IC card connector

Details IC card connector IC card connector

2000-02-22

2001-08-28

Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With insulation other than conductor sheath

Plural-contact coupling part

C439S066000, C439S515000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06280254

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an IC card connector, and particularly to an IC card connector providing electrical contact with low electrical resistance for electrically connecting an IC card with a circuit board.
A conventional IC card connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,169 and Taiwan Patent Application No. 86212723. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional IC card connector
4
comprises an insulative housing
40
and a plurality of terminals
41
. Each terminal
41
comprises a contacting portion
410
for electrically contacting an inserted IC card (not shown) and a soldering portion
412
for soldering onto a circuit board
5
. The IC card connector
4
is connected between the IC card and the circuit board
5
for signal transmission therebetween. The contacting portion
410
has an arcuate profile for improving the resilience of the terminal
41
and for providing a reliable connection with the inserted IC card.
Typically, when making a resilient terminal
41
, the terminal
41
is folded to provide an arcuate profile with significant length. The increased length equates to an electrical path having increased resistance between the IC card and the circuit board
5
.
Thus an improved IC card connector is required to provide a low resistance between the IC card and the circuit board.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide an IC card connector for providing an electrical connection between an IC card and a circuit board which has low electrical resistance.
To fulfill the above-mentioned object, an IC card connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts. A plurality of passageways is defined through the insulative housing for receiving the corresponding contacts therein. Each contact comprises a first contacting arm, a second contacting arm and a retaining portion connecting the first and second contacting arms. The first contacting arm comprises a first arcuate portion for electrically contacting corresponding circuit of an IC card and a first connecting portion connected between the first arcuate portion and the retaining portion. The second contacting arm comprises a second arcuate portion, a soldering portion downwardly extending from the second arcuate portion, a second connecting portion extended from the retaining portion to the soldering portion, and a pair of fixing portions extended from lateral edges of the second connecting portion. The retaining portion forms a plurality of barbs at lateral edges thereof.
In operation, after the IC card is inserted into the present connector, the first arcuate portion is downwardly pressed to electrically contact the second arcuate portion. The contact forms a parallel electrical connection between the IC card and the circuit board. Thus the signal transmission path is shortened and the resistance of the contacts in the present IC card connector is decreased.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4362353 (1982-12-01), Cobaugh et al.
patent: 4647124 (1987-03-01), Kandybowski
patent: 5879169 (1999-03-01), Wu
patent: 5980323 (1999-11-01), Bricaud et al.
patent: 5984693 (1999-11-01), McHugh et al.
patent: 6019611 (2000-02-01), McHugh et al.
patent: 6027345 (1999-03-01), McHugh et al.

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