JP2003017183A - Connector for card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To take enough measures against static in a simple method with due consideration of miniaturization and thinning. SOLUTION: The connector for a card is provided with an ejection device IJ for a card C to be inserted into a connector body B. The connector body B is provided with a housing 2 having an insertion slot 21 for the card C, a metal shell 3 covering the housing 2, and a plurality of terminal members 4 mounted on the housing 2. Each terminal member 4 is provided with contact parts 4a in contact with electric contact points e of the card C and solder tails 4b connected to a circuit board. The contact parts 4a and the solder tails 4b are arranged at positions away from the insertion slot 21 of the card C toward the insertion direction of the card C.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card connector for connecting a PC card or other card type device. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique that can be effectively used as a countermeasure against static electricity that tends to occur when a card is inserted into a connector or when a charged article approaches.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A card connector provided with an ejecting device of a type in which a card is inserted into a set position and discharged from the set position by a so-called push-push operation has been known.

A card connector of this type is disclosed in
No. 75983, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-150387, and the like. In the card connectors described in these publications, with respect to the connector body in which the terminal member having the contacts corresponding to the card-side electrodes is incorporated,
The slider is held so that it can slide back and forth in the card insertion direction. And by inserting the card,
It is designed so that the tip of the card hits the engaging portion on the slider side and the slider is pushed together with the card.

Further, a cam mechanism is adopted to enable push-push operation. The cam mechanism is composed of a combination of a cam portion and a pin member corresponding to the cam portion, and is arranged separately on the lower surface of the slider and the bottom surface of the connector body corresponding to the lower surface.

However, in this card connector, since the cam member and the pin member are separately arranged in the thickness direction of the connector body, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the card connector as a whole.

As a card connector in consideration of this point, for example, one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-135192 is known. The card connector described in this publication is equipped with a cam mechanism for selectively positioning the slider at its forward and backward positions and its intermediate position. Are distributed to the side portion of the slider and the side wall of the connector body facing the side portion, thereby achieving a thin structure.

[0007]

By the way, among the card connectors of this kind, particularly in the multimedia card (MMC) connector, which has been attracting attention in recent years, a smaller card of about several centimeters square is required. It is used. Therefore, in this type of card connector, in order to contribute to downsizing and weight reduction of electronic devices (for example, mobile computers, digital cameras, portable digital video cameras, etc.) equipped with the card connector, the card connector itself can be made smaller. There is a strong demand for downsizing and thinning.

In response to these demands, for example, SIM
In a (Subscriber Identity Module) card, card side electrodes (electrical contacts) e are arranged on the surface of the card C as shown in FIG. The electrical contacts e are arranged in two rows on one side of the card C at intervals in the insertion direction of the card C (arrow A direction), and each row extends in the width direction of the card C (arrow B direction).

The housing 30 of the card connector 300
1, a plurality of terminal members 302 are arranged. Each terminal member 302 has a contact portion 303 that contacts the electrical contact e of the card C, and a solder tail 305 that is soldered to a circuit board (not shown). The housing 301 having the terminal member 302 mounted thereon is covered with a metal shell 306 for electromagnetic shielding. Reference numeral 310 denotes an eject device for the card C.

In this card connector 300,
Since the terminal members 302 are inserted (press-fitted) from both sides and attached to the housing 301, the solder tails 305 are arranged on both sides in the length direction of the housing 301 (direction of arrow A). As a result, the solder tail 305 is also present on the insertion port 307 side of the card C.

It has been found that the solder tail 305 present on the insertion opening 307 side has a problem in terms of measures against static electricity necessary for circuit protection. That is, in the initial stage of insertion of the card C, before the electrical contact e of the card C comes into contact with the contact portion 303 of the terminal member 302, the card C is discharged by coming into contact with or approaching the solder tail 305. This is not limited to the case where the charged object is a card, and similar discharge may occur when the object is in another charged state, which may cause a circuit breakdown.

