CN107887759B

CN107887759B - Card edge connector

Info

Publication number: CN107887759B
Application number: CN201610864181.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵卫; 李志强; 王建新; 王剑锋; 张远波
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Shanghai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tyco Electronics Shanghai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-09-29
Filing date: 2016-09-29
Publication date: 2020-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2036-09-29
Also published as: CN107887759A

Abstract

The invention discloses a card edge connector, comprising: a body formed with a slot adapted to insert an electronic card; and a pair of locking devices respectively arranged at two ends of the body and suitable for locking the electronic card. Each of the locking devices includes: a rotating member pivotally mounted in the body, rotatable between a locked position engaging a side edge of the electronic card and an unlocked position disengaged from the side edge of the electronic card; and a driving member slidably installed in the body and movable in a vertical direction in accordance with a plugging direction of the electronic card so as to drive the rotating member to rotate from the locking position to the unlocking position. In the present invention, since the driving member for unlocking moves in the vertical direction in accordance with the insertion and extraction direction of the electronic card, the entire locking device occupies a very small space outside the body.

Description

Card edge connector

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a card edge connector, and more particularly, to a card edge connector having a locking and unlocking structure.

Background

In the prior art, a DDR DIMM (Double Data Rate Small Outline Dual inline memory Module) card edge connector generally includes a body and a pair of locking pieces mounted at two ends of the body. A slot suitable for inserting an electronic card is formed in the body. The locking member is rotatable inwardly to a closed position and outwardly to an open position. When the locking member is rotated inward to the closed position, the card may be locked to the card edge connector such that the card cannot be pulled out of the card edge connector. When the locking member is rotated outward to the open position, the locking of the card is released so that the card can be pulled out from the card edge connector.

In the prior art, in order to reduce the unlocking operation force of the locking member, the locking member generally has a relatively long moment arm, so that when the locking member is rotated outward to the open position, the relatively long moment arm needs to occupy a large space outside the connector, resulting in a waste of circuit board space. In addition, the existing locking piece can only be rotated to open, and the operation is very inconvenient.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a card edge connector, wherein a locking device in the card edge connector is small in size, and the unlocking operation of the card edge connector is very convenient.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card edge connector for plugging an electronic card, the card edge connector comprising: a body formed with a slot adapted to insert an electronic card; and a pair of locking devices respectively arranged at two ends of the body and suitable for locking the electronic card. Each of the locking devices includes: a rotating member pivotally mounted in the body, rotatable between a locked position engaging a side edge of the electronic card and an unlocked position disengaged from the side edge of the electronic card; and a driving member slidably installed in the body and movable in a direction in accordance with a direction of insertion and removal of the electronic card so as to drive the rotating member to rotate from the locking position to the unlocking position.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the rotating member includes a first rotating arm on which a locking portion is formed, and the driving member is adapted to rotate the rotating member from the locking position to the unlocking position by pushing the first rotating arm; when in the locked position, a locking portion on the rotating member engages with a notch on the electronic card so that the electronic card is locked in the card edge connector; when the card connector is in the unlocking position, the locking part on the rotating piece is separated from the notch on the electronic card, so that the electronic card can be pulled out of the card edge connector.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the first rotating arm has a smooth arc-shaped end surface, the bottom of the driving member has an inclined bottom surface, and when the driving member pushes the first rotating arm or the first rotating arm pushes the driving member, the arc-shaped end surface of the first rotating arm contacts with the inclined bottom surface of the driving member and slides along the inclined bottom surface.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the rotating member further comprises a second rotating arm; during the process of inserting the electronic card into the card edge connector, the bottom of the electronic card pushes the second rotating arm of the rotating member, so that the rotating member rotates from the unlocking position to the locking position.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the drive member is movable between a first position and a second position; during the process of inserting the electronic card into the card edge connector, the first rotating arm of the rotating member pushes the driving member, so that the driving member moves from the first position to the second position.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, during the process of moving the driving member from the second position to the first position, the bottom of the driving member pushes the first rotating arm of the rotating member, so that the rotating member rotates from the locking position to the unlocking position.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the body comprises a horizontally extending main body portion and two vertically extending cylindrical end portions at both ends of the main body portion; the slots include a horizontal slot formed in the body portion and a vertical slot formed in the cylindrical end portion; a bottom edge of the electronic card is adapted to be inserted into the horizontal slot, and a side edge of the electronic card is adapted to be inserted into the vertical slot.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the pair of locking means are respectively provided in two vertically extending cylindrical end portions of the body; and a housing cavity is formed in each of the columnar end portions, the rotary member and the drive member being housed in the housing cavity.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a pivot hole is formed on a side wall of the receiving chamber, and a pivot shaft is formed on the rotating member, the pivot shaft being fitted in the pivot hole.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a positioning projection is formed on an outer surface of the rotary piece opposite to the side wall of the accommodating chamber, and the positioning projection cooperates with the side wall projection of the accommodating chamber to hold the rotary piece in the unlock position.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an accommodating groove adapted to accommodate the locking part is formed at a lower end of the driving member; when the rotating member is in the locking position, the locking portion is rotated to an outside of the receiving groove and engaged with the electronic card; when the rotary piece is in the unlocking position, the locking part is received in the receiving groove and separated from the electronic card.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a guide protrusion having an inclined assembly slope is formed on a surface of the driver opposite to a side wall of the receiving cavity to guide smooth insertion of the driver into the receiving cavity.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the drive member has a pressing head located outside the accommodation chamber, the drive member being movable from the second position to the first position by pressing the pressing head in a vertically downward direction.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an anti-slip groove is formed on a top surface of the pressing head.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a vertically extending retaining groove is formed inside the pressing head, in which retaining groove a side edge of the electronic card is adapted to be retained.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the vertical insertion slot has a flared entrance gradually increasing outward so as to guide the side edges of the electronic card to be smoothly inserted into the vertical insertion slot.

