JP2000099220A - Pc card slot mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily insert a PC card into a slot of a personal computer without paying attention to whether or not the card faces up although the PC card should have been inserted after the confirmation of the PC card being faced up. SOLUTION: When the PC card is inserted correctly with the top side up or when the slot is empty, the computer side and signal terminals are connected with the arrangement of the signal terminals in the facing-up state, but when the PC card is inserted facedown, a top/reverse decision circuit 10 detects the facedown insertion by making use of the state wherein the 33rd pin on the slot side is at 'Low' and the 35th pin is at 'High' and switches the arangement of the signal terminals on he slot side only in this case so that the arrangement matches the arrangement of the signal terminals of the facedown inserted PC card. Consequently, the computer side recognizes that the card has been inserted without any trouble and can utilize the function of the PC card.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a PC card slot mechanism applied to a small electronic device such as a notebook personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art PC cards are arranged in two rows of signal terminals each having 34 pins, and when only the arrangement of signal terminals is viewed, the signal terminals are present at exactly the same position even if the front and rear are reversed. Therefore, if there is no countermeasure, it is possible to connect to the slot as it is even if it is turned upside down, and in the worst case, there is a risk of destroying the card and the interface circuit on the slot side.

[0003] Therefore, in the conventional PC card, the tabs are arranged asymmetrically so that the connector of the PC card cannot be connected to the connector on the slot side when the PC card is turned upside down.

FIG. 6 shows a connection portion between a conventional PC card and a slot. FIG. 6 (a) is a front view of a PC card connector portion, and FIG. 6 (b) is a main configuration of the PC card and the slot. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a PC card 2 and a PC card 2.
A connector portion provided on the front end surface of the main body of the PC card 1 and having a plurality of signal terminals 2a, a first groove portion 3 formed in one corner at the front end side of the main body of the PC card 1, 3
b indicates a second groove formed in the other corner. The first groove portion 3a is formed leaving the front and back surfaces of the main body 1, and the second groove portion 3b is formed leaving the back surface of the main body 1 and removing the front surface side. Is set to be larger than the width of the first groove 3a.

[0005] Reference numeral 4 denotes a slot of the PC card, 5a denotes a first claw fitted to the first groove 3a, and 5b denotes a second claw fitted to the second groove 3b. First claw 5a and second claw 5b
A PC card-side connector portion connected to the connector portion 2 is provided in the area between the two. As shown in FIG. 7, the signal terminal of the PC card side connector portion of the slot 4 is connected to the computer side (PC card I provided in the computer).
/ F circuit side). Therefore, when the PC card is inserted into the slot 4 with the front side facing upward, the first claw 5a and the second claw 5b are fitted into the first groove 3a and the second groove 3b, and simultaneously the signal terminal 2a and the PC card side are inserted. When the signal terminals of the connector section are connected, the PC card and the computer are electrically connected via the PC card slot 4.

When the PC card is inserted into the slot 4 with its back side up, the second groove 3b and the first claw 5a and the first groove 3a and the second claw 5b do not fit with each other. Insertion into the slot 4 is restricted.

[0007]

As described above, countermeasures against reverse insertion of PC cards have been taken in the past. However, the actual PC card is very thin, and the claws for preventing reverse insertion are very fine. Therefore, when the PC card is forcibly inserted, there is a problem that the claws are broken. In addition, since the PC card side connector portion of the slot 4 is located at a position where it is difficult to see from the outside, it is difficult to determine which side should be inserted up.

[0008] As shown in FIG. 8, connectors 6, 6 of a PC card slot are connected to connectors 7, 7 on both sides of substrate P.
Is connected, and two PC cards are inserted from the side of the computer. If the two PC card slots are the same, insert the PC card face up in one slot and insert the other PC card face up. It is necessary to insert a PC card face down into the slot. Therefore, the user needs to pay attention when inserting the PC card into the slot.

