JP2002324628A - Shield plate, and card connection device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shield plate which can reduce the area of mounting for a connector of a circuit board without increasing the variation of frame, and surely shield a PC card from a memory card, and to provide a card connection device using the same. SOLUTION: A frame 1 of a connector for a PC card, which is made to cover a connector 14 for a memory card, is mounted on a circuit board 23, and an upper and a lower PC card housing chambers 6, 7 are made to stand in a partitioned state by a shield plate 17. The recording and reproduction of an information for the PC card 31 are processed in the upper housing chamber 6, and the recording and reproduction of an information for the memory card 34 is processed by the connector 14 for a memory card housed in the lower PC card housing chamber 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shield plate used by being attached to a frame of a connector for a PC card, and a card connecting device using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cards which exchange information with a circuit board provided on a circuit board of a computer or the like via a card connector include a PC card and a smaller memory card. There are two types of cards with different standards such as storage capacity.

On the other hand, a conventional card connector is
A frame, and a plurality of terminals disposed in a card accommodating chamber inside the frame, and by inserting and removing a card from an insertion opening formed in a front surface of the frame, contacts of the card are connected to the plurality of terminals. PC that has a structure to be connected to terminals and individually supports each standard
There are two types, a card connector and a memory card connector.

As shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-348915, a conventional PC card connector has two upper and lower card accommodation chambers in a frame so that two PC cards can be accommodated separately. In some cases, a plurality of terminals are provided in each card accommodating chamber (two-stage PC card connector).

[0005] As described above, the conventional card connector is a dedicated connector of each standard, and has one or two card accommodating chambers and a plurality of terminals corresponding to one type of card. For this reason, for these two types of cards, two different card connectors corresponding to the respective standards must be provided side by side on the circuit board to exchange information. The occupied mounting area has increased, which has been a major obstacle in reducing the size of the above-described device itself.

[0006]

The problem that the mounting area of such a card connector increases on the circuit board is that
A new frame having a PC card storage room and a memory card storage room formed in two upper and lower tiers so that a C card and a memory card can be stored separately is newly manufactured. The problem can be solved by creating a two-stage connector corresponding to both standards in which a plurality of terminals are provided.

However, the production of a new frame has a problem in that considerable man-hours are required for design man-hours and a cost for a mold, and that the number of variations of the frame increases and the management cost increases. When a PC card and a memory card are used at the same time, radiation noise or the like generated when information is transferred between the memory card and the circuit board is generated between the PC card and the circuit board. There is a concern that the transfer of the information may be adversely affected redundantly, and it is necessary to arrange a shield plate for noise suppression between the PC card storage room and the memory card storage room.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the mounting area of a connector on a circuit board without increasing variations of a frame. It is an object of the present invention to provide a shield plate capable of reliably shielding a space therebetween and a card connecting device using the shield plate.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a shield plate of the present invention is mounted on a PC card connector having an upper PC card receiving chamber and a lower PC card receiving chamber in two upper and lower stages. A shield plate, wherein the upper PC
A shielding portion provided between the card storage room and the lower PC card storage room, an engagement portion engaging with a guide portion for guiding a PC card into the lower PC card storage room, and the PC card connector; A grounding portion for electrically grounding the shielding portion in a grounding pattern of a circuit board to be mounted, and the shielding portion and the engaging portion, in a state where the engaging portion is engaged with the guide portion. The main feature of the present invention is that the space surrounded by is used as a storage section for storing the small card connector mounted on the circuit board.

In the above configuration, the ground portion is connected to the ground pattern via a contact member provided on the guide portion and in contact with a side surface of the PC card to connect the PC card to the ground pattern.

Further, in the above configuration, a shutter for opening and closing a card insertion opening of the small card connector is provided at a front end of the shielding portion.

Further, in the card connection device of the present invention, the shield plate as described above is mounted on a PC card connector mounted on the circuit board, and the small card connector is arranged in the storage section. The PC card connector is mounted on a circuit board, and a PC card is accommodated in an upper PC card accommodating chamber of the PC card connector, and a small card that can be attached to the small card connector is accommodated in the lower PC card accommodating chamber. Is the most important feature.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a card connecting device according to the present invention; FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this card connection device is connected to a frame 1 of a conventional two-stage PC card connector and a memory card connector 14 as described in the prior art, and is attached to the frame 1. Shield plate 1
7 and the like, and is used by being attached to a circuit board 23 provided in a device such as a computer.

