JP2003297462A - Card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate an insertion/extraction operation of a small card by reducing the height of a connector. <P>SOLUTION: This card connector 1 comprises: a housing 10 having a recessed part 11 extending longitudinally with an insertion hole 12 opened at its front end; a guide plate 50 vertically movably formed in the recessed part 11 in the vicinity of the insertion hole 12; a slider 30 longitudinally slidable in the recessed part 11, and moving with the card according to an insertion operation of a first or second small card 90 inserted into the housing 10; and a cam mechanism 60 for positioning and holding card-side terminals 93 of the card mounted to the slider 30 at a contact state position for bringing them into contact with body-side terminals 22 formed on the housing 10 corresponding to them, and at an insertion/extraction-allowing position for allowing the insertion/extraction of the card into/from the housing 10. The insertion hole 12 has a shape with which a part of each cross-sectional shape in the lateral direction of the first and second small cards 90 overlaps. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector to which a plurality of small cards having different shapes can be attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, various peripheral devices using personal computers have been developed and are on the market, and due to the rapid development of the Internet, mobile devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers, digital cameras, and ICs are built in. Small devices such as portable recorders that can record sound have been developed. In these mobile devices and small devices, a small card having a built-in rewritable chip as a memory device for storing information is used as an important function.

This small card is downsized,
Approximately one quarter compared to conventional business card size memory cards
This small card is used between mobile devices and between mobile devices and small devices to enable data exchange. For example, character information created by a notebook computer is stored in a small card that can be inserted into and removed from the notebook computer, the small card is inserted in a mobile phone, and the character information etc. It is possible to transfer the text information or image information received by the mobile phone to a small card inserted in the mobile phone and insert the small card into the notebook computer to display it on the notebook computer. it can.

Here, the shape of a small card is not standardized as a single shape, but the size is generally set by the manufacturer of mobile devices and small devices. . Therefore, the size of the small card set to be mountable on the notebook computer as described above may be different from the size of the small card set to be mountable on the mobile phone. In such a case, it is not possible to insert a small card that can be installed in a mobile phone into the connector provided in the notebook computer, and the connector provided in the mobile phone is also provided in the notebook computer. There may be a case where a small card set to be mountable cannot be inserted. As a result, information cannot be exchanged between the notebook computer and the mobile phone. Therefore, the connector provided on the notebook computer or mobile phone is assumed to be a device that exchanges information in addition to the small card that is set to be installed in its own device, and set to be installed in this assumed device. It has been proposed that the small card can be inserted. This connector 100 is
As shown in FIG. 13, a plurality of small cards 101, 1
It is configured such that 02 can be inserted in a state of being arranged vertically.

[0005]

The vertical dimension y of the connector 10 is two slots 103, 10 capable of accommodating and holding two kinds of small cards having heights a and b.
In addition to the height dimensions a'and b'of 4, two slots 10
The thickness dimension e of the partition plate 105 for vertically partitioning between 3 and 104
Or the thickness dimension c of the top plate 106 forming the upper part of the slot 103 arranged above and the thickness dimension d of the bottom plate 107 forming the lower part of the slot 104 arranged below. is there. Therefore, the vertical dimension y of the connector is larger than that of a connector that can accommodate one small card. Therefore, in order to reduce the vertical dimension y, the thicknesses of the partition plate 105, the top plate 106, and the bottom plate 07 may be reduced, but there is a limit to this. As a result, the connector 1
It was difficult to reduce the vertical dimension y of 00.

In addition, a contact state position in which the card side terminal of the small card and the main body side terminal provided in the slot are in contact with each other in response to the pushing operation of the small card inserted in the slot, and If a cam mechanism that positions and holds the small card at a position where it can be inserted into and removed from the slot is held in the connector, the vertical dimension y of the connector is further increased. For this reason, it is difficult to provide a cam mechanism on a connector that can accommodate a plurality of small cards, and as a result, it is difficult to insert and remove the small cards.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a card connector in which the height of the connector can be reduced and the small card can be easily inserted and removed.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a card connector of the present invention has a recess at the front end portion which is open at the insertion opening and extends forward and backward, and has a card-side first terminal on the lower surface of the tip. The first card member (for example, the first small card 80 in the embodiment) or the first card member is different from the first card member in the width dimension in the left-right direction and the length dimension in the front-rear direction, and has the card-side second terminal on the lower surface of the tip. Second card member (for example, the second small card 90 in the embodiment)
Can be inserted / removed through the insertion opening, and the insertion opening has a shape in which the first card member and the second card member have a composite shape in which the respective cross-sectional shapes in the left-right direction overlap, and A card housing member (for example, the housing 10 in the embodiment) in which the main body side first terminal is disposed on the main body side, and the main body side second terminal is disposed on the middle bottom of the recessed portion, and the card housing member is vertically arranged in the recessed portion near the insertion opening. It is movably installed in
If the first card member is inserted from the upper insertion opening of the two-divided insertion opening, the movement of the first card member is guided to bring the card-side first terminal of the first card member into contact with the main-body-side first terminal,
If the second card member is inserted from the lower insertion port of the two-divided insertion port, the second card member is pushed upward to allow the insertion of the second card member, and the card-side second terminal of the second card member is connected to the main-body-side second terminal. And a guide member (for example, the guide plate 50 in the embodiment) to be brought into contact with.

