JP3477127B2 - Card connector - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a card connector,
In particular, it has a slider for holding the card that is pushed by the card and moves from the retracted position to the advanced position, and by retracting the slider, the card mounted on the slider is retracted together with the slider. Regarding the card connector that is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a card connector used for electrically connecting a card-side electrode to a device-side electrode to exchange signals, a function for holding the card at a predetermined set position ( A card having a card holding function) and a function of ejecting a card by retracting it from the set position (eject function) is known (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-75974). In this type of conventional card connector, separate parts are used for the card holding function and the eject function (first conventional example).

On the other hand, some card connectors having a card holding function have a card holding function which is exerted by elastic contact pressure of the connector-side contact piece member with respect to the card, and one which is exerted by a locking mechanism.

As a means for imparting an ejecting function to a card connector of the type in which the card holding function is exerted by the elastic contact pressure, mechanical means in which the longitudinal middle portion of the lever is swingably supported is adopted. There is something I did.
In this device, by swinging the swing lever in one direction, a pressing portion provided on the swing lever pushes the card backward from the set position (second conventional example). In addition, as a means of giving an eject function to a card connector of a type in which the card holding function is exerted by the lock mechanism, the elastic urging force of the spring is used to push the card backward from the set position after unlocking. (Third conventional example).

[0005]

However, the first conventional example has a problem that the number of parts is increased, the number of assembling steps is increased, and the manufacturing cost is increased.

In the second conventional example, as the length of the swinging stroke of the lever necessary for retracting the card from the set position to the take-out position behind the set position, the length between the set position and the take-out position (eject stroke ) Is required, which impairs the operability during ejection,
There is a problem that it becomes a factor that hinders the miniaturization of the card connector. Further, when the card connector is downsized, the swinging stroke of the lever is shortened and the card discharging stroke is shortened.

In the third conventional example, the card pushed out rearward due to the elastic force of the spring was too strong, and the card sometimes jumped out of the card connector.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a card connector capable of exhibiting a card holding function and an ejecting function by a single component.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a card connector which has a card holding function, facilitates miniaturization, and can increase the card ejection stroke. To do.

Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a card connector in which a card pushed back at the time of ejection does not fly out of the card connector.

[0011]

In the card connector according to the present invention, a card holding slider 4 which is pushed by a card 100 and is moved from a retracted position to an advanced position is attached to a body 1 so as to be movable back and forth. The slider 4 is provided with a contact piece member 16 that exerts a card holding force by elastically contacting the card 100 that has been pushed forward to the forward position, and the slider 4 is always elastically biased in the backward direction. In this card connector, the body, even if formed as a dedicated part of the connector, is a member that is also used for other parts,
For example, it may be formed by a chassis of the device.

In the present invention, a locked portion 54 is provided on the outer edge of the slider 4, and a locking portion 61 as a mating portion of the locked portion 54 holds the slider 4 so that it can move back and forth. The oscillating body 6 is attached to the body 1 so as to be capable of oscillating in the forward and reverse directions, and is provided in a protruding shape. And
The oscillating body is constantly elastically biased in a positive direction in which the locking portion 61 can be locked to the locked portion 54 when the slider 4 enters the forward position. According to this configuration, when the slider is pushed by the card and enters the forward position, the locked portion 54 on the slider 4 side is locked by the locking portion 61 on the rocking body 6 side, and the slider 4 is moved to that position. Lock to.

Further, according to the present invention, the rocking body 6 is elastically urged in the forward direction in the opposite direction in which the locking portion 61 locked to the locked portion 54 is disengaged from the locked portion 54. The rocking body 6 is provided with a pressing lever 62 for pressing the receiving portion 49 provided on the slider 4 in the retreating direction of the slider 4 to retreat the slider 4 when the slider 4 is swung against the force. Has been. Then, the slider 4 is retracted to the position where the card holding force of the contact piece member 16 is released by the pressing by the pressing lever 62. Moreover, the elastic urging force that urges the slider in the backward direction is set to be smaller than the card holding force of the contact piece member .

