JP2001052815A - Ic card installing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form the eject mechanism for easily operating discharge of cards with the small pushing force and a little button stroke. SOLUTION: In an IC card installing device formed of a housing 10 for housing an IC card 2 freely to be drawn, a connector member 20 to be connected to the IC card 2, and an eject mechanism for discharging the IC card, the eject mechanism is formed of an eject lever 32 arranged freely to be moved, an arm member 41 arranged freely to be rocked around a support point 15 of the rotation and capable of being engaged with the IC card, and an arm energizing means 50 for energizing the arm member in the IC card discharging direction. The eject lever 32 has a lock means for locking the arm member, and when the eject lever 32 is pushed, lock of the arm member 41 with the lock means is released so as to discharge the IC card 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card such as a PC card or a memory card (hereinafter referred to as a "card-shaped information recording medium"). The present invention relates to an IC card mounting device configured to exchange information with an IC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The above-mentioned IC card has been widely used in recent years. This IC card is an IC card mounting device (also referred to as a card connector).
Widely used are those that can be freely inserted into and removed from the IC card. Card contacts provided on the back side of the IC card or on the front end face of the IC card insertion side are provided at the corresponding positions on the IC card mounting device side. The device-side contacts thus formed form a pair of connectors. Then, by inserting the IC card into the IC card mounting device, the two contacts are connected to each other via a connector, and the information recorded on the IC card is read and collated, or the information is written on the IC card. It is configured.

An example of such an IC card mounting apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-91737. As shown in FIG. 8, the main structure of this IC card mounting device is connected to a housing 81 which accepts an IC card 80 so that it can be inserted and removed, and an IC card provided in the housing and inserted into the housing. And an eject mechanism 90 for ejecting the IC card inserted and received in the housing.

In such a conventional IC card mounting apparatus,
The mounting of the IC card 80 is performed by manually pushing the card into the housing and connecting the contacts of the IC card and the contacts of the housing to each other with a connector. The mounted IC card is received and held in the housing by the fitting force of the connector, and exchanges necessary information in this state. The IC card is taken out by pushing an eject button (ejection lever end) 91 which is arranged to protrude to the side of the housing, thereby swinging the connection lever 93 around the swing fulcrum 92 and engaging with the IC card. The connection of the connector is released by moving the locking plate 96 in the discharging direction, and the IC card is manually pulled out from this state (a state in which the card end protrudes and is indicated by a two-dot line in the drawing). As described above, a lever-type transmission mechanism for transmitting the pushing force of the eject button 91 to the IC card as a force in a direction opposite to the pushing direction is formed inside the housing.

[0005]

In such a device for mounting an IC card, a leverage method is employed as a method for ejecting the IC card. Therefore, the eject button is moved in accordance with the ratio of the lever length to the fulcrum. It is possible to increase the discharge movement amount of the card with respect to the stroke. However, on the other hand, when trying to increase the card ejection movement amount with a small button stroke, the force required to push the eject button (ejection button pushing force) increases, and conversely, when trying to decrease the eject button pushing force, the button stroke increases. However, there is a problem in that the amount of ejected and moved cards is reduced.

[0006] Further, there is a need for a mechanism for transmitting the force to the IC card using the pushing force of the eject button.
The eject button and the transmission mechanism need to have a size and strength corresponding to the pushing force, and there has been a problem that the IC card mounting device becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and has as its object to provide a small and lightweight IC card mounting device capable of performing a light discharge operation with a small button stroke. I do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a housing for removably receiving an IC card, a connector member connected to the IC card inserted into the housing, and an IC card discharging device. An IC card mounting device comprising an eject mechanism for
An eject lever that is urged in the IC card ejection direction to protrude and is movably arranged by pressing, and is arranged to be swingable in the IC card insertion / removal direction about a rotation fulcrum provided in the housing. An eject mechanism is constituted by an arm member capable of engaging with the IC card inserted and received in the housing and an arm urging means for urging the arm member in the direction of discharging the IC card. In addition, the eject lever is provided with locking means for locking and holding the arm against the urging force of the arm urging means when the IC card is inserted and received in the housing (for example, the notch portion 32b in the embodiment). , Etc.), and the IC card mounting device is configured to release the IC card by releasing the lock between the arm member and the locking means when the eject lever is pressed.

