JP4340636B2 - Card connector - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a card connector used in an electronic device, and more particularly to a low profile and thin card connector used in a portable small electronic device such as a mobile phone.

Various electronic parts such as electric / electronic elements, ICs, operation switches, connectors and the like used in electronic devices generally include metal parts and resin parts, and these are assembled together. In such an electronic component, when joining components such as a metal component and a resin component, a method of fitting a concave and convex or insert molding has been conventionally employed from the viewpoint of cost and productivity. For example, as a conventional example of a joining method by concave-convex fitting, there is a card connector cover locking structure described in Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent No. 3390939

  However, with respect to electronic components used in portable small electronic devices, with the demand for low profile and thinness and miniaturization, the bonding space is increasingly reduced, and the conventional bonding method is becoming difficult. Alternatively, there is a method of using an adhesive such as a thermosetting adhesive or UV adhesive as a space-saving joining method, but this method takes time and labor for joining, and also increases the size and joining strength after joining. There is a problem in that variations are likely to occur, resulting in an increase in cost, a decrease in productivity, and a decrease in assembly accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a card connector that achieves a low profile and a low profile while achieving high productivity with high accuracy and low cost.

In order to achieve the above object, a card connector according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a metal frame made of a sheet metal and an insulator made of resin and holding a plurality of contacts, wherein the metal frame is a left and right side portion of the insulator. And a left and right guide frame part that is detachably fitted to the left and right side parts of the memory card, and a connecting part that crosses the lower surface side of the insulator and connects the left and right guide frame parts. The card connector is configured to be insertable from one end side of the left and right guide frame portions to the upper surface side of the insulator, and by this insertion, the contact is electrically connected to an electrode of the memory card, and the connecting portion is the card connector. Bonded to the bottom surface of the insulator with a heat-resistant double-sided tape, And it forms a recess having the plate thickness and the double-sided tape thickness plus dimensions substantially the same depth of the metal frame on the surface mate with each other and the connecting portion across the double-sided tape.

A card connector according to a second aspect of the present invention is the card connector according to the first aspect, wherein the maximum thickness of the insulator is A, the thickness of the double-sided tape is B, and the thickness of the metal frame is C. The thickness relationship of the person is set to A> B + C.

According to the card connector of the invention according to claim 1, it is possible to join the metal frame of the card connector and the insulator in a space-saving manner, and to enable reflow soldering to the circuit board. Compared to the bonding method using an adhesive, the time and labor required for bonding can be greatly reduced by using double-sided tape with adhesive, and the dimensions after bonding with the stable (constant) thickness of double-sided tape In addition, it is possible to eliminate variations in bonding strength, and to achieve further reduction in thickness and size of the card connector while achieving high productivity at low cost with high accuracy.

Moreover, the positioning between the metal frame and the insulator to be joined by the double-sided tape is performed by the mutual fitting structure, so that the positioning between the metal frame and the insulator to be joined by the double-sided tape can be reliably performed with high accuracy.

According to the card connector of the invention according to claim 2, the insulator and the metal frame can be joined to each other using the heat-resistant double-sided tape within the maximum thickness A of the insulator, and the thickness of the card connector can be greatly reduced. Can be thinned.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment will be described as an example of a card connector to which the present invention is applied . 1 is an external perspective view of the card connector of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the card connector of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the card connector of FIG. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the card connector, and FIG. 5 is a sectional side view of the card connector of FIG. In the following description, the arrow ab direction in FIG. 1 is the vertical direction (thickness direction), the arrow cd direction is the left-right direction (width direction), and the arrow ef direction is the front-rear direction (unless otherwise noted). The description will be made assuming that the length direction = card insertion / extraction direction.

  1 and 3, reference numeral 100 denotes a memory card for which the card connector 1 of the present embodiment is used. One surface of the memory card is on the opposite side (front side) to the end of the card connector 1 on the insertion side (rear side). A plurality of front and rear electrodes 110 and 120 are arranged in two rows in the front and rear direction, and a corner dropping part 130 is provided on one side of the one end. In the normal insertion posture of the memory card 100 with respect to the card connector 1 of the present embodiment, the corner drop portion 130 is positioned on one side of the front end portion, and the electrode arrangement surface is down.

  And as shown in FIGS. 1-5, the card connector 1 of a present Example is a metal frame 20 formed by pressing (punching and bending) a thin plate metal having a plate thickness C as a component, A rectangular plate-like insulator 50 having a thickness A that holds a plurality of front and rear contacts 30 and 40 that are formed by insert molding and are electrically connected to the front and rear electrodes 110 and 120 of the memory card 100 is provided, and the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 are provided. Are joined and integrated with a double-sided tape (double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape) 60 having a thickness B. Here, the double-sided tape 60 has a high heat resistance that can withstand this reflow soldering process (at an atmosphere of about 260 ° C.) in consideration of the reflow soldering process when the card connector 1 is surface-mounted on a circuit board (not shown). I am using something.

