JPH07210645A - Memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the safety for insertion/extraction of a connector and to miniaturize an apparatus by making the length of second sides orthogonal to first sides shorter than the width of a pair of first sides on the connector side and the opposite side facing each other. CONSTITUTION:A width W1 and a thickness T1 of a pair of first sides 21a and 21b facing each other on the connector 4 side and the opposite side of a half-sized memory card 21 are equal to those of a standard-sized memory card and are 54mm and 3.3mm in center values respectively, but a length L2 of second sides 21c and 21d orthogonal to first sides 21a and 21b is a half of that of the standard-size memory card and is 42.8mm in the center value. An adapter 22 formed to have the same length, width, and thickness as the memory card 21 is freely detachably connected to the first side 21b on the side opposite to the connector side of the half-sized memory card 21 by a connection part 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory card used as an external storage device for various electronic devices such as personal computers, electronic organizers, fax machines, still cameras, and industrial machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 15 to 17, a flat and substantially rectangular plug-in type memory card 1 is
I on the circuit board 2, which is a printed circuit board for single-sided or double-sided use
C and other circuit elements (hereinafter referred to as IC) 3 and a connector 4 are mounted, and the circuit board 2 and the connector 4 are mounted.
The outer periphery and the like of the panel 5 are adhered to the inner peripheral ribs 5a of the frame 5 with the double-sided adhesive tape 6 and the like, and the outer peripheries of the pair of upper and lower panels 7 are attached to the step portions 5c inside the outer peripheral ribs 5b on the upper and lower sides of the frame 5 by the double-sided adhesive tape 8 It is the one that is sealed by adhering it with the like.

The frame 5 is composed of PBT, PC, AB
The panel 7 is injection-molded into a substantially rectangular frame shape with a synthetic resin such as S or modified PPE, and the panel 7 is pressed into a substantially rectangular shape with a metal thin plate such as a stainless thin plate. The double-sided adhesive tapes 6 and 8 used are formed by impregnating a non-woven fabric with a heat-sensitive adhesive, a pressure-sensitive adhesive or the like into a film shape.

A power supply battery 9 is incorporated in a memory card capable of storing data, and an ejection groove 10 is provided on at least one side surface of the frame 5 on the connector 4 side.
Are formed.

At present, JEIDA / PCMCIA
In the standard-sized memory card 1 which is a PC card whose external dimensions are standardized, the pin insertion holes 4a of the connector 4 are defined in two rows in the upper and lower rows, for a total of 68 pieces. The external dimensions of the frame 5 of the standard-sized memory card 1 are such that the width W ₁ of the pair of first sides 1a and 1b facing each other on the connector 4 side and the opposite side is 54 mm at the center value.
The length L ₁ of the pair of second sides 1c and 1d that face each other at right angles to the first sides 1a and 1b is defined as the center value of 85.6 mm, and the thickness T ₁ is the center value. Is regulated to 3.3 mm.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14,
This kind of standard size memory card 1 has an arrow a from the connector 4 side in a card insertion hole 13 of a small electronic device 12 such as a pocket size personal computer or an electronic notebook.
Inserted in the direction, the upper and lower rows of the 68-pin connector 14 mounted on the circuit board (not shown) in the small electronic device 12 have a total of 68 connector pins 14 with the pin insertion holes 4a of the connector 4. Insert from the direction of arrow a to connect. Then, the memory card 1 is used to read and store data from the small electronic device 12.

At this time, the memory card 1 is inserted into the card insertion hole 1
Card insertion hole 13 when inserted from the direction of arrow a
The eject claw 15a of the eject knob 15 provided on one side of the inside of the eject knob 15 is formed in the eject groove 1 of the memory card 1.
It is inserted relatively within 0.

Therefore, when the eject knob 15 is slid in the direction of arrow b against the return spring 16 after the use of the memory card 1, the eject claw 15a pushes the end face 10a of the eject groove 10 in the direction of arrow b, and the connector 4 Is withdrawn from the connector pin 14a of the connector 14 in the direction of arrow b. Therefore, after this, the first of the memory card 1
The side 1b is pinched from above and below with a finger, and the memory card 1 is pulled out from the card insertion hole 13 in the direction of arrow b.