According to the card connector having the above structure, the insertion port is formed so that the first and second card members partially overlap each other in the left-right direction, and the insertion port is formed in the recess near the insertion port. By providing a vertically movable guide member that divides into two parts, either of the two card members having different shapes can be selectively inserted into the connector,
Further, the vertical height of the card connector can be reduced as compared with a card connector in which insertion holes corresponding to the card members are arranged in two rows so that two types of card members can be inserted at the same time.

In the card connector having the above-mentioned structure, the first contact portion is slidable in the concave portion and the first contact portion is in contact with the front end portion of the first card member inserted from the upper insertion opening;
A second contact portion, which is disposed at a position lower than the contact portion and is in contact with a tip end portion of the second card member inserted from the lower insertion opening, and when the first card member or the second card member is inserted and removed. A slider that slides in the insertion / removal direction of the first card member and the second card member and a slider provided between the slider and the card housing member are provided. The card-side first terminal and the main-body-side first terminal or the card-side second terminal and the main body while the tip end portion is in contact with the first contact portion or the tip end portion of the second card member is in contact with the second contact portion. The contact state position in which the side second terminal contacts and the first card member or the second card member is housed in the card housing member, and the first card member or the second card member can be inserted into and removed from the card housing member. Positioning and holding at a position where it can be inserted and removed It may have an arm mechanism.

According to the card connector having the above structure, the first
A slider having a first contact portion with which the tip portion of the card member contacts and a second contact portion with which the tip portion of the second card member contacts, and a cam mechanism for positioning and holding the slider in a contact state position and an insertable / removable position. By providing the first card member or the second card member inserted in the card connector together with the slider, the first card member or the second card member corresponding to the main body side first terminal or main body, respectively. It is possible to make sure contact with the second side terminal.

In the card connector having the above structure, a first locking mechanism (for example, the first fixing holding member 70 in the embodiment) provided between the slider and the first card member for locking the first card member to the slider. A second locking mechanism (for example, the second fixing and holding member 45 in the embodiment) provided between the slider and the second card member and locking the second card member with the slider may be included.

According to the card connector having the above structure, the first
The first card member is locked to the slider by the locking mechanism,
Since the second card member is locked to the slider by the second locking mechanism, the first card member and the second card member can be reliably moved to the position where the slider moves.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment shows a mode of a card connector that selectively holds either of two small cards having different sizes so that they can be inserted and removed.

First, before describing the card connector, two types of first and second small cards held by the card connector will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the first small card 80 has a first card body 81 having a plate gum shape and extending in the front-rear direction, and a step portion 82 extending in the left-right direction is provided at the tip of the first card body 81. A plurality of card-side first terminals 83 are formed on the stepped portion 82 and arranged in the left-right direction. Multiple card side 1st
At least one of the terminals 83 has a first card body 81.
It is electrically connected to a memory (not shown) built in. The memory is capable of reading and storing information, and has a function of rewriting stored information,
Specifically, it is a flash memory. A curved corner portion 84 is formed on the left end edge portion of the first card body portion 81, and a triangular locking step portion 85 is formed on the lower surface of the corner portion 84. A cutout portion 86 is formed at the left end portion of the first card body portion 81 on the rear side of the corner portion 84.

On the other hand, the second small card 90 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a second card body portion 9 that is plate-shaped and extends in the front-back direction
1 and a step portion 92 extending in the left-right direction is formed at the tip of the second card body portion 91, and a plurality of card-side second terminals 93 arranged in the left-right direction are arranged on the step portion 92. At least one of these card-side second terminals 93 is electrically connected to a memory (not shown) built in the second card body 91. The memory is capable of reading and storing information, and has a function of rewriting stored information, and is specifically a flash memory. An inclined portion 94 that is inclined inward is formed at the left end edge portion of the second card body portion 91, and the cutout portion 9 is formed at the right end portion of the second card body portion 91 that is behind the inclined portion 94.
5 is formed. A recess 96 extending in the front-rear direction is formed on the right end of the second card body 91. Projecting portions 97 that project outward in the left-right direction are provided on the upper portions of the left and right side portions of the second card body portion 91.
It is formed in a state of extending in the front-rear direction. The lateral dimension C of the second card body 91 is larger than the lateral dimension A of the first card body 81 shown in FIG. 9, and the longitudinal dimension D of the second card body 91 is shown in FIG. It is smaller than the dimension B of the first card body 81 shown in FIG.