According to the above configuration, the IC card is inserted and received in the housing in a state in which it can be engaged with the arm member, and mutual contacts are connected to exchange information. In this state, the arm member, which is swingably provided around the rotation fulcrum provided on the housing and urged in the card ejection direction by the arm urging means, is locked by the locking means provided on the eject lever. The swing is locked. When the eject lever is pressed, the locking of the arm member by the locking means is released, and the arm member swings in the card ejection direction by the urging force. Then I
The C card is engaged with the arm member, and is moved in the discharge direction from the housing as the arm member swings.

As described above, in the present invention, instead of ejecting the card by the pushing force of the eject button itself, the card is ejected by the urging force of the arm urging means for urging the swing of the arm member. The pushing force of the eject button only releases the locking between the arm member and the locking means. For this reason, it is possible to configure an eject mechanism that reduces the pushing force of the eject button and performs a light discharge operation with a small button stroke. Thus, the IC card mounting apparatus can be made small and lightweight.

The eject lever is made of a metal elastic material, and when the eject lever is pressed, the eject lever (for example, the cantilever portion 32 in the embodiment) is used.
Preferably, the IC card mounting device is configured so that the locking between the arm member and the locking means is released by the elastic deformation of c). According to such a configuration, the eject lever and the locking means on the lever can be easily configured with a simple structure, and the IC card mounting device can be configured to be small, light, and inexpensive.

[0012]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an IC card mounting apparatus 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a "card connector") according to the present invention, and an I-card that is detachably connected to the card connector.
2 shows a situation where the IC card 2 is to be inserted into the card connector 1.
In the following description, the direction along arrow A in FIG. 1 is the front-back direction (the root side of the arrow is forward), and the width direction of the IC card 2 is the left-right direction (the side where the eject button 31 is provided). (Right direction) and the thickness direction of the IC card is defined as the vertical direction.

The IC card 2 is in the form of a thin plastic card having a thickness of about 1 mm, in which an IC chip on which various information is recorded and necessary printed wiring are arranged. A plurality of planar contacts (not shown) (for example, eight contacts in this embodiment) are formed on the back surface of the IC card 2 for exchanging information with the IC chip. As such a card-shaped information recording medium, for example, an IC specified in ISO / IEC7816
Card.

The card connector 1 has a housing 10 for receiving the above-described IC card 2 so as to be freely inserted and removed, and a card-side contact formed inside the housing 10 and formed on the back surface of the IC card so as to be detachably connected thereto. And a connector member 20 for writing and reading information, and eject mechanisms 30, 40, 50 for ejecting the IC card from the housing 10.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the card connector 1.
(a) and a right side view (b) are shown, and the description will be continued below with reference to this figure. The housing 10 includes a housing base 11 serving as a substrate of the housing, and a housing cover 12 mounted on the housing base. A connector member 20 is provided inside the card receiving portion 14 of the housing.
After disposing (21 to 24) and the like, they are connected to form an integral housing 10. On the front left and right of the housing 10,
Guide portions 13r and 131 for guiding the IC card 2 into the card receiving portion 14 are formed.

On the lower surface of the housing base 11, there are formed positioning pins 11a, 11a,... Made of pin-like projections.
It is used as a reference pin when positioning on a printed circuit board of a reproducing apparatus. That is, the relative positional relationship between each part constituting the card connector 1 and the printed circuit board on which the card connector 1 is mounted is determined by the positioning pins 11a, 1
1a... Are defined and set. A positioning hole for receiving the positioning pin is formed in the printed circuit board, and the positioning hole and the printed pattern are configured to be within a certain dimensional tolerance.

At four places on the left and right of the housing base 11,
Fixing brackets 16, 16 for fixing the card connector 1
.. are press-fitted and fixed, and positioning pins 11a, 11
a .. is engaged with a positioning hole formed in the printed circuit board to determine the position, and then the metal connector 1 is fixed on the printed circuit board by soldering the fixing brackets 16, 16,... to the pattern on the printed circuit board. I do.

The connector member 20 includes four first contacts 21, 21,... And four second contacts 22, 22,.
, And first and second switch members 23 and 24, each of which is formed into a leaf spring shape using an electric conductor such as a copper alloy and is locked and held by the housing base 11.
The first contact 21 and the second contact 22 are formed and arranged in a V-shaped arm inside the card receiving portion 14 and urge the IC card 2 inserted into the card receiving portion upward from the lower surface side. As a result, it is held between the inner surface of the housing cover 12 and a contact with a card-side contact (not shown) formed on the lower surface of the IC card 2 to exchange information. In addition, the first and second switch members 23 and 24 are connected to the IC card 2 by the card connector 1.
And the eight contacts are connected to the card-side contacts through connectors, and when the information can be read and written, the contacts of both switch members are closed (the circuit is connected). ).