The PC card 31 and the memory card 34 used in this card connection device are both publicly known. As shown in FIG. 4, the PC card 31 stores a memory element such as an IC in a metal case. A ground terminal 32 is formed on the side surface 31a, and a plurality of female contacts 33 are provided on the front end surface 31b on the card insertion direction (direction of arrow A) over almost the entire width. Also, as shown in FIG.
Is a small card having a smaller external dimension than the PC card 31, and includes an IC card portion 36 having a memory element such as an IC and a contact 35 serving as an external lead terminal in close contact with a surface thereof;
And a base plate 37 to which the IC card section 36 is adhered.

Next, the specific structure of each member constituting the card connection device will be sequentially described.

The frame 1 is formed of an insulating synthetic resin material such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate). As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a support plate 2 and two end portions of the support plate 2 are provided. A pair of protruding side plates 3 and 4 are used in a plan view U.
And the support plate 2 and the frame 1
A plurality of terminals 5 constituting the connector for the C card are fixedly mounted. Guide portions 3a and 3b formed of concave grooves are provided on the inner wall surface of one side plate 3, and concave grooves are provided on the inner wall surface of the other side plate 4. Are formed so as to extend from the front end toward the support plate 2 in the card insertion direction (the direction of arrow A).

An upper PC card accommodating chamber 6 is formed between the opposing guide sections 3a and 4a, and a lower PC card accommodating chamber 7 is formed between the guide sections 3b and 4b. The upper PC card accommodating chamber 6 has opposing accommodation walls formed by the guide portions 3a, 4a.
Opposite receiving walls of the lower PC card receiving chamber 7 are formed by 4b, and the ends of the plurality of terminals 5 project into the upper PC card receiving chamber 6.

A metal cover 8 is attached to the open upper end of the frame 1 so as to straddle between the pair of side plates 3 and 4, and dust or the like into the upper PC card accommodating chamber 6 is provided at the front end of the cover 8. A door 9 for preventing intrusion of foreign matter is rotatably hindered, and this door 9 is urged by a coil spring (not shown) in a direction to close the open front end of the upper PC card storage chamber 6.

Further, a contact member 10 formed by cutting and bending a conductive metal plate on the outer wall surfaces of the pair of side plates 3 and 4.
Are fixed so as to sandwich the upper and lower PC card storage chambers 6 and 7 from the left and right sides, and the contact member 10 has an elastic piece 11 and a connecting portion 12 connected to the elastic piece 11 respectively. The upper and lower PC card storage chambers 6 are formed through holes (not shown) formed at the front end portions of the pair of side plates 3 and 4 so as to communicate with the guide portions 3a, 3b, 4a and 4b. , 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, the frame 1 includes a plurality of mounting legs 13 provided on a pair of side plates 3 and 4.
Are mounted on the circuit board 23 by screwing, and a plurality of terminals 5 are soldered at their rear ends to a wiring pattern (not shown) of the circuit board 23 to form a recording / reproducing circuit of the device such as a computer. Connected, contact member 10
Is connected to a ground pattern (not shown) of the circuit board 23 by soldering.

The memory card connector 14 is a small card connector, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 to 7, a rectangular box-shaped frame 15 having an inside as a card accommodating chamber, A plurality of terminals 16 are fixed in a cantilevered state in 15 card storage chambers, and an insertion port 15 a is opened in the front of the frame 15.

The memory card connector 1
4 is mounted on the circuit board 23 and fixed in the lower PC card accommodating chamber 7 via the open lower end of the frame 1, and solders a plurality of terminals 16 to a wiring pattern (not shown) of the circuit board 23. The memory card 34 is connected to a recording / reproducing circuit of the device such as a computer, and the memory card 34 is inserted into and removed from the insertion slot 15a through the open front end of the lower PC card accommodating chamber 7.

The shield plate 17 is formed by bending a conductive metal plate such as stainless steel, and as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, a flat shield portion 18 and left and right sides of the shield portion 18 are provided. And a pair of engaging portions 19 formed in a bent shape. The engaging portions 19 are partially cut outward and bent to form locking pieces 19a, respectively. Is mounted on the frame 1, the space surrounded by the shielding part 18 and the engaging part 19 is used as the storage part 20 of the memory card connector 14.

The shield 18 has a door 21 at its front end.
The door 21 is urged by a coil spring (not shown) in a direction opposite to the card insertion direction (the direction of arrow A). Further, an insulating film 22 made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is adhered to the bottom surface of the shielding portion 18.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the shield plate 17 includes a pair of engaging portions 19,
4b, and is attached to the frame 1 by locking the locking pieces 19a into holes (not shown) formed in the guide portions 3b and 4b, respectively, and thus both the upper and lower PC card accommodating chambers. The shielding part 18 is located between 6 and 7,
Each part of the pair of engaging portions 19 serves as a ground portion, and the tip portion 11a of the elastic piece 11 of the contact member 10 comes into contact with the ground portion, and the shielding portion 18 is connected to the circuit via the ground portion and the contact member 10. It is grounded to the above-mentioned ground pattern of the substrate 23.