Next, a card connector for selectively holding the first small card 80 or the second small card 90 having the above structure will be described. 1 shows the card connector 1 with the first small card 80 inserted, and FIG. 2 shows the card connector 1 with the second small card 90 inserted. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the card connector 1 includes a plate-shaped housing 10 extending in the front-rear direction, a slider 30 movably provided in the front-rear direction in the housing 10, and a vertical movement in the rear side of the housing 10. The guide plate 50 is freely provided, and the cam mechanism 60 is provided between the slider 30 and the housing 10.

The housing 10 is made of an insulating material and has a rectangular shape in a plan view, and a recess 11 extending in the front-rear direction is formed at a front end side of the housing 10 at an intermediate portion in the left-right direction. The recess 11 extends to a position near the rear end of the housing 10, and the cross-sectional shape of the recess 11 differs between the rear end side and the front end side. The cross-sectional shape of the recess 11a on the front end side is shown in FIG.
As shown in (d) and FIG. 2 (d), the first small card 80 and the second small card 90 have a combined shape of their respective cross-sectional shapes. That is, the concave portion 11a on the front end side is
A similar shape slightly larger than the side surface shape of the second small card 90 shown in FIG. 10C, specifically, the width dimension C ′,
A lower recess 13 having a height dimension E '(C'> C, E '> E) and an upper middle position of the lower recess 13;
It has a width dimension A'which is slightly larger than the width dimension A in the left-right direction of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. 9B, and is larger than the vertical dimension F of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. 9B. And an upper recess 14 having a small height dimension F '. In this way, the shape of the insertion opening 12 that opens on the front end side of the recess 11a is the same as the lower recess 1 described above.
3 and the upper recess 14, and the front end side recess 11a
The height dimension of the cross-sectional shape is smaller than the sum of the height dimensions of the first small card 80 and the second small card 90. Therefore, only one of the first small card 80 and the second small card 90 can be inserted from the insertion slot 12.

The front end side recess 11a extends to a substantially intermediate position of the housing 10, and the rear end side recess 11b extends to the rear end side from that position. The recess 11b on the rear end side is an engaging recess 11c that engages with the protrusion 97 of the second small card 90 shown in FIG.
Has a cross-sectional shape in which the portion is omitted, and other than that has the same shape as the concave portion 11a on the front end side.

The front end side recess 11a thus formed
A first step portion 15 extending in the front-rear direction is formed on both left and right side surfaces of the. As shown in FIG. 4, the lower part of the first step portion 15 is arranged with a predetermined gap in the front-rear direction.
Two second step portions 16 are formed. The second step portion 16 is used to lock a guide plate 50 shown in FIG. 2 which will be described later and regulate the downward movement. The operation of the first step portion 15 and the second step portion 16 will be described later.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 1
The main body side first terminals 18 arranged in the left-right direction at the rear end portion of 0
Are arranged in plural. The main body side first terminals 18 have the same pitch between the main body side first terminals 18 adjacent in the left-right direction as the pitch of the card side first terminals 83 of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. It is arranged at the rear end of the housing 10 so that the main body side first terminal 18 and the corresponding card side first terminal 83 can come into contact with each other in a state in which 80 is inserted into the housing 10. The main body side first terminal 18 includes a base portion 18a shown in FIG. 2B, a horizontal arm portion 18b that extends obliquely upward from the base portion 18a and bends and extends in a horizontal direction, and an oblique portion from a tip portion of the horizontal arm portion 18b. The contact arm portion 18c is bent upward and extends upward, and is formed by, for example, bending a thin plate of a conductive metal material. The first terminal 18 on the main body side is shown in FIG.
From the contact holding groove 20 formed in the lower part of the contact insertion opening 19 formed in a plurality in the left and right direction at the rear end of the housing 10 shown in FIG.
The base portion 30a is press-fitted into the contact holding groove 20 and attached to the housing 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of main body side second terminals 22 arranged in the left-right direction are provided on the bottom surface of the lower recess 11a of the central portion of the housing 10. Main body side second terminal 2
2, the main body side second terminals 22 adjacent to each other in the left-right direction have the same pitch as the card side second terminals 93 of the second small card 90 shown in FIG. 2, and the second small card 90 is attached to the housing 10. It is arranged in the central portion of the housing 10 so that the main body side second terminal 22 and the corresponding card side second terminal 93 can contact each other in the inserted state. The main body side second terminal 22 includes a base portion 22a shown in FIG.
The contact arm portion 22b extends obliquely upward from the base portion 22a, and is formed by, for example, bending a thin plate of a conductive metal material. The main body side second terminal 22 is fixedly held in the housing 10 by insert molding together with the housing 10.

