JP2003331222A - Ic card adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To thin the whole body so as to be able to be loaded on a PC card slot with a room, and simultaneously to secure strength, concerning an IC card adapter loadable on the PC card slot. <P>SOLUTION: The IC card adapter having on the front a connector 7 to be connected to the PC card slot S on the apparatus side and allowing an IC card 17 to be mounted detachably is equipped with a circuit board 3 equipped with a contact terminal 15 to be brought into contact with an electrode 18 of the IC card 17, a frame 1 made of a synthetic resin for holding the circuit board 3, and a lower plate 4 made of a sheet metal arranged on the lower face side of the frame 1. In the adapter, the frame 1 and the lower plate 4 are connected together by ultrasonic welding with a rivet 27 made of a synthetic resin on the front end side, and the IC card 17 can be inserted and mounted from the rear side between both members 1, 4. A reinforcing projection strip 22 having a hollow 21 on the lower face is embossed and formed upward so as to extend in the front-to-back direction on the lower plate 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention permits an IC card to be inserted and removed freely and, like a PC card, a PC card for an electronic device such as a personal computer.
The present invention relates to an IC card adapter that can be connected to a slot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of IC card adapter, I
A circuit board having contact terminals that come into contact with the electrodes of the C card is held on the frame, and the IC card can be inserted and mounted from the rear side between the frame and the lower plate on the lower surface side.

[0003] This type of IC card adapter should be able to be loaded into a PC card slot suitable for it, if it is within the standard of the outer dimensions of the target PC card, especially the thickness. However, if a sticker is attached to the adapter body and the thickness of the adapter body reaches the standard value, it will be forced into the PC card slot, and the adapter cannot be removed from the slot next time.

Therefore, how to reduce the thickness of the adapter body with a margin is a problem. What is noticed there is the material and shape of the lower plate that holds the IC card together with the frame.

[0005]

With respect to this point, it is known that the lower plate is made of a synthetic resin material.
This causes the material to have insufficient strength, and in order to compensate for this, the thickness of the lower plate itself must be increased, which is disadvantageous.

On the other hand, it is known that the lower plate is formed of a thin metal plate, but in this case, in order to obtain the shape accuracy of each portion having a different thickness, it is necessary to join the two thin metal plates. However, the strength can be secured, but the disadvantage of high manufacturing cost cannot be avoided.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make the lower plate 1
An object of the present invention is to obtain an IC card adapter in which the manufacturing cost is reduced while securing a large bending strength of itself even if it is formed of a single thin metal plate. An object of the present invention is to obtain an IC card adapter to which an IC card can be smoothly attached and detached. The object of the present invention is to provide a PC card
An object is to obtain an IC card adapter that can be easily inserted into and removed from a slot.

[0008]

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, a connector 7 connected to a PC card slot S on the device side is provided on the front surface, and an IC card 17 is detachably mounted. In an IC card adapter that allows the above, as shown in FIG. 2, a circuit board 3 having contact terminals 15 that come into contact with the electrodes 18 of the IC card 17, a frame 1 for holding the circuit board 3, and a lower surface of the frame 1. And a lower plate 4 made of a thin metal plate disposed on the side, the frame 1 and the lower plate 4 are connected at the front end side so that the IC card 17 can be inserted and mounted between the both 1 and 4 from the rear side. The lower plate 4 is characterized in that the ridge 22 having the recess 21 on the lower surface is formed by punching upward so as to extend in the front-rear direction. The IC card adapter here sends data from the device to the IC card 17 as it is and sends data from the IC card 17 to the device as it is, or converts data from the device to data compatible with the IC card 17. Then I
For example, the data to be sent to the C card 17 and the data in the IC card 17 are converted into data compatible with the device and then sent to the device.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of ridges 22 are arranged on the lower plate 4 at a predetermined interval in the left-right direction.

As a connecting means of the lower plate 4 to the frame 1, the frame 1 is a synthetic resin molded product, and has a synthetic resin rivet 27 which is fitted into a through hole 23 provided in the lower plate 4 from the lower surface side. Rivet 2 on frame 1
The frame 1 and the lower plate 4 can be connected at the front end side by ultrasonically welding the front end side of 7. At that time, the through hole 23 of the lower plate 4 is formed in the protrusion 22, and the head 27b of the rivet 27 is formed.
However, it is set in the recess 21 of the protrusion 22 so as not to project from the lower surface of the lower plate 4.