Next, a method of assembling the card connecting device thus constructed will be described. First, a cover 8 is appropriately fitted to the frame 1 to which the plurality of terminals 5 are fixed so as to cover the open upper end thereof. Attach by means. Then
The pair of engaging portions 19 correspond to the guide portions 3b and 4b,
The shield plate 17 is inserted between the pair of side plates 3 and 4 from the open front end of the lower PC card accommodating chamber 7, and the locking pieces 19a are hooked into holes (not shown) formed in the guide portions 3b and 4b to shield the shield. The plate 17 is attached to the frame 1.

Next, the memory card connector 14 is fixed on the circuit board 23, and the plurality of terminals 16 are connected to the circuit board 2.
3 is soldered to a wiring pattern (not shown).

Thereafter, the memory card connector 14
The frame 1 is mounted on the circuit board 23 so as to cover it, and a plurality of mounting legs 13 are attached by screws, and the rear ends of the plurality of terminals 5 are connected to the wiring pattern of the circuit board 23 (not shown).
To the connection portion 12 of the contact member 10 and the circuit board 2
3 is connected to a ground pattern (not shown).

Thus, the assembling of the card connection device is completed. After the assembling, the shielding portion 18 is disposed between the upper and lower PC card storage chambers 6 and 7, and the above-described storage portion 20 is provided. The memory card connector 14 connected to the circuit board 23 and fixed in the lower PC card accommodating chamber 7 is accommodated therein, and the insertion opening 15 a is closed by the door 21.

The card connection device according to the present embodiment is constructed and assembled as described above, and the operation will be described next.

The PC card 31 is stored in the upper PC card accommodation room 6
To the card insertion direction from the front end side of the opening (direction of arrow A)
, The door 9 is rotated by the PC card 31, and the PC card 31 is guided by the guide portions 3a and 4a and is introduced into the upper PC card accommodating chamber 6.

Further, when the PC card 31 is inserted into the upper PC card accommodating chamber 6, the plurality of terminals 5 are fitted into the plurality of female contacts 33 of the PC card 31, respectively. 23 is connected,
PC card 31 and circuit board 23 via a plurality of terminals 5
The recording / reproducing circuit of the device can record / reproduce information with respect to the memory element of the PC card 31.

At this time, the elastic piece 1 of the contact member 10
1 is in contact with the ground terminal 32 of the PC card 31, and the static electricity charged on the PC card 31 is discharged to the contact member 1.
Since the current flows into the ground pattern of the circuit board 23 via 0, the memory element of the PC card 31 is prevented from being destroyed by static electricity at the time of recording and reproducing information.

On the other hand, when the memory card 34 is inserted into the lower PC card accommodating chamber 7 from the opening front end side in the card insertion direction (the direction of arrow A), the door 21 is rotated by the memory card 34 and the memory card 34 is Is inserted into the insertion opening 15 a of the connector 14.

Further, when the memory card 34 is inserted, as shown in FIG.
Are connected to the memory card 34 and the circuit board 23, and information is exchanged between the memory card 34 and the circuit board 23 through the plurality of terminals 16. The recording / reproducing circuit of the device can record or reproduce information on a memory element of the memory card 34.

Then, the memory card 34 and the circuit board 2
3 is shielded by the shield 18 of the shield plate 17 and the circuit board 2 passes through the grounding portion of the shield 17 and the contact member 10.
3, the radiation noise or the like does not overlap with the exchange of information between the PC card 31 and the circuit board 23.
Even when the memory card 1 and the memory card 34 are used at the same time, good recording and reproduction can be performed without any trouble.

In this card connection device, the existing parts of the PC card connector frame 1 and the memory card connector 14 are diverted to the circuit board 2.
3, the PC card connector frame 1 is attached so as to cover the memory card connector 14, and the upper and lower PC card storage chambers 6 and 7 are partitioned by a shield plate 17. To record / reproduce information on / from the PC card 31 and record / reproduce information onto / from the memory card 34 by the memory card connector 14 accommodated in the lower PC card accommodating chamber 7, so that a new frame can be produced. In addition, the mounting area occupied by the card connector on the circuit board 23 can be reduced, and good recording and reproduction can be performed on both the PC card 31 and the memory card 34.

In this embodiment, in order to minimize the processing cost required for forming the shield plate 17, the shield plate 17 is attached to the elastic piece 11 of the contact member 10 provided in front of the frame 1. The shield portion 18 is electrically grounded to the ground pattern of the circuit board 23 by contacting a part of the engaging portion 19 of the first embodiment. It is also possible to adopt a structure in which the provided portion is directly connected to the ground pattern without the intervention of the contact member 10.

