JP3338894B2 - 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 connector having an eject mechanism for releasing a card by pressing a button.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A button-pressing-type card connector (hereinafter referred to as a "first conventional card connector") described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-214074 is disclosed.
A heart-shaped cam for operating an eject mechanism for detaching the card from the connector is formed integrally with the frame of the connector. In the ejection operation by the heart-shaped cam, the ejection mechanism can be operated by pressing the button, whether or not the card is fitted into the connector.

In a card connector of a button press operation type described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-219756 (hereinafter referred to as "conventional second card connector"), an eject mechanism for detaching the card from the connector is operated. The heart-shaped cam to be formed is formed integrally with the connector frame. In the ejection operation using the heart-shaped cam, the button cannot be pushed unless the card is fitted in the connector. However, this connector has a complicated structure.

[0004]

In the conventional first card connector, even if the card is not fitted to the connector, the eject mechanism operates when the button is pushed in, so that malfunction can be prevented. Can not.

In the conventional second card connector, if the card is not fitted to the connector, the button cannot be pushed in, but the structure is complicated.

Therefore, the present invention improves the drawbacks of the conventional two-card connector, and prevents a button from being operated when the card is not fitted to the connector, thereby preventing a malfunction. Moreover, it is an object to provide a card connector having a simple structure.

[0007]

The present invention employs the following means to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0008] 1. The card connector has a base holding a plurality of contacts, a frame for guiding the card when fitting and disengaging, and an eject mechanism for detaching the card. The eject mechanism includes a tip of the card. A lever that contacts the unit, an eject bar that operates the lever, a button that operates the eject bar, a spring that urges the button in the card ejection direction, and is rotatably supported by the button, and , A connecting rod having a cam follower, and a cam groove formed in the frame portion and a cam groove formed in the eject bar are combined when the card is fitted, so that a heart-shaped cam is formed. By forming a groove and pushing the button when the card is released, the cam follower moves along the heart-shaped cam groove. It said eject bar via the connecting rod as well as dynamic moved, to disengage the card, connector the heart-shaped cam groove is not formed card.

[0009] 2. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein a cover having a U-shaped cross section that covers the frame portion, the eject bar, the button, the spring, and the connecting rod is fixed to the frame portion.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in an exploded perspective view of FIG. 5, the card connector 1 is a card such as a PC card (not shown).
A plurality of pin contacts 10 for fitting with each other, an insulator 20 for aligning and fixing each pin contact 10 and fitting a card, and an eject mechanism 30 for discharging the fitted card. Be composed.

The eject mechanism 30 includes a lever 40, an eject bar 50, a button 60, a coil spring 70, a connecting rod 80, and a cover 90.

Each pin contact 10 is made of a conductive metal, and is formed in a crank shape from a contact portion 11 for contacting a card, a press-fit portion 12 into a base 21 of an insulator 20, and a soldering portion 13. Is done.

The insulator 20 is integrally formed in a substantially U-shape from a base 21 and a pair of frame portions 22 with resin.
A plurality of press-fit holes 21A into which each pin contact 10 is press-fitted.
Left and right guides 2 provided on a pair of frame portions 22 for guiding the card to each pin contact 10
2A and a base 2 for rotatably supporting the lever 40.
1, a slide support portion 24 provided on a side surface of one frame portion 22 for slidably supporting the eject bar 50, and a protrusion provided on a side surface of the one frame portion 22. It has a portion 25 and a coil spring mounting shaft 27 provided on the protruding portion 25 and holding a coil spring 70. On the side of the protrusion 25,
A cam groove 26 is formed, and a cover fixing portion 28 for fixing a cover 90 is provided on both upper and lower surfaces of one frame portion 22.
Are respectively provided.

The lever 40 is provided with a hole 41 at the center, a pushing part 42 at one end for ejecting the card, and a butting part 43 at the other end for being pushed by the eject bar 50. Is inserted into the support shaft 23 of the base 21 of the insulator 20 so that the lever 40 is rotatably supported by the insulator 20.

The eject bar 50 has a lever groove 51 on the front end surface into which the abutting portion 43 of the lever 40 is inserted, a concave portion 52 for fitting into the protruding portion 25 in the upper half near the rear end, and a concave portion on the rear end portion. Stopper 54 adjacent to 52, button 6 at rear end
Transmission parts 55 for transmitting the pushing force of 0 are provided, respectively.
Groove (not shown) provided on the back surface of eject bar 50
The eject bar 50 is slidably supported on the side surface of the one frame portion 22 by fitting into the slide support portion 24 of the one frame portion 22. Further, a cam groove 53 is formed on the surface and side surface of the recess 52. When the eject bar 50 slides, the concave 52
Is fitted in the protruding portion 25 of the one frame portion 22,
When the stopper 54 abuts on the protrusion 25,
The stroke of the eject bar 50 is regulated.

