JP2005317383A - Card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card connector of which, a contact, contacting a card reduces the ejection amount of the card and eliminates ejection failure by a breaking force when the card is inserted into the connector, so as to prevent the jumping out of the card when the card is ejected. <P>SOLUTION: The card connector comprises: a connector housing constituted of a connector main body and a cover member combined; a plurality of contacts arranged in this connector housing, and an eject mechanism for ejecting a card inserted in the connector housing. The above contacts are installed in the position in contact with the inserted card whenever the elastic member of the eject mechanism is expanded or contracted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a card connector capable of smoothly ejecting a card by taking measures for preventing the IC card (hereinafter referred to as a card) ejected by an eject mechanism from being ejected when ejected.

  Some card connectors include, for example, an ejection mechanism for attaching and detaching a card as disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  Such an eject mechanism includes, for example, an eject member, a heart cam mechanism, and a coil spring as main elements.

  In such a configuration, when the IC card is ejected by the ejection mechanism, the ejection speed of the IC card is in accordance with the elastic force (spring constant) of the coil spring.

Japanese Patent No. 3252133

  However, with the recent miniaturization of the card, when removing the card with the conventional card connector eject mechanism, if the card is quickly removed from the position where the card is fully inserted (push position), the elastic force of the coil spring The card may jump out sharply and the card may be lost.

  Further, when the elastic force of the coil spring is reduced in order to prevent the card from flying out, the durability of the eject mechanism is lowered.

  Therefore, when the card is discharged many times, the card is not discharged and it becomes difficult to remove the card.

  In view of the above problems, the card connector according to the present invention provides a card connector that can prevent the card from popping out due to friction between the contact and the card by shifting the contact position between the contact and the card toward the card insertion slot. There is.

  In order to achieve the above object, a card connector according to the present invention includes a connector housing configured by combining a connector body and a cover member, a plurality of contacts disposed in the connector housing, and a connector housing. And an eject mechanism for discharging the inserted card, wherein the contact is provided at a position in contact with the inserted card in any case where the elastic member of the eject mechanism is expanded or contracted.

  The card connector of the present invention is suitable for a card because the contact is in contact with the card for a long time when the card is ejected, and the contact is in contact with the card even when the amount of movement of the spring member is lost. Can be discharged.

  The card connector of the present invention is characterized in that the contact position of the contact with the card is shifted to the card insertion slot side, thereby increasing the contact distance between the contact and the card and suppressing the card from popping out. .

  1 to 11 are views showing an embodiment of the card connector of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a plan view of the card connector in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the card connector of FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a card connector of the present invention in FIG. 6 is a right side view, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the card connector of the present invention of FIG. 1, FIG. 8 is a perspective view with the cover member of FIG. 7 removed, and FIG. 9 is a cover. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the cover member, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the slider member when the member is removed.

  The card connector 1 of the present invention is configured to be used by being mounted on, for example, an information terminal device.

  In the card connector 1 of the present invention, a flat housing-shaped connector housing is constituted by the cover member 3 combined with the connector main body 2. Further, such a connector housing is open on one side to form a card insertion slot 10.

  In such a card connector 1 of the present invention, the connector main body 2 is made of an insulating material such as an appropriate synthetic resin material and is made of a thin metal plate material, as clearly shown in FIG. It is combined with the cover member 3 to form a hollow housing shape. Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the connector body 2 has a substantially rectangular shape. The connector body 2 includes a flat board 11, an end wall 14 at one end of the board 11, and side walls 15 and 16 on both the left and right sides of the board 11, and the other open side. A card insertion slot 10 is formed at the end. Therefore, the connector body 2 is surrounded by the end wall 14 and the side walls 15 and 16 that are upright at substantially right angles on the three sides of the flat board 11, and the other one is opened to provide the card insertion slot 10. The shape is made.

  Further, the cover member 3 made of a thin metal plate material is bent at substantially right angles on both sides and provided with left and right side wall portions 3A and 3B. Further, on the side opposite to the card insertion slot 10, an end wall portion 3C is provided that is bent substantially at a right angle.

