JP2006049239A - Connector for memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow lightweight, thin, short, and small memory cards having shapes similar to each other surely mounted by sorting them, and to prevent reverse insertion thereof, in relation to a connector for a memory card. <P>SOLUTION: This connector for a memory card allows two kinds of memory cards to be mounted thereto. The connector is composed by installing, on side walls on the side of an insertion opening in the connector, a first card pressing member 5 used for guiding a first memory card out of the two kinds of memory cards to the lower side and for guiding the second memory card to the lower side and evacuated into the side wall by the second memory card, and a second card pressing member 6 for restricting the position of the upper surface of the first memory card and evacuated into the side wall by the second memory card. The connector 1 for a memory card is so structured that the side wall surface on the insertion opening side of the second card pressing member 6 is used as an abutting surface for preventing reverse insertion, when one of the first and second memory cards is reversely inserted by setting it upside-down, by abutting on one-side part of a tip of the memory card. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a memory card connector for storing a plurality of types of memory cards with a single connector, for example.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a memory card connector provided in a device housing for mounting a memory card used in, for example, a mobile phone, an electronic dictionary, a PDA, or the like on these electronic devices. As the demand for memory cards increases and the types of memory cards increase, two types of memory cards are mounted on a single memory card connector. For example, by taking advantage of the different shapes of memory cards, There is known a card connector device in which insertion guide grooves are prepared separately (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-31284

  However, the original memory card connector had a large difference in shape and sufficient storage capacity. However, as electronic devices became smaller and thinner, memory cards were made smaller and thinner. There must be. Moreover, as memory cards become increasingly smaller, the memory card shape may vary greatly in depth, but the width is exactly the same, and the thickness may be approximately the same or slightly different. . For example, miniSD (a further miniaturization of a conventional SD card, shape: length 21.5, width 20.0, thickness 1.4 mm) and Memory Stick Duo (registered trademark, shape: length 31.0, width 20) 0.0, thickness 1.6 mm), the width is exactly the same, and the thickness is only slightly different by 0.2 mm.

  In this way, the difference in shape has been reduced due to remarkable miniaturization, and it is not possible to adapt with the connector of the conventional method that selects the card type using the difference in the thickness and width of the memory card. When two types of memory cards are attached to one card connector, further ingenuity is required.

  The gist for solving the above-mentioned problems of the memory card connector according to the present invention is to provide a connector to which two types of memory cards can be mounted, and the two types The first memory card is guided downward, the second memory card is guided downward, and the second memory card is retracted into the side wall by the second memory card, and the first memory card And a second card pressing member that is retracted into the side wall by the second memory card, and the side wall surface on the insertion port side of the second card pressing member is When the first and second memory cards are reversely inserted upside down, they are in contact with one side of the tip of the memory card to prevent reverse insertion. It is a contact surface that stops.

The second card pressing member is disposed in the depth direction from the insertion slot at a distance that is substantially the same as or longer than the shortest distance from the front end surface of the first memory card to the full width partial starting position. ,;
Furthermore, the arrangement position of the first card pressing member is a position that engages with a concave portion of the side wall of the first memory card in a state where the first card holding member is completely installed;
An inclined guide surface for lifting only the second memory card upward is provided at the bottom of the connector, at a position corresponding to a different portion of the outer shape of the front end of the first memory card and the second memory card. thing,;
Is included.

  According to the memory card connector of the present invention, the two types of inserted memory cards are sorted in the vertical direction by the first card pressing member and the second card pressing member, and there is no significant difference in the shape of the card. Even a memory card can be prevented from being erroneously inserted when the card is inserted upside down.

  Since the second card pressing member is disposed in the depth direction from the insertion slot at a distance that is substantially equal to or longer than the shortest distance from the leading end surface of the first memory card to the full width partial starting position, the leading end of the first memory card When the entire width of the card is inserted into the insertion slot, the first memory card is reversed and comes into contact with the side wall surface of the second card pressing member.

  The arrangement position of the first card pressing member is a position that engages with the concave portion of the side wall of the first memory card in the state where the connector is completely installed. Locked and held stably. Since this first memory card has a small amount of insertion into the connector, it is stably held by this locking action.

  At the position corresponding to the difference in the outer shape of the front end portion of the first memory card and the second memory card, an inclined guiding surface for lifting only the second memory card upward is provided at the bottom of the connector. Due to the difference in the outer shape of the front end of the first memory card and the second memory card, the second memory card inserted deeper than the first memory card can be moved upward. For the first memory card, the lower part of the inclined guiding surface is engaged with a part of a portion having a different shape to serve as a card presser.

  The memory card connector 1 according to the present invention is, as shown in FIG. 1A, a plan view with a shell (top plate) removed, for example, two types of miniSD and memory stick Duo (registered trademark). This is a connector composed of a synthetic resin main body 2 and contacts 11, 12, a metal shell (not shown), and an eject mechanism (not shown) to which the memory cards 9, 10 (see FIG. 3) can be attached. .

