JP3192636B2 - IC card connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card information processing apparatus for reading or writing information recorded on or recorded on an information processing card such as an IC card. The present invention relates to an IC card connector used for exchanging information between a computer device and an information processing card such as an IC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 15 and 16 show an IC according to the prior art.
4 shows an example of a card insertion state in a card connector. In the conventional example shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the IC card connector has a contact structure for improving the durability in inserting and extracting the IC card. A structure that is pressed into contact with a plurality of card pads formed on the substrate is used.

FIG. 15 shows a state in which the IC card connector is being inserted while the card is being inserted, and FIG. 16 shows a state after the card is inserted. As shown in FIG. 15, in this conventional example, a pivot frame which rotates around a pivot 58 is used.
The end 52 of the pivot frame controls the vertical movement of the contact piece 54 of the IC card connector. The end 52 of the pivot frame is pushed down by an upward force of the spring 51 before the IC card is inserted.
Therefore, the connector contact piece 54 whose upward movement is restricted by the end 52 of the pivot frame is located below the insertion position on the lower surface of the IC card.

[0004] As shown in FIG.
When fully inserted into the card connector, the IC card 5
Numeral 3 pushes down the roller 55 while rotating the roller 55 against the force of the spring 51. Therefore, the end 52 of the pivot frame moves upward, and the contact piece 54, which is connected to the connector main body 59 by a cantilever structure and stores the spring force, is lifted, thereby forming an electric contact portion of the IC card. Card pad surface 5 on the bottom of the IC card
7 comes into contact with the contact piece 54.

Further, in order to prevent the IC card from being removed during information processing, it is necessary to form a locking means for the IC card by linking it to the IC card insertion mechanism. Also, I
It is necessary to provide an ejection mechanism for ejecting the C card from the IC card connector. In the IC card connector shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the lock mechanism and the eject mechanism are separately formed (not shown).

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The use of IC cards in portable information processing equipment has been increasing, and the size of stationary information processing equipment has also been reduced. It is necessary to further reduce the thickness. However, when the conventional IC card connector as described above is used, there is a limit to reducing the thickness of the IC card connector. Due to the use of the spring 51, the height of the spring limits the reduction in the thickness of the connector. Further, the connector main body 59 and the cover 60 formed of a mold resin need to have a thickness to secure mechanical strength.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has an IC card ejector capable of reducing the thickness of an IC card connector and integrally forming a lock means and an eject mechanism. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector with a connector.

[0008]

According to the present invention, an IC card is an IC card.
After being inserted into the C card connector, the IC card is slid along with a slide plate for holding the IC card to one side of the connector contact electrically connected to the information processing equipment, and then landed. It comes into contact with the piece. The IC card has a mechanism for locking the IC card to the IC card connector simultaneously with the landing.

That is, the IC card connector of the present invention comprises:
IC having a plurality of card pads on at least one surface
An IC card connector for making an electrical connection between the card and an information processing device using the IC card, comprising: a slide plate for holding the IC card into which the IC card connector is inserted; And a substrate having a plurality of connector contact pieces electrically connected to an information processing device, and the connector contact piece together with the IC card when the IC card is inserted into the slide plate. Means for sliding the plurality of card pads into contact with the corresponding plurality of connector contact pieces, and wherein the IC card and the slide plate are slid toward the connector contact pieces when the IC card is slid toward the connector contact pieces. Lock means for preventing the IC card connector from coming off. A connector for the IC card.

Further, the means for making the IC card of the present invention come into contact with the pressing means includes a cam pin formed on a side face of the slide plate, and a cam pin fixed to the substrate when the IC card is inserted into the slide plate. An IC card connector having a base plate having a cam key groove for guiding the cam pins toward the substrate, and the locking means has a card stopper formed at a rear end of the base plate. The IC card is locked by the card stopper.
This is a C card connector.

[0011] Further, the IC card connector of the present invention comprises:
IC having a plurality of card pads on at least one surface
An IC card connector for making an electrical connection between a card and an information processing device using the IC card, comprising: a cam plate having a first cam key groove formed on a side surface; and a first cam key formed on a side surface. A slide plate having a cam pin that moves along the groove, holding the inserted IC card, and sliding with the IC card; a board connected to a device on which the IC card connector is mounted;
A locking lever that rotates when the card is inserted and releases the locked state of the cam plate; and a second cam key that is fixed to the substrate and moves the cam pin on a side surface thereof in a direction perpendicular to the IC card insertion direction. A base plate having a groove formed therein, wherein the IC
When the card is inserted and the lock is released, the cam plate slides by the tensile force of the spring, and the first cam key groove formed in the cam plate and the base plate are formed by the sliding movement of the cam plate. With the predetermined arrangement of the second cam key groove and the cam pins of the slide plate, the slide plate slides toward the substrate together with the IC card, and the plurality of card pads provided on the IC card are provided. Is an IC card connector that is pressed into contact with a plurality of corresponding connector contact pieces provided on the substrate and the IC card is locked by a card stopper formed on the base plate.

