JP2001291553A - Connector for card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make costs inexpensive through downsizing a connector, reducing the number of parts of a connector for a card with a heart-shaped cam groove as well. SOLUTION: In a heart-shaped cam groove 100, a concave part 146 and a convex part 148 which extend in a direction to insertion and release of the card are mounted in the orthogonal direction to insert and release of the card alternately and successively, and the concave part 146 is correspondingly mounted at an end part 100C which is a locking position and an end 100A which is a locking release position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a card connector to which a card-type recording medium is connected, and more particularly to a card connector having a heart-shaped cam groove.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are various types of connector for a card.
2. Description of the Related Art There are known card connectors disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2559055 and Japanese Patent No. 2887865. The card connector disclosed in the former Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-255905 has a housing, and a guide case loosely fitted in the housing so as to be able to advance and retreat in the insertion direction of the IC card. A lock mechanism including a lock pin whose base end is swingably supported and a heart-shaped groove cam into which the tip of the lock pin is fitted is provided between the lock pin and the lock pin. This lock pin is urged by a separate elastic means to the heart-shaped groove cam, and circulates inside the heart-shaped groove cam between the locked position and the unlocked position according to the insertion and removal of the IC card. It is configured to move.

On the other hand, the card connector disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2887865 is driven by the operation of a push rod for discharging an IC card, and is connected to the push rod via a separate leaf spring. A configuration in which a pin circulates and moves in a heart-shaped cam groove is disclosed.
Heart-shaped cam grooves (groove cams) disclosed in these conventional examples
Is provided with a step which intersects the direction of travel of the pin so that the lock pin or the transmission pin moves in one direction in the heart-shaped cam groove. For example, the latter patent 2887865
The heart-shaped cam groove of No. is shown in FIG. The heart-shaped cam groove 300 is formed to be long along the insertion / removal direction of an IC card (not shown), so that the operating portion 302 of the transmission pin circulates and moves in the traveling direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. Have been. The height of the cam groove 300 is highest at the position indicated by E. In other words, the depth of the cam groove 300 is the shallowest at the position of E. Subsequently, steps are formed in the order of D, C, B, and A, so that the cam groove 300 becomes deeper, and an upward slope from A to E is formed.

[0004]

In any of the above-mentioned prior arts, a step must be formed in order to prevent the pin serving as a cam follower from returning, so that the width direction of the cam groove, that is, the card insertion / removal direction, is required. Since the dimension in the direction perpendicular to the direction becomes large, and the depth of the cam groove needs to be formed in many steps, FIG.
In this case, the thickness in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface increases. Further, a pin serving as a cam follower is supported by another component. As a result, there is a problem that the size of the connector increases and the number of components also increases. In the latter conventional example, an operation member such as a push rod is required, which also increases the size of the connector.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the size of a card connector.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts.
An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost card connector.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A card connector according to the present invention has a heart-shaped cam having contacts for receiving a card-shaped recording medium in a removable manner and electrically contacting the contacts of the received recording medium. An insulating housing having a groove, a slider arranged to slide with respect to the housing in response to a pressing operation in a direction in which the recording medium is inserted, and a cam which is urged into engagement with the cam groove to engage with the cam groove. A cam follower swingably held by the slider so as to circulate and move in the groove between the locking position and the unlocking position,
In the cam groove, valleys and ridges extending in the recording medium insertion / removal direction are provided alternately and continuously in a direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction, and the valleys are provided in the lock position and the lock release. It is characterized by being provided corresponding to the position.

[0008] Here, the "card-type recording medium" refers to a memory card (registered trademark of Sony Corporation) in addition to a thin card-like wide shape such as a cash card.
And a relatively narrow recording medium such as

The "heart-shaped cam groove" does not need to be an accurate heart-shaped one, and the path along which the cam follower slides is not merely a linear shape. It also includes an annular cam groove that circulates and moves between the release positions.

The term "direction perpendicular to the insertion / removal direction" does not need to intersect exactly 90 °, but includes a case where the direction is slightly deviated.

In the card connector according to the present invention, a metal shell for covering the housing, the cam follower and the slider is attached to the housing, and the shell is located at a position corresponding to the cam follower. The cam follower may be configured to have a leaf spring cut and raised from the shell so that the cam follower is urged toward the cam groove by the leaf spring.

The leaf spring preferably has an arm extending in the card insertion / removal direction, and a wide end at the end of the arm.