The button 60 functions as an operation unit of the eject mechanism 30, and a shaft hole 61 is provided on a side surface.

The first half of the coil spring 70 is fixed to the coil spring mounting shaft 27 of the projection 25, and the second half is inserted into a hole (not shown) provided in the button 60. Therefore, a load acts on the button 60 in the card ejection direction.

The connecting rod 80 has a shaft 81 at one end, a cam follower 82 at the other end, and a notch 83 near the middle. The shaft 81 is inserted into the shaft hole 61 of the button 60, and the cam follower 82 is inserted into the cam groove 26 or the cam groove 53.

The cover 90 is formed by pressing a metal plate to have a U-shaped cross section, and covers one of the frame portion 22, the eject bar 50, the button 60, the coil spring 70, and the connecting rod 80. A pair of claws 92 are respectively formed on the wide upper and lower surfaces 91 of the cover 90 by cutting and raising, and each pair of claws 92 is formed in a pair of grooves 28 </ b> A formed in each cover fixing portion 28 of one frame portion 22. By engaging, the cover 90 is fixed to the one frame portion 22. A pressing portion 93 is formed on the side surface of the cover 90 by cutting and raising, and the pressing portion 93 always presses the cam follower 82 of the connecting rod 80 into the cam groove 26 or the cam groove 53.

When a card (not shown) is fitted into the card connector 1, the leading end of the card pushes the pushing portion 42 of the lever 40, so that the lever 40 rotates clockwise about the support shaft 23, The eject bar 50 moves in a direction opposite to the card insertion direction. Eject bar 50
FIG. 1 shows the state after the button 60 has been moved.
Spacing l ₁ is present between the cover 90 and.

When the button 60 is pushed in the state shown in FIG. 1, the button 60 and the cover 90 come into close contact with each other to reach the state shown in FIG.

When the pressing force of the button 60 is reduced, the button 60 projects and reaches the state shown in FIG. At this time, button 6
Distance between 0 and the cover 90 becomes _{l 2} (details will be described later.).

In the state shown in FIG.
Is pushed in again, the eject bar 50 is pushed in with the button 60, so that the lever 40 rotates counterclockwise about the support shaft 43, and the ejecting portion 42 ejects the card from the connector.

[0025] As described above, the position of the button 60 in the connector 1 is normally in the initial position with a spacing l ₁ between the button 60 and the cover 90, the button 60 when fitting the card into the connector When the button 60 is pushed, the distance l ₁ becomes zero, and when the pressing force of the button 60 is loosened, the button 60 protrudes and becomes the distance l ₂ . When the protruding button 60 is pressed again, the card is
Is discharged from

The above operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

One frame part 2 of insulator 20
2 and the eject bar 50 have cam grooves 26 and 5 respectively.
3 are formed.

The cam groove 26 has a groove 26a inclined with respect to the vertical surface, a slope 26b inclined with respect to the vertical surface and perpendicular to the groove 26a, a step 26c formed on the upper part of the groove 26a, and a step 26c. A groove 26d formed in the upper part,
An inclined surface 26e serving as a bottom surface of the groove 26d, a groove 26g inclined with respect to the vertical surface and continuous with the groove 26d, and an inclined surface 26 inclined with respect to the vertical surface and orthogonal to the groove 26g.
f and a tip 26h of the groove 26g. Groove 2
6g is formed shallower as it goes downward in FIGS.

The cam groove 53 includes a convex portion 53a, a groove portion 53b formed to accommodate the convex portion 53a, a terminal portion 53c of the groove portion 53b, a tapered groove portion 53d formed in a direction perpendicular to the groove portion 53b, and , And has a slope 53e that is inclined with respect to the vertical plane and is orthogonal to the tapered groove 53d. The tapered groove 53d is formed to be shallower toward the right in FIGS.

The cam groove 26 and the cam groove 53 are formed when the card is fitted into the connector 1, that is, as shown in FIGS.
In the state of FIG. 10 and FIG. 10, a circulating heart-shaped cam groove is formed, and when the card is detached from the connector 1, that is, in the states of FIGS. 9 (f) to 9 (g) and FIG. Do not form.

When the card shown in FIG. 1 is fitted into the connector 1 and the button 60 is in the initial state,
Is shown in FIG. 9 (a). At this time, the cam follower 82 of the connecting rod 80 is
a.

A load is applied to the button 60 by the coil spring 70, and the load causes the cam follower 8 to move.
2 is pressed to the lower side of the groove 26a in FIG. 9A, so that the button 60 is fixed at the initial position.

When the card shown in FIG. 2 is fitted into the connector 1 and the button 60 is pushed, the connecting rod 80 is pushed together with the button 60, so that the cam follower 82 moves along the slope 26 b of the cam groove 26. Moving to the upper right direction, the internal structure reaches the state of FIG. 9B. By this movement, the cam follower 82 reaches the step 26c, and is prevented from moving in the opposite direction.