In each of the above exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, the driving member for unlocking is moved in the vertical direction in accordance with the inserting and extracting direction of the electronic card, and therefore, the entire locking device occupies a very small space outside the body. In addition, since the locking device can be unlocked by pressing the driving member in the vertical direction, the unlocking operation is very convenient.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings, and may assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a card edge connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a locking device is in an unlocked position;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a partial insertion of an electronic card into a card edge connector with the locking device also in an unlocked position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electronic card and the locking device shown in FIG. 2, wherein the locking device is in an unlocked position;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a card fully inserted into a card edge connector with a locking device in a locked position;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the electronic card and the locking device shown in FIG. 4, wherein the locking device is in a locked position;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the movement of the locking device from the unlocked position to the locked position;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the movement of the locking device from the locked position to the unlocked position; and

fig. 8 shows a perspective view of the rotating member of the locking device shown in fig. 3, 5 to 7.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme of the invention is further specifically described by the following embodiments and the accompanying drawings. In the specification, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar components. The following description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the general inventive concept of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

Furthermore, in the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure. It may be evident, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in schematic form in order to simplify the drawing.

According to one general technical concept of the present invention, there is provided a card edge connector, including: a body formed with a slot adapted to insert an electronic card; and a pair of locking devices respectively arranged at two ends of the body and suitable for locking the electronic card. Each of the locking devices includes: a rotating member pivotally mounted in the body, rotatable between a locked position engaging a side edge of the electronic card and an unlocked position disengaged from the side edge of the electronic card; and a driving member slidably installed in the body and movable in a vertical direction in accordance with a plugging direction of the electronic card so as to drive the rotating member to rotate from the locking position to the unlocking position.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the card edge connector may be used to receive an electronic card 10. In one embodiment of the present invention, the card edge connector mainly includes a

body

100, 200 and a pair of locking devices (to be described later in detail).

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a

socket

101, 201 adapted to receive an electronic card 10 is formed in a

body

100, 200 of the card edge connector. The

body

100, 200 includes a horizontally extending main body portion 100 and two vertically extending cylindrical end portions 200 at both ends of the main body portion 100. The

slots

101, 201 of the card edge connector include a horizontal slot 101 formed in the body portion 100 and a vertical slot 201 formed in the column end portion 200. A pair of locking devices are respectively disposed at both ends of the

bodies

100, 200, and adapted to lock the electronic card 10 in the

insertion slot

101, 201 of the card edge connector.

