JP4515928B2 - Card connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a card connector. In particular, the present invention relates to a connector suitable for connection of a subscriber identity module (SIM).

  When the mobile phone terminal manufacturer / distributor is different from the telecommunications carrier, a card-type subscriber authentication module (hereinafter referred to as a SIM card) is used to authenticate the subscriber of the telecommunications carrier.

  For example, as described in Patent Document 1, a connector is provided on the back surface of the mobile phone terminal main body. This connector has a contact element that comes into contact with the electrode of the SIM card. When the SIM card is inserted into the connector, the connector comes into contact with the electrode of the SIM card and can read the subscriber authentication code stored in the SIM card.

  Furthermore, a configuration in which a back cover that also serves as a battery is closed in a state where the SIM card is inserted into the connector is common. When used in such a state, the card connector is inevitably required to be thin due to the demand for small and thin mobile phone terminals. Also, the dimensional tolerance of the card inserted into the card connector is about ± 0.1 mm. For this reason, there is a risk of rattling in the connector of the SIM card when it is inserted into the connector.

  Such backlash of the SIM card causes a momentary interruption of power supply due to poor contact, resulting in a voltage drop, which greatly affects the call quality on the system.

  The invention described in Patent Document 2 is known as a specific configuration example of a SIM card connector. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a SIM card connector described in Patent Document 2. FIG. The SIM card connector is composed of a cover (17) for holding the SIM card on both sides, and a contact support portion (14) having a spring contact element (35) disposed on the panel portion (18). Yes.

  The cover (17) has an arm (55) on one end side, and the hinge portion (56) at the tip thereof engages with the opening (26) of the support block (24) of the contact support portion (14). Furthermore, it has a locking tab (48) on the other end side.

  The contact support portion (14) has a slot (30) on the side opposite to the support block (24).

  When the SIM card (1) is held and the cover (17) is closed, the cover (17) is rotated by the rotating shaft (60) of the hinge part (56) against the spring property of the contact element (35). Then, it is tilted to the contact support part (14) side. Next, the cover (17) is slid toward the slot (30), and the locking tab (48) at the tip of the cover is inserted into the slot (30) of the contact support portion (14).

With this configuration, the SIM card can be held in a state where the contact of the SIM card and the contact element (35) are in contact with each other.
JP 2004-228694 A JP 2000-260537 A

  Here, in the invention described in Patent Document 2, when closing the cover (17) in which the card (1) is inserted, the locking tab (48) at the front end of the cover is inserted into the slot (30) of the contact support portion (14). In the state of being inserted into (), resistance is given to the movement of the cover by the spring property of the contact element (35).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an assumed cross-sectional shape in a state in which the cover (17) in which the SIM card (1) is inserted is closed with reference to FIG. 1 described in Patent Document 2.
The cover (17) receives a pressing force in the direction of the arrow by the spring force of the contact element (35) together with the SIM card (1). Therefore, when the cover (17) of the card connector is a thin metal plate such as aluminum or a mold resin, the card connector cover (17) may be bent upward due to the pressing force by the spring force of the contact element (35).

  When the cover (17) is curved, the reliability of the engagement of the cover (17) with the contact support portion (14) is lowered, which further reduces the contact between the electrode of the SIM card (1) and the contact element (35). The reliability of the electrical connection will be lost, and the system will be affected by signal interruption, voltage drop, etc.

  On the other hand, when a thick plate is used to prevent the cover (17) from bending, the card connector cannot be reduced in height.

  Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a card connector that eliminates such inconvenience, maintains a low profile, and ensures reliability in electrical contact between an electrode of a card to be inserted and a contact element.

