U.S. patent application number 11/169396 was filed with the patent office on 2006-08-03 for card connector.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION IND. CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Chien Jen Ting.
Application Number | 20060172604 11/169396 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36687036 |
Filed Date | 2006-08-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060172604 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ting; Chien Jen |
August 3, 2006 |
CARD CONNECTOR
Abstract
A card connector comprises a header comprising an insulating
main body; a shield member coupled on the header to define a card
receiving space; a plurality of first contacts and second contacts
disposed in the insulating main body; a stopper approximately
arranged in a row with the first contacts along a transverse
direction and protruding into the card receiving space
approximately from a corner of the main body, and spaced with the
shield coupled on an upper face of the main body to define a
daughter space therebetween with the second contacts exposed in to
receive the second card.
Inventors: |
Ting; Chien Jen; (Tu-chen,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WEI TE CHUNG;FOXCONN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
1650 MEMOREX DRIVE
SANTA CLARA
CA
95050
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION IND. CO.,
LTD.
|
Family ID: |
36687036 |
Appl. No.: |
11/169396 |
Filed: |
June 28, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/630 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K 13/08 20130101;
G06K 7/0021 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/630 |
International
Class: |
H01R 24/00 20060101
H01R024/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 28, 2005 |
TW |
94201595 |
Claims
1. A card connector, comprising: a header comprising an insulating
main body; a shield member coupled on the header to define a card
receiving space; a plurality of first contacts and second contacts
disposed in the insulating main body and exposed in the card
receiving space along a vertical direction to electrically connect
with a first card and a second card respectively, the first card
may approximately occupy the card receiving space fully; and a
stopper approximately arranged in a row with the first contacts
along a transverse direction and protruding into the card receiving
space approximately from a corner of the main body, and spaced with
the shield coupled on an upper face of the main body to define a
daughter space therebetween with the second contacts exposed in to
receive the second card; wherein further comprising a contact
module with the second contacts being arranged and the contact
module is formed with a base portion disposed on the insulating
main body and a receiving portion extending into the daughter
space; wherein the insulating main body comprises a tongue portion
with the first contacts being enchased; wherein the first contacts
are used for connecting with an express card and the second
contacts are used for connecting with a smart card; wherein the
stopper is extending from the insulating main body and comprises a
first guiding portion, a second guiding portion along a direction
adverse to a card inserting direction; wherein the stopper
comprises a sloping portion connecting the first guiding portion
with the second guiding portion.
2-6. (canceled)
7. A card connector assembly comprising: an insulative housing
defining a receiving cavity thereabouts; a plurality of first
contacts disposed in a first position of the housing for coupling
to a first type thick electronic card which essentially occupies
only a portion of said receiving cavity in a transverse direction
while defining around a front end essentially a maximum dimension
in a vertical direction of said receiving cavity, and a second type
thick electronic card which essentially occupies almost a full
dimension of the receiving cavity in said transverse direction
except a front corner, and defining a similar dimension with the
first type thick electronic card in said vertical direction; a
plurality of second contacts disposed in a second position of the
housing for receiving a third type thin electronic card which
essentially the full dimension of the receiving cavity in said
transverse direction while only a portion of the receiving cavity
in said vertical direction; and a stopper located around the
receiving cavity and defining a first oblique guiding face which is
adapted to be in confrontation with the front end of the first type
card connector for guiding insertion of the first type card
connector toward the first contacts via a forcible movement of said
first type electronic card in said transverse direction, a second
oblique guiding face for guiding insertion of the third type
connector toward the second contacts via a forcible movement of
said third type electronic card in said vertical direction, and a
block compliant with an offset front corner of the second type
electronic card for assuring the second type electronic card in a
true position relative to the housing; wherein said stopper further
includes a third oblique guiding face for guiding insertion of the
second type electronic card toward the first contacts via a
forcible movement of said second type electronic card in said
vertical direction.
8. (canceled)
9. The card assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the third
oblique guiding face is located in front of the second oblique
guiding face.
10. The card assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first
oblique guiding face is located in front of the second oblique
guiding face.
11. The card assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the stopper
defines a face for engagement with the first type electronic card
in said transverse direction.
12. The card assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the stopper
defines a face for engagement with the third type electronic card
in the vertical direction.
13. The card assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first
oblique guiding face is provide by a triangular plate of the
stopper, and said triangular plate provides a face engaging the
second type electronic card in the vertical direction.
14. The card assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein said
triangular plate further includes a third oblique guiding face for
guiding insertion of the second type electronic card toward the
first contacts via a forcible movement of said second type
electronic card in said vertical direction.
15. The card assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the third
oblique guiding face is located in front of the second oblique
guiding face.
