HK1027677B - Electronic connection unit, for a personal computer equipped with a connector for a smart card - Google Patents

Description

Electronic connection box with pocket card socket for personal computer

This application is a divisional application entitled "electronic connection box with pocket card socket for personal computer" with application number 97190388.3, application date 1997, 4/7.

The invention relates to an electronic connection unit, in particular for a personal computer.

The invention relates more particularly to a connection unit having the general form of a card and capable of being inserted into a suitably shaped slot of a computer, the purpose of which is to achieve one or more connections between, for example, the computer and a peripheral device.

In the case of personal computers, this type of electronic connection unit, also called "PC" card, is standardized according to the PCMCIA ("international personal computer memory card association") standard, which relates in particular to the external dimensions of the connection unit, so that it is possible to plug it into any personal computer, provided that the dimensions of the insertion slot of the personal computer are matched and conform to the PCMCIA standard.

The electronic connection unit in the general form of a card is therefore of the type comprising a metal shell, which in particular may be composed of two parts, upper and lower, parallel and opposite main planar walls, which between themselves delimit a cavity which is open at two opposite longitudinal ends and which is delimited in the transverse direction by two opposite side walls in the form of unit guides, in which cavity an intermediate plate, in particular a printed circuit board, is located substantially midway between the opposite inner surfaces of the two main walls and parallel to the main walls.

The intermediate printed circuit board may have different electronic components placed thereon, with connectors projecting at both its opposite open longitudinal ends for connecting the unit to a computer, a socket at the inner end of the unit for plugging in the computer and, if appropriate, also to another device or a communication line, and another socket at the outer longitudinal end of the unit for receiving a plug for connection to a telephone line, for example.

In some applications, for example in the case of allowing a user of a personal computer to access a telecommunication network, it is necessary to be able to connect an electronic connection unit with a contact card with integrated circuit or a card, generally called a pocket card, which contains information in a memory which is processed by the connection unit and the concerned computer connected to the telecommunication network.

The principle of granting access rights to a user provided with a pocket card, which is very often a mini card, also called "microsoft" card, which is particularly compact, is commonly applied in the field of wireless telephones, complying with one or the other of the two-dimensional standards.

This type of pocket card is connected to a specific electronic device for processing the data it contains, which is generally achieved by a socket of known general construction comprising a support made of insulating material comprising an open-ended housing located in its upper surface for receiving the pocket card, conductive strips on the main surface of the card cooperating with contact terminals of electrical contact elements located in the bottom of the housing of the insulating support of the socket.

It has been proposed to connect this type of socket to a PCMCIA connection unit, but the hitherto known constructions have a major disadvantage in that the construction of the unit is severely affected, thereby weakening its rigidity and electronic shielding properties to an unacceptable degree, and the metal housing must provide shielding to protect the internal components of the electronic connection unit.

The object of the present invention is to propose a new structure for an electronic connection unit of the above-mentioned type, which can be associated with a pocket-sized card without changing the dimensions and structural characteristics of the standardized unit.

To this end, the invention proposes an electronic connection unit characterized in that a bracket is placed on the upper surface of the intermediate plate, in that the housing has a slot for inserting or extracting a card into or from the unit in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the card, and in that the card is entirely located in the unit after insertion into the unit.

According to other features of the invention:

-the support made of insulating material comprises an open-type housing in its upper face, delimited by two edges parallel to the direction of insertion of the card and by at least one transverse rear edge, and receiving at least partially the card, the conductive strips on the lower main face of the card cooperating with the contact ends of the electrical contact elements placed in the bottom of the support housing when the card is in its connection position, the rear transverse edge of the card (C) blocking the rear transverse edge of the housing in its contact position, characterized in that the opposite inner face of the upper main wall is adjacent to the upper face of the support of the socket;

