U.S. patent application number 09/172004 was filed with the patent office on 2002-04-25 for cf card casing structure.
Invention is credited to HIRAI, YUJI, OHTANI, YUTAKA.
Application Number | 20020046877 09/172004 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 16747319 |
Filed Date | 2002-04-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020046877 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HIRAI, YUJI ; et
al. |
April 25, 2002 |
CF CARD CASING STRUCTURE
Abstract
Disclosed is an improvement in a CF card casing structure
comprising at least a cover plate having a metal sheet surrounded
by and fixed to an insert-molded frame, a counter cover plate of
metal sheet and a receptacle connector. The insert-molded frame has
catch slots made therein; and the counter cover plate has serrated
latch pieces integrally connected thereto. Each latch piece is
adapted to be inserted into a corresponding catch slot for
detachably fastening the cover plate to the counter cover plate,
thereby providing an integral assembly.
Inventors: |
HIRAI, YUJI; (TOKYO, JP)
; OHTANI, YUTAKA; (TOKYO, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
RADER, FISHMAN, & GRAUER PLLC
1233 20th Street, N.W.
Suite 501
WASHINGTON
DC
20036
US
|
Family ID: |
16747319 |
Appl. No.: |
09/172004 |
Filed: |
October 14, 1998 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
174/250 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 5/026 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
174/250 |
International
Class: |
H05K 001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 4, 1998 |
JP |
10-220191 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A CF card casing structure comprising at least a cover plate
having a metal sheet surrounded by and fixed to an insert-molded
frame, a counter cover plate of metal sheet and a receptacle
connector characterized in that: the insert-molded frame has a
plurality of catch slots made therein; and the counter cover plate
has a corresponding plurality of serrated latch pieces integrally
connected thereto, each latch piece being adapted to be inserted
into a corresponding catch slot for fastening the cover plate to
the counter cover plate, thereby providing an integral
assembly.
2. A CF card casing structure according to claim 1 wherein the
cover plate and/or the counter cover plate have an adhesive sheet
on its inside, the adhesive sheet having adhesive partly applied to
its carrier material, thereby permitting a sticky area to be left
for fixing the receptacle connector, an I/O connector and the like
by removing the carrier material.
3. A CF card casing structure according to claim 2 wherein the
cover plate and the counter cover plate are latched together to be
mechanically and electrically connected, thus permitting the
shielding of the chip-carrier PCB sandwiched therebetween.
4. A CF card casing structure according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein
the cover plate has an insulating film applied to its inner metal
surface, and the counter cover plate has an insulating film applied
to its inner metal surface, whereby the parts of the chip-carrier
PCB sandwiched between the cover plate and the counter cover plate
may be protected from ESD voltage.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a casing structure for
packaging a small-sized PC card, which is commonly called "Compact
Flash Card" (hereinafter referred to as "CF card"), and is used in
a mobile personal computer, portable telephone, digital camera and
any surrounding electric/electronic device therefor.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] A conventional CF card casing structure is disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,397,857. Referring to FIG. 9, the conventional CF card
casing structure comprises upper and lower insert-molded plates
each having a metal sheet circumferentially embedded in its
resin-molded frame. A chip-carrier substrate and an associated
electric connector are sandwiched between the upper and lower
insert-molded plates, and their resin-molded frames are super-sonic
welded to form an integral package.
[0005] The upper and lower plates when subjected to the supersonic
welding are liable to be deviated from their alignment position.
The chip-carrier substrate has SMT leads soldered to its selected
conductors, but such SMT leads when subjected to supersonic
vibration are likely to come off. These will lead to poor yield of
final products. The supersonic welding makes it difficult to take
chip-carrier substrates off from defective packages for reuse. Even
though the chip-carrier substrates are removed from such defective
packages for reuse, the remaining casings cannot be reused, and
therefore, new cover plates are required. The manufacturing cost of
extra or additional cover plates is relatively high. Also
disadvantageously, the chip-carrier substrates and I/O connectors
when removed from the defective packages, are likely to be damaged
more or less, and the cost involved for fixing such defective
chip-carrier substrates for reuse is relatively high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] One object of the present invention is to provide an
improved CF card casing structure which is free of such defects or
problems as described above.