Further, the IC card connector of the present invention has an eject button for pushing the cam plate forward when the IC card is ejected, and when the cam plate is pushed forward, the first button is pushed. The cam pins move in accordance with the shapes of the cam key groove and the second cam key groove, and the movement of the cam pins causes the slide plate to slide together with the IC card so as to be separated from the substrate, and the card stopper formed on the base plate And the IC card is unlocked by the
This is an IC card connector from which a card is ejected.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following detailed description and the description of the drawings, like elements are denoted by like reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a component configuration of a first embodiment of an eject connector with an IC card landing-on mechanism according to the present invention. The IC card connector according to the present embodiment has a structure in which a cam plate 4 , a slide plate 2, a base plate 7 , and a substrate 14 are sequentially stacked from the top. In this specification, the term IC card means a card incorporating at least an integrated circuit for recording and processing information, that is, an IC.

When the IC card 1 is inserted, the slide plate 2 guides and holds the inserted IC card 1 by, for example, guide portions formed on both side surfaces thereof. Since the slide plate 2 moves up and down together with the IC card 1, the slide plate 2 is inserted into a cam key groove 5 formed in the cam plate 4,
The side surface of the pin 3 that moves according to the cam key groove 5 has, for example, two pins 3 on each side.

On the cam plate 4 for moving the slide plate 2 up and down, two cam key grooves 5 for guiding the cam pins 3 of the slide plate 2 are formed on the left and right sides corresponding to the pins 3 respectively. The cam key groove 5 is used to guide the pins 3 to move the slide plate 2 downward when the IC card is inserted.

The cam plate 4 is always pulled backward by a return spring 9 hooked on a spring hook (A) 6 provided on the cam plate 4 and a spring hook (B) 8 provided on the base plate 7. I have. In this specification, the front indicates the direction in which the IC card 1 is inserted, and the rear indicates the direction in which the IC card 1 is ejected.

In order to push the cam plate 4 forward when the IC card is ejected, an eject button 10 is attached to the front side of the cam plate 4. The slide hooks 11 formed at two places on the left and right sides of the cam plate 4 are fitted into slide slits 12 formed at two places on the left and right sides of the base plate 7. For this reason, the cam plate 4 can move in the front-back direction but cannot move in the vertical direction.

The base plate 7 has a slide plate 2
Key groove 13 for constraining the vertical movement only
Is molded. The base plate 7 is fixed to the substrate 14 with screws or the like. A locking lever 15 is rotatably fixed to the base plate 7.

On the substrate 14, a connector block 20 having a plurality of contact pieces 19 is mounted. The connector block 20 makes an electrical connection between the IC card 1 and the information processing device. The base plate 7 is fixed to the board 14 on which the connector block 20 having the contact pieces 19 is mounted with screws or the like. The board 14 can be prepared on the side using the IC card connector of the present invention, in addition to being sold together with other components.

A locking lever 15 having a lock shape
Is a lever pin 16 fixed to the base plate 7.
It is attached so that it rotates with the rotation axis. The locking lever 15 rotates when the IC card 1 is inserted,
Release the lock of the cam plate 4. The rocking lever 15 always stores a rotational force in a direction to eject the IC card 1 by a torsion spring 18 hooked on a spring hook (C) 17 formed on the base plate 7.

When the IC card 1 is inserted, a plurality of card pads 21 of the IC card 1 for electrical connection with an external device and corresponding contact pieces 19 of the connector block 20 come into contact with each other with a constant contact load. The figure indicated by the reference numeral 21 in FIG. 1 indicates the position of the card pad 21, and the card pad 21 in this embodiment is formed on the lower surface of the IC card 1 in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a state where the IC card 1 is inserted into the IC card connector, and FIG. 3 shows a state where the IC card is ejected from the IC card connector. FIG.
11 show the operation process.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, the IC card 1 is inserted into the slide plate 2, and when the IC card 1 reaches a predetermined distance from the end of insertion, the leading end of the IC card 1 is inserted into the card pushing portion 22 of the locking lever 15. 23 hits. Further, by inserting the IC card 1 forward, the card pushing portion 22 of the locking lever 15 is pushed forward by the tip portion 23 of the IC card 1. Therefore, the locking lever 15 rotates about the lever pin 16 as a rotation axis against the spring force of the torsion spring 18.

