Card connector

Details Card connector Card connector

2002-12-20

2004-04-27

Paumen, Gary (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With insulation other than conductor sheath

Plural-contact coupling part

C439S630000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06726508

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card connector which has at least two card-accommodating slots, one of which accommodates a thin card such as an ISO standard IC card (also known as a “smart card”) and another of which accommodates a thick card such as a PCMCIA standard IC card.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In recent years, the use of personal computers has grown rapidly as a result of progress made in computer technology. In particular, in the field of notebook personal computers, compact computers with high performance have been developed and computers equipped with card connectors which have two card-accommodating slots have also been developed. One card-accommodating slot accommodates an ISO standard IC card (hereinafter referred to as a “smart card”) and the other card-accommodating slot accommodates a PCMCIA standard IC card (hereinafter referred to as an “IC card”).
With respect to smart cards, as shown in FIGS.
6
(A) and
6
(B), a smart card
100
comprises a plurality of terminal parts
101
on one main surface of the card
100
. With respect to the dimensions of the card
100
, the card
100
typically has a depth of about 85.6 mm, a width of about 54 mm, and a thickness of from about 0.68 mm to about 0.84 mm.
With respect to IC cards, there are three types of IC cards, i.e., type I used as a semiconductor memory card, type II used as a modem card, and type III used as a hard disk card.
FIG. 7
shows a type-I IC card
110
which comprises a connector
111
on one end portion of the card
110
. With respect to the dimensions of the card
100
, the depth is about 85.6 mm, the width is about 54 mm, and the thickness is about 3.3 mm. The type-II and type-III IC cards are not shown but, like the type-I IC card shown in
FIG. 7
, these cards have a depth of about 85.6 mm and a width of about 54 mm. The main difference between the type II and type-III IC cards in comparison to the type-I IC cards is that they have thickness of about 5 mm and about 10.5 mm, respectively.
When the dimensions of the smart cards
100
and the dimensions of the IC cards
110
are compared, it is noted that the depth and width are the same, and that only the thickness of the cards is different, with the smart cards
100
being thinner than the PCMCIA standard IC cards.
Since the smart cards
100
are thinner than the PCMCIA standard IC cards, the height of the card-accommodating slot that accommodates smart cards
100
in the above-mentioned prior art card connector is relatively small, while the height of the card-accommodating slot that accommodates IC cards is relatively large. As such, in normal use, smart cards are inserted into the card-accommodating slot that has a relatively small height, and IC cards are inserted into the card-accommodating slot that has a relatively large height.
In such prior art card connectors that accommodate two types of cards with different thicknesses, it is not possible to insert thick cards (IC cards) into the card-accommodating slots used for cards with a small height (the smart card card-accommodating slot). On the other hand, thin cards (smart cards) may be inserted into the card-accommodating slot used for cards with a large height (the IC card card-accommodating slot).
If a thin card is inserted into the card-accommodating slot used for cards with a large height, e.g., if a smart card
100
is inserted into the card-accommodating slot used for PCMCIA standard IC cards
110
, there is a danger that the plurality of pin contacts corresponding to the card-accommodating slot used for IC cards
110
, or a portion of the housing, etc., may be bent and damaged by the end portion of the smart card
100
. Furthermore, if a smart card
100
is inserted into the above-mentioned card-accommodating slot, even if the pin contacts are not damaged, the end user may mistakenly believe that the above-mentioned smart card
100
has been inserted into the appropriate card-accommodating slot, and the notebook personal computer will not operate normally when the power supply is switched on.
To prevent the insertion of thin smart cards into card-accommodating slots designed for thicker IC cards, several devices have been developed.
For example, FIGS.
8
(A) and
8
(B) show an IC card socket which prevents the insertion of thin cards into a card-accommodating slot used for thicker IC cards (for additional details of this socket, reference is made to Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. H11-39435).
As shown in FIGS.
8
(A) and
8
(B), the IC card socket
200
comprises a plurality of pin contacts
201
electrically connected with the IC card
100
when the IC cards is inserted into the socket
200
, and a pair of guide rails
202
that guide the insertion of the IC card
100
into engagement with the pin contacts
201
. A set of upper and lower thickness detection levers
203
are arranged on one of the guide rails
202
and are supported by a pivoting shaft
206
so that the levers
203
can pivot. Clamping parts
205
are arranged on the end portions of the detection levers
203
on the side of the card insertion opening and detect the thickness of inserted objects that are inserted into the guide rails
202
. Shutter parts
204
are arranged on the end portions of the thickness detection levers
203
on the side of the pin contacts.
When a thick IC card
110
is inserted into the IC card socket
200
along the guide rails
202
, the clamping parts
205
open, and the upper and lower thickness detection levers
203
open about the pivoting shaft
206
as shown in FIG.
8
(A). Furthermore, at the same time that the thickness detection levers
203
open, the shutter parts
204
open, and the IC card
110
can be connected to the pin contacts
201
.
On the other hand, when a thin smart card
100
is inserted along the guide rails
202
, since the thickness of the smart card
100
is smaller than the thickness of the IC card
110
, the upper and lower detection levers
203
do not open, as shown in FIG.
8
(B). Accordingly, the shutter parts
204
remain closed so that the insertion of the smart card
100
is prevented by the shutter parts
204
.
There are several problems with the IC card socket
200
shown in FIGS.
8
(A) and
8
(B). For example, although the IC card socket
200
is usually effective when there is one card-accommodating slot that accommodates IC cards, it cannot be used in card connectors in which at least two card-accommodating slots are arranged adjacent one another in a vertical configuration, one card-accommodating slot being designed to accommodate a thin card and the other being designed to accommodate a thick card. Furthermore, the mechanism that prevents the insertion of thin cards is complicated, the manufacturing cost of the IC card socket
200
is high and the socket is bulky.
Another device for preventing insertion of thin smart cards into card-accommodating slots designed for thicker IC cards is shown in FIGS.
9
(A) and
9
(B) and is known as an IC cartridge reader. The IC cartridge reader has a mechanism for preventing the erroneous insertion of inappropriate IC cartridges and is more fully described in Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. H2-35584.
As shown in FIGS.
9
(A) and
9
(B), the IC cartridge reader
300
comprises a chassis
301
defining an IC cartridge insertion opening
302
. A shutter mechanism
303
is arranged inside the chassis
301
in the vicinity of the IC cartridge insertion opening
302
. The shutter mechanism
303
includes a shutter main body
304
and a spring member
305
which supports the shutter main body
304
so that the shutter main body
304
can open and close. An erroneous-insertion preventing projection
306
is formed on the shutter main body
304
, and a cut-out
311
is formed in the end portion of the IC cartridge
310
in a position corresponding to the erroneous insertion preventing projection
306
.
As shown in FIG.
9
(A), when an appropriate IC cartridge
310
is inserted in the normal manner into the IC cartridge insertion opening
302
, the erroneous-insertion preventing pr

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