  The cover member 3 is attached to the connector body 2 by opening the opening portions 27 formed in the side wall portions 3A, 3B and the end wall portion 3C of the cover member 3 to the end wall 14 and the side walls 15, 16 of the connector body 2. It can be attached by fitting it into a protrusion 26 having a substantially triangular cross section formed on the outer surface of the.

  A plurality of grooves 12 extending in a direction parallel to the card insertion / removal direction are provided in the board 11 portion of the connector body 2. In each of these grooves 12, a contact 4 is fixedly attached in an aligned manner. The contact 4 has a cantilever spring shape having an elastic contact portion 4a formed in a semicircular shape that is elastically displaceable on the free end side, an intermediate fixed portion 4b, and a terminal portion 4c on the fixed end portion. I am doing. In particular, in the card connector 1 of the present invention, it is one of the main features that the contacts 4 are provided so as to be shifted to the card insertion slot 10 side. As a result, the contact range of the contact 4 with respect to the card, that is, the contact distance is increased, and the contact 4 acts as a brake when the card is ejected, thereby reducing the amount of card ejection.

  In such a card connector 1 of the present invention, these contacts 4 are first provided with terminal portions 4c on the fixed side for connecting to other external information terminal devices and devices. . Furthermore, these contacts 4 are firmly fixed to the connector main body 2 by being individually crimped into the grooves 12 in the substrate 11 portion of the connector main body 2 at the intermediate fixing portion 4b forming the contact main body. And the contact pad of the inserted card | curd and the semicircle-shaped elastic contact part 4a of the contact 4 are contacted, and are electrically connected.

  In the card connector 1 of the present invention, the ejection mechanism 5 includes an ejection member 8, an elastic member such as a spring or rubber that elastically biases the ejection member 8, for example, a spring member 9, a heart-shaped cam 20, and a heart A cam groove 21 around the cam 20 and a cam lever 25 are provided, and the eject member 8 is connected to the slider member 6 and formed integrally.

  In the card connector 1 of the present invention, on one side of the connector main body 2, a recess portion 19 is provided along the side wall 15 for accommodating the eject member 8 and the spring member 9 of the eject mechanism 5. An eject member 8 and a spring member 9 are disposed in the recess 19. The eject member 8 is provided with a tunnel-shaped, recessed dead-end spring accommodating portion 8A having a substantially semicircular cross section so as to receive one end portion of the spring member 9, and this spring accommodating portion. One end of the spring member 9 is brought into contact with and engaged with a dead end wall portion in 8A. Further, the other end of the spring member 9 is engaged with a protruding portion 14 a formed on the end wall 14 at one end of the recessed portion 19 of the connector main body 2. An opening 11a is provided in the bottom 2A of the connector body 2 corresponding to the protruding portion 14a. Therefore, it can be seen from the bottom side that the end of the spring member 9 is engaged with the protrusion 14a through the opening 11a.

  Furthermore, in the hollow part 19 of this connector main body 2, the front part of the side wall 15 is notched, and the side surface of the ejection member 8 is exposed. Accordingly, the cam lever 25 is disposed on the side surface portion where the side wall 15 is cut out and the eject member 8 is exposed, and the cam member 25 is provided by the holding member 24 provided on the side wall portion 3A of the cover member 3. The cam lever 25 is pressed so as not to come off.

  Further, a heart-shaped cam 20 and a cam groove 21 of the ejection mechanism 5 are provided on the outer side surface of the ejection member 8 disposed in the hollow portion 19, and one end portion of the cam lever 25 is the cam groove. 21 is engaged. Furthermore, the other end of the cam lever 25 is rotatably fitted in and supported by a hole in the side wall 15 portion of the connector body 2, and the cam lever is supported by a holding member 24 provided on the side wall 3 </ b> A of the cover member 3. It is pressed in the horizontal direction so that 25 does not come off.