The cam follower is preferably a cam rod formed by bending a metal wire.

[0014]

According to the card connector of the present invention, in the heart-shaped cam groove, valleys and ridges extending in the insertion / removal direction of the recording medium are provided alternately and continuously in a direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction. Since the valleys are provided corresponding to the locking position and the unlocking position, the space for the heart-shaped cam groove is small, and the size of the connector can be reduced. Further, since the card itself is pressed and inserted and removed, the number of components is reduced, so that a low-cost card connector can be obtained.

Further, in the case where the shell has a leaf spring cut and raised from the shell at a position corresponding to the cam follower, and the leaf spring is configured to bias the cam follower to the cam groove. This eliminates the need for a separate component for urging the cam follower, enables the cam follower to be surely energized with a small number of components, and provides a small and low-cost card connector.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a card connector (hereinafter simply referred to as a connector) 1 of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a connector 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a connector 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1, showing the connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 in perspective.

A description will be given below with reference to FIGS.
The connector 1 is covered with a housing 20 formed of an insulating resin and a shell 2 fitted on the housing 20. The connector 1 has a fitting portion 14 on the lower side of FIG. 1, and a card 250 (FIG. 12) is inserted into the connector 1 from the direction shown by the arrow C in the fitting portion 14. Shell 2
Is formed by punching and bending a metal plate, preferably a phosphor bronze plate, and has a substantially rectangular opening 22 at a substantially central portion of the main surface 4 on the right side in FIG. It has a tab 10 for fixing the connector 1 to a mounting member 8 (FIG. 2) such as a circuit board. The tab 10 has a mounting hole 10a,
One is provided on each of the side walls 6a and 6b so as to be displaced in the front-rear direction. On one side, that is, on the left side of the opening 22, a notch 16 extending in the insertion / removal direction of the card 250 is formed. Opening 2
2, on both sides of the edge 22a on the side of the fitting portion 14, a tongue piece 18 extending rearward is projected. The tongue piece 18 is slightly bent to the opposite side of the paper, and is configured to elastically contact the outer surface of the inserted card 250. Thus, when the card 250 is ejected, the card 2
The brake is applied to 50 to prevent the card 250 from jumping out of the connector 1 and being damaged. Here, “front” means the side of the fitting portion 14 of the connector 1, and “rear” means the side opposite to the fitting portion 14, that is, the upper side in FIG. 1.

On the main surface 4 of the shell 2, a convex opening 24 is formed on the side wall 6a side and extends in the card 250 insertion / removal direction.
A similarly convex or inverted T-shaped pressing piece (leaf spring) 26 extending forward of the connector 1 is formed by being cut and raised. The tip 26a of the holding piece 26 is formed in a wide rectangular shape, and the entire holding piece 26 is formed in a cantilever shape so as to elastically urge the inside of the connector 1. A rectangular opening 28 similarly extending in the front-rear direction is formed in front of the holding piece 26, and an elongated latch arm 30 having a similar shape is formed in the opening 28 by cutting and raising. The function of the latch arm 30 will be described later. Located near the center of the rear end of the shell 2 is a fixing portion 32 for fixing the shell 2 to the housing 20, which will be described later. Also, the side wall 6 at the rear end of the shell 2
The portion indicated by 200 located on the a side is a detection portion that operates when the card 250 is inserted and ejected, which will be described later. A portion indicated by reference numeral 38 in the figure is a tab which is cut and raised from the shell 2 and serves as an electrode used for detecting the card 250, and is connected to a conductor pad (not shown) on the mounting member 8 (FIG. 2). .

Next, the outline of the portion covered by the shell 2 will be described in order to clarify the positional relationship with the shell 2. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the contacts 36 are arranged in a row at a rear portion of the housing 20 in a direction orthogonal to the insertion / removal direction of the card 250. There is a space between the contact 36 and the main surface 4 of the shell, into which the card 250 is inserted while bending the contact 36. On the left side of the housing 20, that is, on the side wall 6 a side, a slider 40 that slides back and forth along the housing 20.
Are arranged on the housing 20. The slider 40 slides with the upper surface and the side surfaces being pressed by the shell 2. A metal cam rod (cam follower) 42 is disposed on the slider 40, and the cam rod 42 is configured to move together with the slider 40. On the other hand,
A heart-shaped cam groove (hereinafter, simply referred to as a cam groove) 100 is formed in the housing 20 in front of the slider 40.
The cam rod 42 is configured to move in the cam groove 100 as the slider 40 moves. At this time, the cam rod 42 is pressed and held by the holding piece 26 formed integrally with the shell 2 so as not to come off the slider 40. When the housing 20 and the shell 2 are engaged with each other, the latch arm 30 located in front of the holding piece 26 is such that the distal end 30a of the latch arm 30 engages with the front wall 20a of the housing 20 and the shell 2 comes out forward. It is for preventing.

