JP7259314B2 - Electronics - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic device in which an expansion card is mounted, and to a housing structure for guiding the expansion card.

Expansion cards include PC cards and express cards according to the standards of PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association), and are known as card-like devices for expanding the functions of mounted electronic devices. ing.

An electronic device to which an expansion card can be attached is formed with a card slot for accommodating the card. A connector for connection with a terminal provided on the PC card is arranged in the card slot. The expansion card is installed by inserting the tip portion provided with the card terminal into the card slot and electrically connecting the card terminal to the connector.

In Patent Document 1, a pair of guide members for guiding an inserted PC card are arranged inside the portable terminal, and these guide members form protrusions that match the shape of the PC card so that they are integrated with the housing. The prior art that has made it possible is described.

Patent Literature 2 describes a conventional technique in which a guide for guiding the insertion and removal of a card is provided on the bottom surface of a small electronic device.

JP-A-10-302892 JP-A-11-095870

When a guide for a PC card is provided in a molded housing of a conventional electronic device, it is difficult to maintain the shape of the guide due to restrictions on the manufacturing of molds for injection molding when manufacturing the molded housing. There was a problem that there was a case.

For example, if a molded housing having an undercut shape as shown in FIG. The biting force of is sometimes larger than expected.

As shown in FIG. 2(a), the fixed side mold member and the movable side mold member are clamped, and the cavity formed between the fixed side mold member, the movable side mold member 2 and the inclined core is filled with Molten resin is poured into from a gate (not shown) to solidify the filled resin. After that, the movable side mold member is opened from the fixed side mold member to expose the molded housing (Fig. 2(b)), and the molded housing is pushed out by the inclined core and the extrusion pin (Fig. 2(c). The inclined core is driven by the inclined rod, and the inclined core moves in the direction away from the guide of the molded housing (left direction in the drawing).As the inclined core moves, it is indicated by the broken line in FIG. While the guide legs with parallel protrusions are displaced inward from the assumed position, the guide of the molded housing is pulled out of the inclined core, where a long undercut is formed between the parallel protrusion shape part of the guide and the housing. In such a case, a force is applied to the guide leg in the left direction in the figure, causing distortion, and cracks are likely to occur at the base of the guide leg, which may result in defective products.

In addition, expansion cards have become smaller as the standard has become newer, and in the case of the Express card standard, the width of the card has become significantly smaller than the PC card standard, so it can no longer be formed with the conventional guide structure. There was a problem that there was a case.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device that prevents damage such as cracks in an expansion card guide, reduces product defects, and reduces assembly man-hours. aim.

The electronic device of the present invention includes a plate-like portion having a plate surface supporting a connection terminal to which a device terminal of a card-type electronic device can be connected;
Integrally molded with the plate-shaped portion, each protruding from the plate surface so as to face each other across a movement path of the card-shaped electronic device when connecting the device terminal to the connection terminal, and the card-shaped device and a plurality of pairs of guide bodies that are separated from each other in the direction along the moving path of the electronic device and guide the card-type electronic device.

In other words, the electronic device of the present invention includes a housing including a plate-shaped portion having a connector as a connection terminal into which an expansion card, which is a card-type electronic device, is inserted and connected;
and a pair of guide parts integrally molded with the housing and guiding the side surface of the expansion card in the moving path direction of the expansion card, wherein the electronic device is used with the expansion card attached,
The pair of guide portions is characterized by being composed of split guide portions, which are a plurality of pairs of guide bodies divided in the width direction of the movement path intersecting the movement path direction of the expansion card.

According to the present invention, even if the shape of the guide structure is changed from the conventional one to form a split guide structure, the original guide function is not impaired, and the product defects are reduced and the number of assembly man-hours is reduced.