When the IC card 1 is pushed further forward,
As shown in FIG. 5, the locking lever 15 reaches a predetermined rotation angle, and the locking claw 25 of the cam plate 4, which has been prevented from moving backward by the pulling force, by the locking portion 24 of the locking lever 15, becomes a locking portion 24. Released from. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, the cam plate 4 slides backward by the pulling force of the return spring 9 .

When the cam plate 4 slides rearward, the slide plate 2 in which the IC card 1 is inserted moves downward together with the IC card 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the C card 1 is inserted. FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a state after the IC card 1 is inserted. IC
When the card 1 is inserted and the cam plate 4 slides rearward, the cam pins 3 of the slide plate 2 move downward by the oblique cam key grooves 5 of the cam plate 4 due to the slide of the cam plate 4. Moreover, since the cam pins 3 are restricted from moving in the front-rear direction by the elongated cam key grooves 13 in the vertical direction of the base plate 7, the slide plate 2 cannot move rearward but only moves downward.

FIG. 9 shows the positional relationship between the lower surface of the IC card 1 on which the plurality of card pads 26 are formed and the connector contact piece 19 while the IC card 1 is being inserted. And IC in FIG.
This shows the positional relationship between the lower surface of the IC card 1 on which the card pad 26 is formed and the connector contact piece 19 when the card 1 is completely inserted and the cam plate 4 slides backward and the IC card moves downward. The card pad 26 of the IC card 1 moved together with the slide plate 2
Contacts the connector contact piece 19 attached to the connector.

Therefore, the contact piece 19 and the card pad 2
6 come into contact without rubbing. However, in order to obtain stable contact performance in the contact between the two, it is necessary to clean the contacts by slightly sliding, that is, wiping. The function is realized by the structure of the IC card connector attached to the substrate. The contact piece 19 is attached to the connector block 20 in the form of a cantilever.
When the card pad 26 of the IC card 1 descends, it is pushed downward by the card pad 26, and the top 44 of the contact piece 19 is pressed.
And the inclination of the top 44 is reduced, so that the top 44 is slightly moved horizontally and wiping is performed.

FIG. 11 shows a state in which the IC card 1 is moved downward after the insertion of the IC card 1 and the IC card 1 is locked by the card stopper 27 which is a means for locking the IC card 1 formed on the base plate 7. At this time I
The position of the C card 1 has moved below the position at the time of insertion due to landing. For this reason, the base plate 7
IC card 1 by card stopper 27 provided in
Is locked to prevent backward discharge.

When the IC card 1 is to be ejected,
Eject button 10 attached to cam plate 4
To move the cam plate 4 forward. The cam pins 3 move upward along the cam key grooves 5 provided in the cam plate 4, so that the slide plate 2 moves upward in parallel with the IC card 1. That is, the state shown in FIG. 8 is reversed. When the cam plate 4 is completely pushed in, the locking claw 25 provided in front of the cam plate 4 enters the locking lever lock portion 24, and the locking lever 15 is moved
The cam plate 4 is rotated by the spring force of 8, and is locked at the pushed position.

When the slide plate 2 and the IC card 1 move upward, the IC card 1 locked by the card stopper 27 provided behind the base plate 7
Is unlocked. And the locking lever 15
The locking lever 15 is rotated by the torsion spring 18 provided on the IC card 1 to push the IC card 1 backward, and the IC card 1 is ejected.

FIG. 12 shows a component configuration of a connector with an IC card landing-on mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The purpose is the same as that of the IC card connector of the first embodiment.
The card moves downward together with the slide plate in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, and presses and contacts a connector contact piece provided on the board, that is, a landing. The IC card connector has a mechanism for locking the card by landing.

As shown in FIG. 12, the second embodiment has a structure in which a slide plate 31, a base plate 34, and a substrate 43 are sequentially stacked from the top. Slide plate 31 according to second embodiment
As in the case of the first embodiment, a pin 32 for moving the slide plate 31 up and down is provided on the side surface. However, the slide plate 1 of the second embodiment
Numeral 3 not only moves up and down as in the first embodiment, but also slides back and forth together with the IC card 33.

The base plate 34 is formed with cam key grooves 35 and 36 for moving the slide plate 31 back and forth and up and down, and has components corresponding to the cam plate 4 of the first embodiment. do not do.

