JPH07120401B2 - Memory card connector with eject mechanism - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connector (eg, plug) used to connect a memory card to a connector (eg, socket) of a card reader / writer and has an ejector mechanism. The present invention relates to an improvement of a memory card connector with an eject mechanism.

“Prior Art” With the spread of memory cards, some connectors have an ejector mechanism that allows easy removal of the card to improve operability and protect the card. Conventionally, such a connector for a memory card with an eject mechanism has been constructed as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. That is, an arm 14 rotatable around the fulcrum 12 is attached to the top plate of the housing 10, and a pushing rod is attached to the arm 14.
By connecting 16 and hooks 20, 20 rotatable around fulcrums 18, 18, and pressing this pushing rod 16 along the guide 22 on the left side of the card insertion slot of the housing 10, the arm 14 The hooks 20 and 20 are moved via the via to move the memory card 26 inserted in the card insertion path 24 to the card insertion opening side so that the memory card 26 can be easily removed. The guide 28 on the right side of the card insertion opening of the housing 10 is used when the pressing rod 16 is attached to the right side of the card insertion opening of the housing 10.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the arm 14, the pressing rod 16, the hooks 20, 20 are provided on the top plate of the housing 10.
Since the eject mechanism is configured by attaching the guides 22 and 28, there is a problem that the structure of the eject mechanism becomes complicated and the number of parts increases. Further, since the eject mechanism is exposed to the outside of the housing 10, the arm does not have to be pushed even if the pushing rod 16 is pushed.
There was a problem that a hand etc. touched 14 or hooks 20 and 20 to operate, and dust entered the movable part of the eject mechanism.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can simplify the structure of the eject mechanism and reduce the number of parts. Further, the eject mechanism does not operate except when necessary. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector for a memory card with an eject mechanism in which dust is unlikely to enter the movable part.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A memory card connector with an eject mechanism according to the present invention is mounted at a predetermined interval on the outside of a housing having a card insertion path opening to the front side and an upper plate of the housing. The cover plate, a slide plate slidably mounted in the front-rear direction between the housing and the cover plate, and a lever rotatably mounted between the housing and the cover plate. A pressing piece protruding into the insertion path is integrally formed, and an engaging portion formed on one side of the lever engages with an engaging hole formed in a substantially central portion in the left-right direction of the sliding plate, An operating portion formed on the other side of the lever projects to the outside of the housing, and both ends of a rotary shaft that rotatably supports the intermediate portion of the lever are formed on the cover plate and the housing. Mounted on the cover plate and the housing, and the mounting holes are located above and below the symmetrical position with respect to the engagement hole of the sliding plate. One of the sets is a mounting hole, and the pressing piece of the sliding plate is a cut-and-raised piece formed by cutting and raising the left and right portions of the rear side of the sliding plate downward. In addition, a guide hole for movably guiding the cut-and-raised piece is formed.

[Operation] When the lever operating part protruding outside the housing is moved in the specified direction and the lever is rotated, the lever engaging part that engages with the engaging hole of the sliding plate moves the sliding plate in the specified direction. Slide. Then, the pressing piece (that is, the cut-and-raised piece) formed integrally with the sliding plate presses the memory card inserted in the card insertion path in a predetermined direction so that the memory card can be easily removed. To do. The cover plate covers the rotating part and the engaging part of the lever and also covers the engaging hole of the sliding plate. Further, by mounting the rotary shaft that rotatably supports the intermediate portion of the lever into any of the two pairs of symmetrical mounting holes formed in the cover plate and the housing, the lever operating portion can be mounted. Can be provided on either side of the housing symmetrically on the left and right sides.