As shown in fig. 3 and 5, in the illustrated embodiment, each locking device mainly includes one rotating member 300 and one driving member 400. The rotary member 300 is pivotally mounted in the

body

100, 200, rotatable between a locking position (position shown in fig. 5) engaging with the side edge 12 of the electronic card 10 and an unlocking position (position shown in fig. 3) disengaging from the side edge 12 of the electronic card 10. The driving member 400 is slidably mounted in the

body

100, 200, and is movable in directions F1, F2 that coincide with the insertion and extraction direction of the electronic card 10, so as to drive the rotation member 300 to rotate from the locked position to the unlocked position.

Fig. 8 shows a perspective view of the rotating member. As shown in fig. 8, the rotary member 300 includes a first rotary arm 310, and a locking part 340 is formed on the first rotary arm 310.

As shown in fig. 5, the driving member 400 is adapted to rotate the rotating member 300 from the locking position to the unlocking position by pushing the first rotating arm 310. When the rotary member 300 is in the locked position, the locking portion 340 on the rotary member 300 engages with the notch 12a on the electronic card 10, so that the electronic card 10 is locked in the card edge connector.

As shown in fig. 3, in the unlocking position, the locking portion 340 on the rotary member 300 is separated from the notch 12a on the electronic card 10, so that the electronic card 10 can be withdrawn from the card edge connector.

With continued reference to fig. 8, the rotating member 300 further includes a second rotating arm 320. As shown in fig. 6, during the process of inserting the electronic card 10 into the card edge connector, the bottom 11a of the electronic card 10 pushes the second rotating arm 320 of the rotating member 300, so that the rotating member 300 rotates from the unlocking position to the locking position.

As shown in fig. 3, during the process of inserting the electronic card 10 into the card edge connector, the first rotating arm 310 of the rotating member 300 pushes the driving member 400, so that the driving member 400 moves from the first position (the position shown in fig. 3) to the second position (the position shown in fig. 5).

As shown in fig. 6, in the process that the driving member 400 moves from the second position to the first position, the bottom 400a of the driving member 400 pushes the first rotating arm 310 of the rotating member 300, so that the rotating member 300 rotates from the locking position to the unlocking position.

As shown in fig. 2 and 4, the bottom edge 11 of the electronic card 10 is adapted to be inserted into the horizontal slot 101 and the side edge 12 of the electronic card 10 is adapted to be inserted into the vertical slot 201.

As shown in fig. 1, a pair of locking devices are provided in two vertically extending cylindrical end portions 200 of the

bodies

100, 200, respectively. A receiving cavity 202 is formed in each of the cylindrical end portions 200, and the rotary member 300 and the driving member 400 are received in the receiving cavity 202.

As shown in fig. 1, a pivot hole 203 is formed on a side wall of the receiving cavity 202, and a pivot shaft 330 is formed on the rotary member 300, the pivot shaft 330 being fitted in the pivot hole 203.

As shown in fig. 8, a positioning protrusion 311 is formed on an outer surface of the rotary member 300 opposite to the side wall of the receiving cavity 202, and the positioning protrusion 311 is frictionally engaged with a protrusion or rib (not shown) of the side wall of the receiving cavity 202 to hold the rotary member 300 at the unlocking position, so as to prevent the rotary member 300 from rotating back to the locking position and block the electronic card from being inserted.

As shown in fig. 3 and 5, an accommodation groove 410 adapted to accommodate the locking part 340 is formed at the lower end of the driving member 400. When the rotary 300 is in the locking position shown in fig. 3, the locking part 340 is rotated to the outside of the receiving groove 410 and engaged with the electronic card 10. When the rotary 300 is in the unlocking position shown in fig. 5, the locking part 340 is received in the receiving groove 410 and separated from the electronic card 10.

As shown in fig. 3, two guide protrusions 420 are formed on a surface of the driving member 400 opposite to the side wall of the receiving cavity 202, and each guide protrusion 420 has an inclined assembly slope 421 so that the driving member 400 is smoothly pressed into a guide groove (not shown) of the receiving cavity 202 during product assembly. The driver 400 is movable up and down in a direction corresponding to the card insertion direction by the cooperation of the two guide protrusions 420 and the guide grooves of the receiving cavity 202. At the same time, the upper guide protrusion 420 can limit the driving member 400 from moving upwards to disengage from the guide slot of the receiving cavity 202.