  Next, each component of the card connector 1 of the present embodiment will be described. The metal frame 20 as a metal part is raised upward from the outer edge of the H-shaped bottom plate portion 21 facing the lower surface (electrode arrangement surface) of the memory card 100 and the left and right side portions 21a and 21b of the bottom plate portion 21. Left and right side plate portions 22a and 22b facing the left and right side surfaces of the memory card 100, and an upper surface (surface opposite to the electrode arrangement surface) of the memory card 100 extending inward from the upper edges of the left and right side plate portions 22a and 22b The left and right top plate portions 23a and 23b that face the side portions are formed, and the left side portion 21a, the left side plate portion 22a, and the left top plate portion 23a of the bottom plate portion 21 are detachably fitted to the left side portion of the memory card 100. The left guide frame portion 24a extending in the front-rear direction (card insertion / extraction direction) is formed, and the memory card 1 is composed of the right side portion 21b, the right side plate portion 22b, and the right top plate portion 23b of the bottom plate portion 21. A right guide frame portion 24b extending in the front-rear direction (card insertion / removal direction) is formed in a U-shaped cross-section in which the right side portion of 0 is detachably fitted, and a strip-like portion extending in the left-right direction at the center portion of the bottom plate portion 21 is a left-right guide frame. It becomes the connection part 21c which connects the part 24a, 24b integrally, and is formed in planar view H type as a whole. In addition, card receiving portions 25a and 25b are provided at the rear ends of the left and right guide frame portions 24a and 24b, and a card insertion slot 26 is formed between the front end portions of the left and right guide frame portions 24a and 24b. Further, the metal frame 20 has left and right leg portions 27a and 27b for soldering to the circuit board protruding from the left and right side plate portions 22a and 22b so that the lower surface thereof is flush with the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 21. Has been.

  The insulator 50 as a resin component (molded component) is disposed between the left and right guide frame portions 24 a and 24 b on the upper surface side of the bottom plate portion 21 of the metal frame 20, and the connecting portion 21 c of the metal frame 20 that crosses the center of the lower surface of the insulator 50. The two-sided tape 60 is fixed to the surface. Here, a band-shaped central recess 51 is formed in the lower surface center portion of the insulator 50 corresponding to the connecting portion 21c of the metal frame 20, and the left and right side portions of the bottom plate portion 21 in the metal frame 20 are formed. Left and right recesses 52a and 52b that fit into the inner edges of the left and right sides 21a and 21b are formed on the left and right edges of the lower surface of the insulator 50 corresponding to the inner edges of 21a and 21b. Positioning between the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 is performed by such a fitting structure on the metal frame 20 side and the insulator 50 side, and at the time of the fitting, the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 21 and the lower surface of the insulator 50 in the metal frame 20 The depth of the central recess 51 is set to be approximately the same as the dimension obtained by adding the thickness C of the metal frame 20 and the thickness B of the double-sided tape 60, and the depths of the left and right recesses 52a and 52b are made of metal. It is set to have approximately the same dimension as the plate thickness C of the frame 20. The maximum thickness A of the insulator 50 (for example, 0.5 mm) so that the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 can be joined by the double-sided tape 60 and the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 can be fitted within the maximum thickness A of the insulator 50. The thickness relationship between the thickness B (for example, 0.05 mm) of the double-sided tape 60 and the plate thickness C (for example, 0.25 mm) of the metal frame 20 is set to A> B + C. Further, the center of the fitting portion of the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 is secured as a joint portion by the double-sided tape 60, and a relatively large joining area is secured while reducing the weight and reducing the fitting area. The fitting shape of the frame 20 and the insulator 50 is an H shape.

In addition, the front and rear thick portions 53a and 53b having the maximum thickness A other than the thin portions of the central concave portion 51 and the left and right concave portions 52a and 52b in the insulator 50 are formed with through holes penetrating the front and rear thick portions 53a and 53b in the vertical direction. A plurality of narrow front and rear contact housing holes 54a and 54b (three in this embodiment) that are long in the front-rear direction are juxtaposed in the left-right direction. The front and rear contacts 30 and 40 are disposed in the front and rear contact housing holes 54a and 54b. In this manner, the insulator 50 has a plurality of front and rear rows (front side) and rear side (back side) corresponding to the front and rear electrodes 110 and 120 of the memory card 100 (in this embodiment). Then, the front and rear contacts 30, 40 in a total of 6 in the front row and 3 in the rear row are arranged.