It is a perspective view which shows the molding housing|casing explaining the problem to be solved of this invention. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a mold apparatus using an inclined rod and an inclined core for injection-molding a molded housing for explaining the problem to be solved by the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3; FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3; FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view for explaining definitions of dimensions of each portion of the splitting guide portion and the connector of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view for explaining the definition of the tilt angle of the card and the tip position of the card when inserting the wireless card into the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention from the housing introduction port; FIG. 4 is an image diagram for explaining the operation of connecting the wireless card to the connector from the outside of the housing of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an image diagram for explaining the operation of connecting the wireless card to the connector from the outside of the housing of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an image diagram for explaining the operation of connecting the wireless card to the connector from the outside of the housing of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of an electronic device according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

Electronic devices according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the following description and accompanying drawings, substantially the same or equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. Also, for convenience of explanation, as shown in the figure, the front side is determined, the opposite side is the rear side, and the left, right, top, and bottom viewed from the front side are defined as the left side (L), the right side (R), the upper side, and the lower side, respectively. explain.

(Description of configuration)
3 to 5 show the housing 3 that also functions as a guide for the wireless card 2 in the electronic device 1 of the first embodiment. The housing 3 of the electronic device 1 of this embodiment has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped appearance. As shown in the figure, a printed circuit board 4 on which various electronic components are mounted is built in the housing 3. For the sake of simplicity, the electronic components and the cables between the electronic components are omitted. showing. Furthermore, switches such as an operation panel on the exterior of the housing 3 are also omitted.

Inside the housing 3, a printed circuit board 4 having a connector 4b for connection of the radio card 2 is fixed and housed on the inner wall (not shown) of the housing 3. As shown in FIG. The printed circuit board 4 is arranged parallel to the front and rear surfaces of the housing 3, and the upper surface of the housing 3 is provided with a wireless card inlet 3e (slot) parallel to the printed circuit board 4. A card guide 3f for wireless card connection is erected between the slot 3e and the connector 4b of the printed circuit board 4 on both sides of the insertion/removal path. Although not shown, the device terminal of the wireless card 2 at the lower end can be connected to the connector 4b.

Since the card guides 3f, which are a pair of guides, must have a predetermined distance between the guide length and the gap between the guides due to restrictions on mold manufacturing, the divided guides (guide bodies) divided into three pairs, They are provided as a first pair 3f1L-3f1R, a second pair 3f2L-3f2R, and a third pair 3f3L-3f3R.

A pair of split guide portions of each split guide portion has a symmetrical shape with respect to the central axis of the guide portion. Each pair of divided guide portions includes a guide surface arranged in parallel with a predetermined distance in the width direction of the movement path and protruding walls protruding from the guide surface facing each other in the width direction of the movement path. , is equipped with Each pair of split guides are spaced apart from each other in a direction along the travel path. Each pair of divided guide portions is integrally molded standing from the plate-like portion (rear surface) of the housing 3, and has a leg portion having a predetermined height from the plate-like portion.

In order to improve the guide function of the wireless card 2, each pair of the divided guide portions divided into three is open toward the card introduction port 3e side (upper side), that is, toward the insertion side along the direction of the card movement path. It is preferable to have a tapered surface T that is inclined. The tapered surface T is configured to restrain the movement of the wireless card 2 in the front-rear and left-right directions and guide it to the following guide surface.

Although shown in FIG. 4 and not shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the wireless card 2 is prevented from moving back and forth between the card inlet 3e and the first pair 3f1L-3f1R, and the card inlet 3e is separated from the first pair 3f1L-. A lid member 3G biased from front to back by a torsion spring on the peripheral edge of the card inlet 3e, and a cover member 3G erected from the housing 3 (rear surface) and inclined toward the card inlet 3e (upper side). It is preferable to provide an auxiliary guide portion 3H that does not block the moving path.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electronic device defining the dimensions of the division guide portion and the connector.

The width dimension W of the wireless card 2 conforming to the Express card standard is 34 mm from the standard.

The width of the housing opening of the card inlet 3e is X0 (corresponding to the width of the wireless card 2), one end thereof is defined as a reference point S0, the width of the card inlet 3e inside the housing is X1, and the reference point is S1 ( S0 and symmetrical side).

