JP4676525B2 - Card connector assembly - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a card connector assembly for receiving a card such as a memory card (hereinafter simply referred to as a connector assembly), and more particularly to a connector assembly provided with an erroneous insertion preventing piece for preventing erroneous insertion of a card. It is.

  As a connector assembly for preventing an inserted card from being removed, a memory card connector disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-4358 (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-37159) is known. In this connector, a slider that engages with a card inserted from an insertion slot is slidably disposed in the frame of the connector assembly. By pushing an operation knob disposed on the side of the connector assembly, the slider is driven through the shaft to eject the card. The operation knob is configured to rotate to the insertion slot when the card is completely inserted. A pressing portion that interferes with the insertion slot is formed at the insertion slot side end of the operation knob, and accidental removal of the card inserted by the pressing section is prevented.

  In the above-described prior art, since the operation knob is configured to rotate, the occupied area on the board to which the connector is attached increases. That is, a space including a region where a large operation knob rotates is required as an occupied area. In addition, the types (models) of operation knobs that can be used are limited by the restrictions of the mechanism for turning. More specifically, for example, there is known a connector assembly in which an operation knob (ejector) can be pushed into a position so that the operation knob does not protrude from the device in a normal use state where a card is inserted. It has been. In such a connector assembly, a push-push type ejector using a heart cam is used. However, the conventional technology cannot be applied to such a connector assembly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide a connector assembly having a card retaining mechanism that can be incorporated in a connector assembly using any type of ejector. To do.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide a connector assembly having a small area occupied on a board.

The connector assembly of the present invention has a housing having an insertion slot for inserting a card and a plurality of terminals connected to the inserted card, and extends from one side of the housing to the other side so as to be swingable to the housing. A connector assembly for a card having an arranged cam bar and an ejector arranged on one side of the housing so as to be able to engage with the cam bar, wherein the ejector pushes the other end of the cam bar so that one end of the cam bar ejects the card. In three-dimensional
On the other side of the housing is a stopper member that extends in the card insertion / extraction direction and has elasticity, one end is fixed to the other side, and the free end at the other end covers a part of the insertion port, A stopper member having a retaining portion that moves between a retraction position that retracts from a part of the insertion port is provided, and the stopper member has a cam portion at an intermediate portion,
A sliding member connected to the other end of the housing and connected to the other end of the cam bar and deforming the stopper member against elasticity to move the retaining portion into and out of a part of the insertion slot extends along the card insertion / removal direction. Provided to be movable,
When the card is not completely inserted, the sliding member is cam-engaged with the stopper member so as to retract the stopper portion of the stopper member from the insertion port, and when the card is completely inserted, the stopper portion is inserted into the insertion port. The cam engagement between the sliding member and the stopper member is released so as to cover the part and prevent the card from being removed.

  Moreover, it is preferable that a stopper member consists of a leaf | plate spring formed by bending.

  The connector assembly of the present invention includes a housing ejector, a retaining position that covers a part of the insertion port on the other side of the housing located on the opposite side of the ejector, and a retraction position that retreats from a part of the insertion port. A stopper member having a retaining portion that moves between them is provided, and the stopper member has a cam portion at an intermediate portion. Further, a sliding member is provided on the other side of the housing, connected to the other end of the cam bar, and deforms the stopper member against its elasticity to allow the retaining portion to enter and exit part of the insertion port. When the card is not completely inserted, the sliding member is cam-engaged with the stopper member so that the stopper portion of the stopper member is retracted from the insertion port, and the stopper portion is inserted when the card is completely inserted. Since the cam engagement between the sliding member and the stopper member is released so as to cover a part of the mouth and prevent the card from being removed, the following effects can be obtained.

  That is, since the mechanism for removing the card is provided separately from the ejector, the card assembly preventing mechanism can be provided in the connector assembly regardless of the type of ejector.

  When the stopper member is formed of a bent leaf spring, the area occupied by the connector assembly attached to the board can be reduced to save space.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a connector assembly of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a connector assembly 1 according to the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector assembly 1 includes a resin housing 2, a plurality of terminals 4 disposed in the rear portion of the housing 2, and a cam bar 6 disposed in a swingable manner in the rear portion of the housing 2. Have. The terminals 4 are electrically connected to a card 200 (FIG. 3) such as a CompactFlash (registered trademark) card inserted into the housing 2, and detailed description thereof is omitted here. In addition, the front part and the rear part of the housing 2 refer to the lower part (the side where the card is inserted) and the upper part (the side where the terminals 4 are arranged) of the housing 2 in FIG.

