SG175464A1

SG175464A1 - Card edge connector

Info

Publication number: SG175464A1
Application number: SG2010027670A
Authority: SG
Inventors: Yong Teck Yang
Original assignee: Molex Inc
Priority date: 2010-04-20
Filing date: 2010-04-20
Publication date: 2011-11-28
Also published as: CN201725915U; TWM397616U

Abstract

OF THE DISCLOSUREA card edge connector includes an insulating body having an elongatedbase and a pair of support arms, a plurality of terminals received in the base,and a pair of latches pivotally moved in the respective support arms. Eachlatch has a locked position and a released position, and includes: a main portiondefining two opposite side walls and a top wall connecting the top of the twoopposite side walls; a locking ear for locking the electronic card when the latchis in the locked position, extending upward from the upper surface of the topwall of the main portion, and defining a locking hole therein; an operationportion being lower than the locking ear and extending form the top wall of themain portion; and an ejection portion protruding from the two side walls of themain portion.Figure 2

Description

CARD EDGE CONNECTOR

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a card edge connector, and more particularly, to a card edge connector with latches to lock an electronic card received therein. 2. Description of the Related Art

Various designs of electronic card connectors with latches have been developed to include the capability to lock electronic cards therein. As shown in FIG. 1, US Patent No. 6,824,407 discloses a card edge connector 8, which includes an elongated insulative housing 80 defining a slot 800 along a longitudinal direction thereof, a number of passageways 801, a plurality of terminals 81 received in the passageways 801 of the insulating housing 80, and a pair of latch members 82. A pair of arms 83 extend upward from each end of the insulative housing 80, and define a receiving space 830 communicating with the slot 800 therebetween. Each latch member 82 includes a main section 820, an eject section 821, an operation section 822, and a locking section 823. The main section 820 is formed with two spindles 824 on the opposite surfaces of the main section 820. Fach latch member 82 can rotate outward from its locked or upright position to its released position around the corresponding spindles 824. When the latch member 82 is located in its locked or upright position, the main section 820 is received in the receiving space 830. The eject section 821 projects inward from the main section 820.

The operation section 822 is formed on a top end of the main section 820 and provides a finger shelf thereon for pressing when the latch member 82 is to be actuated. The locking section 823 extends inward and downward from the top of the main section 820.

When an electronic card 9 is fully inserted into the slot 800 of the insulative housing 80, the latch members 82 rotate to their locked and upright positions, the locking sections 823 are received in the cutouts 901 on the latch edges 90 of the electronic card 9. Since the locking section 823 extends inward and downward to form an angle with the cutout 901 of the electronic card 9, the locking section 823 is prevented from disengaging from the cutout 901. However, such design inevitably causes the operation section 822 to be higher than the locking section 823. That is, the latch member 82 has a high profile. The card edge connector 8 with such latch member 82 is seldom applied in space limited devices, such as notebook computers.

As electronic and information technology develops, more and more consumers would like to use compact electronic devices, and there is a need for a card edge connector that is small in size so as to follow market trends and meet consumer demand.

In view of the above, the current card edge connector must be further improved to satisfy the increasing requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide an improved card edge connector that can securely lock an inserted electronic card using low-profile latches.

In order to achieve the above objective, several embodiments of a card edge connector are proposed. One embodiment of the present invention provides a card edge connector, which comprises an insulating body comprising an elongated base and a pair of support arms, a plurality of terminals, and a pair of latches defining a locked position and a released position. The base defines a slot formed in a longitudinal direction for receiving an electronic card, and a plurality of passageways communicating with the slot for receiving the corresponding terminals. The pair of arms respectively protrude from the corresponding ends of the base. The pair of latches can be in either a locked position or a released position. Each latch comprises a main portion pivotally engaged with the corresponding one of the pair of support arms, defined by two opposite side walls and a top wall connecting the top of the two opposite side walls; a locking ear configured for locking the electronic card when the latch is in the locked position, extending upward from the upper surface of the top wall of the main portion and defining a locking hole therein; and an ejection portion protruding from the two side walls of the main portion.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the latch further comprises an operation portion protruding from the top wall of the main portion. The operation portion can be lower than the locked ear. The main portion further defines a slit formed between the two side walls and communicating with the slot of the insulating body. The locking hole of the locking ear communicates with the slit through an opening on the top wall of the main portion. The support arm defines a receiving space communicating with the slot, and the main portion is pivotally engaged in the receiving space. Each of the two opposite side walls of the main portion further includes a pivot, and the support arm defines a corresponding pivot hole in which the respective pivot is received.