  The card connector according to the present invention that achieves the object of the present invention has, as a first aspect thereof, a main body portion and a tray formed of a thin plate, and the main body portion includes a contact element having a spring property. A panel portion, rising portions on both sides, a notch portion in front of the rising portion, a substantially L-shaped see-through hole portion in the rear portion of the rising portion, and the tray on both sides A card holding portion having a U-shaped cross-section into which each end of the card is inserted, a front tab that engages with the notch portion of the rising portion when the tray is closed, and a rotation to the see-through hole portion The panel portion included in the main body portion has a rear tab that can be engaged, and has a groove portion adjacent to the rising portion, and has a step portion on at least a part of the side of the groove portion. , When the tray is closed, The end of the card holding section corresponds to the U-shaped cross section, and the U-shaped end of the card holding section is configured to receive outward pressure by the stepped portion of the groove. And

  The card connector according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object of the present invention is, as a second aspect thereof, in the first aspect, the thin plate forming the tray is formed of a metal plate or a mold resin, The tab and the rear tab have the thickness of the thin plate as a part of the tray.

  The card connector according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object of the present invention has, as a third aspect, in the first aspect, at least one end of the card holding portion having a U-shaped cross section is provided on the side of the groove. It has a step part in the position corresponding to a part of step part.

  The features of the present invention will become more apparent from the embodiments described below with reference to the drawings.

  In the card connector according to the present invention, a cover (tray) is formed of a thin plate for reducing the height, and reliability in electrical contact between the electrode of the inserted card and the contact element can be ensured.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiments are for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. In the following description, the reference numerals in the drawings are different from those used in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a configuration example of the card connector according to the present invention. It comprises a main body 1 and a tray (cover) 2 into which a card having a memory such as a SIM card and a functional part is inserted.

  The main body 1 is formed by a resin mold. In that case, the main-body part 1 is integrally shape | molded so that it may have the some contact element 11 which has a spring property in a panel part. A plurality of corresponding leads 11 connected to the plurality of contact elements 11 are drawn out of the main body and become connection terminals that are electrically connected to the circuit board on the device side when the card connector is mounted on the device. .

  A rising portion 12 is provided on both sides of the main body portion 1, and a notch portion 13 and a hooking portion 14 subsequent thereto are provided in front of the rising portion 12. Furthermore, a substantially L-shaped see-through hole portion 16 is provided at the rear portion of the rising portions 12 on both sides. The substantially L-shaped see-through hole portion 16 has a horizontal portion and a vertical portion along the longitudinal direction of the rising portion 12.

  The rising portion 12 is preferably reinforced with a metal cover 15 on the outside, the hooking portion 14 and the see-through hole portion 16.

  On the other hand, the tray 2 is formed of a thin plate made of stainless steel or molded with a mold resin as an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the shape of the tray 2 as viewed from the inside. As can be understood from FIG. 4, a card holding portion 17 having a U-shaped cross section is provided on both sides of the tray 2. Further, the front and rear portions of the card holding portions 17 on both sides have the same thin tabs 18 and 19 facing outward. The rear tabs 19 are inserted into substantially L-shaped see-through holes 16 formed in the rising portions 12 on both sides of the main body 1, and the main body 1 and the tray 2 are coupled. Therefore, the tray 2 can be rotated around the rear tab 19 in the vicinity of the corner portion where the horizontal portion and the vertical portion of the see-through hole portion 16 intersect.

  The card holding portion 17 having a U-shaped cross section has cut portions 17a and 17b at the end side, and the U-shaped width is larger than the other portions of the end side. The reason for providing such a characteristic portion will be described later.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the details of the card holding portion 17 having a U-shaped cross section of the tray 2. FIG. 5A is a view showing the back surface of the tray 2, and an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a dotted line circle is shown in FIG. 5B.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, at least a part of the edge of the card holding portion 17 having a U-shaped cross section of the tray 2, step portions 17 a and 17 b are provided at the center portion and the rear portion, respectively. The step size of the step portions 17a and 17b is indicated by T.

  On the other hand, the structure of the main body 1 is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 a shows a perspective view of the main body 1, and FIG. 6 b shows an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a wavy circle. That is, the panel part 10 of the main body part 1 has a groove part 12 a that is adjacent to the rising part 12.