16. An electrical connector assembly comprising: an insulative
housing defining thereabouts a card receiving cavity with width and
vertical dimensions thereof; a plurality of first contacts disposed
in the housing and in communication with the card receiving cavity
in a vertical direction thereof so as to be engaged with a first
type electronic thin card which is received in a portion of the
card receiving cavity; a plurality of second contacts disposed in
the housing and in communication with the card receiving cavity in
a front-to-back direction perpendicular to said vertical direction
so as to be engaged with a second type electronic thick card which
is received in another portion of the card receiving cavity; a
stopper located around a front corner of said card receiving cavity
and including a rear thick guiding portion to forcibly guide
insertion of the first type electronic thin card, and a front thin
guiding portion to forcibly guide insertion of the second type
electronic thick card; wherein the first type electronic thin card
and the second type electronic thick card are mutually exclusively
received in the card receiving cavity; wherein the rear thick
guiding portion defines a face cooperating with the housing to
sandwich the first type electronic thin card therebetween in the
vertical direction; wherein the rear thick guiding portion defines
a face to engage the second type electronic thick card in the
transverse direction; wherein said front thin guiding portion
defines a face to engage a third type electronic thick card, which,
similar to the second type electronic thick card, is adapted to be
coupled to the second contacts while with a wider dimension, in the
vertical direction.
17-20. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a card connector, more
particularly to an improved card connector for connecting two
different electrical cards to a printed circuit board (PCB).
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] With the tendency of reducing the size of a computer device,
demand has arisen for increasing its data storage capacity at low
cost. Generally, electrical cards, such as express cards or smart
cards, are data storage devices which are electrically connected to
the computer device. The electrical cards are portable instruments
that are easily inserted into and extracted from card connectors of
the computer device.
[0005] Due to the ever-increasing demand in today's Notebook
Personal Computer (Notebook-PC) for high-capacity signal
transmission, more card connectors are arranged in "dual port" or
stacked configurations. Example of this card connector is disclosed
in U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,132. Such card connector commonly includes
an upper connector and a lower connector stacked together for
receiving individual electrical cards therein and respectively
electrically connecting the electrical cards to a PCB. This card
connector meets the requirement of high-capacity data transmission
since it can simultaneously receive two different types of
electrical cards therein. However, the overall size of the card
connector is not reduced at all since the card connector simply
stacks the upper connector and the lower connector together. It is
not suitable to install such card connector in the Notebook-PC for
it occupies too much space. Thus a card connector is required which
defines a card receiving space for receiving two different cards
and can prevent misinsertion of cards at the same time.
[0006] Therefore, the present invention is directed to solving the
above problems by providing an improved card connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a card
connector which defines a card receiving space for receiving two
different cards and can prevent misinsertion of cards.
[0008] Accordingly, to achieve above-mentioned object, a card
connector comprises a header comprising an insulating main body; a
shield member coupled on the header to define a card receiving
space; a plurality of first contacts and second contacts disposed
in the insulating main body and exposed in the card receiving space
along a vertical direction to electrically connect with a first
card and a second card respectively, the first card may
approximately occupy the card receiving space fully; and a stopper
approximately arranged in a row with the first contacts along a
transverse direction and protruding into the card receiving space
approximately from a corner of the main body, and spaced with the
shield coupled on an upper face of the main body to define a
daughter space therebetween with the second contacts exposed in to
receive the second card.
[0009] The detailed features of the present invention will be
apparent in the detailed description with appropriate reference to
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of the card
connector in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a partly assemble perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1 with a shield and an ejector not
assembled;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a same perspective view of the card connector
shown in FIG. 2, but from another aspect;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a partly assembled perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1, showing original status of insertion of
an express card 7;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a partly assembled perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1, showing final status of insertion of the
express card 7;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a partly assembled perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1, showing final status of insertion of a
express card 8;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a partly assembled perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1, showing original status of insertion of
a smart card;
[0017] FIG. 8 is a partly assembled perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1, showing status after the smart card
collides with a guiding face of the card connector; and
[0018] FIG. 9 is a partly assembled perspective view of the card
connector shown in FIG. 1, showing final status of insertion of the
smart card.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, the card connector in an
embodiment of the present invention can be used commonly for a
thin, wide card such as a smart card 9 and a thick, narrow card
such as a rectangular express card 7 or a L-shaped express card 8.
The present invention, however, is not limited to the use of these
cards but also be applied satisfactorily to other cards.
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the card connector of a
preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a header 1,
a plurality of first electrical contacts 2 disposed in the header 1
for electrically connecting with the express card 7 or 8, a
plurality of second electrical contacts 3 disposed in a contact
module 4 which is assembled to the header 1 over the first contacts
2 for electrically connecting with the smart card 9, a shield
member 5 and an ejector 6.
[0021] The shield member 5 is approximately rectangular frame and
the shield member 5 is coupled on the header 1 to define a card
receiving space 111 with an inserting opening 50. That is to say,
the card receiving space 111 is defined among an upper shield
member 51, a lower shield member 52 of the shield member 5 and the
header 1. The upper shield member 51 which is formed by stamping a
metal sheet is formed with a resilient portion 511 adjacent to the
card inserting opening 50. A part of the lower shield member 52 is
covered on a bottom face of the header 1. Opposite lateral sides of
the part are bent upwardly to form a pair of flanges 521, a pair of
holes 524 are disposed along the flanges 521 for engaging with ribs
113 of opposite sides of the header 1. The connector comprises a
pair of stand off devices 522 disposed on lateral sides of the
lower shield member 52 adjacent to the card inserting opening 50.