  Further, one guide path 17 for the slider member 6 is formed adjacent to the recess 19 in which the eject member 8 of the eject mechanism 5 is disposed. Further, a guide path 18 is provided along the side wall 16 on the opposite side of the connector body 2 so as to face the guide path 17, and the slider member 6 is slid in a direction parallel to the card insertion / removal direction. It is designed to guide you.

  A pair of guide grooves 22 are provided on the upper surface of the cover member 3 so as to be substantially parallel to each other with a space therebetween, and a piece for suppressing the cam lever 25 of the eject mechanism 5 at a portion in front of the side wall 3A of the cover member 3. A holding spring-shaped holding member 24 is formed. These guide grooves 22 of the cover member 3 are engaged with guide protrusions 23 corresponding to the circular guide protrusions of the slider member 6 so that the slider member 6 can be well guided and slid. It is formed so that it can slide.

  Accordingly, when the card is inserted or removed, the guide protrusion 23 of the slider member 6 is guided and slid along the guide groove 22, so that the slider member 6 is smoothly guided without rattling and the slider member 6. The slider member 6 is always slid satisfactorily without any inclination with respect to the card insertion / removal direction.

  Thus, the inclination correction mechanism 7 that corrects the inclination of the slider member 6 is formed by the set of the guide groove 22 of the cover member 3 and the guide protrusion 23 of the slider member 6 that engages with the guide groove 22. It is like that.

  In the card connector 1 of the present invention as described above, the slider member 6 includes a flat slider body 13 and both sides of the slider body 13 at substantially right angles as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 8, and 11. Side wall portions 6A and 6B formed by bending the slider body 13 and end wall portions 6C formed by bending one end of the slider body 13 at substantially the same right angle. In one side wall portion 6A, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, the locking portion 6D of the slider member 6 bent into a bowl shape is press-fitted into the groove-shaped locking hole 8B on the upper surface of the eject member 8. And are integrally formed by being connected to the eject member 8.

  Further, the slider member 6 has both side wall portions 6A and 6B on both sides bent at a right angle so that the bent portions engage with the guide paths 17 and 18 on both sides of the board 11 portion of the connector body 2. Is formed. Thus, the slider member 6 is formed so as to reciprocate while being guided along the guide paths 17 and 18 as guide rails.

  Further, the slider member 6 is formed with a card mounting portion capable of storing a card inside the slider body 3 by bending the side wall portions 6A, 6B on both sides and the end wall portion 6C at one end. Thus, the leading end portion of the inserted card is mounted in the card mounting portion, and the slider member 6 can be pressed and moved through the end wall portion 6C.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 11, the side wall portion 6B of the slider member 6 is provided with a cantilever spring type card holding member 29, and the inserted card is inserted into the opposite side wall portion 6A. The card is pressed in the horizontal direction to prevent the card from rattling against the slider member 6. Furthermore, the card holding member 29 acts to press and hold the card firmly against the side wall portion 6A of the slider member 6 when the card is mounted so that the card can be suitably held as a holding member. Is formed.

  As described above, the eject member 8 is provided with the tunnel-shaped spring accommodating portion 8A, and one end of the spring member 9 is engaged with the closed end wall 8C in the spring accommodating portion 8A. Yes. The other end of the spring member 9 is in contact with and engaged with the protruding portion 14 a of the end wall 14 of the recess 19. Accordingly, the spring member 9 is pressed and compressed by the movement of the eject member 8. When the compression force of the spring member 9 pushes back the eject member 8, the card is pushed out of the card connector 1 and discharged.

  In such a card connector 1 of the present invention, the slider member 6 has the pair of guide grooves 22 of the cover member 3 engaged with the circular guide protrusions 23 on the upper surface of the slider member 6. As a result, the slider member 6 is smoothly guided without any play and acts to correct the inclination of the slider member 6, so that the slider member 6 does not incline with respect to the card insertion / removal direction and is always good. To be slid.