  The front and rear contacts 30 and 40 are made of narrow metal thin plates, and horizontally support fulcrum portions 30a and 40a, and spring arm portions 30b that are elastically displaced in the vertical direction and extend obliquely upward from one end side of the fulcrum portions 30a and 40a, 40b, chevron-shaped movable contact portions 30c, 40c provided at the tips of the spring arm portions 30b, 40b and serving as contacts with the front and rear electrodes 110, 120 of the memory card 100, and a step downward from the other end side of the fulcrum portions 30a, 40a Fixed contact portions 30e and 40e that are extended horizontally through the portions 30d and 40d and serve as contacts with respect to the wiring pattern of the circuit board are continuously and integrally formed. The front contact 30 has a fulcrum portion 30a embedded in the resin of the front thick portion 53a between the front side surface of the insulator 50 and the front wall surface of the front contact storage hole 54a. The spring arm portion 30b and the movable contact portion 30c on one side of the fulcrum portion 30a are fixedly extended in the front contact housing hole 54a toward the card insertion direction (rear) in a plan view, and in a free state in a side view. The tip end side of the spring arm portion 30b and the movable contact portion 30a protrude upward from the upper surface of the insulator 50, and the stepped portion 30d and the fixed contact portion 30e on the other side of the fulcrum portion 30a have the lower surface of the fixed contact portion 30e on the insulator. 50 is protruded forward from the front side surface of the insulator 50 so as to be flush with the lower surfaces of the front and rear thick wall portions 53a and 53b. That. On the other hand, the rear contact 40 has a fulcrum portion 40a embedded in the resin of the rear thick portion 53b between the rear side surface of the insulator 50 and the rear wall surface of the rear contact storage hole 54b. The spring arm portion 40b and the movable contact portion 40c on one side of the fulcrum portion 40a are fixed to the end portion and extend in a direction opposite to the card insertion direction (card removal direction, front side) in the rear contact storage hole 54b in plan view. In the free state, the tip side portion of the spring arm portion 40b and the movable contact portion 40c protrude upward from the upper surface of the insulator 50 in a free state, and the step portion 40d and the fixed contact portion 40e on the other side of the fulcrum portion 40a. Is the rear side of the insulator 50 so that the lower surface of the fixed contact portion 40e is flush with the lower surfaces of the front and rear thick portions 53a and 53b of the insulator 50. It protrudes more backward. As described above, the insulator 50 has the rear contacts 40 facing the front contacts 30 that are not opposed to the card insertion direction in front and rear rows (front side) and rear side (back side) along the card insertion direction. Are arranged opposite to each other.

  Next, the assembly of the card connector 1 of the present embodiment will be described. This assembly is performed by joining and integrating the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 configured as described above using a heat-resistant double-sided tape 60, and the upper surface of the connecting portion 21c of the metal frame 20 or the insulator. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a double-sided tape 60 cut to an outer shape and size (area) that is slightly smaller than the outer shape and size (area) is attached to the surface of the lower central recess 51 of 50. The metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 are opposed to each other, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the connecting portion 21c of the metal frame 20 and the central recess 51 of the insulator 50 are fitted together with the double-sided tape 60 interposed therebetween, and at the same time, the metal frame 20 The inner side edge portions of the left and right side portions 21a and 21b of the bottom plate portion 21 and the left and right recess portions 52a and 52b of the insulator 50 are also included. Because alignment, the central portion of the lower surface of the insulator 50 to the connecting portion 21c of the metal frame 20 by fixing the attachment of the double-sided tape 60, the assembly is completed. In this assembled state, as shown in FIG. 1, an insulator 50 is disposed between the left and right guide frame portions 24 a and 24 b on the upper surface side of the bottom plate portion 21 of the metal frame 20, and the bottom plate of the metal frame 20 is formed by the insulator 50. A rear contact 40 that faces the front contact 30 that is not opposed to the card insertion direction between the left and right guide frame portions 24a and 24b on the upper surface side of the portion 21 has a front side (front side) and a rear side along the card insertion direction ( Oppositely arranged in two rows before and after (back side). 3, the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 21 and the lower surfaces of the left and right leg portions 27a and 27b in the metal frame 20, the lower surfaces of the front and rear thick portions 53a and 53b in the insulator 50, and the fixed contact portions in the front and rear contacts 30 and 40 The lower surfaces of 30e and 40e are all flush, and a flat lower surface that can be surface-mounted on a circuit board is formed.

  When assembling the card connector 1 of the present embodiment as described above, the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 can be joined in a space-saving manner, and reflow soldering to the circuit board is also possible. By using the double-sided tape 60 having the properties, the labor and time required for joining can be greatly reduced as compared with a joining method using an adhesive, and the stable (constant) thickness B of the double-sided tape 60 can be obtained. Thus, variations in dimensions and bonding strength after bonding can be almost eliminated, and further reduction in thickness and size of the card connector 1 can be achieved while achieving high productivity with high accuracy and low cost.