According to this structure, it is possible to simply swing the swinging body against the forward elastic biasing force.
The operation of disengaging the locking portion on the oscillator side from the locked portion on the slider side and the operation of pressing the receiving portion on the slider side by the pressing lever on the oscillator side are performed simultaneously. Further, while the contact piece member is elastically contacting the card and exerting the card holding force, the pressing lever on the oscillator side presses the receiving portion on the slider side to retract the slider, and the card holding force is released. After that, the slider is retracted by the elastic biasing force that biases the slider in the retracting direction. As described above, when the backward movement of the slider is divided into the mechanical pressing operation by the pressing lever and the backward movement of the slider by the elastic urging force, the elastic urging force for urging the slider in the backward direction is applied. It is possible to reduce the size, and by doing so, it is possible to prevent the card from popping out when the card is ejected. Moreover, since the elastic urging force that urges the slider in the backward direction is set to be smaller than the card holding force of the contact member described above, the card is not ejected when ejected. In addition to the prevention, it is possible to increase the card ejection stroke.

In particular, according to the present invention, the rocking member attached to the body has a locking piece for exerting a card holding function for holding the card at a predetermined set position, and the card from the set position. Since a pressing lever for exerting the eject function for retracting and ejecting is provided, not only the card holding function and the eject function are exerted by a single component,
It facilitates miniaturization.

In the present invention, the locked portion 54 is provided on the outer side surface of the slider and is slanted so as to be positioned outward toward the rear end side, and the guide surface 55 is continuous to the rear end. It is desirable to have a stepped locked surface 56.

Further, according to the present invention, the projecting piece 63 provided on the rocking body 6 is long in the front-rear direction for rocking the rocking body 6 in the reverse direction against the elastic biasing force in the forward direction. It is desirable that the front end portion of the operation lever 7 is connected and that the operation lever 7 is provided along the side surface of the body 1.

[0018]

1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of a card connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are transverse plan views. 7 is an explanatory view of the operation of the main part, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the card 100 seen from the back side.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the body 1 of the card connector is made of a synthetic resin molding having excellent electrical insulation, and has a flat box-shaped portion 11 at the front and left and right sides of the box-shaped portion 11. A pair of left and right arm portions 12 extending rearward from both sides,
12 and. The body 1 is divided in the left-right direction W into a first section A for mounting a contact piece member and a second section B for mounting a slider 4 and a lock mechanism 6 described later.

In the first section A, the front wall 14 of the body 1
A plurality of contact piece members 16 are mounted side by side in a predetermined array, and each of the contact piece members 16 extends rearward of the front wall 14.

As shown in FIG. 1 or FIGS. 3 to 6, the slider 4 is made of a synthetic resin molding elongated in the front and rear direction.
The slider 4 has a support surface 41 for supporting an end surface 101 on one side in the left-right direction of a card (small memory card, IC card, etc.) described later, and a curved surface 42 extending forward from the support surface 41. It has an engaging surface 43 which is connected to the front end of the curved surface 42 and which makes a right angle with the supporting surface 41. Further, the slider 4 is provided with a hole 51 that opens at the support surface 41, and the hole 51 is engaged with the tip of a temporary positioning (half-locking) spring plate 52 by bending. The portion 53 is inserted and protrudes inward of the support surface 41. Further, a spring body 48 for constantly elastically biasing the slider 4 rearward is interposed between the slider 4 and the body 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slider 4 is the second member of the body 1.
It is housed in the compartment B and is slidable in the front-rear direction T. The locked portion 54 is provided on the outer edge of the slider 4.
Is provided. As shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the locked portion 54 includes a guide surface 55 that is provided on the outer surface of the slider 4 and is inclined so as to be positioned outward toward the rear end side, and a rear end of the guide surface 55. And a stepped locked surface 56 that is continuous with the. The retracted position of the slider 4 is determined by hitting the stopper (not shown) provided on the body 1 with the slider 4.
Shows the slider 4 in the retracted position.

An oscillating body 6 is attached near the front end of the second section B of the body 1. As can be seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the rocking body 6 is supported by a shaft portion 17 provided on the body 1, and can rock in forward and backward directions at a fixed position. The rocking body 6 is provided with a locking portion 61 in a protruding shape, and the pressing levers 6 located on both sides of the locking portion 61 are sandwiched.
2 and the protruding piece 63 are provided. And the protruding piece 6
3, a hole 71 in the front end portion of the operation lever 7 that is long in the front-rear direction and is arranged along the side surface of the body 1 so as to be able to push and pull in the front-rear direction.
Are engaged with each other, and the operation lever 7
Are connected to the protruding piece 63. Further, a spring formed of a coil spring is provided between a hooking piece 72 integrally provided on the operation lever 7 and a hooking piece 19 provided on the metal cover (shield frame) 18 mounted on the body 1. The body 8 is interposed, and the operation lever 7 is always elastically urged rearward as indicated by an arrow R (see FIG. 4) by the spring body 8. Therefore, the rocking body 6 connected to the operating lever 7 via the protruding piece 63 is also always elastically urged by the spring body 8 as indicated by an arrow a in FIG. Note that the elastically urging direction of the rocking body 6 by the spring body 8 is a positive direction, and the direction opposite to the arrow a direction is a reverse direction.

