JPH10172674A - Card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card connector with which an earth terminal is prevented from buckling and plastic deformation can be prevented. SOLUTION: This card connector comprises an earth terminal 9 installed in an insulator 12 as to release unnecessary electric current generated in the inside of the card 150, the earth terminal 9 comprises a first contact spring part 92 which is projected more upward than the mounting face 12c of the insulator 12 and brought into contact with a conductive part of an appliance in which the insulator 12 is to be mounted, and an inhibition groove 42 is formed in the insulator 12 to inhibit the movement of the first contact spring part 92 in the directions except the pushing direction by squeezing the first contact spring part 92 in a prescribed position of the insulator 12 when the conductive part pushes the first contact spring part 92.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card connector which fits into and disengages from a mating connector such as a PC card.
In particular, it belongs to a card connector having a ground terminal for releasing unnecessary current generated in a mating connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional card connector for inserting and removing a card such as a PC card will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0003] This card connector comprises a first connector 2
01 and the second connector 202 are overlapped and combined. One card 25 is connected to each of the first and second connectors 201 and 202.
0 is inserted. That is, the card connector includes two cards 250 arranged in two stages, and the first and second connectors 2.
01 and 202 are inserted.

[0004] The first connector 201 includes an insulator 212 holding a plurality of conductive terminals 211 contacting and separating one-to-one with a plurality of conductive mating terminals 252 provided on a mating connector 251 of the card 250. , Card 25
And a detachment mechanism assembled to the insulator 212 so as to move 0 in the detachment direction.

[0005] The insulator 212 includes a base portion 212a holding the terminal 211, a pair of frame portions 212b extending from both sides of the base portion 212a in a detaching direction to guide the movement of the card 250, a base portion 212a and a pair of frame portions 212b. And a shaft portion (not shown) provided on the mounting surface 212c, which is one surface of the mounting surface.

A pair of frame portions 212b of the insulator 212 are formed with guide grooves 212f extending in the fitting / removing direction on inner surfaces facing each other. The card 250 moves in the fitting / removing direction with both longitudinal edges fitted into the guide groove 212f.

The release mechanism includes a lever member 254 rotatably supported on a shaft on the base portion 212a,
a plate member 261 attached to the frame member 212a and movable in the fitting / removing direction, and an eject member 271 attached to the frame portion 212b and engaged with one end of the lever member 254.

When the lever member 254 is rotated by the ejection member 271 being pressed in the fitting direction, the card 250 fitted to the insulator 212 is disengaged by the card butting portion 265 formed on the plate member 261. It is configured to extrude in the direction.

Further, the first connector 201 has a pair of ground terminals 209 attached to the frame portion 212b for releasing unnecessary current generated inside the card 250.

[0010] The ground terminal 209 protrudes above the mounting surface 212c of the frame portion 212b, and comes into contact with a conductive portion 296 of a device on which the insulator 212 is mounted.
A connecting portion 297 connected to the contact portion 296 and held by the frame portion 212b; a holding portion 295 connected to the connecting portion 297 and held by the frame portion 212f of the second connector 202; And a contact spring portion 299 slightly protruding inward from the inner surface of 212b.

The connecting portion 297 and the holding portion 295 are located in grooves 212d formed in each of the pair of frame portions 212b of the first connector 201.

The lever member 254 is rotatably supported by a shaft portion, and is connected to a coupling portion 255 that engages with a tip portion of the eject member 271 in the fitting direction, and to the plate member 261 at the other end in the longitudinal direction. And a mating engaging portion (not shown).

The plate member 261 has holding pieces 26 held on both sides of the base portion 212a at both ends in the longitudinal direction.
3, an engagement piece portion 264 formed by cutting and raising an intermediate portion so as to engage with the engagement portion of the lever member 254;
A pair of card abutting portions 2 bent toward the base portion 212a so as to abut against the end surface of the card 250 in the fitting direction.
65.

