JP2006040664A - Memory card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a memory card connector, and it is an object to allow a plurality of types of extremely thin memory cards to be mounted.
A connector to which two types of memory cards can be attached, and shutters 4 and 5 provided in an insertion slot 2 are always energized by an energizing means 3 so as to be closed and opened in a double-sided manner. The right and left shutters 4 and 5 are inclined guides for guiding the thin memory card of the two types on the front side wall surface to the lower position. The memory card connector 1 is formed with surfaces 4a and 5a, and a card pressing surface for regulating the position of the upper surface of the thinner memory card below the inclined guide surface.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a memory card connector for storing a plurality of types of memory cards with a single connector, for example.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a memory card connector provided in a device housing for mounting a memory card used in, for example, a personal computer, a mobile phone, an electronic dictionary, a PDA, or the like on these electronic devices. As the demand for the memory card increases and the types of memory cards increase, two types of memory cards are attached to one memory card connector. For example, by utilizing the different shape of the memory card, There is known a card connector device in which card insertion guide grooves are separately prepared (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-31284

  However, the original memory card connector had a large difference in shape and sufficient storage capacity. However, as electronic devices became smaller and thinner, memory cards were made smaller and thinner. There must be. Moreover, in order to equip a plurality of types of memory cards, simply stacking and forming a connector is contrary to the demand for thinner electronic devices, and it is desirable to reduce the thickness of the connector as much as possible. In addition, for example, when two types of memory cards are mounted on one card connector, one of the narrower memory cards can be inserted from the insertion slot, so it is a problem to distinguish between the card types. .

  In many cases, the card connector insertion slot is provided with a shutter. In the shutter mechanism, the card type may be distinguished. For example, a thin memory stick (registered trademark, shape: vertical 50.0 mm, 21.5mm wide and 2.8mm thick) and a Memory Stick Duo (registered trademark, shape: 31.0mm long, 20.0mm wide, 1.6mm thick), which is a further miniaturized version, The connector to be attached to the connector has a complicated shutter structure and a large number of parts, which increases the cost of parts and assembly work. Accordingly, the memory card connector according to the present invention has been proposed in order to reduce the number of components and achieve low cost in the shutter structure in which such an ultra-thin memory card is mounted.

  The gist of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the memory card connector according to the present invention is to provide a connector capable of mounting two types of memory cards, and the shutter provided at the insertion slot is a biasing means. It consists of a right shutter and a left shutter that are always energized to close the lid and are spread inward, and the left and right shutters have a thickness of the two types of memory cards on the front side wall. An inclined guide surface for guiding the thinner memory card to the lower position is formed, and a card pressing surface for regulating the position of the upper surface of the thinner memory card is formed at the lower position of the inclined guide surface. It is that.

The memory card inserted into the connector is sandwiched between the left and right shutters urged in the closing direction by the urging means;
A guide portion for guiding the lower surface of the thicker one of the two types of memory cards is formed below the left and right end portions of the insertion slot;
The eject bar in the card ejection mechanism is composed of a first engagement bar and a second engagement bar that engage with two types of memory cards, and the first engagement that engages with the memory card having the smaller thickness. The mating bar is disposed in front of the second engagement bar in the depth direction of the connector and regulates the position of the lower surface of the thick memory card;
A card holding plate that regulates the upper surface position of the memory card having a small thickness of the two types of memory cards is arranged so as to be able to swing and appear in the card insertion area by the biasing means. And swaying from the card insertion area by being swung toward the connector side wall by a memory card having a large thickness and a long depth dimension;
Is included.

  According to the memory card connector of the present invention, two types of memory cards can be sorted up and down by the left and right shutters at the connector insertion slot. The left and right shutters serve to sandwich the memory card mounted in the connector so as not to be removed, thus eliminating the need for a separate removal prevention device and contributing to a reduction in the number of components.

Of the two types of memory card, the thicker one of the two memory cards is positioned by the guide at the connector insertion slot, so that it does not enter the insertion area of other memory cards in the vertical direction. The position is regulated between them.
Since the first engagement bar in the eject bar regulates the position of the lower surface of the thick memory card, the upper and lower positions of the memory card are regulated together with the guide portion. It is supported and inserted stably.

