JP3236753B2 - Card holding device in 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 a card holding device for a card connector, and more particularly to a base provided with contacts.
The present invention relates to a card holding device in a card connector to which an opening / closing cover having a card holding frame is swingably attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, not only cameras based on conventional optical principles but also cameras capable of electromagnetically recording a subject have been proposed. In an electromagnetic camera, a card such as a small IC card is used as a medium for recording a subject electromagnetically.

[0003] As a card connector intended for use with this type of card, there is conventionally known a card connector in which an opening / closing cover having a card holding frame portion is swingably attached to a base having contacts. In such a card connector, after the card is inserted to an appropriate position through the card holding frame portion of the open / close cover, the open / close cover is closed and the open / close cover is locked at the closed position. After releasing the lock of the open / close cover at the closed position, the open / close cover is opened and the card is ejected from the card holding frame portion of the open / close cover. The operation of opening the opening / closing cover when ejecting the card and the operation of ejecting the card from the card holding frame portion of the opened opening / closing cover are separate operations, and the ejection of the card is performed by a push button type eject mechanism combined with a card connector. There were many things that were to be performed using.

On the other hand, the card connector provided in the electromagnetic application camera is required to be small and thin.

[0005]

However, in the conventional card connector described above, when the card is ejected,
The operation of opening the opening / closing cover and the operation of ejecting the card from the card holding frame portion of the opened opening / closing cover have to be performed separately, and the conventional eject mechanism itself has a relatively large size. This has been a constraint on promoting miniaturization and thinning of connectors.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when ejecting a card, the card is automatically ejected from the card holding frame in conjunction with the operation of opening the opening / closing cover. The mechanism to open the cover and the operation to eject the card from the card holding frame of the opened cover separately has been eliminated. An object of the present invention is to provide a card holding device of a card connector which can be configured so as not to impair the miniaturization and thinning.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card holding device for a card connector, comprising: a base provided with a contact for contacting a card-side electrode; An opening / closing cover provided with a card holding frame portion, a cover opening / closing mechanism for urging the opening / closing cover in a normally open direction, and an opening / closing cover locking mechanism capable of locking and unlocking the opening / closing cover at a closed position with respect to the base. And a slider provided on the opening / closing cover and pushed forward by a card inserted into the card holding frame portion; a first spring body for constantly urging the slider in a retreating direction; A resilient projecting portion extending forward from the slider and having an engaging piece portion at a front end portion; and a resilient projecting portion provided on the projecting portion. An engagement claw provided on the opening / closing cover and an engagement portion for locking the engagement claw at a position forward of a swing center of the opening / closing cover when the slider reaches a forward position to prevent the slider from retreating; When the slider has reached the forward position, the receiving position is such that when the slider reaches the forward position, the engaging piece of the projecting portion is received in the recess at a position forward of the swing center of the opening / closing cover. A rocking body that can be swung up and down by the engagement piece portion with the closing movement of the opening / closing cover and that can swing between a retracted position in which the engagement piece portion is released to the front surface side and the receiving position Second biasing side
A spring body, which is provided on the rocking body and supports the engaging piece when the opening / closing cover is opened from the closed position with respect to the base at its forward position, and warps and deforms the projecting piece, thereby engaging the engaging claw. And a contact surface which is detached from the engaging portion. In the card holding device having this structure, the engaging piece is provided and the engaging claw is provided as in the invention according to claim 2. It is desirable that the protruding piece is integrally formed with the slider with a synthetic resin.

[0008]

In the card connector provided with the card holding device of the present invention, when a card is inserted into the card holding frame portion of the opening / closing cover and the opening / closing cover is closed, the card-side electrode comes into contact with the contact on the base side to exchange signals. Can be performed. In addition, the open / close cover closed by the locking action of the open / close cover lock mechanism is held at the closed position, and
The opening / closing cover is opened by the cover opening mechanism by the action of releasing the lock.

According to the card holding device of the present invention, the slider is pushed forward by the card inserted into the card holding frame. When the slider reaches the forward position in this way, the engaging claw provided on the slider side is engaged with the engaging portion provided on the opening / closing cover side, and the first portion of the slider is moved.
Retraction due to the bias of the spring body is prevented. Therefore, the card is held at that position while pushing the slider to the forward position.