At the rear end portion on the right side of the housing 10, there is formed a step portion 23 extending forward and backward along the recess 11b on the rear end side. The cam mechanism 6 is provided on the front end side of the upper surface of the step portion 23.
A cam groove 61 forming a part of 0 is formed. The cam groove 61 is formed in a Y shape in a plan view by connecting a plurality of grooves having different depths. The cam groove 61 is in contact with the card-side first terminal 83 and the main-body-side first terminal 18 shown in FIG. 1, and the card-side second terminal 93 and the main-body-side second terminal 22 shown in FIG. 80 or a contact state position in which the second small card 90 is housed in the housing 10,
And the first small card 80 or the second small card 9
It is formed so that it can be positioned and held at an insertable / removable position at which 0 can be inserted into and removed from the housing 10.

On the upper surface of the step portion 23 on the rear side of the cam groove 61 thus constructed, there is formed a guide groove 62 which is formed in a straight line and gradually extends to the right as it goes to the front end side. The guide groove 62 is mounted on the slider 30 shown in FIG. 1 and is used to guide the lateral swing of the fixed holding member 70 for fixing and holding the first small card 80 to the slider 30. The details of the operation of the cam groove 61 and the guide groove 62 will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 5, the slider 30 whose movement is guided by the cam groove 61 has a plate-shaped main body 31 and a rear side connected to the right side of the main body 31 (left side in FIG. 5). A right side protrusion 32 extending upward (upper side in FIG. 5) and protruding upward, and a left side protrusion 32 connected to a left side (right side in FIG. 5) of the main body 31 and extending frontward (lower side in FIG. 5) and upwardly protruding And a part 33. Body 3
A plurality of second abutting portions 34 are formed on the front end side of the first contact portion 34 and extend in the front-rear direction with a predetermined gap in the left-right direction. The tip end of the second contact portion 34 arranged at the left end is formed with an inclined surface 35 inclined obliquely outward. This inclined surface 35
Has the same inclination angle as the inclined portion 94 of the second small card 90 shown in FIG. 10A, and by bringing the inclined portion 94 into contact with the inclined surface 35, the housing 10 of the second small card 90 is It is possible to adjust the shift in the left-right direction with respect to.

The pitch of the adjacent second contact portions 34 is shown in FIG.
The pitch is substantially the same as the pitch of the main body side second terminals 22 provided in the housing 10 shown in FIG.
When the slider 30 shown in (a) moves to the front side, the main body side second terminal 22 is provided in the gap 36 between the adjacent second contact portions 34.
The main body 31 is formed so that the front end portion thereof is inserted. Further, the upper surfaces of the second contact portions 34 are formed to be substantially flush with the upper surface of the main body portion 31, and the heights of these upper surfaces are set in the gap 36 between the second contact portions 34 in FIG. In a state in which the tip portion of the main body side second terminal 22 shown in FIG.
The size of the main body side second terminal 22 is such that the tip of the second terminal 22 is located below the upper surface.

On the left side surface of the right side protruding portion 32 connected to the main body portion 31 shown in FIG. 5, there is formed a slider corner portion 37 extending in the front-rear direction and curved inward at the rear end portion. The slider corner portion 37 is formed to have the same radius of curvature as the corner portion 84 of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. 9, and the slider corner portion 37 has a corner portion of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. By abutting 84, the positional displacement of the first small card 80 with respect to the slider 30 in the left-right direction can be adjusted. A first contact portion 38, which is substantially triangular in plan view, is formed on the main body portion 31 inside the slider corner portion 37 so as to project upward. The first contact portion 38 positions the first small card 80 with respect to the slider 30 in the front-rear direction when brought into contact with the locking step portion 85 formed on the back surface of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. be able to.

As shown in FIG. 6, a first fixed holding member 70 is built in the upper portion of the right side protruding portion 32. First
The fixed holding member 70 extends forward and bends inwardly.
0a, a swing arm portion 70b connected to the tip of the base portion 70a and extending to the front side, connected to the tip of the swing arm portion 70b, bent to the body portion 31 side, and bent again to the swing arm portion 70b side. The engaging protrusion 70c having a convex shape is provided. The first fixed holding member 70 is formed by bending a thin plate of a conductive metal material such as stainless steel for springs. The front surface of the engagement protrusion 70c is gently inclined in an acute angle state, and the rear surface thereof is protruded toward the main body portion 31 side at a substantially right angle. The first fixing and holding member 70 is housed in the first mounting recess 40 that extends in the front-rear direction in the vertical middle portion of the left and right protrusions 32 and is open on the right side. A shaft portion 70d that extends in the vertical direction is provided at the base end portion of the base portion 70a.
0d is a groove portion 4 formed on the rear end side of the first mounting recess 40.
0a is rotatably fitted to support the first fixed holding member 70 so as to be swingable in the left-right direction. Swing arm 70b
A guide protrusion 70e protruding downward is provided at the base end of the. The guide protrusion 70e is inserted through the communication hole 40b connected to the first mounting recess 40, and the tip end portion thereof is the same as in FIG.
It is formed so as to be inserted into the guide groove 62 shown in (a). Therefore, if the guide protrusion 70e moves along the guide groove 62 as the slider 30 moves back and forth, the engagement protrusion 70c of the first fixed holding member 70 can be swung in the left-right direction. The swing arm portion 70b has a cantilever shape with the guide protrusion 70e as a fulcrum.
It is freely swingable in the left-right direction with e as the swing center. The engaging protrusion 70c has a tip protruding into the recess 11b shown in FIG. 1 when no force is applied to the engaging protrusion 70c. When pushed rightward, the swing arm portion 70b swings leftward.

