JP2010061474A - Memory card socket - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a memory card socket that can be commonly used for a plural types of memory cards and cause a state of contact between a contact and a contact pad in inserting the memory card to be a state suitable for exerting performance of each type of the memory cards. <P>SOLUTION: A high-speed memory card MC2 has a characteristic that the length of a space 110 for a pad where the pad P is exposed in a direction of insertion into the memory card socket is relatively longer than that of a conventional memory card MC1. With the focus on this characteristic, a diversion section 81c is provided for separating a contact section 81b from a pad P3 common to the memory cards MC1 and MC2. This separation is made by contacting a contact C10 corresponding to a pad P10 provided only on the high-speed memory card MC2 with an inner surface 110a of the space 110 for a pad of the conventional memory card MC1 without contacting an inner surface 110a of the space 110 for a pad which faces in the direction of insertion on the high-speed memory card MC2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a memory card socket, in particular a memory card such as an SD memory card or a multimedia card (MMC), or a memory card for detachably connecting an SDIO card having the same size and terminal arrangement as the SD memory card. It relates to sockets.

  Conventionally, SD memory cards have been provided as small-sized and large-capacity memory cards. An SD memory card is used by being mounted on a memory card socket mounted on an electric device or the like that uses the SD memory card (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  By the way, as the SD memory card, those shown in FIGS. 14A to 14C are widely used. The SD memory card MC1 shown in FIG. 14 includes a rectangular plate-like card body 100 in which a circuit unit (not shown) including a rewritable nonvolatile storage element (for example, a flash memory) is built. The SD memory card MC1 is inserted into a memory card socket from one end portion (the upper end portion in FIG. 14A) in the longitudinal direction of the card body 100. In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the card body 100 is One end of the card body 100 in the longitudinal direction (the end on the insertion direction side of the SD memory card MC1 in the memory card socket) is referred to as a front end.

  In the SD memory card MC1 shown in FIG. 14, a plurality of pads (contact pads) P are provided in the width direction of the card body 1 (at the front end on the one surface in the thickness direction of the card body 100 (the right surface in FIG. 14B)). They are arranged side by side in the left-right direction in FIG. The SD memory card MC1 includes four pads P for data transfer, two pads P for ground, one pad P for power supply, one pad P for commands, and one for clocks. A total of nine pads P including one pad P are provided. In the following description, in order to distinguish the nine pads P, the pads P are denoted by symbols P1 to P9 as necessary.

  These pads P are exposed on the bottom surfaces (surfaces facing the one surface side) of the eight pad cavities 110 formed at the front end portion on the one surface side of the card body 100. Each pad space 110 is open at the front end side (that is, the front end portion of the one surface of the card body 100 is formed with a step that makes the front end side lower), and when attached to the memory card socket, A contact C (see FIG. 2) of the memory card socket is inserted from the front end side. The contact C inserted into the pad space 110 is contact-connected to the pad P in the pad space 110. In the SD memory card MC1 shown in FIG. 14, eight pad cavities 110 are provided so as to be arranged in the width direction of the card body 100, and the inside of the first pad vacant space 110 from the left side in FIG. Includes a pad P1, a pad P2 in the second pad space 110, a pad P3 in the third pad space 110, and a pad P4 in the fourth pad space 110. The pad P5 is in the 10th pad space 110, the pad P6 is in the 6th pad space 110, the pad P7 is in the 7th pad space 110, and the 8th pad space. 110 has pads P8 and P9 exposed.

  Insulating ribs 106 are disposed between adjacent pad cavities 110. The rib 106 is formed in a long shape having the longitudinal direction of the card body 100 as a longitudinal direction.

  By the way, protrusions 101 are formed on both side edges in the width direction of the card body 100, and one corner (the upper right corner in FIG. 14A) of the front end of the card body 100 is inclined obliquely. A notch 102 is formed (consisting of a surface whose normal direction faces the upper left direction in FIG. 14A). Further, an engagement recess 103 used for engagement with the engagement claw of the memory card socket is formed on one side edge in the width direction of the card body 100 (left edge in FIG. 14A). A recess 104 is formed on the side edge (the right edge in FIG. 14A). The recess 104 is provided so that the knob 105 of the write protect switch can be slidably moved in the front-rear direction.

  The SD memory card MC1 described above can be used by switching the operation mode, and the function of each pad P is switched according to the operation mode. For example, the SD memory card MC1 has a mode capable of high-speed data transfer. In this mode, data transfer is performed via four contact pads, thereby transferring 4-bit data in one clock cycle. Is possible.

  Such an SD memory card MC1 is often used as a storage medium of a video recording device (electric device) such as a digital camera or a digital video camera.

  In recent years, the definition of video recording equipment has been increasing, and the content stored in the storage medium has become larger. Therefore, when a large amount of data is recorded in real time or transferred to an external device such as a computer, the above-mentioned conventional SD memory card MC1 cannot be said to have a sufficiently high data transfer speed. It took a relatively long time.

  Therefore, a next-generation SD memory card (hereinafter, referred to as a high-speed memory card) having a higher data transfer speed has been proposed.

  As shown in FIGS. 15A to 15C, the high-speed memory card MC2 mainly differs from the conventional SD memory card (hereinafter referred to as a conventional memory card) MC1 in the arrangement of the pads P. That is, the high-speed memory card MC2 includes four pads P for high-speed mode (high-speed transfer) in addition to the nine pads P of the conventional memory card MC1. In the following description, in order to distinguish the 13 pads P, the pads P are denoted by symbols P1 to P13 as necessary.

  Here, the nine pads P1 to P9 in the high-speed memory card MC2 are contact pads common to the conventional memory card MC1. On the other hand, the four pads P10 to P13 for the high-speed mode are contact pads that are not included in the conventional memory card MC1. The pads P10 and P11 are alternative contact pads that are arranged in a line with the pad P3 that is a common contact pad in the insertion direction (upward direction in FIG. 15A) and are used in place of the pad P3. . Similarly, the pads P12 and P13 are arranged side by side with the pad P6 that is a common contact pad in the insertion direction, and are used instead of the pad P6.

  In the high-speed memory card MC2, the pads P3 and P6 have shorter dimensions in the front-rear direction than the other pads P1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9. Further, the front end positions of the pads P3, P6 are located behind the front end positions of the other pads P1, P2, P4, P5, P7 to P9, whereby the pads P10, P11 are placed on the front end side of the pad P3. A space for arranging the pads P12 and P13 side by side in the width direction is secured on the front end side of P6.

