KR20140137319A - Card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a slimmed card connector. The card connector (10) includes a housing (11) and a terminal component (12). The housing includes a card receiving part (13) to receive a card (1). The terminal component is maintained by the housing. One end (15) of the terminal component protrudes to the card receiving part. The card includes a contact part (3) making contact with the terminal component. A front end region (1a) including the contact part is thinner than a rear end region (1b). The housing includes a maintaining part (14) to maintain the terminal component. When the card is received in the card receiving part, at least a part of the maintaining part is located at a step region (1c) between a thin card body (5) of the front end region and a block part (4) of the rear region.

Description

Card connecting device {CARD CONNECTOR}

The present invention relates to a card connecting apparatus capable of realizing thinning.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, memory cards such as SD cards have been widely used in electronic equipment such as mobile phones and tablet PCs. In addition to thinning of various electronic equipment, various card connecting apparatuses accommodating memory cards are also required to be thinned.

In a conventional card connecting apparatus, a card connecting apparatus generally includes a housing and a cover surrounding the housing, and a card accommodating portion accommodating a memory card is formed in the housing. The terminal part is integrally formed on the bottom surface of the card receiving part of the housing through insert molding, and one end of the terminal part protrudes toward the card receiving part. When the card is accommodated in the card accommodating portion, the terminal component contacts the contact portion of the card (refer to Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2010-165668.

However, in the conventional card connecting device, the thickness of the card connecting device is determined by the thickness of the card in the card accommodating portion and the thickness of the housing below the card accommodating portion, and even in the case of a card having convex portions formed on its surface, And the lower housing is formed below the convex portion. Therefore, even for any card, the thickness of the card connecting device is at least equal to the sum of the card thickness in the card accommodating portion and the thickness of the housing under the card accommodating portion.

An object of the present invention to solve the above problem is to provide a card connecting apparatus which can be further reduced in thickness.

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a card connecting apparatus as described below. A card connecting apparatus having a housing and a terminal component, wherein the housing has a card accommodating portion used for accommodating a card, the terminal component is held by the housing, Wherein the card has a contact portion capable of contacting the terminal component, the front end region including the contact portion is formed to be thinner than the rear end region, and the housing is provided with a pawl Wherein at least a part of the holding portion is located in a stepped region between a thin card body portion of the front end region of the card and a convex portion of the rear end region when the card is received in the card receiving portion. Connection device.

At least a part of the holding part for holding the terminal part in the card having the stepped area on the card surface is located in the stepped area of the card so that the thickness of the card connecting device can be further reduced, And the thickness of the lower housing.

At least a portion of the weld located on the opposite side of the contact portion of the terminal component in the card connecting device is located within the step region.

Through this structure, not only the holding portion is located in the stepped area but also at least a part of the welded portion of the terminal part is also located in the stepped area, thereby further realizing the thinning of the card connecting device.

The card connecting device further comprises a notch portion formed by cutting a bottom surface of the housing on the card insertion side, and the convex portion of the rear end region of the card enters the notch portion.

The convex portion of the card is inserted into the notch portion of the card connecting device, thereby further reducing the thickness of the card connecting device.

In the card connecting device, the holding portion is formed at least between the adjacent terminal parts, and contacts the terminal part to hold the terminal part from the upper direction and the lateral direction of the terminal part. And the upper surface of the holding portion is higher than the upper surface of the terminal component.

Through the structure, the holding part and the terminal part are integrally formed through the insert molding, and are formed at least between the adjacent terminal parts, so that the terminal part can be held from above and from the side of the terminal part.

In the card connecting device, a gap portion is formed at a boundary between the side surface and the upper surface of the terminal component, and the depth of the gap portion is smaller than the height of the terminal component. In addition, the holding portion is partially formed to enter the gap portion.

By providing the gap portion, the quantity and area of the contact surface between the holding portion and the terminal component are increased, and thus the holding effect of the holding portion on the terminal component can be enhanced.

