KR0170025B1 - Receptacle mounting means for ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

A receptacle connector 12 for the IC card 10 is provided for mounting on the surface of the circuit board 14. The connector includes a dielectric housing 40 having a front mating surface 42 and a rear connecting surface 43 and a plurality of terminal receiving passages 44 extending through the front and rear surfaces. A plurality of conductive terminals 16 are received in the passageway. Each terminal includes a surface mount tail 50 that protrudes from the rear contact surface of the housing that includes a contact portion 52 that is elastically coupled to a suitable circuit trace 18 on the substrate. The contacts are located in a long coplanar arrangement. Mounting arms 46 are provided at each end of the housing to mount the connector on the surface of the substrate. A pair of rectangular mounting pegs 54 protrude from the bottom mounting surface of each mounting arm. Each pair of peckes provides an interference fit within corresponding mounting holes 56 in the circuit board to span the long array of contacts and to retain the connector to the substrate during processing.

Description

Receptacle Mounting Device for IC Card

1 is an exploded perspective view of an IC card component to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a perspective view of a receptacle connector of a card raised above an edge of a circuit board on which the connector is surface mounted.

3 is a bottom view of the receptacle connector.

4 is a longitudinal side view of the connector.

5 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the connector.

6 is a front view of the connector.

7 is an enlarged partial view of the right end of the connector shown in FIG.

8 is a schematic view showing a complex shape of mounting pegs of different sizes to mounting holes of different sizes.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 5 with a connector mounted on a circuit board.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 6 with a connector mounted on a circuit board.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 7 with a connector mounted on a circuit board. FIG.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10 memory card 12 receptacle connector

14 circuit board 16 terminal

30 frame 40 dielectric housing

44: terminal accommodation passage 50: surface mounting tail

52: surface mount contact 54: mounting peck

The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors mounted on the surface of a circuit board, and more particularly to a mounting apparatus between a circuit board and a receptacle of an IC card.

In general, IC cards and packs, such as memory cards, are data input devices that are electrically connected to electronic devices and storage devices located below, such as word processors and personal computers or other electronic devices. When the IC card is inserted into and electrically connected to the device located below, the data stored in the IC card is transmitted to the electronic device. IC cards and memory cards are typical portable devices that can be easily inserted and withdrawn from the connector device as needed, and are used, for example, in the connector device for detachably mounting the card to the printed circuit board of the device located below.

IC cards usually include a rectangular frame mounted with a panel and a cover to receive and surround the circuit board. The circuit board of the IC card usually includes a planar support on which at least one electrical component is mounted. Electrical components include semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, and batteries. The surface mount receptacle connector is electrically or mechanically coupled to the end of the circuit board. The receptacle connector is mounted therein with a receptacle terminal having a surface mount tail having contacts configured to surface mount to corresponding circuit traces on one or both sides of the circuit board. Each receptacle terminal also includes a receptacle portion coupled to the contacts of the primary electronic device, such as to engage contacts of a header connector mounted on the printed circuit board of the primary electronic device.

Since the receptacle connector is surface-mounted to the circuit board, and the process is followed by the circuit board being assembled to the frame and the cover, positioning the connector correctly with respect to the board, that is, making proper electrical connection and fitting the connector and the board assembly into the frame It is important that the surface mount tail of the receptacle terminal is positioned correctly and the contact is connected to the corresponding circuit trace. It is also desirable, but not essential, to keep the connector in place prior to or during the surface mounting process so that the connector is not incorrectly positioned even if there is movement before the mounting process or surface tension during the process.

However, care must be taken when retaining the receptacle connector on the board. The holding force on the board must not be too small, in which case open circuits or intermittencies occur, so that the surface mount tails and their respective contacts are removed from the circuit traces. It may be floating or out of position. On the other hand, if the holding force is too large, the insertion force becomes excessive, which makes the assembly of the connector to the board difficult. Also, in the case of robotic or automated assembly of connectors, the use of excessive force to insert and assemble misaligned connectors will damage the substrate or components on the substrate.

One type of memory card receptacle connector utilizes a one-sided receptacle terminal configured such that the contact portion of the surface mount tail is coupled only to a circuit trace installed in the plane of the circuit board. This structure allows the connector to be assembled from the top to the bottom on the substrate, thereby enabling robotic pick-and-place assembly. A method of processing a connector having a single-sided terminal form is to simply place the connector on top of the substrate. This type of connector includes a positioning peg or other similar form to accurately position the connector with respect to the substrate. However, since perfect coplanarity of surface mount tails and / or contacts is generally not achieved, this type of connector is seated on a substrate supported only by the lowest contact, creating a gap between the substrate and the upper contact. The larger is the risk of poor contact or poor solder connection between the connector and the substrate.