[0012] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a card connector which can take sufficient measures against static electricity by a simple method while considering miniaturization and thinning.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a card connector provided with an ejecting device for a card to be inserted into a connector body, wherein the connector body has a housing having an insertion opening for the card, and A metal shell for covering the housing, and a plurality of terminal members mounted on the housing, each of the terminal members having a contact portion for contacting an electrical contact of the card and a solder tail connected to a circuit board. The contact portion and the solder tail are arranged at a position apart from the insertion opening of the card in the insertion direction of the card.

According to the present invention, the contact portion and the solder tail of each terminal member are arranged at a position apart from the insertion slot of the card, so that a simple method is sufficient while considering downsizing and thinning. It is possible to take various measures against static electricity. In particular, since the solder tail does not exist on the insertion opening side of the card, it is possible to prevent the static electricity of the card from being discharged to the terminal member first when the card is inserted. That is, the card itself first contacts the metal shell near the insertion slot. This causes the card to discharge to the metal shell connected to ground.

In the present invention, it is desirable that the contact portion is arranged between the insertion opening of the card and the solder tail. With such a configuration, even if the card is not discharged (grounded) without coming into contact with the metal shell, the electrical contact of the card first comes into contact with the contact portion of the terminal member on the connector side. Therefore, measures against static electricity are not impaired.

It is desirable that the electrical contacts of the card are arranged in two rows on one side of the card at intervals in the insertion direction of the card, and each row extends in the width direction of the card. This is because when the electrical contacts are arranged on one side of the card, it is easier to consider the miniaturization and thinning of the connector as compared with the case where the electrical contacts are provided on both sides.

Each of the terminal members is divided into a short terminal extending in the insertion direction of the card and a long terminal longer than the short terminal, and the contact portion of the long terminal is longer than the contact portion of the short terminal. It is desirable that the solder tails of the respective terminal members are arranged at positions closer to, and that the solder tails of the respective terminal members are located farther in the card insertion direction than the contact portions of the respective terminal members. In such a configuration, the solder tails of the long terminals can be arranged on the solder tail side of the short terminals through the short terminals. In this respect, it is desirable that each long terminal is arranged between adjacent short terminals.

It is preferable that the solder tails of each of the terminal members are arranged in a line at intervals in the width direction of the housing. By arranging not only the solder tails of the long terminals on the solder tail side of the short terminals but also arranging them in a row, it is possible to perform a concentrated layout for convenient automatic soldering.

It is preferable that mounting holes for the respective terminal members are provided on the surface of the housing, and the respective terminal members are mounted to the housing from the surface side thereof. By mounting each terminal member from the front surface side of the housing, the mounting work of each terminal member can be facilitated.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a SIM card connector. 6-
FIG. 9 shows a diagram for explaining the operation.

The card connector 1 is formed in a generally rectangular plane as a whole. The connector 1 is an ejecting device IJ for the card C inserted into the connector body B.
Is equipped with. The connector body B is composed of a housing 2 having an insertion opening 21 for the card C and a metal shell 3 covering the housing 2. The housing 2 is formed of an insulating resin, and has a bottom plate portion 2a, left and right side wall portions 22 and 23, and a terminal mounting portion 24 provided on the front surface side of the housing 2.

The metal shell 3 is formed by punching and bending a thin metal plate having a spring property, and the upper plate portion 31 is formed.
And left and right side plate portions 32 and 33. The metal shell 3 is formed of a conductive metal plate so as to exert the electromagnetic shield function of the entire connector.

In the terminal mounting portion 24, a plurality of terminal members 4 having a contact portion 4a that comes into contact with the electrical contact e of the card C are incorporated. Each terminal member 4 has an electrical contact e of the card C.
In addition to the contact portion 4a contacting with, a solder tail 4b connected to a circuit board (not shown) is provided. Contact part 4a
The solder tail 4b is arranged at a position farther in the insertion direction (opposite side) of the card C than the insertion port 21 of the card C is.

In this embodiment, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, the contact portion 4a and the solder tail 4 of each terminal member 4 are provided.
b is arranged at a position distant from the insertion slot 21 of the card C. This makes it possible to take sufficient measures against static electricity. This is because the solder tail 4b does not exist on the side of the insertion port 21 of the card C, so that the static electricity of the card C can be prevented from being discharged to the terminal member 4 first when the card C is inserted.

