KR100467236B1 - Flash memory card - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a flash memory card that allows the storage of digital data such as music files, picture files, documents / data files, etc. by casing a flash memory semiconductor in the form of a card. A flash memory card employing a prevention device.

According to the present invention, one or more conductive wires are electrically connected to a substrate installed in a flash memory card, and holes are formed in upper and lower cases of the card corresponding to the conductive wire portion, and the user selectively disconnects the conductive wires through the holes. The change of the electrical signal according to the connection state of the wires is enabled by the memory card drive (reader / writer) or its own control device to prevent the setting of the erasure prevention of contents stored in the flash memory card. This secure, low component cost is eliminated.

Description

Flash Memory Card {FLASH MEMORY CARD}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flash memory card that can store digital data such as music files, picture files, and document data files by casing a flash memory semiconductor in the form of a card, and more particularly, to a flash memory card employing an anti-erasing function. will be. In general, flash memory semiconductors can be repeatedly used for recording, erasing, and rewriting digital signals, and since the recorded contents are preserved even when the power is cut off, they are used in a variety of mobile phones or digital cameras.

When the flash memory semiconductor is manufactured in the form of a card and detachable, it is very convenient to move freely. For example, a digital camera can be used instead of photographic film, and in an MP3 player it can be used like a cassette tape.

In order to prevent accidental loss of recorded data due to mis-deletion of the consumer, such a flash memory card has an anti-erasing device. For example, a memory stick, a flash memory card manufactured by Sony Corporation, has a slide switch. According to the contact position of the switch, the recording is made possible or impossible to delete. Such an anti-erasing device is very easy to use, but requires expensive manufacturing costs and may confuse switch operating positions.

In addition, since the memory stick is designed with 10 contacts, each of the 10 contacts and each terminal of the memory semiconductor do not correspond one-to-one, which inevitably uses a control IC between the flash memory semiconductor and the card contact, which is also an expensive component. This not only raises the price of flash memory cards, but also slows down the transmission of digital data very quickly, and hinders the design of various applications using flash memory cards.

In the present invention, one or more conductors that make an electrical connection, and the control device in the card drive (reader / writer) or itself according to the electrical signal voltage according to the connection state of these conductors to configure the anti-destructive setting in this apparatus By making it possible, a simple structure can provide an anti-erasing function.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a flash memory card of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the back side of the flash memory card of the present invention shown in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A 'in FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B 'in FIG.

5 is a plan view showing the appearance of the substrate in the present invention;

6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a circuit connection state of a conductive line of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the erasing preventing device according to the circuit connection state of the conductor of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flash memory semiconductor mounted thereon, and each terminal of the memory semiconductor is connected in a one-to-one correspondence with a contact point of a card so as to be able to input and output signals by contacting a contact portion of a card drive (reader / writer). A substrate including a contact portion,

It consists of an upper case and a lower case for casing the substrate, the upper case and the lower case is formed with a hole to prevent the erasure, the incision is formed in the contact terminal portion to expose the contact terminal portion of the substrate to the outside ,

When the wire is disconnected from the memory card drive, a predetermined voltage is applied to the anti-destructive lead wire that extends through the through-hole position, so that the voltage changes when the lead wire is broken, and the card drive recognizes the voltage input from each lead wire. The connection state of the flash memory is determined, and a control signal is output to a corresponding terminal of the flash memory semiconductor according to the result of the determination to enable or prevent writing to the flash memory.

In another embodiment, the present invention includes a flash memory semiconductor and a plurality of conductors connected to the voltage terminal Vcc, and the element for setting the protection against erasing the flash memory semiconductor by the connection state of the plurality of conductors. Check the connection state of the anti-clear means and the conducting wire of the anti-erasing means to confirm whether or not the flash memory semiconductor is set to prevent erasure, and according to the confirmed anti-erasing setting, to erase data of the flash memory semiconductor. By configuring the control means (MCU: microprocessor) to control, the memory card itself can be set to prevent erasing regardless of the card drive (reader / writer).

When the present invention having such a feature is described with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings as follows.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the memory card of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the back of the memory card for Figure 1, Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA 'in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a B in Figure 2 -B 'is sectional drawing, and FIG. 5 is a top view of the board | substrate for showing the structure of a board | substrate.

The memory card of the present invention has a structure in which the substrate 30 is cased into the upper case 10 and the lower case 20, and one side of the lower case 20 is formed at the contact terminal 31 of the substrate 30. The cutout 21 is formed to be exposed to the outside, and one or more anti-deletion holes 22 are set in the upper case 10 and the lower case 20 so that the user can set the anti-erasing setting.

The substrate 30 has a memory semiconductor 32 mounted thereon, and each terminal of the contact terminal portion 31 for inputting / outputting data between the output terminal of the memory semiconductor 32 and the memory card drive 40 into which the memory card is inserted. The circuit is configured so that the one-to-one correspondence, and a portion of the lower case 20 is cut out so that the contact terminal 31 of the substrate is exposed to the outside of the card.

