JP2003031313A - Card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positive erroneous insertion preventing function by a simple method while considering miniaturization and thinning. SOLUTION: The card connector is provided with an erroneous insertion preventing mechanism for a card C electrically connected by insertion into a connector body B. The connector body B is provided with a housing 2 provided with a terminal member 4 contacting an electric contact e of the card C, a metal shell 3 covering the housing 2, and a card inserting opening 21 provided between the metal shell 3 and the housing 2. The erroneous insertion preventing mechanism blocking insertion of the card C in midway of the insertion of the card C when an insertion form of the card C is not normal is provided on the metal shell 3.

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 card type device such as a PC card or a memory stick, and more particularly to a technique for a card connector having an erroneous card insertion preventing mechanism.

[0002]

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

This type of card connector is actually used in 1-7
No. 5983, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-150387, and the like. In the card connectors described in these publications, a terminal member having contacts corresponding to the electric contact terminals on the card side is incorporated in the connector body. Further, a slider is slidably held in the connector body in the front and back of the card insertion direction.
When the card is inserted, the tip of the card abuts on the slider-side engaging portion, and the slider is designed to be 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. In this card connector, the cam portion and the pin member are arranged separately in the thickness direction of the connector body, so that it is difficult to reduce the overall thickness of the card connector.

As a card connector in consideration of this point,
For example, the one described in JP-A-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. Further, the cam portion and the pin member of the cam mechanism are arranged separately between the side portion of the slider and the side wall of the connector body facing the side portion, thereby achieving a thin structure.

Among the card connectors of this type, a smaller card including a memory stick having a length of about several centimeters is used for a connector for a multimedia card, which has been particularly noticed in recent years. .
Therefore, in this type of card connector, downsizing of electronic equipment (for example, mobile computer, digital camera, portable digital video camera, etc.) equipped with this,
In order to contribute to the weight reduction, the card connector itself is further miniaturized and thinned.

[0007]

By the way, in the connector for a multimedia card equipped with this push-push type eject device, since the card size is small, it is difficult to distinguish between the front and the back of the card itself. .
Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether or not the card insertion mode is normal. For this reason, in the existing card connector, the following erroneous insertion patterns occurred.

Erroneous insertion of the card into the connector body by inserting the card backwards and forwards. Incorrect insertion of the card into the connector body due to the reverse insertion. Insert the card back and forth + insert the card back and forth (+
).

When such an erroneous insertion occurs, it causes damage or bending of the terminal member provided on the connector body and the electrical contact of the card brought into contact with the terminal member.

Here, the preventive measures against the reverse insertion of the front and back may be already adopted. For example, there is a method in which the card insertion opening of the connector body and the end surface of the card have the same shape (similar shape) to prevent reverse insertion from the front and back. The existing card has stepped portions on both sides thereof for varying the thickness of the card. Corresponding to this, the shape of the card insertion slot is set.

Therefore, in principle, the card cannot be inserted upside down. However, in reality, when the card is strongly inserted, the upper plate of the shield shell is slightly curved in the direction away from the housing, and therefore there are many configurations in which the card can be inserted even when the card is inserted upside down. It was

From the viewpoint of preventing erroneous insertion of a card, the shield shell may be reinforced or an erroneous insertion preventing member may be separately provided. However, this has a great influence on miniaturization and thinning of the connector.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a card connector capable of surely exhibiting the function of preventing erroneous insertion of a card by a simple method without providing a special member while considering the miniaturization and thinning of the connector body. To provide.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a card connector having an erroneous insertion preventing mechanism for a card electrically connected by being inserted into a connector body, wherein the connector body is an electrical connector for the card. A housing provided with a terminal member that comes into contact with the contact, a metal shell that covers the housing, and a card insertion opening provided between the metal shell and the housing, and the card is inserted into the metal shell. When the mode is not normal, an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism is provided to prevent the card from being inserted during the card insertion.

According to the present invention, the metal shell is provided with an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism for preventing the insertion of the card during the insertion of the card when the insertion of the card into the card insertion slot is not normal. Therefore, even if the metal shell is slightly bent by an external force, the erroneous insertion prevention function can be surely exhibited.

The metal shell includes an upper plate portion that covers the surface of the connector body and left and right side plate portions, and the erroneous insertion prevention mechanism includes an opening provided in the upper plate portion.
It is desirable that the edge portion of the card is set so as to abut against the edge portion of the opening while the card is being inserted.
According to this structure, only the opening is provided in the metal shell, so that this can be realized by a simple means without providing a special member as an erroneous insertion preventing mechanism.

When the insertion mode of the card is normal,
It is desirable that the front shape of the card insertion slot and the end surface shape of the card in the insertion direction match each other. With this configuration, when the card insertion mode is normal, the card insertion is permitted, and when the card insertion mode is not normal, the card insertion is restricted. Then, even if the card is inserted by force when it is not inserted properly, the insertion of the card is restricted by the edge portion of the opening.

It is preferable that thin portions extending in the lengthwise direction of the card are formed on both sides of the card, and the thin portions are formed by step portions provided on the back surface of the card. When the thin parts are formed on both sides of the card, the end surface of the card is not rectangular. That is, the key portion is formed by the thin portion with respect to the thick portion.