Further, the pressing piece of the sliding plate is formed by a cut-and-raised piece formed by cutting and raising the rear left and right parts of the sliding plate downward, and the cut-and-raised piece can be moved to the left and right of the upper plate of the housing. Since the guide hole for guiding is formed, the sliding plate and the pressing piece can be downsized.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of a connector for a memory card with an eject mechanism according to the present invention. In these drawings, 30 is a housing integrally formed of synthetic resin or the like. Is. The housing 30 is formed with a card insertion path 34 having a card insertion opening 32 opened on the front surface side. In the middle portion of the back plate 36 of the housing 30, two rows of L-shaped contacts 38, ... Projecting members 44, which also function as spacers, are integrally formed at the four corners of the upper surface of the upper plate 42 of the housing 30,
As shown in FIG. 6, the protrusions 44, ... Are formed with engaging holes 48 ,. The upper plate 42 of the housing 30 has a loose fitting hole 50 formed at the center portion in the left-right direction, and mounting holes 52, 54 are provided at symmetrical positions with respect to the loose fitting hole 50.
Further, guide grooves 56, 56 and guide protrusions 58, 58 are formed at positions symmetrical with respect to the loose fitting hole 50 and outside the mounting holes 52, 54. There is. Left and right rear portions of the upper plate 42 of the housing 30 and the rear plate
In the left and right parts of 36, a guide hole 60 that connects the top side and the back side
62 are formed. 64 is a cover plate, this cover plate 64
Are attached to the outside of the upper plate 42 of the housing 30 at a predetermined interval. Engaging pieces 68 having locking projections 66, ... Are integrally formed at the four corners of the cover plate 64, and the locking projections 66, ... Of these engaging pieces 68 ,.
Are engaged and locked with the engaging step portions 46 ,. The cover plate 64 includes a top plate 42 of the housing 30.
Mounting holes 70, 72 are formed at the upper portions of the mounting holes 52, 54. The mounting holes 52 and 70, 54 and 72 respectively constitute a pair of mounting holes. The housing 30 and the cover plate 64
A slide plate 74 that can slide in the front-rear direction is attached between the two. Engagement holes 76 and loose fitting holes 78, 80 are formed in the sliding plate 74 above the loose fitting holes 50 and the mounting holes 52, 54 of the upper plate 42, respectively. Guide grooves 56, 56 and guide protrusions 58, 58 of the upper plate 42 are provided on the left and right sides of the sliding plate 74.
Guide protrusions 82, 82 and guide notches 84, 84 slidably engaged with and are respectively formed. Cut-and-raised pieces as pressing pieces that slidably engage with the guide holes 60 and 62 of the housing 30 and project into the card insertion path 34 at the left and right portions of the rear side of the sliding plate 74. 86 and 88 are cut and raised. Reference numeral 90 denotes a lever provided between the cover plate 64 and the sliding plate 74. An intermediate portion of the lever 90 is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft 92, and a caulking portion formed on the rotary shaft 92. 94 is crimped and fixed in the mounting hole 72 of the cover plate 64, the lower part of the rotary shaft 92 penetrates the loose fitting hole 80 of the sliding plate 74, and is press-fitted and fixed in the mounting hole 54 of the upper plate 42. ing. An engaging portion 96 formed on one side of the lever 90 engages with an engaging hole 76 of the sliding plate 74, and an operating portion 98 formed on the other side of the lever 90 includes the housing 30 and the cover plate. It penetrates through a gap formed between 64 and projects to the outside of the housing 30.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

(A) The memory card 100 is inserted by inserting the memory card 100 from the card insertion opening 32 of the housing 30 into the card insertion path 34, and the contacts of the memory card 100 are the contacts 38, ... 40 of the housing 30. Full contact with ... By inserting this memory card 100,
The tip of the memory card 100 presses the cut-and-raised pieces 86, 88 of the sliding plate 74, and slides the sliding plate 74 from the front to the rear. Then,
The engaging portion 96 of the lever 90 that engages with the engaging hole 76 of the sliding plate 74 moves clockwise around the rotary shaft 92 (that is, moves from the front to the rear), and the lever 90 moves to the second position. 4th from the figure
The state of the eject mechanism set is as shown by the solid and dotted lines up to the figure.

(B) To remove the memory card 100, operate the lever 98
2 is pressed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 to move the engaging portion 96 of the lever 90 in the counterclockwise direction around the rotation shaft 92 (that is, to move from the rear to the front). Due to the movement of the engaging portion 96 of the lever 90, the sliding member 74 slides from the rear to the front, so that the memory card 100 can be easily removed, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. Becomes With such a state, it is possible to remove the memory card 100 naturally without forcibly twisting or bending it.

In the above-described embodiment, the rotary shaft that rotatably supports the intermediate portion of the lever is configured to be mounted in the right mounting hole of the two sets of mounting holes so that the lever operating portion projects to the right side of the housing. The present invention is not limited to this, and a rotary shaft that rotatably supports the intermediate portion of the lever is attached to the left mounting hole of the two sets of mounting holes, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Alternatively, the operating portion 98 of the lever 90 may be projected to the left side of the housing 30.