As shown in FIG. 6, a guide member 63, which is a part of a cam mechanism 60 for guiding the movement of the slider 30 in the front-rear direction, is provided on the front side of the lower portion of the right-side protruding portion 32. The guide member 63 is mounted in the second mounting recess 42 formed in the right side protruding portion 32. The guide member 63 has an inverted U-shape in a side view, and has a first protrusion 64 and a second protrusion 65 protruding downward at both ends. The tip of the first protrusion 64 is rotatably inserted into a holding hole extending vertically toward the rear end of the second mounting recess 42, and the tip of the second protrusion 65 is located at the front end of the second mounting recess 42. 1 (a) by protruding through the bottom surface of the slider 30 by being inserted into a swing hole that extends vertically.
The cam groove 61 shown in FIG. Therefore, the guide member 63 can freely swing in the left-right direction with the first protrusion 64 as the swing center, and when the slider 30 moves in the front-rear direction, the second protrusion 65 moves along the cam groove 61. As a result, if the slider 30 moves in the front-rear direction, the slider 30 can be moved to the contact state position and the insertable / removable position described above. When the slider 30 is moved to the insertable / removable position, the distal end portion of the main body side second terminal 22 shown in FIG. 2 is inserted into the gap 36 between the second contact portions 34 adjacent in the left-right direction. . The cam mechanism 60 includes the cam groove 61 and the guide member 63 shown in FIG.

At the rear end portions of the right side protruding portion 32 and the left side protruding portion 33, there are formed spring receiving holes 43 which open at the rear end position and extend in the front-rear direction to receive a spring (not shown). The spring (not shown) housed in the spring housing hole 43 is sandwiched between the rear end of the housing 10 and the bottom of the spring housing hole 43 shown in FIG. It acts to urge the front side of 10.

A second fixed holding member 45 is attached to the front end portion of the left side protruding portion 33 in a state of protruding to the front side.
The second fixed holding member 45 is connected to the tip of the swing arm portion 45a extending in the front-rear direction, is bent toward the main body portion 31 side and is bent again toward the swing arm portion 45a, and has a convex shape. The engaging protrusion 45b and the front end 45c extending from the engaging protrusion 45b to the front side are provided.
The second fixed holding member 45 is formed by bending a thin plate of a conductive metal material such as stainless steel for springs. Similar to the engaging protrusion 70c of the first fixed holding member 70 described above, the engaging protrusion 45b has a front surface of the engaging protrusion 45b gently inclined in an acute angle, and a rear surface of the engagement protrusion 45b is substantially right angled. In the state, it protrudes to the main body 31 side. The second fixing and holding member 45 extends in the front-rear direction at the left central end portion of the housing 10 shown in FIG. 3 in the state where the slider 30 is inserted into the recess 11b shown in FIG. Housed in. The swing arm portion 45a is in a cantilevered state with the attachment position where it is attached to the left side protruding portion 33 as a fulcrum,
It is swingable in the left-right direction with the mounting position as the swing center. The engaging projection 45b is in a state in which the tip of the engaging projection 45b projects into the recess 11a shown in FIG. 2A when no force is applied to the engagement projection 45b. At this time, the left side surface of the front end portion 45c has a protrusion 46 formed in the accommodation recess 25.
Is in contact with. Therefore, when the front end portion 45c is in contact with the protrusion 46, the protrusion 46 of the engaging protrusion 45b is formed.
The swinging to the side is restricted, and the swinging of the engaging protrusion 45b to the protrusion 46 side is allowed when the front end portion 45c is not in contact with the protrusion 46.

A guide plate 50 is mounted on the front end side of the recess 11 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the guide plate 50 is U-shaped in a side view, and has a rectangular mounting portion 50a extending left and right, and a pair of side plate portions 50b extending upward from both left and right end portions of the mounting portion 50a. And is configured. The width dimension G of the mounting portion 50a in the left-right direction is substantially the same as the spacing dimension H between the second step portions 16 arranged opposite to each other as shown in FIG. 4, and the guide plate 50 is mounted in the recess 11a. In this case, the inner surfaces of the pair of side plate portions 50b are arranged to be substantially flush with the side surfaces of the upper recess 14 shown in FIG. A through hole 52 is formed in the central portion of the mounting portion 50a thus formed, and a projecting piece 53 protruding forward is formed at the front end of the mounting portion 50a. As shown in FIG. 1C, the protruding piece 53 has an opening area of the lower insertion port 12a of the insertion port 12 partitioned by the guide plate 50 when the guide plate 50 is placed in the recess 11a. Is small, it is used when the front side of the mounting portion 50a is lifted upward to increase the opening area of the lower insertion opening 12a so that the second small card 90 shown in FIG. 2 can be inserted. Details of the operation of the protruding piece 53 will be described later.