  The housing 2 has an insertion slot 12 for receiving the card 200, which is open forward and is notched rearward. The cam bar 6 is a plate-shaped metal plate that extends from a side portion (one side portion) 8 to a side portion (other side portion) 10 of the housing 2, and includes one end 14 located on the side portion 10 side of the housing 2 and the housing 2. The other end 16 located on the side 8 side is exposed from the notches 27 and 28 of the housing 2.

  Further, an ejector 18 that presses the other end 16 of the cam bar 6 is attached to the side portion 8 of the housing 2 so as to be movable along the insertion / extraction direction of the card 200. A stopper member 20 having elasticity extending in the insertion / extraction direction of the card 200 is attached to the side portion 10 of the housing 2. The stopper member 20 is a plate-like spring member, has an attachment portion (fixed end) 22 attached to the housing 2 at one end, and a retaining portion that is double-folded to the insertion port 12 side at the free end side. 24 (see FIG. 7). The retaining portion 24 is for retaining the card 200 inserted into the insertion slot 12 and will be described in detail later. In addition, a cam 26 formed by a step is provided between the attachment portion 22 and the retaining portion 24. Details of the stopper member 20 will be described later.

  Further, a sliding member 30 is attached to the side portion 10 of the housing 2 between the stopper member 20 and the side portion 10 so as to be movable along the insertion / extraction direction of the card 200. The rear end portion of the sliding member 30 is engaged with one end 14 of the cam bar 6 and moves in the insertion / extraction direction of the card 200 in conjunction with the swinging motion of the cam bar 6. In FIG. 1, the sliding member 30 is cam-engaged with the stopper member 20. Guide rails 32 for guiding the card 200 are formed integrally with the housing 2 on both sides of the insertion slot 12 described above. The cam bar 6, the stopper member 20, and the sliding member 30 constitute a card retaining mechanism.

  Next, FIG. 2 shows a plan sectional view of the connector assembly 1 of FIG. 1 cut in a plane. The connector assembly 1 shown in FIG. 2 shows a state where the card 200 is not inserted. From FIG. 2, it can be easily seen that the cam bar 6 is a member extending from the side portion 8 to the side portion 10 of the housing 2. A tongue piece 34 protruding rearward is formed in the middle of the cam bar 6, and a fulcrum 36 is formed on the tongue piece 34. As shown by an arrow R, the tongue piece 34 swings in a substantially plane around the fulcrum 36. It is configured as follows.

  It is clearly shown that one end 14 of the cam bar 6 is engaged with the notch 38 of the sliding member 30. The inner surface 38 a of the notch 38 is formed in an arc shape protruding inward so as to smoothly engage with the cam bar 6. Further, an abutting portion 52 that abuts a corner portion of the front end 204 (FIG. 4) of the card 200 is formed on the front edge 50 on the one end 14 side of the cam bar 6. The abutting portion 52 is formed as a tongue piece bent downward from the front edge 50 (on the other side of the drawing).

  In the sliding member 30, a groove 42 extending rearward from the front end 40 is formed on the side facing the housing 2, and a compression coil spring (hereinafter simply referred to as a spring) 44 is disposed in the groove 42. Has been. The spring 44 is formed on the side portion 10 of the housing 2, and is disposed between the convex portion 46 protruding from the housing 2 into the groove 42 and the rear wall 48 of the groove 42. In the position shown in FIG. 2, the spring 44 is pressing the sliding member 30 backward. On the outer surface in the vicinity of the front end 40 of the sliding member 30, a recess 54 that engages with the stopper member 20 described below is formed.

  In the position shown in FIG. 2, the stopper member 20 is in a position retracted from the insertion port 12 (retracted position). In this position, the card 200 can be inserted. The inward corner portion 56 of the cam portion 26 formed by the step and the recess 54 of the sliding member 30 are engaged. As a result, the stopper member 20 is bent outward against its elasticity, and the retaining portion 24 at the free end is shifted outward. At this time, since the corner portion 56 is engaged with the recess 54 of the sliding member 30, even if the sliding member 30 is urged backward by the spring 44, the sliding member 30 stops at this position. Can be. The above-described ejector 18 is held by holding protrusions 58 and 60 that are integrally provided on the side portion 8 and will be described in detail later.

