Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Patent
1996-11-27
1998-03-31
Swann, J. J.
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
235441, 439629, H01R 1300
Patent
active
057331472
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a compact electrical connector for making contact to a SIM card.
SIM (system identity module) cards are increasingly used in mobile telephones. The SIM card comprises an electronic chip that supplies the telephone with information identifying the user, whereby without the SIM card the telephone is inoperational. The SIM card may be removed and replaced with another SIM card for example when different users have access to the same telephone The SIM card my also be removed from the telephone such that it is inoperational the case of theft.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
WO-A 204 688 discloses a SIM card connector for mounting on a printed circuit board, comprising a housing bounded by a rectangular periphery comprising opposed sides extending between opposed ends, and a plurality of terminals, each comprising a longitudinal spring beam section and a contact protrusion, the contact protrusions being arranged in two rows along both ends, and the spring beam sections extending therefrom at an angle less than 90.degree. with respect to the row, such that the contact protrusions make contact with two parallel rows of aligned SIM card circuit pads.
Due to the rising demand for decreasing the size of electrical components for miniaturization of mobile telephones or other electronic apparatus, and the continuous addition of supplementary functions, it is desirable to produce a very compact SIM card connector. One important compactness requirement is the surface area the connector uses on a PC board, as it is desirable to position as many electronic components thereon as possible.
It is of course also desirable to provide SIM card connectors that are very cost-effective and easily integrated into different mobile telephone designs or other electronic apparatus. Due to the latter, simplicity of the design is very important.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a SIM card connector that is compact and cost-effective to produce and to assemble in a receiving device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a simple SIM card connector for mounting on a printed circuit board, the SIM card connector using minimum surface area on the PCB.
The objects of this invention have been achieved by providing A SIM card connector for mounting on a PCB comprising a housing bounded by a periphery comprising; opposed sides extending between opposed ends, and a plurality of terminals, each terminal comprising a longitudinal spring beam section and a contact protrusion, the contacts being arranged in a row along one of the ends at least, and the spring beam sections extending therefrom at an angle lees than 90.degree. with respect to the row such that the contact protrusions thereof make electrical contact with two parallel rows of aligned SIM card circuit pads, wherein the terminals are disposed in two rows, a first row extending from one end (12) of the connector, and a second row extending from the other opposed end (14), the terminals of both rows being interleaved with each other, and wherein the sides are substantially parallel to the angled spring beam sections for a minimal usage of PCB surface area.
The preferred embodiment of this invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the figures, whereby;
FIG. 1 is a top view of a SIM card connector;
FIG. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow 2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrow 3 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view through lines 4--4 of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, a SIM card connector 2 comprises an insulative housing 4 and terminals 6 for making contact to pads of a SIM card (not shown). The terminals 6 are disposed in two interleaving terminal sets 8 and 10 extending respectively from a first connector end 12 and a second connector end 14 opposed thereto.
The terminal sets 8, 10 comprise respectively, a plurality of juxtaposed contact arms 16 held together by an overmoulded insulative support member 18. The contact arms 16 co
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patent: 5320552 (1994-06-01), Reichardt et al.
patent: 5586890 (1996-12-01), Braun
Nina Driscoll A.
Swann J. J.
The Whitaker Corporation
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