Even in the holding portion located in the gap portion, even if the strength of the portion above the terminal of the holding portion is increased and the portion of the holding portion above the terminal is relatively thin, sufficient strength can be retained. Therefore, in the operation of repeatedly inserting and removing the card, it is possible to prevent the portion of the holding portion located above the terminal from being separated from the terminal component.

Wherein the housing has a metal frame, the metal frame has a first reinforcing rib, the first reinforcing rib is installed in the vicinity of the other end of the terminal part, And connects the two side frames in the width direction of the metal frame. The metal frame further includes a second reinforcing rib, and the second reinforcing ribs connect the first reinforcing rib to a side frame located at one end side of the terminal part of the metal frame in the longitudinal direction of the terminal part . A plurality of second reinforcing ribs are provided and are respectively installed between the terminal parts.

Compared with the conventional terminal component, the present invention appropriately reduces the width of the root portion of the terminal component under the premise of ensuring the functionality of the terminal component, and installs the second reinforcing rib between adjacent terminal components. Through this structure, the metal frame of the housing is reinforced and the degree of initial bending at the time of molding of the housing can be reduced, thereby enhancing the coplanarity of each terminal part.

The card connecting device further includes a cover part, and the cover part is coupled with the housing from above the card receiving part.

1 is a three-dimensional view of the memory card on the upper surface.
2 is a three-dimensional view of the memory card on the lower surface.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A 'in Fig.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the step of Fig. 3;
5 is a perspective view of the card connecting apparatus of the present invention.
6 is a view showing a state in which the card is inserted into the card connecting apparatus;
7 is a partial enlarged view of a portion C in Fig.
8 is a three-dimensional view showing a card connecting device in which a retaining portion is omitted.
9 is a partially enlarged view showing a portion D in Fig.
10 is a three-dimensional view showing a cover of the card connecting device.
11 is a three-dimensional view showing a state in which a cover and a housing are coupled.
12 is a three-dimensional view showing a state in which the card is inserted into the card connecting device of Fig.

First Embodiment

A memory card used in the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. Fig.

Conventional memory cards are of various types, and the appearance of each memory card is different. Even if the same type of memory card is used, the appearance of the card manufactured by different manufacturers is somewhat different.

Currently, MicroSD cards (Micro Secure Digital Memory Cards), widely used in portable equipment, can be divided into two MicroSD cards depending on their appearance. One MicroSD card has a convex portion on the surface on which the contact portion is formed and the other MicroSD card forms a plane without a convex portion on the surface where the contact portion is formed. In order to prominently show the technical effect of the present invention, the present invention will be described using a MicroSD card (hereinafter abbreviated as a card) having a convex portion.

1 is a three-dimensional view of the memory card on the upper surface. 2 is a three-dimensional view of the memory card on the lower surface.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the card 1 includes a main body portion 2 integrally molded and a contact portion 3. The main body portion 2 is made of a material such as a resin and the contact portion 3 is made of metal and a portion connected to the card connecting device is exposed on the lower surface of the card 1. [

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A 'in Fig. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the step of Fig. 3;

3 and 4, in the inserting direction of the card, the card 1 is divided into a front end region 1a and a rear end region, and the contact portion 3 is located on one side approaching the front end of the front end region 1a . A convex portion 4 is formed on the lower surface of the rear end region of the card 1. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the front end region 1a of the card 1 is formed of a relatively thin card body portion 5, and the rear end region of the card is formed of a relatively thick card body portion 6. [

A stepped portion 7 is provided on the lower surface of the boundary between the thin card body portion 31 of the front end region 1a of the card and the convex portion 4 of the rear end region and the stepped portion 7 and the front end region 1a A stepped region 1c is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 1c.

The height of the stepped portion 7 between the thin card body portion 5 and the thick card body portion 6 is 0.15 mm or less. The size of the convex portion of the card 1 having the convex portion is not completely the same. For convenience of explanation, the card 1 shown in Fig. 2 will be described below as an example.