Further, since the insulating film 22 is adhered to the bottom surface of the shield portion 18 of the shield plate 17, the recording / reproducing current to the shield plate 17 due to the contact between the shield portion 18 and the plurality of terminals 16 of the memory card connector 14. Can be prevented, so that the shielding portion 18 and the memory card connector 14 can be made as close as possible, and the flattening and compactness of the card connecting device can be promoted.

[0041]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above and has the following effects.

The shield plate of the present invention is mounted on the frame of the PC card connector and is grounded, and is provided between the upper and lower PC card storage chambers and the guide section of the lower PC card storage chamber. The space surrounded by the engaging portion that engages with the circuit board is a storage portion for storing the small card connector fixedly provided in the lower PC card storage chamber, so that the circuit board does not increase the variation of the frame. Therefore, the mounting area of the connector can be reduced, and the space between the PC card and the small card can be reliably shielded.

Further, the grounding portion is connected to the grounding pattern via a contact member provided on the frame to contact the side surface of the PC card and connect the PC card to the grounding pattern. The process can be simplified, and the processing cost of the shield plate can be minimized.

Further, since a shutter for opening and closing the card insertion slot of the small card connector is provided at the front end of the shielding portion, foreign matter such as dust is prevented from entering the card accommodating chamber of the small card connector. can do.

Further, in the card connection device of the present invention, the shield plate is attached to the frame, the frame is covered by the small card connector mounted on the circuit board, and the small card connector is mounted on the accommodating portion. A connector for accommodating a connector, transferring information between a PC card accommodated in the upper PC card accommodating chamber and the circuit board through a plurality of terminals fixed to the frame, and connecting the small card connector. Since the information is transferred between the small card and the circuit board via the above, the mounting area of the connector on the circuit board can be reduced without increasing the variation of the frame,
Good recording and reproduction can be performed by reliably shielding between the PC card and the small card.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a card connection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the card connection device with a door partially cut away.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the card connection device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a PC card.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a memory card.

FIG. 6 is a front view in which a door for closing a memory card connector insertion opening of the card connection device is removed.

FIG. 7 is a left side view in which a part of the card connection device is cut away.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the shield plate of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the shield plate.

FIG. 10 is a left side view of the shield plate.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the shield plate with a door removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 2 Support plate 3 Side plate 3a Guide part 3b Guide part 4 Side plate 4a Guide part 4b Guide part 5 Terminal 6 Upper PC card accommodation room 7 Lower PC card accommodation room 8 Cover 9 Door 10 Contact member 11 Elastic piece 11a Tip part 12 Connection Part 13 Mounting leg 14 Memory card connector 15 Frame 15a Insertion opening 16 Terminal 17 Shield plate 18 Shielding part 19 Engaging part 19a Locking piece 20 Storage part 21 Door 22 Film 23 Circuit board 31 PC card 31a Side surface 31b Tip surface 32 Ground Terminal 33 Contact 34 Memory card 35 Contact 36 IC card part 37 Base plate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B058 CA13 KA24 YA20 5E021 FA05 FB02 FB18 FC21 FC33 HA07 HB15 HC17 HC36 KA05 KA15 LA09 LA15 5E023 AA04 AA16 AA21 BB10 BB19 BB22 CC26 DD19 HH06 HH12 HH15

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A shield plate mounted on a PC card connector having an upper PC card receiving chamber and a lower PC card receiving chamber in two upper and lower stages, said upper PC card receiving chamber and said lower PC card receiving chamber. A shielding portion disposed between the PC card connector and a guide portion for guiding a PC card into the lower PC card storage chamber; and a grounding pattern of a circuit board on which the PC card connector is mounted. A grounding portion for electrically grounding the shielding portion, and a space surrounded by the shielding portion and the engaging portion in a state in which the engaging portion is engaged with the guide portion; A shield plate serving as a storage section for storing a small card connector to be mounted on a card. 2. The grounding portion is connected to the grounding pattern via a contact member provided on the guide portion and in contact with a side surface of the PC card to connect the PC card to the grounding pattern. The shield plate according to claim 1. 3. The shield plate according to claim 1, wherein a shutter for opening and closing a card insertion slot of the small card connector is provided at a front end of the shielding portion. 4. The circuit according to claim 1, wherein the shield plate according to claim 1 is mounted on a PC card connector mounted on the circuit board, and the small card connector is arranged in the housing. Mounted on a substrate, and the P
A card connection device, wherein a PC card is accommodated in an upper PC card accommodation room of a C card connector, and a small card attachable to the small card connector is accommodated in the lower PC card accommodation room.