Electrical connectors – With contact preventer or retractable cover part – Movably mounted
Reexamination Certificate
2002-12-03
2004-05-11
Gilman, Alex (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With contact preventer or retractable cover part
Movably mounted
C439S141000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06733311
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a connector with a shutter for use with a peripheral device or the like for a computer, and is specifically a connector with a shutter for preventing damage to electronic circuits inside the peripheral device due to static electricity or the like, caused by the hand contacting the contact portion while carrying the peripheral device.
Conventional Art
In peripheral devices for connection to computers, the connector portions of the peripheral devices are often exposed to the outside. Among high-capacity memory devices which are a type of peripheral device, examples include hard disk drives (hereafter referred to as HDD's).
In recent years, the popularity of laptop computers (or so-called notebook computers) has led to smaller HDD's, and the storage of music and video has shifted from recording media using conventional magnetic tape to storage on recording media for computers such as HDD's, thus causing a steady increase in the capacity of HDD's.
Furthermore, the spread of broadband technology and the like on the internet can be predicted to result in increased distribution of music and video through the internet, making it desirable to be able to record such data through portable recording media. Thus, a future increase in the demand for portable high-capacity HDD's can be foreseen.
On the other hand, when using HDD's as recording media for music and video in conjunction with computers, the ease with which copying is possible will give rise to problems of security, but a security chip for maintaining the security of data is currently in development, so that security problems can be solved by mounting such a security chip on the HDD.
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In this case, the structure of the above-mentioned connector portion of the HDD presents a problem. If the contact in the connector portion of the HDD is exposed to the outside, the connector can come into contact with the hands, in which case static electricity or the like can cause damage to electronic circuits, chips and the like in the HDD. If there is a security chip, the risk of damage due to static electricity or the like is likewise extremely high. In this case, not only does it become impossible to maintain the security of the data, but damage to the HDD control circuitry could make it impossible to read out the recorded data.
Additionally, since it is important to protect the contact portion from dust and the like in order to avoid damaging the hardware, a mechanism for protecting the contact portion is needed. Japanese Patent No. 2999364 proposes, as an “electrical connector”, a connector with a shutter. In this connector, a shutter is provided on a male connector, and this shutter slides inside the connector under pressure when the connector is plugged. However, this connector simply closes off the front surface of the connector by pressure from a spring when not plugged, and does not secure the shutter, so that the touch of a hand can easily cause the shutter to move, thereby exposing the contact portion.
Additionally, while Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. H1-161683 also proposes a “connector with shutter”, this connector also does not secure the shutter when not plugged in, which gives rise to the problem of the contact portion being exposed as described above.
Similarly, Japanese Utility Model Publications S63-186067, S63-188879 and H5-6726 all propose connectors having a shutter function, but these shutters are also unsecured, thus involving the same problems as described above.
Additionally, while HDD's have been taken as an example here, the above-described problem is common too all devices having a contact portion outside the body, such as, for example, DVD drives.
Means for Solving the Problems
In view of the above, and with the aim of overcoming the above-described problems, the present invention offers a connector with a shutter for protecting a first contact portion of a peripheral device used in a computer, said connector being characterized by comprising a housing having an aperture into which a second contact portion can be inserted; a shutter capable of closing said aperture; a spring for applying pressure to said shutter in the closed position; and a stopper for detaining said shutter in the closed position; wherein said housing accommodates said shutter, spring and stopper, and said shutter comprises a guiding device for guiding said shutter when said shutter slides in opposition to the pressure of said spring.
EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
The structures of the respective parts of the present invention shall be described hereafter with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1
is an exploded view of a connector with shutter according to the present invention. In the drawing, the housing
20
comprises an aperture portion
26
into which a second contact portion can be inserted, a first contact portion
25
in the center of the aperture portion
26
and guide devices
24
provided to the right and left of the aperture portion
26
. To the right and left outside of the housing are provided guide rails
22
for insertion of stopper release means, with a taper that increases in going from inside to outside being provided at the entrance to the guide rails. The guide rails
22
are provided with aperture portions
27
to enable a portion of the stopper to project inside the rails. Next, springs
23
for pressing the shutter
11
to close the aperture portion
26
are inserted over the cylindrical guide devices
24
. An aperture portion
12
through which the first contact portion passes is provided in the shutter, and through holes
15
are opened on both edges of the aperture portion
12
to enable passage of the guide devices
24
. Additionally, both sides of the shutter
11
have a first detaining portion
13
for keeping the shutter from being pushed outside the housing by the pressure of the spring when not plugged in, and a second detaining portion
14
for keeping the shutter from being pushed back into the housing by pressure from an external force when not plugged in. Although the shutter is detained by the pressure of the spring and the first detaining portion
13
when not plugged in, it is preferable in this case for the front surface of the shutter to be positioned slightly behind the front surface of the housing, i.e. the surface having the aperture portion
26
, in the direction of insertion of the connector. Specifically, it should be positioned about 0.2 mm behind. However, the position of the shutter
11
is not restricted thereto. Additionally, while a plurality of the first detaining portion
13
may be provided, there is no restriction thereto, as described above.
FIG. 2
is a rear perspective view of a connector according to the invention, shown along with a slot
30
. The slot
30
is provided with stopper release means
32
which are tapered at the tip, and has opened therein a guide device insertion port
33
for insertion of the guide device
24
, and a contact receiving portion
34
. Additionally, when plugging in the connector, the face
31
in which the guide device insertion port
33
and the contact receiving portion
34
are provided pushes the shutter
11
to release the detainment, to expose the first contact portion
25
.
Next, the structure of the stopper
40
is shown in FIG.
3
. As shown in the drawing, it consists of securing portions
44
,
42
for securing the stopper to the housing, a shutter detaining portion
43
for detaining the shutter, a detaining portion support
45
and a stopper release portion
41
. The stopper release portion
41
projects into the guide rails
22
positioned on both sides of the housing
20
. While the details shall be described below, the shutter
11
is released from detainment when the stopper release means
32
presses against the stopper release portion
41
so as to move the shutter detaining portion
43
.
The structures of the respective parts of the connector have been described above. Next, the makeup of
FCI 53
Gilman Alex
Perman & Green LLP
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