  Next, a state where the card 200 is inserted into the connector assembly 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector assembly 1 showing a state in which the card 200 is completely inserted. FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing the state at this time. When the card 200 is inserted into the insertion slot 12, as shown in FIG. 4, the front end 204 of the card presses the abutting portion 52 of the cam bar 6, and the cam bar 6 rotates clockwise as indicated by an arrow A. Let As a result, the sliding member 30 engaged with the cam bar 6 is driven to move backward. At this time, the engagement between the recess 54 of the sliding member 30 and the corner portion 56 of the stopper member 20 is disengaged, and the front end 40 of the sliding member 30 is also retracted rearward from the corner portion 56. The stopper member 20 is not cam-engaged. That is, the engagement is released.

  At this time, the retaining portion 24 of the stopper member 20 is moved to the insertion port 12 side so as to cover a part of the insertion port 12, and a position at which a part of the rear end 202 of the card 200 is pressed (a retaining position). It becomes. For this reason, when the card 200 accidentally comes out of the connector assembly 1, the rear end 202 comes into contact with the retaining portion 24 and is prevented from being removed. In the case of front and rear in the card 200, the upper part is the front part and the lower part is the rear part in FIG. 4, contrary to the connector assembly 1.

  Next, the ejector 18 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the ejector 18 together with a part of the housing 2, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the knob 72 of the ejector 18. First, as shown in FIG. 5, a pair of holding projections 58 and 58 are formed on the side portion 8 of the housing 2 in the vicinity of the insertion slot 12 so as to be displaced in the vertical direction and in the insertion / extraction direction of the card 200. A similar set of holding projections 60 and 60 are formed at positions displaced from the rear of the housing 2. These holding projections 58, 60 are formed with inward grooves 58a, 60a to guide the movement of the ejector 18 described later. The groove 60a is wider and the groove 58a is narrower than the groove 60a.

  Further, a dovetail groove 62 that opens to the upper surface 11 of the housing 2 is formed on the side surface 9 of the side portion 8. A separate plate member 64 having a complementary edge is mounted in the dovetail groove 62. A heart-shaped cam groove 66 is formed in the plate member 64. The cam groove 66 cooperates with a pin 80 of the ejector 18 to be described later, but the cam groove itself is a known configuration as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2839242. Omitted.

  The ejector 18 attached to the side portion 8 of the housing 2 has a main body 68 formed of a metal plate extending in the insertion / extraction direction of the card 200. On the housing 2 side of the main body 68, there are a pressing bar 70 that is rotatably attached and a knob 72 that is attached to the front end portion of the main body 68. A protrusion 74 is formed downward at the lower rear end of the main body 68. A tension coil spring (hereinafter simply referred to as a spring) 76 is mounted between the holding projection 60 and the projection 74 so that the ejector 18 is always urged forward. In addition, a notch 71 is formed on the opposite side of the protrusion 74, but this notch is formed as a relief so as not to interfere with the cam bar 6.

  The pressing bar 70 is composed of a plate-shaped metal plate, and the rear end thereof is formed in a pressing piece 78 that is bent outward at a right angle. The pressing piece 78 presses the other end 16 of the cam bar 6. On the opposite side of the pressing bar 70, a pin 80 serving as a cam follower that moves within the heart cam 66 is provided. The pin 80 may be formed integrally with the pressing bar 70, or a separate member may be attached to the pressing bar 70. The pressing bar 70 is pivotally attached to the main body 68 by a shaft 82 at substantially the middle thereof. When the ejector 18 is attached to the holding protrusions 58, 60 of the housing 2, the wide groove 60 a of the holding protrusion 60 receives and guides the main body 68 and the pressing bar 70, and the holding protrusion 58 is connected to the guide groove 86 of the knob 72. Engage and guide.