The plate member 261 is made of the insulator 2
12 is held movably in the fitting / removing direction of the mating connector 251. The engagement piece 264 is connected to the lever member 25.
4.

Since the card butting portion 265 is in contact with the end surface of the mating connector 251, when the mating connector 251 is fitted, the plate member 261 is connected to the mating connector 2.
Pushed in with 51.

At this time, since the lever member 254 is connected to the plate member 261 at the engaging portion, the plate member 26
Moves with one. Lever member 254 is insulator 2
The lever member 25 is rotatably held on the lever member 25.
4 rotates.

The eject member 271 has a plate-shaped eject bar 272, and a button 281 at the tip of the eject bar 272 in the detaching direction. The eject bar 272 and the button 281 are integrated.

When the card 250 is not fitted to the first connector 201, the button 281 is
The state in which the end surface of the button 281 is located at substantially the same position as the end surface of the plate member 261 is shown in FIG.
Is the position where it is moving in the detaching direction.

The card 25 is connected to the first connector 201.
0 is in the fitted state, the plate member 261 is pushed in with the insertion of the card 250, and the lever member 254 is inserted.
Is rotated, so that the button 281 projects. When the protruding button 281 is pushed in again, it returns to the unfitted state.

The first connector 201 having the above-described structure is integrally combined with the second connector 202. First
There is a slight difference between the insulator 212 of the connector 201 and the insulator 212 of the second connector 202, but the other members are the same.

Therefore, the operation of the detaching mechanism is the same as that of the first connector 201, and the description is omitted.

Unnecessary current generated inside the card 250 is transferred from the contact spring portion 299 to the holding portion 295 and the connection portion 29.
7. It is transmitted to the contact portion 296 and flows to the conductor of the device.

As shown in FIG. 7, the ground terminal 209 slightly protrudes from the mounting surface 212c of the insulator 12,
Contact is achieved by applying a conductor to the mounting surface 212c of the insulator 12. This contact force is shown in FIG.
This is represented by the arrow 300 in FIG. FIG. 8B shows a state in which a contact force is applied to the contact portion 296 and the contact portion 296 is displaced.
It was shown to.

[0024]

However, since the contact portion 296 does not limit its displacement, there is a problem that when an excessive force is applied to the contact portion 296, the contact portion 296 undergoes plastic deformation.

Further, when a force is applied to the contact portion 296 from a direction perpendicular to the arrow 300 in FIG. 8A, there is a problem that the contact portion 296 also undergoes plastic deformation.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a card connector in which an earth terminal does not buckle and plastic deformation can be prevented.

[0027]

According to the present invention, a conductive terminal is provided which is in contact with and separates from a conductive mating terminal provided on a mating connector of a card, and the card is attached to and detached from the insulator. A card connector including an insulator that is held so as to have a ground terminal attached to the insulator so as to release unnecessary current generated inside the card, and the ground terminal is higher than a mounting surface of the insulator mounted on a device. A first contact spring portion projecting upward to contact a conductive portion of the device;
A holding portion connected to the contact spring portion and held by the insulator; and a connecting portion connected to the holding portion and opposingly contacting the inside of the insulator when the card is positioned inside the insulator. A second contact spring portion positioned on a side surface of the card, wherein the insulator has a first contact spring portion when a conductive portion of the device presses the first contact spring portion. The card connector is characterized in that a blocking groove is formed to prevent the movement of the insulator in a direction other than the pressing direction by entering the insulator into a predetermined position of the insulator.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an insulator holding a conductive terminal which comes into contact with and separates from a conductive mating terminal provided on a mating connector of the card, and the insulator for moving the card in a detaching direction. A detaching mechanism assembled to the insulator, wherein the insulator has the base disposed and arranged in the detaching direction and a fitting direction opposite to the detaching direction, and a base extending in the detaching direction from the base. A frame portion that guides the movement of the card, and a shaft portion provided on a mounting surface that is one surface of the base portion, wherein the detachment mechanism includes a lever member rotatably supported by the shaft portion. A plate member attached to the base portion and movable in the fitting / removing direction; and an eject member attached to the frame portion and engaged with one end of the lever. When the lever member is rotated by pressing the eject member in the fitting direction, the card fitted to the insulator is released by a card abutting portion formed on the plate member. A card connector configured to be pushed out in a direction, wherein the card connector has a ground terminal attached to the frame portion so as to release unnecessary current generated inside the card, and the ground terminal protrudes upward from a mounting surface of the frame portion. A first contact spring portion that contacts the conductive portion of the device on which the insulator is mounted, a holding portion that is connected to the first contact spring portion and that is held by the frame portion, and that is connected to the holding portion. Side of the card so that when the card is located inside the frame, the card faces and contacts the inside of the frame. A second contact spring portion located on the frame portion, wherein the first contact spring portion is attached to the frame portion when the conductive portion of the device is pressing the first contact spring portion. The card connector is characterized in that a blocking groove is formed for blocking the movement in a direction other than the pressing direction by being inserted into a predetermined position.

