JP3421527B2 - Card detachable from electronic device and electronic device to which the card is attached - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to PCMCIA / J
The present invention relates to a card that is attachable to and detachable from an electronic device, such as a card conforming to the EIDA standard, and an electronic device to which the card is attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, in electronic equipment such as personal computers, for example, PCMCIA is used as a means for selectively expanding the functions.
A card slot is provided so that a card conforming to the / JEIDA standard can be used to attach / detach this kind of card. In particular, in portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, most of them are used from the viewpoints of downsizing, thinning, low power consumption, and the like.

Conventionally, this type of card has been mainly used for an additional memory, a communication modem, etc., but in order to enable long-time driving of portable electronic equipment, a battery is built into this card to drive it. It has been proposed to use it also as (for example, JP-A-8-278835).

[0004]

However, the method proposed in the above publication discloses that the VCC pin in the I / F pin assignment conforming to the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard is the positive electrode, the GND pin is the negative electrode, and the PCMCIA / JE
Since the other pins including the card detection pin in the I / F pin assignment conforming to the IDA standard are supplied as a floating voltage from the battery built in the card, there are the following problems. .

First, PCMCIA / JE on the electronic equipment side
The VCC pin in the I / F pin assignment conforming to the IDA standard is PCM based on the detection result of the above card detection pin.
Since the switching is performed by the CIA / JEIDA controller, when the card detection pin is in a floating state, power cannot be supplied from the battery in the card.

Secondly, in the electronic device having the suspend / resume function, the VCC pin is cut off during the suspend, so that power cannot be supplied from the battery in the card.

Thirdly, when the card detection pin in the card is grounded, the electronic device detects that the card has been mounted and starts to take measures, but since it is not a normal card, the card ID etc. Cannot be recognized, resulting in an error.

Fourth, in a normal electronic device, a plurality of driving voltages such as 5V and 3.3V are required, and
Since the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard does not consider the configuration in which power is originally supplied from the card side, a special measure is required on the electronic device side, and the electronic device is attached to an electronic device that does not have such a measure. This may cause a problem such as circuit breakdown on the electronic device side.

[0009]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first feature thereof is to attach / detach to / from a slot of an electronic device in which a first connector having a plurality of pins is arranged. A card that is capable of being provided with a battery, a second connector that is connected to the first connector when mounted in the slot, and an external connection terminal that cannot be connected to the first connector. One of the electrodes is connected to the second connector, and the other electrode of the battery is connected to the external connection terminal.

The second feature is PCMCIA / JEIDA
A PCMCI having a connector compliant with the standard, an external connection terminal, and a battery, and a card whose positive and negative electrodes are connected to the external connection terminal and the connector, respectively.
An electronic device having a card slot conforming to the A / JEIDA standard, wherein a PCM connected to the connector of the card when the card is mounted in the slot
An electronic device equipped with a card, characterized in that it has a connector conforming to the CIA / JEIDA standard and a terminal connected to the external connection terminal.

[0011]

1 is a perspective view of an essential part of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, in which a card 1 is PCMCIA /
It has a shape conforming to JEIDA standard type III. Specifically, a connecting portion 3 having a rectangular planar shape in which a connector 2 conforming to the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard is disposed on one side surface, and a base portion disposed on the connecting portion 3 and having a planar shape smaller than that of the connecting portion 3. 4 and. On the upper surface of the base portion 4, a concave portion whose bottom surface serves as the external connection terminal 5 is formed. Further, as will be apparent from the description below, the card 1 has a built-in secondary battery made of, for example, nickel hydrogen, lithium ion, etc., the positive electrode of which is connected to the external connection terminal 5, and the negative electrode of which is the connector 2 described above. PCMCIA / J
It is connected to the GND pin specified by the EIDA standard.

A guide groove 11 for guiding the card 1 into the device 10 is provided in the electronic device 10 to which the card 1 is attached and detached.
A U-shaped slot 12 in which is formed is arranged.
When mounting the card 1 in the slot 12, the side face on which the connector 2 is arranged starts from the open end 13 side, and the other side face orthogonal to the side face on which the connector 2 is arranged is set in the guide groove 11. Fit and push in. As a result,
As shown in (b), the connector 2 of the card 1 is connected to the second connector 14 located at the deepest portion of the slot 12. Further, at this time, the external connection terminal 5 of the card 1 stands up from the side surface of the slot 12, and one end of the elastic L-shaped member 15 that reaches the upper surface of the mounted card 1 is formed on the lower surface side near the one end. 16 (in FIG. 1,
(Not shown). FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing this connection state, in which the connection terminal 16 is curved in the attaching / detaching direction of the card 1 with respect to the slot 12 indicated by an arrow in the drawing, and L
By imparting downward elastic force to the character member 15,
When the card 1 is attached / detached in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the insertion / removal into / from the recess and the connection of the connection terminal 16 to the external connection terminal 5 are made good.

3 (a) and 3 (b) show the main parts of the circuit structure inside the card 1 and the circuit structure inside the electronic device, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3A, in the card 1,
A plurality of battery cells 100 connected in parallel in series, a controller 101 for controlling protection and short circuit prevention of the battery cells 100, and a positive electrode side and a negative electrode side of the battery for controlling the battery output under the control of the controller 101. The first switch FET 102 and the second switch F, which are respectively arranged on the side.
With ET103. The positive electrode of the battery cell 100 is connected to the external connection terminal 5 via the first switch FET 102, and the negative electrode is the second switch FET 103.
Through the first, the 34th, the 35th and the 68th of the connector 2
It is connected to a pin. Since this connector 2 complies with the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard as described above, the above-mentioned first, 34th, 35th and 68th pins are GND pins according to the standard.

