JP4334583B2 - Memory card connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a memory card connector used for writing data to a memory card such as an IC card used in a small electronic device such as a mobile phone and a personal computer, and for reading data from the memory card.

Conventionally, as this type of memory card connector, a memory card connector 100 is known as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 (Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-66586 A

  That is, the memory card connector 100 is fixed to the housing 110 as shown in FIG. 8, a cover 130 attached to the housing 110 and forming a card insertion slot 120 between the housing 110 and the housing 110. A plurality of terminals 150 having contact portions 150 that can come into contact with the electrode portions of the memory card 200 inserted into the insertion slot 120, and a slider 160 that is movably attached along the upper surface of the cover 130 are assembled. 5 and 7 are formed.

  The slider 160 is formed with guide portions 161 and 161 that engage with the guides 131 and 131 formed on both sides of the cover 130, and the slider 160 is guided so as to be movable along the insertion / extraction direction of the memory card 200. In addition, the housing 110 is formed with front stopper steps 111 and 111 that abut against the guide portions 161 and 161 when the slider 160 moves forward to limit the forward movement, and guide when the slider 160 moves backward. Rear stopper step portions 112 and 112 that abut against the portions 161 and 161 to restrict rearward movement are formed, and the movement of the slider 160 in the front-rear direction is restricted between the stopper step portions 111, 111, 112, and 112. Is done.

  When the memory card 200 inserted into the card insertion slot 120 of the memory card connector 100 is removed, the slider 160 is pulled forward by holding the handle 162 provided at the front end of the slider 160. By ejecting the slider 160, the eject claws 163 and 163 provided at the rear end of the slider 160 pull out the memory card 200 from the card insertion slot 120. Next, the slider 160 is pushed backward. By pushing the slider 160, only the memory card 200 is left in a state of being pulled forward, and the memory card 200 is pulled out from the card insertion slot 120 of the memory card connector 100 by grasping and pulling out the memory card 200.

However, since the conventional memory card connector 100 shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 includes the housing 110, the cover 130, the plurality of terminals 150, and the slider 160, the structure is complicated. was there.
Further, when the memory card 200 inserted into the card insertion slot 120 of the memory card connector 100 is removed, an operation of pulling out the slider 160 to pull out the memory card 200 from the card insertion slot 120, and leaving only the slider 160 leaving the memory card 200. Since the operation of pushing in and the operation of extracting the remaining memory card 200 are required, there is a problem that the operation of ejecting the memory card 200 becomes complicated.
Further, when the memory card 200 is ejected, the lower surface and the electrode portion of the memory card 200 are not only slidably contacted with the contact portions of the plurality of terminals 150 to become resistance, but the upper surface of the memory card 200 is slid with the inner surface of the cover 130. Since there is a resistance due to dynamic contact, there is a problem that the extraction resistance of the memory card 200 increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a memory card connector that has a simple structure and can easily and smoothly eject a memory card.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing (10) and a card insertion slot (20) which is mounted on the housing (10) so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and has a front insertion slot between the housing (10). A metal slide cover (30) to be formed, and a connection terminal having a contact portion fixed to the housing (10) and capable of contacting the electrode portion of the memory card (200) inserted into the card insertion slot (20) ( 50 to 50) and a coil which is accommodated in a spring accommodating recess (18) formed in the housing (10), and engages the housing (10) and the slide cover (30) to urge the slide cover (30) backward. And a memory card inserted into the card insertion slot (20) when the slide cover (30) is moved forward. Engages (200) to form an eject pawl (39) for discharging the memory card (200) forward, fixed to the housing (10), outwards substantially horizontally from the outer surface of each side of the housing (10) Fixing terminals (60) (60) each having a protruding horizontal part (61) (61) and a connection part (63) (63) connected to the substrate by being connected to the horizontal part (61) (61). The slide cover (30) includes a slide cover main body (32) covering the housing (10), and is provided on both sides of the slide cover main body (32). 61) A first guide piece (45) (45) that engages with (61) and guides the slide cover (30) to be movable in the front-rear direction and restricts the rearward movement of the slide cover (30). , First guide piece (45) ( 5) provided with stopper claws (37) and (37) that are connected to the slide cover (30) to restrict the forward movement of the slide cover (30), and the eject claws (39) are moved downward from the rear end of the slide cover body (32). It is characterized by being suspended .