As shown in FIG. 11, the left and right one-sided corner portion 103 of the front side of the card 100 such as an IC card is curved to have substantially the same shape as the curved surface 42 of the slider 4 and the corner portion 103 thereof. The concave portion 104 is formed on one surface side, specifically, on the back surface side. A recess 105 is also formed on the front end of the back surface of the card 100, and an electrode forming area 106 is formed on the outer surface of the recess 105. A predetermined number of electrodes are formed in the electrode forming area 106 in a predetermined pattern. Has been done. Further, a recessed portion is provided on one side portion of the card 100 in the left-right direction, and the recessed portion has a locked portion 107 as a counterpart of the locking portion 53.
Is formed.

When the slider 4 is positioned at the retracted position shown in FIG. 3, the card 100 is inserted into the body 1 through the insertion opening 25 formed at the rear end of the body 1 as shown by an arrow X1. , The plate piece 45 provided on the slider 4 is fitted in the recessed portion 104 (see FIG. 11) of the card 100, and the tip 102 of the card 100 is attached to the slider 4.
Abut on the engaging surface 43 of. Further, the locking portion 53 of the spring plate 52 slides with the end surface 101 of the card 100 at a stage in which the card 100 is being inserted into the slider 4, and the tip 102 of the card 100 abuts on the engaging portion 44 of the slider 4. When engaged (that is, when mounted in a fixed position), the spring plate 52 urges it into the locked portion 107 of the card 100 and locks the locked portion 107 in that state. The card 100 is temporarily positioned with respect to the slider 4. It is in the temporary positioning state (half-locked state).

Here, the force by which the spring body 48 elastically urges the slider 4 in the retracting direction causes the end face 101 of the card 100 to push the engaging portion 53 elastically urged by the spring plate 52 to retract outward. It is larger than the force required for.
Therefore, while inserting the card 100 into the slider 4,
The situation in which the slider 4 moves forward against the bias of the spring body 48 and it becomes difficult to mount the card 100 on the slider 4 does not occur.

As shown in phantom in FIG. 3, the card 100
Is half-locked to the slider 4 in an initial state. In this initial state, the locking portion 61 on the rocking body 6 side moves back and forth to the locked portion 54 on the slider 4 side as shown in FIGS. The pressure levers 62 project inwardly of the body 1.

When the card 100 is pushed from the initial state as shown by the arrow X2 in FIGS. 4 and 5 and the slider 4 is pushed in together with the card 100 against the bias of the spring body 48, the step in the middle of pushing Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the locking portion 61 on the rocking body 6 side is guided by the guide surface 55 of the locked portion 54 on the slider 4 side.
When the slider 4 advances to the forward position, the locking portion 61 rides over the locked portion 54 and engages with the locked surface 56 by the urging force of the spring body 8 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9. To meet. As a result, the slider 4 is positioned at the forward position. It is in a locked state.

Thus, when the slider 4 is locked at the forward position, the contact piece member 16 elastically comes into contact with the electrode forming area 106 on the card 100 side to exert a certain card holding force as shown in FIG. This is the proper set state of the card 100.

When the card 100 is in the proper set state, the receiving portion 49 provided in a protruding shape on the slider 4 side comes close to the pressing lever 62 on the rocking body 6 side as shown in FIGS. It becomes a state.

