Registers – Coded record sensors – Feed mechanisms
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-29
2001-09-18
Lee, Michael G. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Coded record sensors
Feed mechanisms
C235S479000, C439S159000, C439S630000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290136
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card connector, and particularly to a card ejection mechanism latchably mounted to a PCMCIA connector and occupying a limited space on a printed circuit board.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
IC (integrated circuit) cards are popularly used to meet requirements of personal computers, especially notebook computers, for expanding memory thereof. One commonly used IC card is a PCMCIA card which conforms to the standards of the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. A PCMCIA connector is thereby employed to accommodate a PCMCIA card. A card ejection mechanism is mounted to a side arm of the connector for ejecting the card from a card-receiving slot thereof. The card ejection mechanism commonly comprises a movable plate for removing an inserted card from the connector, a push rod disposed in a guide, and a pivotable ejector arm coupling the movable plate and the push rod together. Since the guide is typically integrally formed with the side arm of the connector which is made from plastic, a significant amount of space is occupied by the guide, which is out of line with current miniaturization trends. Pertinent conventional card connectors are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 84210015; 86213336; 86204066 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,918.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, a conventional PCMCIA connector for interconnecting a PCMCIA card to a printed circuit board comprises a retention plate
1
attached to opposing side arms
2
via a pair of supports
11
extending therefrom. The side arms
2
made from plastic are adapted to guide and retain an inserted card (not shown) in a receiving slot (not labeled) defined therein. A guide
21
for retaining a push rod
31
integrally extends from one of the side arms
2
. One end of the push rod
31
extends through the guide
21
for coupling with one end of an ejector arm
32
pivotably attached to a movable plate
33
. When the push rod
31
is manually actuated, the movable plate
33
is pushed by the ejector arm
32
, thus removing the inserted card from the connector along the receiving slot of the side arms
2
. However, since the guide
21
of the card ejection mechanism is integrally formed with the plastic side arm
2
of the connector, a significant amount of space is occupied on the circuit board on which the connector is mounted. Furthermore, since no shield is provided to shield the connector from EMI/RFI (Electromagnetic Interference/Radio Frequency Interference), signal transmission between the card and the circuit board may be adversely affected.
To solve such problems, a well-shielded PCMCIA connector having an improved card ejection mechanism occupying a limited space on a circuit board is requisite.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a PCMCIA connector having a shield for shielding the connector from EMI/RFI thereby ensuring reliable signal transmission between an inserted PCMCIA card and a printed circuit board to which the connector is mounted.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a PCMCIA connector having an improved card ejection mechanism which occupies less space on a circuit board.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved card ejection mechanism latchably mounted to a PCMCIA connector thereby facilitating assembly.
In order to achieve the objects set forth, a PCMCIA connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a header retaining a plurality of terminals therein, a metal shield attached to the header having a pair of downwardly and inwardly bent extensions to define a receiving slot for receiving a PCMCIA card, and a card ejection mechanism for ejecting the inserted card from the receiving slot. The card ejection mechanism includes a guide latchably mounted to one side of the shield, a push rod with one end disposed in the guide, a swing arm pivotably attached to the shield, and a slide plate coupled with the swing arm for releasing the card. A plurality of mounting openings is formed in one of the extensions of the shield with a plurality of stop members extending thereinto. The guide comprises a plurality of latches for insertion into the corresponding mounting openings of the shield, and a plurality of abutments for abutting against an outer surface of the extension. A plurality of latching holes is defined between a portion of the latches and the corresponding adjacent abutments for engaging with the extension. Ends of a portion of the latches comprise stop pads bent at an angle for abutting against the corresponding stop members of the shield to prevent the guide from moving backwards. By such a design, the space occupied by the guide is decreased and assembly is facilitated.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5275573 (1994-01-01), McCleerey
patent: 5290174 (1994-03-01), Woratyla et al.
patent: 5401176 (1995-03-01), Lwee
patent: 5421737 (1995-06-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5519577 (1996-05-01), Dudas et al.
patent: 5591047 (1997-01-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 5634805 (1997-06-01), Saito et al.
patent: 5655918 (1997-08-01), Soh
patent: 5662482 (1997-09-01), Shin
patent: 5711679 (1998-01-01), Spickler et al.
patent: 5730610 (1998-03-01), Hsia et al.
patent: 5795190 (1998-08-01), Ono
patent: 5967803 (1999-10-01), Ho
patent: 5993227 (1999-11-01), Hsia et al.
patent: 6059586 (2000-05-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 6071149 (2000-06-01), Hara
patent: 6104620 (2000-08-01), Dudas et al.
patent: 6109941 (2000-08-01), Koseki et al.
patent: 08-234867 A (1996-09-01), None
patent: 2000-311745 (2000-11-01), None
Koseki Yoshitsugu
Lai Ming-Chun
Yu Hung-Chi
Chung Wei Te
Foxconn International, Inc. Co., Ltd.
Lee Diane I.
Lee Michael G.
LandOfFree
Card ejection mechanism for PCMCIA connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Card ejection mechanism for PCMCIA connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Card ejection mechanism for PCMCIA connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2454117