  Accordingly, there is no generation of shavings due to wear of the slider member 6, and the slider member 6 can be operated smoothly at all times. If at least one guide groove 22 is provided, the intended purpose can be achieved, and the slider member 6 can be smoothly slid without rattling. Further, preferably, when a pair of guide grooves 22 are provided, better sliding is obtained.

  As described above, according to the card connector 1 of the present invention, the slider member 6 has the circular guide protrusion 23 provided on the upper surface engaged with the guide groove 22 of the cover member 3. As a result, the slider member 6 is smoothly guided without any backlash, and the guide member 22 and the guide protrusion 23 act to correct the inclination of the slider member 6. Can always slide well without tilting with respect to the card insertion / removal direction. Accordingly, there is no generation of shavings due to wear of the slider member 6, and the slider member 6 can be operated smoothly at all times.

  The state when the card C is inserted into and ejected from the card connector 1 of the present invention configured as described above is shown in FIGS.

  That is, FIG. 12 shows a state in which the card C is inserted into the card connector 1 of the present invention. Further, in FIG. 13, the card C is ejected from the card connector 1 of the present invention. The state, i.e. the discharged state, is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the card C is inserted into the card connector 1 of the present invention, the card C is inserted through the card insertion slot 10 and inserted inward.

  First, the card C inserted from the card insertion slot 10 comes into contact with the end wall 6 </ b> C of the slider member 6 and presses the slider member 6. Accordingly, the slider member 6 is moved by sliding the bent portions of the side wall portions 6A and 6B on both sides along the guide paths 17 and 18 as guide members. In this case, the eject member 8 formed integrally with the slider member 6 is also moved, the spring member 9 is compressed, and the end portion 25A of the cam lever 25 extends along the straight cam groove portion 21d of the cam groove 21. It will be moved.

  When the card C is pushed all the way back, the end portion 25A of the cam lever 25 enters the card discharge start cam groove portion 21e from the linear cam groove portion 21d through the cam groove portion 21a. When the pushing is stopped, the slider member 6 is slightly pushed back together with the eject member 8 by the spring member 9. As a result, the end 25A of the cam lever 25 enters the recess 21c from the card ejection start cam groove 21e, engages with the heart-shaped cam 20 at the recess 21c, is stopped and held, and is locked. It becomes. The slider member 6 is locked in the card connector 1 and the card C is held in the card connector 1. This state is the card insertion state of FIG.

  Further, in order to eject and extract the card C from such a card insertion state to the state shown in FIG. 13, in the state shown in FIG. 12, the card C is lightly pushed once and the end portion 25A of the cam lever 25 is Is moved from the recess 21c of the heart-shaped cam 20 to the other card ejection start cam groove 21f. Therefore, if the card C is stopped from being pushed and released, the end 25A of the cam lever 25 comes out of the card ejection start cam groove 21f and moves to the cam groove 21b to be released from the recess 21c and unlocked. . Therefore, the cam lever 25 becomes free and the end portion 25A moves to the linear cam groove portion 21d through the cam groove portion 21b.

  As a result, the card C is pushed out together with the slider member 6 and discharged out of the card connector 1 when the slider member 6 is pushed back via the eject member 8 by the spring force of the spring member 9. . At this time, since the card holding member 29 acts as a holding member and also acts as a braking member, the card C is firmly held against the slider member 6 and acts as a brake against the card C. The discharge speed is suppressed and the discharge is suitably performed.

  Further, in this case, the slider member 6 is engaged with the guide groove 22 of the cover member 3 and the circular guide protrusion 23 on the upper surface of the slider member 6. Since the guide is smoothly guided without play and acts to correct the inclination of the slider member 6, the slider member 6 is always slid well without any inclination with respect to the card insertion / removal direction.

  Accordingly, there is no generation of shavings due to wear of the slider member 6, and the slider member 6 can be operated smoothly at all times. If at least one guide groove 22 is provided, the intended purpose can be achieved, and the slider member 6 can be smoothly slid without rattling. Further, preferably, when a pair of guide grooves 22 are provided, better sliding is obtained.