  Such a high-speed memory card MC2 has an SD mode in which the same operation as that of the conventional memory card MC1 is performed and a high-speed mode in which higher-speed data transfer is possible. In the SD mode, nine pads P1 to P9 common to the conventional memory card MC1 are used. In the SD mode, 4-bit data is transmitted and received using the four contact pads as described above. On the other hand, in the high-speed mode, the pads P10 and P11 are used instead of the pad P3, and the pads P12 and P13 are used instead of the pad P6 (that is, in the high-speed mode, the pads P1, P2, P4, P5, P7-13). A total of 11 are used). In the high-speed mode, 1-bit differential data signals are transmitted and received by the pair of pads P10 and P11 and the pair of pads P12 and P13, respectively. In such a high-speed mode, the number of bits that can be transmitted in one clock cycle is smaller than in the SD mode, but the frequency of the operation clock can be dramatically increased by transmitting / receiving differential data. Therefore, high-speed data transmission can be realized in the high-speed mode compared to the SD mode.

  By using the high-speed memory card MC2 as described above, it is possible to transfer data at a higher speed than when using the conventional memory card MC1, and it is possible to shorten the time required for data transfer and the like.

  However, at present, many electrical devices corresponding to the conventional memory card MC1 are already produced and spread. Of course, a memory card socket (hereinafter referred to as a conventional socket) corresponding to the conventional memory card MC1 is employed in such an electric device.

  Therefore, it is required that the high-speed memory card MC2 can be used for a conventional socket (data transmission is possible even in a state where the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted in the conventional socket).

  Considering this point, the outer size of the high-speed memory card MC2 is set to be approximately the same as the outer size of the conventional memory card MC1. However, the shape of the notch 107 provided at the front end corner of the card body 100 of the high-speed memory card MC2 is determined so that the high-speed memory card MC2 and the conventional memory card MC1 can be distinguished. It is different from the notch 102 provided at the front end corner of the card body 100 of MC1.

  The notch 107 of the high-speed memory card MC2 is provided continuously to the first notch 108 and the first notch 108 adjacent to the front surface of the card body 100 at the same position as the conventional memory card MC1. And a second cutout portion 109 adjacent to the side surface (the left side surface in FIG. 15A). The second notch 109 is provided so as to be shifted behind the card body 100 from the first notch 108. Therefore, a step is formed at the front end corner of the card body 100. Such a step is provided in order to make the position of the high-speed memory card MC2 different from the memory card socket between the conventional socket and the memory card socket corresponding to the high-speed memory card MC2 (hereinafter referred to as a high-speed compatible socket). It has been.

  That is, an abutting portion for abutting with the first notch 108 of the high-speed memory card MC2 is provided in the conventional socket, and an abutting portion for abutting with the second notch 109 of the high-speed memory card MC2 in the high-speed compatible socket. The insertion position of the high-speed memory card MC2 can be changed in the front-rear direction (insertion / removal direction of the SD memory cards MC1, MC2) between the conventional socket and the high-speed compatible socket (in the high-speed compatible socket, High-speed memory card MC2 can be inserted deeper than conventional sockets).

  As a result, when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted in the high-speed compatible socket, the contacts of the socket can be brought into contact with the pads P10 to P13 located in front of them instead of the pads P3 and P6. On the other hand, when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted in the conventional socket, the contacts of the socket can be brought into contact with the contact pads P3 and P6 located behind them instead of the pads P10 to P13.

  Thus, in the memory card socket having the abutting portion, it is possible to provide compatibility between the high-speed memory card MC2 and the conventional memory card MC1.

  However, some memory card sockets do not include the abutting portion. In a memory card socket of a type that does not include the abutting portion, the insertion position cannot be made different between the conventional memory card MC1 and the high-speed memory card MC2, and therefore the type of the memory card cannot be determined by the insertion position. .

Therefore, a memory card socket has been proposed in which the type of memory card is determined based on the electrical characteristics of the memory card, and contacts are switched / selected according to the determination result (see, for example, Patent Document 3). In this case, contacts are switched / selected by electrically disconnecting unused contacts from the internal circuit of the memory card socket.
JP 2004-71175 A JP 2003-249290 A JP 2004-14499 A

  If the technology described in Patent Document 3 is adopted, it is possible to determine the type of memory card even in a memory card socket without an abutting portion, whereby the conventional memory card MC1 and the high-speed memory card can be identified. It becomes possible to use both MC2.

  However, in this case, since the mounting position of the conventional memory card MC1 and the mounting position of the high-speed memory card MC2 are the same, the contact for the high-speed mode that is not used in the conventional memory card MC1 contacts the pads P3 and P6. There is a case.

