JP2577031Y2 - Connector device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector device which can use both a memory card and a hard disk drive package as a data storage device to be connected to, for example, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent developments in personal computers have produced what is known as laptop computers and is substantially portable and consumes little power. A further advance of this laptop computer is the so-called notebook computer.

[0003]

In such computer devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, and notebook computers, while miniaturization is promoted, it is desired to increase the data storage capacity at low cost. It is rare. In order to increase the processing speed of data storage and increase the capacity, it is desirable to use a memory card or a hard disk rather than a floppy disk as a data storage medium. Here, the memory card is detachable from the computer device,
It has the advantage of being portable.

On the other hand, a hard disk drive (HDD) package incorporating a hard disk is becoming thinner and more portable, but is relatively expensive. Therefore, each computer device has an HD
Integrating the D-package increases the cost of the computing device.

Further, if the computer device and the HDD package are integrated, the OS (Operating Sys
tem) can be activated, so that data stored on the hard disk may be stolen or misused.

[0006] Accordingly, by making the HDD package detachable from a computer device like a memory card, one HDD package can be used interchangeably with a plurality of computer devices, and the HDD package can be used in a computer device. It is required to be kept separate or portable from the device. In addition, making the HDD detachable from the computer device in this way requires:
Since the specifications of the hard disk differ depending on the OS, it is preferable to provide the end user with selectivity of the OS.

The present invention provides a connector device which can be used both as a memory card and an HDD package and which can be removably accommodated for the purpose of satisfying such a demand.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a connector device according to the present invention comprises a housing,
The internal space of the housing includes a plurality of divided storage spaces divided along the height direction, and the divided storage spaces further include at least two first storage spaces for storing one memory card per one storage space. One divided storage space, and at least one second divided storage space in which one hard disk drive package is to be stored and held.

A connector body connected to one end of the housing, the connector body being a first connection to be mechanically and electrically connected to a memory card stored in the first divided storage space; A member and a second connection member to be mechanically and electrically connected to the hard disk drive package stored in the second divided storage space, wherein each of the first and second divided storage spaces And a plurality of connection / disconnection mechanisms provided on the housing so as to be operable independently of each other. Each of the connection / disconnection mechanisms includes a lever to protrude to the side of the housing, and operation of the lever, Connection / disconnection means for mechanically and electrically connecting and disconnecting the connection member and the data storage device in the divided storage space corresponding to the lever; And wherein the Rukoto. According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one second divided storage space includes at least one first divided storage space.
Alternatively, at least one first divided storage space and at least one second divided storage space may exist independently of each other.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the connector is mounted inside a casing of the electronic device, and the casing has a window portion and a door for allowing a lever of the connection / disconnection mechanism to project outside.

[0011]

According to the connector device of the present invention, since the housing has the first divided storage space for the memory card and the second divided storage space for the HDD package, the memory card and the HDD are used as data storage devices. Package and can be used selectively. The data storage device accommodated in the divided accommodation space is detachable from the connector body by operating a connection / disconnection mechanism by operating a lever.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following drawings, the width direction of the connector device and the data storage device is the X direction, the length direction is the Y direction,
The thickness direction is defined as the Z direction. In FIG. 1, the connector device 1 of the present invention includes a housing 12 and a connector body 14 connected to one end in a longitudinal direction thereof.
The housing 12 and the connector body 14 are formed of an insulating material, for example, plastic.

The housing 12 and the connector body 1
4 has a suitable mounting member 10 having a screw hole 10a.
Is provided. The connector device 10 is mounted on an electronic device to be mounted by the mounting member 10 and the screw.

The housing 12 has a pair of side walls 16 defining both side surfaces thereof, and upper and lower housing plates 18 and 20 defining upper and lower surfaces thereof. Housing 1
The other end of 2 has an insertion port 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the internal space of the housing 12 communicating with the insertion opening 22 is divided into first and second decks 24 and 26 along the Z direction. Each of the first and second decks 24, 26 can store one memory card, and the first and second decks 24, 26
A single HDD package can be accommodated in the internal space of the housing 12 formed by combining the two.