  Of the two types of memory cards, the first memory card is guided downward and the second memory card is guided downward to the side walls 3 and 4 of the connector 1 on the insertion port side of the main body 2 and the second memory A first card pressing member 5 made of a synthetic resin that is retracted into the side wall by the card, and a second made of synthetic resin that restricts the position of the upper surface of the first memory card and is retracted into the side wall by the second memory card. A card pressing member 6 is provided.

  The card pressing members 5 and 6 are accommodated in recesses 2a and 2b which are provided in the side walls 3 and 4 so as to open on the upper surface side and the inner space side, and are always on the inner space side by elastic members (for example, coil springs) 7 and 8. It is urged so that it may protrude.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the card pressing members 5 and 6 have tapered guiding portions 5a and 6a for guiding the corners of the inserted memory card downward, and the card is lifted upward. There are card holding portions 5b, 6b which are not to be removed, and retaining portions 5c, 6c which are not to be removed from the recesses 2a, 2b. The second card pressing member 6 has a large side wall surface 6d for preventing reverse insertion on the front side.

  The arrangement position of the first card pressing member 5 is a position where the first card pressing member 5 is engaged with the concave portion 9a on the side wall of the first memory card 9 shown in FIG. The projecting portion of the first card pressing member 5 is engaged with the recess 9a to perform a locking action.

  Further, the second card pressing member 6 is not disposed at a position facing the first card pressing member 5 in the front-rear direction of the connector 1 but at the front end of the first memory card 9 shown in FIG. It is arranged in the depth direction (backward) from the insertion port of the connector 1 at a distance substantially the same as or longer than the shortest distance a from the surface 9b to the full width partial start position 9c.

  This is because when the first memory card 9 is inserted into the insertion slot with the card front and back turned upside down, the width of the leading end of the card is narrowed. There is a risk of tilting with respect to the direction or shifting in the left-right direction, preventing reverse insertion when the full width portion of the card is inserted into the connector 1 and the card moves parallel to the front-rear direction. It is to do.

  In the main body 2, an inclined guide surface that lifts only the second memory card 10 upward at a position corresponding to a different portion of the outer shape of the front end portion of the first memory card 9 and the second memory card 10 shown in FIG. 3. 2c is provided at the bottom as shown in FIG. The reason why the inclined guide surface 2c is provided on the left side wall of the connector 1 is to fit it in the cut portion 9d (see FIG. 3A) of the first memory card 9. Therefore, the side edge portion of the second memory card 10 rides on the inclined guiding surface 2c.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a protrusion 2d that protrudes rightward from the middle of the inclination guiding surface 2c is provided, and is associated with the side wall 9e at the front end of the first memory card 9. In addition, the position of the card 9 is restricted and pressed so that the card 9 does not lift up.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 2 is provided with a plurality of first memory card contacts 11 on the front side in the front-rear direction, and a plurality of second memory card contacts 12 on the rear side. A plurality are arranged in the direction. One ends 11a and 12a of the contacts 11 and 12 are soldered to circuit terminals of a printed board (not shown).

  The memory card connector 1 is configured by attaching the shell to the above-described configuration, and a method for using the connector will be described. A case where the first memory card 9 is attached to the connector 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 5, the leading end of the first memory card 9 is inserted from the insertion slot, and one side corner of the card 9 is inserted into the guiding portion 5a of the first card pressing member 5 protruding into the inner section. Abut. Then, it is moved from the upper side to the lower side by the guide portion 5a.

  When the card 9 is further pushed rearward, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 7, the card 9 moved downward moves while being pressed by the card pressing portions 5b and 6b of the card pressing members 5 and 6, and the card 9 The side wall 9e at the tip of 9 engages with the protrusion 2d and goes under it.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the card 9 is mounted with its position regulated so that the tip of the card 9 cannot be lifted up by the card pressing members 5 and 6 and the protrusion 2d. Further, the first card pressing member 5 is engaged with the recess 9a of the card 9 to lock the movement in the front-rear direction. Thus, the mounting is completed, and the contact of the first memory card 9 is brought into contact with the contact 11 on the connector 1 side to be electrically connected.

  FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 show how the card 9 is viewed from obliquely above, and FIG. 11 shows the card 9 from the opposite direction.

  Next, how the second memory card 10 is attached to the memory card connector 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 12 to 13, the second memory card 10 that is long in the front-rear direction is inserted from the insertion opening of the connector 1. In the second memory card 10, the left corner of the tip has an R shape, and the thickness of a part of the tip is thin and stepped.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the leading end of the second memory card 10 contacts the card pressing members 5 and 6. Therefore, it is guided downward in the vertical direction by the action of the guiding portions 5a and 6a (see FIG. 13B). The first card pressing member 5 is pressed against the side wall of the card 10 and is pushed against the urging force of the elastic member 7 so as to retreat into the recess 2a.