The mounting relationship between the housing 20 and the shell 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is a side view of the connector 1 of FIG. 1, (A) is a left side view of the connector 1 of FIG. 1 viewed from an arrow L, and (B) is a right side view of the connector 1 of FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. Claws 52 and 54 are bent inward at the front lower ends of the side walls 6a and 6b of the shell 2 to engage with the corresponding recesses 56 and 58 of the housing 20, respectively. This prevents the front part of the shell 2 from floating above the housing 20. In the rear part of the shell 2, a rectangular notch 60 that opens rearward is formed in the side wall 6a, and a rectangular protrusion 62 of the housing 20 is press-fitted into the notch 60 and engaged therewith. This prevents the shell 2 from moving backward and upward with respect to the housing 20.

A latch arm 62 facing forward is formed at the lower rear end of the side wall 6b, and is also engaged with a locking groove 64 of the housing 20. Since the locking groove 64 is partially formed in the side wall 86, the rearward movement of the shell 2 with respect to the housing 20 is prevented by the tip of the latch arm 62 abutting on the locking groove 64. The side surface of the latch arm 62 abuts on the upper wall 64a of the locking groove, thereby preventing the shell 2 from floating. At the rear end of the main surface 4 of the shell 2, the above-mentioned fixing portion 32 is further formed. The fixing portion 32 includes a hanging portion 32 a formed by bending the shell 2 into an L shape, and a tip portion 6 extending rearward from the hanging portion 32 a in parallel with the main surface 4.
6. On the other hand, a locking hole 68 is formed in the housing 20 at a position corresponding to the distal end portion 66, and the distal end portion 66 is inserted into the locking hole 68 and locked. Thus, the housing 20 and the shell 2 are connected to each other so as not to come off in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction.

FIG. 5 shows that the contact 36 is
0 is clearly shown. The contact 36 is formed in a substantially U-shape, and the main body 36 a is press-fitted and fixed in a groove 72 formed along the bottom wall 82 of the housing 20, and a tine 74 is formed in the opening 7 of the bottom wall 82 of the housing 20.
6 and is connected to a mounting member 8 (FIG. 2). The resilient contact arm 78 folded upward has a contact portion 80 which is bent inward at the distal end and further extends outward. The contact portion 80 is electrically connected to a contact (not shown) of the card 250 to be inserted. Although the contact 36 mounted on the housing 20 is displaced in the front-rear direction, when the card 250 is inserted, the front contact 36 is connected to the ground contact of the card 250 first and then to the rear contact. 36 is connected to the signal contact.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a plan view of the housing 20 similar to FIG. The housing 20 has a bottom wall 82, a rear wall 84 rising from the bottom wall 82, and a side wall 86, and a slider mounting portion (hereinafter simply referred to as a mounting portion) 90 on which the slide 40 is mounted on the opposite side of the side wall 86. Have. In addition, in order to clarify the part of the mounting part 90, the part corresponding to the mounting part 90 is shown by a shade in the figure. The front end of the housing 20 is open and constitutes a part of the fitting portion 14 into which the card 250 is inserted. The card 250 is inserted into a space formed by the side wall 86, the rear wall 84, the mounting portion 90, and the shell 2, that is, the card receiving portion 88.
The eject mechanism is constituted by the slider 40, its related components, and the slider mounting portion 90.

The housing 20 has a shell 2 on a bottom wall 82.
A substantially rectangular opening 76 similar to the opening 22 is formed. A plurality of grooves 72 extending in the front-rear direction for holding the main body 36a of the contact 36 described above are arranged in the bottom wall 82 at the rear part of the housing 20 in the horizontal direction, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction. An escape groove 65 having a similar shape is formed in the side wall 86 in front of the locking groove 64. This escape groove 65 is used when the shell 2 is mounted on the housing 20.
The latch arm 62 of the shell 2 is aligned with the clearance groove 65 so that the latch arm 62 and the housing 20 do not interfere with each other when the shell 2 is put on the housing 20 along the clearance groove 65. Things. Next, the shell 2 is moved backward, and finally the shell 2 is moved.
And the housing 20 are assembled.