Therefore, the connector device 1 can be applied in three ways: two memory cards (application example A), one HDD package (application example B), and one memory card (application example C). It is.

The connector body 14 has three sets of conductive metal pin contacts in the Z direction. That is, the upper pin contact group 36 whose one end 36a is to be fitted to the I / O connector of the memory card in the first deck 24,
A middle pin contact group 38 to which one end 38a is to be fitted to an I / O connector of a memory card in the deck 26;
It has a lower pin contact group 40 to which one end 40a is fitted to the I / O connector of the HDD package. The other ends 36b, 38 of these pin contact groups 36, 38, 40
b and 40b are connected to an appropriate circuit board (not shown) such as an interface board.

Each of the two memory cards 3 shown as application example A in FIG. 3 basically has a random access memory (RAM) incorporated in a card-like device.
The memory card 3 is typically a non-volatile RAM, and can be pulled out of the connector device 1 once data is loaded into the computer system. On the front surface 3a of the memory card 3, an I / O connector (not shown) to which the pin contact groups 36 and 38 of the connector device 1 are fitted is provided. This memory card 3
Is, for example, 54 mm. Application example C is a case where only one memory card 3 is used.

An HDD package 4 shown as an application example B in FIG. 3 is a thin package comprising a thin HDD, for example, a thin housing 41 containing a 1.8-inch disk drive, and a base plate 43 on which the housing 41 is installed. It is. An I / O connector (not shown) to which the lower pin contact group 40 of the connector device 1 is fitted is provided on the front surface 43a of the base plate 43.

The base plate 43 of the HDD package 4
Is, for example, a maximum length of 85 mm × a maximum width of 54 mm × a maximum height of 3 mm. The width of the housing 41 is 50.8.
mm, and the length from the front edge of the base plate 43 to the front edge of the housing 41 is 6 mm. Such an HDD package 4 can be used in the same manner as the memory card 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the first deck 2
On the inner surface of the housing side wall 16 corresponding to the upper portion of the housing 4 and the upper portion of the second deck 26, a slot 28 for allowing the memory card 3 to enter and exit the housing 12 is formed along the Y direction.

On the inner surface of the housing side wall 16 corresponding to the lower portion of the first deck 24 and the lower portion of the second deck 26, a slot 30 for allowing the memory card 3 to enter and exit the housing 12 is provided along the Y direction. Is formed.

The width W _{1 in} the X direction between the memory card slots 28 is the width of the memory card 3 (54 mm).
X-direction width W ₂ between DD slot 30 is the width of the HDD housing 41 (50.8 mm).

As described above, the width W ₁ of the memory card 3 and the slot 28 is different from that of the HDD housing 41 and the slot 3.
The larger design than the width W ₂ of 0, erroneous insertion into the HDD slot 30 of the memory card 3 is prevented.

Further, the housing 12 includes a first deck 24
And a lower release mechanism 50b corresponding to the second deck 26. The configuration of these upper and lower release mechanisms 50a and 50b is basically the same, and in the drawings, reference numerals indicating the components of the upper release mechanism 50a are indicated by adding the letter a to the lower release mechanism 5a.
The reference numeral indicating the component of 0b is indicated by the letter b. In the following description, the upper release mechanism 54a will be described as a representative unless otherwise specified.

As shown in FIG. 4, a lever 52a is supported on the upper housing plate 18 by a rotating shaft 54a. The free end 56a of the lever 52a protrudes toward one side wall 16 of the housing 12. The free end 56a is formed as a grip that can be easily operated by a finger. By operating the grip 56a, the lever 52a swings around the rotation shaft 54a. Also, lever 5
An arc-shaped guide groove 58a is formed at the other end of 2a along the swing direction of the lever 52a.

In particular, the slide plate 60 shown in FIG.
a indicates the connector device l when the memory card 3 is not used.
This is for pulling out the memory card 3 electrically connected to the connector body 14 from the connector body 14.

The slide plate 60a has a projection 64a projecting from the surface near the base end 62a.
The projection 64a is loosely fitted in the guide groove 58a of the lever 52a.