Another method of processing overcomes the dependency on coplanar fabrication control by using a single press fit or retention peg on each side of the housing to hold the connector to the substrate. The contact of the top surface mount tail is pressed onto the board, or a preload is applied to the contact. However, since this contact presses on the substrate and the surface mount tail is disposed outside the housing along one edge of the housing due to the characteristics of the memory card receptacle connector, the action force by the tail pulls the housing from the predetermined position. Shake or rotate, turning around the maintenance pegs.

However, because of the small size of the memory card receptacle connector, the press fit or retention peg is also relatively small, thus making it impossible to fabricate an integrally molded elastic peg or composite peg shape. In addition, the miniaturization of the peck maximizes the manufacturing tolerance, that is, the change in the diameter or size of the peck takes a greater weight than the size of the peck itself. Thus, if the peck is smaller than the predetermined size, it will not provide an interference fit to the larger substrate hole, and if the peck is larger than the predetermined size, it will provide too large a fit tolerance to the smaller hole, so that As inefficient and excessive insertion force is generated.

The present invention seeks to solve the above problem by providing an improved receptacle mounting peck as described above.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved electrical receptacle mounted on the edge of the surface of a circuit board.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved mounting peek device between a circuit board and a receptacle connector of an IC card or pack, such as a memory card.

In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the connector includes a dielectric housing having a front mating surface, a rear longitudinal section, and a plurality of terminal receiving passages. Multiple conductive terminals are received in the passageway. Each terminal includes a surface mount tail that has a surface mount contact at the distal end for protruding outward from the rear longitudinal section of the housing and elastically engaging an appropriate circuit trace on the substrate. Surface mount contacts are generally arranged in long arrays on the same plane. On each side of the housing is provided a mounting arm for mounting on the surface of the circuit board. In general, the mounting peg protrudes from the bottom mounting surface of the mounting arm.

In particular, the present invention relates to the improvement of a mounting peck. In particular a pair of mounting pegs having a generally rectangular cross section protrude from the bottom mounting surface of the mounting arm for insertion into the corresponding circular mounting holes of the circuit board. Each pair of mounting pegs is straddled over a long row of surface mount contacts to stabilize the uneven forces generated by the single-sided receptacle connector and to prevent the shaking that occurs in the form of a single mounting peek. In addition, each peg has a cross dimension between adjacent edges of the peck smaller than the diameter of the circular hole, whereas a cross dimension between diagonal edges in the form of a rectangular peg is larger than the diameter of each circular hole in the circuit board. Thereby forming an interference or press fit between the receptacle connector and the circuit board. The use of rectangular peck maintains or preloads the surface mount connections on each circuit trace to allow an acceptable interference fit in the circular hole of the substrate for wider dimensional tolerances, or to ensure good electrical connection.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the dielectric housing is molded from a plastic material, the mounting pegs are integrally molded to the dielectric housing. The pegs have a rectangular cross section, and the edges of the plastic pegs are elastic for insertion into the general circular holes of the circuit board. Or may be modified.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The novel features of the invention are set forth in detail in the appended claims.

The present invention together with the objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts.

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention relates to an IC card 10 provided in a data input device, such as a memory card, for connection to word processing and electronic devices such as personal computers or other electrical devices, or storage devices (not shown). Is embodied. Data stored in the memory card 10 is transmitted or stored to the electronic device through terminals in the receptacle connector 12 edge-mounted to the circuit board 14 on which the data storage unit is mounted.

In particular, the receptacle connector 12 is long and includes a plurality of input terminals 16. The terminals engage mechanically and electrically with the contact pads 18 on the surface 20 of the circuit board 14. Various electrical components and circuit elements 22 are surface mounted on surface 20 along circuit traces 24 leading to contact pads 18 formed at the front edge of the circuit board. The edge is coupled to the long receptacle connector 12, which is interconnected with an electrical connector such as a header connector mounted on the printed circuit board of the electronic device to which data stored on the circuit board 14 is transmitted.