  Here, even if the high-speed mode contacts that are not used for the conventional memory card MC1 are electrically disconnected from the internal circuit of the memory card socket, these unused contacts contact the pads P3 and P6. If so, the high frequency characteristics and signal transmission characteristics are adversely affected. As a result, a sufficient performance cannot be exhibited and a prescribed transfer speed cannot be achieved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned reasons, and can be shared by a plurality of types of memory cards. The contact state between the contact and the contact pad when the memory card is mounted exhibits the performance of various memory cards. An object of the present invention is to provide a memory card socket that can be in a state suitable for the above.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention of claim 1, a plurality of contact pads are provided on one surface side in the thickness direction of a rectangular plate-like card body in which a rewritable nonvolatile memory element is built, and the contact pads A card insertion slot into which a plurality of types of memory cards classified by the arrangement can be inserted and removed, a socket body that holds the memory card inserted from the card insertion slot, and a plurality of memory cards held in the socket body A memory card socket having a plurality of contacts that are in contact with and in contact with the contact pad, wherein the end of the card body on the one surface side in the direction of insertion into the memory card socket has a contact pad on the surface facing the one surface side. Is exposed and a pad space is provided for inserting a contact from the insertion direction side. There are a common contact pad that all the plural types of memory cards have, and an alternative contact pad that is arranged in line with the common contact pad in the insertion direction and is used in place of the common contact pad. In a memory card having a contact pad, the length of the pad space in the direction along the insertion direction is relatively longer than that of a memory card having no alternative contact pad. A common contact that is conductively contacted to the common contact pad and an alternative contact that is conductively contacted to the alternative contact pad, and the alternative contact includes a contact portion that is in contact with the alternative contact pad, and a ride And the riding part has a memory having an alternative contact pad When a memory card is installed, it does not contact the inner surface facing the insertion direction in the pad space, and when a memory card without an alternative contact pad is mounted, it contacts the inner surface of the pad space. Is located on the tip side of the alternative contact with respect to the contact portion so as to deform the alternative contact so as to be separated from the common contact pad in the pad space.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the memory card having the alternative contact pad is mounted, the riding-up portion does not contact the inner surface of the pad space, so that the contact portion of the alternative contact contacts the alternative contact pad. Thus, contact conduction is established between the alternative contact and the alternative contact pad. On the other hand, when a memory card that does not have an alternative contact pad is mounted, the riding part abuts against the inner surface of the pad space, so that the contact part is separated from the common contact pad in the pad space. As a result, the contact between the alternative contact and the common contact pad is insulated. As described above, when a memory card having an alternative contact pad is attached, the alternative contact contacts the alternative contact pad, and when a memory card having no alternative contact pad is attached, the alternative contact is provided to the common contact pad. Since the contact does not occur, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of the problem that the signal transmission characteristics change and the sufficient performance cannot be exhibited and the prescribed transfer speed is not reached. As a result, while being shared by a plurality of types of memory cards, the contact state between the contact and the contact pad when the memory card is mounted can be brought into a state suitable for exhibiting the performance of various memory cards. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the alternative contact is characterized in that the contact portion and the riding-up portion are integrally formed of a metal material.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the alternative contact can be easily manufactured, and the cost can be reduced.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, at least the climbing portion is formed by bending a long metal plate so that a cross-sectional shape in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is an L shape. Features.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the strength of the riding portion can be improved, when the riding portion hits the inner surface of the pad space, the riding portion is plastically deformed, and the operation as designed can be performed. It can be suppressed from disappearing.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the ride-up portion is made of a material having an insulating property.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the metal portion in the contact can be reduced as compared with the case where the riding portion is made of a metal material, so that the noise resistance can be improved and the high frequency characteristics can be improved. Moreover, it is possible to prevent the alternate contacts from being short-circuited by the ride-up portion coming into contact with the common contact pad.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the riding-up portions of the alternative contacts corresponding to the plurality of alternative contact pads exposed in the pad space are interconnected. It is characterized by.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the area (contact area) of the portion of the alternative contact that contacts the inner surface of the pad space can be increased, and stable operation can be achieved. In addition, since the alternative contacts are deformed at the same timing by connecting the riding portions of the plurality of alternative contacts, the timing at which the contact portions of the alternative contacts are separated can be aligned. In addition, even if the landing part of one alternative contact does not function well due to dimensional error or the like, the contact part of one alternative contact can be separated from the common contact pad by the riding part of another alternative contact Become.

  The present invention can be shared by a plurality of types of memory cards, and the contact state between the contact and the contact pad when the memory card is mounted can be brought into a state suitable for exhibiting the performance of various memory cards. Play.

(Embodiment 1)
The memory card socket according to the present embodiment is a memory card socket that is compatible with both the conventional SD memory card MC1 (see FIG. 14) and the high-speed SD memory card MC2 (see FIG. 15) described in the prior art. It is. These memory cards MC1 and MC2 are provided with a plurality of pads P on one side in the thickness direction of a rectangular plate-like card body 100 in which a rewritable nonvolatile memory element is built, as described in the prior art. Depending on the arrangement of the pads P (that is, the number of pads P, the arrangement position, etc.), the type is classified into a high-speed type or a conventional type.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the memory card socket of the present embodiment has a card insertion slot 3a into which a plurality of types of memory cards MC1 and MC2 can be inserted and removed, and the memory card MC1 inserted from the card insertion slot 3a. , MC2 and a plurality of memory cards MC1 and MC2 held in the socket body 3 (9 for the conventional memory card MC1 and 13 for the high-speed memory card MC2). A contact block 4 that holds a plurality (13 in this embodiment) of contacts C that are in contact with the pad P is provided. In the following description, a plurality of contacts C are denoted by reference numerals C1 to C13 as necessary in order to distinguish them.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the socket body 3 is formed in a flat rectangular box shape, and includes a base shell 1 and a cover shell 2. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, for simplicity of explanation, as shown in FIG. 4, the thickness direction of the socket body 3 is the vertical direction, the width direction is the horizontal direction, and the SD memory cards MC1 and MC2 are The insertion / extraction direction is defined as the front-rear direction, but this does not limit the mounting direction of the memory card socket.

  The base shell 1 is formed, for example, by punching and bending a rectangular stainless steel plate having a very thin thickness, and bending the left and right ends upward to form the side piece 1b (however, The left side piece is not shown), and the upper side and both front and rear sides are open. A plurality of projecting pieces 1 c projecting downward are formed at the front and right side of the base shell 1, and the projecting pieces 1 c are press-fitted into the lower surface of the base body (holding body) 6 of the contact block 4. The contact block 4 is press-fitted and fixed to the lower surface of the base shell 1 by being press-fitted into a groove (not shown). A plurality of through-holes 1 d for releasing the contacts C held by the contact block 4 are formed slightly behind the front end of the base shell 1. Further, at the left end of the rear side edge of the base shell 1, an L-shaped support piece 1e that protrudes downward from a position outside the passage position of the memory cards MC1 and MC2 and further protrudes forward at the front end side thereof. Is bent.

  The cover shell 2 is formed by punching and bending a rectangular stainless steel plate having a very thin thickness, and a bent piece (not shown) protruding upward from the front edge of the cover shell 2. It is bent and formed. The cover shell 2 is formed with a plurality of protruding pieces (not shown) protruding upward at a position slightly closer to the rear end than the bent piece. Accordingly, the cover shell 2 is placed on the lower side of the base shell 1 on which the base 6 of the contact block 4 is fixed on the lower surface, and the press-fitting groove in which the protruding piece of the cover shell 2 is provided in the base 6 of the contact block 4 (see FIG. The cover shell 2 is fixed to the base shell 1 and the contact block 4 by welding the contact portion between the peripheral portion of the cover shell 2 and the base shell 1 by a method such as laser welding. Thus, a flat box-shaped socket body 3 having a card insertion slot 3a opened on the front surface is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the contact block 4 includes a base body 6 made of a resin molded product having a substantially U-shaped plan view in the vertical direction. The base body 6 is disposed along the front side of the base shell 1 and the cover shell 2, and protrudes rearward from the left and right side portions of the side portion 6 a and closes the front surface of the socket body 3. It is comprised with a pair of side part 6b, 6b arrange | positioned along the piece 1b.

