Electrical connectors – Coupling part with actuating means urging contact to move... – Having open slot for receiving preformed panel circuit...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-28
2001-05-15
Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Coupling part with actuating means urging contact to move...
Having open slot for receiving preformed panel circuit...
C439S079000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231363
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
IC cards are commonly constructed in accordance with standards of PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) which specifies a maximum card thickness of 5 mm for the most popular type of card, which is the Type II card. IC cards generally have a circuit board with a connector at the front end and with primarily sheet metal top and bottom covers. The standard front connector has 68 pins arranged in two rows, along a height of about 3.2 mm. One more recent advancement in IC cards is to provide a rear connector which enables the transmittal of data through the card into the electronic device which receives the card. Rear connector designs such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,045 occupy almost the entire 5 mm height of the rear of the card, with the circuit board being cut out to leave room for the rear connector. Although the front connector has 68 contacts, it is generally sufficient to provide less than half that number of contacts at the rear connector. It would be desirable if a rear connector for an IC device was available that occupied a minimum of space and was of especially simple design. Features of such connector would be desirable for other applications where a minimum of space is available, such as in portable telephones.
Recent developments in the construction of covers for IC cards include the provision of top and bottom covers with plastic peripheries that can be connected by ultrasonic welding. Ultrasonic welding of plastic uses moderate cost equipment, as compared to the more expensive and less available spot welding equipment for solely sheet metal covers. The covers include sheet metal with the plastic periphery regions molded to the edges of the sheet metal. A simple rear connector which occupied a minimum of space and that could be readily formed in an IC card or other device with molded polymer peripheral regions would be of value.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a connector is provided, which is especially useful at the rear of an IC card, which is of simple and compact design. The IC card or other device has a circuit board and top and bottom covers with molded polymer portions lying above and below a rear end portion of the circuit board. The molded polymer portion of the upper cover is constructed to form a rearwardly-opening cavity between itself and the upper face of the circuit board. The upper face of the circuit board carries electrically conductive traces and the top cover is molded with cam walls lying above the traces to deflect contacts of a mating plug against the traces. In an IC card, this construction results in direct connection of the plug contacts to the circuit board traces, without requiring a separate rear connector with pins to make connections, thereby providing higher reliability. Also, the bottom of the circuit board and an area below the circuit board is now available for holding circuitry and/or circuit components. The side and top walls of the cavity of the connector, are integral with the molded polymer portion of the upper cover, to eliminate the cost and need for separate mounting of a separate rear connector element.
The plug which can be inserted into the cavity is constructed so it has a very small height. The plug contacts have free forward portions with rear sections that extend horizontally and front sections that extend at a downward-forward incline. The contact front sections can directly engage the cam walls formed on the upper cover.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4936790 (1990-06-01), De La Cruz
patent: 5397857 (1995-03-01), Farquhar et al.
patent: 5409385 (1995-04-01), Tan et al.
patent: 5470246 (1995-11-01), Mosquera
patent: 5475919 (1995-12-01), Wu et al.
patent: 5807126 (1998-09-01), Bethurum
ITT Manufacturing Enterprises Inc.
Turner Roger C.
Vu Hien
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