The ends of these connector members 20 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the housing base 11 has a tab-shaped connecting portion along the lower surface. The position of this connection portion is set so as to be within a predetermined positional dimension tolerance with positioning pins 11a, 11a,... Formed on the lower surface of the housing base.
are arranged so as to coincide with the positions of the terminal patterns formed on the printed board when they are positioned on the printed board by a, 11a,. Therefore, the card connector 1 can be surface-mounted on the pattern of the printed board by soldering the tab-shaped connection portion after positioning on the printed board as described above.

In the card connector 1 configured as described above, the left and right ends of the IC card 2 are inserted along the guide portions 13r and 13l from the front of the housing 10, and the front end of the card is inserted into the back of the card receiving portion. I do. At this time, first, the IC card side contacts and the card connector side contacts 21 and 22 are connected by a connector to enable reading and writing of information, and furthermore, the IC card 2 is moved to the vicinity of the abutting portion formed at the back of the card receiving portion. By the insertion, the contact between the switch members 23 and 24 is closed, and the insertion connection is completed. The recording / reproducing device of the IC card receives this signal and executes the operation of writing and reading information to and from the IC card 2.

Next, an ejection mechanism (IC card ejection mechanism) of the card connector 1 according to the present invention will be described. The eject mechanism includes a lever mechanism 30 that allows the user to perform an IC card ejection operation, an arm mechanism 40 that engages with the IC card 2 to perform an ejection operation, and an urging force for causing the arm mechanism 40 to perform an ejection operation. Urging means 50 for imparting
It is composed of

A lever mechanism 30 disposed on the right side of the housing of the card connector 1 is disposed so as to protrude forward of the housing, and an eject button 3 for a user to perform a pressing operation.
1, an eject lever 32 that is integrally connected to the eject button 31 at the base end and transmits the pressing force of the user to the distal end, and a compression coil spring 33 that urges these buttons and levers toward the front of the device. Have been.
The eject lever 32 is made of a metal material such as an iron-based alloy such as stainless steel, a copper alloy such as phosphor bronze, or an aluminum alloy such as duralumin. Surface treatment is performed as appropriate in accordance with the requirements.

The eject lever 32 includes a lever base 32 f connected to the eject button 31, and a slide portion 32 formed to extend parallel to the side surface of the housing cover 12.
d, a cantilever portion 32c which is orthogonal to the slide portion 32d and extends parallel to the back surface 12c of the protruding end portion 12a formed at the right back portion of the housing cover and formed like a leaf spring;
A notch portion 32 protruding rightward from the cantilever portion 32c and formed toward the upper surface of the protruding end portion 12a.
b, etc.

The slide portion 32d is provided on the housing cover 1
2, two slide guides 12d, 12d
The eject lever 32 is slidably supported in the longitudinal direction of the eject lever 32 (in the front-rear direction of the card connector 1). The eject button 31 is connected to the lever base 32f so as to sandwich the compression coil spring 33 between the spring holder 12f formed on the housing cover and the eject button 31.
Therefore, the eject button 31 and the eject lever 32 are urged toward the front of the card connector 1 by the compression reaction force of the coil spring 33. The slide portion 32d is partially cut and raised near the slide guide 12e, and the cut and raised end 32e is formed by the slide guide 12e.
Abuts against the shoulder portion to form a locking holding mechanism that locks the eject lever 32 against the spring force.

The arm mechanism 40 includes the housing cover 12
A swing fulcrum 15 integrally formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a retaining flange portion on an upper surface of the arm member, and an arm member 41 arranged to be swingable around the swing fulcrum 15 as a center of rotation. The arm member 41 is formed by a similar processing method using the same metal material as the eject lever 32. The distal end of the arm member 41 is folded downward, and one end 51c of the extension coil spring 51 (biasing means 50) is locked in a through hole 41h formed in the folded portion 41g.
The other end 51a of the extension coil spring is locked in a spring locking hole 12g protruding to the right side of the housing, so that the arm member 41 has the swing fulcrum 15 as the rotation center and the tip end is ejected of the card. It is arranged to be biased in the direction.

The card receiving portion 1 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 10.
4 is formed, and the arm member 41 is formed with a sub arm 42 extending from the opening 17 into the card receiving portion 14. The sub-arm 42 has an upright portion 42a folded back into the opening (downward) from the arm member 41, a parallel portion 42b having the upright portion 42a folded back toward the card entrance along the bottom surface (housing base) of the receiving portion 14, and a parallel portion 42a. It comprises a contact portion 42c formed at the tip of the portion 42b and in contact with the insertion end surface 2a of the IC card 2 in the card receiving portion 14.