At the front end of the mounting portion 90, a heart-shaped cam groove 100 is arranged with the focusing portion 102 on the front side of the connector 1 and the wide portion 104 on the rear side. The details of the cam groove 100 will be described later. A guide groove 106 extending in the front-rear direction is formed near the cam groove 100 and inside the housing 20. The length of the guide groove 106 is slightly longer than the total length of the cam groove 100 in the front-rear direction,
It is located immediately after the front wall 20a of the housing 20. Behind the guide groove 106, a cam portion 110 is formed in the front-rear direction close to the guide groove 106. Cam part 110
Is formed with a notch 112 which is opened inward, and the wall at the rear end of the notch 112 is a cam surface 114 which is inclined so as to move inward as it moves backward. A recess 116 is formed in front of the notch 114 and outside the housing 20. In this recess 116,
An inner wall 118 extending inward and backward in the housing 20.
However, the front end of the recess 116 formed toward the rear is a cam surface 120 inclined in the same direction as the cam surface 114. The axis passing through the cam surface 120 is slightly offset outside the housing 20 from the axis passing through the cam surface 114. The function of the cam section 110 will be described later.

At the rear of the cam portion 110, another guide groove 122 is formed which extends in the front-rear direction near the cam surface 114. These guide grooves 106 and 122 are for guiding the slider 40 described above.

A spring receiving groove 126 extending in the front-rear direction is formed outside the cam portion 110 and the guide groove 122. A compression coil spring (hereinafter, simply referred to as a coil spring) 182 (FIG. 8) for urging the slider 40 in the card 250 removal direction is disposed in the spring housing groove 126. A forward-facing projection 130 is formed on the rear end wall 128 of the spring housing groove 126, and one end of the coil spring 182 is arranged around the projection 130. These spring accommodating groove 126 and convex portion 1
The part 30 also forms a part of the mounting part 90.

Next, the cam groove 100 will be described in detail. FIG. 7 shows the cam groove 100, and FIG.
(B) is a cross-sectional view of the cam groove 100 along line 7B-7B of (A). Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIG. The cam groove 100 is formed by a mold, and includes four parallel linear paths extending in the front-rear direction and diagonal paths connecting these paths. Specifically, the straight path is formed at the end portion 100 that becomes the focusing portion 102.
Path 14 linearly extending rearward from A (unlocked position)
0a and a path 140c located adjacent to the inside of the path 140a and extending parallel to the path 140a through the end 100B.
And a path 140e further inwardly adjacent to the end 140C (locking position) and extending parallel to the path 140c, and a path 140g further inwardly through the end 100D and also extending parallel to the path 140e. Be composed.

These linear paths are formed by a slope 1 that is inclined so as to guide the next linear path through the linear path.
They are connected by paths 140b, 140d, 140f, 140h indicated by arrows through 42a, 142b, 142c, 142d. This forms a circulation path in which the cam follower, that is, the cam rod 42 can move clockwise starting from the end 100A.

What is important here is that, as shown in (B), in the cam groove 100, valleys and ridges extending in the front-rear direction alternately in a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction (the insertion / removal direction of the card 250). That is, they are provided continuously. In particular,
The aforementioned four linear paths 140a, 140c, 140
e, 140g, the center of those valleys 146
Are formed, and a peak 148 is formed between the valleys 146 in parallel with the valleys 146. As can be seen from FIGS. 7A and 7B, when the cam rod 42 moves within the cam groove 100 and moves to an adjacent linear path, the above-described slopes 142a, 142b, 142
c, 142d to get over the peak 148 and enter the next route, and the slider 40 is moved forward by the coil spring 182.
In addition to being energized in the above, return to the reverse is prevented. Also, as can be seen from FIG.
Since the upper portion of the cam groove 2 is elastically pressed by the pressing piece 26 of the shell 2, the bottom surface 150 of the uneven cam groove 100 formed by the valley portion 146 and the peak portion 148 is
It can move while being biased by 50. Details of the relationship between the slider 40 and the cam groove 100 will be described later.