On the other hand, the circuit configuration in the electronic device 10 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), since the connector 14 also complies with the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard similarly to the connector of the card 1, the first, 34th, 35th and 68th pins are grounded. The connection terminal 16 connected to the external connection terminal 5 of the card 1 is connected to the DC / DC converter 200. The converter 200 converts the voltage supplied from the card 1 via the external terminal 16 into a voltage optimum for driving each unit in the electronic device 10 and supplies the voltage.
The converter 200 also converts and outputs the output of an AC adapter (not shown) or a battery built in the electronic device 10 in the same manner.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the card 1
Since the pins of the connectors 2 and 14 used when the voltage is supplied from the internal battery are only GND pins, the voltage can be supplied without any problem even if the card detection pin of the connector is left floating. Even in the electronic device having the suspend / resume function, the voltage can be supplied from the battery in the card without any trouble even if the VCC pin is cut off during the suspend. Further, since no voltage is generated except for the GND pin, even if the card 1 of this embodiment is mistakenly attached to an electronic device that does not have a function corresponding to the card type battery targeted by the present invention, the electronic device There is no danger of damaging the.

The output voltage of the card 1 can be changed according to the type and configuration of the built-in battery cell 100, and
The input voltage of the DC / DC converter of the electronic device 10 also differs from device to device. Therefore, when the card 1 having an output voltage different from the input voltage of the DC / DC converter of the electronic device 10 is attached to the electronic device, the circuit of the electronic device 10 may be damaged. Therefore, the position of the external connection terminal 5 of the card 1 is changed according to the output voltage of the card itself, and the position of the connection terminal 16 of the electronic device is also set to DC /
When the card is attached to an electronic device, the external connection terminal and the electronic signal of the card are different from each other only when the output voltage of the card itself and the inputtable voltage of the DC / DC converter are matched to each other according to the inputtable voltage of the DC converter. The position where the connection terminal of the device can be connected. This allows DC / D of electronic devices
When a card having an output voltage different from the inputtable voltage of the C converter is mounted, the external connection terminal of the card and the connection terminal of the electronic device are not connected, so that damage can be avoided.

Further, the battery cell 100 of the card 1 is not provided.
When the battery is configured with a rechargeable secondary battery, the battery in the card can be easily recharged by mounting the charging circuit and the AC adapter on the card itself.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the pin of the connector used when the voltage is supplied from the battery built in the card is GN.
Since only the D pin is used, voltage can be supplied without any problem even if the card detection pin of the connector is left floating. In addition, even in the electronic device having the suspend / resume function, the above-mentioned VCC is applied during the suspend.
Even if the pins are cut off, the voltage can be supplied from the battery in the card without any problem. Furthermore, since no voltage is generated except for the GND pin, even if the card is mistakenly attached to an electronic device that does not have a function corresponding to the card type battery targeted by the present invention, the electronic device may be damaged. There is no.

Further, the position of the external connection terminal of the card is made different according to the output voltage of the card itself, and the position of the connection terminal of the electronic device is also made different corresponding to the inputtable voltage, and the output voltage of the card itself is changed. When the card is installed in the electronic device,
By setting the external connection terminal of the card and the connection terminal of the electronic device so that they can be connected to each other, the external connection of the card is Since the terminal and the connection terminal of the electronic device are not connected, damage can be avoided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the present invention,
(A) shows a state where the card 1 is not mounted in the slot 12, and (b) shows a mounted state.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration in this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 card 2 connectors 5 External connection terminal 10 electronic devices 12 slots 14 connector 15 connection terminals

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Haruaki Kamihara Inventor Haruaki 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture Tottori Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinya Amizaki 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City Tottori Prefecture Tori Tori Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Isao Umezawa 3 201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture Tottori Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumitaka Urakawa 3 201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City Tottori Sanyo Tottori Electric Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Maeda 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture Tottori Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-61-289592 (JP, A) JP-A-7-249399 (JP, A) JP 8-278835 (JP, A) JP 9-128114 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 1/26 H01M 2 / 10 G06K 17 / 00,19 / 00

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card which is attachable to and detachable from a slot of an electronic device in which a first connector having a plurality of pins is arranged, and a battery and a card which is connected to the first connector when mounted in the slot. No. 2 connector and an external connection terminal that cannot be connected to the first connector, one electrode of the battery is connected to the second connector, and the other electrode of the battery is connected to the external connection terminal. A card that can be attached to and detached from an electronic device characterized by being connected. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the external connection terminal is arranged on a surface located inside the electronic device when the card is installed in a slot of the electronic device. Possible cards. 3. The card according to claim 1 or 2 is PCMCIA /
A card that can be attached to and detached from an electronic device, which is compliant with the JEIDA standard. 4. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the GND pin in the second connector is connected to the negative electrode of the battery, and the external connection terminal is connected to the positive electrode of the battery. A removable card. 5. A card attachable to and detachable from an electronic device, wherein the external connection terminals according to claims 1 to 4 have different positions according to the output voltage of the battery. 6. A PCMCIA having a connector compliant with the PCMCIA / JEIDA standard, an external connection terminal, and a battery, and positive and negative electrodes of the battery having a card connected to the external connection terminal and the connector, respectively. / JEID
An electronic device provided with a card slot conforming to the A standard, in which PCMCIA / JEIDA connected to the connector of the card when the card is mounted in the slot.
An electronic device in which a card is mounted, comprising a standard-compliant connector and a terminal connected to the external connection terminal.