At the rear end of the lower plate 4, there is a folded portion 3
Form 0. More specifically, the rear end of the lower plate 4 may project rearward from the frame 1, and the folded-back portion 30 may be curved and formed toward the upper surface of the lower plate 4.

The circuit board 3 is housed and arranged between the frame 1 and an upper plate 5 made of a metal plate, which is attached to the upper surface side of the frame 1, and the contact terminals 15 of the circuit board 3 are connected to the frame 1.
The electrode 18 of the IC card 17 can be contacted via the window 16 provided in the. In this case, the upper plate 5 is preferably made of a thin metal plate such as stainless steel.

[0013]

In the IC card adapter of the present invention, since the reinforcing ridges 22 are formed on the lower plate 4 made of a thin metal plate, the main portion of the lower plate 4 is made of a single thin metal plate. Even if the thickness is thin, it is possible to secure sufficient bending strength. Therefore, the vertical thickness of the entire adapter is reduced, and it can be easily loaded into the PC card slot S.
While the manufacturing cost of the lower plate 4 can be suppressed, the lower plate 4 can be well prevented from being deformed or damaged.

The ridge 22 runs in the front-rear direction,
In addition, it is stamped and formed on the upper surface side. Therefore, when the IC card 17 is put in and taken out between the frame 1 and the lower plate 4, the lower surface of the IC card 17 makes a partial contact with the protruding upper surface of the protrusion 22 without making contact with the IC card 17, and the IC card with respect to the adapter main body. 17 can be attached and detached smoothly. When a plurality of ridges 22 are arranged on the left and right of the lower plate 4, the lower plate 4 is increased by the number of the ridges 22 increasing.
The cross-sectional area of the main face plate portion is large, the reinforcing effect is excellent, and the IC card 17 can be stably taken in and out.

Even if the frame 1 is made of synthetic resin and the lower plate 4 is made of thin metal plate, the rivet 27 made of synthetic resin is used.
Using the above, the shaft portion 27a of the rivet 27 is passed from the lower surface side of the lower plate 24 through the through hole 23 provided therein, and the shaft portion 27a
When ultrasonically welding the tip end of the lower plate 4 to the frame 1, the front end side of the lower plate 4 can be securely connected and fixed to the front end side of the frame 1 with the rivet 27. This means that the insertion length of the IC card 17 into the adapter main body can be secured more than enough, and still has the effect of preventing the lower plate 4 from being inadvertently removed from the frame 1 even if only the front end is connected.

Further, when the rivet is fixed, the through hole 23 to be provided in the lower plate 4 is formed in the ridge 22, and the head 27b of the rivet 27 is formed in the recess 2 of the ridge 22.
When the IC card adapter is in the inside of No. 1 and does not protrude from the lower surface of the lower plate 4, the rivet head 27b does not get in the way when the IC card adapter is put in and taken out of the PC card slot S, and this putting in and taking out operation is smooth. You can do it.

When the rear end of the lower plate 4 is folded back to one of the upper and lower sides, it is possible to prevent the user's finger or the like from being caught on the rear end edge of the lower plate 4, and it is possible to prevent injury. The bending strength of the rear end in the left-right direction can be further increased.

Further, the rear end of the lower plate 4 is the frame 1
If the rear end of the lower plate 4 is formed so as to project further rearward from the rear end and then the folded-back portion 30 is formed to be bent upward, the rear end of the lower plate 4 can be easily picked by a finger. Therefore, the user can
Pick 0 with your fingertips to attach the IC card adapter to the PC card
It can be easily pulled out from the slot S.

