GB2330934A

GB2330934A - Ejector for a card reader

Info

Publication number: GB2330934A
Application number: GB9823505A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James H Hyland; John W Kaufman
Original assignee: Whitaker LLC
Current assignee: Whitaker LLC
Priority date: 1997-10-31
Filing date: 1998-10-27
Publication date: 1999-05-05
Also published as: GB9823505D0; JPH11224749A

Abstract

A device (12) for mounting a card on a circuit board includes a card receiving recess (36) between side walls (34) of a housing (14) with board engaging surfaces (20) and alignment posts (22). Terminals (40), each with a card contacting surface (47) and a board contacting portion, are mounted in passages (32) in the housing (14). A card ejecting lever (80) with a key hole opening (86, 88) retained under an enlarged head (26) of a mounting post (25) has a first portion (82, 90) engaging a protrusion on a displaceable actuator (92) on one side of the post (25) and a second portion (84) with a card engaging protrusion (85) on the other side of the post (25). Pressure on a push button (96) of the actuator (92) causes the lever (80) to rotate about the post (25), disengage contacts on the card from the terminals (40) and partially eject the card from the housing (14).

Description

EJECTOR FOR A CARD READER This invention is directed to card readers and more particularly to an ejector for a card reader.

A typical card reader assembly includes a housing base having a plurality of terminals mounted therein and a cover that cooperates with the base to define a cardreceiving recess. The vertical dimension or profile, of the assembly is determined by the thickness of the base and cover, which in turn are determined by the thickness of the card that is to be inserted into the assembly.

Thus, there is a minimum amount of space needed above a circuit board to accommodate the assembly when the assembly is mounted to the board. In some instances, however, it is desirable to have a lower profile card reader for use in smaller devices such as, for example, cellular telephones and the like.

Many card readers further include an ejector mechanism for urging the card from the reader. The ejector mechanism is usually secured to the upper surface of the bottom housing, or placed between the bottom housing and the card. Examples of such ejector mechanisms are found in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,381,001; 5,149,276. These mechanisms, however are not particularly suitable for a card reader that has no bottom housing or no card carrying plate.

The present invention is directed to a board mountable card reader including a housing having a bottom face defining a card-receiving recess when mounted on a board surface, and a plurality of electrical terminals disposed in the housing remote from a card-receiving face. The terminals have deflectable contact sections extending into the card-receiving recess that are deflectable upwardly upon engagement by circuit pads along a top surface of a card upon card insertion into the card-receiving recess. The card reader is characterized in that: a lever arm is pivotally mounted on the bottom face of the housing rearwardly of a card stop surface, the lever including a first portion laterally of a pivot axis on a first side thereof for engagement by an actuator, and further including a second portion on a second side of the pivot axis to engage a leading edge of the card inserted therein upon activation to urge the card partially outwardly from the recess.

In one embodiment, the lever includes a keyholeshaped aperture extending therethrough adapted to receive the leading end of the mounting post, the aperture having a slot extending from one side thereof dimensioned to receive the shaft of the post therein such that the lever is pivotally held on the post with the leading end positioned over the extended slot. One end of the lever includes an actuator engaging slot and the other end includes a portion adapted to engage a leading end of a card upon actuation to urge the card at least partially from the card-receiving recess.

The reader further includes an actuator adapted to activate the lever. The actuator includes a first end adapted to cooperate with an end of the lever and a second end including a push button for activating the ejection lever.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the card reader made in accordance with the invention and a card inserted therein.

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of the bottom of the card reader and card of Figure 1.

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of the bottom of the card reader of Figure 1 after the ejection lever has been activated and showing the card partially urged out of the reader.

FIGURE 4 is an isometric view of the card reader of Figure 1 with the ejection lever exploded from the housing and aligned for mounting to the post of the reader.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 illustrating the initial assembly of the lever to the post of the card reader.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 illustrating the final assembly of the lever to the post of the card reader.

Referring now to Figures 1 through 6, the board mountable card reader assembly 10 includes a card reader 12 and a card 50. Card reader 12 includes a housing 14 and a plurality of terminals 40 disposed therein.

Housing 14 has a top wall 16, a bottom or board mounting face 20, a card-receiving face 28, a rear face 30, and opposed side walls 34. The board mounting face 20 defines a card-receiving recess 36 upon mounting the housing 14 to a circuit board 70. Card-receiving recess 36 extends from the card-receiving face 28 to a card stop surface 38 proximate rear face or wall 30. The bottom face 20 of the housing 14 includes an ejection lever 80 pivotally mounted to a post 25 rearwardly of the card stop surface 38. The ejection lever mounting post 25 has an enlarged portion 26 at the leading end thereof and a shaft portion 27 that is smaller than portion 26.

The lever 80 includes a first portion 82 extending laterally from a pivot axis P to a first side thereof for engagement by an actuator 92, and a second portion 84 extending laterally from the pivot axis P to a second side thereof to engage a leading edge 58 of the card 50 upon activation to urge the card 50 partially outwardly from the recess 36, as seen in Figure 3. The lever 80 includes a keyhole-shaped aperture or opening 86 extending therethrough having an enlarged section 87 adapted to receive the leading end 26 of the mounting post 25 and a slot 88 extending from one side thereof dimensioned to receive the shaft 27 of the post 25 therein. In the final assembly, the lever 80 is pivotally held on the post 25 with the leading post end 26 positioned over the extended slot 88, thus preventing the lever from falling off of the bottom face 20 of housing 14. One end of the lever 80 includes an actuator engaging slot 90 and the other end includes a portion 85 adapted to engage a leading end 58 of card 50 upon actuation to urge the card 50 at least partially from the card-receiving recess 36, as shown in Figure 3.