When the slider has reached the forward position by being pushed by the card, the engaging piece of the protruding piece provided on the slider is positioned forward of the swing center when the opening and closing cover is opened and closed. In addition, the engaging piece is received in the concave portion of the rocking body that maintains the receiving posture. Therefore, when the opening / closing cover is closed, the rocking body is flipped up by the engagement piece, and is brought into a retreating posture, and the engagement piece is released to the surface side. With the urging of, the receiving position is returned to the above-described receiving position. Thereby, the engaging piece portion comes to face the contact surface provided on the rocking body. Therefore, when the opening / closing cover is opened, the engaging piece portion comes into contact with the contact surface of the rocking body maintaining the receiving posture, so that the engaging piece portion is supported by the contact surface and the projecting piece portion is warped. Accordingly, the engaging claw provided on the protruding piece is separated from the engaging portion on the opening / closing cover side. When the engaging claw is disengaged from the engaging portion in this manner, the slider is retracted by the urging of the first spring, and the card is pushed backward by the slider and ejected.

Here, if a configuration is employed in which the protrusion having the engagement piece and the protrusion provided with the engagement claw is integrally formed of a synthetic resin together with the slider, the elasticity of the protrusion is improved. This is exhibited by the specific elasticity of the synthetic resin, and there is no need to separately attach the protruding portion to the slider.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a card connector employing a card holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the card connector in a cutaway manner. In these figures, reference numeral 2 denotes a base made of an electrically insulating synthetic resin molded body, and a plurality of grooves 3 formed in an intermediate section in the front-rear direction have a contact 4 made of a strip-shaped metal piece having a spring property. Has been deployed. An opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5 for locking and unlocking the opening / closing cover 6 at the closed position is provided in the rear end section of the base 2. A support shaft 7 extending in the left-right direction is provided on the base 2. A hook-shaped support portion 8 provided near the rear end of the opening / closing cover 6 is rotatably supported on the support shaft 7. You. Therefore, the opening / closing cover 6 attached to the base 2 via the support shaft 7 and the support portion 8 is
Opening and closing swing is possible with the support point of the support member 8 and the support portion as a fulcrum. Reference numeral 9 denotes a torsion spring constituting a cover opening mechanism, which is held by the support shaft 7 and constantly urges the open / close cover 2 in the opening direction.

The opening / closing cover 6 is provided with a card holding frame portion 11 for forming a card insertion / extraction path, and a card C is inserted and removed through the card holding portion 11. When the cover 6 is closed with the card C inserted in an appropriate position, a card-side electrode (not shown) comes into contact with the contact 4 so as to be able to transmit and receive signals.

FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the components of the card holding device 1. 1 to 3, the slider 31 is slid in the front-rear direction by the protrusions 32 at the right and left ends being guided by the guide grooves 33 on the side of the opening / closing cover 6 shown in FIG. 1. Along with
The force of the first spring bodies 34, 34 interposed between the slider 31 and the opening / closing cover 6 is constantly biased in the backward direction. The slider 31 is provided on the back side of the opening / closing cover 6 in front of the card holding frame 11, and when the card C is pushed by the card C inserted into the card holding frame 11, the first spring is used. It is advanced against the bias of the bodies 34,34.

The slider 31 has a projection 35 extending forward, and the front end of the projection 35 is bent stepwise to form an engagement piece 36. An engagement claw 37 is provided at an intermediate portion of the protruding piece 35. As shown in FIG. 6, the engagement claw 37 has an inclined surface 37a inclined downward toward the rear and an engagement surface 37b at the rear end. Here, the projecting piece 35 may be formed separately from the slider 31. In this embodiment, the projecting piece 35 is provided with the engaging piece 36 and provided with the engaging claw 37. 35 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin together with the slider 31, and the protrusion 35 is provided with elasticity due to the elasticity of the synthetic resin.

On the other hand, on the cover 6 side,
A beam portion 38 is provided in the vicinity of the swing center of the opening / closing cover 6 formed by the support portion between the support shaft 7 and the support portion 8, and the beam portion 38 is located forward of the swing center of the opening / closing cover 6. An engagement portion 39 for the engagement claw 37 is provided at a position.