When the lever 52a is swung, the projection 64a of the slide plate 60a is moved to the guide groove 58 of the lever 52a.
a is pressed in the Y direction. Thus, the slide plate 60a slides on the surface of the housing plate 18 in the Y direction. During the sliding, an arm 70a described later of the slide plate 60a and a notch 68a described later of the housing plate 18 serve as a slide guide, and the movement of the slide plate 60a in the X direction is restricted.

Each of the slide plates 60a has an arm 7 on each side end thereof toward the connector body 14 side.
0a is extended. Each of the arms 70a has a bent portion 72a. This bent portion 72a
The slide plate 6 is protruded toward the inner surface of the housing plate 18 through cutouts 68a formed at both ends of the housing plate 18 on the connector body 14 side.
There is a level difference with respect to 0a. Further, the arm 70a
Of the bent portion 72a are bent to form hooks 74a to be engaged with the front surface 3a of the memory card 3.

Slide plate 6 of lower release mechanism 50b
0b is a slide plate 60a of the upper release mechanism 50a.
It is almost the same as However, as shown in FIG. 5, the length L ₁ in the Z direction of the hook 74a of the upper slide plate 60a is, while a length corresponding to the discharge of only the memory card 3 in the first deck 24, lower Z-direction length L ₂ of the hook 74b of the slide plate 60b is, HD
The length is such that it can cope with ejection of both the D package 4 and the memory card 3 in the second deck 26. FIG.
For example, the connector device 1 attached to the notebook computer 80 is shown. Casing 82 of computer 80
Has an opening 86 opened and closed by a slide door 84 on the side surface thereof. The connector device 1 is mounted on the casing 8 with the insertion opening 22 almost in contact with the inner surface of the slide door 84.
2 mounted inside.

By opening the slide door 84,
Lever 52 of release mechanism 50a, 50b of connector device 1
The grip 56a of a can protrude from the casing 82. By operating the grip 56a from outside the casing 82, the memory card 3 and / or the HDD package 4 can be electrically connected to and disconnected from the computer 80.

As shown in FIG. 1, a spring 76a for contacting the lever 52a may be provided on the housing plate 18. The spring 76a always applies a force to rotate the lever 52a toward the housing insertion port 22. Therefore, when the slide door 84 is closed, the grip 56a of the lever 52a is pressed against the inner surface of the slide door 84. Then, when the slide door 84 is released,
The grip 56a automatically projects from the casing 82. The operation of the connector device 1 mounted on the computer 80 will be described.

When the memory card 3 is connected to and disconnected from the computer 80 using the connector device 1, the upper release mechanism 50a and / or the lower release mechanism 50a are used.
b is used.

For example, in order to insert one memory card 3 into the computer 80, the memory card 3 is inserted into the slot 28 of the first deck 24 through the housing insertion slot 22.
To fit the memory card I / O connector and the upper pin contact group 36 of the connector body 14. Thus, the computer 80 and the memory card 3 are connected. At this time, the grip 56 of the lever 52a
a is in a state of protruding toward the housing insertion port 22 side.

Next, when releasing the mounting of the memory card 3, the grip 56a of the lever 52a is pressed in a direction against the spring 76a, so that the lever 52a is
6a. Then, the engagement of the guide groove 58a of the lever 52a with the slide plate projection 64a causes the slide plate 60a to move the housing plate 18
Move to the housing insertion port 22 side along the surface of. Accordingly, the engagement between the memory card 3 and the pin contact group 36 is released by the hook 74a, and the memory card 3 is pulled out from the connector body 14.

Alternatively, when one memory card 3 is inserted into the second deck 26 and fitted into the middle-stage pin contact group 38, the memory card 3 is removed by the lower release mechanism 50b in the same manner as described above. Can be disconnected.

Further, since the upper release mechanism 50a and the lower release mechanism 50b can be operated independently of each other, when two memory cards 3 are stored in the connector device 1 at the same time, Thus, the two memory cards 3 can be connected and disconnected independently of each other. For example, while data is being loaded from one memory card 3 to the computer 80, the connection between the other memory card 3 and the computer 80 can be released. On the other hand, when connecting and disconnecting the HDD package 4 to and from the notebook computer 80, only the lower release mechanism 50b is used.