A through hole 34 on the substrate is formed in which the conductive wires 33a, 33b, and 33c extend at positions corresponding to the anti-deletion holes 22 drilled in the upper case 10 and the lower case 20. The conductive wires 33a, 33b, 33c are configured to transfer a predetermined voltage supplied when the memory card drive 40 is connected to the corresponding anti-erasing setting terminals WPL1, WPL2, and WPL3 of the drive 40 of the memory card. Connected to the corresponding contact terminal part 31, and the memory card drive 40 is set to prevent the respective erasing prevention setting terminals being transferred through the eraser contact terminal part 31 according to the connection state of the erasing preventing conductors 33a, 33b, and 33c. The WP1, WPL2, and WPL3 input voltages allow the WP (WRITE PROTECT and WE: WRITE ENABLE) terminals to be WRITE PROTECT or WRITE ENABLE. .

Fig. 6 is a circuit block diagram schematically showing the connection state of the anti-erase lead 33a, 33b, 33c in the present invention.

In addition, the anti-destructive holes 22 are formed at positions of the upper case 10 and the lower case 20 of the through hole 34 formed in the substrate 30, respectively.

In addition, a rounding part 24 is provided at the tip of the lower case 20 at a position corresponding to the contact terminal 31 of the substrate 30 so that the contact pin of the connector socket is inserted when the memory card is inserted into the card connector socket. It has a protective structure.

In addition, the lower case 20 has a latching jaw 23 is formed to easily remove the memory card inserted into the card connector socket.

Such a memory card is made by casing the upper case 10 and the lower case 20 in which the PCB substrate 30 is formed of plastic. In a practically preferred embodiment, the contact terminal 31 has a 36 mm side length. It has a size of 48mm and a thickness of 2.8mm.

In the memory card of the present invention, one or more plurality of erasing preventing holes 22 are formed in the upper case 10 and the lower case 20 to prevent the erasing. In the present embodiment, three memory cards are formed. As a preferred embodiment of this anti-erasing hole 22, it is a hole having a diameter of about 2 mm, and is formed side by side for convenience. Through-holes 34 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are formed on the substrate 30 at positions corresponding to the anti-erasing holes 22 provided in the upper case 10 and the lower case 20. The anti-erasing conducting wires 33a, 33b, 33c cross over the through-holes 34 on the substrate.

When the user passes the hole using a screwdriver or the like for preventing or releasing the erroneous structure, the erroneous anti-conductor wires 33a, 33b, and 33c are broken.

Here, a copper alloy wire having a diameter of about 0.25 mm is usually used for the anti-deletion lead wires 33a, 33b, 33c.

Table 1 shows an example of the configuration of each terminal in the contact terminal portion 31 of the memory card as described above.

There are a total of 26 contacts, among which 23, 24 and 25 are connected to three anti-erasing leads 33a, 33b and 33c, and the other contacts correspond one-to-one with all of the contacts of the memory semiconductor 32. Are connected. Therefore, there is no control IC in the present invention. Without the control IC, it is disadvantageous for miniaturization due to the large number of contacts, but the manufacturing cost

The data transfer rate is also unobstructed by the control IC, so it can be transferred from PC to card or card to PC at high speed.

6, as described above, the conductive wires 33a, 33b, and 33c are connected to the anti-erasing setting terminals WPL 1 and WPL of the external memory card drive 40 through the contact terminal 31 of the substrate 30. 2 and WPL 3 are respectively connected to the control circuit of the memory card drive 40.

Therefore, the control circuit of the memory card drive 40 recognizes the voltage level of the anti-erasing setting terminals WPL 1, WPL 2, and WPL 3 to determine the connection state of the conductive wires 33a, 33b, and 33c, and to control a predetermined control. A signal is output to control the on / off protection of the card. In practice, the user explains how to set the anti-erasure device.

To prevent the deletion of files currently stored on the memory card and to prevent new data from being saved, i.e. to protect against erasing, several small holes on the surface of the memory card [in this example, three holes (22 Any one of)] may be drilled using a small screwdriver or the like. Drilling a hole means that one of the anti-deodorant wires 33a, 33b, and 33c is broken. If the wire is broken, the power supply voltage is not supplied to the corresponding anti-erasing setting terminal of the memory card drive 40 through the wire. Will not. Recognizing this, the memory card drive 40 issues a write prohibition signal to the memory semiconductor 32 to prevent and protect the deletion of files stored in the memory semiconductor 32.

At this time, if the user wants to make the memory card to which the erasure prevention setting is set again, the user can drill again any one of the remaining two erasure prevention holes. The memory card drive 40 recognizes that the second lead wire is broken, and the memory card drive 40 outputs a writeable signal WE to the memory semiconductor 32 to release the protection against erasing. (It becomes recordable state.)

When the third hole is made by the same operation in the same state as that in the recordable state, the third lead is broken and the memory card drive 40 recognizes this and outputs the write inhibit signal WP again. Protection will be set.

In other words, if an odd number of holes 33 are broken out of the erase protection holes 22 in the memory card, the write protection is set to write protection, and if the even holes are drilled, the erase protection setting is set. Is released to a recordable state.

