Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-05
2001-04-03
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06210193
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector for a card, particularly, to a hinged card reader connector for a card such as a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card used in a portable telephone, such as a cellular phone.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Known card reader connectors, such as the connecting devices disclosed in Japanese Heisei 5-502959 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 9-185973, generally include an insulative body and a cover pivotally mounted on the insulative body for pivotal movement between an open and closed position. Contact areas on terminals mounted on the insulative body are adapted to mate with corresponding circuit conductors of a card inserted between the insulative body and the cover. Such a card reader is often mounted on a circuit board inside a cellular phone, so that the specific information loaded on the card can be accessed by the cellular phone user. The terminals typically include solder tails projecting outwardly from the insulative body, so that the card reader connector is connected to the circuit board by soldering the solder tails to corresponding circuit conductors on the underlying circuit board. After inserting the card into the connector while the cover is in its open position, the cover is closed and locked in the closed position. To remove the card, the lock is released, the cover is opened, and the card is manually extracted.
With hinged connectors such as those described above, it is desirable that the card be easily inserted and removed. There has also been a desire for miniaturizing this type of connector, and this makes operation of the smaller connectors less user friendly than their larger counterparts. For example, in the connectors disclosed in the above publications where a front end of a cover must be pulled for its release, it can be difficult to move the cover due to the small size. Furthermore, the presence of lock springs on both sides of the cover in the disclosed connectors results in less overall rigidity and strength in the cover and results in a card reader connector that is less robust than its larger counterparts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the problems set forth above. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hinged card reader connector having a cover which easily moves between its open and closed positions even if the connector is downsized, and which maintains strength and stiffness in its cover during movement between its open and closed positions.
To accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention contemplates a card reader connector constructed such that a hinged cover is slidably pivoted relative to an insulative body.
Namely, according to one aspect of the present invention, the hinged card reader connector for receiving a card comprises:
an insulative body including pivot pins integrally formed at one end thereof;
a cover pivotally supported on the insulative body at one end by the pivot pins;
terminals provided on the insulative body for contacting corresponding contacts on the card;
the cover being pivotably movable in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the pivot pins between an open position and a closed position; and
a resilient member for biasing the cover in a direction away from the pivot pins.
The disclosed card reader connector for a card further comprises locking means between the cover and the insulative body which holds the cover in the closed position by being biased by the resilient member. The locking means includes an L-shaped engaging piece on a portion of the insulative body and an actuating piece on the cover; wherein the cover is placed in the closed condition by sliding contact between a horizontal projecting piece on the engaging piece and an inclined piece formed on an end of the actuating piece during movement between the open position and the closed position.
The locking means in one embodiment includes an engaging arm having an engaging projection piece on an inside end of the actuating piece, an opening portion on a side wall of the cover adapted for opposing the engaging projection piece, and an actuating projection portion provided adjacent to the opening portion, wherein the cover is slidingly moved from its open position to its closed position to spread the engaging arm by the actuating projection portion and release the engagement between the engaging projection piece and the opening portion to lock the cover in its closed position.
The invention contemplates that the cover is slidably pivotable in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the pivot pins, and further contemplates that one of the cover or insulative body includes a resilient member for biasing the cover in a direction away from the pivot pin when the cover is in the closed position. Therefore, upon moving the cover from the open position to the closed position, the cover is slidably pushed toward the axis of the pivot pins against the resilient member to produce a spring force. Therefore, when the cover is completely closed, it is moved into a fully locked position by the spring force and held in place by the locking means. To move the cover from the closed position to the open position, the cover is again pushed toward the axis of the pivot pins and the cover is opened with the aid of a restoration force of the terminals mounted on the insulative body.
The horizontal projecting piece on the insulative body and the inclined piece on the cover slidingly contact one another during movement of the cover between the open and closed positions and resist the force provided by the resilient member so that the inclined piece is moved downwardly to lock the cover smoothly.
It is easy to release the engagement between the engaging arm on the insulative body and the opening portion on the cover by slidingly moving the cover toward the axis of the pivot pins.
The card may be mounted and held on the insulative body by the use of opposing guides provided on the side edges of the cover.
The subject design therefore permits the cover to be easily moved between its open and closed position and therefore facilitates insertion and removal of a card. Furthermore, sufficient rigidity of the cover is maintained, irrespective of the reduced overall size of the card reader connector.
Other features, aims and advantages of the invention in its various aspects and embodiments will become apparent from the following description of the disclosed embodiments given by way of example only and in which:
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Ito Tomoaki
Oshitani Akiyoshi
Yamaguchi Shigetoshi
Caldwell Stacey E.
Molex Incorporated
Nguyen Khiem
LandOfFree
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