On the other hand, another component is a return spring 37 for ejecting the IC card 33. I
And a bezel 38 for a C card insertion slot. In the second embodiment, this bezel 38 is
By having means (not shown) for raising the rear end of the C card 33 by about 2 mm, the card stopper 4
1 to release the rear end of the IC card 33 and discharge the IC card 33 backward.

Next, an operation outline of the second embodiment will be described. The IC card 33 is inserted into the slide plate 31 and a stopper 39 provided in front of the slide plate 31.
, The slide plate 31 becomes the base plate 3
4 moves forward together with the IC card 33 while applying a reaction force to a return spring 37 provided in front of the IC card 33. In this case, the pin 32 moves according to the shape of the cam key grooves 35 and 36 provided in the base plate 34. The front of the slide plate 31 moves horizontally along the cam key groove 35, and then moves obliquely downward (substrate side) while further tilting the slide plate 31 to land.

On the other hand, the rear portion of the slide plate 31
The spring 40 provided on the slide plate 31 constantly pushes the base plate 31 downward. After the IC card 33 is inserted, the rear portion of the slide plate 31 moves horizontally according to the shape of the cam key groove 36 of the base plate 34, and then moves further downward to land.

The difference between the front and rear movements of the slide plate 31 is due to the difference in the shape of the cam key grooves 36 and 35 formed in the base plate 34. The IC card 33
Is locked by the card stopper 41 provided on the base plate 34 by the downward movement of the IC card 33 as in the first embodiment.

The ejection of the IC card 33 can be performed by lifting the rear portion of the slide plate 31 upward and lifting the IC card 33 above the card stopper 41. That is, the slide plate 3 locked in the cam key groove 36 of the base plate 34
By moving one pin 32 upward, the pin 32 is released from the stopped state and can be moved in the horizontal direction. Then, the slide plate 32 is moved backward together with the IC card 33 by the front return spring 37.

[0040] In the second embodiment, the bottom of the bezel 3 8 are cam shaped for lifting the slide plate 31 upward (not shown), the slide plate 31 by pushing the bezel 38 upwards Is lifted up, released from the card stopper 41, and discharged backward.
The operation of lifting the slide plate 31 can be performed, for example, by providing an eject button or the like (not shown).

The second embodiment has a smaller number of parts and a simple structure as compared with the first embodiment. In addition, similarly to the first embodiment, the object of moving the IC card to the connector block attached to the substrate and landing without friction can be achieved.

In the description of the first and second embodiments, the case where the connector is arranged in the horizontal direction and the IC card moves downward together with the slide plate to come into contact with the connector block has been described. .
However, the present invention is not limited to such an arrangement. For example, a slide plate, a base plate, a substrate, and the like may be arranged upside down with respect to each of the above-described embodiments, respectively.
It is also possible to move the C card upward to make contact with the connector block. Also, for example, the direction rotated by 90 °, that is, the slide plate, the base plate, the substrate, etc., are respectively arranged vertically, the IC card is inserted vertically into the slide plate, and the IC card is moved in the horizontal direction together with the slide plate to form the connector block. It is also possible to make contact. Further, it is also possible to arrange the whole obliquely with respect to the horizontal plane.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it is apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the technical scope of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the contact piece 19 of the connector block 20 and the IC card pad 2
6 can be contacted without rubbing. In order to obtain stable contact performance in such a contact, a slight sliding, that is, wiping is required, and the contact is cleaned.
The function for this is realized by the structure of the IC card connector attached to the substrate.

Further, the structure of the present invention can be formed integrally with the ejecting mechanism, and the ejecting operation is performed by the same parts as the landing operation, so that the number of parts can be reduced. In addition, most parts can be formed of a metal material, and can be made thinner than the conventional example.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a component configuration of a first embodiment of an eject connector with an IC card landing-on mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an IC card inserted state in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an ejected state of the IC card according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which an IC card is inserted and a tip end of the IC card hits a card pushing portion of a locking lever.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state where an IC card is further inserted and a locking lever has reached a certain rotation angle.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which the IC card is completely inserted, the locking of the locking lever is released, and the cam plate slides rearward.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the slide plate and the IC card move downward while the IC card is being inserted.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the IC card is completely inserted and the slide plate and the IC card have moved downward.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a card pad and a connector contact piece before the slide plate and the IC card move downward while the IC card is being inserted.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a card pad and a connector contact piece when the IC card is completely inserted and the IC card moves downward.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a state in which the IC card is moved downward after the insertion of the IC card and the IC card is locked by the card pad.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a component configuration of a second embodiment of an eject connector with an IC card landing-on mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an inserted state of an IC card according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an IC card ejection state according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a conventional IC card connector is being inserted into a card.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing a state after a card is inserted into an IC card connector according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 33 ... IC card 2, 31 ... Slide plate 3 ... Cam pin 4 ... Cam plate 5, 13 ... Cam key groove 6 ... Spring hook (A) 7, 34 ... Base plate 8 ... Spring hook (B) 9 ... Return spring 10 ... Eject button 11 ... Slide hook 12 ... Slide slit 14, 43 ... Board 15 ... Locking lever 16 ... Lever pin 17 ... Spring hook 18 ... Torsion spring 19 ... Contact piece 20, 42 ... Connector block 21 ... Card pad 22 ... Card pressing part 23 … Card tip part 24… lock part 25… lock claw 26… card pad 27… card stopper 32… pin 35, 36… cam key groove 37… return spring 38… bezel 39… stopper 4 ... Spring 41 ... card stopper 44 ... top 51 ... spring 52 ... end 53 ... IC card of the pivot frame 54 ... connector contact piece 55 ... Roller 56 ... cover 57 ... card pad surface 58 ... pivot 59 ... main body 60 ... cover