Each of the two opposite side walls of the main portion further includes a fixing protrusion, and the support arm includes a corresponding resisting bar configured for interfering with the fixing protrusion to prevent the latch from randomly rotating. The support arm further includes a central column protruding from the bottom of the receiving space. In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic card is a VLP module card comprising two opposite lock sides; when the latches are in the locked position, their locking ears are correspondingly positioned above the upper edges of the lock sides.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic card is a standard module card comprising two opposite upper cutouts; when the latches are in the locked position, their locking ears correspondingly engage the upper cutouts.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described according to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional card edge connector and an electronic card;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a card edge connector mounted on a printed circuit board;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a card edge connector of the present invention and an electronic card;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a card edge connector of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the support arm of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a latch according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a card edge connector of the present invention and an electronic card;

FIG. 8 is a top view showing a card edge connector of the present invention mating to an electronic card;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a card edge connector of the present invention mating to another electronic card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a card edge connector 1 according to the present invention is mounted on a printed circuit board 7, comprising an insulating body 2, a plurality of terminals 3, and a pair of latches 4. An electronic card 5 of the present embodiment, for example, a VLP (very low profile) module card, is received in the card edge connector 1.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, the insulating body 2 includes an elongated base 20 having two ends and a pair of support arms 21 protruding from the corresponding ends of the base 20. The elongated base 20 includes a mating surface 200 facing the electronic card 5 and a mounting surface (not shown) opposite to the mating surface 200. A slot 202 is formed on the base 20 in a longitudinal direction. A plurality of passageways 203 are defined on the opposite side walls 204 of the slot 202 and communicates with the slot 202.

The plurality of terminals 3 are correspondingly received in the plurality of passageways 203. Each support arm 21 protrudes from the mating surface 200 of the base 20, and defines a receiving space 210 communicating with the slot 202. A central column 211 protrudes from the bottom of the receiving space 210 adjoining with the outer side wall 213 of the receiving space 210. Each of the opposite side walls 212 of the receiving space 210, parallel to the slot 202, includes a pivot hole 214. Two resisting bars 215 are separately disposed on opposite sides of the receiving space 210, each connecting the outer side wall 213 and the respective opposite side wall 212.

Each latch 4 comprises a main portion 40, an operation portion 41, a locking ear 42, and an ejection portion 43. The main portion 40 is configured to be pivotally moved in the receiving space 210 of the support arm 21, and includes two opposite side walls 400, a top wall 401 connecting the top of the two side walls 400, and a slit 402 formed between the two side walls 400. An outer surface 404 of each side wall 400 includes a fixing projection 405 disposed corresponding to the resisting bar 215 and a pivot 406 disposed corresponding to the pivot hole 214 on the support arm 21. Each latch 4 can be rotated to either a lock position or a released position around the pivot 406 pivoting within the pivoting hole 214. An opening 407 is formed on an inner side of the top wall 401 and through the top wall 401 so as to communicate with the slit 402. The opening 407 is for receiving the respective lock side 51 of the electronic card 5 to prevent an inserted electronic card 5 from laterally moving when the electronic card 5 is inserted and can be configured to have a width slightly larger than the thickness of the lock side 51. The operation portion 41 protrudes from an outer side of the top wall 401 of the main portion 40. The locking ear 42 extends upward from the upper surface of the top wall 401 of the main portion 40, and includes a locking hole 420 disposed over and communicating with the opening 407 of the main portion 40. In particular, the locking ear 42 is higher than the operation portion 41 in the longitudinal direction. The ejection portion 43 protrudes inward from an inner side’s lower portion of the two side walls 400.

Referring to FIG. 7, the electronic card 5 for mating with the card edge connector 1 of the present invention comprises a mating side 50, two opposite lock sides 51 adjoining with the two ends of the mating side 50, and two opposite surface 52 adjoining with the mating side 50 and two lock sides 51.

A plurality of gold fingers 520 for mating with the corresponding terminals 3 of the card edge connector 1 are disposed on each surface on the mating side 50.

A lower cutout 512 1s defined at each lock side 51.

As shown in FIG. 7, if the latches 3 are in the released position, an electronic card 5 can be inserted into the card edge connector 1 with its mating side 50 aligned to the slot 202 of the insulating body 2. Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, after the electronic card 5 is fully inserted into the slot 202, the latches 4 are rotated to the locked position, and in order for the latches 4 to rotate, the fixing protrusions 405 of each latch 4 must overcome the interference of the resisting bar 215, which prevents the latch 4 from entering the receiving space 210 of the support arm 21. Finally, the gold fingers 520 of the electronic card engage the terminals 3 of the card edge connector 1; the two opposite side walls 400 of the main portion 40, the opening 407, and the locking hole 420 of the latch 4 clamp a portion of the respective lock side 51 of the electronic card 5 located in the corresponding slit 402 to prevent the electronic card 5 from turning over; the locking ear 42 is positioned above the upper edge 510 of the lock side 51 instead of the lower cutout 512 to prevent the electronic card 5 from moving upward; the ejection portion 43 abuts against the mating side 50 of the electronic card 5; and the fixing protrusions 405 on the main portion 40 respectively engage against the resisting bars 215 of support arms 21 to prevent the main portion 40 from being unwanted moved and to securely lock the electronic card 5. In particular, the latch ear 42 is lower than the electronic card 5, and the operation portion 41 is lower than the latch ear 42. That is, the card edge connector 1 has a profile lower than the electronic card 5 (VLP module card).