  The pin 80 slides counterclockwise in the heart-shaped cam groove 66 in accordance with the pressing operation of the ejector 18, and in conjunction with this, the pressing piece 78 moves up and down around the shaft 82 as shown by the arrow B. Swing. By this swinging, when the ejector 18 is pressed and the pressing piece 78 and the cam bar 6 do not need to be engaged, the pressing piece 78 avoids the cam bar 6 and passes below the cam bar 6. Has been. In other words, when the pin 80 passes through the upper cam groove 66, the pressing piece 78 moves downward, so that it does not engage with the cam bar 6, and the pin 80 passes through the lower cam groove 66. Since the pressing piece 78 moves upward, it can be engaged with the cam bar 6 to press the cam bar 6.

  Next, the knob 72 will be described with reference to FIG. The knob 72 is made of resin having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a guide groove 86 extending in the longitudinal direction of the knob 72 is formed on the upper surface 84, which opens rearward and engages with the holding protrusion 58. A through-hole 93 is formed in the vertical direction on the rear end side of the knob 72. A space 88 is formed on the housing 72 side of the knob 72, and an erroneous insertion preventing piece 90 is accommodated in the space 88. The erroneous insertion preventing piece 90 has a substantially rectangular shape with one end side being arcuate. A through hole 92 penetrating vertically is formed on one end side of the erroneous insertion prevention piece 90, and a groove 96 that opens to a surface 94 that is hidden when stored in the knob 72 is formed in the longitudinal direction of the erroneous insertion prevention piece 90. Are formed along. The aforementioned main body 68 is press-fitted into a slot (not shown) on the end face of the knob 72 on the pin 104 side.

  In the groove 96, a linear spring 100 having a linear portion 98 that is twisted so that the center portion is wound and expands on both sides is disposed. In order to attach the erroneous insertion prevention piece 90 to the knob 72, the hole 102 in the center of the spring 100 and the through holes 92, 93 are aligned, and the pin 104 is inserted into the through holes 93, 92, 102, The erroneous insertion preventing piece 90 is rotatably accommodated in the space 88. However, since the misinsertion preventing piece 90 is normally urged by the spring 100, it is in a state of protruding outward from the void 88 as shown in FIG.

  Next, the stopper member 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the stopper member 20 together with a part of the housing 2. The stopper member 20 is formed by punching and bending from a single metal plate having elasticity. The attachment portion 22 has a box shape in which tongue pieces extending from both side edges 21 and 21 of the stopper member 20 are bent. Mounting tabs 25 a that protrude in opposite directions are formed on the mounting surface 25 of the mounting portion 22 that faces the main surface 23 of the stopper member 20.

  On the other hand, on the side surface 13 of the side portion 10 of the housing 2 to which the stopper member 20 is attached, a mounting opening 106 and grooves 108 that open to the lower surface 15 of the housing 2 are formed on both sides of the opening 106. The stopper member 20 is attached to the housing 2 by pressing the attachment tab 25 a into the groove 108. When press-fitted, the main surface 23 of the stopper member 20 becomes substantially parallel to the side surface 13 of the housing 2, and the above-described sliding member 30 is arranged so as to slide in the mounting portion 22. It is clearly shown that the retaining portion 24 is double-folded and given strength.

  Next, a procedure for discharging the card 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a plan sectional view showing a state where the ejector 18 is set at a position where the card can be ejected. FIG. 9 is a plan sectional view showing a state where the ejector 18 is pressed and the card 200 is ejected. FIG. 10 is a plan sectional view showing a state in which the card 200 is extracted. The description will be made with reference to FIG.

  When the card 200 is used (connected to the connector assembly 1), the ejector 18 is pushed in as shown in FIGS. At this time, the pin 80 of the ejector 18 is at the point 110 of the heart cam 66. When the knob 72 is pressed from this position, the pin 80 moves counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 5 and is positioned at the point 112 on the most front end side. The position of the ejector 18 at this time is in the state shown in FIG. That is, the ejector 18 protrudes to the front.

  At this time, as described above, the spring-biased erroneous insertion preventing piece 90 rotates clockwise toward the card 200 as shown by an arrow C and contacts the corner 206 of the rear end 202 of the card 200. . Further, since the sliding member 30 is in the most retracted position due to the bias of the spring 44, the sliding member 30 is not cam-engaged with the stopper member 20, and the retaining portion 24 covers the part of the rear end 202 of the card 200. In position.