  In addition, the memory card socket of the present embodiment includes a slider mechanism unit that realizes a function of fixing the memory cards MC1 and MC2 to the socket body 3 and a function of facilitating removal from the socket body 3. . The slider mechanism section includes a slider 5, an urging spring 7, and a slider lock means. The slider 5 is made of a synthetic resin molded product, and protrudes to the right from the strip-shaped side portion 5a that moves in the front-rear direction along the left edge of the memory cards MC1 and MC2, and the front end portion (front end portion) of the side portion 5a. A side portion 5b that abuts against the notch 102 (first notch 108 in the case of the high-speed memory card MC2) is integrally formed. Therefore, when the conventional memory card MC1 is inserted from the card insertion slot 3a, the notch 102 of the conventional memory card MC1 abuts the inclined surface of the side portion 5b, and the high-speed memory card MC2 is inserted into the card insertion slot. When inserted from 3a, the first cutout portion 108 of the high-speed memory card MC2 abuts the inclined surface of the side portion 5b. As a result, when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are inserted into the socket body 3, the slider 5 moves forward by receiving a pressing force via the memory cards MC1 and MC2. In addition, 5c in FIG. 2 is an escape groove for avoiding interference between the side portion 5b of the slider 5 and other members.

  The biasing spring 7 is a coil spring that constantly biases the slider 5 backward (to the card insertion slot 3a). The slider lock means locks the slider 5 at a predetermined position (position shown in FIG. 2) when releasing the pressing force of the memory cards MC1 and MC2 after the slider 5 is moved to the foremost position. The lock is released when the slider 5 moves forward by applying a pressing force to MC1 and MC2. As such a slider lock means, a conventionally well-known one can be adopted, and therefore, detailed illustration and description of the structure will be omitted.

  Next, the contacts C1 to C13, which are features of the memory card socket of this embodiment, will be described.

  The contacts C1 to C13 are individually brought into contact with a plurality of pads P1 to P13 (I / O contact surfaces) provided on the high-speed memory card MC2. These contacts C1 to C13 are press-fitted into the side portion 6a of the base 6 of the contact block 4 or simultaneously formed with the side portion 6a, and are thereby held at positions corresponding to the pads P1 to P13 of the high-speed memory card MC2. ing. In the high-speed memory card MC2, the pads P10 and P11 are located in front of the pad P3, and the pads P12 and P13 are located in front of the pad P6. Therefore, in the memory card socket of this embodiment, the contacts C10 to C13 are positioned above the contacts C1 to C9 so that the contacts C10 and C11 and the contact C3, and the contacts C12 and C13 and the contact C6 do not contact each other.

  The contacts C1 to C9 are common contacts that are brought into contact with the pads P1 to P9 provided in common to the memory cards MC1 and MC2, respectively, and protrude from the rear surface side (card insertion port 3a side) of the side portion 6a. A contact terminal 80 and a soldering terminal 9 protruding from the front surface of the side portion 6a are provided. Since the contacts C1 to C9 have the same shape, only the contact C3 will be described as a representative. Further, in FIG. 1, the pads P3 and P10 are simplified for easy understanding.

  The contact terminal 80 of the contact C3 is bent from an elastic metal plate, and has a long spring piece 80a whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction of the socket body 3, and a distal end (rear end) of the spring piece 80a. And a contact portion 80b provided in the portion). The contact portion 80b is formed in an arc shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction (in the plane of FIG. 1A) is convex downward. The protruding amount of the contact C3 from the side portion 6a is set to a size that allows the contact portion 80b to elastically contact the corresponding pad P3 when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted.

  The contacts C10 to C13 are high-speed mode contacts (alternate contacts) that are respectively brought into contact with high-speed transmission pads P10 to P13 provided only on the high-speed memory card MC2, and the rear side of the side portion 6a (card A contact terminal 81 protruding from the insertion port 3a side) and a soldering terminal 9 protruding from the front surface of the side portion 6a are provided. Since the contact C10 and the contact C12 have the same shape, and the contact C11 and the contact C13 have the same shape and are symmetrical with the contact C10, only the contact C10 will be described as a representative.

  The contact terminal 81 of the contact C10 is made of an elastic metal material like the contact C3, and is in contact with the long spring piece 81a whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction of the socket body 3 and the pad P10. The part 81b and the riding part 81c are continuously integrated. The spring piece 81a is bent at the middle part so that the contact part 81b contacts the pad P10 with a predetermined contact pressure. The contact portion 81b is provided below the side edge portion (left side edge portion) of the spring piece 81a that faces the pad P10 when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, and the tip surface of the contact portion 81b is a circle that protrudes downward. It is formed in an arc shape.

  The riding-up portion 81c is for bringing the contact portion 81b into contact with the pad P10 when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, and for separating the contact portion 81b from the pad P3 when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D, the ride-up portion 81c includes the length of the pad space 110 of the high-speed memory card MC2 having alternative pads P10 to P13 (in the direction of insertion into the memory card socket). L1 is equal to the distance between the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 facing the insertion direction side of the memory card socket and the front edge of the card body 100) L1. The contact portion 81b is separated from the pad P3 by utilizing the fact that it is relatively longer than the length L2 of the pad space 110 of the conventional memory card MC1 that does not have P13.

  When the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted (see FIGS. 1A and 1B), the riding-up portion 81c abuts against the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 and the contact C3 in the pad space 110. In addition, when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted (see FIGS. 1C and 1D), the contact portion comes into contact with the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110a and is lifted upward by the card body 100. The contact C10 is provided closer to the distal end side of the contact C10 than the contact portion 81b so that the contact C10 can be deformed so that the contact 81b is separated from the pad P3 in the pad space 110.

  The riding-up portion 81c is formed in a square shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction is convex downward. Thus, when the surface of the riding portion 81c that faces the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 abuts against the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, the riding portion 81c extends along the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110. It is easy to move to the upper surface side of the card body 100 (that is, the contact C10 is easily deformed).

  The memory card socket of the present embodiment is configured as described above, and the state of each contact C1 to C13 when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are attached to the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. To do.