The ejector 6 is disposed on one side of the shield member 5 for
ejecting cards.
[0022] The header 1 comprises an elongated insulating main body.
The main body has a middle bar 12, a pair of guiding arms 11
extending from opposite sides of the middle bar 12, a stopper 13
and a tongue portion 14 both extending towards the card inserting
opening 50 from a lower part of the middle bar 12. The stopper 13
and the upper shield 51 are spaced each other to define a daughter
space 112 therebetween in the card receiving space 112 along a
vertical direction. The stopper 13 and the tongue portion 14 are
arranged approximately in a row along a transverse direction in the
card receiving space 111. The daughter space 112 is for receiving
the smart card 9 served as a second card and the card receiving
space 111 is approximately for fully receiving the rectangular
express card 7 or L-shaped express card 8 server as a first card.
However, because the daughter space 112 is in the card receiving
space 111, the card connector can only receive one card one
time.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the first electrical contacts 2
are arrayed in the tongue portion 14. Each contact 2 comprises a
contacting portion 21, a tail portion 22 and a connecting portion
23 connecting the contacting portion 21 and the tail portion 22.
The contacting portion 21 is received in a receiving slot 141 of
the holding portion 41 and exposed in the card receiving space 111
of the card receiving space for electrically connecting with the
rectangular express card 7 or the L-shaped express card 8. The tail
portion 22 is extending out of the middle bar 12 from the
connecting portion 23 opposite to the contacting portion 21.
[0024] The contact module 4 is secured on a the main body of the
header 1 with the second contacts 3 being arranged on and located
over the tongue portion 14 with the first contacts 2 being received
in. The contact module 4 comprises a base portion 41 and a
receiving portion 42 extending towards the card inserting opening
50 from the base portion 41. The base portion 41 is located on the
upper face of the middle bar 12 in virtue of a pair of holes 411
engaging with a pair of corresponding latches (not shown) of the
middle bar 12. The receiving portion 42 is positioned in the
opening (not shown) of the upper shield member 51 and faced into
the daughter space 112 of the card receiving space 50. Each contact
3 comprises a contacting portion 31 received in a corresponding
receiving slot 421 of the receiving portion 42 and exposed in the
daughter space 112 for electrically connecting with the smart card
9, a locating portion 33 secured in the base portion 41 of the
contact module 4 and a tail portion 32 extending out of the base
portion 41 opposite to the contacting portion 31.
[0025] The stopper 13 is extending into the first card receiving
cavity 111 from the middle bar 12 of the main body 11. The stopper
13 comprises a first guiding portion 131 adjacent to the header 1,
a second guiding portion 132 away from the header 1 and a sloping
portion 1310 connected the first guiding portion 131 and the second
guiding portion 132. The first guiding portion 131 is approximately
rectangular, the second guiding portion 132 is approximately
echelon and end of the second guiding portion 132 adjacent to the
card inserting opening 50 is formed with a sloping face 1320. The
guiding portion 13 is further formed with a guiding face 1311
exposed in the card receiving space 111 on one side thereof to face
to the holding portion 41. Distance between the first guiding
portion 131 and the receiving portion 42 of the contact module 4 is
smaller than that between the second guiding portion 132 and
receiving portion 42, and the daughter space 112 is just defined
between surfaces which the first guiding portion 131 and the
receiving portion 42 are in, respectively.
[0026] Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, when the rectangular express
card 7 is inserted into the card receiving space from the card
inserting opening 50, it can not be inserted into the daughter
space 112 because the distance between the first guiding portion
131 and the receiving portion 42 of the contact module 4 is smaller
than height of the express card 7 and width of the express card 7
is small. Thus the express card 7 will only inserted into the card
receiving space 111 along the guiding face 1311 of the stopper 13
to electrically connect with the contacting portions 21 of the
first contacts 2.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, the L-shaped express card 8 has
same height with the rectangular express card 7 and width of a head
portion of the express card 8 is same with that of the rectangular
express card 7, thus the express card 8 can only inserted into the
card receiving space 111 and electrically connected with the
contacting portions 21 of the first contacts 2 arrayed in the
tongue portion 14.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, because width of the smart card
9 is approximately same with that of the card receiving space 50,
the stopper 13 and the tongue portion 14 are positioned in the card
receiving space 111 in a row along the transverse direction, and
distance of the stopper 13 protruding into the card receiving space
111 is longer than that of the tongue portion 14, thus the smart
card 9 is prevented by the stopper 13 from inserting into the card
receiving space 111 to connect with the tongue portion 14 with the
first contacts 22 being arranged. When the smart card 9 is inserted
into the card receiving space, it will inserted into the daughter
space 112 along the sloping portion 1320, the second guiding
portion 132, the sloping portion 1310 and the first guiding portion
131 in turn to electrically connect with the contacting portions 31
of second contacts 3 arranged in the contact module 4.
[0029] While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present
invention has been shown and described, equivalent modifications
and changes known to persons skilled in the art according to the
spirit of the present invention are considered within the scope of
the present invention as described in the appended claims.
* * * * *