Next, the slider 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8A is a plan view of the slider 40, and FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along line 8B-8B of FIG. However, the cam rod 42 is not sectioned. FIG. 9 is a side view as viewed from an arrow 9 in FIG. 8 and 9
As shown in FIG. 6, the slider 40 has a slender, substantially rectangular planar shape, and has a curved extension 154 formed inside the rear end. A protrusion 156 having a forward contact surface 156a is formed on the distal end of the extension 154 on the inside in the lateral direction. The curved shape of the extension 154 is similar to the curved shape of the corresponding portion of the card 250.

A cam rod arranging portion (hereinafter, simply referred to as an arranging portion) 160 is formed at a front portion of the slider 40, and a lock member attaching portion (hereinafter, simply, an attaching portion) 17 is provided at a central portion thereof.
0 is formed. An upward flat surface 162 is formed in the cam rod disposition portion 160, and a hole 168 for receiving the end 42 a of the cam rod 42 is formed near the outside of the rear end of the flat surface 162 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. I have. On both sides of the flat surface 162, standing walls 164 and 166 whose inner surfaces are inclined forward from the rear of the flat surface 162 have holes 16 respectively.
8 are formed. The inclined surfaces 164a and 166a of the upright walls 164 and 166 are configured to expand as the region formed by them becomes forward. Standing wall 1
64 is terminated before the tip 172 of the slider 40, and the tip of the standing wall 166 is connected to the tip 1 of the standing wall 164.
64b and extend to the same position in the front-rear direction
Extending the same width.

As best shown in FIGS. 8 (B) and 9, the cam rod 42 is formed by bending both ends of a metal wire having a circular cross section into substantially the same length and forming a short U-shaped end at both ends. ing. The bent one end 42a of the cam rod 42 is swingably inserted into the hole 168, and the main body 42c
Is located on the flat surface 162, and the distal end 42 b is located beyond the distal end 172 of the slider 40.
As a result, the end 42b is the tip of the slider 40 and the arrow W
It is possible to move freely in the left-right direction as shown by.

A groove 174 extending downward and forward is formed in the mounting portion 170, and the lock member 176 is rotatably fitted into the groove 174. Similar to the cam rod 42, the lock member 176 is formed by bending a metal wire having a circular cross section. The rear end 176a of the lock member 176 is bent at a right angle to the main body 176c, and the other end 176b is connected to the main body 176c and the end 176c.
It is bent so that it becomes a right angle with a. That is, when the locking member 176 is viewed from the front of its axis, the end 176b is displaced 90 ° clockwise with respect to the end 176a.

A spring receiving groove 178 is formed in the rear portion 180 at a position corresponding to the spring receiving groove 126 of the housing 20. A coil spring 182 is disposed in a cylindrical space formed by the spring receiving grooves 126 and 178. The rear wall surface 184 of the front end of the spring housing groove 178 has a convex portion 186 facing the convex portion 130 formed on the housing 20.
A coil spring 182 is disposed around the two convex portions 130 and 186, and between the front rear wall 128 (FIG. 6) facing the front of the housing 20 and the rear wall 184 of the slider 40. The coil spring 182 is held. In the vicinity of the front end 172 and the rear end 188 of the slider 40, ribs 190 and 192 extending in the front-rear direction and located on the same axis protrude at positions corresponding to the guide grooves 106 and 122. These ribs 190, 1
92 are guide grooves 106 and 122 of the housing 20, respectively.
It is arranged so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and serves as a guide (guide) when the slider 40 moves on the mounting portion 90.

Next, the operation of the slider 40 will be described. FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic views illustrating the operation of the slider 40. FIG. 10A is an exploded perspective view illustrating the cam portion 110 of the housing 20 and the slider 40 in which the lock member 176 is at the locking position. FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 10-10 in FIG. 8A with the lock member 176 in the locked position. (C) is a perspective view of the slider 40 in which the lock member 176 is at the unlocked position. (D) is a state where the lock member 176 is in the non-locking position.
It is sectional drawing which follows the 0 line. FIG. 11 is a plan view of the housing 20 similar to FIG. 6, showing a state where the slider 40 is at the initial position before the card 250 is inserted, together with the slider 40. FIG. 12 shows the left part of the housing with the slider moved rearward. (A) shows the slider 40 when the card 250 is pushed to the rearmost position.
FIG. 12B is a plan view similar to FIG. 11 showing the position of FIG. 11, and FIG. 12B is a plan view similar to FIG. 11A when the card 250 is held by the housing 20 and the cam rod 42 is at the locking position.

Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 11, the end 4 of the cam rod 42 is in an initial position before the card 250 is inserted, that is, in the unlocked position.
2b is located at the end 100A of the cam groove 100 shown in FIG. At this time, the slider 40 is located at the forefront. In this initial position, the end 176b of the lock member 176
Is located on the mounting portion 90 in front of the recess 116, and the lock member 176 is maintained at the unlocked position shown in FIG. The section 10-10 of the slider 40 at this time is as shown in FIG. That is, the end 176b rides on the mounting portion 90, and the end 176a is located in the notch 112.

Next, when the card 250 is inserted into the connector 1, the leading end 254 of the card 250 comes into contact with the contact surface 156 a of the slider 40, and the card 250 is further pressed with a finger to push it farthest, that is, to the rear, and FIG. (A). That is, the end 42b of the cam rod 42 is
After passing through the straight path 140a and the oblique path 140b, the end portion 100B is prevented from being pushed further. When the finger is released, the slider 40 is pressed by the coil spring 182, and the end portion 42b is Then, as shown in FIG. 12 (B), the vehicle stops at the end 100C at the locking position through the oblique path 140d. The end 42b climbs over the peak 148 (FIG. 7B) when passing the oblique paths 140b and 140d.

While the card 250 moves from the initial position of the slider 40 to the rearmost position, the front end 176b of the lock member 176 moves rearward so as to be located in the recess 116, and the rear end 176b moves. 176a engages the rear cam surface 114 and rides on the mounting surface 90, so that the lock member 176 is maintained at the locked position shown in FIG. That is, the end 176b is located in the recess 116,
6c, the rear end 176a turns on the mounting portion 90 and is turned sideways. The end 176a faces inward in the lateral direction and projects into the space for receiving the card 250, so that it engages with the notch 252 for locking the card 250, thereby preventing the card 250 from coming off. The 10-10 section of the slider 40 at this time has the shape shown in FIG. In this locked position, the card 250 is electrically connected to the contact 36 and is ready for use.

Next, when the card 250 is to be ejected, the card 250 is pressed again with a finger, so that the oblique path 1 is pressed.
40f (FIG. 7 (A)) adjacent straight path 14
0 g and the pressing force is reduced, the coil spring 18
2, the card 250 is pushed out together with the slider 40. At this time, since the end 176b of the lock member 176 engages with the cam surface 120 of the recess 116 and rides on the mounting portion 90, the lock member 176 is in the unlocked state shown in FIG. The engagement between the portion 176a and the notch 252 of the card 250 is released. At the position where the card 250 is ejected, the end 42b of the cam rod 42
Return to the end 100A of 00. The connector 1 can insert and remove the card 250 only by pressing the card 250 as described above. In other words, the eject mechanism can be operated only by pressing the card 250.

Next, the card 250 inserted into the connector 1
Will be described. FIG.
3A shows the detection unit 200 of the card 250, (A) is an enlarged view of a part of the detection unit 200 when the card 250 is depressed most, and (B) is a part of the detection unit 200 when the card 250 is in the locking position. It is an enlarged view. FIGS. 14A and 14B show a contact used in the detection unit, wherein FIG. 14A is a plan view of the contact, FIG. 14B is a front view, and FIG. 14C is a side view of the contact shown in FIG. Show.

Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIGS. The detecting section 200 is arranged in a concave portion 216 formed in the rear wall 84 of the housing 20. This detection unit 200
As shown in FIG. 14, the contact 220 used in this embodiment is a member having a substantially L-shaped planar shape formed by punching and bending a metal plate. A support portion 204 extends from the main body portion 202, and a tine 206 and a support arm 208 extend at right angles to the support portion 204 and in opposite directions.
The tines 206 are soldered to conductor pads (not shown) on the mounting member 8. From the support arm 208, the support portion 20
4, the contact arm 210 extends orthogonally. The contact arm 210 has a substantially curved middle portion 210a.
The support arm 208 and the contact arm 210 have elasticity and are formed in a cantilever shape with the main body portion 202 as a fixed end. The support portion 204 has barbs on both side edges 204a. (Barb) 212. Contact 2
Reference numeral 20 denotes a support 20 in which a support portion 204 is press-fitted from below into a groove (not shown) formed in a bottom wall 82 at a rear end of the housing 20. And the above-mentioned contact arm 210 is located in the concave portion 216.