-the direction of insertion of the card into the unit is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the unit, and characterized in that the insertion slot is at least partially formed in one of the two unit side walls;

the connection unit comprises means for pulling the card out of the unit;

the means for extracting the card comprise a notch formed in the upper main wall of the unit, which extends parallel to the direction of insertion so as to make it possible to push the card to slide inside the housing in a direction corresponding to the direction of extraction;

-the notch is at least partially aligned with the rear transverse edge of the card when the card is in the insertion position, so as to insert an extraction tool to push the rear transverse edge of the card;

-the socket has an upper portion of reduced thickness for extending above the upper surface of the intermediate plate, characterized in that a portion of the insulating support (66) extends below the lower surface located above the upper surface of the plate, the portion comprising blocks each intended to extend into a suitably shaped opening provided in the plate;

there are three of said blocks having a rectangular outline.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be understood upon reading the following detailed description, with reference to the drawings, in which,

figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the main components of a connection unit produced according to the principles of the present invention;

figure 2 is a detailed perspective view of the unit represented in figure 1, which illustrates on an enlarged scale the structure of the slot for inserting the card into the unit;

figure 3 is a plan view of another embodiment of the socket;

figure 4 is a right side view of the socket shown in figure 3;

figure 5 is a bottom view of the socket shown in figure 3;

fig. 6 shows an opening provided in the printed circuit board of the connection unit for receiving the socket shown in fig. 3-5; and

fig. 7 is a bottom view of the printed circuit board of fig. 6, wherein the socket has been mounted on the printed circuit board.

Fig. 1 shows a coupling unit 30 of generally familiar overall construction, which essentially comprises a metal shell consisting of an upper half-shell 32 and a lower half-shell 34, each half-shell being a cut and folded sheet metal.

The shape and size of the housing made up of the two parts 32, 34 is determined according to the PCMCIA standard, which also determines the housing constructional details as regards its size, so that it can be inserted into a standardized slot (not shown) of a suitable shape, for example of a personal computer.

Inside the unit 30, between the two half-shells 32 and 34, a printed circuit board 36 is mounted, parallel to the basic plane of the unit, and, as illustrated schematically in figure 1, with a socket 38 and 40 at each of its opposite longitudinal ends, one or the other of which can be exchanged for an element of the same size with a plug, according to the needs of the application, in order to join the unit 30 at its respective longitudinal end.

The printed circuit board as the intermediate board of the unit may mount electronic components (not shown) on both surfaces thereof.

As shown in fig. 1, for example, one of the jacks 40 may be designed to connect with a plug 42 to connect the unit 30 with, for example, a telecommunication line.

The upper housing half 32 defines an upper planar major wall 44 which, together with a lower planar major wall 46 of the lower housing half 34, defines an interior cavity 48 (see fig. 2) within which the printed circuit board 36 is disposed parallel to the walls 44 and 46 and substantially midway between the opposed interior faces 45 and 47 of the walls 44 and 46.

According to the standardized construction of the unit 30, it is delimited laterally by two opposite side walls 50 and 52, which are parallel to the substantially longitudinal direction of the unit 30 and comprise here two folded vertical edges 54 and 56 of the lower half-shell 34, which wrap around opposite side edges of the upper half-shell 32, one of which 58 is shown in fig. 1.

The unit 30 may be made of one integral shell without departing from the scope of the invention.

The side walls 50 and 52 of the connection unit 30 are designed with a rail form for guiding the unit 30 to slide in corresponding runners (not shown) of a standardized slot for receiving the unit 30.

To this end, the side portions 60, 62 of the upper 32 and lower 34 half shells are bent over so that the height of the side edges 50 and 52 is less than the overall height of the unit 30, i.e. less than the thickness of the central portion thereof.

Inside the unit 30, according to the invention, a socket 64 is placed for receiving a contact card C of the "MICRO SIM" type with integrated circuit.