[0009] The present invention solves the above problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a PC card slot mechanism which can insert a PC card upside down without any problem even if it is inserted upside down, and which allows a computer to correctly use functions of the PC card.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a slot for connecting to a signal terminal of a PC card, and a computer-side connector for connecting to the slot. In a PC card slot mechanism for electrically connecting a signal terminal of a PC card and a PC card interface circuit of a computer via the connector section when inserted, a PC card interface circuit between the connector section and the PC card interface circuit of the computer. When a PC card is connected, a predetermined P
A discriminating circuit for inputting a signal from the signal terminal of the C card to determine whether the PC card is inserted in the normal or reverse state, and according to the output of the discriminating circuit, when the PC card is correctly inserted and when the PC card is inserted reversely The connection destinations of the signal terminals of the PC card interface circuit of the computer corresponding to the signal terminals of the connector unit are switched so that the signal terminals of the PC card interface circuit of the computer corresponding to the signal terminals of the PC card in the above are matched. A bus selector circuit is provided. With this configuration, there is no danger of the slot being damaged due to reverse insertion of the PC card, and there is no need to reinsert the PC card in the correct direction, so that the functions of the PC card can be easily used.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the discriminating circuit detects whether the inserted PC card is normal or not by detecting based on signals at the 33rd and 35th pins in the slot portion. With such a configuration, when the PC card is correctly inserted, the 33rd pin of the slot becomes High and the 35th pin becomes Low, and when the PC card is reversely inserted, the 33rd pin becomes Low and the 35th pin becomes Low. Hi
gh can be used to determine whether the PC card is normal or not.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same members or members having the same functions as those of the related art shown in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a PC card slot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1A shows a configuration of a PC card connector in a PC card slot, and FIG. 1B shows a connection configuration between a PC card and a PC card slot. Reference numeral 8 denotes a slot, and 9 denotes a tab. That is, the left and right asymmetric claws 5a and 5b for preventing reverse insertion are provided upright in the slot of the conventional PC card as shown in FIG. They have the same shape and are symmetrical in size and position. That is, the claws 9, 9 have a function of guiding the connectors so that they are accurately connected to each other, but do not have a function of preventing reverse insertion. The configuration of the slot 8 is the same as that of the conventional slot 4 shown in FIG. 6, except that the dimensions and positions of the claws 9 and 9 are symmetrical.

As described above, since the conventional tab for preventing reverse insertion has a symmetrical shape instead of a completely new connector shape on the slot side, it is possible to connect a large number of PC cards on the conventional market. And the card can be inserted and removed regardless of the front and back.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 10 denotes a front / back discrimination circuit, and reference numeral 11 denotes a bidirectional bus selector 11a having the number of signal terminals in the PC card side connector section of the slot 8. 3 shows a bus selector circuit. That is, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the signal terminal of the computer-side connector unit coupled to the PC card slot-side connector and the signal terminal of the PC card I / F circuit are connected via the bus selector circuit 11. It is what was constituted.

The front / rear discrimination circuit 10 determines whether the PC card has been inserted face up (hereinafter, referred to as "direct insertion") or face down (hereinafter, referred to as "direct insertion") based on the states of the 33rd and 35th pins in the slot 8. , Referred to as reverse insertion), and outputs a result of the determination to the bidirectional bus selector 11 and a function of holding the result. When the PC card is inserted correctly, the 33rd pin of the slot becomes High and the 35th pin becomes Low.
When the PC card is inserted reversely, the 33rd pin becomes Low and the 35th pin becomes High. Therefore, whether the PC card is normal or not can be determined based on the states of the 33rd and 35th pins.

In each of the bidirectional bus selectors 11a, the bus selector circuit 11 outputs a signal of the PC card I / F circuit corresponding to the signal terminal of the PC card side connector in the slot 4 based on the result of the discrimination by the front / back discriminating circuit 10. The terminal is switched. In the case of 64 pins as in the present embodiment, the signal terminal of the Nth pin of the PC card side connector section (hereinafter referred to as the Nth pin of the PC card side, N =
When the connection destination of (1, 2,..., 64) is a normal insertion, P
The signal terminal at the Nth pin of the C card I / F circuit (hereinafter referred to as the Nth pin on the computer side) is switched to the 65th Nth pin on the computer side in the case of reverse insertion. Therefore, the signal terminals on the computer corresponding to the signal terminals of the PC card in the case where the PC card is inserted in the slot 8 in the forward direction and in the case where the PC card is inserted in the reverse direction are matched.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing details of the front / back discrimination circuit in FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein 12 is a pull-up resistor connected to the Nth pin on the PC card side, and 13 is connected to the 35th pin on the PC card side. Reference numeral 14 denotes a pulse generation circuit. The pulse generation circuit 14 is connected to a 1-bit data line provided at an arbitrary I / O port of the computer, and the LATC coming from this data line
A pulse is generated from the H signal and output to the front / back determination circuit 10. By setting the LATCH signal to “High”, the information on the front and back of the PC card can be held.

Next, the configuration of the front / back discrimination circuit 10 will be described. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 15 denotes a two-input one-output NAND.
Circuit, 16 is a two-input, one-output AND circuit, 17 is a two-input, one-output NOR circuit, and 18 is a DFF circuit that holds the inserted state of the PC card. The 33rd pin on the PC card side is connected to the second input of the NAND circuit 15, and the output is connected to one input of the AND circuit 16. The other input of the AND circuit 16 is connected to the 35th pin on the PC card side.
An output of the ND circuit 16 is connected to one input of a NOR circuit 17 and a DFF circuit 18. The DFF circuit 18 is connected to another input of the pulse generation circuit 14 and the NOR circuit 17, and the output of the NOR circuit 17 is output to the bus selector circuit 11 as a bus selector switching signal.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the slot is empty, pull-up resistor 1
The bus is set by the bus selector circuit 11 so that the connection state is established when the PC card is inserted correctly by the PCs 2 and 13.