A rocking body 41 is attached to a front end of the base 2 by a support shaft 42.
Is supported through. That is, the swinging body 41 supported via the support shaft 42 can swing forward until the lower surface rear end 43 hits the surface 44 of the base 2, but when swinging backward, the lower surface rear end 43 Rises from the surface 44 of the base 2. Then, a second spring body 45 made of a torsion spring is interposed between the swing body 41 and the base 2,
The swinging body 41 is constantly urged in the forward swinging direction by the second spring body 45.

Further, a recess 46 is provided on the rear surface side of the rocking body 41. When the lower rear end 43 of the oscillating body 41 is in contact with the surface 44 of the base 2, the slider 31 is in the advanced position (the position of the slider 31 when the card C pushed and advanced by the slider 31 is inserted to an appropriate position). ), The engagement piece 36 of the projection 35
Are received in the recess 46 at a position forward of the swing center of the opening / closing cover 6. The oscillating body 41 when the engagement piece 36 can be received in the recess 46 in this manner.
Is the receiving position.

Here, when the rocking body 41 is kept in the receiving posture, the rocking body 41 slightly protrudes into the rocking path of the engagement piece 36 with the rocking center of the opening / closing cover 6 as a fulcrum. Therefore, the opening / closing cover 6 is closed when the rocking body 41 is kept in the receiving position and the engagement piece 36 is received in the recess 46, that is, when the slider 31 has reached the forward position. Sometimes, with the closing movement of the opening / closing cover 6, the engaging piece 36 moves upward in FIG. 2 around the swing center of the opening / closing cover 6 as a fulcrum. The spring member 45 is repelled against the bias of the spring member 45, and the engaging piece 36 is released to the front surface side (see FIG. 7). In this manner, the posture of the rocking body 41 when the rocking body 41 is flipped up and the engaging piece portion 36 is released is the retracted posture. After the oscillating body 41 is in the retreating position and escapes the engagement piece 36, the second spring body 45 returns to the above-described receiving attitude by the force of the second spring body 45. That is, the engaging piece 36 faces the contact surface 47, and the engagement piece 36
When it moves downward, the engagement piece 36 interferes with the contact surface 47. (See FIG. 8).

FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory views showing the opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5 in a plan view. As can be seen from these figures and FIGS. 1 and 2, the engaged portion 1 is provided at each of the left and right symmetrical positions on the back side of the card holding frame portion 11 of the opening / closing cover 6.
2 and 12 are provided, and these engaged portions 12 and 1 are provided.
The engaging claws 13 provided on the outer surface side of the base 2
4 correspond to the engaging portions 18 of the metal movable members 14 provided at the left-right symmetric positions of the rear end section (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The movable member 14 has a bracket 15 at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction, and a caulking piece 16 at one end.
However, the other end is provided with a U-shaped engagement piece 17, respectively,
The engaging piece 17 is provided on the engaging piece 17 as an engaging hole. Then, a metal pin 19 is attached to the bracket 15.
The pin 19 penetrates through the base 2 and protrudes downward. Therefore, the movable member 14 is attached to the base 2 so as to swing about the pin 19. A contact piece 21 having elasticity is cut and raised on the movable member 14, and the contact piece 21 is always in elastic contact with the pin 19. The pins 19 are also used as terminals, and when the card connector is mounted on the wiring board, the pins 19 are soldered, for example, to the power supply electrode surface of the wiring board.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the movable member 14 is provided symmetrically on the base 2 and the crimping pieces 16, 16 of the movable members 14, 14 are made of a shape memory alloy. One end and the other end of the shape memory wire 22 are separately caulked and connected. This shape memory wire 2
2 switches between the contraction mode and the extension mode due to a temperature change accompanying the switching between the energized state and the non-energized state, shortens the length to the previously stored length in the contraction mode, and sets the length in advance in the extension mode. Extend that length to the length you remember. Further, spring bodies 23, 23 are interposed between the respective movable members 14, 14 and the base 2,
The movable members 14, 14 are generated by the force of the springs 23, 23.
Are always urged toward the lock position. The stopper 2 provided on the base 2
4 and 24 contact the movable members 14 and 14 and
The lock positions 8 and 18 are regulated.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 25 denotes a cover. By covering the place where the open / close cover lock mechanism 5 is provided with the cover 25, there is a danger that the shape memory wire 22 will touch the hand when it is heated. Disappears.