[0007] To attain this object a CF card casing structure comprising
at least a cover plate having a metal sheet surrounded by and fixed
to an insert-molded frame, a counter cover plate of metal sheet and
a receptacle connector is improved according to the present
invention in that: the insert-molded frame has a plurality of catch
slots made therein; and the counter cover plate has a corresponding
plurality of serrated latch pieces integrally connected thereto,
each latch piece being adapted to be inserted into a corresponding
catch slot for fastening the cover plate to the counter cover
plate, thereby providing an integral assembly.
[0008] The fastening of the opposite (top and bottom) cover plates
by inserting the serrated latch pieces of one of the opposite cover
plates into the catch slots of the other assures that the opposite
cover plates thus fastened are free of any deviation in alignment
position, which would be caused for instance, in subjecting the top
and bottom cover plates to the supersonic welding. Also,
chip-carrier substrates and I/O connectors can be easily removed
from defective packages without being damaged, leaving the cover
plates free of any damages, too. Thus, such disassembled parts can
be reused.
[0009] The cover plate and/or the counter cover plate may have an
adhesive tape on its inside, the adhesive tape having adhesive
partly applied to its carrier material, thereby permitting a sticky
area to be left for fixing the receptacle connector, I/O connector
and the like to selected areas of the cover plate by removing the
carrier material. Thus, such parts can be fixedly attached to
either cover plate with ease.
[0010] The opposite cover plates may be latched together to be
mechanically and electrically connected, thus permitting the
shielding of a chip-carrier PCB sandwiched therebetween.
[0011] The cover plate may have an insulating film applied to its
inner metal surface, and likewise, the counter cover plate may have
an insulating film applied to its inner metal surface, whereby the
parts of the chip-carrier PCB sandwiched between the opposite cover
plates may be protected from ESD voltage.
[0012] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will
be understood from the following description of a CF card casing
structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present
invention, which is shown in accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a CF card casing structure
according to the present invention in the state of being used;
[0014] FIGS. 2(a), (b) and (c) are rear, side and front views of
the CF card casing structure respectively;
[0015] FIGS. 3(a) and (b) are plane views of the resin-framed metal
cover plate of the CF card casing structure as seen from top and
bottom sides respectively;
[0016] FIGS. 4(a), (b) and (c) are rear, front and side views of
the resin-framed metal cover plate of the CF card casing structure
respectively;
[0017] FIGS. 5(a), (b), (c) and (d) are sectional views taken along
the line 5a-5a, the line 5b-5b, and the line 5c-5c in FIG. 3, and
FIG. 5(d) is an enlarged fragmental view of encircled portion "5d"
in FIG. 3;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a plane view of the resin-framed metal cover plate
with an adhesive tape applied to its metal sheet;
[0019] FIG. 7 is a plane view of the metal cover plate of the CF
card casing structure;
[0020] FIGS. 8(a) and (b) are side and rear views of the metal
cover plate respectively; and
[0021] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a fragment of a conventional
CF card casing structure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a CF card casing structure 1
comprises a cover plate (bottom cover) 1a having a metal sheet 4
surrounded by and fixed to an insert-molded frame 2 of a synthetic
resin such as PPS, a counter cover plate (top cover) 3 of metal
sheet such as stainless sheet and a receptacle connector 11 and a
socket 10.
[0023] As seen from FIG. 3, the resin-framed metal cover plate 1a
is like a rectangular box, and it is for instance, about 36 mm
long, about 43 mm wide and about 3.3 mm thick.
[0024] As seen from FIG. 5, a metal sheet 4 is circumferentially
embedded in a surrounding resin frame 2 in inject-molding, thus
providing a resin-framed metal cover plate 1a.
[0025] The resin-molded frame 2 has an opening 5 made on its rear
side (upper side in FIG. 3a) for accommodating the socket 10, which
a cable adapter 9 can be applied to for connecting a mobile
electronic device. Also, it has another opening 6 made on its front
side (lower side in FIG. 3a) for accommodating the receptacle
connector 11, which the pin-header of a CF card can be applied
to.