When ejecting the card 100, the operating lever 7 is pushed forward against the bias of the spring body 8 as shown by the arrow F in FIGS. In this way, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, the protruding piece 63 on the rocking body 6 side is pushed forward, so that the pressing lever 62 rocks backward. Therefore, the receiving portion 49 on the slider 4 side is pushed backward by the pressing lever 62, and the slider 4 retreats as indicated by arrow X3 in FIG. At this time, the retracting distance of the slider 4 is more than the distance until the contact piece member 16 is separated from the electrode forming area 106 on the card 100 side or the surface of the card body on the front side thereof and the card holding force by the contact piece member 16 is released. The distance is not short. Therefore, after the receiving portion 49 is pushed by the pressing lever 62 and the slider 4 retreats to the position shown in FIG. 6, the slider 4 retreats as shown by arrow X4 in FIG. 6 due to the elastic urging force of the spring body 48. Return to the initial position of 4. After the slider 4 returns to the initial position in this way, the card 100 can be pulled out by pulling the card 100 rearward to forcibly retract the engaging portion 53 of the spring plate 52 from the locked portion 107 of the card 100. You can

In this embodiment, the elastic urging force of the spring body 48 urging the slider 4 in the backward direction is smaller than the card holding force of the contact piece member 16 described above. Therefore, while the contact piece member 16 is elastically contacting the electrode forming area 106 of the card 100 and the like to exert the card holding force, the situation that the slider 4 retracts due to the elastic urging force of the spring body 48 does not occur. On the other hand, the slider 4
After the operation of retracting the slider 4 by pressing the receiving portion 49 on the side by the pressing lever 62 on the side of the swinging body 6 and the above card holding force is released, the elastic urging force of the spring body 48 causes The slider 4 moves backward. Therefore, the elastic urging force of the spring body 48 is reduced to reduce the card 1 when ejecting the card.
It is possible to prevent the 00 from jumping out.

[0033]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a card connector which can exhibit a card holding function and an eject function by a single component. Also,
It is possible to provide a card connector in which card ejection does not easily occur when the card is ejected. Furthermore, it becomes possible to provide a card connector that facilitates miniaturization.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of a card connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the card connector in an initial state.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram in an initial state when a card is mounted on the slider.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram when the slider is locked.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation when a card is ejected.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 showing the positional relationship between the oscillating body and the slider.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between the oscillating body and the slider when the slider is slightly pushed in.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram corresponding to FIG. 5 showing the positional relationship between the oscillating body and the slider.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the oscillating body and the slider.
It is explanatory drawing corresponding to.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of the card seen from the back side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 body 4 slider 6 rocker 7 Control lever 16 Contact piece 49 Receiver 54 Locked part 55 guideway 56 Locked surface 61 Locking part 62 Push lever 63 protruding piece 100 cards

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-28990 (JP, A) JP-A-3-102589 (JP, A) JP-A-11-176516 (JP, A) JP-A-2001-52816 (JP, A) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-312854 (JP, A) Actual Development 1-113974 (JP, U) Actual Development 2-52279 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) ) H01R 13/633 B42D 15/10 521 G06K 17/00 H01R 23/68 301

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A card holding slider, which is pushed by a card and moved from a retracted position to an advanced position, is attached to a body so as to be movable back and forth, and is held in elastic contact with the card pushed to the advanced position. The slider is equipped with a contact piece that exerts force, and the slider always moves in the backward direction.
In a card connector which is urged by time, a locked portion is provided on an outer edge of the slider, and a locking portion as a mating portion of the locked portion holds the slider so that the slider can move back and forth. Is provided on a swinging body that is swingably attached to the body in a forward and reverse direction, and the locking portion engages with the locked portion when the slider enters the forward position. The oscillating body is always elastically biased in a positive direction so that it can be stopped, and the oscillating body moves in the opposite direction to disengage the locking portion locked to the locked portion from the locked portion. The rocking body is provided with a pressing lever for pressing the receiving portion provided on the slider in the backward direction of the slider to move the slider backward when the slider is swung against the positive elastic force. And the contact is made by pressing with this pressing lever. Member and the slider to a position where the card holding force is released so is retracted by, bullet with onset force urges the slider in the backward direction,
A card connector characterized by being set to be smaller than the card holding force of the contact piece member . 2. A guide surface, wherein the locked portion is provided on an outer side surface of the slider and is inclined so as to be positioned outward toward a rear end side, and a stepped shape continuous to the rear end of the guide surface. The card connector according to claim 1, further comprising a locked surface. 3. A front end portion of an operation lever, which is long in the front-rear direction for swinging the swinging body in the reverse direction against the elastic biasing force in the forward direction, is connected to a projecting piece provided on the swinging body. The card connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation lever is provided along the side surface of the body.