[0029]

FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 show an embodiment of a card connector according to the present invention. This card connector is a card connector for fitting / removing a card such as a PC card.

The card connector according to this embodiment is made by superposing the first connector 1 and the second connector 2 in two stages and combining them.

One card 150 is inserted into each of the first and second connectors 1 and 2. That is, the card connector in the embodiment is two cards 150
Are arranged in parallel in two stages, and are configured to be inserted into the first and second connectors 1 and 2 respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, first connector 1 includes a plurality of conductive mating terminals 152 provided on mating connector 151 of card 150, which are in contact with and separate from one another one by one. Insulator 1 holding terminal 11
2 and a release mechanism assembled to the insulator 12 to move the card 150 in the release direction.

The insulator 12 is a base 1 having terminals 11 arranged and held parallel to the detaching direction and the fitting direction.
2a and a pair of frame portions 12b extending from both sides of the base portion 12a in the detaching direction and guiding the movement of the card 150.
And a shaft 13 provided on a mounting surface 12c of the base 12a, which is a common surface of the base 12a and the pair of frames 12b.

A pair of frame portions 1 of the insulator 12
A guide groove portion 12f extending in the fitting / removing direction is formed on the inner surfaces facing each other in 2b. The card 150 has both edges in the longitudinal direction fitted in the guide groove 12f and can be moved in the fitting / removing direction.

The release mechanism includes a lever member 51 rotatably supported on the shaft portion 13 on the base portion 12a;
And an eject member 71 attached to the frame portion 12b and engaged with one end of the lever member 51.

When the lever member 51 is rotated by the ejection member 71 being pressed in the fitting direction, the card butting portion 65 formed on the plate member 61 is rotated.
Card 15 fitted to insulator 12
0 is pushed out in the detaching direction.

Further, the first connector 1 has a card 1
Ground terminals 9 are attached to each of the pair of frame portions 12b in order to release unnecessary current generated inside 50.

The ground terminal 9 protrudes above the mounting surface 12c of the frame portion 12b and contacts the conductive portion of the device on which the insulator 12 is mounted.
And the frame portion 12 connected to the first contact spring portion 92.
b and a side surface of the card 150 so as to face and contact the inside of the frame portion 12b when the card 150 is connected to the holding portion 93 and the card 150 is positioned inside the frame portion 12b. Second contact spring portion 9 located
And 1.

The frame 12b is provided with the first conductive part of the equipment.
When the first contact spring portion 92 is being pressed, the first contact spring portion 92 is inserted into a predetermined position of the frame portion 12b to prevent movement in a direction other than the pressing direction.
Are formed.

The lever member 51 is engaged with a shaft hole 53 formed in a longitudinal middle portion so as to rotatably support the shaft portion 13 and a front end portion of the eject member 71 in the fitting direction. A coupling portion 55 formed by being bent at one end in the longitudinal direction, and an engaging portion 54 having a hole formed to engage with the plate member 61 at the other end in the longitudinal direction.