In the embodiment shown, portion 85 extends downwardly from lever 80. It is to be recognized that the lever 80 may be used as a flat piece or may have another configuration at the card pushing end.

The reader 12 further includes an actuator 92 adapted to activate the ejection lever 80. The actuator 92 includes an arm 94 extending along a side wall 34 of the housing 14 to a first end having a protrusion 95 thereon adapted to be received in the slot 90 of the lever 80. Arm 94 is supported by housing structure 15 defining an arm-receiving slot 17 therein. The arm 94 includes a push button 96 at a second end proximate the card-receiving face 28 for activating the ejection lever 80.

Electrical terminals 40 are disposed in respective terminal-receiving passageways 32 of the rear wall 30 of the housing 14. Each terminal 40 includes a board mounting section 44 and a deflectable contact section 46 and an intermediate body 42 extending therebetween. The terminals 40 extend from the housing 14 remote from the card-receiving face 28 with the board mounting sections 44 proximate rear face 30. The contact sections 46 having contact surfaces 47 thereon extend into the cardreceiving recess 36 and are spaced from the board surface 72 a distance less than the thickness of the card 50. The leading ends 48 of the deflectable contact arms 46 are received in apertures 18 in the top wall of housing 14 to prevent stubbing of the terminals 40 upon inserting card 50 into the card-receiving recess 36.

Card 50 includes a top or board remote surface 52 and a board proximate surface 56. The top or board remote surface 52 includes plurality of contact pads (not shown) proximate the leading end 58 thereof for electrical engagement by the contact surfaces 47 on contact sections 46 upon inserting the card 50 into the card-receiving recess 36.

Referring now to Figures 4 through 6, lever 80 is assembled to housing 14 by disposing the enlarged aperture portion 87 above the leading end 26 of post 25 such that the lever 80 is positioned against the housing surface such that slot 88 of lever 80 can be moved onto and laterally along shaft portion 27 until the post leading end 26 lies over the end of slot 88, thus trapping the lever 80, as shown in Figure 6. In the initial assembly position, as shown in Figure 5, the second portion 84 of lever 80 extends over side wall 34 and upon moving lever 80 into the final assembly position, the second portion 84 and end 85 are moved into operating position within housing 14. Concomitantly therewith, slot 90 moves onto protrusion 95 on actuation arm 94. Upon pushing push button 96, arm 94 is moved toward the rear of housing 34, causing lever 80 to pivot and end 85 thereof to engage leading card end 58, thus urging card 50 from card-receiving recess 36, as shown in Figure 3.

In the embodiment shown, the bottom or board mounting face 20 of the housing 14 further includes at least a pair of alignment posts 22 descending therefrom at opposed sides of an inner end 37 of the cardreceiving recess 36 for aligning the reader 12 on a board surface (not shown) when the posts 22 are received into corresponding mounting holes of the board 70 (not shown). Each of the pair of alignment posts 22 includes a card-receiving groove 24 aligned with the cardreceiving recess 36. Each groove 24 is dimensioned to receive a respective side portion of the card 50 when the card is fully inserted. It is to be understood that the ejector mechanism is also suitable for use with other card readers.

The present invention provides an ejector mechanism for a low profile card reader that is easy to assemble and requires a minimum of parts.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A board mountable card reader including a housing having a bottom face defining a cardreceiving recess, and a plurality of electrical terminals disposed in the housing remote from a cardreceiving face, the terminals having deflectable contact sections extending into the card-receiving recess that are deflectable upwardly upon engagement by circuit pads along a top surface of a card recess , wherein a lever arm is pivotally mounted on the bottom face of the housing rearwardly of a card stop surface, the lever including a first portion laterally of a pivot axis (P) on a first side thereof for engagement by an actuator1 and further including a second portion on a second side of the pivot axis(P) engageable with a leading edge of a card inserted therein upon activation to urge the card partially outwardly from the recess.

2. The card reader of claim 1 wherein the lever is secured to the bottom face of the housing by a mounting post

3. The card reader of claim 2 wherein the mour,. ing post has an enlarged leading end and a shaft portion having a dimension smaller than that of the leading end.

4. The card reader of claim 2 or 3 wherein the lever has a keyhole-type opening therein having a first section adapted to receive an enlarged leading end of the mounting post and a slot adapted to receive a shaft portion of the mounting post, the slot having a dimension smaller than that of the leading end of the post, the lever being adapted to be slid in a direction to move the lever slot onto the shaft portion of the post to secure the lever to the housing.

5. A method of assembling an ejection lever to a card reader housing including the steps of: providing a mounting post on the housing, the post having an enlarged leading end and a shaft portion having a dimension smaller than the leading end; providing an ejection lever having a keyholetype opening therein having a first section adapted to receive the enlarged leading end and a slot adapted to receive the shaft portion, the slot having a dimension smaller than that of the leading end of the post; disposing the first opening section over the leading post end; and sliding the lever in a direction to move the lever slot onto the shaft portion of the post, thereby securing the lever to the housing

6. A card reader substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.