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the first guide pieces (45) (45) are suspended downward from both sides of the slide cover body (32), and the slide cover (30) is rearward. Stopper pieces (34) and (34) that abut against the horizontal portions (61) and (61) and restrict the backward movement of the slide cover (30) when moved to the position, and stopper pieces (34) and (34) The guide gaps (35) and (35) are formed continuously from the front end side to the rear side of the slide cover body and open to the rear side, and the guide gaps (35) and (35) are formed. And the arm pieces (36), (36) for movably engaging the fixing terminals (60), (60) with the stopper claws (37), (37) of the arm pieces (36), (36). It is characterized by projecting upward from the tip .

In the present invention, the memory card connector is composed of a housing, a slide cover, a plurality of connection terminals, and a coil spring, and the two parts of the conventional cover and slider are combined as one part of the slide cover. Can be easy.
Furthermore, when removing the memory card inserted in the card insertion slot, pull out the slide cover, pull out the memory card from the card insertion slot with the eject claws, and then release the slide cover. The operation of returning to the original position (predetermined initial position) and pushing only the slider as in the conventional example becomes unnecessary. For this reason, the memory card can be ejected in two steps: pulling out the slide cover and pulling out the memory card from the card insertion slot, and removing the memory card remaining after the slide cover is pulled out. The discharging operation can be made easier than in the conventional example.
In addition, since the memory card moves in conjunction with the slide cover when the memory card is ejected, the upper surface of the memory card does not make sliding contact with the inner surface of the slide cover. Since only the sliding contact with the contact portion of the connection terminal becomes resistance, the memory card can be smoothly ejected.

In this invention, the fixing terminal fixed to the housing has a horizontal portion, and the first guide piece formed on the slide cover engages with the horizontal portion of the fixing terminal so that the slide cover can be moved in the front-rear direction. In addition to guiding and restricting the back movement of the slide cover, the stopper claw restricts the movement of the slide cover to the front, so the force applied to the slide cover during the memory card ejection operation is used for metal fixing It can be received by the terminal, the connector strength can be improved, and the strength against the slide cover coming off from the housing can be improved.

In the present invention, the first guide piece is formed by the stopper piece portion and the arm piece portion, and the stopper claw protrudes upward from the tip end portion of the arm piece portion, so that the configuration of the first guide piece and the stopper claw is simple. Can be.

According to the present invention , a guide step portion and a spring accommodating recess are formed on the side plate of the housing, and second guide pieces that engage with the guide step portion are vertically provided on both sides of the slide cover, and the protrusion is engaged with the slide cover by cutting and raising. Since the engagement protrusion is engaged with the rear end of the coil spring accommodated in the spring accommodating recess to urge the slide cover backward, the slide cover is moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the housing. A structure for moving and a structure for returning the slide cover to the original position when the memory card is ejected can be simplified.

1 to 3 show an embodiment of a memory card connector according to the present invention. In these drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a memory card connector mounted on a printed wiring board (hereinafter simply referred to as a board). .
The memory card connector 1 includes an insulating housing (hereinafter simply referred to as a housing) 10, a slide cover 30 that is attached to the housing 10 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and forms a card insertion slot 20 between the housing 10, Six connection terminals 50 fixed to the housing 10 so that the contact portion faces the card insertion slot 20; two first fixing terminals 60 and second fixing terminals 70 fixed to the housing 10; The coil spring 80 is engaged with the housing 10 and the slide cover 30 to urge the slide cover 30 backward.