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-116989 (JP, A) JP-A-10-222625 (JP, A) Jiko 3-9267 (JP, Y2) Jiko 6-31556 (JP) , Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06K 17/00 H01R 12/18

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. Formed on at least one surface of an IC card
Be connected to a plurality of contact pieces formed in to a plurality of information processing apparatuses cards pad and electrically contacts <br/> connection surface of the substrate
A connector because IC card has a cam pin on its side, is inserted into the connector
A slide that holds an IC card and slides with the IC card
Obliquely toward the rear to guide the cam pin on the side of the id plate
A cam plate having a first cam key groove having an upwardly extending portion; a locking lever that rotates when the IC card is inserted to release a locked state of the cam plate; and is fixed to the substrate. Guide the cam pin to the side
That to the insertion direction of the IC card and a base plate second Kamuki groove is formed extending in the vertical direction, wherein said mosquitoes by Rukoto the IC card is inserted
When the locked state of the cam plate is released ,
The plate is pre-biased attached to the base plate
The first cam key groove formed in the cam plate is also moved rearward by the rearward slide movement of the cam plate by being urged by the spring .
And move only vertically by the second cam key groove.
The slide plate is Kamupi being rotatably guided
Move obliquely downward in the first cam key groove.
Accordingly, scan <br/> to slide downwardly toward said substrate with said IC card, press contacting said plurality of card pads provided on the IC card to the plurality of connectors contact piece corresponding provided on the substrate And the IC card is inserted into the IC card by a card stopper formed on the base plate.
An IC card connector which is locked so as not to be ejected from a C card connector. 2. An eject button for pushing the cam plate forward when the IC card is ejected, and the first cam key groove also moves forward by pushing the cam plate forward by the eject button.
Therefore, it is restricted to be movable only in the vertical direction
The slide plate has a cam pin which is the first cam key.
Slide upwards so as to be separated from the substrate together with the IC card by moving within the groove obliquely upward, the lock of the IC card by the card stopper formed on the base plate is released, rotation of the locking lever The IC card connector according to claim 1 , wherein the IC card is ejected by force. 3. The vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein said base plate is
When the pad is connected to the contact piece, the IC card
To prevent the board from slipping out of the base plate.
2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising locking means.
Connector for C card. 4. The locking means according to claim 1, wherein
A card stopper formed at a rear end of the car;
That the IC card is locked by the
The IC card connector according to claim 3, wherein 5. A plurality of cars formed on an IC card surface
Of the board electrically connected to the information processing equipment
IC car for connecting to a plurality of contact pieces formed on the surface
A first guide pin located on the front side and a rear guide located on the rear side.
A second guide pin for connecting to the IC card connector.
Slide plate for holding the inserted IC card
And the IC card and the IC card attached to the surface of the substrate.
Guide the slide plate to the electrical connection position with the board
Base plate, and the base plate here
The front of which is located at the front side of the
A first cam key groove and the second plan located at the rear side of the cam key groove.
A second cam keyway into which an inner pin is fitted, and wherein the slide plate is always lowered toward the substrate.
Means for depressing the first cam key groove through the first guide pin.
Guide the front part of the slide plate horizontally first and then
And the second cam key groove is obliquely guided downward.
A rear portion of the slide plate via a second guide pin
To guide the minutes first horizontally and then vertically downward
Formed so that the card pad is in front of the substrate surface by such a guide.
A contact for an IC card, which is brought into contact with the contact piece.
Nectar.