A pressing piece 54 that bends outward in the left-right direction is formed at the center of the upper end of the side plate portion 50b projecting upward from both ends of the mounting portion 50a. The pressing piece 54 can be hooked on the first step portion 15 shown in FIG.
A plate spring (not shown) disposed above the
Always urged downward. Stopper pieces 55 are formed at both ends in the front-rear direction, which are intermediate positions in the vertical direction of the side plate portion 50b. Here, FIG.
FIG. 8A shows a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to the arrow XX of FIG. 7A, and FIG. 8B shows a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to the arrow YY of FIG. 7A. As shown, the stopper piece 55
Is bent outward in the left-right direction, and the lower end portion is the side plate portion 50.
It projects more outward than the outer surface of b. Further, the stopper piece 55 can come into contact with the second step portion 16 shown in FIG.
The stopper piece 55 comes into contact with the second step portion 16 to regulate the downward movement of the guide plate 70. The pressing piece 5
4 and the stopper piece 55 in the vertical positional relationship
Presses against the second step portion 16 shown in FIG.
4 does not have to be in contact with the first step portion 15, that is, a gap may be formed between the pressing piece 54 and the first step portion 15, and the stopper piece 55 may be formed by the stopper piece 55. When pressed against, the pressing piece 54 may also come into contact with the first step portion 15.

As shown in FIG. 2A, when the guide plate 50 thus constructed is inserted into the housing 10, the projecting piece 53 is projected from the front end of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 1 (c), the insertion opening 12 is divided into two parts, the lower insertion opening 12a described above is formed in the lower part, and the upper insertion opening 12b is formed in the upper part. ) As shown in FIG.
The dimension between the upper surface of 0a and the upper surface of the housing 10 is substantially the same as the thickness dimension F of the first small card 80. The guide plate 70 is formed by bending a thin plate made of a metal material.

Next, the operation of the card connector 1 of the present invention will be described. First, the case of inserting the first small card 80 into the card connector 1 will be described. In addition,
When the first small card 80 or the second small card 90 is not attached to the card connector 1, the slider 30 is set to move to the insertable / removable position. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 1A, the card-side first terminal 83 of the first small card 80 is directed downward and the tip is directed toward the insertion opening side of the card connector 1. In this state, move the first small card 80 to the insertion slot side,
The tip portion of the first small card 80 is inserted into the upper insertion opening 12b shown in FIG. 1C of the upper and lower divided insertion openings. The first small card 80 inserted into the upper insertion slot 12b is the mounting portion 50a of the guide plate 50 shown in FIG.
The movement of the slider 30 is restricted and the downward movement is restricted, and the slider 30 moves to the slider 30 side along the mounting portion 50a. At this time, the slider 3
Since 0 is located at the insertable / removable position, the gap 36 between the second abutting portions 34 shown in FIG. 1A adjacent to each other in the left-right direction has a gap 36 of the main body side second terminal 22 shown in FIG. 2A. The tip portion is inserted, and the upper end portion of the main body side second terminal 22 is located below the upper surface of the second contact portion 34.
Therefore, the card-side first terminal 83 of the first small card 80 does not come into contact with the main body-side second terminal 22.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the front end portion of the first small card 80 which moves toward the slider along the mounting portion 50a has an upper surface of the second contact portion 34 of the slider 30 and the main body portion 31. Slide on the top surface of. Then, the corner portion 84 of the first small card 80 has the first fixed holding member 7
9 of the first small card 80, the locking stepped portion 85 of the first small card 80 shown in FIG. 9 abuts the first abutting portion 38 of the slider 7 and the slider 3 of the first small card 80.
The position in the front-back direction with respect to 0 is positioned. At this time, the engagement protrusion 70c engages with the notch 86, and the first small card 80 is locked to the slider 30.

Then, when the first small card 30 is further pressed, the first small card 80 moves the slider 3
The slider 30 moves to the front side together with the cam mechanism 60.
Is moved to the contact state position. As a result, FIG.
As shown in (b), the card-side first terminal 83 of the first small card 80 is kept in contact with the main body-side first terminal 18, and the first small card 80 is accommodated and held in the card connector 1. .

Next, in order to remove the first small card 80 from the card connector 1 that holds and holds the first small card 80, the first small card 80 is pressed.
When the first small card 80 is pressed, the slider 30 is moved from the contact state position to the insertable / removable position by the cam mechanism 60, as shown in FIG. here,
When the first small card 80 is pulled in the pull-out direction, the slider 30 moves to the front end side, and accordingly, the swing arm portion 70b of the first fixed holding member 70 moves to the left side of the housing 11 (left side in FIG. 1). It swings to reduce the engagement depth of the engagement protrusion 70c with the notch 86. As a result, the first small card 80 gets over the engagement protrusion 70c, and the first small card 80 is released from the slider 30. When the first small card 80 is pulled toward the front end side, the first small card 80 slides on the guide plate 50 and is removed from the connector 1. As described above, by pressing the card, the first small card 80 can be attached to and removed from the connector 1, and the card can be easily inserted and removed.