Let X2 be the upper end width dimension (upper end of the tapered surface T) of the first pair of split guide portions 3f1L and 3f1R, X3 be the lower end width dimension, and the upper end S2 and the lower end S3 be the reference points.

The upper end width dimension of the second pair of divided guide portions 3f2L and 3f2R is X4 (upper end of tapered surface T), the lower end width dimension (lower end of guide surface) is X5, and the reference points are upper end S4 and lower end S5.

The upper end width dimension of the third pair of split guide portions 3f3L and 3f3R is X6 (the upper end of the tapered surface T), the lower end width dimension is X7 (the lower end of the guide surface), and the reference points are the upper end S6 and the lower end S7. Also, the slot width dimension of the connector 4b is X8, and its reference point is the upper end S8.

As for the card insertion direction, Y1 is the vertical dimension from the reference point S0 to the inner surface of the housing, Y2 is the vertical dimension to the upper end of the first pair of division guide portions 3f1, Y3 is the vertical dimension to the lower end, and Y3 is the second pair of division guides. Y4 up to the upper end of the portion 3f2, Y5 up to the lower end, Y6 up to the upper end of the third pair of split guide portions 3f3, and Y7 up to the lower end. Also, the vertical dimension up to the upper end S8 of the connector 4b is defined as Y8.

Each guide length of the divided guide portions 3f2L, 3f2R, 3f3L and 3f3R can be set according to the separation distance of the pair. The spacing space between the first pair 3f1L-3f1R and the second pair 3f2L-3f2R, which are separated and spaced apart from each other in the direction along the path of card travel, may include, for example, a tilt rod and a tilt as shown in FIG. When molding the first pair and the second pair in a mold apparatus using a core, the slanted rods can be arranged offset from the slanted core. The separation distance between the first pair 3f1L-3f1R and the second pair 3f2L-3f2R and each guide length can be set according to the diameter of the tilt rod.

The resin material for integral molding of the housing 3 may be formed using engineering plastics such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), ASA (acrylate styrene acrylonitrile), and AES (acrylonitrile ethylene-propylene-diene styrene). . Moreover, a part of the housing 3 may be formed using a metal material.

(Description of operation)
FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electronic device defining the inclination angle of the card and the tip position of the card when the wireless card is inserted from the housing introduction port.

Xn is the horizontal dimension from the center of the card inlet 3e to the tip point n of the wireless card when the center axis of the wireless card 2 is inserted at an angle θn with respect to the center axis of the guide portion. /2, and the vertical dimension from the reference point S0 to the wireless card tip point n is defined as Yn.

Based on the above definition, the relationship between the dimensions can be expressed by the following equation using the width dimension X0 of the card inlet 3e.
Xn/2+X0/2=W/cos θn+Yn·tan θn
Since W=34, the above equation is
(Xn+X0)/2=34/cos θn+Yn·tan θn
It can be expressed as.

8, 9 and 10 are operation images when connecting the wireless card to the connector from the outside of the housing.

Let θ1 to θ8 be the card angles passing through the reference point S0 and each of the reference points S1 to S8 when the wireless card 2 is inserted from the card inlet 3e.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, when the first pair of divided guide portions 3f1L is passed through, it may be inserted with an inclination of θ1 to θ3. X3 and .theta.2>.theta.1>.theta.3.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, when the wireless card 2 passes through the second pair of split guide portions 3f2L, it may incline from .theta.3 to .theta.5. >X3>X5 and θ4>θ3>θ5.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, when passing through the third pair of divided guide portions 3f3L, there are cases in which the divisional guide portions 3f3L incline from θ5 to θ7. X7 and .theta.6>.theta.5>.theta.7.

Finally, in order for the wireless card 2 to be inserted into the connector 4b, it is necessary that X8>X7>W and θ8>θ7.