Since the circuit board 14 described above is a general prior art, the description of the circuit board is only a little brief in conclusion. Although the electronic component 22 is shown in the drawings in a uniform shape and size, it is noted that the components are generally diverse and may constitute an integrated circuit of a battery and other parts with a semiconductor device mounted on the surface 20 of the circuit board. You have to understand.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the memory card 10 includes a frame 30 including an opening 32 in the upper surface 33 for accommodating the circuit board 14. The frame includes a support device 34 facing the opening 32 to support the circuit board 14 within the frame in the orientation of FIG. 1. Top panel and lid 36 are configured to fixably secure to top surface 33 to surround circuit board 14 in frame 30 and to close opening 32. The frame is united from a dielectric material such as plastic, and a number of cross braces 35 engage with the sides of the frame to provide a sense of unity in the frame structure. In the illustrated embodiment, the frame also defines a bottom opening 37 in the bottom face 39 of the frame 30 that is closed by the bottom panel or cover 38.

The present invention relates to an improved mounting means between the receptacle connector 12 and the circuit board 14. In particular, with reference to FIG. 2, the receptacle connector 12 is arranged in two rows in parallel with the front mating surface 42, the rear longitudinal surface 43, and for receiving the receptacle terminal 16. And a dielectric housing 40 having a receiving passage 44 extending therebetween between the front mating surface and the rear longitudinal surface. The end wing or mounting arm 46 includes a bottom mounting surface 47 located at each end of the housing 40 and mounted to the top surface 20 of the circuit board 14 adjacent the edge 48 of the circuit board. . Each receptacle terminal 16 includes a receptacle portion proximate to the front mating surface of the housing and a surface mount tail 50 that protrudes from and extends outward from the rear end surface 43. Surface mount tail 50 includes surface mount contacts 52 that mechanically and electrically engage contact pads 18 on top surface 20 of a circuit board adjacent edge 48. As will be seen below, in the unmounted or unbiased state, the contacts 52 of the surface mount tail 50 protrude below the bottom mounting surface 47 of the receptacle connector 12. As can be clearly seen in FIG. 2, the generally parallel and elongated surface mount tail 50 extends out of the housing 40 of the receptacle connector. Thus, the contact portions 52 form an elongate arrangement substantially in the same plane as will be seen below.

The improved mounting means of the present invention is embodied as a pair of mounting pegs 54 formed on each mounting arm that are pressurized or forced to fit each pair of mounting holes 56 (see FIG. 2) in the circuit board 14. do. As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pair of pegs is suspended on the bottom mounting surface 47 of each mounting arm 46 of the housing 40. The parallel arrangement of the surface mount tails 50 of the terminal 16 can also be clearly seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Referring to FIGS. 5-7, in particular in FIGS. 5 and 6, the contacts 52 of the surface mount tail 50 protrude below the bottom mounting surface 47 of the mounting arm 46 of the connector housing. It can be seen that. The terminals are usually stamped and formed from a metal plate, whereby the surface mount tail 50 is flexible and the contacts 52 exert a force on each contact pad when the connector is surface mounted to the circuit board. The receptacle portions 58 of the terminals are arranged in the two-row arrangement described above. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the upper row of terminals 16 uses the two rows of receptacle portions 58 simultaneously while giving the effect of forming one parallel row of surface mount tails 50. FIG. To have a different surface mounting tail shape than the bottom row terminal.

According to one aspect of the invention, it is readily apparent that in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 each pair of mounting pegs 54 at each opposite end of the connector spans a long row of contacts of the surface mount tail. That is, the mounting pegs 54 of one of the pairs at each opposite end of the connector are located in front of the contact 52 of the surface mount tail 50 facing the front mating surface 42 of the housing and the other pegs of the pairs. Is located at the rear of the contact portion 52 of the surface mount tail portion 50 away from the front engagement surface 42 of the contact portion 52 of the surface mount tail portion 50 in the direction of the front engagement surface 42 of the housing. By providing a mounting pedestal that spans a long row, the shake problem described in the background of the invention is solved very easily and efficiently by supporting or balancing the uneven forces caused by the planar type.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the mounting pegs 54 also have a rectangular cross section which provides an interference fit in a circular hole to hold the connector, in particular the contact 52 of the surface mount tail 50. Ensure good lead connection to the surface. In the preferred embodiment shown, the mounting peck is a rectangular cross section. Therefore, the rectangular shape generally forms four corners 60 suitable for each peck (Fig. 8). The square peck is pushed into the circular mounting hole 56 of the circuit board 14. In essence, the transverse dimension between the diagonal edges of the mounting pegs 54 is larger than the transverse dimension or diameter of the circular hole 56, while the transverse dimension between adjacent edges is smaller than the diameter of the circular hole, and therefore generally rectangular in shape. At each corner of the pegs of the peg provides an interference fit between the receptacle connector and the circuit board.