On the other hand, the contact 214 is formed by cutting and bending a part of the rear end of the main surface 4 of the shell 2 downward. FIG. 13A shows an intermediate portion 210 a of the contact arm 210.
Is pressed against the rear end 188 of the slider 40 and the contact 2
14 is in a state of being electrically contacted. At this time,
The insertion of the card 250 is detected by a detection circuit (not shown). FIG. 13B shows a state in which the slider 40 has returned to the locking position, and at this time, the electrical connection of the detection unit 200 has been released. The contact arm 210 is separated from the contact 214 and the rear end 188 of the slider 40
Is also remote from the contact arm 210. Therefore, the contact 220 is maintained in a state where it is not biased by the slider 40 in a normal use state.

When the card 250 is ejected, the slider 40 is pressed again, so that the state shown in FIG.
The ejection of the card 250 is electrically detected. As described above, the contact 220 is pressed by the contact 214 only when the card 250 is inserted and ejected, and is not biased when the card is inserted and used, so that the elasticity of the support arm 208 and the contact arm 210 is reduced. (Creep) is prevented.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the cam rod 42 is urged against the cam groove 100 by itself. It may be configured to be attached to the housing 20.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a card connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the card connector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the card connector shown in FIG. 1 in a perspective view;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the card connector of FIG. 1,
(A) is a left side view of the connector of FIG.
(B) is a right side view seen from the arrow R.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the housing similar to FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 shows a heart-shaped cam groove, (A) is an enlarged plan view of the cam groove, and (B) is a cross-sectional view of the cam groove along line 7B-7B of (A).

8A and 8B show a slider, wherein FIG. 8A is a plan view and FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along line 8B-8B of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the slider as viewed from an arrow 9 in FIG.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic views illustrating the operation of the slider 40. FIG. 10A is an exploded perspective view showing a cam portion and a slider of a housing in which a lock member is at a locking position, and FIG. 10A of FIG. 8A in a state where
FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 0, FIG. 8C is a perspective view of the slider in which the lock member is in the unlocked position, and FIG. Sectional view along line 10

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a housing similar to FIG. 6, showing a state where the slider is in an initial position before a card is inserted, together with the slider.

FIG. 12 shows the left side of the housing with the slider moved rearward. FIG. 12A is a plan view similar to FIG. 11 showing the position of the slider when the card is pushed to the rearmost, and FIG. 11B is a plan view similar to FIG. 11A when the cam rod is in the locking position. Figure

13A and 13B show a detection unit of the card, wherein FIG. 13A is a partially enlarged view of the detection unit when the card is pressed down most, and FIG. 13B is a partially enlarged view of the detection unit when the card is at the locking position.

FIG. 14 shows a contact used for a detection unit;
(A) is a plan view of the contact, (B) is a front view, and (C) is a side view of the contact of (A) viewed from an arrow D.

FIG. 15 is a partially enlarged view partially showing an example of a conventional card connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Card connector 2 Shell 20 Housing 26 Leaf spring (pressing piece) 36 Contact 40 Slider 42 Cam follower (Cam rod) 100 Heart-shaped cam groove 100A Lock release position 100C Lock position 146 Valley 148 Crest 250 Recording medium (card)

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) H01R 12/18 H01R 23/02 K // H01R 107: 00 23/68 301Z F-term (Reference) 2C005 MA19 MA26 MA31 MB03 MB04 NA02 NA19 NA21 5B058 CA13 5E021 FA05 FA11 FB18 FC31 FC32 FC36 FC40 HA07 HC11 HC36 HC37 LA01 LA09 LA15 5E023 AA04 AA16 AA18 AA21 BB01 BB19 BB22 CC23 CC26 DD18 DD19 EE07 GG02 HH12 HH17

Claims (2)

[Claims] An insulative housing having a heart-shaped cam groove and a contact for receiving a card-shaped recording medium so as to be able to be inserted and withdrawn and electrically contacting a contact of the received recording medium, and the recording medium. A slider disposed so as to slide with respect to the housing in response to a pressing operation in the insertion direction of the cam groove; A cam follower that is swingably held by the slider so as to circulate between the groove and the cam groove. A card connector characterized by being provided alternately and continuously in a direction orthogonal to each other, and the valleys being provided corresponding to the locking position and the unlocking position. 2. A plate, wherein a metal shell is attached to the housing to cover the housing, the cam follower, and the slider, and the shell is cut and raised from the shell at a position corresponding to the cam follower. The card connector according to claim 1, further comprising a spring, wherein the leaf spring biases the cam follower toward the cam groove.