Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-21
2001-04-03
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
C439S326000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06210233
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a card reading device.
Examples of (but by no means all) card reading devices are the reading devices in mobile telephones for accepting and/or passing on information provided through or for a chip card or a SIM card.
Chip cards and SIM cards are used in mobile telephones primarily for subscriber identification; the structure and function of the chip cards and the SIM cards are generally known and require no further explanation.
Card reading devices are obviously not restricted to use with the chip cards and the SIM cards but can also be used in principle for reading any other cards.
This applies, among other things, for the so-called MM cards, which are currently under development and which will be used in the near future as storage media, or more precisely as mass storage, in semiconductor technology in a wide range of different electronic devices. “MM” is the abbreviation for “multimedia” and thereby serves to express the diversity of applications of MM cards. Although currently available MM cards have a storage capacity of 64 Mbit, storage capacities in the Gbit range are already being regarded as realistic.
Because of the small size of MM cards (most MM cards have a size between that of the SIM cards and that of the chip cards) and the fact that the reading devices for such cards can also be very small (there is no need for motors, moveable reading heads or similar), the use of MM cards in mobile telephones is also conceivable. For example, MM cards could be used in mobile telephones for storing telephone directories, speech (answering-machine function), fax messages, software and similar.
On the other hand, mobile telephones and also many other devices in which MM cards could be used have only very limited space available for the installation of additional card reading devices. A further problem is that changing the cards that must be read must be quick and simple, and that the card reading device should preferably be configured to accept several cards at once.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a card reading device which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art methods and devices of this general type.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a card reading device, including: a card containing part constructed for reading laterally offset cards lying one above each other; and an openable lid disposed on the card containing part, the lid in an opened state allowing insertion of the cards which must be read into the card containing part and in a closed state the lid retaining the cards in the card containing part in their proper position.
The invention at hand therefore has the purpose of disclosing a card reading device applicable for reading several cards simultaneously, the size of which card reading device can be kept to a minimum.
The characteristic provides that the card reading device is constructed for reading cards that are lying laterally offset one above the other.
This kind of construction of the card reading device allows contact to be made with several cards in an especially simple, elegant and space-saving manner. Thus, for example, the several contact-element groups of the card reading device, which groups are provided for making contact with the several cards, can be disposed on a stepped contact-element section of the card reading device, which configuration is associated with several advantages. First, a conceptually simple mechanical construction of the card reading device is possible. Second, the contact-elements of the card reading device can be very easily connected together (in parallel) because of their physical closeness, or be combined into multiple contact-elements for making contact with the contact positions of different cards.
The simple mechanical construction of the card reading device, the simple connectability and/or combinability of the contact-elements of the card reading device, and the capability of stacking the cards which must be read immediately above one another (without intervening spaces) enables optimal utilization of the available space. In other words, the construction of card reading devices which are only slightly larger than the actual cards which must be read.
Thus a card reading device was found whose size is minimal.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a card reading device, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5103378 (1992-04-01), Stowers
patent: 5259784 (1993-11-01), Iwatare et al.
patent: 19523793C1 (1996-11-01), None
Hoolhorst Albert
Persson Per-Hakan
Abrams Neil
Greenberg Laurence A.
Lerner Herbert L.
Nasri Javaid
Stemer Werner H.
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