That is, the card C itself first contacts the metal shell 3 in the vicinity of the insertion slot 21. This allows the card C
Is discharged to the metal shell 3 connected to the ground. Since the metal shell 3 is connected to the ground of the circuit board via the nail, it is not affected by the discharge from the card C.

In this embodiment, the insertion slot 2 for the card C is used.
The contact portion 4a is arranged between the 1 and the solder tail 4b. Therefore, if the card C is the metal shell 3
Even if the electric contact e of the card C is not discharged (grounded) without coming into contact with, the electric contact e of the card C first comes into contact with the contact portion 4a of the terminal member 4 on the connector side. In a normal card insertion operation, the card C first comes into contact with the metal shell 3. However, even if this is not the case, care is taken not to impair the measures against static electricity.

The electrical contacts e of the card C are arranged in two rows on one side (front surface) of the card C with a gap in the insertion direction of the card C, and each row extends in the width direction of the card C (see FIG. 4). ). This is because when the electrical contacts e are arranged on one side of the card C, it becomes easier to consider the miniaturization and thinning of the connector as compared with the case where the electrical contacts e are provided on both sides.
That is, when the electrical contacts e are provided on both sides of the card C, the terminal members 4 also have to be provided in two stages with respect to the housing 2, and the connector itself is thickened accordingly.

Each terminal member 4 is divided into a short terminal 4S extending in the insertion direction of the card C and a long terminal 4L longer than the short terminal 4S, and the contact portion 4a of the long terminal 4L is the short terminal 4S. It is arranged at a position closer to the insertion port 21 than the contact portion 4a. And each terminal member 4 (short terminal 4S
Also, the solder tails 4b of the long terminals 4L) are arranged at a position further apart from the contact portions 4a of the terminal members 4 in the insertion direction of the card C.

The above-mentioned structure is applied to the long terminal 4L.
This is so that the solder tail 4b can be arranged on the solder tail 4b side of the short terminal 4S through the short terminals 4S. In this respect, each long terminal 4L
It can be said that it is desirable to have a design in which each is arranged between adjacent short terminals 4S.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the solder tails 4b of the short terminals 4S and the long terminals 4L are arranged in a line in the width direction of the housing 2 (direction of arrow B) at intervals. This is the solder tail 4b of the long terminal 4L.
This is because it is possible not only to arrange the short terminals 4S on the solder tail 4b side, but also to arrange them in a line so that they can be intensively laid out for convenience of automatic soldering.

The terminal mounting portion 24 on the front surface of the housing 2 is provided with mounting grooves S and L for each terminal member 4 which are composed of a plurality of short terminals 4S and long terminals 4L. Therefore, each terminal member 4 is attached to the housing 2 from the front side thereof. This is because the mounting work of each terminal member 4 can be easily performed by mounting each terminal member 4 from the front surface side of the housing 2.

The mounting groove S is for short terminals, and the mounting groove L is for long terminals. The short terminal 4S has a substantially straight shape, but the long terminal 4L has a bent portion b. Therefore, the mounting groove L is also formed to have a similar bent portion. Since the long terminal 4L has the bent portion b, it is difficult to mount the long terminal 4L on the housing 2 by press fitting in the length direction. In consideration of this point, a method of mounting the short terminals 4S and the long terminals 4L from the front surface side of the housing 2 is adopted.

The reason why the bent portion b is provided on the long terminal 4L is that the contact portion 4b of the long terminal 4L and the contact portion 4b of the short terminal 4S are aligned in the length direction of the housing 2. It was done. This is because, among the electrical contacts e arranged in two rows of the card C, the electrical contacts e adjacent to each other in the length direction (insertion direction) of the card C are aligned in the length direction of the card C. It corresponds.

The ejecting device IJ is pushed along with the insertion of the card C and slides between the forward position, which is the mounting position of the card C, and the retracted position, which is the initial insertion position of the card C, and the slider 5. 5, a coil spring 6 for urging the card 5 back toward the retracted position of the card C, and a cam mechanism 7 for restricting the sliding movement of the slider 5.
And (see FIG. 5).