  When the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the riding portion 81c does not hit the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, so that the contact C10 is not deformed as described above. Therefore, the contact part 81b contacts the pad P10, and the pad P10 and the contact C10 are electrically connected. Further, since the riding portion 81c of the contact 10 does not contact (contact) the pad P3, the contacts C10 and C11 are not short-circuited via the pad P3. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13, and the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9. Is electrically connected.

  On the other hand, when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted, the riding-up portion 81c hits the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 as shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D. The card body 100 is moved upward so as to ride on the rear end side. As a result, the contact C10 is deformed so that the contact portion 81b is separated from the pad P3. As a result, the pad P3 and the contact C10 are electrically insulated. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13. Further, the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9 are electrically connected.

  As described above, the memory card socket according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of pads P on one surface side in the thickness direction of the rectangular card-like card body 100 in which a rewritable nonvolatile memory element is built. A socket body 3 having a card insertion slot 3a into which a plurality of types of memory cards MC1 and MC2 classified by the arrangement of the cards can be inserted and removed, and holding the memory cards MC1 and MC2 inserted from the card insertion slot 3a, and a socket body 3 is provided with a plurality of contacts C that are in contact with and conductive with a plurality of pads P of the memory cards MC1 and MC2 held by the memory card 3.

  The plurality of contacts C include common contacts C1 to C9 that are brought into contact with the common pads P1 to P9 for the memory cards MC1 and MC2, and an alternative that is provided only for the memory card MC2 and is used instead of the pads P3 and P6. Alternative contacts C10 to C13 that are brought into contact with the pads P10 to P13 are included.

  The alternative contacts C10 to C13 have a contact part 81b that contacts the pads P10 to P13 and a riding part 81c. The riding part 81c is a pad space when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted. 110 is not in contact with the inner surface 110a of the 110, and when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted, the contact portion 81b is in contact with the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 and the common pad P3, P6 in the pad space 110 is contacted. The alternative contacts C10 to C13 are positioned closer to the distal end side of the alternative contacts C10 to C13 than the contact portion 81b so as to deform the alternative contacts C10 to C13 so as to be separated from each other.

  Therefore, when the memory card MC2 having the alternative pads P10 to P13 is mounted, the riding-up portion 81c does not contact the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, so that the contact portion 81b of the alternative contacts C10 to C13 is the alternative pad P10. The contact between the alternative contacts C10 to C13 and the alternative pads P10 to P13 is brought into contact with the contact P13. On the other hand, when the memory card MC1 that does not have the alternative pads P10 to P13 is mounted, the riding-up portion 81c comes into contact with the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, so that the contact portion 81b is common to the pad space 110. Since the alternative contacts C10 to C13 are deformed so as to be separated from the pads P3 and P6, the alternative contacts C10 to C13 and the common pads P3 and P6 are insulated.

  As described above, when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, the high-speed mode contacts C10 to C13 come into contact with the high-speed mode pads P10 to P13, and when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted, the high-speed mode contacts C10 to C13. Since C13 does not contact the common pads P3 and P6, the high-speed mode contacts C10 to C13 contact the common pads P3 and P6, so that the signal transmission characteristics are changed and sufficient performance cannot be exhibited. It is possible to avoid the problem that the transfer speed is not reached.

  Therefore, according to the memory card socket of this embodiment, the memory card MC1 can be shared by a plurality of types of memory cards MC1 and MC2, and the contact state between the contact C and the pad P when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted can be changed to various memory cards MC1. , MC2 can be brought into a state suitable for exhibiting the performance.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the alternative contacts C10 to C13 are formed by integrally forming the contact portion 81b and the riding portion 81c with a metal material, so that the alternative contacts C10 to C13 can be easily manufactured. Cost can be reduced.

  In addition, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, it is only necessary to change the shapes of the contacts C10 to C13. Therefore, the internal circuit as in Patent Document 3 is not required, the configuration is simplified, and the size and cost are reduced. Can be planned. Further, since the only difference from the conventional socket is the presence or absence of the contacts C10 to C13, the components of the conventional socket can be used and further cost reduction can be expected.

(Embodiment 2)
As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the memory card socket of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the shape of the contact terminals 80 and 81 of the contact C, and the other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same components and the description thereof is omitted.

  Hereinafter, the contacts C1 to C13 which are features of the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described. Similarly to the first embodiment, the contacts C1 to C13 in the present embodiment are individually brought into contact with a plurality of pads P1 to P13 provided on the high-speed memory card MC2, and the high-speed memory card MC2 is contacted by the contact block 4. Are held at positions corresponding to the pads P1 to P13. In the first embodiment, the contacts C10 to C13 are positioned above the contacts C3 and C6 so that the contacts C10 and C11 are not in contact with the contact C3, and the contacts C12 and C13 are not in contact with the contact C6. Then, the contacts C3 and C6 are positioned above the contacts C1, C2, C4, C5 and C7 to C13.

  The contacts C1, C2, C4, C5, C7 to C9 in the present embodiment have the same shape as in the first embodiment, but the contacts C3 and C6 in the present embodiment are different in shape from the first embodiment. Since the contacts C3 and C6 have the same shape, only the contact C3 will be described as a representative. Further, the contact C3 in the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the contact terminal 80, and therefore only the contact terminal 80 will be described.

  The contact terminal 80 of the contact C3 in this embodiment is formed of a metal material having elasticity, and has a long spring piece 80a whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction of the socket body 3, and a distal end portion of the spring piece 80a ( And a contact portion 80b provided at the rear end portion. The contact portion 80b is formed in an arc shape in which the cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction (in the plane of FIG. 8A) is convex downward. The protruding amount of the contact C3 from the side portion 6a is set to a size that allows the contact portion 80b to elastically contact the corresponding pad P3 when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted. In this embodiment, since the contacts C3 and C6 are located above the contacts C1, C2, C4, C5, C7 to C13, the spring piece 80a has a hypotenuse 80c for bringing the contact portion 80b into contact with the pad P3. Is provided.

  Since the contacts C10 to C13 in the present embodiment are different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the contact terminal 81, only the contact terminal 81 will be described. Since the contact C10 and the contact C12 have the same shape, and the contact C11 and the contact C13 have the same shape and are symmetrical with the contact C10, only the contact C10 will be described as a representative. In FIG. 8, the pads P3 and P10 are simplified for easy understanding.

