JPH1074568A - Contact terminal of connector and connector for card type electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector for a card type electronic equipment, and to provide contact terminals of a connector so as to be shaped to heighten reliability of contact connection by preventing poor contact connection regardless of the number of insertion/extraction, and by eliminating harmful influence of adhesive particles such as dirt or dust. SOLUTION: A contact terminal 11 of a connector for a card type electronic equipment can be elastically deformed. When a card type electronic equipment is inserted, it is pushed down in thickness direction of the card to be connected with the contact pin 11 of the connector for the card type electronic equipment. A slit A provided at the contact terminal 11 forms two contact points for each contact terminal of the card type electronic equipment. That, is, this slit A divides the contact area into the two contact points in plate thickness direction of the contact terminal 11. Thereby, even though the number of insertion/ extraction is increased and the surface of the contact point is worn away, this structure surely permits contact connection of the two contact points.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a contact terminal of a connector and a connector for a card-type electronic device.
In particular, the present invention relates to a shape of a connector capable of obtaining high reliability when the connector is brought into contact.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a means for preventing poor electrical contact at the time of contact with a device having an external terminal such as a card-type electronic device, two or more contact portions are conventionally provided per contact terminal. So-called multi-contact (multi-contact)
Types of connectors are known. The connector is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-1900071. As shown in FIG. 8, the shape of the contact portion of the contact terminal is multi-contact by providing a plurality of fine irregularities on the contact terminal surface. It was done. As a method for forming irregularities on the surface of the contact terminal, a method using a fine metal wire as shown in the same publication is known.

[0003]

However, in the case of a multi-contact structure in which minute irregularities are provided on the surface of the contact point as in the prior art, as the number of insertions and removals of devices to be mounted / removed increases, the surface of the contact terminal increases. The irregularities are gradually scraped off and smoothed, so that a plurality of contact points cannot be obtained, and there is a problem that poor contact easily occurs. In order to avoid smoothing, it is conceivable to roughen the unevenness itself,
Nowadays, with the miniaturization of the connector, the miniaturization of the contact terminal itself is progressing, and it is extremely difficult to provide a rough state in that state. That is, although unevenness is formed, it is practically possible to provide only minute unevenness. In particular, when the device is frequently inserted and removed, there is a possibility that the external terminal on the device side may be attached to the connector with dust or dirt adhered.In this case, the contact terminal with fine unevenness However, there is a problem in that there is no escape place for dust and dirt, resulting in poor contact. Also, in terms of cost, the method of providing unevenness has a problem in that the surface treatment with a chemical or the like is expensive. Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, for example, it is possible to prevent poor contact regardless of the number of times of insertion and removal, and also to prevent the influence of attached substances such as dust and dirt. An object of the present invention is to provide a shape of a contact terminal of a connector having high contact reliability without receiving and a connector for a card-type electronic device.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a contact terminal of a connector according to the present invention, wherein a contact portion of the contact terminal with a device is formed with a slit. It is characterized by. By providing a slit, that is, an open portion in the contact portion of the contact terminal with the device in the contact portion of the contact terminal, the contact terminal in the contact portion becomes discontinuous, and a multi-contact structure can be easily provided. In addition, even if the foreign matter such as dust or dirt adheres to the external terminal of the device and contacts the contact terminal of the connector, the slit serves as a means for releasing the foreign matter, so that the contact reliability is obtained. Structure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the contact terminal of the connector according to the present invention has a projection formed by bending the contact terminal, and the projection is used as the contact portion. It is characterized by becoming. As described above, when the protruding portion is used as the contact portion, the area of the contact portion is narrowed, so that the effect of the adhering substance and the like is further reduced due to a synergistic effect with the slit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the contact terminal of the connector according to the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the slit is provided continuously to the tip of the contact terminal. If the slit is provided continuously to the tip, it is even less likely to be affected by deposits and the like. In particular, if the contact terminal is formed in a forked shape as described in claim 4, the merits of the multi-contact type can be sufficiently exhibited.

