art For electric connection components included in various devices, one using a wire harness has been replaced with one using a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as an “FPC”). Such a component is provided with a connector for electric connection. As compared to joint strength between a line and a connector in the former component, joint strength between an FPC and a connector in the latter component tends to be lower. Particularly, in the case of application for vehicle installation, vibration and impact act on a portion of the FPC joined to the connector not only upon assembly but also upon vehicle use, and for this reason, there has been a demand for a higher joint strength. For example, in the case of a connector of about 30 poles, a joint strength of about 50 N is required. A connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as a “connector-equipped FPC 500”) according to the prior art will be described with reference to FIGS. 17, 18A, and 18B. FIGS. 17, 18A, and 18B are schematic views of the configuration of the connector-equipped FPC 500 according to the prior art. Note that FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the vicinity of a connector of the connector-equipped FPC 500. FIG. 18A is a side view showing the vicinity of the connector of the connector-equipped FPC 500. FIG. 18B is a sectional view along a DD line of FIG. 17. The connector-equipped FPC 500 includes an FPC 510, a connector 520 joined to the FPC 510, and a reinforcing plate 530. The reinforcing plate 530 is fixed to the surface of the FPC 510 opposite to the portion joined to the connector 520. The FPC 510 includes a plurality of lines 511 formed by etching of metal foil (e.g., copper foil) and resin films 512 covering both surfaces of the lines 511. Note that in FIG. 17, the lines 511 are shown in a see-through state and are indicated by dashed lines. The connector 520 includes a housing 521 and a plurality of terminals 522 each connected to the plurality of lines 511. The plurality of lines 511 and the plurality of terminals 522 are joined to each other by soldering, and accordingly, the connector 520 is joined to the FPC 510. However, joint force between the FPC 510 and the connector 520 is weak only by joint between the plurality of lines 511 and the plurality of terminals 522. For this reason, the reinforcing plate 530 is provided, and a plurality of joint protrusions 523 configured to penetrate the FPC 510 is provided at the connector 520. These joint protrusions 523 are provided integrally with protrusion holding portions 521a of the housing 521. These joint protrusions 523 are configured to penetrate the FPC 510 and fit in a plurality of through-holes 531 provided in the reinforcing plate 530 when the connector 520 is arranged (joined) on the FPC 510. Moreover, the joint force is enhanced by flow soldering for the periphery of the through-holes, through which the joint protrusions 523 penetrate, of the FPC 510. The above-described configuration is employed so that the joint force between the FPC 510 and the connector 520 can be enhanced. However, there has been a demand for further reduction in damage of the FPC 510 when the connector-equipped FPC 500 receives vibration or impact. Note that the prior art documents of this field include, for example, JP-A-2006-108387. SUMMARY A connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board includes: a flexible printed circuit board; a connector having a terminal to be connected to a line provided for the flexible printed circuit board and joined to the flexible printed circuit board; and a reinforcing plate fixed to a surface of the flexible printed circuit board opposite to a portion joined to the connector, in which the connector has a joint protrusion configured to penetrate the flexible printed circuit board, and a stopper structure that restricts movement of the connector in a direction apart from the flexible printed circuit board is provided in addition to joint between the line and the terminal and the joint protrusion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic views of the configuration of a connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic views of the configuration of the connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views of the configuration of the connector-equipped flexible printed circuit board according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the