In this case, the even number includes "0" and means an initial state in which no hole is touched, and the initial state becomes a recordable state. If you repeatedly write and erase data on a memory card, you can use it without touching the hole.

Table 2 shows the operation setting of the anti-erasure prevention according to the punched state of the anti-erasure prevention hole 22.

In the embodiment of the present invention as described above, but the three anti-destructive holes 22, three or more, five, seven or more can be carried out in various ways, as the hole is the anti-erasing device as write-protection Even numbers such as 2, 4, 6, etc. are undesirable because they must end. This is because it is not important which hole is drilled, but the drilled hole turns on or off the anti-destructor setting depending on whether the odd individual is an even individual.

Statistics show that in the case of cassette tapes, 99% of the tape produced ends in just one recording, and only 1% of the time it is erased and overlapped. Therefore, it can be said that the number of the erasure prevention holes 22 is enough about three.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention in which the anti-erasing setting can be made regardless of the memory card drive 40 (this means that the anti-erasing setting is independent of the contact terminal portion 31). According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the anti-erasing control unit (MCU) is separately set in the memory card to enable the anti-erasing setting (WP) or release (WE). The anti-clear control unit (MCU) connected to the 33b, 33c recognizes the connection state of the anti-destructive wires 33a, 33b, 33c, and executes the anti-clearing setting (WP) or release (WE) accordingly. . In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, whether or not the erasing prevention setting is set is determined by the erasing prevention control unit (MCU) by checking the number of conductors connected to the voltage Vcc terminal. Accordingly, it is determined whether or not the flash memory semiconductor 32 is to be erased.

In this way, if the control unit (MCU) 36 is set aside and the control of the erasing prevention device is controlled, the manufacturing cost of the memory card may be slightly increased. However, when another component such as Bluetooth, for example, is added to the memory card, The # 23, # 24, and # 25 contacts of the erasing prevention setting contact terminal section 31 can be used.

As described above, the flash memory card of the present invention has a sufficient terminal portion, so that it can correspond to all pins of the memory semiconductor, and since there is no need for a separate control IC, no component cost of the control IC is required, and the data input / output speed is very fast. It can be easily applied in various industries.

In addition, there is a very simple, inexpensive and excellent memory device, so that the user can easily set the anti-erasure setting.

In addition, since the memory card of the present invention can mount up to two memory semiconductors, the capacity of the memory card can be doubled.

In addition, the leading edge of the memory card is rounded at both the bottom and top corners.The rounding at the bottom edge protects the pins of the memory card connector socket, and the rounding at the top edge inserts the card. When inserted smoothly.

In addition, if the locking jaw is made in the lower part of the lower case of the card, the inserted memory card can be easily grasped and removed.

Claims (6)

A substrate having a flash memory semiconductor mounted thereon, each terminal of the memory semiconductor being connected in a one-to-one correspondence, connected to a contact portion of a memory card drive, and including a contact terminal portion to enable input / output of a data signal; It consists of an upper case and a lower case for casing the substrate, Cut the corresponding part of the lower case into the cutout so that the contact terminal of the board can be exposed to the outside, At least one anti-erasing hole is formed in the upper and lower cases, and a through hole is also made in the position of the substrate corresponding to the hole so that the anti-erasing wire is spread over, and the anti-erasing wire is connected to the contact terminal part. And, when connected to a memory card drive, the power to flow a certain level to the anti-erasing wire, If any of the anti-destructive wires across the board's anti-destructive holes break, the memory card drive recognizes the change in voltage across each wire and writes them to the memory semiconductor to protect the stored data. As a result, you can set the anti-erasure setting. If an even number of holes including "0" are drilled ("0" means an initial state without touching the hole), the memory card drive recognizes this and outputs a writeable signal to the memory semiconductor, thereby preventing the erasure. Flash memory card characterized in that the setting can be canceled and recorded Flash memory semiconductors, An anti-destructive means comprising a plurality of anti-erasing conductors connected to the contact terminal (Vcc) and setting the anti-erasing of the flash memory semiconductor by the connection state of the plurality of conductors; By checking the connection state of the erasing prevention lead of the erasing preventing means, it is possible to confirm whether or not the flash memory semiconductor is set to prevent erasing, and to control data erasing of the flash memory semiconductor according to the confirmed erasing prevention setting. A flash memory card comprising a control means (MCU). 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the anti-erasing conductor is odd, and is formed so as to span the anti-erasing hole formed in the upper and lower cases of the memory card and the hole penetrating the corresponding substrate. Flash memory card The flash memory card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein two memory semiconductors can be mounted on a substrate, thereby doubling the capacity of the memory card. The memory device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lower and upper corners of the leading edge of the memory card are rounded so that the rounding of the lower edges protects the pins of the memory card connector socket and the upper corner rounding. Is a flash memory card with a feature that allows it to be inserted smoothly when a card is inserted The flash memory card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a flashing jaw is formed at a lower part of the lower case of the memory card to easily hold and remove the inserted card.