On the other hand, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector for a card-type electronic device in which a card-type electronic device having an external terminal is attached and detached, and is electrically connected to the card-type electronic device via the external terminal. A connector for a card-type electronic device, which is electrically connected, a frame, a card insertion slot into which the external terminal side of the card-type electronic device is inserted in an inner region of the frame, and a card insertion slot. A contact terminal that is in contact with and electrically connected to the external terminal, wherein a slit is formed at a contact portion of the contact terminal with the external terminal of the card-type electronic device. . Card-type electronic devices are devices that are frequently attached and detached. In such devices, by providing slits, that is, open portions at the contact sites of the contact terminals, the contact terminals at the contact sites become discontinuous. , Can easily provide a multi-contact structure. In addition, the slit serves as a means for releasing the foreign matter even if the foreign matter such as dust or dirt contacts the contact terminal of the connector while being attached to the external terminal of the card-type electronic device. The resulting structure is obtained. In addition, the card-type electronic device does not require any special contrivance and can be used as it is as a conventional product, so that it has sufficient versatility.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the connector for a card-type electronic device according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, the contact terminal has an attachment for pressing the external terminal of the card-type electronic device. It is characterized in that it also has a force means. If the contact terminal is provided with the urging means, the contact terminal can be pressed against the card-type electronic device without increasing the number of other parts, and a more reliable contact state can be obtained.

Further, the urging means may bend the contact terminal to such an extent that a pressing force is applied to the external terminal, and the projecting portion formed by the bending is formed. Is used for a contact portion with the device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the slit is provided continuously from a contact portion of the external terminal of the card-type electronic device connector to a tip thereof. In particular, it is preferable that the contact terminal has a forked shape.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Note that the card-type electronic device referred to below is I
Although it is a general term for card-type electronic devices such as a C memory card and an I / O card, it particularly refers to a so-called contact-type card that has an external terminal and exhibits its function when connected to a connector. Therefore, the card-type electronic device connector allows the above-described card-type electronic device to be inserted and detached, and enables electrical and mechanical connection between the main body (for example, a computer) and the card-type electronic device. .
In the description of the present embodiment, an IC memory card will be described as an example of a card-type electronic device.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a contact terminal of a connector according to the present invention. Each A is a slit provided in the contact terminal, and the shape of the slit is a long hole 1a which is drawn in a rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 1 (a), and a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 1 (b). There are a round hole shape 1b that is removed, a slit shape 1c in which a slit is provided up to the tip of the contact terminal as shown in FIG. In each case, the contact area is on the slit,
A multi-contact structure is obtained. Also, in this example, one slit is provided for each contact terminal.
A plurality of slits may be provided for one contact terminal.
At that time, the size of the slit may be appropriately changed.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 2A to 2C show an embodiment in which each contact terminal of the first embodiment is bent to have a projecting portion. In this case, the contact terminals 2a to 2
The projecting portion c is formed so as to be a contact portion, and each slit of the first embodiment is straddled at the contact portion. Since the contact area is squeezed by providing the projecting portion serving as the contact portion in each contact terminal, the effect of preventing poor contact due to adhesion of dirt or the like is greater than in the first embodiment. Further, if the contact terminal has a projection, for example, an urging force can be applied to the external terminal on the device side, and more reliable contact can be performed. In this example, one slit is provided for each contact terminal, but a plurality of slits may be provided for one contact terminal. At that time, the size of the slit may be appropriately changed.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows an example in which a contact terminal of the connector is applied to a connector for a card-type electronic device (hereinafter referred to as a connector) as a third embodiment. 3 is a plan view, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the connector. Reference numeral 11 denotes a contact terminal, which is made of a conductive member. For example, in addition to being formed of a copper alloy, the surface is plated with gold. A is a slit provided at the contact portion of the contact terminal. Reference numeral 12 denotes a card insertion slot, through which the IC memory card 2 is inserted. 13
Is a resin forming the frame of the connector, and the contact terminals 1
1 is press-fitted and fixed. FIG. 5 shows an IC memory card (hereinafter, also referred to as a “card”) which is fitted and electrically connected to the connector of FIG. Reference numeral 31 denotes a contact terminal on the card side, which is formed as a part of a circuit pattern on a circuit board 32, for example, its surface is plated with gold. The card of FIG. 5 is inserted into the card insertion slot 12 of the connector of FIG. 4 from the contact terminal side of the card, and the contact terminal 11 on the connector side and the contact terminal 31 on the card side are respectively connected. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part in a section taken along the line SS ′ in FIG. 4 when the contact terminals 11 of the connector and the contact terminals 31 of the card are connected. The connector-side contact terminals 11 are springy (elastic).
When the card is inserted, it is pushed down in the thickness direction of the card (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 6), and the card-side contact terminals are connected while being pressed by the restoring force generated by the spring property due to the pushing down. In other words, providing a bent portion in the contact terminal on the connector side also serves as a so-called biasing means.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the contact terminal 11 in FIG. 3 when the contact terminal 11 of the connector is connected to the contact terminal 31 of the card.
It is T 'sectional drawing. Due to the slit A provided in the contact terminal 11 of the connector, two contact points 51 can be obtained per contact terminal on the card side. Since the contact is divided into two in the thickness direction of the contact terminal 11 by the slit A, the number of insertions and removals is increased, and even if the surface of the contact 51 is worn, the contact between the two contacts can be surely taken. Has become.
Although the present embodiment has been described as having two contacts, it is not particularly necessary to stick to two contacts, and the number of slits is further increased. For example, two slits are provided and three contacts are provided. It goes without saying that similar effects can be obtained by providing the above.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 8 is a plan view of a connector as a modified example of the third embodiment. A different point from the third embodiment is that there is a slit provided from the connection part of the part A to the tip part. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in the P view of FIG. 9, the contact terminal is divided into two from the connection portion to the tip by the slit A, and the divided contact terminal 71 thus divided can operate independently in the vertical direction. .
Therefore, even when a foreign substance or the like is caught in one of the contacts 72 and cannot be contacted, the other contact can operate independently, so that contact with the card-side contact terminal 31 can be made. Therefore, it is an effective method for use in an environment with heavy contamination.