  In the present embodiment, the contact terminal 81 is formed by bending a long metal plate made of an elastic metal material so that a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is an L shape. A continuous spring piece 81a having a longitudinal direction as a direction and a side piece 81d suspended downward from the tip of the side edge (left edge) of the spring piece 81a to the middle abdomen. ing. The lower surface of one end portion (front end portion) in the longitudinal direction of the side piece 81d is formed in an arc shape that protrudes downward, and this portion constitutes a contact portion 81b together with the spring piece 81a. On the other hand, the lower surface of the other end portion (rear end portion) in the longitudinal direction of the side piece 81d is formed in a tapered shape in which the length in the direction (front-rear direction) along the longitudinal direction of the side piece 81d becomes shorter as it goes downward. The said part comprises the riding part 81c with the spring piece 81a.

  The riding-up portion 81c in the present embodiment also has the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 and the pad P3 in the pad space 110 when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted (see FIGS. 8A and 8B). When the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted (see FIGS. 8C and 8D), the contact portion 81b is in contact with the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110a and the pad space 110 is contacted. The contact C10 is provided closer to the tip of the contact C10 than the contact portion 81b so that the contact C10 can be deformed so as to be separated from the inner pad P3. As described above, the ride-up portion 81c in the present embodiment includes the other end portion (rear end portion) in the longitudinal direction of the side piece 81d and the spring piece 81a, and the other end portion in the longitudinal direction of the side piece 81d. The lower surface of is formed in a tapered shape in which the length in the direction (front-rear direction) along the longitudinal direction of the side piece 81d becomes shorter as it goes downward. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, when the surface facing the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 in the riding portion 81c contacts the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, the riding portion 81c. Is easy to move to the upper surface side of the card body 100 along the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 (that is, the contact C10 is easily deformed).

  The memory card socket of the present embodiment is configured as described above, and the state of the contacts C1 to C13 when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted in the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. To do.

  When the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, the riding portion 81c does not hit the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, so that the contact C10 is not deformed as described above. Therefore, the contact part 81b contacts the pad P10, and the pad P10 and the contact C10 are electrically connected. Further, since the riding portion 81c of the contact 10 does not contact (contact) the pad P3, the contacts C10 and C11 are not short-circuited via the pad P3. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13, and the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9. Is electrically connected.

  On the other hand, when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted, the riding-up portion 81c hits the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 as shown in FIGS. The card body 100 is moved upward so as to ride on the rear end side. As a result, the contact C10 is deformed so that the contact portion 81b is separated from the pad P3. As a result, the pad P3 and the contact C10 are electrically insulated. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13. Further, the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9 are electrically connected.

  Therefore, also in the memory card socket of this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it can be shared by a plurality of types of memory cards MC1 and MC2, and the contact state between the contact C and the pad P when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted. Can be brought into a state suitable for exhibiting the performance of various memory cards MC1 and MC2.

  In the present embodiment, the ride-on portion 81c has an L-shaped cross-section in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the contact C10, so that the strength is higher than that of a flat plate as in the first embodiment. Can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the riding portion 81c from plastically deforming due to the riding portion 81c hitting the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 and being unable to perform the operation as designed. In the present embodiment, both the riding-up portion 81c and the contact portion 81b are formed by bending a long metal plate so that a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is L-shaped. However, it is sufficient that at least only the riding-up portion 81c is formed in the shape described above.

(Embodiment 3)
As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the memory card socket of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the shape of the contact terminals 80 and 81 of the contact C, and the other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same components and the description thereof is omitted.

  Hereinafter, the contacts C1 to C13 which are features of the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described. Similarly to the first embodiment, the contacts C1 to C13 in the present embodiment are individually brought into contact with a plurality of pads P1 to P13 provided on the high-speed memory card MC2, and the high-speed memory card MC2 is contacted by the contact block 4. Are held at positions corresponding to the pads P1 to P13. In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the contacts C10 to C13 are positioned above the contacts C3 and C6 so that the contacts C10 and C11 and the contact C3, and the contacts C12 and C13 and the contact C6 do not contact each other. ing. In addition, since the contacts C1 to C9 in the present embodiment are the same as the contacts C1 to C9 in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Since the contacts C10 to C13 in the present embodiment are different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the contact terminal 81, only the contact terminal 81 will be described. Since the contact C10 and the contact C12 have the same shape, and the contact C11 and the contact C13 have the same shape and are symmetrical with the contact C10, only the contact C10 will be described as a representative. Further, in FIG. 11, the pads P3 and P10 are simplified for easy understanding.

  The contact terminal 81 in the present embodiment has a long spring piece 81 a whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction of the socket body 3. On the front end (rear end) of the spring piece 81a, a riding-up portion 81c similar to that of the first embodiment is formed continuously and integrally. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a rectangular notch 81e is formed on the side edge (left edge) of the middle part of the spring piece 81a. A long contact pressure spring portion 81f extends continuously and integrally from the inner surface of the notch 81e on the rear end side toward the front side and obliquely downward. A contact portion 81b is formed continuously and integrally at the front end portion (front end portion) of the contact pressure spring portion 81f. That is, the contact portion 81b is continuously and integrally connected to the spring piece 81a by the contact pressure spring portion 81f. Similarly to the contact portion 80b of the contacts C1 to C9, the contact portion 81b is formed in an arc shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction (in the plane of FIG. 11A) is convex downward. . As described above, the contact terminal 81 in the present embodiment is formed of an elastic metal material, and includes the spring piece 81a, the contact portion 81b, the riding-up portion 81c, and the contact pressure spring portion 81f that are continuously integrated. Yes.

  The ride-up portion 81c in the present embodiment also has the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 and the pad P3 in the pad space 110 when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted (see FIGS. 11A and 11B). When the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted (see FIGS. 11C and 11D), the contact portion 81b comes into contact with the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110a and the pad space 110 is contacted. The contact C10 is provided closer to the tip of the contact C10 than the contact portion 81b so that the contact C10 can be deformed so as to be separated from the inner pad P3. As in the first embodiment, the riding-up portion 81c in the present embodiment is formed in a square shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction is convex downward. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, when the surface facing the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 in the riding portion 81c contacts the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, the riding portion 81c. Becomes easy to move to the upper surface side of the card body 100 along the inner surface 110 a of the pad space 110.

  The memory card socket of the present embodiment is configured as described above, and the state of each contact C1 to C13 when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted in the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. To do.

