Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-12
2001-06-05
Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Coupling part for receiving edge of planar board moving...
C439S331000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241545
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Smart cards include a thin plate of plastic with an integrated circuit chip embedded therein and connected to contact pads on the surface of the card. Smart cards come in different sizes, with a chip card having a width and length of about two or three centimeters and a thickness of less than one millimeter. Such chip cards are often used by shopkeepers to identify themselves in banking or payment networks. An authorized connection to each network requires an electrical connector for connecting a card to that specific network. It would be desirable if a plurality of chip cards could each be connected to a different selected network in a connector arrangement of relatively simple design and moderate cost.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an electrical connector is provided that has a minimum number of parts and that enables the connection of a plurality of smart cards to selected networks. The connector includes a circuit board, a plurality of laterally-spaced bases lying on the circuit board and carrying contacts, and a housing that is mounted on the circuit board around the bases and that has a plurality of guides that each can be receive a smart card. The circuit board has a plurality of groups of traces and the contacts on each base have tails soldered to the circuit board traces. The housing is engaged with the bases to precisely fix the position of the housing with respect to the bases and their contacts, so smart cards fully inserted into guides of the housing will engage contacting parts of the contacts.
The housing includes a frame fixed to the circuit board and to the bases, and a cover having a rear end pivotally mounted about a lateral axis on the frame and carrying the guides that receive the cards. When the cover is pivoted up, the smart cards can be inserted into the cover, and the cover then can be pivoted down to press the pads on the smart cards against the contacts.
Each base has slot walls forming slots between the slot wall and the circuit board. The frame includes lugs that slide between the slot walls and the circuit board to hold down the frame to the circuit board. Each frame also has downwardly-extending studs that project into holes in the circuit board to fix the horizontal position of the frame. A sheet metal latch is slidably mounted on the cover to slide forward and rearward between lock and unlock positions, respectively. A front edge of the sheet metal has at least one downwardly bent tab that can slide under a slot wall at the front of the frame to hold the cover it in its closed position.
The frame and cover are each one-piece molded plastic parts. One of them has a plurality of laterally-spaced pin portions spaced along the pivot axis, and the other has a plurality of bearings that each has a slot to allow the bearing to snap around a corresponding pin portion.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5320552 (1994-06-01), Reichardt et al.
patent: 5603629 (1997-02-01), DeFrasne et al.
patent: 5813878 (1998-09-01), Kuwata et al.
patent: 6053775 (2000-04-01), Ungermann et al.
patent: 6106317 (2000-08-01), Michaelis et al.
patent: 6149450 (1997-02-01), Gastineau
patent: 6149466 (2000-11-01), Bricaud et al.
Bricaud Herve' Guy
Valcher Fabrice
Byrd Eugene G.
Donovan Lincoln
ITT Manufacturing Enterprises Inc.
Turner Roger C.
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