When the PC card is inserted into the slot (S1), when the 33rd pin on the PC card side is "Low",
When the 35th pin on the card side is “High” (S2
No Yes) detects that the PC card has been inserted reversely,
The inverted signal of the 33rd pin and the signal of the 35th pin on the C card side are input to the AND circuit, and as a result, the output of the AND circuit 16 becomes “High”, and the signal to the bus selector circuit 11 becomes “Low”. On the other hand, if the above-mentioned condition is not satisfied, the output to the bus selector circuit 11 remains “High” and remains in the bus state that has been directly inserted (No in S2). The bus selector circuit 11 looks at the control signal from the front / rear discrimination circuit 10 and switches the bus when it is “Low”. For example, the connection destination of the signal terminal of the first pin on the PC card side is switched to the signal terminal of the 64th pin on the computer side, and the arrangement of the signal terminals of the connector section on the computer side is the same as the arrangement of the signal terminals of the reversely inserted PC card. It is arranged (S3).

When the connection of the signal terminal between the PC card and the computer is determined, the signal terminal for detecting the insertion or removal of the PC card is connected to the signal terminal on the slot side.
The computer recognizes whether the C card is currently inserted (S4). Conventionally, when the computer recognizes the PC card, the computer is set to supply power to the PC card, but before that, the L is sent from the computer to the front / back determination circuit 10 via the pulse generation circuit 14.
The level of the ATCH signal is set to “High” (S
5).

When the LATCH signal is set to "High", the inserted state of the PC card is determined by the front / back discrimination circuit 1.
The data is held in the DFF circuit 18 within 0 (S6). Thereby, the signal used for the front / back discrimination, that is, 3
Even when the pin 3 and the pin 35 start the original operation after the power is turned on, the bus selector circuit 14 does not switch during the use of the PC card because the DFF circuit 18 holds the state.

After the inserted state of the PC card is held in the DFF circuit 18, the power is turned on to the PC card (S7) and the use of the PC card is started (S7).
8). While using the PC card, it is simultaneously detected whether the PC card has been removed from the slot I / F (S9). If it is unplugged (Yes in S9), the computer sets the LATCH signal to "High" and then turns off the power to the PC card (S10). When the LATCH signal becomes “High”, the current state of the front and back of the PC card is maintained. However, the PC card is not inserted, and the 33rd and 35th pins on the PC card side are set to “High”. (S11). This is performed to prevent the output of the NOR circuit 17 from being masked when a new card is inserted.

[0026]

As described above, the present invention has a PC card discriminating circuit, and when the discriminating circuit detects that the PC card has been inverted, the bus selector circuit connects the PC card to the computer. Is switched to match the signal arrangement of the connected PC card. As a result, it is possible to insert and use the PC card without being aware of the forward / reverse direction.

In the present invention, since the PC card can be inserted and removed in both forward and reverse directions, slots can be arranged in both forward and reverse directions with respect to the circuit board. This allows
It can flexibly cope with products that require effective use of space, such as laptop computers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a PC card slot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection between a signal terminal of a connector section on a PC card side and a PC card interface circuit of a computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a front / back discrimination circuit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation from insertion of a PC card to use and removal of the card in the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection portion between a conventional PC card and a slot.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of arranging a PC card slot on a board;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional connection between a signal terminal of a connector section on a PC card side and a computer PC card interface circuit.

[Description of Signs] 8 Slot 9 Claw 10 Front / back discrimination circuit 11 Bus selector circuit 11a Bidirectional bus selector 12 Pull-up resistor 13 Pull-up resistor 14 Pulse generation circuit 15 NAND circuit 16 AND circuit 17 NOR circuit 18 DFF circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A computer, comprising: a slot portion connected to a signal terminal of a PC card; and a connector portion of a computer connected to the slot portion. When a PC card is inserted, a signal terminal of the PC card and a PC card interface circuit of the computer are provided. And a PC card slot mechanism for electrically connecting the PC card via the connector section, the PC card slot mechanism is provided between the connector section and a PC card interface circuit of the computer, and when a PC card is connected, a predetermined PC A discriminating circuit for inputting a signal from a signal terminal of the card and discriminating whether the inserted state of the PC card is normal or not, according to an output of the discriminating circuit, a case where the PC card is correctly inserted and a case where the PC card is inserted reversely; The signal terminal of the PC card interface circuit of the computer corresponding to the signal terminal of the PC card in A bus selector circuit for switching a connection destination of a signal terminal of a PC card interface circuit of the computer corresponding to a signal terminal of the connector section so as to match the connection. 2. The PC according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating circuit detects a signal of a 33rd pin and a 35th pin in the slot portion and discriminates whether the inserted PC card is normal or not. Card slot mechanism.