  Furthermore, in such a card connector 1 of the present invention, it is possible to suitably prevent the card from jumping out when the card is discharged.

  That is, according to the card connector 1 of the present invention, since the contact 4 is provided to be shifted to the card insertion slot 10 side, the contact range of the contact 4 with respect to the card, that is, the contact distance is increased, and the card is discharged. Sometimes, the contact 4 acts as a brake, so that the amount of jumping out of the card can be reduced. In this case, in the contact 4, the elastic contact portion 4a is arranged at a distance Lc from the opening end of the card insertion slot 10, which is sufficiently larger than the arrangement distance in the contact of a normal card connector. It is arranged at a short distance and is close to the card insertion slot 10. Therefore, the amount of contact (contact length) with the contact 4 is increased by a sufficient length, so that the card ejection speed is suitably suppressed based on the contact friction with the contact 4. The card ejection is stopped at the ejection position where the force of the spring member 9 is zero (the spring is fully extended), and the card is prevented from popping out. Note that the contact amount (contact length) of the contact 4 can be appropriately set as necessary.

  Moreover, the state in the middle of the case where the inserted card is discharged | emitted from the card connector of this invention in such a case is shown by FIG.

  In the state in the middle of the card ejection shown in FIG. 14, the contact pad portion 32 of the card C inserted into the card connector 1 of the present invention is in contact with the elastic contact portion 4a of the contact 4 of the card connector 1, The protruding portion 33 of the exposed contact pad portion 32 of the card C is in contact with the distal end portion of the elastic contact portion 4 a of the contact 4. Therefore, when the protrusion 33 of the card C hits the tip of the elastic contact portion 4a of the contact 4, a further load is applied to the contact 4 so that an additional frictional contact force acts. The pop-out speed of the card C is further suppressed, so that the card C works suitably as a brake.

  The relationship between the load (P) as the force of the spring member 9 such as a coil spring with respect to the contact 4 of the card connector 1 of the present invention and the stroke as the movement amount, that is, the stroke (S) is shown in the graph of FIG. Is shown in

  As shown in FIG. 15, the amount of force of the spring member itself, that is, the load (P) is indicated by a straight line J that linearly changes linearly with respect to the stroke (S) that is the movement amount in a general coil spring. Has been. Accordingly, the load (P) changes linearly with respect to the stroke (S) at a constant rate.

  On the other hand, in the card connector 1 of the present invention, when the card is inserted and ejected, the load (P) as the force of the spring member 9 is broken line portions A, B, C, and D with respect to the stroke (S). It will change as shown.

  First, as shown in the graph of FIG. 15, the broken line portion A has a spring force in a state where a card is inserted into the card connector 1 of the present invention and the slider member 6 and the eject member 8 are pressed and moved. FIG. 6 shows a change, in the cam groove 21 of the heart-shaped cam 20 in FIG. 6, the end 25A of the cam lever 25 passes through the cam groove 21a around the heart-shaped cam 20 from the linear cam groove 21d to start card discharge. It is in a state of moving so as to enter the cam groove 21e.

  Further, the broken line portion B shows a change in spring force when the card is further inserted to a required position and the slider member 6 and the eject member 8 are locked. In the cam groove 21 of the cam 20, the end portion 25A of the cam lever 25 moves from the card discharge start cam groove portion 21e toward the recess portion 21c and is stopped and locked at the recess portion 21c.

  Further, the broken line portion C shows a state of change in spring force when the card is slightly pushed to release the card and the lock is released. In the cam groove 21 of the heart-shaped cam 20 in FIG. The end 25A of the cam lever 25 is moved from the recess 21c and moved to another card discharge start cam groove 21f to release the lock.