The edge portion of the opening has a straight portion extending in the width direction of the housing, and the length dimension β1 of the straight portion includes the maximum width dimension α including the thin portions provided on both sides of the card.
The width dimension α1 of the thicker part, which is smaller than 2, excluding the thin part
It is desirable that it is set larger than. With this setting, only the thick wall portion of the card is likely to project from the opening. As a result, the end of the card abuts against the straight portion in the insertion mode in which the front and back are reversed.

It is preferable that a band plate portion extending in the width direction of the housing is present in the upper plate portion of the metal shell between the card insertion opening and the opening portion.
Since the band plate portion is easily bent, the end portion of the card easily comes into contact with the edge portion of the opening. That is, the greater the amount of bending of the strip portion, the more the card is displaced in the direction away from the housing. Therefore, the edge portion of the card more surely abuts the edge portion beyond that.

It is desirable that the strip plate portion is formed such that the width in the vicinity of the central portion is narrower than the widthwise end portions. If formed in this manner, the strip portion will be more easily curved.

It is desirable that the opening is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in a plane having the straight portion as a long side. If formed in this way, the function of the opening can be effectively exhibited without making the opening larger than necessary.

It is preferable that the dimension of the opening corresponding to the length direction of the housing is set to be larger than the width dimension of the strip plate portion. With this setting,
By utilizing the bending action of the strip portion, it becomes possible to more surely bring the end portion of the card into contact with the edge portion of the opening.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a connector for a card having a pressed portion and a thin portion will be described below. Figure 1 shows that the card is not inserted properly into the connector body (front / back reverse insertion + front / reverse reverse insertion).
FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the relationship between the connector body and the card when the card is inserted properly.

The card connector 1 is formed in a generally rectangular plane as a whole. The connector 1 includes an ejecting device IJ for the card C inserted into the connector body B. The connector body B has an insertion slot 2 for the card C.
1 and a metal shell 3 that covers the housing 2. The housing 2 is made of an insulating resin and has a bottom plate portion 2a and left and right side wall portions 2
2 and 23, and a terminal mounting portion 24 provided near the one end 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.

The terminal mounting portion 24 incorporates a plurality of terminal members 4 each having a contact portion 4a that comes into contact with the electrical contact e of the card C. 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, an erroneous insertion preventing mechanism for the card C electrically connected by being inserted into the connector body B is provided. That is, the connector body B
Is a housing 2 provided with a terminal member 4 that comes into contact with the electrical contacts e of the card C, a metal shell 3 covering the housing 2, and a card insertion port 21 provided between the metal shell 3 and the housing 2. It has and. The metal shell 3 is provided with an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism that prevents the card C from being inserted while the card C is not inserted properly.

As described above, the metal shell 3 is provided with an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism for preventing the card C from being inserted during the insertion of the card C when the card C is not properly inserted into the insertion slot 21 of the card C. The reason is metal shell 3
This is to ensure that the erroneous insertion prevention function can be exerted even if is slightly bent by an external force.

That is, the erroneous insertion prevention mechanism according to this embodiment includes the opening 35 provided in the upper plate portion 31 of the metal shell 3, and the card C is provided at the edge portion 35a of the opening 35.
It is set so that the end part 10 of the abuts against the end part of the card. With this configuration, it suffices to provide the opening 35 in the metal shell 3. Therefore, this can be realized by a simple means without providing a special member as an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the insertion mode of the card C is normal, the front shape of the insertion slot 21 and the end surface shape in the insertion direction of the card C (substantially the same as the hatched shape in FIG. 2) are shown. Match each other. With this configuration, the insertion of the card C is allowed when the insertion mode of the card C is normal, and the insertion of the card C is regulated (prevented) when the insertion mode is not normal. Moreover, even if the card C is inserted in an abnormal manner when it is not inserted properly, the edge portion 35a of the opening 35 restricts the insertion of the card C.

The specific shape of the card C will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on both sides of the card C, a thin portion 11 extending in the length direction of the card C is formed, and the thin portion 11 is a step portion 11a provided on the back surface of the card C.
Is formed by. By forming the thin portions 11 on both sides of the card C, the end surface (end portion) 10 of the card C is not rectangular. That is, the thin portion 11 with respect to the thick portion 12 forms a key portion. Therefore, the inner wall of the insertion slot 21 of the card C is provided with the convex portions 22a and 23a which enter toward the stepped portion 11a, respectively.

The edge portion 35a of the opening 35 has a straight portion (here, the same portion as the edge portion) extending in the width direction of the housing 2, and the length dimension β1 of the straight portion 35a is provided on both sides of the card C. It is set to be smaller than the maximum width dimension α2 including the thin portion 11. Further, the length dimension β1 of the edge portion 35a is set to be larger than the width dimension α1 of the thick portion 12 excluding the thin portion 11. With this setting, only the thick-walled portion 12 of the card C is easily projected from the opening 35. This makes it possible to make the end portion 10 of the card C abut against the edge portion 35a in the insertion mode of the front and back shown in FIG.