The plate member 61 has holding pieces 63 held on both sides of the base portion 12a at both ends in the longitudinal direction.
An engaging piece 64 formed by cutting and raising an intermediate portion so as to engage with the engaging portion 54 of the lever member 51, and a base portion 12 so as to abut the end face of the card 150 in the fitting direction.
It has a pair of card butting parts 65 bent to the a side.

The plate member 61 is made of the insulator 12
The connector 151 is held movably in the fitting / removing direction of the mating connector 151. The engagement piece 64 is connected to the engagement portion 54 of the lever member 51.

The card butting portion 65 is connected to the mating connector 1
When the mating connector 151 is fitted to the end face of the mating connector 51, the plate member 61 is connected to the mating connector 151.
Pushed with. At this time, since the lever member 51 is connected to the plate member 61 by the engaging portion 54, the engaging portion 54 moves together with the plate member 61, but the lever member 51 is rotatably held on the insulator 12. Therefore, the lever member 51 rotates, and the connecting portion 55 of the lever member 51 moves in the opposite direction opposite to the engaging portion 54.

The ejection member 71 has a plate-shaped ejection bar 71a, and a button 81 at the tip of the ejection bar 71a in the detaching direction. The button 81 has a press-fit hole 83 formed therein. The press-fit portion 74 of the eject member 71 is press-fitted into the press-fit hole 83, so that the eject bar 71a and the button 81 are integrated.

An eject connecting portion 73 is formed at one end of the eject bar 71a in the fitting direction. The eject connecting portion 73 is engaged with the connecting portion 55 of the lever member 51, and the eject bar 71 a and the button 81 move in the fitting / removing direction with the rotation of the lever member 51.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the card 150 is not fitted to the first connector 1, the button 81
Is located at the same position as the end face of the frame portion 12b.
Is located at a position where the plate member 61 is moving in the detaching direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the card 150 is fitted in the first connector 1, the plate member 61 is pushed in with the insertion of the card 150, and the button member 81 projects because the lever member 51 rotates. . When the protruding button 81 is pushed in again, it returns to the unfitted state shown in FIG.

The first connector 1 having the above-described configuration is integrally combined with the second connector 2. Although the insulator 12 of the first connector 1 and the insulator 22 of the second connector 2 have some differences, the other members are the same.

The terminal 1 described in the first connector 1
1, the insulator 12, the lever member 51, the eject member 71, and the plate 61, the button 61, the terminal 21, the insulator 22, the lever member 52, the eject member 7.
2, the plate 62, and the button 82.

Therefore, the operation of the detaching mechanism is the same as that of the first connector 1, and the description is omitted.

Hereinafter, the first and second insulators 1
The difference between the configurations 2 and 22 will be described with reference to FIG. The first insulator 12 includes a frame portion 12.
A first mounting portion 18 that protrudes outward and receives the ground terminal 9 is formed in the vicinity of one end of the release direction b.
The second connector 2 has a second mounting portion 19 protruding outward in the vicinity of one end of the frame portion 22b in the detaching direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first mounting portion 18 has the first contact spring portion 92 of the ground terminal 9 inserted into a predetermined position of the frame portion 12b and moved in a direction other than the pressing direction. And an engagement piece 18a extending from a surface opposite to the mounting surface 12c.
The blocking groove 42 is formed by lowering the outer surface of the frame portion 12b following the first step portion 42c formed so as to be slightly lower than the mounting surface 12c and the first step portion 42c. And a second step 42d.

The first and second insulators 12 and 12 are inserted into the second mounting portion 19 by inserting the engagement pieces 18a.
Engagement holes 49a for mutually fixing the holes 22 are formed.