  When the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, the contact portion C10 is not deformed as described above because the riding-up portion 81c does not hit the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 as shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b). Therefore, the contact part 81b contacts the pad P10, and the pad P10 and the contact C10 are electrically connected. Further, since the riding portion 81c of the contact 10 does not contact (contact) the pad P3, the contacts C10 and C11 are not short-circuited via the pad P3. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13, and the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9. Is electrically connected.

  On the other hand, when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted, the riding portion 81c hits the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 as shown in FIGS. 11 (c) and 11 (d). The card body 100 is moved upward so as to ride on the rear end side. As a result, the contact C10 is deformed so that the contact portion 81b is separated from the pad P3. As a result, the pad P3 and the contact C10 are electrically insulated. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13. Further, the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9 are electrically connected.

  Therefore, also in the memory card socket of this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it can be shared by a plurality of types of memory cards MC1 and MC2, and the contact state between the contact C and the pad P when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted. Can be brought into a state suitable for exhibiting the performance of various memory cards MC1 and MC2.

  Further, in the contacts C10 to C13 in the present embodiment, the contact portion 81b is brought into contact with the pads P10 to P13 by the elastic force of the two members of the spring piece 81a and the contact pressure spring portion 81f. The contact pressure can be easily set. Moreover, compared with what was suspended from the side edge part of the spring piece 81a like Embodiment 1, 2, the contact area of the contact part 81b and the pad P can be increased, and contact stability is improved. Can do.

(Embodiment 4)
As shown in FIGS. 12 to 13, the memory card socket according to the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the shape of the contact terminals 80 and 81 of the contact C, and the other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same components and the description thereof is omitted.

  Hereinafter, the contacts C1 to C13 which are features of the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described. Similarly to the first embodiment, the contacts C1 to C13 in the present embodiment are individually brought into contact with a plurality of pads P1 to P13 provided on the high-speed memory card MC2, and the high-speed memory card MC2 is contacted by the contact block 4. Are held at positions corresponding to the pads P1 to P13. In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the contacts C10 to C13 are positioned above the contacts C3 and C6 so that the contacts C10 and C11 and the contact C3, and the contacts C12 and C13 and the contact C6 do not contact each other. ing. In addition, since the contacts C1 to C9 in the present embodiment have the same shape as the contacts C1 to C9 of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Since the contacts C10 to C13 in the present embodiment are different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the contact terminal 81, only the contact terminal 81 will be described. Since the contact C10 and the contact C12 have the same shape, and the contact C11 and the contact C13 have the same shape and are symmetrical with the contact C10, only the contact C10 will be described as a representative. In FIG. 13, the pads P3 and P10 are simplified for easy understanding.

  The contact terminal 81 in the present embodiment has a long spring piece 81 a whose longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction of the socket body 3. A contact portion 81b is provided at the front end (rear end) of the spring piece 81a. The contact portion 81b is formed in an arc shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction (in the plane of FIG. 13A) is convex downward. In addition, a ride-up portion 81c is provided at the tip of the contact portion 81b. Here, the spring piece 81a and the contact portion 81b are bent from a plate material made of a metal material having elasticity and are continuously integrated. However, the ride-up portion 81c is made of an insulating material (resin material). It is formed and is provided at the front end portion (rear end portion) of the contact portion 81b by simultaneous molding or integral molding.

  The riding-up portion 81c in this embodiment also does not contact the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 when the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted (see FIG. 13A), and the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted. In some cases (see FIG. 13B), the contact C10 can be deformed such that the contact portion 81b is in contact with the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110a and is separated from the pad P3 in the pad space 110. In addition, the contact portion 81b is provided closer to the distal end side of the contact C10.

  The front end portion (rear end portion) of the riding-up portion 81c is formed in a substantially square shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the left-right direction protrudes downward. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, when the surface facing the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 in the riding portion 81c contacts the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, the riding portion 81c. Becomes easy to move to the upper surface side of the card body 100 along the inner surface 110 a of the pad space 110.

  The memory card socket of the present embodiment is configured as described above, and the state of the contacts C1 to C13 when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are attached to the memory card socket of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. To do.

  When the high-speed memory card MC2 is mounted, as shown in FIG. 13A, the riding-up portion 81c does not hit the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110, so the contact C10 is not deformed as described above. Therefore, the contact part 81b contacts the pad P10, and the pad P10 and the contact C10 are electrically connected. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13, and the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9. Is electrically connected.

  On the other hand, when the conventional memory card MC1 is mounted, as shown in FIGS. 13 (c) and 13 (d), the riding portion 81c hits the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110. The card body 100 is moved upward so as to ride on the rear end side. As a result, the contact C10 is deformed so that the contact portion 81b is separated from the pad P3. As a result, the pad P3 and the contact C10 are electrically insulated. This also applies to the contacts C11 to C13. Further, the contact portions 80 of the contacts C1 to C9 without the riding-up portion 81c come into contact with the corresponding pads P1 to P9, respectively, and the pads P1 to P9 and the contacts C1 to C9 are electrically connected.

  Therefore, also in the memory card socket of this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, it can be shared by a plurality of types of memory cards MC1 and MC2, and the contact state between the contact C and the pad P when the memory cards MC1 and MC2 are mounted. Can be brought into a state suitable for exhibiting the performance of various memory cards MC1 and MC2.

  Further, in the contacts C10 to C13 in the present embodiment, since the riding-up portion 81c is made of an insulating material, the metal portions in the contacts C10 to C13 can be reduced as compared with the case of being made of a metal material. Noise performance can be improved and high frequency characteristics can be improved. Further, even when the riding-up portion 81c contacts the pad P, the contact portion 81b and the pad P are not electrically connected via the riding-up portion 81c. For example, in the pad space 110 where the pads P3, P10, and P11 are exposed, even if the riding portion 81c of the contacts C10 and C11 contacts the pad P3, the contacts C10 and C11 do not conduct. That is, it is possible to prevent the alternate contact C from being short-circuited by the riding-up portion 81c coming into contact with the common contact pad P. Further, when the contact portion 81b of the alternative contact C contacts the alternative pad P, it is not necessary to set the shape of the contact terminal 81 so that the riding portion 81c does not contact the common pad P. Design of C becomes easy.