The upper plate portion 31 of the metal shell 3 has a band plate portion 36 extending in the width direction of the housing 2 between the insertion port 21 of the card C and the opening 35. Since the strip plate portion 36 is easily bent, the end portion 10 of the card C is easily brought into contact with the edge portion 35a of the opening 35. That is, the greater the amount of bending of the strip portion 36, the more the card C is displaced in the direction away from the housing 2. Therefore, the edge portion 10a of the card C can be more reliably abutted against the edge portion 35a at the tip thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1, the strip plate portion 36 is formed such that the width in the vicinity of the central portion is narrower than the widthwise end portions. By forming in this way, the strip plate portion 36 can be made to have a shape that is more easily curved.

The opening 35 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape with a straight edge portion 35a as a long side. By forming in this way, the function of the opening 35 itself can be effectively exhibited without making the opening 35 larger than necessary.

In this embodiment, the dimension β2 of the opening 35 corresponding to the lengthwise direction of the housing 2 is set larger than the width dimension β3 of the strip plate portion 36. The reason for this setting is that the end portion 10 of the card C can be reliably abutted against the edge portion 35a of the opening 35 by utilizing the bending action of the band plate portion 36. That is, if the size β2 is too small, the edge portion 35a comes too close to the strip plate portion 36. As a result, there is a possibility that the end portion 10 of the card may pass the edge portion 35a.

The electrical contacts e of the card C are arranged in two rows on one surface (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. 1). ). 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.

The ejecting device IJ is pushed 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. 1).

The cam mechanism 7 is provided on the surface of the slider 5, and has a first guide groove that determines the forward movement position of the slider 5.
The slider 5 includes a second guide groove (not shown) that determines the retracted position of the slider 5, and a pin member 8 that is guided along each guide groove and determines the slide position of the slider 5.

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

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, when the card C is reversely inserted in the front and back (reverse insertion) and reversely inserted in the front and rear (back insertion), the end portion 10 of the card C is the edge of the opening 35. It hits the portion 35a and is prevented from further insertion. That is, since the width dimension β1 of the opening 35 is larger than the width dimension α1 of the thick portion 12 of the card C, and the strip plate portion 36.
Is curved in a direction away from the housing 2, so that a part of the thick portion 12 projects from the opening 35. As a result, the function of preventing the erroneous insertion of the card C into the connector body B is exerted.

The insertion mode of the card C is normal before and after,
Even in the case of simple back insertion, the erroneous insertion prevention function is exerted by the same operation as described above.

[0044]

As described above, according to the card connector of the present invention, it is possible to surely exert the function of preventing the erroneous insertion of the card by a simple method while considering miniaturization and thinning. Play.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 connector 2 housing 2a Bottom plate part 21 insertion slot 22 Side wall 23 Side wall 22a, 23a convex portion 3 metal shell 31 Upper plate 32, 33 Side plate part 4 terminal members 4a Contact part 4b solder tail 5 slider 6 coil spring 7 Cam mechanism 8-pin member 10 edge 11 Thin wall 11a stepped portion 12 Thick part B connector body C card e Electrical contact IJ eject device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shigeru Akiyama             1-5-4 Fukami Higashi, Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Inside Molex Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B058 CA03 CA07 CA13 KA12 KA24                 5E021 FA05 FB18 FC38 HB15 HC36                       JA04                 5E023 AA04 AA21 BB19 CC26 DD17                       DD19 FF20

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A card connector provided with a mechanism for preventing an erroneous insertion of a card electrically connected by being inserted into a connector body, wherein the connector body is provided with a terminal member that comes into contact with an electrical contact of the card. Provided housing, a metal shell that covers the housing, and a card insertion port provided between the metal shell and the housing. A card connector with an erroneous insertion prevention mechanism that prevents the card from being inserted during insertion. 2. The metal shell includes an upper plate portion that covers the surface of the connector body and left and right side plate portions, and the erroneous insertion prevention mechanism includes an opening portion provided in the upper plate portion. 2. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein the edge portion of the card is set so as to abut against the edge portion of the opening while the card is being inserted. 3. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein when the card is inserted properly, the front shape of the card insertion slot and the end surface shape in the insertion direction of the card match each other. . 4. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein a thin portion extending in a length direction of the card is formed on both sides of the card, and the thin portion is formed by a step portion provided on a back surface of the card. . 5. The edge portion of the opening has a linear portion extending in the width direction of the housing, and the length dimension β1 of the linear portion.
Is set to be smaller than the maximum width dimension α2 including the thin portion provided on both sides of the card and larger than the width dimension α1 of the thick portion excluding the thin portion. Card connector. 6. The card connector according to claim 2, wherein a band plate portion extending in a width direction of the housing is provided between the card insertion opening and the opening in the upper plate portion of the metal shell. . 7. The strip plate portion is formed so that the width in the vicinity of the central portion is narrower than the widthwise both ends thereof.
Card connector described. 8. The card connector according to claim 5, wherein the opening is formed into a substantially rectangular plane having the straight portion as a long side. 9. The card connector according to claim 6, wherein a dimension of the opening corresponding to a length direction of the housing is set to be larger than a width dimension of the strip plate portion.