  When the ejector 18 is pressed from this position, the pressing piece 78 of the pressing bar 70 presses the other end 16 of the cam bar 6, and the cam bar 6 starts to rotate counterclockwise. Then, the one end 14 of the cam bar 6 moves the sliding member 30 forward, and the sliding member 30 moves forward against the bias of the spring 44 to bend the stopper member 20 outward. As a result, the retaining portion 24 is retracted from the insertion port 12. When the ejector 18 is further pressed, the abutting portion 52 of the cam bar 6 abuts on the card 200 and becomes the position shown in FIG. The erroneous insertion preventing piece 90 is pushed by the side surface 9 of the housing 2 and stored in the knob 72 (first position). At this time, the pin 80 of the ejector 18 passes through the lower heart cam 66 and reaches the point 114 located at the rearmost position (FIG. 5). In other words, the ejector 18 is pushed in most, whereby the cam bar 6 is also pressed by the ejector 18 to the position where the card 200 is discharged to the maximum.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the card 200 is ejected, the sliding member 30 is also driven forward by the cam bar 6, and is engaged with the cam 26 of the stopper member 20 to bend the stopper member 20 outward. Therefore, the retaining portion 24 of the stopper member 20 is in the retracted position retracted from the insertion slot 12 so as not to interfere with the card 200. When the finger is released from the ejector 18 at the position shown in FIG. 9, the pin 80 returns slightly to the point 110 and stops by the action of the spring 76. In this state, the card 200 can be removed from the connector assembly 1 with a finger.

  Next, after the card 200 is removed from the connector assembly 1, when the ejector 18 is pushed again, the state shown in FIG. 10 is obtained. In this position, the pin 80 is further pushed in from the point 110 and then returns to the same point 112 as shown in FIG. 8 through the upper cam groove 66. Since the card 200 is not inserted, the erroneous insertion preventing piece 90 is spring-biased so as to cover a part of the insertion port 12 at the front end 7 of the housing 2 and protrudes at a substantially right angle with the knob 72 (second). position). For this reason, it is possible to prevent the card 200 from being erroneously inserted into the insertion slot 12 at this position.

  The reason why the prevention piece is provided will be described. If there is no erroneous insertion prevention piece 90, the card 200 can be inserted into the connector assembly 1 in the state shown in FIG. 10, but if the ejector 18 is pushed in during use, the card 200 is ejected, This is because the card 200 cannot actually be used. Therefore, the card 200 cannot be inserted at the position shown in FIG. When inserting the card 200, it is necessary to insert the card 200 after the ejector 18 is pushed in again to the position shown in FIG.

1 is a perspective view of a connector assembly according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of the connector assembly of FIG. A perspective view of the connector assembly of the present invention showing the card fully inserted Cross-sectional plan view of the connector assembly showing the card fully inserted Perspective view showing ejector together with part of housing Perspective view of ejector knob The perspective view which shows a stopper member with a part of housing Cross-sectional plan view of the connector assembly showing the ejector set at a position where the card can be pressed Cross-sectional plan view of the connector assembly showing the card ejected by pressing the ejector Cross-sectional plan view of the connector assembly showing the card removed

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector assembly for cards 2 Housing 4 Terminal 6 Cam bar 8 One side part (housing) 10 Other side part 12 (Housing) 14 Insertion port 14 One end (Cam bar) One end 16 (Cam bar) Other end 18 Ejector 20 Stopper member 22 One end (mounting part)
24 retaining portion 26 cam portion 30 sliding member 200 card

Claims (3)

A housing having an insertion slot for inserting a card and a plurality of terminals connected to the inserted card; and an ejector attached to one side of the housing so as to be movable along the insertion / extraction direction of the card, In the card connector assembly for discharging the card by pressing the ejector,
The ejector has a knob provided with a space on the housing side,
In the empty space of the knob, a misinsertion preventing piece is normally rotatably accommodated by being biased in a direction protruding from the knob, and the misinsertion preventing piece is inserted into the knob and the card is inserted. Is connected to the terminal and is pushed to the side surface of the one side portion of the housing to be in the first position retracted from the insertion slot, and when the card is ejected and the knob is in the protruding position, the knob A card connector assembly, wherein the card connector assembly is configured to be able to take a second position that protrudes into the insertion slot and prevents insertion of the card.   2. The card connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein the erroneous insertion preventing piece protrudes substantially perpendicular to the knob in the second position.   3. The card connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein a heart cam is provided on the side surface of the housing, and the ejector is a push-push type ejector having a pin cooperating with the heart cam. .

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