The first contact spring piece 92 of the ground terminal 9 has a contact portion 92a and a contact portion 92a located on the first step portion 42c.
and a connecting portion 92b which is wound at a right angle from a and extends to the holding portion 93 along the outer surface of the blocking groove 42.

That is, the contact portion 92a and the connection portion 92b are formed in a substantially U-shape on the side, and extend while facing the first step portion 42c and the second step portion 42d. And the frame portion 12b of the second connector 2. And the holding part 93 is the second
The ground terminal 9 is held by being inserted into the slit 19a formed in the second mounting portion 19 of the frame portion 12b of the connector 2 of FIG.

The second contact spring portion 91 is connected to the first connector 1
The frame portion 12b of the second connector 2 and the frame portion 12b of the second connector 2 are formed with a window portion 12g extending to the vicinity in the detaching direction in each frame portion 12b. The second contact spring 91 is accommodated in the window 12g. The second contact spring piece 91 composed of a pair has a window portion 12g.
It has a contact portion 95 that enters into and projects slightly inward from the inner surface of the frame portion 12b. The contact portions 95 come into contact with both edge surfaces of the card 150 that enters the guide groove portion 12f.

That is, the unnecessary current generated inside the card 150 is transmitted from the contact portion 95 of the second contact spring piece 91 to the first contact spring piece 92 and the contact portion 92a, and flows to the conductor of the device.

Next, the action of contact between the conductor of the device and the ground terminal 9 will be described below.

When the conductor is not in contact with the contact portion 92a, as shown in FIG.
2 protrudes from the mounting surface 12c. The conductor is brought into contact with the mounting surface 12c to make contact with the device on which the first connector 1 is mounted. At this time, the contact portion 92a is pressed and displaced by the contact force represented by the arrow 100, and the device is in the state shown in FIG. 5B.

When the first contact portion 92a is displaced,
Since the ground terminal 9 is disposed so as to be wound around the insulator 12, the first step portion 42c of the insulator 12 acts as a stopper when the contact portion 92a is displaced. Can be prevented.

When a force 101 is applied to deform the contact portion 92a shown in FIG.
The contact portion 92a is not deformed because the 2c and the side surface 42h constituting the first step portion 42c abut so as to mesh with each other. At this time, a force 10 that deforms the contact portion 92a is used.
When 1 is applied, the connecting portion 92b of the ground terminal 9 acts so as to be slightly away from the side surface of the second step portion 42d, so that it serves to escape the force 101 that deforms the contact portion 92a.

[0062]

As described above, according to the card connector of the present invention, according to the card connector of the present invention, the contact spring portion of the ground terminal is disposed so as to be wound around the frame portion of the insulator. It is possible to provide a card connector provided with a ground terminal which serves as a stopper at the time and does not plastically deform even when an excessive load is applied to the contact portion.

Further, even if a force for deforming the contact portion is applied by engaging the contact portion with the side surface of the step portion of the frame portion, the deformation can be prevented by the engagement of the step portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a card connector of the present invention, showing a state of the card connector when a card is not fitted.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the card connector shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the card connector shown in FIG. 1 and showing a state of the card connector when a card is fitted.

4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion to which the ground terminal shown in FIG. 1 is attached.

5A is a cross-sectional view showing a state of the ground terminal before deformation, FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the ground terminal is pressed from above and deformed, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which showed the state of the earth terminal when the earth terminal was pushed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional card connector, showing a state of the card connector when a card is not fitted.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion to which the ground terminal shown in FIG. 6 is attached.