[0026] The resin-molded frame 2 has guide slots 7 made on its
opposite sides for insertion into an associated electric/electronic
device. Also, it has a finger catch 8 projecting from its rear,
lower edge for withdrawal from the associated electric/electronic
device.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, particularly FIG. 6, the
resin-molded frame 2 has engagement slots 12 made lengthwise in the
rear, lateral side and engagement slots 13 made lengthwise in the
opposite, longitudinal sides. These engagement slots 12 and 13 are
adapted to catch the counter projections of the cover plate (top
cover) 3, as later described. Also, the resin-molded frame 2 has
notches 2a made in the opposite, longitudinal sides. These notches
2a are adapted to catch the hook-like engagement projections of the
top cover 3, as later described, too.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 6, a resin framed metal plate or bottom
cover 1a has an insulating adhesive tape or sheet 14 applied to its
inside. As shown in the drawing, the adhesive sheet 14 has a flap
14a extending from its front edge. The adhesive sheet 14 can be
removed from the back of the bottom cover 1a along the broken lines
"a" by pulling the flap 14 to leave the adhesive area delimited by
the outer circumference and broken lines "a" of the adhesive sheet.
The socket 10 and the receptacle connector 11 are fixed to the
adhesive area thus exposed. The adhesive agent-free area 14d is
defined inside the broken line "a".
[0029] Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the top metal cover 3 has
serrated latch pieces 3a and 3d integrally connected to and
standing upright from its rear, lateral and opposite longitudinal
sides, and hook-like engagement pieces 3b and 3c integrally
connected to and standing upright from its opposite longitudinal
sides.
[0030] The serrated latch pieces 3a and 3d are adapted to be caught
by the catch slots whereas the hook-like engagement pieces 3d and
3e are adapted to be caught by the notches 2a of the bottom cover
1a. More specifically, when the top metal cover 3 is applied to the
bottom framed-metal cover 1a, the serrated latch pieces 3a and 3d
are pushed in the catch slots 13 to be caught thereby. The
serration of each latch piece effectively prevents the slipping-off
of the top cover 3 from the bottom cover 1a. When the top metal
cover 3 is applied to the bottom framed-metal cover 1a, the
hook-like engagement pieces 3b and 3c are pushed in the notched
recesses 2a with their resilient hook ends 3d and 3e yieldingly
bent inward, and then, the hook-like engagement pieces 3b and 3c
are caught by the outer surface of the bottom cover 1a by allowing
their resilient hook ends 3d and 3e to expand to their stress-free
positions.
[0031] As seen from FIG. 7, the top metal cover 3 has an insulating
adhesive sheet 15 applied to the whole inner surface thereof. As
shown, the insulating adhesive sheet has perforation 15a made
therein, and a flap 15b projecting from the metal cover 3. The area
of the insulating adhesive sheet 15 which is delimited by the outer
circumference and the perforation 15a can be removed by pulling the
flap 15b to leave the adhesive area behind. The insulating adhesive
sheet has no adhesive applied to its center area encircled by the
broken line "b".
[0032] In assembling the top and bottom plates 3 and 1a, the
receptacle connector 11 and the socket 10 into a card package 1,
first, the insulating adhesive sheet 14 is partly removed along the
perforation line "a" from the framed metal cover 1a to leave the
center adhesive-free area on the bottom plate 1a (see FIG. 6), and
then the receptacle connector 11 is put on the adhesive area thus
exposed, and a printed circuit substrate is putted on the center
insulating area. The socket 10 is put on the rear side of the
framed metal cover 1a.
[0033] Likewise, the insulating adhesive sheet 15 is partly removed
from the top metal cover 3 along the perforation line 15a, and then
the top metal cover 3 is applied to the bottom cover 1a with its
serrated and hook-like engagement pieces 3a, 3d, and 3b, 3c caught
by the catch slots 13 and notches 2a. Thus, the card package 1 is
provided as shown in FIG. 1.
[0034] All parts are fixedly fastened in positions by means of
latching means and by fixing the top and bottom covers in their
adhesive circumferences. The chip-carrier PCB is pinched between
the upper and lower insulating sheets of adhesive carrier material,
and the top and bottom metal sheets are electrically connected by
their hook-like engagement pieces 3b, 3c, thereby permitting the
chip-carrier PCB and associated contacts to be grounded to the
surrounding shield thus provided.
* * * * *