  Further, when the second memory card 10 is pushed backward, as shown in FIG. 13, the R corner portion 10a of the card 10 is formed on the inclined guiding surface 2c starting from below the second card pressing member 6 on the left side of the connector 1. Get on.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the second card pressing member 6 is retracted into the recess 2 b against the urging force of the elastic member 8, and the leading end portion of the card 10 moves upward and advances to the back. As shown in FIG. 15, the contacts at the tip of the card 10 are in contact with and electrically connected to the contacts 12 on the connector 1 side. In this way, the second memory card 10 passes over the first memory card contact 11 of the connector 1 and is moved upward by the inclined guiding surface 2c, and is inserted and mounted to the back.

  FIGS. 16 to 17 show a state in which the second memory card 10 is mounted as viewed obliquely from above.

  In the memory card connector 1 according to the present invention, a reverse insertion preventing mechanism will be described. For example, when inserting the first memory card 9 upside down, as shown in FIG. 18, the cut portion 9d of the card 9 is located on the right side of the internal space in the connector 1, and the left side of the card 9 A corner 9 f enters along the side wall 4. Due to the presence of the cut portion 9d, the card 9 does not come into contact with the first card pressing member 5 and the card 9 is not guided downward.

  When the full width partial start position 9c of the card 9 enters the insertion slot, the corner 9f moves reliably along the side wall 4 without the card 9 being inclined obliquely. The arrangement position of the second card pressing member 6 is substantially the same as or more than the shortest distance a from the front end surface 9b of the first memory card 9 to the full width partial starting position 9c in the front-rear direction of the connector 1, and the connector 1 After that, the corner portion 9f comes into contact with the side wall surface 6d of the second card pressing member 6. Since the side wall surface 6d is a vertical wall protruding from the recess 2b, the card 9 in contact therewith cannot enter further in the depth direction.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 19, even when the second memory card 10 is reversed upside down, the corner of the card 10 abuts against the side wall surface 6d of the second card pressing member 6, Further entry is blocked. At this time, the first card pressing member 5 is not in contact with the R corner of the card 10 or is retracted into the recess 2 a on the side wall of the card 10.

1A is a plan view of a memory card connector 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA. They are the perspective view (A) of the 1st card | curd pressing member 5, and the perspective view (B) of the said 2nd card | curd pressing member 6 of the connector 1 for memory cards based on the same invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view (A) of the first memory card 9 and a schematic plan view (B) of the second memory card 10. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the 1st memory card 9 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view (A) and a cross-sectional view (B) showing how the second memory card 10 is mounted on the memory card connector 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view (A) and a cross-sectional view (B) showing how the second memory card 10 is mounted on the memory card connector 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view (A) and a cross-sectional view (B) showing how the second memory card 10 is mounted on the memory card connector 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view (A) and a cross-sectional view (B) showing how the second memory card 10 is mounted on the memory card connector 1 of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the 2nd memory card 10 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the 2nd memory card 10 is mounted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a top view which shows a mode that it prevents that the 1st memory card 9 is reversely inserted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention. It is a top view which shows a mode that it prevents that the 1st memory card 10 is reversely inserted in the connector 1 for memory cards of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Memory card connector,
2 body, 2a, 2b recess,
2c inclined guiding surface, 2d protrusion,
3 side walls,
4 side walls,
5 first card pressing member, 5a guide part,
5b card holding part, 5c retaining part,
6 second card pressing member, 6a guide part,
6c retaining part, 6d side wall surface,
7,8 elastic member,
9 First memory card, 9a recess,
9b tip surface, 9c full width partial start position,
9d cut part, 9e side wall part,
10 Second memory card,
11, 12 contacts, 11a, 12a one end.

Claims (4)

A connector that can be used with two types of memory cards.
A first card pressing member that guides the first memory card downward of the two types of memory cards and guides the second memory card downward and is retracted into the side wall by the second memory card;
The upper surface of the first memory card is regulated, and a second card pressing member that is retracted into the side wall by the second memory card is provided.
The side wall surface on the insertion slot side of the second card pressing member is in contact with one side portion of the front end portion of the memory card when the first and second memory cards are reversely inserted upside down. A contact surface that prevents reverse insertion;
A connector for memory cards. The second card pressing member is disposed in the depth direction from the insertion slot at a distance substantially equal to or longer than the shortest distance from the front end surface of the first memory card to the full width partial starting position,
The memory card connector according to claim 1. The first card pressing member is disposed at a position where the first card pressing member is engaged with the concave portion of the side wall of the first memory card in a state where the first card pressing member is completely installed;
The memory card connector according to claim 1. An inclined guiding surface for lifting only the second memory card upward is provided at the bottom of the connector, at a position corresponding to the difference in the outer shape of the tip of the first memory card and the second memory card. ,
4. The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is a memory card.

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