Next, the case of inserting the second small card 90 into the card connector 1 will be described. 12
As shown in (a), the second card-side terminal 93 of the second small card 90 is directed downward and the tip end is directed toward the insertion port side of the card connector 1. In this state, the second small card 90 is moved to a position near the lower insertion slot 12a shown in FIG. Then, by utilizing the tip portion of the second small card 90, the protruding piece 53 of the guide plate 50 shown in FIG.
The lower surface of the lower insertion opening 12a is pushed upward to expand the opening area of the lower insertion opening 12a so that the second small card 90 can be inserted.

Then, the tip of the second small card 90 is inserted into the expanded lower insertion slot 12a. The second small card 90 inserted in the lower insertion slot 12a is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), while pushing the guide plate 50 upward, the guide plate 50 slides toward the rear end side, gets over the engaging protrusion 45b of the second fixing and holding member 45, and the front end of the second small card 90 moves toward the slider 30. It contacts the tip of the second contact portion 34. It should be noted that when the slider 30 is located at the insertable / removable position, the front end portion 45c of the second fixing / holding member 45 has the accommodation recess 2
5 is in non-contact with the projection 46 of FIG.
When the second small card 90 that slides on 5b abuts, the swing arm portion 45a of the second fixed holding member 45 swings to the left side of the housing 10 (right side in FIG. 2). Therefore, the second small card 90 can easily get over the engagement protrusion 45b.

When the second small card 90 which is in contact with the second contact portion 34 is further pressed, the slider 30 is moved to the contact position by the cam mechanism 60. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12B, the card side terminal 93 of the second small card 90 is maintained in contact with the main body side second terminal 22, and the second small card 90 is accommodated in the card connector 1. Retained. In addition, as shown in FIG.
The front end portion 45c of the second fixed holding member 45 is brought into contact with the protrusion 46 of the accommodation recess 25, and the engaging protrusion 45b of the second fixed holding member 45 engages with the cutout portion 95 of the second small card 90. The second small card 90 is attached to the slider 3
It is locked at 0. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12B, the card side terminal 93 of the second small card 90 is maintained in contact with the main body side second terminal 22, and the second small card 90 is accommodated in the card connector 1. Retained.

Next, in order to remove the second small card 90 from the card connector 1 accommodating and holding the second small card 90, the second small card 90 is pressed.
When the second small card 90 is pressed, the slider 30 is moved from the contact state position to the insertable / removable position by the cam mechanism 60. When the slider 30 moves to the insertable / removable position, as described above, the front end portion 45c of the second fixed holding member 45 is not in contact with the protrusion 46 of the accommodation recess 25, and the second protrusion slides on the engaging protrusion 45b. When the small card 90 abuts, the swing arm portion 45a of the second fixed holding member 45 swings to the left side of the housing 10. Therefore, if the slider 30 moves to the insertable / removable position and the second small card 90 is pulled in the removing direction from this state, the second small card 90 slides over the engaging protrusion 45b to the front end side. And then removed from the connector 1.

As described above, by pressing the card, the second small card 90 can be attached to the connector 1,
Also, it can be removed, and the card insertion / removal operation is easy. In addition, by making the cross-sectional shape of the insertion opening 12 of the recess 11 a composite shape such that the left and right cross-sectional shapes of the two types of small cards overlap, two types of small cards can be inserted at the same time. It is possible to reduce the height dimension of the card connector 1 in the vertical direction as compared with the card connector in which the insertion holes corresponding to the small card are arranged in two rows in the vertical direction.

In the above-described embodiment, the width dimension of the first small card 80 in the left-right direction is equal to that of the second small card 9.
Although the case where it is smaller than that of 0 is shown, the lateral width dimension of the first small card 80 is made larger than that of the second small card 90, and the connector 1 is mounted with a small card having such a size. It may be configured as possible. By configuring the connector in this way, the same effect as that of the connector 1 described above can be obtained.

[0045]

According to the card connector of the present invention,
The insertion port is shaped so that the left and right cross-sectional shapes of the first card member and the second card member partially overlap each other, and the guide member that divides the insertion port into upper and lower parts can be moved up and down in the recess near the insertion port. In this case, any one of the two card members having different shapes can be selectively inserted into the connector, and two types of card members can be inserted at the same time so that the insertion holes corresponding to the card members can be inserted. It is possible to reduce the height dimension of the card connector in the vertical direction as compared with the card connector in which the two are arranged in two rows.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a state in which a first small card is attached to a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a plan view of the card connector, and FIG. 1B is a card connector. FIG. 6C is a front side view of the card connector, and FIG. 7D is a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to the line V-V in FIG.