As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 10 is formed of an insulating synthetic resin, is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape in plan view, and has a bottom plate 12 in which a notch 11 is formed on the rear end side. Side plates 13 and 13 erected upward from both sides, and back plates 15 and 15 erected upward from both sides of the notch 11 on the rear side of the bottom plate 12 and connected to the side plates 13 and 13, It is formed with.
Guide steps 16, 16 are formed in the middle of the outer side surfaces of the side plates 13, 13 to guide the slide cover 30 in the front-rear direction when the slide cover 30 is attached to the housing 10. Stopper step surfaces 17, 17, 17, and 17 are formed at the front and rear end portions of 16.
One of the side plates 13, 13 is formed wider than the other, and the side plate 13 on the wide side is formed with a spring accommodating recess 18 that opens upward and accommodates the coil spring 80.

The six connection terminals 50, the two first fixing terminals 60, and the second fixing terminals 70 are integrally formed by punching, bending, or the like of a conductive metal plate, and are inserted when the housing 10 is molded. It is incorporated into the housing 10 by molding.
The connection part between each terminal 50-50, 60, 60, 70, 70 is cut | disconnected by punching the predetermined location (illustration omitted) of the housing 10 after insert molding.

The six connection terminals 50 are fixed to the housing 10 as in the conventional example shown in FIG.
The first fixing terminals 60, 60 are fixed to the housing 10, and the horizontal portions 61, 61 project substantially horizontally from the upper outer surface on the front side of the side plates 13, 13 of the housing 10, and the horizontal portion 61. , 61 are connected via connecting portions 62, 62, and are connected to 63, 63 serving as solder connecting portions to the substrate.
The second fixing terminals 70, 70 are fixed to the housing 10, and are connected to the connecting portions 71, 71 protruding outward from the lower part of the outer side of the rear side of the side plates 13, 13 of the housing 10 and soldered to the substrate at the tip side. It has.

  The slide cover 30 is formed by punching, bending, or the like of a conductive metal plate. As shown in FIG. 3, the slide cover 30 is formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape in plan view and has a notch 31 formed on the rear end side. A main body 32, a handle 33 erected upward from the front end of the slide cover main body 32, first and second guide pieces 45, 45, 38, 38 provided on both sides of the slide cover main body 32, Stopper claws 37, 37 provided continuously with the guide pieces 45, 45, and ejecting claws 39, 39 provided continuously with the rear end of the slide cover main body 32 to restrict the forward movement of the slide cover 30. .

The notch 31 of the slide cover 30 is formed at a position that substantially overlaps the notch 11 of the housing 10 when the slide cover 30 is attached to the housing 10.
The eject claws 39 are suspended downward from the rear end of the slide cover main body 32 and project into the notch 11 of the housing 10 when the slide cover 30 is attached to the housing 10 to be inserted into the card insertion slot 20. It is formed at a position where it abuts against the tip of the memory card 200.
On the slide cover main body 32 of the slide cover 30, a spring engaging protrusion 41 is formed by cutting and raising to engage with the rear end of the coil spring 80 accommodated in the spring accommodating recess 18.

The first guide pieces 45, 45 are formed by stopper piece parts 34, 34 and arm piece parts 36, 36 and engage with the horizontal parts 61, 61 of the first fixing terminals 60, 60 to move the slide cover 30 forward and backward. The guide is movably guided in the direction, and the backward movement of the slide cover 30 is limited.
The stopper pieces 34, 34 are suspended downward from the front on both sides of the slide cover main body 32, and are attached to the horizontal portions 61, 61 of the first fixing terminals 60, 60 when the slide cover 30 is attached to the housing 10. The arm cover portions 36 and 36 are connected in a cantilever plate shape toward the rear from the front end portions of the stopper pieces 34 and 34, and are in contact with each other. 32, guide gaps 35, 35 opened rearward are formed, and the horizontal portions 61, 61 of the first fixing terminals 60, 60 can be moved in the front-rear direction in the guide gaps 35, 35. It is combined.
The stopper claws 37, 37 are erected upward from the distal end side of the arm piece portions 36, 36, and come into contact with the horizontal portions 61, 61 of the first fixing terminals 60, 60, so that the slide covers 30 are moved forward. The movement is restricted.

