JP2016131110A - Card connector and contact - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card connector which can reliably prevent the buckling or damage of a contact, and also to provide the contact adopted in the card connector.SOLUTION: A contact 50 has a first extended part 51, a folded part 52, and a second extended part 53. The first extended part 51 has a first end 511 that is fixed to a housing 40, and it extends in a protruding manner in the insertion/extraction direction so that it elastically deforms when pushed by an inserted card. The folded part 52 is horizontally folded back at a second end 512. The second extended part 53 is folded back at the folded part 52 and then further extends toward the first end 511 so as to be fixed to the housing 40. The folded part has a shape such that it is folded back in a direction away from the inserted card.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a card connector into which a card such as a memory card is inserted, and a contact thereof.

  Cards such as memory cards are being reduced in size while having the same function or additional functions. For example, a micro SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card is shifting to a smaller nano SIM card. Hereinafter, a micro SIM card and a nano SIM card will be described as examples.

  There is a request that a device having a card connector adapted to a micro SIM card uses a smaller nano SIM card. This method of use is generally not guaranteed by a company such as a mobile phone company that manufactures or sells the device, and is performed at the user's own risk. In this usage, an adapter is used. The adapter has a size equivalent to a micro SIM card and can be mounted with a nano SIM card. A nano SIM card is mounted on the adapter, and the adapter is inserted into a card connector for a micro SIM card. By doing so, a nano SIM card can be used with a card connector adapted for a micro SIM card.

  Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a card connector having a cantilever-like contact having a free end on the back side in the card insertion / removal direction.

  There is no standard for the dimensions of adapters used for the above purposes. For this reason, depending on the adapter, there may be a step between the adapter and the nano SIM card attached to the adapter. Alternatively, an adapter without a nano SIM card may be inserted into the card connector. In such a case, when the adapter once inserted is to be removed from the card connector, the free end of the contact may be caught by the step. If the free end of the contact is caught in the step, the contact may buckle or break, resulting in a failure of the card connector. There is a desire for a card connector that does not have such a failure, albeit at the user's own risk.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a contact having a cantilever shape and having a free end divided into two branches. The two free ends of the contact which are divided into two forks have different lengths. That is, the shorter free end is raised to carry the connection with the card. The longer free end bends by abutting against the card or the adapter when the card is removed to bend the shorter free end. By doing so, it is expected that the short free end having a higher height is prevented from being caught.

JP 2012-129028 A Japanese Patent No. 5594919

  In the case of the contact disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 having a free end divided into two branches, it is necessary to strictly manage the contact tolerance. In addition, the free end of the contact may be deformed during use, and reliability is low in order to reliably prevent catching.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a card connector in which buckling or breakage of a contact is reliably prevented and a contact employed in the card connector.

The card connector of the present invention that achieves the above object is as follows.
A housing in which a receiving space for receiving a card inserted in the insertion / extraction direction is formed, and a contact supported by the housing;
The contact is formed through punching and bending of a metal plate,
A first extension fixed to the housing and bulging and extending in a direction intersecting the insertion / extraction direction so as to be elastically deformed by being pushed by the inserted card;
A folded portion folded sideways at the second end;
A second extended portion that extends toward the first end of the folded portion and is fixed to the housing;
The folded portion has a shape bent in a direction away from the inserted card.

  The card connector of the present invention employs a contact in which both the first end of the first extension portion and the second extension portion that is folded back at the turn-up portion and is directed to the first end are fixed to the housing. Therefore, the above-mentioned catch is essentially avoided, and the buckling and breakage of the contact is surely prevented. This contact has the above folded portion, and the folded portion has a bent shape. For this reason, when the first extending portion is pushed by the card, the folded portion and the periphery thereof are bent. By this bending, the extension of the first extending portion in the insertion / extraction direction due to the pressing of the first extending portion is absorbed.

Here, in the card connector of the present invention,
The second end side of the first extension part has a shape that branches and extends into two branches,
The folded portion is a second end of the leading end that branches and extends into the fork of the first extending portion, both of which have a shape that is lateral and folded in the opposite direction,
It is preferable that both of the second extending portions, which are folded back in opposite directions at the folded portion, extend toward the first end, and both are fixed to the housing.