As mentioned in the background of the invention above, the receptacle connector 12 of the memory card 10 is so small that the manufacturing tolerances for the small mounting pegs such as the pegs 54 and the mounting holes 56 are significantly increased. . That is, the size change in the transverse dimension or diameter of the mounting pegs or holes accounts for a significant proportion of the size of the pegs or holes themselves. However, due to the square shape of the peg, the edge of the peck is larger or smaller than the hole within the given tolerances of the fin size and the hole size. Therefore, since only the edge 60 of the peck 54 is outside the hole, the edge deforms when being forced fit into the circular hole 56. This is especially true when the dielectric housing 40 comprising the end vanes 46 and the peg 54 is molded from a plastic material. 8 shows a change in the size of a given mounting peck with respect to the circular hole 56. In other words, the peck 54 'and the hole 56' of FIG. 8 represent a minimum interference state between the mounting peck and the circular hole, that is, between the peck 54 and the hole 56 representing the process conditions, and the peck 54 ) And hole 56 represent the maximum interference state. However, the edges of the peg may deform or at least become flexible when the peg is forced fit into the circular mounting hole. Most other cross-sectional peck geometries cause too little interference if the hole diameter is at the upper limit of the tolerance zone and the cross dimension of the peg is at the lower limit of the tolerance zone, or the hole diameter is at the lower limit of the tolerance zone, Being at the upper limit of the tolerance zone causes too much interference. In particular, as shown in FIG. 8, the rectangular cross section of the peck provides a moderate but not excessive interference of a peg of a predetermined size within a given tolerance zone to a hole of a predetermined size within a given tolerance zone.

Finally, FIGS. 9-11 show fifth through seven except that the receptacle connector is surface mounted to the circuit board 14 with the rectangular mounting pegs 54 being press fit into the mounting holes 56. Similar to help In particular, FIG. 9 shows how each pair of peckes spans the long row of contacts 52 of the surface mount tail 50.

9 also shows how the contact is deflected upward or preloaded in the direction of arrow A to make a connection between contact 52 and a suitable contact pad 18 of circuit board 14 and to create a force against the substrate. To show. By providing a mounting pede over or supported over a long row of contacts 52, the receptacle connector 12 does not tend to shake and the connector is in a stable state before and during the process.

It will be appreciated that the invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics of the invention. Therefore, the examples and embodiments of the present invention are illustrative and not restrictive, and the present invention is not limited to the details given herein.

Claims (4)

And a plurality of terminal receiving passages arranged in two generally parallel rows extending between the front engaging surface and the rear longitudinal section and the front engaging surface and the rear longitudinal section, the mounting arms being mounted on both ends for mounting on the surface of the substrate. And a dielectric housing comprising, and surface mount tails received in the passageway, the surface mount tails protruding from and extending outward from the rear longitudinal section of the housing, each surface mount tail elastically engaging an appropriate circuit trace on the surface of the substrate. A surface mount contact, wherein the surface mount contact comprises: a plurality of conductive terminals forming a long row of contact portions that are substantially coplanar between the mounting arms; 12. An electrical connector mounted to an end of a circuit board comprising an integrally formed first mounting peg protruding from a bottom mounting surface of each mounting arm for insertion into a corresponding first mounting hole in the circuit board And an integrally formed second mounting peg protruding from the bottom mounting surface of the mounting arm, the first mounting peg being located in front of a long row of surface mount contacts facing the front engagement surface of the housing and correspondingly in the circuit board. The second mounting pegs are configured to provide an interference fit in the first mounting hole and the second mounting peg is located behind a long row of surface mount contacts away from the front mating surface of the housing and provides an interference fit in a corresponding second mounting hole in the circuit board. And the first mounting pegs and the second mounting pegs are configured to provide surface mount contacts during processing of the substrate. Electrical connector spanning between rows of surface mount contacts to maintain a proper circuit trace of the substrate. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting pegs have a rectangular cross section. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the mounting pegs have a square cross section. 4. The mounting of claim 3 wherein each mounting peek is configured to be inserted into a corresponding circular mounting hole in the circuit board, wherein each mounting peek is such that the transverse dimension between the diagonal edges is smaller than the diameter of the corresponding mounting hole in the circuit board. And an edge of each peg to be press fit between a corresponding mounting hole and each mounting peg.