As described above, in a device that mounts a printed circuit board inside, the following (1) to (5) that can be manufactured with a mold for injection molding
(Xn+X0)/2=34/cos θn+Yn·tan θn (n=1 to 8) (1)
X2>X1>X3 and θ2>θ1>θ3 (2)
X4>X3>X5 and θ4>θ3>θ5 (3)
X6>X5>X7 and θ6>θ5>θ7 (4)
X8>X7>W and θ8>θ7 (5)
By satisfying , a card guide structure into which a wireless card (conforming to the Express card standard) can be inserted is achieved, and the wireless card 2 can be easily connected to the connector 4b.

(Explanation of effect)
As described above, according to the first embodiment, even if the shape of the guide structure is changed from the conventional one and divided according to the restrictions on the mold, the original guide function is not impaired, and the injection molding is performed. In this case, the biting force of the card guide 3f portion of the molded housing against the inclined core for the split guide portion can be reduced, and deformation of each pair can be prevented, and the housing 3 itself on which the printed circuit board is mounted can guide the card. Since 3f can be formed, the effects of reducing the number of parts and reducing the number of assembling man-hours can be expected.

(Description of configuration)
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device housing of the second embodiment. In this embodiment, the rear surface of the printed circuit board 4 guides the main surface (front surface) of the wireless card 2 without providing the projecting wall including the front tapered surface T in each pair of the split guide portions of the first embodiment. This embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that it is configured as an additional guide portion for In this case, it is preferable that the rear surface of the printed circuit board 4 is insulated.

(Explanation of effect)
According to this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the card guide 3f portion of the molded housing with respect to the inclined core for the split guide portion at the time of injection molding is eliminated because the projecting wall on the front side is not provided. Since the biting force of the pair can be further reduced, the prevention of deformation of each pair can be expected to be even greater than in the first embodiment. Furthermore, it can contribute to the thinning of the entire device.

(Description of configuration)
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the electronic device housing of the third embodiment. In this embodiment, each pair of split guide portions of the first embodiment does not have a tapered surface T, and all projecting walls are parallel walls. Two pairs 3f2L-3f2R and a third pair 3f3L-3f3R are provided, and an integrally molded rectangular tube passage 3GG is provided on the periphery of the card inlet 3e to suppress and guide the forward and backward movement of the wireless card 2. , are the same as in the first embodiment. Note that FIG. 12 shows only the first pair of 3f1L, the second pair of 3f2L, and the third pair of 3f3L. The shape of the through-hole of the rectangular tube passage 3GG is configured so that the wireless card 2 can be loosely fitted therein.

(Explanation of effect)
According to this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained to some extent, and the F-shaped card guide 3f portion having a simple cross-sectional shape can be formed, so a reduction in mold cost can be expected.

1 electronics 2 wireless card 3 housing 4 printed circuit board 4b connector 3f1L-3f1R first pair of split guides 3f2L-3f2R second pair of split guides 3f3L-3f3R third pair of split guides

Claims (5)

a plate-like portion having a plate surface supporting a connection terminal to which a device terminal of a card-type electronic device can be connected;
Integrally molded with the plate-shaped portion, each protruding from the plate surface so as to face each other across a movement path of the card-shaped electronic device when connecting the device terminal to the connection terminal, and the card-shaped device and a plurality of pairs of guide bodies that are spaced apart from each other in the direction along the movement path of the electronic device and guide the card-type electronic device,
Each of the plurality of pairs of guide bodies has a guide surface along the movement path of the card-type electronic device and a tapered surface inclined from the guide surface toward the insertion side, and at least the card-type electronic device and a tapered surface inclined toward the insertion side from the protruding wall protruding from the guide surface in the width direction of the moving route between the moving route and the plate surface of and electronic devices. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the guide surfaces of each pair of the plurality of pairs of guide bodies are arranged in parallel to face each other at a predetermined distance in the width direction of the movement path. 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein each pair of said plurality of pairs of guide bodies has a leg portion having a predetermined height from said plate portion. 4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal is provided on a printed circuit board held by a housing including the plate-like portion. 5. The electronic device according to claim 4 , wherein said printed circuit board functions as an additional guide portion for guiding said card-type electronic device.

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