In the opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5 having the above configuration, when the shape memory wire 22 is not energized, the shape memory wire 22 is in the extension mode, and the movable members 14, 14 are connected to the stoppers 24, 24. , The engaging portions 18, 18 are in the locked position.
Therefore, when the cover 6 is closed from the opened state as shown in FIG.
Of the movable members 14, 14
After the members 7, 17 are retracted against the force of the spring bodies 23, 23, the engagement pieces 18, 17 are returned by the return of the engagement pieces 17, 17.
18 Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4, the engaging claws 13, 13 of the engaged portions 12, 12 are engaged with the engaging portions 18, 18, and the opening / closing cover 6 is locked at the closed position.

When the shape memory wire 22 is energized from the pin 19 via the energizing path formed by the movable member 14 or the contact piece 21 while the cover 6 is locked at the closed position, the shape memory is stored. Since the wire 22 generates heat and switches to the contraction mode, and the length is reduced to the length memorized by itself, as shown in FIG.
4 and 14 are pulled in the approaching direction, and the engaging portions 18 and 18 are accordingly moved by the spring bodies 23 and 23.
Swings in the direction away from the engaging claw 13
From the lock state. Then, the opening / closing cover 6 is opened by the force of the torsion spring 9 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) forming the cover opening mechanism. Shape memory wire 2
The energization to 2 may be stopped when the engagement claws 13, 13 are detached from the engagement portions 18, 18.

In the card connector constructed as described above, after the card is inserted, the opening / closing cover 6 is closed and locked, the lock is released, and the opening / closing cover 6 is opened, and at the same time the card C is ejected at the same time. Will be described.

When the cover 6 is open, the card C is inserted into the card holding frame 11. When the card C is inserted into the card holding frame portion 11, the slider 31 is pushed by the card C and advances with the projecting piece 35 as shown in FIG. 37 slides over the surface of the beam 38. And
When the slider 31 reaches the forward position, the projecting piece 35 returns to its original shape when the engaging claw 37 has passed over the beam portion 38, and the engaging claw 37 is hooked on the engaging portion 39. The engaging piece 36 is received in the concave portion 46 of the rocking body 41 maintained in the receiving posture. As a result, the slider 31 is prevented from retreating due to the urging of the first spring body 34. The position of the card C at this time is the proper position of the card.

Next, when the opening / closing cover 6 is closed, the engaging piece 36 located forward of the swing center of the opening / closing cover 6 moves upward as indicated by an arrow a in FIG. Accordingly, the rocking body 41 is flipped up and tilted rearward as indicated by an arrow b, so that the rocking body 41 is in the retreating posture and the engaging piece 36 is released to the surface side. The urging of the body 45 returns to the above-described receiving posture as shown in FIG.
Thereby, as shown in FIG. 8, the engagement piece 36 faces the contact surface 47 provided on the rocking body 41. The card-side electrode contacts the contacts 4 and 4 shown in FIG. When the cover 6 is completely closed to the closed position, the cover 6 is locked in the closed position by the action of the cover lock mechanism 5 described above.

When the lock by the cover lock mechanism 5 is released in the closed position of the cover 6, the cover 6 is opened by the force of the cover opening mechanism 9. In the course of the opening and closing of the opening and closing cover 6, the engaging piece 36 abuts against the contact surface 47 of the rocking body 41 in the receiving posture as shown in FIG. 9. The piece 36 is supported by the contact surface 47 and is deformed to warp as shown in FIG. 10, and the engaging claw 37 provided on the projecting piece 35 is detached from the engaging portion 39 accordingly. When the engaging claw 37 is disengaged from the engaging portion 39 in this manner, the slider 31 is retracted by the urging of the first spring body 34 as shown by an arrow c in FIG.
1, the card C is pushed backward and ejected. The retracted position of the slider 31 is regulated by the stepped portion of the engagement piece 36 hitting the beam 38 as shown in FIG.

In FIGS. 6 to 11, the cover opening mechanism 9 is not shown.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a card connector employing the opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5 according to a modification, and FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the card connector showing a portion where the opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5 is installed. In this card connector, the card holding device is shown in FIGS.
Since this is exactly the same as that described with reference to FIG. 11, repeated description will be avoided.

An opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5 shown in FIG. 12 is provided with an engaging piece 51 provided on the opening / closing cover 6 side and a movable body provided on the base 2 side and capable of engaging and disengaging with the engaging piece 51. 52, a spring body 53 that constantly biases the movable body 52 in the direction of disengaging the engagement piece 51, and an operating section 54 for pushing the movable body 52 against the bias of the spring body 53. Have. In the opening / closing cover lock mechanism 5, when the opening / closing cover 6 is closed, the engagement piece 51
As shown by the imaginary line, the opening / closing cover 6 is caught by the movable body 52 and is prevented from opening. Locked. In this state, when the operating portion 54 is pushed in to release the engagement of the engagement piece 51 with the movable body 52, the cover 6 is opened by the force of the cover opening mechanism 9. In FIGS. 12 and 13, reference numeral 55 denotes an opening position regulating mechanism of the opening / closing cover 6.

[0032]

According to the card connector card holding device of the present invention, the card is held at an appropriate position by inserting the card into the card holding frame of the opening / closing cover. In addition, the card is automatically ejected through the card holding frame of the opening / closing cover in conjunction with the operation of opening and closing the opening / closing cover from its closed position. The trouble of having to perform the discharging operation separately is eliminated, and the usability is improved accordingly. In addition, the structure for interlocking the opening and closing of the open / close cover and the ejection of the card is accommodated without taking up space between the base and the open / close cover, so that the effect of miniaturization and thinning of the card connector is not impaired. is there.

Further, if the protruding piece is formed integrally with the slider from synthetic resin, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are reduced, so that the cost can be easily reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the card connector in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing components of the card holding device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a planar view of an opening / closing cover locking mechanism at the time of locking.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a planar view of an opening / closing cover lock mechanism at the time of unlocking;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of a card connector in a state where a card is inserted into a card holding frame portion.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of the card connector, showing an initial stage in which the opening / closing cover is closed.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of the card connector showing a state when the opening / closing cover is closed.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of the card connector showing an initial stage in which the opening / closing cover is opened.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of the card connector showing an intermediate stage of opening the opening / closing cover.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional side view showing a state where a card is automatically ejected when an opening / closing cover is opened.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a card connector employing an opening / closing cover lock mechanism according to a modification.

13 is a cross-sectional view of the card connector showing a portion where the opening / closing cover lock mechanism of FIG. 12 is installed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C Card 1 Card holding device 2 Base 4 Contact 5 Opening / closing cover lock mechanism 6 Opening / closing cover 9 Cover opening / closing mechanism 11 Card holding frame 31 Slider 34 First spring body 35 Projection 36 Engagement piece 37 Engagement claw 39 Engage Part 41 oscillating body 45 second spring body 46 recess 47 contact surface

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/629 H01R 12/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A base provided with a contact for contacting a card-side electrode, an open / close cover having a card holding frame portion attached to the base so as to be capable of swinging open / close and forming a card insertion / removal path, and an open / close cover constantly opened. A card connector comprising: a cover opening mechanism for urging the cover in a direction; and an opening / closing cover lock mechanism capable of locking and unlocking the opening / closing cover at a closed position with respect to the base. A slider that is pushed forward by the inserted card, a first spring body that constantly urges the slider in the retreating direction, and an engagement piece that extends forward from the slider and is provided at the front end. A protruding piece having elasticity, an engaging claw provided on the protruding piece, and an upper portion provided on the opening / closing cover when the slider reaches a forward position. An engaging portion for engaging the engaging claw at a position forward of the swing center of the opening / closing cover to prevent the slider from retreating, and an engaging piece of the projecting portion when the slider reaches the forward position. The engaging piece is repelled by the engaging piece portion in accordance with the receiving posture for receiving the recess at a position forward of the swing center of the open / close cover and the closing movement of the open / close cover when the slider has reached the forward position. A swinging body that can swing between a retracted position in which the part is released to the surface side, a second spring body that constantly biases the rocking body toward the receiving position, and an opening / closing cover that is provided on the rocking body and includes an opening / closing cover. And a contact surface for supporting the engaging piece and deforming the protruding piece when the opening is moved from the closed position with respect to the base at the forward position to release the engaging claw from the engaging portion. Characteristic card holding device in card connector Place. 2. A card holding device for a card connector according to claim 1, wherein said projecting portion provided with said engaging piece and provided with said engaging claw is integrally formed of synthetic resin with said slider.