  Furthermore, the broken line portion D indicates a change in spring force in a state where the lock is released, the slider member 6 and the eject member 8 are pressed by the spring member 9, and the card is ejected. In this state, in the cam groove 21 of the heart-shaped cam 20 in FIG. 6, the end portion 25A of the cam lever 25 moves from the card discharge start cam groove portion 21f through the cam groove portion 21b toward the linear cam groove portion 21d. The state where the linear cam groove 21d is entered is shown. In addition, in this broken line part D, when it becomes horizontal linear form, it is the state which the spring member 9 extended.

  In the state of the broken line portion D, when the load P decreases in the direction of the arrow and becomes a horizontal linear portion e, the spring member 9 is in an extended state.

  That is, in the graph of FIG. 15, the protruding portion 33 of the card C is the elastic contact portion 4 a of the contact 4 in the straight line portion e of the discharge position where the force of the spring member becomes zero (the spring member is fully extended). In this case, a load is applied and a frictional force acts to suppress the discharging speed of the card C.

  Further, the bending points a and d at the broken line portions A and D indicate changes when the leading end portion of the card contacts the elastic contact portion 4a of the contact 4, respectively.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, one or a plurality of positioning protrusions 28 are provided on the bottom surface of the connector main body 2, and the information terminal device to which the card connector 1 of the present invention is attached. By being fitted into a corresponding mounting recess or hole, the positioning can be performed quickly and accurately.

  As described above, according to the card connector 1 of the present invention, the slider member 6 is smoothly guided and slid by the inclination correcting mechanism 7 having the circular protrusion 23 engaged with the guide groove 22 without any inclination. Since the card can be discharged well, and the contact 4 is provided so as to be shifted to the card insertion slot 10, the contact range of the contact 4 with respect to the card, that is, the contact distance is increased, and the card is discharged. At times, the contact 4 acts as a brake on the card, so that the amount of card ejection can be reduced, and the card ejection speed can be suitably suppressed to make the card steep in the card insertion slot 10 steep. Jumping out can be suitably prevented.

  The card connector of the present invention can be used in various personal computers, mobile phones, telephones, PDAs (personal digital assistance), portable audio devices, game machines, cameras, karaoke, and other electronic devices such as information terminal devices.

It is a top view of the card connector in the Example of this invention. It is a front view of the card connector of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1. It is sectional drawing along the IV-IV line of FIG. It is a left view of the card connector of this invention of FIG. It is a right view of the card connector of FIG. It is a perspective view of the card connector of this invention of FIG. It is a perspective view which removes a cover member and shows the card connector of FIG. FIG. 9 is a plan view of the card connector with the cover member of FIG. 8 removed. It is a perspective view of a cover member. It is a perspective view of an eject member and a slider member. It is a perspective view when a card | curd is inserted in the card connector of this invention. FIG. 13 is a perspective view when a card is ejected from the card connector of FIG. 12. It is sectional drawing of the card connector in the middle to FIG. 13 from which the inserted card is discharged | emitted. It is a graph which shows the change of the amount of force and the amount of movement of a spring member in the card connector of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Card connector 2 Connector main body 3 Cover member 4 Contact 5 Eject mechanism 6 Slider member 7 Tilt correction mechanism 8 Eject member 9 Spring member 10 Card insertion slot 11 Substrate 12 Groove 13 Slider main body 14 End wall 15, 16 Side wall 17, 18 Guide way DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 Depression part 20 Heart-shaped cam 21 Cam groove 22 Guide groove 23 Protrusion part 24 Reducing member 25 Cam lever 26 Locking protrusion 27 Opening part 28 Positioning protrusion 29 Card restraining member 32 Contact pad part 33 Protrusion part

Claims (3)

A connector housing configured by combining a connector body and a cover member;
A plurality of contacts disposed within the connector housing;
An ejection mechanism for ejecting the card inserted in the connector housing,
The card connector according to claim 1, wherein the contact is provided at a position in contact with the inserted card in any case where the elastic member of the eject mechanism is expanded or contracted. A slider member is formed integrally with the eject mechanism,
The card connector according to claim 1, wherein a card holding member is provided on the slider member. The card connector according to claim 2, wherein the card holding member is provided on a side wall portion of the slider member.

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