  When the tray 2 is closed, the card holding portion 17 of the tray 2 is inserted into the groove portion 12a.

  Further, at least a part of the side of the groove 12a of the panel portion 10 has stepped portions, in the example of FIG. 6, stepped portions 10a and 10b. The step portions 10a and 10b are located at positions corresponding to the step portions 17a and 17b on the end sides of the card holding portion 17 of the tray 2 when the tray 2 is closed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the step portions 10 a and 10 b on the sides of the groove portion 12 a of the panel portion 10 and the step portions 17 a and 17 b on the end sides of the card holding portion 17 of the tray 2.

  In FIG. 7, the position i of the edge side of the card holding portion 17 of the tray 2 is a case where neither the step portions 10a and 10b nor the step portions 17a and 17b are formed. That is, the width of the card holding part 17 having a U-shaped cross section is smaller than the width of the groove part 12a, and no pressure is applied to the card holding part 17.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 7, the position ii of the end side of the card holding portion 17 of the tray 2 is the case where one or both of the step portions 10a and 10b and the step portions 17a and 17b are formed.

  That is, an outward pressing force is applied to the end side of the card holding portion 17 of the tray 2 by abutting with the stepped portion. As a result, the tray 2 tends to be deformed downward as indicated by a broken line II shown in FIG.

  Therefore, as described above with reference to FIG. 2, since the pressing force is applied upward by the spring force of the contact element 35, the upward deformation as indicated by the solid line I cancels out. As a result, it is possible to avoid the tray 2 from being deformed into a curved shape as indicated by the solid line III.

  As described above, even when the tray 2 is made thin to reduce the height according to the present invention, the deformation of the tray 2 is eliminated, and therefore the reliability in electrical contact between the card electrode and the contact element is eliminated. Can be secured.

  In the above description, the SIM card is taken as an example of the card inserted into the card holding unit 17, but the application range of the configuration of the present invention is not limited to such a SIM card. The present invention can also be applied to a RAM memory card corresponding to the purpose, a function card equipped with a CPU, and the like.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a SIM card connector described in Patent Document 2. Referring to FIG. 1 described in Patent Document 2, it is a diagram illustrating an assumed cross-sectional shape in a state where a cover (17) into which a SIM card (1) is inserted is closed. It is a structural example perspective view of the card connector according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the shape of the tray 2 seen from the inner side. It is a figure explaining the detail of the card | curd holding | maintenance part 17 of the cross-sectional U shape of tray 2. It is a figure which shows the structure of a main-body part. It is a figure explaining the effect | action by the response | compatibility with the step part which has in the edge part of the groove part of a panel part, and the edge part of the card | curd holding part of a tray.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main part 2 Tray 10 Panel part 11 Contact element 12 Standing part 12a Groove part 13 Notch part 14 Hook part 15 Metal cover 16 Perspective hole part 17 Card holding part 18 Front tab 19 Rear tab 10a, 10b, 17a, 17b

Claims (3)

A main body,
Having a tray formed of thin plates,
The body portion has a panel portion having a contact element having a spring property, and rising portions on both sides,
Having a notch in front of the rising portion;
A substantially L-shaped see-through hole at the rear of the rising portion;
The tray has a U-shaped card holding section into which both ends of the card are inserted on both sides, a front tab that engages with the notch of the rising section when the tray is closed, A rear tab that is pivotally engaged with the see-through hole portion, and the panel portion of the main body portion has a groove portion adjacent to the rising portion, and at least a part of a side of the groove portion Has a step,
When the tray is closed, the edge of the card holding section corresponds to the side of the groove, and the edge of the card holding section faces outward due to the step of the groove. A card connector configured to receive a pressing force. In claim 1,
The card connector, wherein the thin plate forming the tray is formed of a metal plate or a mold resin, and the front tab and the rear tab have the thickness of the thin plate as a part of the tray. In claim 1,
An end of the card holding portion having a U-shaped cross section has a step portion at a position corresponding to at least a portion of the step portion on the side of the groove portion.

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