[0009]

By the way, the conventional standard size memory card 1 has the first side 1a of the frame 5,
Since the length L _{1 of} each of the second sides 1c and 1d is longer than the width W ₁ of 1b, the lengths of the second sides 1c and 1d are set as shown in FIGS.
As shown in Fig. 10, when inserting or removing the connector 4 from the connector pin 14a, the direction of arrow c or the direction of arrow d
There is a problem that the connector pin 14a and the pin insertion hole 4a are easily damaged by the twist in the direction.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the depth dimension L ₁₁ of the card insertion hole 13 is made equal to the total length L ₁ of the standard size memory card 1, and the memory card 1
In the type in which the whole is completely inserted into the card insertion hole 13, there is a limit to miniaturization of the length dimension L ₁₂ of the small electronic device 12 and the like. On the other hand, in order to promote miniaturization of the small electronic device 12, when the depth of the card insertion hole 13 is reduced so that a part of the memory card 1 protrudes to the outside of the small electronic device 12, There is also a problem that the small electronic device 12 becomes unsuitable for portability.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and improves the safety when the connector is inserted into or removed from the connector pin, and can promote the miniaturization of small electronic devices, and the standard size. It is an object of the present invention to provide a memory card which is compatible with the memory card of.

[0012]

In the memory card of the present invention for achieving the above object, the width of a pair of first sides facing each other on the connector side and the opposite side is made long. The length of a pair of second sides that are orthogonal to each other and are opposed to each other is shortened. At this time, the pair of first sides has a width of 54 mm, and the pair of second sides has a length of 4 mm.
It is preferable to configure it to 2.8 mm.

[0013]

The memory card of the present invention having the above-described structure is provided with a pair of first first and second opposite terminals on the connector side.
Compared with the width of the sides, the length of the pair of second sides perpendicular to these first sides is made shorter, so that the twisting force when inserting or removing the connector of the memory card to the connector pin of the electronic device is increased. Can be made smaller. Further, by configuring the width of the pair of first sides to be 54 mm and the length of the pair of second sides to be 42.8 mm, a half size memory card with respect to a standard size memory card can be obtained.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a memory card to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG.
The same reference numerals are given to the same structural portions as those in FIG. 17, and duplicate description will be omitted.

First, as shown in FIG. 1A, the memory card 21 of the present invention provides a half size memory card 21 having an external size which is half that of the conventional standard size memory card 1. It is a thing. The structure of the half size memory card 21 is the same as that of the standard size memory card 1.

That is, this half size memory card 2
The connector 4 of No. 1 is the same as the connector 4 of the standard size memory card 1, and the same ejection slot 10 as that of the standard size memory card 1 is formed on one side of the frame 5 on the connector 4 side. Has been done.

Then, the width W ₁ and the thickness T ₁ of the pair of first sides 21a and 21b on the opposite side of the connector 4 side of the half size memory card 21 and the opposite side thereof are the same as those of the standard size memory card 1. While the center values are 54 mm and 3.3 mm, the length L ₂ is 42.8 mm, which is 1/2 of the standard size memory card 1.

[0018] Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), the width W ₁ of the memory card 21 of the half-size, length L ₂ and a thickness T ₁ at all the width W ₁ of the same size, the length L ₂ And thickness T
Connect the adapter 22 formed in ₁ to the first side 2 which is the side opposite to the connector side of the half size memory card 21.
The connection portion 23 is configured to be detachably connectable to 1b.

As a connecting portion 23 between the half-size memory card 21 and the adapter 22, as shown in FIG. 4, from the dovetail 24 and the dovetail groove 25, which are inserted and removed in the direction of arrow e parallel to the first side 21b. Nari dori structure and Fig. 5
6, a dovetail structure composed of a pair of dovetails 26 and dovetail grooves 27 that are inserted and removed in the direction of arrow f perpendicular to the first side 21b, and as shown in FIG.
A pair of left and right locking claws 29 rotatably attached to the left and right sides of the memory card 1 via a pair of left and right fulcrum pins 28 are attached to the pair of second sides 1c, 1d of the half-sized memory card 1 by the pair of left and right biasing springs 30. It is possible to employ a structure in which the pair of left and right locking holes 31 formed are engaged.