  The card retainer plate can regulate the upper surface position of the memory card that is lifted by the upward reaction force generated by the contacts on the connector side that abuts the contacts on the card side. The contact state is maintained well.

  A memory card connector 1 according to the present invention is a connector to which two types of memory cards, for example, a Memory Stick (registered trademark) and a Memory Stick Duo (registered trademark) can be mounted, as shown in FIGS. The shutter provided in the insertion slot 2 is urged so as to be always closed by a torsion spring 3 (right torsion spring 3a, left torsion spring 3b) as an urging means, and is a right shutter that has a double door opening inside. 4 and the left shutter 5.

  The connector 1 includes an insulating housing 6 made of a synthetic resin as a housing, a shell 7 as a top plate for shielding, and different positions in the depth direction of the connector 1 so as to contact the contacts of two types of memory cards. Contacts 8 and 9, an eject housing 10 in a push-push type eject mechanism, an eject pin 11, an eject spring 12, and an eject bar 13. It is generally composed.

  The left and right shutters 4 and 5 are formed symmetrically. In the shape, as shown in FIG. 3 representatively shown by the shutter 5, the memory card with the smaller thickness (hereinafter referred to as the first card) of the two types of memory cards is placed in the lower position on the front side wall surface. An inclined guide surface 5a is formed to guide the guide. The inclination direction of the guide surface 5a is inclined backward as it goes from the top to the bottom of the insertion port 2.

  By the inclined guide surfaces 5 a and 4 a, the first card inserted by pressing the front end of the card against the inclined guide surfaces 5 a and 4 a is gradually guided to the lower position as it enters from the insertion slot 2, and It comes into contact.

  Further, a card pressing surface 5b for regulating the position of the upper surface of the first card is formed below the inclined guide surface 5a. The memory card is guided to the lower position by the inclined guide surface 5a, and subsequently positioned by the card pressing surface 5b.

  In addition to the above, the shutters 4 and 5 include shaft portions 4c and 5c which are fitted and supported by a rotating shaft 6a provided on the insulating housing 6 side, shaft portions 4d and 5d for torsion springs, Protrusions 4e and 5e are provided to support the moving shutter and prevent it from coming out.

  The left and right shutters 4 and 5 select the memory card to be inserted into the connector 1 and the memory card inserted into the connector 1 by being urged in the closing direction by the torsion spring 3 of the urging means. It is sandwiched so as not to be detached.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the lower surface of the thicker one of the two types of memory cards (hereinafter referred to as the second card) is guided below the left and right end portions of the insertion slot 2 of the connector 1. A guide portion 6b is formed. As a result, when the second card is inserted into the insertion slot 2, the second card rides horizontally on the guide portion 6b and is sandwiched between the top plate 7a and its position is regulated.

  Further, the side wall surface 6c of the guide portion 6b is opposed to the left and right, and the first card can be accommodated therebetween. This is because the width of the first card is slightly narrower than that of the second card.

  The contacts 8 and 9 are soldered to the printed circuit board on which the connector 1 is mounted, and contact the contacts of the memory card to connect electrical signals. The contacts 8 and 9 are press-fitted into a predetermined position of the insulating housing, and then the carrier portion is cut.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the eject bar 13 in the card ejection mechanism is composed of a first engagement bar 13a and a second engagement bar 13b that engage with two types of memory cards. The mating first engaging bar 13a is disposed in front of the second engaging bar 13b in the depth direction of the connector and restricts the position of the lower surface of the second card.

  Therefore, of the two types of memory cards, the lower position of the second card is regulated by the upper surface of the first engagement bar 13a, the guide portion 6b, and the rear bottom surface 6d of the insulating housing 6. At the same time, the position on the card is restricted by the top plate 7a, so that the card is maintained in a stable horizontal state and inserted into the connector 1.

  In this way, two types of memory cards are attached to the memory card connector 1, but as shown in FIG. 6, the first card is attached to the lower stage when viewed from the insertion slot 2 of the connector 1. The second card is mounted on the upper stage. The thickness of each of the memory cards is a and b, and the thickness of the connector 1 is reduced by overlapping the thicknesses in the vertical direction.