According to a known construction, such as that described and illustrated in french patent application No. 95.14767, the socket 64 essentially comprises a support 66 made of insulating material, the upper surface 68 of which forms a housing 70, the housing 70 being shaped to match the shape of the card C for at least partially receiving the card C, the conductive strips 74 on the lower surface 72 of the card C being in contact with the contact ends 76 of the contact pads 78 in the socket when the card C is inserted into the housing 70.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, mounting receptacle 64 is adapted to be mounted to a lower surface 67 of an insulating support 66 that is placed on upper surface 37 of printed circuit board 36.

To insert and remove the card C from the receptacle 64 after the unit 30 is assembled and capped with the receptacle 64 carried by the printed circuit board 36, in the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, a slot 80 is provided adjacent the side wall 50 of the connector unit 30.

More specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the insertion slot 80 is mainly located on an inclined portion 82 of a side portion of the upper half-shell 32, which inclined portion 82 connects the upper main wall 44 with the hinge 60 corresponding to a planar portion 84 of the thinned side portion of the unit 30.

The portion 84' of the portion 84 extending in alignment with the slot 80 cut from the angled portion 82 is bent vertically slightly downwardly relative to the general plane of the portion 84.

The insertion slot 80 is thus delimited by two upper main edges 86 and 88 and two end edges 90 and 91.

In this preferred construction of the slot 80, it does not extend to the main upper wall 44 and its width, measured in the substantially longitudinal direction of the unit, is slightly greater than the width of the card C, so as to insert and extract the card C in the direction I, which is in the transverse direction with respect to the substantially longitudinal direction of the unit.

As shown in detail in fig. 1 to 3, the housing 70 of the receptacle 64 for receiving the card C is delimited by two opposite sides 92 and 94 parallel to the insertion direction I and by a rear transverse edge 96 at the rear end, which rear transverse edge 96, located on the left in fig. 3, acts as a stop for the rear transverse edge 98 of the card C when the card C is inserted into the housing 70.

According to a first embodiment illustrated in figures 1 to 7, in order to allow the card C to be extracted from the unit 30, a notch or extraction slot 114 is made in the upper main wall 44, noted: which is indicated in fig. 6 by a dot-dash line, the notch 114 is transversely extended with respect to the unit 30, i.e. parallel to the insertion or extraction direction I of the card. The notch 114 is located to extend on either side of the rear transverse edge 98 of the card C, preferably opposite the area of the receptacle 64 that does not include the metal portion of the contact pads 78.

It is therefore possible to insert a small tool into the notch 114 in order to push the rear transverse edge 98 of the card C and thus push it out of its housing 70, see also: fig. 6 differs in that it is slid from left to right over the distance allowed by the length of the notch 114, which causes the front transverse edge 99 to exit the unit 30 at least partially through the slot 80, after which the user can grasp the card and pull it entirely out of the unit 30.

According to the standardized definition of a "MICRO SIM" card, an example is set forth within the scope of the present description, where there is a cut-out flat plate 116 near the front transverse edge 99 of the card C, which flat plate 116 in some applications serves as a position orientation means for the card in the socket.

To retain the card C after insertion into the unit 30 and prevent it from being accidentally even partially withdrawn from the unit, a small projection 120 may be formed on the upper major wall 44 in alignment with the panel 116 to be cut and projecting a small height into the cavity 48 to form a stop in front of the panel 116 to be cut.

When the card is extracted using a tool inserted in the notch 114, the user must use a slightly greater force to cause a slight elastic deformation of the corresponding portion of the upper main wall 44, the obstacle constituted by the small projection 120 is set back by the cut flat 116, and then the card C upper surface 73 passes.

An alternative embodiment of the dielectric support of the receptacle 64 shown in fig. 3 to 5 is now described, ready to be mounted with the printed circuit board 36 and modified in a mating manner and partially described in fig. 6 and 7.

In this embodiment, the receptacle 64 has an upper half, i.e., the portion that is intended to extend above the upper surface 37 of the printed circuit board 36, that is less thick than in the embodiments described above.