When the circuit board 3 is housed and arranged between the frame 1 and the upper plate 5 made of a metal plate, the structural strength of the entire adapter is improved by the upper plate 5 and the electronic components arranged on the circuit board 3 are improved. Can be reliably protected from external impacts. Moreover, since the circuit board 3 is arranged on the upper surface side of the frame 1, the IC card 17 inserted between the lower plate 4 and the frame 1 may cause the circuit board 3 to be rubbed and damaged. Even in this respect, the circuit board 3 can be reliably protected. Furthermore, since the contact terminal 15 of the circuit board 3 contacts the electrode 18 of the IC card 17 via the window 16 of the frame 1, data communication between the IC card 17 and the device can be surely performed.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawings show an IC card according to the present invention.
An embodiment of the adapter K is shown, and the overall shape and dimensions thereof can be detachably mounted in a PC card slot S provided in an electronic device (PC main body) such as a personal computer as shown in FIG. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the IC card adapter K includes a frame 1 made of a synthetic resin and formed in a flat plate shape,
The circuit board 3 mounted in the concave portion 2 provided on the upper surface of the frame 1, the lower plate 4 made of a stainless steel thin plate which is arranged to face the lower surface side of the frame 1, and the upper side of the circuit board 3 are covered. And an upper plate 5 made of a thin stainless plate attached to the upper surface of the frame 1.
That is, the circuit board 3 is located between the frame 1 and the upper plate 5, and is positioned and held and stored in the manner described later.

The frame 1 and the lower plate 4 are connected only on the front end side, and the IC card 17 can be detachably inserted from the rear side into the gap between the both 1 and 4 to be mounted. In this mounted state, the IC card 17 and the electronic device communicate with each other, the data stored in the IC card 17 is read to the electronic device, or the data from the electronic device is stored in the IC card 17. .

As shown in FIG. 2, a notch 6 is provided in the front end of the frame 1 across the left and right, and a connector 7 mounted on the front side of the circuit board 3 is held in a state of being fitted into the notch 6. There is. In this state, the front surface of the connector 7 is exposed to the front outer surface of the adapter body as shown in FIG. 4, and the connector 7 can be connected to the connector P on the PC card slot S side.

The connector 7 is a front end portion 4 of the lower plate 4.
It is sandwiched between a and the front end portion 5a of the upper plate 5 in the vertical direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of left and right engaging projections 8 are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the connector 7, and engaging grooves 9 and 9 are formed on the left and right facing surfaces of the notch 6 of the frame 1.
Is provided, and the engaging projections 8 and 8 are fitted into the engaging grooves 9 and 9. With this, the connector 7 is positioned and held so as not to move in the vertical and front-back directions with respect to the frame 1.

A peripheral wall 11 is integrally formed on the left and right sides and the rear side of the concave portion 2 of the frame 1 so as to project therefrom.
A large number of locking holes 12 are provided outside 1 (see FIG. 5). Correspondingly, a large number of locking pieces 13 are formed by bending downward on the left, right, and rear three-way peripheral edges of the upper plate 5.

Thus, the upper plate 5 is placed on the upper surface of the frame 1 and the locking pieces 13 are fitted and locked in the locking holes 12, whereby the upper plate 5 is fixed to the frame 1 in a retaining manner. As a result, a gap corresponding to the height of the peripheral wall 11 is formed between the frame 1 and the upper plate 5, and electronic components (not shown) on the circuit board 3 are damaged by the pressing deformation of the upper plate 5. It prevents you from receiving it.

As shown in FIG. 3, the recess 2 of the frame 1 is provided with a contact 16 through which the contact terminal 15 provided on the circuit board 3 is exposed to the lower surface side of the frame 1, so that the contact of the circuit board 3 is made. The terminal 15 comes into contact with the inserted electrode 18 (see FIG. 6) on the IC card 17 side so as to be conductive.

As shown in FIG. 3, the front end surface of the IC card 17 abuts between the notch 6 and the window 16 on the front end side of the lower surface of the frame 1 to regulate the insertion limit when the IC card 17 is mounted. The step portion 20 is formed so as to project.
By utilizing this step portion 20, the front end side of the lower plate 4 is fixed to the front end side of the frame 1.

On the lower plate 4, as shown in FIG.
Four right and left protrusions 22 having trapezoidal recesses 21 on the lower surface are formed by being punched upward so as to extend in the front-rear direction. The four ridges 22 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the left-right direction, and the two ridges 22 and 22 on the left side and the two ridges 22 and 22 on the right side each have a triangular shape at the front. It is connected through a connecting portion 22a.

Each connecting portion 22a of the ridge 22 is provided with a through hole 23 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, fitting portions 25 into which the connecting portions 22a of the ridges 22 are fitted are formed on the left and right sides of the lower surface of the step portion 20 of the frame 1, respectively. The dowel hole 26 is recessed.