2A and 2B show a state in which a second small card is inserted in the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2A is a plan view of the card connector, and FIG. 2B is a card connector. FIG. 6C is a front side view of the card connector, and FIG. 7D is a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to the arrow V′-V ′ of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3 (a) is a plan view of the housing and FIG.
Is a front side view of the housing, and FIG. 7C is a rear side view of the housing.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the housing shown in FIG. 3A according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is taken along the line WW.

FIG. 5 shows a slider according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view of the slider and FIG.
Is a front side view of the slider, FIG. 7C is a rear side view of the slider, and FIG. 7D is a left side view of the slider.

FIG. 6 shows a slider according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 6A is a plan view of the slider and FIG.
[Fig. 4] is a partial side view of the left side of the slider.

FIG. 7 shows a guide plate according to an embodiment of the present invention,
The figure (a) is a top view of a guide plate, the figure (b) is a front view of a guide plate, and the figure (c) is a right side view of a guide plate.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of the guide plate according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of a portion corresponding to the arrow XX in FIG. FIG. 7B is a sectional view of a portion corresponding to the arrow YY of FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a first small card inserted into a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9A is a plan view of the first small card, and FIG.
It is a side view of the rear end side of a small card, and the same figure (c) is a left side view of the first small card.

FIG. 10 shows a second small card inserted into the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Is a plan view of the second small card, FIG. 7B is a side view of the right side of the second small card, and FIG. 7C is a side view of the rear end side of the second small card.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the card connector when the first small card is inserted into the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the card connector when the second small card is inserted into the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a sectional view of a conventional card connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 card connector 10 Housing (card accommodating member) 11 recess 12 insertion slot 12a Lower insertion slot 12b Upper insertion slot 18 Main body side first terminal 22 Main body side second terminal 30 slider 34 Second contact portion 38 First contact portion 45 Second fixed holding member (second locking mechanism) 50 Guide plate (guide member) 60 cam mechanism 70 First Fixed Holding Member (First Locking Mechanism) 80 First Small Card (First Card Member) 83 Card side first terminal 90 Second Small Card (Second Card Member) 93 Card-side second terminal

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Isao Kaburagi             5-5-1 Kokuryo-cho, Chofu-shi, Tokyo Shinbun, Tokyo             Electronic Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B058 CA03 CA04 CA13 KA12 KA24                 5E023 AA04 AA18 AA21 BB01 BB19                       DD07 DD13 EE07 EE10 GG02                       GG09 HH03 HH17

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first end having a recess at the front end portion, the recess being opened and extending forward and backward, and having a card-side first terminal on the lower surface of the tip.
A second card member having a width dimension in the left-right direction and a length dimension in the front-rear direction different from that of the card member or the first card member and having a card-side second terminal on the lower surface of the front end can be inserted and removed through the insertion opening. The insertion opening has a shape in which the first card member and the second card member are combined so that a part of each cross-sectional shape in the left-right direction overlaps, and the main body side first part is formed on the rear bottom part of the recess. A card accommodating member having one terminal disposed therein and a main body side second terminal disposed at an intermediate bottom portion of the recess; and a card housing member movably provided up and down in the recess near the insertion port. Is divided into upper and lower parts, and the first card member is inserted through the upper insertion port of the divided insertion port to guide the movement of the first card member and the card-side first terminal of the first card member. To the first terminal on the body side, When the second card member is inserted from the lower insertion opening of the inserted insertion opening, the second card member is pushed upward to allow the insertion of the second card member and the card-side second terminal of the second card member is inserted into the main body. A card connector, comprising: a guide member for contacting the second side terminal. 2. A first contact portion slidable back and forth in the concave portion, with which a tip end portion of the first card member inserted from the upper insertion slot contacts, and the first contact portion. Is also disposed at a lower position and is inserted from the lower insertion opening.
A second contact portion with which a tip end portion of the card member abuts, and slides in the insertion / removal direction of the first card member and the second card member when the first card member or the second card member is inserted / removed. A slider is provided between the slider and the card accommodating member, and a tip portion of the first card member contacts the first contact portion in response to a pushing operation of the first card member or the second card member. Or the card-side first terminal and the main-body-side first terminal or the card-side second terminal and the main-body-side second terminal with the tip end portion of the second card member being in contact with the second contact portion. Contact each other, and the first card member or the second card member
A contact state position where the card member is housed in the card housing member, and a cam mechanism for positioning and holding the first card member or the second card member in an insertable / removable position where the card member is insertable / removable. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein the card connector is formed. 3. A first locking mechanism which is provided between the slider and the first card member and locks the first card member with the slider, and a first locking mechanism which is provided between the slider and the second card member. The card connector according to claim 2, further comprising a second locking mechanism that locks the second card member to the slider.