The structure of the card connecting apparatus 10 of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Fig.

Fig. 5 includes a perspective view of the card connecting device of the present invention. 5 is a view showing a state in which the card is inserted into the card connecting device. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion C in Fig.

5, the card connecting device 10 includes a housing 11 and a terminal part 12. The housing 11 includes a card accommodating part 13 for accommodating the card and the terminal part 12, And the terminal part 12 is generally formed of a metal.

The length of the holding part 14 is shorter than the length of the terminal part 12 and only the part of the terminal part 12 is touched. 5, the holding portion 14 contacts the side surface of the terminal component 12 and covers a portion of the upper surface of the terminal component 12, (12). The one end portion 15 of the terminal component 12 can be brought into contact with the contact portion 3 of the card 1 protruding toward the card accommodating portion 13. The other end (welded portion) 16 of the terminal part 12 is welded to a prescribed bonding pad for connection of a circuit board (not shown).

The holding part 14 is formed between adjacent terminal parts 12 and a holding part 14 is also formed between the terminal part 12 and the housing 11 located on both right and left sides in FIG.

As shown in Fig. 5, the housing 11 further includes a metal frame 17. As shown in Fig. The metal frame 17 and the holding part 14 and the terminal part 12 are integrally formed through insert molding and the metal frame 17 is connected to the terminal part 12 through the holding part 14 have. In the present invention, both the metal frame 17 and the terminal part 12 are formed of an alloy containing copper.

6, when the card 1 is received in the card receiving portion 13, at least a part of the holding portion 14 is located in the step region 1c. In other words, a portion of the holding portion of Fig. 6 overlaps the convex portion 5 in the height direction. The thickness of the card connecting device 10 can be further reduced by providing at least a part of the holding portion 14 in the stepped area 1c and the thickness of the card body portion 6 of the card 1 and the thickness Lt; / RTI >

5, a notch 24 is formed below the housing 11. As shown in Fig. That is, the housing 11 is not formed on the bottom surface of the card insertion side (the lower side in Fig. 5) of the housing 11, and a part of the space is empty to form the notch 24. The notch portion 24 may be formed by directly forming the housing at the time of molding and by forming a housing at the position of the notch portion 24 and then cutting the bottom surface of the corresponding portion of the housing 11.

6, the convex portion 4 of the rear end region 1b of the card 1 enters the notched portion 24 with the card 1 inserted in the card connecting device 10. [ With this configuration, the card connecting apparatus 10 can be further thinned.

7, the upper surface of the portion of the holding portion 14 (the portion indicated by 14a in Fig. 7) is somewhat higher than the upper surface of the terminal part 12 in contact with the holding portion 14, The holding portion 14a of the above portion can hold the terminal component 12 from above. The upper surface of the holding portion 14 is set to be about 0.03 mm higher than the upper surface of the terminal component 12 in consideration of the holding effect of the holding portion 14 and the thickness reduction of the holding portion 14 .

At least a part of the other end 16 of the terminal part 12 is also located in the stepped area 1c and the other end 16 is located at the convex part 4 of the card 1, The thickness of the card connecting device 10 can be reduced as compared with the case where the card connecting device 10 is located below the card connecting device 10.

In order to explain the structure of the terminal part 12, the holding part 14 is omitted in the perspective view of FIG. 9 is a partial enlarged view of a portion D in Fig.

8, a gap portion 18 is formed at the boundary between the side surface and the upper surface of the terminal component 12 in the card connecting device 10 and the depth of the gap portion 18 is set to be equal to or greater than the height of the terminal component 12 Thickness).

A portion of the resin constituting the holding portion 14 flows into the gap portion 18 when the holding portion 14 and the terminal part 12 are insert molded. The resin flowing into the gap portion 18 is in contact with all four sides of the gap portion 18.