To this end, a portion of the body of the insulating support 66 extends below the lower face 67, above the upper face 37 of the printed circuit 36, this lower half comprising three blocks 230, 232 and 234 having a rectangular outline, each of which extends into a correspondingly shaped opening 230 ', 232 ' and 234 ' in the plate 36.

The blocks 230 and 234 receive the "hold contact means" while the intermediate block 232 allows the deformable contact portion 78 to move.

With such a configuration, the receptacle 64 may be specifically placed on one or the other opposite side of the printed circuit board 36, that is, in the upper or lower half of the cavity 48 divided into two by the printed circuit board 36, sometimes at a different height than the two halves of the divided cavity, with the lower half having a lower height.

The receptacle 64 is thus positioned relative to the printed circuit board 36 by the blocks 230, 232 and 234. To perform the isolator function, one of the blocks may include a footed isolator.

Claims (8)

1. An electronic connection unit (30) for personal computers of the general type with a card, of the type comprising a housing (32, 34) with parallel and opposite main planar walls (44, 46) having an upper portion (32) and a lower portion (34), the main walls (44, 46) delimiting between themselves a cavity (48), the two opposite longitudinal ends of the cavity (48) being open and delimited in a transverse direction by two joining formations such as opposite side walls (50) of the guides of the unit (30), an intermediate plate (36) inside the cavity (48) being substantially in a median position between the opposite inner surfaces (45, 47) of the two main walls (44, 46) and parallel to such main walls, the intermediate plate (36) being a printed circuit board, of the type in which the unit (30) is associated with a socket (64) for connecting a contact card (C) with integrated circuits to the unit (30), the socket comprises a support (66) made of insulating material, the unit (30) being characterized in that:

in that the bracket (66) is located on the upper surface (37) of the intermediate plate (36),

in that the housing (32) has a slot (80) for insertion and extraction of the card (C) into and from the unit (30) in a direction (I) substantially parallel to the plane of the card (C), and

in that the card (C) is located completely inside the unit (30) when the card (C) is inserted.

2. A connection unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (66) made of insulating material comprises in its upper surface (68) an open-type housing (70) delimited by two edges (92, 94) parallel to the direction of insertion of the card and by at least one rear transverse edge (96) in the transverse direction, the housing (70) receiving at least partially the card (C), the conductive strip (74) on the lower main surface (72) of the card (C) interacting with the contact ends (76) of the electrical contact elements (78) at the bottom of the support housing (70) when the card (C) is in its contact position, while its rear transverse edge (98) abuts against the rear transverse edge (96) of the housing, and in that the inner surface (45) opposite the upper main wall (44) is adjacent to the upper surface (68) of the support (66) of the socket (64).

3. The connection unit according to claim 1 or 2 above, characterized in that the direction (I) in which the card (C) is inserted into the unit (30) is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the unit (30), and in that the insertion slot (80) is formed at least partially in one of the side walls (50) of the unit (30).

4. A connection unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises means for pulling the card out of the unit.

5. A connection unit according to claim 4, characterized in that the means for extracting the card (C) comprise a notch (114) formed in the upper main wall (44) of the unit (30) and extending parallel to the insertion direction (I), so as to make it possible to push the card (C) so that it slides in the housing (70) in a direction corresponding to the direction of extraction.

6. A coupling unit according to claim 5, characterized in that the notch (114) is at least partially aligned with the rear transverse edge (98) of the card (C) when the card (C) is in the inserted position, to allow the insertion of an extraction tool which cooperates with the rear transverse edge of the card.

7. A connection unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the socket (64) has an upper half of smaller thickness intended to extend above the upper surface (37) of the intermediate plate (36), and in that a part of the insulating support (66) extends below the lower surface (67), which part is located above the upper surface (37) of the plate (36) and comprises blocks (230, 232, 234), each of which is intended to extend into a suitably shaped opening (230 ', 232 ', 234 ') located in the plate (36).

8. A connection unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that there are three said blocks (230, 232, 234) and that they have a rectangular profile.