The adapter 22 is preferably made of an elastic body having a proper elasticity such as soft synthetic resin or hard rubber. As shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the adapter 22 is used for finger hanging. It is preferable to form a pair of left and right depressions 32, a pair of upper and lower depressions 33, or a pair of upper and lower knurled surfaces 34 for preventing slippage.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a half size memory card 2 is used instead of the adapter 22.
It is also possible to connect one to each other by these first sides 21b so as to be detachably connected back to back by the connecting portion 36.

However, in this case, it is necessary to consider the compatibility of the half-size memory card 21 so that the connecting portion 36 has a symmetrical shape. Therefore, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, a dovetail structure composed of two symmetrical upper and lower dovetails 37 and a dovetail groove 38 and a pair of left and right dovetails 39 and dovetail groove 4 symmetrically formed in the left-right direction as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to adopt a dovetail structure composed of 0 and the like.

According to the half-size memory card 21 configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 2, the memory card 21 alone is used as the card insertion hole 43 of the small electronic device 42.
By inserting it into the inside, the pin insertion hole 4a of the connector 4 can be inserted into and removed from the connector pin 14a of the connector 14 in the directions of arrows a and b.

At this time, the half size memory card 21
Since the length L ₂ of the card is formed to be 1/2 of the length L ₁ of the standard size memory card 1, the depth dimension L ₁₃ of the card insertion hole 43 is the same as that of the conventional standard shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. Size of the card insertion hole 13 of the small-sized electronic device 12 for the small-sized memory card 1 can be formed to 1/2 of the depth dimension L ₁₁ , and the length dimension L ₁₄ of the small-sized electronic device 42 can be reduced to the conventional small-sized electronic device. it can be reduced by L ₁₃ equivalent compared to 42 length L ₁₂ of. That is, L ₁₄ = L ₁₂ −L ₁₃ .

Moreover, the half size memory card 21
Since the length L ₂ of the standard pin is formed to be half the length L ₁ of the standard size memory card 1, the connector pin 14
In FIG. 1, the prying force in the arrow c direction and the arrow d direction at the time of inserting or pulling out the connector 4 with respect to a can be reduced to about half that of the standard size memory card 1.
It is easy to prevent the connector pin 14a and the pin insertion hole 4a from being damaged by the twisting force, and safety and durability are improved.

Also, this half size memory card 2
As shown in FIG. 1B, when the adapter 22 is connected to the first side 21b of the half-sized memory card 21 by the connecting portion 23, the memory card 21 of FIG.
And the overall width W ₁ , length L ₁ and thickness T of the adapter 22
₁ has exactly the same size as the conventional standard size memory card 1.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, a half size memory card 21 is correctly inserted from the direction of arrow a using the adapter 22 into the card insertion hole 13 of the conventional small electronic device 12 having a depth L ₁₁ . The connector 4 can be correctly connected to the connector pin 14a of the connector 14 just like the conventional standard size memory card 1.

After use, the half size memory card 21 may be pulled out from the connector pin 14a in the direction of arrow b by the eject knob 15, and then the adapter 22 may be pinched in the direction of arrow b from the card insertion hole 13. it can.

Therefore, the half size memory card 21
Is compatible with standard size memory card 1,
The usage range of this memory card 21 is very wide.

At this time, if the adapter 22 is made of an elastic body such as soft synthetic resin or hard rubber, even if stress such as bending or twisting is applied to the adapter 22 when the connector 4 is inserted into or removed from the connector pin 14a, By absorbing the stress by the elastic action of the adapter 22, the load applied to the joint portion between the connector pin 14a and the pin insertion hole 4a can be reduced.

Therefore, it is easy to prevent the connector pin 14a and the pin insertion hole 4a from being damaged, and the safety is improved.

In addition, at this time, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the slip stopper 35 formed on the adapter 22 allows the connector 4 to be easily inserted into and removed from the connector pin 14a.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, two half-size memory cards 21 are connected to each other by the connecting portion 3.
Connect these two memory cards 2 back-to-back with 6
One of the two is used instead of the adapter, and the other one is inserted into the card insertion hole 12 of the conventional small electronic device 12 as shown in FIG. 3 to correctly insert the connector 4 into the connector pin 14a. be able to.