In the above-described embodiment, the swaged portion is formed on the upper portion of the rotary shaft that rotatably supports the intermediate portion of the lever, and the upper portion of the rotary shaft is attached to the mounting hole of the cover plate by swaging the swaged portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this,
For example, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, by providing an E-shaped retaining ring 102 on the upper part of the rotary shaft 92a that rotatably supports the intermediate part of the lever 90, the upper part of the rotary shaft 92a is covered with the cover plate 64a. You may make it attach to the attachment hole 72 of.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, the memory card connector with the eject mechanism according to the present invention rotates the lever by moving the operating portion of the lever in the predetermined direction and engages with the engaging hole of the sliding plate. The engaging part of the lever slides on the sliding plate in the specified direction,
Since the pressing piece integrally connected to the sliding plate is configured to press the memory card in a predetermined direction so that the memory card can be easily pulled out, the structure of the eject mechanism can be simplified and the parts are The score can be reduced. Further, since the cover plate is configured to cover the rotating portion and the engaging portion of the lever and the engaging hole of the sliding plate, the eject mechanism does not operate except when necessary, and the eject mechanism It is difficult for dust to enter moving parts. Further, by mounting the rotary shaft that rotatably supports the intermediate portion of the lever into any of the two pairs of symmetrical mounting holes formed in the cover plate and the housing, the lever operating portion can be mounted. Can be provided on either side of the housing symmetrically on the left and right sides.

Further, the pressing piece of the sliding plate is formed by a cut-and-raised piece formed by cutting and raising the rear left and right parts of the sliding plate downward, and the cut-and-raised piece can be moved to the left and right of the upper plate of the housing. Since the guide hole for guiding is formed, the sliding plate and the pressing piece can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of a memory card connector with an eject mechanism according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. 3 is FIG. Is a partially cutaway sectional view taken along line AA, FIG. 4 is a right side view of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is of FIG. 7 and 8 are sectional views taken along the line C-C, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show another embodiment. FIG. 7 is a plan view, FIG. 8 is a front view, and FIGS. Shown, No. 9
The drawing is a plan view, FIG. 10 is a front view, and FIG. 11 is a left side view of FIG. 10, 30 …… Housing, 34 …… Card insertion path, 42 …… Top plate of housing 30, 52, 54, 70, 72… Mounting holes (52 and
70, 54 and 72 each form a set of mounting holes), 64 ...
... Cover plate, 74 ... Sliding plate, 76 ... Engagement hole of sliding plate 74,
86, 88 …… Cut and raised piece (pressing piece), 90 …… Lever, 92, 92a
...... Rotary shaft, 96 ...... Lever 90 engaging part, 98 ...... Lever 90
Operation part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing 30 in which a card insertion path 34 opening to the front side is formed, a cover plate 64 mounted outside the top plate 42 of the housing 30 at a predetermined interval, the housing 30 and the cover plate 64. A sliding plate 74 mounted so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction between the housing 30 and the cover plate.
Consisting of a lever 90 rotatably mounted between 64,
A pressing piece projecting into the card insertion path 34 is integrally formed on the sliding plate 74, and an engaging portion 96 formed on one side of the lever 90 is substantially centered in the left-right direction of the sliding plate 74. A rotation shaft that engages with an engagement hole 76 formed in a portion of the lever 90, an operation portion 98 formed on the other side of the lever 90 projects outside the housing 30, and rotatably supports an intermediate portion of the lever 90. Both ends of 92 are attached to attachment holes formed in the cover plate 64 and the housing 30, and the attachment holes are engagement holes of the sliding plate 74.
Two sets of mounting holes 70 formed in the cover plate 64 and the housing 30 are located above and below the symmetrical position with respect to the center of 76.
The pressing piece of the sliding plate 74 serves as a mounting hole for one of the groups 52, 72 and 54, and the cut-and-raised piece 86 is formed by cutting and raising the right and left portions of the rear side of the sliding plate 74 downward. , As 88,
A connector for a memory card with an eject mechanism, characterized in that guide holes 60, 62 for movably guiding the cut-and-raised pieces 86, 88 are formed on the left and right of the upper plate 42 of the housing 30.