8A is a cross-sectional view showing a state of the ground terminal before deformation, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the ground terminal is pressed from above and deformed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,201 First connector 2,202 Second connector 9,209 Ground terminal 11,21,211 Terminal 12,22,212 Insulator 12a, 212a Base 12b, 212b Frame 12c, 212c Mounting surface 12g Window 12f , 212f Guide groove portion 13 Shaft portion 18 First mounting portion 19 Second mounting portion 42 Blocking groove 42c First step portion 42d Second step portion 51, 52, 254 Lever member 55 Coupling portion 61, 62, 261 Plate Member 65 Card abutting portion 71, 72, 271 Ejecting member 71a Eject bar 91 Second contact spring portion 92 First contact spring portion 92a, 296 Contact portion 92b Connection portion 93 Holding portion 95 Contact portion 150, 250 Card 151, 251 mating connector 152, 252 mating terminal 295 holding unit 299 Contact spring part

Claims (4)

[Claims] A card connector comprising: an insulator that holds a conductive terminal that is in contact with and separates from a conductive mating terminal provided on a mating connector of the card, and that holds the card detachably in the insulator. An earth terminal attached to the insulator so as to allow unnecessary current generated inside the card to escape, the earth terminal protruding above a mounting surface of the insulator to be mounted on a device and being connected to a conductive portion of the device. A first contact spring portion that contacts, a holding portion connected to the first contact spring portion and held by the insulator, and the card connected to the holding portion and the card positioned inside the insulator. A second contact spring portion located on a side surface of the card so as to face and contact the inside of the insulator when the Wherein when the conductive portion of the device presses the first contact spring portion in Nshureta first
A contact groove for preventing the contact spring portion from moving in a direction other than the pressing direction by inserting the contact spring portion into a predetermined position of the insulator. 2. An insulator holding a conductive terminal which comes into contact with and separates from a conductive mating terminal provided on a mating connector of the card, and a detachment mechanism assembled to the insulator so as to move the card in a detaching direction. The insulator includes a base portion that holds the terminals arranged in the detaching direction and a fitting direction opposite to the detaching direction, and extends from the base portion in the detaching direction to move the card. A frame portion for guiding, and a shaft portion provided on a mounting surface which is one surface of the base portion, wherein the detachment mechanism is attached to the base portion with a lever member rotatably supported on the shaft portion. A plate member movable in the fitting / removing direction, and an eject member attached to the frame portion and engaged with one end side of the lever member. When the lever member is rotated by pressing the contact member in the fitting direction, the card fitted to the insulator is pushed out in the detaching direction by a card abutting portion formed on the plate member. A grounding terminal attached to the frame portion so as to release unnecessary current generated inside the card, the grounding terminal protruding above a mounting surface of the frame portion to disconnect the insulator. The first contacting the conductive part of the device to be mounted
A contact spring portion, a holding portion connected to the first contact spring portion and held by the frame portion, and a card connected to the holding portion and located at the inside of the frame portion. A second contact spring portion located on a side surface of the card so as to face and contact the inside of the frame portion. The conductive portion of the device includes the first contact spring portion in the frame portion. A card formed with a blocking groove for allowing the first contact spring portion to enter a predetermined position of the frame portion while being pressed to prevent movement in a direction other than the pressing direction. connector. 3. The card connector according to claim 2, wherein the ground terminal is connected to the first contact spring portion and is held by the frame portion, and is connected to the holding portion. A second contact spring connected to the connection portion and located on a side surface of the card so as to face and contact the inside of the frame portion when the card is located inside the frame portion; A first mounting portion is formed on the insulator near the one end in the detaching direction of the frame portion to protrude outward to receive the ground terminal, and the first mounting portion has Is
A blocking groove for allowing the first contact spring portion of the ground terminal to enter a predetermined position of the frame portion to prevent movement in a direction other than a pressing direction, and an engaging groove extending from a surface opposite to the mounting surface. And a blocking step, wherein the blocking groove is formed so as to step down from the mounting surface, and the outer surface of the frame part is stepped down following the first step. A card connector with a ground terminal, wherein the card connector has a second step formed, and the connection section is arranged to face a side surface of the second step. 4. A card connector provided with a card connector according to claim 3 as an upper stage and a lower stage, wherein said first contact spring is provided between said first and second steps and said two-stage card connector. A card connector characterized in that parts are wound so as to mesh with each other.