As shown in fig. 5 and 7, the driving member 400 has a pressing head 430 located outside the accommodating chamber 202, and the driving member 400 can be moved from the second position to the first position by pressing the pressing head 430 in a vertically downward direction F1.

As shown in fig. 1, in the illustrated embodiment, a vertically extending retaining groove 431 is formed inside the pressing head 430, and the side edge 12 of the electronic card 10 is adapted to be retained in the retaining groove 431.

As shown in fig. 1, in the illustrated embodiment, the vertical insertion slot 201 has a flared entrance 201a gradually increasing outward so as to guide the side edge 12 of the electronic card 10 to be smoothly inserted into the vertical insertion slot 201.

As shown in fig. 5 and 8, the first rotating arm 310 has a smooth arc-shaped end surface 310a, the bottom 400a of the driving member 400 has an inclined bottom surface, and when the driving member 400 pushes the first rotating arm 310 or the first rotating arm 310 pushes the driving member 400, the arc-shaped end surface 310a of the first rotating arm 310 contacts with and slides along the inclined bottom surface of the driving member 400.

The process of moving the locking device from the unlocked position to the locked position will now be described with reference to fig. 6.

As shown in fig. 6, when the electronic card 10 is inserted, the bottom 11a of the electronic card 10 pushes the second rotating arm 320 of the rotating member 300 in a vertically downward direction F1, so that the rotating member 300 rotates around the illustrated clockwise direction R1 until the rotating member 300 rotates to the locking position; meanwhile, the first rotating arm 310 of the rotating member 300 pushes the driving member 400 upward, so that the driving member 400 moves in the vertically upward direction F2 until the driving member 400 moves to the first position.

The process of moving the locking device from the locked position to the unlocked position will now be described with reference to fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 7, when the driver 400 is pressed in the vertical downward direction F1, the bottom 400a of the driver 400 pushes the first rotating arm 310 of the rotator 300 in the vertical downward direction F1, so that the rotator 300 rotates in the counterclockwise direction R2 as shown in the figure until the rotator 300 rotates to the unlocking position; meanwhile, the second rotating arm 320 of the rotating member 300 pushes the bottom 11a of the electronic card 10 upwards, so that the electronic card 10 moves along the vertical upward direction F2 until the electronic card 10 moves to a position separated from the rotating member 300.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiments are exemplary and changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

It should be noted that the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the words "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. Furthermore, any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An edge connector for receiving an electronic card (10), the edge connector comprising:

a body (100, 200) formed with a slot (101, 201) suitable for plugging the electronic card (10); and

a pair of locking devices (300, 400) respectively arranged at both ends of the body (100, 200) and adapted to lock the electronic card (10),

the method is characterized in that:

each of the locking devices (300, 400) comprises:

a rotary member (300) pivotally mounted in said body (100, 200) rotatable between a locked position engaging with a side edge (12) of said electronic card (10) and an unlocked position disengaged from a side edge (12) of said electronic card (10); and

a driving member (400) slidably mounted in said body (100, 200) and movable in a direction (F1, F2) coinciding with the insertion and extraction direction of said electronic card (10) so as to drive said rotating member (300) to rotate from said locking position to said unlocking position,

the rotating member (300) comprises a first rotating arm (310), the first rotating arm (310) is provided with a smooth arc-shaped end surface (310a), the bottom part (400a) of the driving member (400) is provided with an inclined bottom surface, the arc-shaped end surface (310a) of the first rotating arm (310) is suitable for being in contact with and sliding along the inclined bottom surface of the driving member (400),

the body (100, 200) comprises a horizontally extending main body part (100) and two vertically extending cylindrical end parts (200) positioned at two ends of the main body part (100), the rotating piece (300) is always accommodated in the cylindrical end parts (200) in the rotating process and cannot be rotated to the outside of the cylindrical end parts (200),

a locking part (340) is formed on the first rotating arm (310), and the driving member (400) is adapted to rotate the rotating member (300) from the locking position to the unlocking position by pushing the first rotating arm (310);

in the locked position, a locking portion (340) on the rotary member (300) engages with a notch (12a) on the electronic card (10) such that the electronic card (10) is locked in the card edge connector;

in the unlocked position, a locking portion (340) on the rotary member (300) is separated from a notch (12a) on the electronic card (10) so that the electronic card (10) can be pulled out of the card edge connector.

