Electricity: conductors and insulators – Boxes and housings – With electrical device
Patent
1998-06-25
2000-12-26
Reichard, Dean A.
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Boxes and housings
With electrical device
H01R 13508
Patent
active
061663301
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a housing for an extended, detachable plug-in card intended to be partially inserted, on a temporary basis, in a personal computer (PC).
Detachable plug-in cards are generally known as PCMCIA cards and are achieved on printed circuit cards in accordance with the PCMCIA standard defined by the association with the same name ("Personal Computer Memory Card Association", 1030 B East Duane Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif.). They include several integrated circuit chips and a 68-pin female connector which can be plugged into a corresponding male connector of the PC. These cards are mainly mass storage cards which may replace diskettes and other mass storage means of magnetic type in the future. They have equivalent storage capacities and much faster access times than magnetic memories. They can also be used as RAM extensions for the PC.
Typically, the standard dimensions of the housings, which make it possible to protect these PCMCIA cards against any possible physical shocks and external aggressions, are of approximately 5.4 cm by 8.5 cm and their thickness is of approximately 3 to 5 mm.
The PCMCIA standard provides for memory extensions in order to increase the storage capacities of these cards. This creates a large number of problems in terms of practical achievement. Indeed, it is necessary to provide a new housing in which to accommodate the card equipped with its extension, while observing certain recommendations submitted by the PCMCIA association concerning dimensions. The standard part of the extended PCMCIA card is always intended to be inserted in the slot of a PC, whereas the extended part, which is connected to the standard part, is intended to remain outside of the PC.
The PCMCIA association has provided a few recommendations regarding the dimensions of the housing capable of containing the extended part. The recommendations are by no means definite and may still evolve. For this reason, there is currently no housing marketed with the required dimensions.
Nevertheless, a solution has been considered. This solution consists of achieving two independent housings and connecting them. The first housing, which exists, contains the standard part of a PCMCIA card. The second housing, which will be achieved as per the dimensions of the extension, contains the latter. It is then necessary to add a male (or female) connector to the existing housing, and the complementary connector to the second housing. These two additional connectors will thus make it possible to ensure both an electrical link and a mechanical link between the standard part of the card and its extension.
However, it is immediately clear that this solution has many disadvantages. Indeed, the achievement of a second connector which can be plugged into a standard PCMCIA card leads to a loss of approximately 20 mm of surface out of a total surface of 85 mm, which amounts to a loss of available surface of approximately 25%. This loss of available surface is considerable insofar as the problem to be solved consists of extending the storage area, i.e. maximising the available surface on one or more printed circuit cards.
Furthermore, the act of plugging two housings together in order to connect the standard part of a PCMCIA card to its extension does not make it possible to obtain a reliable mechanical link. Indeed, given the fact that the extension is located outside of the PC, a mere shock against its housing may produce a deterioration, or even a break of the link between the two additional connectors, i.e. a deterioration of the electrical and mechanical links created between the standard part and the extension. As a result, two independent housings connected together so as to achieve an extended detachable plug-in card form a fragile device with a very low resistance to mechanical shocks. Finally, the manufacturing cost of these housings is too high to enable their large-scale distribution.
No satisfactory solution to manufacture a housing for an extended detachable card has yet been proposed up to now.
The present inventio
REFERENCES:
patent: 5852257 (1998-12-01), Dittman et al.
patent: 5892653 (1999-04-01), Nishimuta et al.
patent: 5920034 (1999-07-01), Saka et al.
patent: 5939673 (1999-08-01), Rentmore
Agoyan Michel
Chomette Michel
Gemplus S.C.A.
Plottel Roland
Reichard Dean A.
LandOfFree
Housing for an extended-format releasable plug-in card does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Housing for an extended-format releasable plug-in card, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Housing for an extended-format releasable plug-in card will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-997288