Low profile clamping mechanism for connecting a printed circuit board to a flexible printed circuit

摘要

A clamping mechanism (10) for connecting a printed circuit board (12) having a plurality of electrically conductive pads (14) to a flexible printed circuit having a plurality of electrically conductive raised dots (18). A housing (20) having a mouth (22) is located upon the printed circuit board at the plurality of pads. A pair of L-shaped leaf springs (28, 28') are connected with the housing. A cam body (40) having a rounded cam surface (42), an opposite grasping lever (44), and a pair of opposing first and second flat surfaces (46, 48) therebetween is rotatably connected to the leaf springs. A first stiffener (58) is attached to the flexible printed circuit opposite the raised dots thereof which is configured to alignably fit with the shape of the mouth of the housing to thereby align the raised dots with the pads. A second stiffener (54) is provided at the printed circuit board opposite the housing.