  For example, with Memory Stick (registered trademark) and Memory Stick Duo (registered trademark), the thickness is simply a = 1.6 mm and b = 2.8 mm, and the total is 4.4 mm. (0.8 mm is the overlapping range). Further, in the figure, aa is the width of the narrower first card, bb is the width of the wider second card, and the side wall surface 6c of the guide portion 6b and the side wall of the insulating housing 6 It is regulated.

  The manner in which the first card and the second card are attached to the memory card connector 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, in the case of the first card 14 which is a thin card, the leading end of the card hits the shutters 4 and 5, and resists the urging force of the torsion springs 3a and 3b as shown in FIG. When pushed into the connector 1, the shutters 4 and 5 rotate about the rotation shaft 6 a. FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

  The first card 14 is gradually guided to a lower position by the action of the inclined guide surfaces 4a and 5a as the shutters 4 and 5 are rotated and pushed, and eventually the card upper surface is slid and contacted by the card pressing surface 5b. Is done.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the first card 14 has an upper surface restricted by the card pressing surface 5b, a lower surface restricted by the bottom surface of the insulating housing 6, and a lateral direction positioned by the side wall surface 6c of the guide portion 6b. Inserted. When the card 14 enters the back of the connector 1, it abuts against the first engagement bar 13a of the eject lever 13 and pushes it against the urging force of the spring 12, so that the eject pin 11 is engaged with the cam groove stop position. Then stop at that position. Further, the contact of the first card 14 and the contact 9 on the connector 1 side come into contact with each other to make an electrical connection.

  Further, the first card 14 is sandwiched from the left and right by the shutters 4 and 5 so as not to come out of the connector 1. In order to detach the first card 14 from the connector 1, the spring 12 is attached by pushing the first card 14 further backward with an eject device of a push-push mechanism and then releasing the pushed hand from the connector 1. The first card 14 is pushed forward by the force through the eject bar 13.

  Next, in the case of the second card 15, as shown in FIG. 10, the leading end of the card abuts against the shutters 4 and 5 and abuts against the inclined guide surfaces 4 a and 5 a to be guided to the lower position. Since the horizontal width of the second card 15 is wide, it rides on the guide portions 6b and 6b. Since the card is thick, the upper surface of the second card 15 is regulated by the top plate 7a, and the lower surface of the card 15 is regulated by the upper surface of the guide portion 6b.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 11, when the shutters 4 and 5 are pushed and inserted into the inside, the shutter 4 is rotated approximately 90 degrees due to the shape of the corner of the front end of the card and retracted from the insertion area. Since the corner of the front end of the card has a large arc shape, it rotates slowly. As shown in FIG. 12, when the card 15 is further inserted, the shutters 4 and 5 are completely retracted from the insertion area.

  The lower surface of the second card 15 is regulated by the upper surface of the first engagement bar 13a, the upper surface of the guide portion 6b, and the rear bottom surface 6d of the insulating housing 6. Thereafter, the front end of the card pushes the second engagement bar 13b of the eject bar 13, and the eject pin 11 engages with the stop position of the cam groove and stops. Further, the contact of the second card 15 and the contact 8 on the connector 1 side come into contact with each other to make an electrical connection.

  In order to detach the second card 15 from the connector 1, it is pushed forward by the eject bar 13 and the spring 12 if pushed by hand by ejecting a push-push mechanism.

  As described above, two types of memory cards having different thicknesses of the first card 14 and the second card 15 are selectively inserted into the memory card connector 1 by the shutters 4 and 5.

  The memory card connector 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 13 to 14, when the first card 14 having a small thickness and a short depth is inserted into the connector 1a. 14 is provided with pressing means for pressing the tip of 14 so as not to be lifted by the elastic force of the contact 9 in contact therewith.

  The card holding plate 16 serving as the pressing means regulates the upper surface position of the memory card having a small thickness and a short depth of the two types of memory cards, and is a torsion spring that is a swingable and biasing means. The memory card 17 is arranged so as to appear in the card insertion area 17 and is swung toward the connector side wall by the memory card having a large thickness and a long depth, and is retracted from the card insertion area.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the card pressing plate 16 is an overall rectangular rod body, and the bottom surface 16 a is a position regulating surface that presses the top surface of the first card. The tapered portion 16b is a guide surface. Reference numeral 16c is a bearing for swinging and turning.