To mount the HDD package 4 on the notebook computer 80, the HDD package 4 is inserted into the housing 12 from the housing insertion opening 22, and the HDD I / O connector and the lower pin contact group 40 are guided by the slot 30. And are fitted. Thereby, the computer 80 and the HDD package 4 are connected. In this state, the slide plate 7 of the lower release mechanism 54b
6b is connected to the I / O of the HDD package 4 by the discharge hook 90b.
It is engaged with the O connector side end face. Then, similarly to the memory card 3, the HDD package 4 can be connected to and disconnected from the computer 80.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, the electronic device to which the connector device 1 is to be mounted is not limited to the notebook computer 80, but may be a personal computer, a laptop computer, or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the housing 1 is mounted in consideration of the attachment to the notebook computer 80.
2 was made thinner. Therefore, the number of data storage devices that can be accommodated in the connector device 1 is at most two when the memory card 3 is used, and at most one when the HDD package 4 is used. However, the thickness of the housing 12 may be further increased according to the electronic device to which the connector device 1 is to be mounted. That is, by increasing the number of decks, a larger number of memory cards 3 and / or HDD packages 4 may be accommodated. Alternatively, in addition to the deck for both the memory card 3 and the HDD package 4, a deck dedicated to the memory card 3 and / or an HDD
A dedicated deck for the package 4 may be provided.

[0042]

According to the connector device of the present invention, one connector device can be shared for the memory card and the HDD package.
The D package can also be detachably attached to an electronic device such as a computer system. Therefore, in a computer system or the like, there is no need to integrally incorporate the HDD package. As a result, the cost can be reduced and the selectivity of the OS by the end user can be increased. Further, since the HDD package can be stored separately from the computer system or the like, data stored in the hard disk drive can be protected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connector device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the connector device of FIG. 1 taken along the line II-II.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one hard drive package and two memory cards used in the connector device.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the upper release mechanism of the connector device as viewed from the upper surface side of the connector device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a slide plate of an upper and lower release mechanism of the connector device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a notebook computer on which the connector device is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector device, 3 ... Memory card, 4 ... HDD package, 12 ... Housing, 14 ... Connector body
24: first deck (first divided storage space), 26: second
(Second divided storage space), 36 ... first pin contact group (first connection member), 38 ... second pin contact group (second connection member), 40 ... third pin contact group (third connection)
, 50a, 50b ... release mechanism (connection / release mechanism), 52a, 52b ... lever, 60a, 60b ... slide plate (connection / release means).

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01R 13/629-13/637 H01R 23/00-23/68 G06K 17/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A connector device to which at least one of a memory card and a hard disk drive package is to be selectively connected as a data storage device, comprising a housing, wherein an internal space of the housing is A plurality of divided storage spaces divided along the height direction, wherein the divided storage spaces further include at least two first divided storage spaces in each of which one memory card is to be stored and held; At least one second divided storage space in which one hard disk drive package is to be stored and held, and a connector body connected to one end of the housing, wherein the connector body has a first divided storage space. A first connection member to be mechanically and electrically connected to the memory card stored in the space; A second connection member to be mechanically and electrically connected to the hard disk drive package stored in the second divided storage space, wherein the first and second divided storage spaces are independent of each other A plurality of connections / operably provided on said housing;
A release mechanism, each connection / release mechanism of which is provided with a lever to be protruded to the side of the housing, and by operating the lever, the connection member and the data storage device in the divided storage space corresponding to the lever. And connection / disconnection means for mechanically and electrically connecting and disconnecting the connector. 2. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein at least one first divided storage space and at least one second divided storage space exist independently of each other. 3. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein at least one second divided storage space includes at least one first divided storage space. 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the connector is mounted inside a casing of the electronic device, and the casing has a window portion and a door for projecting a lever of the connection / disconnection mechanism to the outside. The connector device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.