2. The card edge connector according to claim 1, wherein:

when the driving piece (400) pushes the first rotating arm (310) or the first rotating arm (310) pushes the driving piece (400), the arc-shaped end surface (310a) of the first rotating arm (310) is in contact with the inclined bottom surface of the driving piece (400) and slides along the inclined bottom surface.

3. The card edge connector according to claim 1, wherein:

the rotary member (300) further comprises a second rotary arm (320);

during insertion of the electronic card (10) into the card edge connector, a bottom portion (11a) of the electronic card (10) pushes against a second rotating arm (320) of the rotating member (300), so that the rotating member (300) rotates from the unlocking position to the locking position.

4. The card edge connector according to claim 3, wherein:

the drive member (400) is movable between a first position and a second position;

during insertion of the electronic card (10) into the card edge connector, the first rotating arm (310) of the rotating member (300) pushes the driving member (400) so that the driving member (400) moves from the first position to the second position.

5. The card edge connector according to claim 4, wherein:

during the process that the driving piece (400) moves from the second position to the first position, the bottom (400a) of the driving piece (400) pushes the first rotating arm (310) of the rotating piece (300), so that the rotating piece (300) rotates from the locking position to the unlocking position.

6. The card edge connector according to claim 5, wherein:

the slots (101, 201) include a horizontal slot (101) formed in the body portion (100) and a vertical slot (201) formed in the cylindrical end portion (200);

a bottom edge (11) of the electronic card (10) is adapted to be inserted into the horizontal slot (101), a side edge (12) of the electronic card (10) is adapted to be inserted into the vertical slot (201).

7. The card edge connector according to claim 6, wherein:

the pair of locking devices (300, 400) being respectively provided in two vertically extending cylindrical end portions (200) of the body (100, 200); and is

An accommodation chamber (202) is formed in each of the columnar end portions (200), and the rotary member (300) and the drive member (400) are accommodated in the accommodation chamber (202).

8. The card edge connector according to claim 7, wherein:

a pivot hole (203) is formed on a side wall of the receiving cavity (202), a pivot shaft (330) is formed on the rotating member (300), and the pivot shaft (330) is fitted in the pivot hole (203).

9. The card edge connector according to claim 7, wherein:

a positioning protrusion (311) is formed on an outer surface of the rotary member (300) opposite to a side wall of the accommodating cavity (202), and the positioning protrusion (311) is engaged with the side wall protrusion of the accommodating cavity (202) so as to hold the rotary member (300) at the unlocking position.

10. The card edge connector according to claim 7, wherein:

a receiving groove (410) adapted to receive the locking part (340) is formed at a lower end of the driving part (400);

when the rotary piece (300) is in the locking position, the locking part (340) is rotated to the outside of the receiving groove (410) and engaged with the electronic card (10);

when the rotary piece (300) is in the unlocking position, the locking portion (340) is received in the receiving groove (410) and separated from the electronic card (10).

11. The card edge connector according to claim 7, wherein:

a guide protrusion (420) is formed on a surface of the driver (400) opposite to a sidewall of the receiving cavity (202), the guide protrusion (420) having an inclined assembly slope (421) so as to guide the driver (400) to be smoothly inserted into the receiving cavity (202).

12. The card edge connector according to claim 7, wherein:

the drive member (400) has a pressing head (430) located outside the accommodation chamber (202), and the drive member (400) can be moved from the second position to the first position by pressing the pressing head (430) in a vertically downward direction (F1).

13. The card edge connector according to claim 12, wherein:

a vertically extending retaining groove (431) is formed inside the pressing head (430), and a side edge (12) of the electronic card (10) is adapted to be retained in the retaining groove (431).

14. The card edge connector according to claim 7, wherein:

the vertical insertion slot (201) has a flared entrance (201a) gradually increasing outward so as to guide the side edge (12) of the electronic card (10) to be smoothly inserted into the vertical insertion slot (201).