  Thus, when the first card 14 is inserted, the leading end of the card passes through the lower surface of the card pressing plate 16, and the bottom surface 16a prevents the first card 14 from being lifted. When the second card 15 is inserted, the card pressing plate 16 is pushed against the urging force of the torsion spring 17 in the clockwise direction and is retracted from the card insertion area. The

1 is an exploded perspective view of a memory card connector 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view (A), a side view (B), a bottom view (C), a front view (D), and a rear view (E) of the memory card connector 1 of the present invention. It is the perspective view (A) of the shutter 5, and the perspective view (B) from the diagonally downward direction. FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view showing a part of the memory card connector 1 in an enlarged manner. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the memory card connector 1 with a shell 7 removed. In the front view of the memory card connector 1, it is an explanatory view showing the insertion range of the memory card. FIG. 6 is a plan view (A), a side cross-sectional view (B), and a cross-sectional view along line XX in FIG. 5 in a use state in which the first card 14 is inserted into the memory card connector 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition which inserted the 1st card | curd 14 in the same memory card connector 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition which inserted the 1st card | curd 14 in the same memory card connector 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view (A), a side cross-sectional view (B), and a cross-sectional view along line XX in FIG. 5 in a use state in which the second card 15 is inserted into the memory card connector 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition which inserted the 2nd card | curd 15 in the same memory card connector 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition which inserted the 2nd card | curd 15 in the same memory card connector 1. FIG. It is a top view of the state which removed the shell 7 of the connector 1a for memory cards which concerns on 2nd Example. It is a perspective view of the same memory card connector 1a. FIG. 4 is a plan view (A), a front view (B), a bottom view (C), and side views (D) and (E) of the card pressing plate 16 in the memory card connector 1a.

Explanation of symbols

1,1a Memory card connector,
2 insertion slot,
3 Torsion spring,
4, 5 shutter, 4a, 5a inclined guide surface,
4b, 5b card holding surface, 4c, 5c shaft,
4d, 5d shaft, 4e, 5e protrusion,
6 Insulating housing, 6a Rotating shaft,
6b guide part, 6c side wall surface,
6d rear bottom,
7 Shell, 7a Top plate,
8,9 contact,
10 Eject housing,
11 Eject pin,
12 Ejection spring,
13 Eject bar, 13a First engagement bar,
13b second engagement bar,
14 First card,
15 Second card,
16 card holding plate, 16a bottom surface,
16b taper part, 16c bearing part,
17 Torsion spring.

Claims (5)

A connector that allows two types of memory cards to be installed. The shutter provided at the insertion slot is composed of a right shutter and a left shutter that are energized so that they are always closed by the energizing means and are opened in two sides. Has been
The left and right shutters are provided with an inclined guide surface for guiding the thinner one of the two types of memory cards to the lower position on the front side wall surface, and a lower position of the inclined guide surface. A card holding surface that regulates the position of the upper surface of the thinner memory card is formed,
A connector for memory cards. The memory card inserted in the connector is sandwiched so as not to be removed by the left and right shutters urged in the closing direction by the urging means,
The memory card connector according to claim 1. A guide portion for guiding the lower surface of the thicker one of the two types of memory cards is formed below the left and right end portions of the insertion slot,
The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is a memory card. The eject bar in the card ejection mechanism is composed of a first engagement bar and a second engagement bar that engage with two types of memory cards, and the first engagement that engages with the memory card having the smaller thickness. The coupling bar is disposed in front of the second engagement bar in the depth direction of the connector and regulates the position of the lower surface of the thick memory card;
The memory card connector according to claim 3. A card holding plate that regulates the upper surface position of the memory card having a small thickness between the two types of memory cards is arranged so as to be able to swing and appear in the card insertion area by the biasing means. And is retreated from the card insertion area by being swung toward the connector side wall by a memory card having a large thickness and a long depth.
5. The memory card connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is a memory card.

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