When the operation portion 41 of the latch 4 is pressed, the fixing protrusions 405 overcome the interference of the respective resisting bars 215, and consequently, the latch 4 is rotated from the locked position to the released position as shown in FIG. 7. The ejection portion 43 pushes the mating side 50 of the electronic card 5 upward during the rotation of the latch 4 until the electronic card 5 is ejected from the slot 202 of the insulating body 2.

In the art related to the present invention, there are two types of module card: a standard module card and a VLP module card. Traditionally, two different types of latch are needed for the two different types of module card.

A standard module card can not be securely locked if it is inserted into a card edge connector with traditional latches designed for VLP module card because the latches can lock only the lower cutouts. On the other hand, if a VLP module card is inserted into a card edge connector with traditional latches for standard module cards, the traditional latches will lock with the upper edge of the VLP module card, and the total height of the traditional latches should be higher than that of the VLP module card. Therefore the VLP module card with such a traditional card edge connector is not suitable to be applied in some compact devices, such as notebook computers.

However, as shown in FIG. 10, a standard module card 6 also can be securely locked in the card edge connector 1 of the present invention; because the locking ear 42 of the latch 4 is locked in the upper edge 510 of the lock side 51 instead of the lower cutout 512 of VLP module card 5, so it can engage the upper cutout 60 of the standard module card 6. Thus, the card edge connector 1 of the present invention can be used with both types of electronic card while securely locking the cards with very low profile.

Compared with the prior card edge connectors, the card edge connector 1 of the present invention has a very low profile since the operation portion 41 is lower than the locking ear 42, which is lower than an inserted VLP module card 5. Meanwhile, the operation portion 41 is a direct press down action with better user ergonomics. Furthermore, the locking ear 42 abuts against the upper cutout 60 of an inserted standard module card 6, 1.e., at a higher locking point, ensuring that the standard module card 6 is securely locked. The card edge connector 1 is available for both types of electronic card.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative only. Numerous alternative embodiments may be devised by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A card edge connector, comprising: an insulating body, comprising: an elongated base defining: a slot formed in a longitudinal direction for receiving an electronic card; and a plurality of passageways communicating with the slot; and a pair of support arms, respectively protruding from corresponding ends of the base; a plurality of terminals correspondingly received in the plurality of passageways; and a pair of latches defining a locked position and a released position, each latch comprising: a main portion pivotally engaged with corresponding one of the pair of support arms, defining two opposite side walls and a top wall connecting the top of the two opposite side walls; a locking ear for locking the electronic card when the latch is in the locked position, extending upward from the upper surface of the top wall of the main portion, and defining a locking hole therein; and an ejection portion protruding from the two side walls of the main portion.

2. The card edge connector of Claim 1, wherein the latch further comprises an operation portion protruding from the top wall of the main portion, which is lower than the locking ear.

3. The card edge connector of Claim 1, wherein the main portion further defines a slit formed between the two side walls communicating with the slot of the insulating body.

4. The card edge connector of Claim 3, wherein the locking hole of the locking ear communicates with the slit through an opening on the top wall of the main portion, wherein the opening is configured to receive a lock side of the electronic card.

5. The card edge connector of Claim 1, wherein the support arm defines a receiving space communicating with the slot, and the main portion of the latch is pivotally engaged in the receiving space.

6. The card edge connector of Claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein each of the two opposite side walls of the main portion further include a pivot, and each support arm defines two corresponding pivot holes wherein the pivots are received respectively.

7. The card edge connector of Claim 6, wherein the two opposite side walls of the main portion further include a fixing protrusion, and the support arm includes a corresponding resisting bar for an interference with the fixing protrusion to prevent the latch from being unwanted rotated.

8. The card edge connector of Claim 6, wherein the support arm further includes a central column protruding from the bottom of the receiving space.

9. The card edge connector of Claim 6, wherein the electronic card is a VLP module card comprising two opposite lock sides; when the latches are in the locked position, their locking ears are correspondingly positioned above upper edges of the lock sides.

10. The card edge connector of Claim 6, wherein the electronic card is a standard module card comprising two opposite upper cutouts, when the latches are in the locked position, their locking ears correspondingly engage the upper cutouts.