Next, the operation of each part when the IC card is inserted in the eject mechanism configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2, and shows the IC when the IC card 2 is inserted into the card receiving portion 14.
The relationship between the card 2 and the arm member 41 (sub arm 42) is shown in time series as (a), (b), and (c). Also,
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.
The relative relationship between the tip of the eject lever, the tip of the arm member, and the protruding end 12a of the housing cover in each state shown in FIG. 3 is shown in chronological order in correspondence with FIGS. Things. In each of these drawings, the direction of the arrow and the top and bottom are reversed (the housing cover 12 is upward) for the sake of explanation.

First, in each of FIGS. 3 and 4 (a), the IC card 2 is inserted into the receiving portion 14.
The leading end portion 2a of the card is still in contact with the contact portion 42 of the sub arm 42.
This shows a state in which it is not in contact with c (a state immediately before contact). At this time, the arm member 41 is pulled by the spring force of the extension coil spring 51, and is in a state of being disposed at a front end position (a position in contact with a rib formed on the upper surface of the housing cover).

When the IC card 2 is further inserted, the tip 2a of the IC card comes into contact with the contact portion 42c of the sub arm. When the IC card 2 is inserted into the receiving portion from the contact position against the spring force of the extension coil spring 51, the arm member 41 swings about the swing fulcrum 15 as a center of rotation.
The distal end portion 41f of the arm member 41 contacts the notch portion 32b at the distal end of the eject lever. Here, a cantilever portion 32c formed in a leaf spring shape is disposed at the tip of the eject lever 32, and the front edge of the notch portion 32b is configured to be inclined in the front-rear direction as illustrated. For this reason, the eject lever 32 abutting on the front end portion 41f of the arm member at the end surface of the inclined front edge is pushed downward by the swinging arm member, and is elastically deformed and bent by the cantilever portion 32c. The swing of the arm member is passed while contacting with the back surface of (a), (b) in FIGS. 3 and 4).

When the IC card 2 is further inserted, the distal end portion 41f of the arm member is further swung rearward with this, and finally passes over the notch portion 32b. At this time, the cantilever portion 32c that has been elastically deformed is released from the pressing force from above and returns to the state before the elastic deformation. Thereafter, when the insertion force of the IC card is released, the upright end surface of the rear edge of the notch portion and the protrusion formed at the upper end lock and hold the arm member distal end portion 41f, and resist the spring force of the tension coil spring 51. To lock the swing of the arm member 41 (FIGS. 3C and 4C).

FIG. 5 shows a top view of the card connector 1 in a state where the IC card 2 is inserted and received in this manner and the arm member 41 is locked.
It is found that the end face 2a of the IC card 2 is engaged with the contact portion 42c of the arm member 41.

Next, the operation of each part in the eject operation for ejecting the IC card 2 from the locked state as shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG.
Represents a cross-sectional view taken along arrow VII-VII in FIG.
4 and 3 show the same cross-sectional views as those in FIGS. Also, in each of the drawings, the direction of the arrow is inverted up and down in the same manner as described above (so that the housing cover 12 faces upward).
it's shown.

FIGS. 6 (a) and 7 (a) show the state of FIG. 5, ie, the arm member 41 is connected to the eject lever 32.
Indicates a locked state. In this state,
The cantilever tip portion 32a of the eject lever is connected to the rear surface 1 of the protruding end portion formed in parallel with the upper surface of the housing cover.
2c, and the upper surface of the cantilever portion 32c is disposed in substantially surface contact with the rear surface 12c.

The eject operation is performed from the above locked state.
This is performed by pressing the eject button 31 in the card insertion direction (rearward) against the spring force of the tension coil spring 51 and the compression coil spring 33. With this pressing force, the eject lever 32 is slid rearward while swinging the arm member 41. At this time, at the distal end portion of the eject lever 32, the distal end portion 32a of the cantilever comes into contact with the inclined surface 12b formed on the lower surface of the protruding end portion, and is further obliquely rearwardly pushed so as to ride on the inclined surface 12b (FIG. 6). To the lower left). For this reason, the notch portion 32b extending from the cantilever sinks down while swinging the arm member 41, and is finally released from its locking state (each (b) in FIGS. 6 and 7).
Figure).