  The second guide pieces 38, 38 are suspended downward from the rear on both sides of the slide cover main body 32, engage with the guide step portions 16, 16 of the housing 10, and guide the slide cover 30 to be movable in the front-rear direction. At the same time, the movement of the slide cover 30 in the front-rear direction is restricted by contacting the stopper step surfaces 17, 17, 17, 17 of the guide step portions 16, 16.

Next, assembly of the memory card connector 1 will be described.
(1) The housing 10 is formed by synthetic resin molding, and terminal groups 50 to 50, 60, 60, 70, 70 formed in a series at the time of molding of the housing 10 are assembled and fixed to the housing 10 by insert molding, By piercing a predetermined portion (not shown), the connecting portion between the terminals is cut to form the housing 10 in which the terminal groups 50 to 50, 60, 60, 70, 70 are incorporated as shown in the lower side of FIG. Is done.

(2) A slide cover 30 shown in the upper side of FIG. 3 formed by punching or bending a conductive metal plate is mounted on the housing 10 shown in the lower side of FIG. 3, and a card is placed between the slide cover 30 and the housing 10. The memory card connector 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for forming the insertion slot 20 is formed.
When the slide cover 30 is mounted on the housing 10, first, the stopper claws 37, 37 of the slide cover 30 are positioned on the upper part of the housing 10 in front of the first fixing terminals 60, 60. The second guide pieces 38 and 38 are aligned so that they are positioned above the guide step portions 16 and 16 of the housing 10, and the slide cover 30 is put on the housing 10 as shown by the arrow a, so that the second guide pieces are covered. 38, 38 are engaged with the guide steps 16, 16, and then the slide cover 30 is moved rearwardly as indicated by an arrow b to fix the housing 10 in the guide gaps 35, 35 of the slide cover 30. The horizontal portions 61, 61, 61 of the terminals 60, 60 are engaged.
At the same time that the slide cover 30 is mounted on the housing 10, the coil spring 80 is simultaneously compressed in the spring accommodating recess 18 of the housing 10 while its rear end is engaged with the spring engagement protrusion 41 of the slide cover 30. Is housed in.

  (3) By the above (1) and (2), the slide cover 30 is attached to the housing 10 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and is urged rearward by the coil spring 80, as shown in FIGS. The memory card 200 is not inserted. When the memory card 200 is not inserted, the stopper pieces 34, 34 of the first guide pieces 45, 45 abut against the horizontal portions 61, 61 of the first fixing terminals 60, 60, and the second guide piece 38. 38 are in contact with the stopper step surfaces 17 and 17, and the rearward movement of the slide cover 30 is limited to a predetermined position (initial state position).

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In the memory card connector 1, the connection portions 50 to 50, the connection portions 63 and 63 of the first fixing terminals 60 and 60, and the connection portion 71 of the second fixing terminals 70 and 70 are formed on a substrate (not shown). It is mounted on the substrate by soldering to the connection land above.
Hereinafter, the description will be made separately when the card is fitted, when the card is ejected, and when the card is taken out.

(1) At the time of card fitting When the memory card 200 is inserted into the card insertion slot 20 of the memory card connector 1 and fitted, the state shown in FIG.
That is, the memory card 200 is inserted into the card insertion slot 20 of the memory card connector 1 and inserted until the front end of the memory card 200 contacts the inner surface of the back plates 15 and 15 of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. It will be in such a state.
At this time, the front end portion of the memory card 200 is also in contact with the ejection claws 39 of the slide cover 30.
In addition, the electrode portion of the memory card 200 is in elastic contact with the contact portion of the connection terminals 50 to 50 and is electrically connected to the electric circuit on the substrate.