  By the way, in the memory card socket of the present embodiment, a plurality of alternative contacts C (for example, C10, C11) respectively corresponding to a plurality of alternative pads P (for example, P10, P11) exposed in the same pad space 110. ) The leading end portions (rear end portions) of the respective riding-up portions 81c are connected to each other by the connecting portion 82. The connecting portion 82 is made of the same insulating material as the riding portion 81c and is formed integrally with the riding portion 81c. Moreover, the connection part 82 is formed so that the cross-sectional shape in the surface orthogonal to the left-right direction becomes the same shape as the front-end | tip part of the riding-up part 81c. Therefore, in the plane orthogonal to the left-right direction, the surface of the riding part 81c and the surface of the connecting part 82 are located at the same position (that is, the timing at which the riding part 81c hits the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110). The timing at which the connecting portion 82 hits the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 is the same).

  By doing so, the area (contact area) of the contact portion between the contact C10 and C11 and the inner surface 110a of the pad space 110 can be increased, and a stable operation can be performed. Further, by connecting the riding-up portion 81c to each other, the contacts C10 and C11 are deformed at the same timing. Therefore, the timing at which the contact portion 81b of the contact C10 is separated from the timing at which the contact portion 81b of the contact C11 is separated can be aligned. In addition, even when the riding portion 81c of one alternative contact C (for example, C11) does not work well due to a dimensional error or the like, the one alternative contact C (for example) by the riding portion 81c of another alternative contact C (for example, C10). For example, the contact portion 81b of C11) can be separated from the common pad P (for example, P3).

  By the way, in the first to fourth embodiments, an example in which the technical idea of the present invention is applied to a memory card socket that is compatible with both a conventional SD memory card MC1 and a high-speed memory card MC2 is shown. Yes. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the first to third embodiments, and may be applied to, for example, a memory card socket that can be used for a memory card other than a conventional or high-speed SD memory card. The number of types of memory cards that can be handled is not limited to two, but more than that. Moreover, the structure of the socket main body 3 etc. in the said Embodiment 1-4 can be changed in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.

1 shows a memory card socket of Embodiment 1, wherein (a) is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a state holding a high-speed SD memory card is omitted, and (b) is a front view in which a part of the same is omitted. (c) is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a state in which a conventional SD memory card is held is omitted, and (d) is a front view in which a part of the same is omitted. FIG. 3 is a plan view in which a part of a state in which a high-speed SD memory card is held in the memory card socket of Embodiment 1 is omitted. It is a top view of the contact in the same as the above. It is an external appearance perspective view of a memory card socket same as the above. (A) is a plan view of a high-speed SD memory card, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. (A), (c) is a plan view of a conventional SD memory card, (d) These are the BB arrow sectional drawing of the figure (c). FIG. 10 is a plan view in which a part of a state in which a high-speed SD memory card is held in the memory card socket of Embodiment 2 is omitted. It is a top view of the contact in the same as the above. The memory card socket same as the above is shown, (a) is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a state holding a high-speed SD memory card is omitted, (b) is a front view in which a part of the same is omitted, (c). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a state in which a conventional SD memory card is held is omitted, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a plan view in which a part of a state in which a high-speed SD memory card is held in the memory card socket of Embodiment 3 is omitted. It is a top view of the contact in the same as the above. The memory card socket same as the above is shown, (a) is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a state holding a high-speed SD memory card is omitted, (b) is a front view in which a part of the same is omitted, (c). FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in which a part of a state in which a conventional SD memory card is held is omitted, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a plan view in which a part of a state in which a high-speed SD memory card is held in the memory card socket of Embodiment 4 is omitted. The memory card socket same as the above is shown, (a) is a cross-sectional view omitting a part of the state holding the high-speed SD memory card, and (b) is the state holding the conventional SD memory card. It is sectional drawing which abbreviate | omitted one part. 1 shows a conventional SD memory card, where (a) is a plan view seen from the back side, (b) is a left side view, and (c) is a right side view. 2 shows a high-speed SD memory card, where (a) is a plan view seen from the back side, (b) is a plan view seen from the front side, and (c) is a side view seen from the card insertion direction.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Socket main body 3a Card insertion slot 81b Contact part 81c Riding part 100 Card body 110 Pad space 110a Inner surface C (C1-C13) Contact P (P1-P13) Pad (contact pad)
MC1 SD memory card (conventional memory card)
MC2 SD memory card (high-speed memory card)

Claims (5)

A card that has a plurality of contact pads on one side in the thickness direction of a rectangular plate-shaped card body in which a rewritable nonvolatile memory element is built, and that can insert and remove a plurality of types of memory cards classified by the arrangement of the contact pads. A memory card socket having an insertion slot and having a socket body that holds a memory card inserted from the card insertion slot, and a plurality of contacts that are in contact with a plurality of contact pads of the memory card held in the socket body There,
At the end of the card body on the side in the insertion direction to the memory card socket, there is a pad space where a contact pad is exposed on the surface facing the one side and a contact is inserted from the insertion direction side. Provided,
The plurality of contact pads include a common contact pad of all of the plurality of types of memory cards and an alternative contact that is arranged in a line with the common contact pad in the insertion direction and is used in place of the common contact pad. There is a pad,
In the memory card having the alternative contact pad, the length of the pad space in the direction along the insertion direction is relatively longer than that of the memory card having no alternative contact pad,
The plurality of contacts include a common contact that is in contact with the common contact pad and an alternative contact that is in contact with the alternative contact pad.
The alternative contact has a contact portion to be in contact with the alternative contact pad, and a riding portion,
The riding section does not abut against the inner surface facing the insertion direction in the pad space when a memory card having an alternative contact pad is mounted, and the pad space is not used when a memory card without an alternative contact pad is mounted. The contact portion is positioned on the distal end side of the alternative contact with respect to the contact portion so as to deform the alternative contact so that the contact portion abuts on the inner surface of the place and is separated from the common contact pad in the pad space. Memory card socket featuring.   2. The memory card socket according to claim 1, wherein the alternative contact is formed by integrally forming the contact portion and the ride-up portion with a metal material.   3. The memory card socket according to claim 2, wherein at least the riding-up portion is formed by bending a long metal plate so that a cross-sectional shape in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal direction is L-shaped.   2. The memory card socket according to claim 1, wherein the ride-up portion is made of an insulating material.   5. The memory card socket according to claim 4, wherein the riding-up portions of the plurality of alternative contacts corresponding to the plurality of alternative contact pads exposed in the pad space are connected to each other. .

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