When the pressing force of the button 60 is reduced, the cam follower 82 is
After moving in the groove 26d to the left and climbing over the slope 26e to reach the state shown in FIG. 9 (c), it moves to the lower left while riding on the groove 26g along the slope 26f, and further passes through the tip 26h. After that, it reaches the groove 53b. At this time, the card shown in FIG. 3 is fitted into the connector 1 and the button 60 is in a protruding state, and the tip end portion 26h is located higher (to the front side in FIG. 10) than the groove portion 53b. 82 is prevented from moving in the opposite direction. FIG. 9D shows the internal structure.

When the protruding button 60 is depressed, the cam follower 82 reaches the terminal end 53c.
In the state shown in (e), the transmission portion 55 of the eject bar 50 and the cut 83 of the connecting rod 80 engage with each other.

When the button 60 is pushed in the state of FIG. 9E, the eject bar 50 is pushed together with the button 60 due to the engagement of the transmission portion 55 and the cut 83. As a result, the lever 40 rotates counterclockwise, and the card is ejected from the connector 1. At this time, the cam follower 82 has been inserted into the terminal end 53c. This state is shown in FIG.

When the pressing force of the button 60 is released when the card is ejected, the cam follower 82 returns along the groove 53b by the force of the coil spring 70 and stops at the initial position where it abuts the convex portion 53a. This state is shown in FIG.
(G).

Even if the button 60 is pushed in the state shown in FIG. 9G, the cam follower 82 only moves along the groove 53b, and the projecting operation of the button 60 is not performed. That is, when the card is not fitted, the button 60 does not project.

Thereafter, when the card is fitted into the connector 1, the lever 40 rotates clockwise about the support shaft 23, so that the eject bar 50 moves in the direction opposite to the card insertion direction. At this time, the cam follower 82 rides on the tapered groove 53d and then further slopes 53e.
After that, it falls into the groove 26a on the cam groove 26 side, and returns to the state shown in FIG.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the cam portion for regulating the position of the button is formed over the frame portion of the insulator and the eject bar, the card is not fitted to the connector. In this case, the buttons cannot be operated, so that malfunction can be prevented. Further, a card connector having a simple structure can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a card (not shown, the same applies hereinafter) is fitted to the connector and an initial state of a button is shown.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the card is fitted into the connector and the button is pushed in;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the card is fitted to the connector and the button is projected.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the card is ejected from the connector;
Indicates the initial state of the button.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the card is fitted to the connector during the assembly.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the card is ejected from the connector during the assembly.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where a cover of FIG. 1 is removed.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the operation order (a) to (g) of the cam portion in the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a cam portion of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the card is fitted to the connector.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a cam portion of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the card is ejected from the connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Card connector 10 Pin contact 11 Contact part 12 Press-fit part 13 Solder part 20 Insulator 21 Base 21A Press-fit hole 22 Frame part 22A Guide 23 Support shaft 24 Slide support part 25 Projection part 26 Cam groove 26a Groove part 26b Slope 26c Step 26d Groove part 26e Slope 26f Slope 26g Groove 26h Tip 27 Coil spring mounting shaft 28 Cover fixing part 28A Groove 30 Eject mechanism 40 Lever 41 Hole 42 Extruded part 43 Abutting part 50 Eject bar 51 Lever groove 52 Recess 53 Cam groove 53a Convex part 53b Groove Surface 53c End portion 53d Tapered groove 53e Slope 54 Stopper 55 Transmission unit 60 Button 61 Shaft hole 70 Coil spring 80 Connecting rod 81 Shaft 82 Cam follower 83 Cut 90 Cover 91 Upper and lower surfaces 92 Claw 93 Pressing part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/633 H01R 13/629 H01R 23/02 H01R 23/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card connector comprising: a base holding a plurality of contacts; a frame for guiding a card when fitting and disengaging; and an eject mechanism for disengaging the card. A lever that contacts the leading end of the card, an eject bar that operates the lever, a button that operates the eject bar, a spring that urges the button in the card ejection direction, and is rotatable with the button. And a connecting rod having a cam follower, wherein the cam groove formed in the frame portion and the cam groove formed in the eject bar are connected when the card is fitted. By forming a heart-shaped cam groove by pressing the button at the time of removal of the card,
The card follower, wherein the cam follower moves along the heart-shaped cam groove, and the eject bar is moved via the connecting rod to release the card, whereby the heart-shaped cam groove is not formed. connector. 2. The frame section, the eject bar,
The card connector according to claim 1, wherein a cover having a U-shaped cross section that covers the button, the spring, and the connecting rod is fixed to the frame portion.