[0017]

According to the present invention, by adopting a simple structure in which a slit is provided at the connection portion of the connector contact terminal, the cost is low and even if the number of times of insertion / removal is increased, two locations per contact terminal are surely provided. , A card edge connector with high contact reliability can be obtained.

Further, by providing a slit up to the tip of the contact terminal as in claims 4 and 8, it is possible to prevent poor contact even when used in a badly soiled environment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector contact terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a connector contact terminal as a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a card-type electronic device connector according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a card-type electronic device connector according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a card-type electronic device fitted to the card-type electronic device connector of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an SS ′ cross-sectional view when the card-type electronic device of the present invention is inserted.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line TT ′ when the card-type electronic device of the present invention is inserted.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a card-type electronic device connector according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a P view enlarged view when the card-type electronic device of the present invention is inserted.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a conventional card-type electronic device connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Card 11 Contact terminal 12 Card insertion slot 13 Resin 31 Contact terminal 32 Substrate 51 Contact 71 Split contact terminal 72 Contact A Slit B Projection

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A contact terminal of a connector, wherein a slit is formed in a contact portion of the contact terminal with a device. 2. The contact terminal for a connector according to claim 1, wherein said contact terminal has a projecting portion formed by being bent, and said projecting portion serves as said contact portion. 3. The contact terminal of a connector according to claim 1, wherein said slit is provided continuously to a tip of said contact terminal. 4. The contact terminal for a connector according to claim 1, wherein said contact terminal has a forked shape. 5. A connector for a card-type electronic device having a card-type electronic device having an external terminal attached and detached and electrically connected to the card-type electronic device via the external terminal, comprising: a frame; A card insertion slot into which the external terminal side of the card-type electronic device is inserted in an inner region of the frame; and a contact terminal located in the card insertion slot and electrically connected to the external terminal. A connector for a card-type electronic device, wherein a slit is formed in a contact portion of the contact terminal with an external terminal of the card-type electronic device. 6. A connector for a card-type electronic device according to claim 5, wherein said contact terminal also has a biasing means for pressing against said external terminal of said card-type electronic device. 7. The urging means is configured to bend the contact terminal to the extent that a pressing force is applied to the external terminal, and a protrusion formed by the bending is provided at a contact portion with the device. 7. The connector for a card-type electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the connector is used. 8. The card type according to claim 5, wherein said slit is provided continuously from a contact portion of said external terminal to a tip of said card type electronic device connector. Connector for electronic equipment. 9. The connector for a card-type electronic device according to claim 5, wherein said contact terminal has a forked shape.