  Further, positioning between the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 to be joined by the double-sided tape 60 is performed with a mutual fitting structure, so that the positioning between the metal frame 20 to be joined by the double-sided tape 60 and the insulator 50 is reliably and accurately performed. Can do. In addition, by setting the three thickness relationships of the maximum thickness A of the insulator 50, the thickness B of the double-sided tape 60, and the plate thickness C of the metal frame 20 to A> B + C, the double-sided tape 60 of the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 is used. Since the joining and fitting of the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 can be performed within the maximum thickness A of the insulator 50, the thickness of the card connector 1 can be made very thin. Furthermore, by configuring the fitting shape of the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 to be H-shaped, the center portion of the fitting portion is secured as a joint portion by the double-sided tape 60 between the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 and is lightweight. Since a relatively large joining area can be secured with a small fitting area, the positional accuracy between the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 to be joined by the double-sided tape 60 can be higher and can be stably maintained together with the joining strength. .

  The card connector 1 of this embodiment as a product assembled as described above is surface-mounted on a circuit board (not shown), and the left and right leg portions 27a and 27b of the metal frame 20 are fixed to the circuit board by reflow soldering, The fixed contact portions 30e, 40e of the front and rear contacts 30, 40 are electrically connected to the wiring pattern of the circuit board by reflow soldering. Here, the double-sided tape 60 used for joining the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 has a high heat resistance that can withstand a reflow soldering process (at an atmosphere of about 260 ° C.), and a thermal deformation or a decrease in adhesive strength is achieved. In addition, since the heat loss hardly occurs, the fitting structure of the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 is also helped, and the product shape, rigidity, and strength can be appropriately maintained. Moreover, by soldering at least one of the metal frame 20 and the insulator 50 to be joined by the double-sided tape 60 to the circuit board, the rigidity and strength as a product can be further improved after mounting on the circuit board.

  Next, the function of the card connector 1 of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, when the memory card 100 is inserted between the left and right guide frame portions 24a and 24b through the card insertion slot 26 in a normal insertion posture, the memory card 100 is placed on the top surface of the insulator 50 along the left and right guide frame portions 24a and 24b. As shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the rear contacts 40 are sequentially stored in the front and rear contacts 40 facing the non-opposing front contacts 30 with respect to the card insertion direction protruding from the upper surface of the insulator 50. As shown in FIG. 1, the rear side surface of the memory card 100 is received by the left and right card receiving portions 25a and 25b while being pushed down into the holes 54a and 54b. The card is installed in a restricted card set position. The movable contact portions 30c, 40c of the 30, 40 are in contact with and electrically connected to the front and rear electrodes 110, 120 of the memory card 100, whereby the memory card 100 and the electronic device are electrically connected via the front and rear contacts 30, 40. To enable input / output of various data between the memory card 100 and the electronic device.

1 is an external perspective view of a card connector according to the present invention . It is a disassembled perspective view of the card connector of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the state which turned the card connector of FIG. 1 upside down. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the card connector of FIG. 3. It is a cross-sectional side view of the card connector of FIG.

1 card connector 20 metal frame 21 bottom plate part 21a, 21b left right part 21c connecting part 24a, 24b left and right guide frame part 27a, 27b left and right leg part 30, 40 contact 30c, 40c movable contact part 30e, 40e fixed contact part 50 insulator 51 Central recess 52a, 52b Left and right recesses 100 Memory card 110, 120 Electrode A Maximum thickness of insulator B Double-sided tape thickness C Metal frame thickness

Claims (2)

A metal frame made of a thin metal and an insulator made of resin and holding a plurality of contacts, the metal frame being arranged on the left and right sides of the insulator and fitting the left and right sides of the memory card so as to be detachable It has a guide frame part and a connecting part that crosses the lower surface side of the insulator and connects the left and right guide frame parts, and the memory card can be inserted from one end side of the left and right guide frame parts into the upper surface side of the insulator. A card connector in which the contact is electrically connected to an electrode of the memory card by this insertion, and the connecting portion is joined to the lower surface of the insulator by a double-sided tape having heat resistance, The thickness of the metal frame and the thickness of the double-sided tape were added to the bottom surface. Law and the card connector, characterized in that substantially have the same depth to form the recess mate with each other and the connecting portion across the double-sided tape. The maximum thickness of the insulator is A, the thickness of the double-sided tape is B, the plate thickness of the metal frame is C, and the thickness relationship of these three is set as A> B + C. Card connector.

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