Electrical connectors – Having circuit interrupting provision effected by mating or...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-06
2004-04-13
Ngo, Hung V. (Department: 2831)
Electrical connectors
Having circuit interrupting provision effected by mating or...
C439S489000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06719577
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector for electrically connecting a card having a memory and a circuit board and, especially, to a card connector for a card comprising a write protection button for selecting write permit or write inhibit to the memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a recent trend that an electrical device, such as a portable telephone, is used together with a card having a built-in memory. As shown in
FIG. 7
, a card
1
is usually provided with a slidable write protection button
4
in a hollow formed in a side surface
2
thereof. Write permit or write inhibit to the built-in memory is selected by sliding the write protection button
4
.
A conventional card connector for such a card as having the write protection button is described in Japanese Kokai No. 2001-135383. The conventional card connector in
FIGS. 8-11
is provided with a first switch
8
arranged in a front wall
6
and a second switch
9
arranged in a side wall
7
.
The first switch
8
is formed by a first contact spring member
10
provided in the front wall
6
and made flexible in the back-and-forth direction, and a second contact spring member
11
provided along the side wall
7
and made flexible in a lateral direction. Insertion or removal of the card is detected by the state of contact or separation between the first and second contact spring members
10
and
11
. The first contact member
10
is folded in the middle and comprises a front end portion
12
, an abutting portion
13
, and a contact portion
14
. The front end portion
12
is bent so as to be connected to a circuit board (not shown). Both the abutting and contact portions
13
and
14
are provided at the other end opposed to the front end portion
12
. The second contact member
11
comprises a front end portion
15
provided in parallel to the front end portion
12
, a retaining portion
16
fixed to the side wall
7
, a cantilever spring portion
17
extending forwardly from the retaining portion
16
and having a contact projection
18
, and a cantilever spring member
19
extending rearwardly from the retaining portion
16
and having an abutting portion
20
. The abutting portion
20
comprises a curved section
21
projecting into the inside of the card connector and a flat section
22
extending from the curved section
21
.
The second switch
9
is formed by the second contact spring member
11
and a third contact spring member
23
provided outside and along the second contact spring member
11
and made flexible in a lateral direction. A sliding position of the write protection button
4
is detected by the contact and the separation between the second and third contact spring members
11
and
23
. The third contact spring piece
23
comprises a front end portion
24
provided in parallel to the front end portions
12
and
15
, a retaining portion
25
fixed to the side wall
7
, a cantilever spring portion
26
extending rearwardly from the retaining portion
25
and having an abutting portion
27
. The abutting portion
27
comprises a curved section
28
projecting into the inside of the card connector and a flat section
29
extending from the curved section
28
. The cantilever spring piece
26
comprises an opening
30
at a position corresponding to the flat section
22
of the second contact spring member
11
and a contact projection
31
in front of the opening
30
.
As shown in
FIG. 10
, when the card
1
is inserted into the housing
5
with the write protection button
4
at the back position (write permit position), the abutting portion
13
of the first contact spring member
10
is pushed by the front surface of the card
1
and the contact portion
14
is brought into contact with the contact projection
18
of the second contact spring member
11
. As a result, the first switch
8
is turned on and the insertion of the card
1
is detected. At this point, the curved section
21
of the second contact spring member
11
abuts against the hollow
3
of the card
1
and the curved section
28
of the third contact spring member
23
abuts against the write protection button
4
. Accordingly, the second and third contact spring members
11
and
23
are separated from each other. As a result, the second switch is turned off, and the write permit to the card
1
is detected.
As shown in
FIG. 11
, when the card
1
is inserted into the housing
5
with the write protection button
4
at the forward position (write inhibit position), the contact portion
14
of the first contact spring member
10
is brought into contact with the contact projection
18
of the second contact spring member
11
. As a result, the first switch
8
is turned on and the insertion of the card
1
is detected. At this time, the curved section
21
of the second contact spring member
11
abuts against the write protection button
4
and the curved section
28
of the third contact spring member
23
abuts against the hollow
3
of the card
1
. Also, the flat section
22
of the second contact spring member
11
is inserted into the opening
30
of the third contact spring member
23
. Accordingly, the second and third contact spring members
11
and
23
contact with each other through the contact projection
31
. As a result, the second switch
9
is turned on, and the write inhibit to the card
1
is detected.
However, in such a conventional card connector, the second and third contact spring members
11
and
23
are fixed to the side wall
7
of the housing such that they form cantilevers to be flexible in the lateral direction and are not used as a part of the side wall
7
in view of the structure strength. A wall is necessary to be present at positions corresponding to those of the second and third contact spring members
11
and
23
as well as at the other positions. As a result, the side wall
7
becomes thick and it is difficult to minimize the size of the card connector.
In addition, since the members to form the switches
8
and
9
are provided in both the front and side walls
6
and
7
, the manufacturing process is complicated and requires a large amount of time.
Moreover, since the first, second, and third contact spring members
10
,
11
and
23
have different and complicated shapes, it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a card connector, which enables to minimize the size of the connector and reduce the manufacturing cost.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a card connector for electrically connecting a card and a circuit board comprises a housing for accommodating the card, a metal plate forming a part of a wall of the housing, and at least one metal piece provided along the metal plate such that the metal piece is anle to contact with and separate from the metal plate to form at least one switch.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the card comprises a slidable write protection button in a side surface thereof, the metal plate comprises first and second spring members made flexible in a lateral direction, and the at least one metal piece is composed of a first metal piece having a first contact portion which is contactable with and separatable from the first spring member to form a first switch for detecting insertion or removal of the card, and a second metal piece having a second contact portion which is contactable with and separatable from the second spring member to form a second switch for detecting a sliding position of the write protection button.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, the card comprises a slidable write protection button, the at least one metal piece is composed of a first metal piece having a first spring member made flexible in a lateral direction and a second metal piece having a second spring member made flexible in a lateral direction, and the metal plate comprises a first contact portion and a second contact portion, the first contact por
Hirose Electric Co. Ltd.
Kanesaka & Takeuchi
Ngo Hung V.
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