The cam mechanism 7 is provided on the surface of the slider 5 and has a first guide groove (cam groove) 51 that determines the forward movement position of the slider 5 and a second guide groove (cam groove) that determines the backward movement position of the slider 5. ) 52, and a pin member 8 guided along the guide grooves 51, 52 to determine the slide position of the slider 5.

The slider 5 is housed in a recess 25 provided along the side of the housing 2 and covered with the metal shell 3.

In this embodiment, the mounting of the card C is
This is performed by the operation shown in FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the card C is inserted from the insertion port 21. After the card C is inserted up to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 4 and further up to the state shown in FIG. 5, the insertion operation is released. Then, by the action of the coil spring 6 of the ejecting device IJ, the card C is locked in a state of being slightly returned to the position shown in FIG.

At this time, each electric contact e of the card C and each contact portion 4a on the connector side come into contact with each other to be electrically connected.

The removal of the card C is performed by the operation shown in FIGS. That is, the card C in the locked position in FIG.
After pushing in to the position shown in FIG. 8, the pushing operation is stopped and released. Then, the card C is pushed back to the position shown in FIG. 9 by the coil spring 6. In this state, each electrical contact e of the card C and the contact portion 4a on the connector side
, And the electrical connection is released.

In the above embodiment, the countermeasure against static electricity of the connector intended for the discharge from the card C was described. However, a charged object other than the card was brought into contact with or brought close to the insertion opening side of the card connector. In this case, needless to say, the same static electricity countermeasure function is exerted. In particular, the solder tail 4b of each terminal member 4 is provided on the insertion port 21 side.
Does not exist works well.

[0041]

As described above, according to the card connector of the present invention, it is possible to take sufficient measures against static electricity by a simple method while taking into consideration miniaturization and thinning.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a front view seen from an insertion opening side.

2A and 2B show a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a bottom view and FIG. 2B is a side view.

3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an arrangement of terminal members of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

10A and 10B show a card connector according to a conventional example, in which FIG. 10A is a partially cutaway plan view and FIG. 10B is a side view.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 connector 2 housing 25 recess 3 metal shell 4 terminal members 4a Contact part 4b solder tail 4S short terminal 4L long terminal S, L mounting groove 5 slider 51 First guide groove 52 Second guide groove 6 coil spring 7 Cam mechanism 8-pin member B connector body b Bent part C card e Electrical contact IJ eject device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Ito             1-5-4 Fukami Higashi, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Inside Molex Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5E021 FA09 FB18 FC40 HA05 HB07                       HC09 HC36                 5E023 AA21 BB17 CC04 EE03 EE09                       EE10 EE24 HH05 HH16 HH30

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A card connector including a card ejecting device inserted into a connector body, wherein the connector body includes a housing having an insertion port for the card, and a metal shell covering the housing.
A plurality of terminal members mounted on the housing, each of the terminal members including a contact portion that contacts an electrical contact of the card and a solder tail connected to a circuit board; and the contact portion and the solder tail. Is a card connector which is arranged at a position farther from the card insertion port in the card insertion direction. 2. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is arranged between the insertion opening of the card and the solder tail. 3. The card according to claim 1, wherein the electrical contacts of the card are arranged in two rows on one side of the card at intervals in the insertion direction of the card, and each row extends in the width direction of the card. Connector. 4. Each of the terminals is classified into a short terminal extending in a card insertion direction and a long terminal longer than the short terminal, and a contact portion of the long terminal is inserted more than a contact portion of the short terminal. The card connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connector is arranged at a position close to the mouth, and a solder tail of each terminal is arranged at a position farther from a contact portion of each terminal in a card insertion direction. 5. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein the solder tails of the terminals are arranged in a line in the width direction of the housing with an interval therebetween. 6. The card connector according to claim 4, wherein each of the long terminals is arranged between adjacent short terminals. 7. The card according to claim 1, wherein a mounting groove for each of the terminals is provided on a surface of the housing, and each terminal is mounted on the housing from a front surface side thereof. connector.