Both the quantity and the area of the contact surfaces between the holding portion 14 and the terminal component 12 are increased so that the coupling between the holding portion 14 and the terminal component 12 can be made more stable, The holding effect of the holding portion 14 can be increased.

The holding part 14 located in the gap part 18 is a connecting part for connecting the holding part 14 above the terminal part 12 and the holding part 14 on the side surface of the terminal part 12, Increase the strength of the part above the terminal part. Even when the portion of the holding portion 14 located above the terminal component 12 is relatively thin, it has sufficient strength. Therefore, in the repeated card insertion / ejection operation, it is possible to separate the terminal component 12 from the portion located above the terminal of the holding portion 14, so that the service life of the card connecting device 10 can be extended.

8, the metal frame 17 has a first reinforcing rib 19 and the first reinforcing rib 19 is provided in the vicinity of the other end 16 of the terminal part 12, And are spaced apart from the component 16 at regular intervals. The first reinforcing ribs 19 connect the two side frames 20 and 21 in the X direction of the metal frame in the width direction (the X direction in the figure) of the terminal part 12.

Compared with the conventional terminal component, the card connecting device 10 of the present invention has the first reinforcing rib 19 added thereto, and the metal frame 17 is changed from the unstable "coarse" shape to the stable "ㅁ" shape.

The metal frame 17 further includes a second reinforcing rib 22 and the second reinforcing rib 22 is provided on the terminal part 12 of the metal frame 17 in the longitudinal direction Side frame 23 on the side of the one end 15 of the base 12 and the first reinforcing rib 19 are connected.

And three second reinforcing ribs 22 are provided between the terminal parts 12 in the card connecting device 10. In the present invention, under the premise of ensuring the functionality of the terminal part 12, the width of the root part of the terminal part 12 is appropriately reduced to provide three second reinforcing ribs 22 between the adjoining terminal parts 12.

The stability of the metal frame 17 of the housing 11 is strengthened and the initial degree of bending at the time of molding can be lowered through the above configuration so that the coplanarity of each terminal component 12 can be improved . 7, when one first reinforcing rib 19 and three second reinforcing ribs 22 are extended and provided, the degree of initial bending at the time of molding the housing 11 is larger than that of the original 25%.

Second Embodiment

The card connecting device 10 in the second embodiment has a cover 25 which is coupled with the housing 11 from above the card receiving portion 13 and the cover 25 is coupled with the housing 11 So that the upper space of the card receiving portion 13 is sealed. The contact portion 3 of the card 1 inserted into the card connector 10 under the restriction of the cover 25 can stably contact one end 15 of the terminal component 12.

When inserting or removing a card using the "push / push", "push / pull" or "pin ejector" methods, the cover (25) do.

The cover 25 is generally formed of a metal such as stainless steel.

Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of the cover 25 of the card connecting device 10. Fig. 11 is a three-dimensional view showing a state in which the cover 25 and the housing 11 are engaged. 12 is a three-dimensional view of the card 1 inserted in the card connecting device 10 of Fig.

10, the cover 25 includes one ceiling 26 and two side walls 278 and the corners away from the ceiling 26 of the side walls 27, The engaging portion 29 protrudes in a direction parallel to the direction of the arrow.

As shown in Fig. 11, in a state where the cover 25 is engaged with the housing 11, two engaging portions 29 adjacent to the upper side of Fig. 11 are respectively engaged with four corners of the housing 11 from four corners From which the cover 25 is secured together with the housing 11.

As shown in Fig. 11, the positions of the plurality of holes 30 are located at one end 15 of the terminal part 12 and at another end 16 of the terminal part 12, respectively, ).

The fitting device 31 can be provided based on the specific shape of the card. The shape of the MicroSD card described in the present invention is set at an appropriate position near the boundary between the ceiling 26 and the side wall 27 and the card 1 is inserted The fitting fixture 31 is engaged with the groove on the side surface of the card 1.