To attach the lower plate 4 to the frame 1, two rivets 27 made of synthetic resin are prepared.
Each rivet 27 has its shaft portion 27a inserted into the through hole 23 and fitted into the fitting hole 26. At this time, the head 27b of the rivet 27 has a substantially triangular flat plate shape as shown in FIG. 1, and the head 27b fits into the recess 21 of the connecting portion 22a of the ridge 22. That is, rivet 2
As shown in FIG. 4, the head 27 b of No. 7 is housed in the recess 21 so as not to project from the lower surface of the lower plate 4.

The shaft portion 27a of the rivet 27 is attached to the through hole 23.
The rivet 27 is fitted into the fitting hole 26 through the shaft portion 2 of the rivet 27.
The front end of the lower plate 4 is connected and fixed to the left and right of the front end of the frame 1 with the rivets 27 by ultrasonic welding with the tip of the 7a abutting against the bottom of the fitting hole 26.

A plurality of locking holes are provided at the left and right ends of the step portion 20 of the frame 1, and these locking holes are provided so as to project upward to the left and right of the front end of the lower plate 4 shown in FIG. By fitting and locking the plurality of protruding pieces 28, the left and right front ends of the lower plate 4 are also positioned and fixed to the frame 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rear end of the lower plate 4 extends so as to project rearward from the rear end edge of the frame 1 (left side in FIG. 4). On top of that, lower plate 4
The rear end portion is folded back to the upper side, and the folded back portion 30 is formed so as to be curved like a hairpin.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of an IC card adapter according to the present invention as seen from the lower surface side.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an IC card adapter

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the IC card adapter seen from the lower surface side.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

5 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which an IC card is inserted into an IC card adapter.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 frame 3 circuit board 4 Lower plate 5 Upper plate 7 connector 15 contact terminals 16 windows 17 IC card 18 electrodes 21 dent 22 ridges 23 through holes 27 rivets 27a Rivet shank 27b Rivet head 30 Folded part of lower plate K IC card adapter S PC card slot

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takehiro Takahashi             Kyoto Prefecture Otokuni-gun Oyamazaki Town Character Oyamazaki Small Character Kagamida 45             Address 101 Maxell Seiki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Katsumi Terai             54 Okuma Town, Tsuzuki Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Hikari Kogyo Factory F-term (reference) 2C005 MB03 TA08 TA18 TA21                 5B058 CA02 CA04 CA13 KA12 KA24

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A device-side PC card slot S on the front side
An IC card adapter which has a connector 7 connected to the IC card 17 and which allows the IC card 17 to be detachably mounted, and a circuit board 3 having a contact terminal 15 for contacting an electrode 18 of the IC card 17; A frame 1 for holding the circuit board 3 and a lower plate 4 made of a thin metal plate arranged on the lower surface side of the frame 1 are provided. The frame 1 and the lower plate 4 are connected at the front end side, and The IC card 17 can be inserted and mounted from the rear side between the four plates, and the lower plate 4 is formed with a projection 22 having a recess 21 on the lower surface and is formed by pushing upward so as to extend in the front-rear direction. IC card adapter. 2. A plurality of ridges 22 are arranged on the lower plate 4 at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction.
IC card adapter described. 3. The frame 1 is a synthetic resin molded product, and a through hole 23 provided in the lower plate 4 has a synthetic resin rivet 27 into which a shaft portion 27a is fitted from the lower surface side. 3. The IC card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the frame 1 and the lower plate 4 are connected at the front end side by ultrasonically welding the tip side of the shaft portion 27a of 27. 4. The through hole 23 of the lower plate 4 is formed in the protrusion 22, and the head 27b of the rivet 27 is set in the recess 21 of the protrusion 22 so as not to protrude from the lower surface of the lower plate 4. The IC card adapter according to item 3. 5. The folded-back portion 30 at the rear end of the lower plate 4.
The IC card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the IC card adapter is formed. 6. The IC card according to claim 5, wherein a rear end of the lower plate 4 projects rearward from the frame 1, and the folded-back portion 30 is formed by being bent back toward the upper surface of the lower plate 4. ·adapter. 7. A circuit board (3) is housed and arranged between a frame (1) and an upper plate (5) made of a metal plate attached to the upper surface side of the frame (1), and the contact terminals (15) of the circuit board (3) are attached to the frame (1). The IC card adapter according to claim 1, wherein the IC card 17 can be brought into contact with the electrodes 18 of the IC card 17 through the provided window 16.