The arm member 41 thus unlocked swings forward about the swing fulcrum 15 by the spring force of the tension spring 51. At this time, the IC card 2 engages with the contact portion 42c of the swinging arm member 41,
The spring force causes the receiving portion 14 to move and discharge outward.

As described above, in the present invention, the ejection button 31 is used as the force for ejecting the IC card 2 by using the spring force of the tension coil spring 51 for urging the swing of the arm member 41.
Only performs the action of releasing the engagement between the arm member 41 and the notch portion 32b. For this reason, it is possible to configure an eject mechanism that reduces the pushing force of the eject button and performs a light discharge operation with a small button stroke.

In the above description, an example in which an integrated metal elastic body is formed by sheet metal working as an eject lever has been described. However, it is possible to lock and hold the swing of the arm member and release the lock. A rod may be used partially or a link mechanism may be used as necessary. Also, the embodiment in which the tension coil spring is disposed on the side end surface of the device as the arm urging means has been described,
Any device that generates an urging force in the same direction as this may be used.
For example, it is also possible to use a compression coil spring or a helical spring.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an IC card mounting apparatus having an eject mechanism, an eject lever is provided which is urged in a discharge direction of an IC card, protrudes, and is movably disposed by pressing. An arm member that is swingably arranged in a direction of inserting and removing the IC card around a rotation fulcrum provided in the housing and is engageable with the IC card inserted and received in the housing; And an arm urging means for urging in the discharging direction, the eject mechanism is constituted.
In addition, the eject lever has locking means for locking and holding the arm against the urging force of the arm urging means when the IC card is inserted and received in the housing, and the eject lever is pressed. The IC card mounting device is configured to discharge the IC card by releasing the lock between the arm member and the locking means.

According to such a configuration, the pushing force of the eject button is transmitted to the IC card as a card ejection force via a mechanical transmission mechanism, and the card is not ejected by the pushing force itself, but the card is ejected. Is released by the urging force of the arm urging means for urging the swing of the arm member, and the pushing force of the eject button merely releases the locking between the arm member and the locking means. For this reason, it is possible to configure an eject mechanism that reduces the pushing force of the eject button and performs a light discharge operation with a small button stroke. Thus, the IC card mounting apparatus can be made small and lightweight.

The eject lever is made of a metal elastic body, and when the eject lever is pressed, the eject lever is elastically deformed to release the locking between the arm member and the locking means so that the IC card mounting device is released. It is preferable to configure According to such a configuration, the eject lever, the locking means on the lever, and the like can be easily configured with a simple structure, and the IC card mounting device can be configured to be small, light, and inexpensive.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an IC card mounting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view (a) and a right side view (b) of the IC card mounting device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of each part at the time of inserting a card with time series (a)-(c).

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2, and shows the operation of each part when inserting an IC card in a time-series manner as in FIG. 3;
It is explanatory drawing shown by (a)-(c).

FIG. 5 is a top view of the IC card mounting device when an IC card is inserted and received in the device.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5, and is an explanatory view showing the operation of each part when the IC card is ejected.

7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 5, and FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of each part at the time of discharging operation | movement of an IC card similarly to FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional IC card mounting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 IC card mounting apparatus (card connector) 2 IC card 10 Housing (11 Housing cover, 12
Housing base) 15 Rotating fulcrum arranged on housing 20 Connector member 32 Eject lever 32b Notch (locking means for locking and holding arm member) 32c Cantilever portion 32e Locking and holding mechanism (locking and holding arm member) Stopping means) 41 arm member 50 arm urging means 51 tension coil spring (arm urging means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A housing for receiving an IC card so that it can be inserted and removed, a connector member provided in the housing and connected to the IC card inserted into the housing, and an eject mechanism for ejecting the IC card. An ejecting lever provided in the housing, wherein the ejecting mechanism is urged in a discharging direction of the IC card, protrudes, and is movably disposed by pressing. An arm member that is swingably disposed about a rotation fulcrum in a direction in which the IC card is inserted and withdrawn and that is engageable with the IC card inserted and received in the housing; Arm biasing means for biasing in the ejection direction, wherein the eject card is provided with the IC card. And a locking means for locking and holding the arm against the urging force of the arm urging means in a state of being inserted and received in the housing, wherein the arm member is provided when the eject lever is pressed. An IC card mounting device for releasing the lock between the locking means and the locking means. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the eject lever is made of a metal elastic body, and when the eject lever is pressed, the eject lever is elastically deformed to release the lock between the arm member and the locking means. Claim 1.
3. The IC card mounting device according to claim 1.