(2) Card Ejection When the slide cover 30 is pulled forward with the handle 33 of the slide cover 30 in order to eject the memory card 200 from the card insertion slot 20, the state shown in FIG.
That is, when the slide cover 30 is pulled forward, the memory card 200 is pulled forward by the eject claws 39, 39 of the slide cover 30, and the stopper claws 37, 37 of the slide cover 30 are horizontally connected to the first fixing terminals 60, 60. The forward movement is restricted by contacting the portions 61 and 61, and the coil spring 80 that engages with the spring engagement protrusion 41 of the slide cover 30 is compressed, resulting in a state as shown in FIG. 4B.
At this time, the first guide pieces 45, 45 formed on the slide cover 30 engage with the horizontal portions 61, 61 of the first fixing terminals 60, 60 to guide the slide cover 30 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. Therefore, when the memory card 200 is removed and the slide cover 30 is covered in the vertical direction of the connector in the memory card 200, the load in the peeling direction applied to the connector soldering portion is alleviated to make it difficult to peel off the soldering portion. Can do.
In addition, the force applied to the slide cover 30 when the memory card 200 is ejected can be received by the horizontal portions 61 and 61 of the first metal fixing terminals 60 and 60, and the connector strength can be improved. Further, the strength against the removal of the slide cover 30 from the housing 10 can be improved.
Furthermore, since the memory card 200 moves together with the slide cover 30 and the upper surface of the memory card 200 does not make sliding contact with the inner surface of the slide cover 30, the ejection operation of the memory card 200 can be made smooth.

(3) When removing the card
When the hand is released from the handle 33 of the slide cover 30 in order to take out the memory card 200, the state shown in FIG.
That is, when the hand is released from the handle 33 of the slide cover 30, only the slide cover 30 is moved backward by the restoring force of the coil spring 80 to return to the initial position, and the memory card 200 can be easily pulled out as shown in FIG. The state is as shown.

  As described in the operations (1), (2), and (3), the memory card 200 is ejected by pulling out the slide cover 30 and pulling out the memory card 200 from the card insertion slot 20 and releasing the slide cover 30 from being pulled out. Since the two-stage operation of removing the remaining memory card 200 is sufficient, the memory card 200 can be easily ejected.

In the embodiment, the movement of the slide cover 30 in the front-rear direction is limited by bringing the stopper pieces 34 and 34 and the stopper claws 37 and 37 into contact with the horizontal portions 61 and 61 of the first fixing terminals 60 and 60. And a second configuration that restricts the movement of the slide cover 30 in the front-rear direction by bringing the second guide pieces 38 and 38 into contact with the stopper step surfaces 17, 17, 17, and 17. The case where the strength of the connector is improved and the strength against the slide cover 30 coming off from the housing 10 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the stopper pieces 34 and 34 and the stopper claws 37 and 37 are brought into contact with the horizontal portions 61 and 61 of the first fixing terminals 60 and 60, thereby restricting the movement of the slide cover 30 in the front-rear direction. And a second configuration that restricts the movement of the slide cover 30 in the front-rear direction by bringing the second guide pieces 38 and 38 into contact with the stopper step surfaces 17, 17, 17, and 17. It is also possible to use a case where a configuration is provided and the other configuration is omitted.

  In the above embodiment, in order to simplify the configuration of the connector, the housing 10 includes the bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13, 13, the guide plates 16, 16 are formed on the side plates 13, 13, and the spring is accommodated in one side plate 13. The recess 18 is formed, and the slide cover 30 includes a slide cover main body 32, a handle 33, and second guide pieces 38 and 38, and the second guide pieces 38 and 38 are engaged with the guide step portions 16 and 16 to slide the cover. 30 is movable in the front-rear direction, and the spring engagement protrusion 41 of the slide cover 30 is engaged with the rear end of the coil spring 80 housed in the spring housing recess 18 so as to urge the slide cover 30 backward. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The slide cover is attached to the housing and forms a card insertion slot between the housing and the housing. And a plurality of terminals fixed to the housing, and a coil spring that is housed in a spring housing recess formed in the housing, engages the housing and the slide cover, and biases the slide cover backward. The present invention can be used for a memory card connector in which an eject claw that engages with a memory card and ejects the memory card forward when the slide cover is moved forward is formed.