In the card connecting apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, the thickness of the cover 25 is very thin, so that the influence on the thinning of the apparatus is very small.

As for fixing the card in the vertical direction, various methods can be used for different designs of actual products. In addition to the method of installing the cover 25, for example, a part of the other components (for example, the lower surface) on the card connecting device can be brought into contact with the upper surface of the card, so that the card can be fixed in the vertical direction. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-165668 discloses that a receiving portion for engaging with a card is provided on the front end (and / or side surface) of the housing in the insertion direction to fix the card in the vertical direction.

While the foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration, it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.

For example, when the strength of the holding portion 14 on the terminal component 12 in Fig. 6 is sufficiently large, the gap portion 18 may not be provided.

Figs. 7 and 8 show an example in which the gap portions 18 are formed on both sides of the width direction of each terminal component 12, but the gap portion 18 may be formed only on one side based on actual demand. The gap portions 18 on both sides may be symmetrically formed as shown in Fig. 8 and may also be formed asymmetrically.

The number of the first reinforcing ribs 19 and the second reinforcing ribs 22 shown in FIG. 7 is not limited. According to actual demand, more than two first reinforcing ribs 19 may be provided, (22) may also be provided with one, two or four.

Although the case where the card 1 having the convex portion 4 is coupled to the card connecting device 10 has been described in the above embodiment, the card connecting device 10 in the present invention is naturally applied to the card not having the convex portion You may.

1 card
1a shear zone
1b rear end area
Step region 1c
2 body part
3 contact
4 convex portion
5 thin card body
6 thick card body
7 step
10 Card connector
11 Housing
12 terminal parts
13 Card Holder
14 bobbin portion
15 One end of the terminal part
16 The other end of the terminal part (welded part)
17 metal frame
18 gap portion
19 First reinforcement rib
20, 21, 23 side frame
22 Second reinforcing rib
23 Side frame
24 notch
25 cover
26 Ceiling
27, 28 side wall
29 fitting portion
30 holes
31 fitting device
Width direction of X terminal part
Length of Y terminal part
Height direction of X terminal part

Claims (11)

A card connecting apparatus comprising a housing and a terminal component,
The housing has a card accommodating portion used for accommodating the card,
The terminal part is held by the housing,
Wherein one end of the terminal part protrudes toward the card accommodating portion,
Wherein the card has a contact portion capable of contacting the terminal component, the front end region including the contact portion is formed thinner than the rear end region,
At least a part of the holding portion is formed by a thin card body portion of the front end region of the card and a convex portion of the rear end region of the card, Wherein the card connector is located within a stepped region between the first and second portions.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least a portion of a weld located on the opposite side of the contact portion of the terminal component is located within the step region.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a notch portion formed by cutting a bottom surface of the housing on a card insertion side, and the convex portion of the rear end region of the card enters the notch portion.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the holding portion is formed at least between the adjacent terminal parts and holds the terminal parts from the upper direction and the lateral direction of the terminal part.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the upper surface of the holding portion is higher than the upper surface of the terminal component.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a gap portion is formed at a boundary between a side surface and an upper surface of the terminal component, and a depth of the gap portion is smaller than a height of the terminal component.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the holding portion is formed such that a part thereof enters the gap portion.
The method according to claim 1,
The housing has a metal frame,
Wherein the metal frame has a first reinforcing rib,
Wherein the first reinforcing rib is provided in the vicinity of the other end of the terminal part and connects the two side frames in the width direction of the metal frame in the width direction of the terminal part.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the metal frame further comprises a second reinforcing rib,
Wherein the second reinforcing ribs connect the side frame on the one end side of the terminal part of the metal frame and the first reinforcing rib in the longitudinal direction of the terminal part.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein a plurality of the second reinforcing ribs are provided, and each of the second reinforcing ribs is installed between the terminal parts.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a cover part, wherein the cover part is engaged with the housing from above the card receiving part.

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