Then, the half size memory card 21
Since the length L ₂ of the memory card 21 and the adapter 22 is formed to be half the length L ₁ of the standard size memory card 1, the memory card 21 and the adapter 22 can be carried and packed in a compact manner.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

[0036]

The memory card of the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the width of the pair of first sides on the connector side of the memory card and on the opposite side of the memory card is opposite to each other.
Since the length of the pair of second sides perpendicular to the first side is shortened, the prying force at the time of inserting or removing the connector of the memory card with respect to the connector pin of the electronic device can be reduced. It is easy to prevent damage to the connector pin or the pin insertion hole of the connector due to the twisting force, and the safety and durability are significantly improved.

According to a second aspect, the width of the pair of first sides is 54.
mm, and the length of the pair of second sides is 42.8 mm.
By making it possible to obtain a half-size memory card with respect to a standard-size memory card, it is possible to reduce the depth dimension of the card insertion hole of a small electronic device to one half that of the conventional one. It is possible to promote miniaturization of electronic devices and to carry a half-size memory card or to carry it in a compact package.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, since an adapter removably connected to the side of the first side opposite to the side of the connector is provided, a memory card of a half size or the like can be attached to the side of the conventional standard size. It can be inserted and removed correctly into the card insertion hole for the memory card, and compatibility with standard size memory cards can be obtained.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, since a pair of memory cards having the same outer dimensions and the same structure are detachably connected to each other on the side opposite to the connector side of the first side, a memory of half size or the like is formed. Cards can be connected together and properly inserted and removed from the card insertion holes for standard size memory cards.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, since the adapter is provided with a slip stopper, the memory card can be easily inserted into and removed from the connector pin of the electronic device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, since the adapter is made of an elastic body, the elasticity of the adapter absorbs stress such as bending and twisting when inserting / removing a half size memory card into / from a connector pin of an electronic device. Thus, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the connector pin and the joint portion of the pin insertion hole of the connector, and prevent the damage of the connector pin and the pin insertion hole.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a half-size memory card according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing a half-size memory card and an adapter. .

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a small electronic device using a half size memory card, and FIG. 2B is a half size memory card inserted into a card insertion hole of the small electronic device. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state in which the above is performed.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state in which a half size memory card is inserted into a standard size card insertion hole using an adapter.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view and a side view showing a first example of a connecting portion between a half size memory card and an adapter.

5A and 5B are a plan view and a side view showing a second example of a connecting portion between a half size memory card and an adapter.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a third example of a connecting portion between a half size memory card and an adapter.

7 is a partially cutaway plan view showing disconnection of the connection portion of FIG. 6. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a first example of a slip stopper of an adapter.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a second example of the slip prevention of the adapter.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a third example of the slip prevention of the adapter.

FIG. 11A is a perspective view showing a back-to-back connection between half-size memory cards.
(B) is an enlarged side view showing a first example of the connecting portion.

12A and 12B are a plan view and a side view showing a second example of a connecting portion that connects half-size memory cards to each other.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a small electronic device using a conventional standard size memory card.

14 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state in which a conventional standard size memory card is inserted into a card insertion hole of the small electronic device of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a conventional standard size memory card.

16A is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 15, and FIG. 16B is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 17 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional memory card of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Connector 4a Connector pin insertion hole 5 Frame 10 Ejection groove 15 Eject knob 21 Half size memory card 21a, 21b 1st side of memory card 21c, 21d 2nd side of memory card 22 Adapter 23, 36 Connection part 35 Sliding Stop 42 Small electronic device 43 Half size card insertion hole W ₁ Width L ₁ , L ₂ Length T ₁ Thickness

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Abe 6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation (72) Takahiro Ishida 6-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation Shares In the company

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A width of a pair of first sides facing each other on the connector side and the opposite side is made long, and a length of a pair of second sides facing each other perpendicular to the first side is made short. A memory card that is characterized by 2. The memory card according to claim 1, wherein the pair of first sides has a width of 54 mm, and the pair of second sides has a length of 42.8 mm. 3. The memory card according to claim 1, further comprising an adapter detachably connected to a side of the first side opposite to a side of the connector. 4. A pair of memory cards having the same outer dimensions and the same structure are detachably connected to each other at the sides opposite to the connector side of the first side.
Alternatively, the memory card according to claim 2 or claim 3. 5. The memory card according to claim 3, wherein the adapter is provided with a slip stopper. 6. The memory card according to claim 3, wherein the adapter is made of an elastic material.