It is a perspective view which shows one Example of the connector for memory cards by this invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the memory card connector 1 of FIG. 1 viewed from a different viewpoint from FIG. 1. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a memory card connector 1. FIG. The operation of fitting, ejecting, and removing the memory card 200 with respect to the memory card connector 1 will be described. (A) is when the card is fitted, (b) is when the card is ejected, and (c) is when the card is removed. It is explanatory drawing. It is a top view which shows a prior art example. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a housing 110 in which a plurality of terminals 150 are incorporated, showing a state before the cover 130 and the slider 160 are attached in the memory card connector 100 of FIG. 5. It is the expanded sectional view which cut | disconnected the connector 100 for memory cards along the front-back direction. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a memory card connector 100. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Memory card connector 10 ... Housing 12 ... Bottom plate 13 ... Side plate 18 ... Spring accommodation recessed part 20 ... Card insertion slot 30 ... Slide cover 32 ... Slide cover main body 33 ... Handle 34 ... Stopper piece part 35 ... Guide gap 36 ... Arm Piece 37 ... Stopper claw 38 ... Second guide piece 39 ... Ejection claw 41 ... Spring engaging protrusion 45 ... First guide piece 50 ... Connection terminal 60 ... First fixing terminal 61 ... Horizontal part 63 of the terminal 60 ... Connection portion 70 of the terminal 60 ... second fixing terminal 80 ... coil spring 200 ... memory card

Claims (2)

A metal slide cover (20) which is attached to the housing (10) so as to be movable in the front-rear direction on the housing (10) and forms a card insertion slot (20) with the front as an insertion slot between the housing (10). 30), connection terminals (50 to 50) having contact portions fixed to the housing (10) and capable of contacting the electrode portions of the memory card (200) inserted into the card insertion slot (20), 10), which is housed in a spring housing recess (18) formed by a coil spring (80) which engages the housing (10) and the slide cover (30) and biases the slide cover (30) rearward. The slide cover (30) is engaged with the memory card (200) inserted into the card insertion slot (20) when the slide cover (30) is moved forward. Mori card (200) to form an eject pawl (39) for discharging forward, fixed to the housing (10), a horizontal portion which projects outwardly substantially horizontally from the outer surface of each side of the housing (10) (61) ( 61) and fixing terminals (60) (60) having connection parts (63) (63) connected to the substrate by being connected to the horizontal parts (61) (61), and the slide cover (30) The slide cover main body (32) covering the housing (10) and the slide cover main body (32) are connected to both sides and engaged with the horizontal portions (61) (61) of the fixing terminals (60) (60). The first guide piece (45) and the first guide piece (45) for guiding the slide cover (30) to be movable in the front-rear direction and restricting the backward movement of the slide cover (30). (45) And a stopper pawl (37) (37) for limiting forward movement of the compartment cover (30), characterized in that the eject pawl (39) is vertically provided from the rear end of the sliding cover body (32) downward Memory card connector. The first guide pieces (45) and (45) are suspended downward from both sides of the slide cover main body (32), and come into contact with the horizontal portions (61) and (61) when the slide cover (30) moves rearward. The stopper pieces (34) and (34) for restricting the rearward movement of the slide cover (30), and the stopper pieces (34) and (34) are provided continuously from the front end side to the rear, and the slide cover main body ( 32) and a guide gap (35) (35) having an opening at the rear side is formed, and the fixing terminals (60) (60) are movably engaged with the guide gap (35) (35). The arm pieces (36) and (36) to be formed are formed, and stopper claws (37) and (37) are provided so as to protrude upward from the tip portions of the arm pieces (36) and (36). Item 1. A memory card connector according to Item 1.

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