  The second end side of the first extension part extends in a bifurcated manner, and the extension of the first extension part is evenly distributed on the left and right sides by folding back at the turn-back part in the horizontal direction and in the opposite directions. Thereby, the 1st extension part can expand and contract more stably.

In addition, the contact of the present invention that achieves the above object is
A contact supported by a housing formed with a receiving space for receiving a card inserted through the insertion and removal direction, formed by punching and bending a metal plate,
A first extension fixed to the housing and bulging and extending in a direction intersecting the insertion / extraction direction so as to be elastically deformed by being pushed by the inserted card;
A folded portion folded sideways at the second end;
A second extending portion that extends toward the first end of the folded portion and is fixed to the housing;
The folded portion has a shape bent in a direction away from the inserted card.

  According to the card connector and the contact of the present invention described above, the buckling or breakage of the contact is reliably prevented.

It is an appearance perspective view of a connector as one embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view which showed one of the some contacts with which the card connector shown in FIG. 1 was equipped. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the same single contact as in FIG. 2 and also showing a portion embedded in a housing by molding. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the same single contact as in FIG. 2 in the opposite direction to FIG. 2. It is the perspective view which showed the contact as a modification which can be employ | adopted as the card connector shown in FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

   FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a card connector as one embodiment of the present invention.

  The card connector 10 is a type of connector that is surface-mounted on a circuit board (not shown). The card connector 10 is a connector into which a micro SIM card which is an example of a card according to the present invention is inserted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the card connector 10 includes a housing assembly 20 and a metal shell 30. A card insertion slot 11 into which a micro SIM card (not shown) is inserted is provided between the housing assembly 20 and the shell 30. The micro SIM card is inserted in the direction indicated by the arrow F from the card insertion slot 11. In the housing assembly 20, a receiving space 20 </ b> A for receiving the inserted micro SIM card is formed in the back of the card insertion slot 11.

  The housing assembly 20 includes a housing 40 and a plurality of contacts 50 that are insert-molded to the housing 40.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one of a plurality of contacts provided in the card connector shown in FIG. FIG. 2 also shows a portion of the housing that supports the one contact.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the same single contact as in FIG. 2 and a portion embedded in the housing by molding.

  Further, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the same single contact as in FIG. 2 in the direction opposite to FIG.

  These arrows F shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 are in the same direction as the arrow F shown in FIG.

  The contact 50 is formed through punching and bending of a metal plate. The contact 50 includes a first extending part 51, a folded part 52, and a second extending part 53. The 1st extension part 51 has the shape which bulged and extended in the direction which cross | intersects an insertion direction, ie, the insertion direction, in the insertion / extraction direction. The first extension 51 is elastically deformed by being pressed by a micro SIM card (not shown) inserted in the direction of the arrow F, and elastically applied to a pad (not shown) provided on the back surface of the micro SIM card. Contact. As shown in FIG. 3, the first end 511 of the first extending portion 51 is fixed to the housing 40 by molding. Further, the first extending portion 51 in the present embodiment has a shape in which the second end 512 side away from the first end 511 is branched and extended.

  Further, the folded portion 52 has a shape folded back in the lateral direction at the second end 512. In the present embodiment, since the first extending portion 51 is bifurcated, the folded portion 52 is also divided into two. The folded portion 52 has a shape in which each of the two folded portions is horizontally oriented and folded in opposite directions. The folded portion 52 has a shape bent in a direction away from the inserted micro SIM card (not shown) (downward in the posture shown in FIGS. 2 to 4).

  In addition, after the second extending portion 53 is folded back at the folded-back portion 52, the second extending portion 53 is further extended toward the first end 511 and is fixed to the housing 40 by molding. In the present embodiment, the two second extending portions 53 are also provided, and both of the folded portions 52 folded in opposite directions have a shape extending toward the first end 511. Both the second extending portions 53 extending toward the first end 511 are fixed to the housing 40.

  Here, when the micro SIM card is inserted into the card connector 10 shown in FIG. 1, the bulging portion of the first extending portion 51 is pushed by the micro SIM card. Then, the 1st extension part 51 will be extended in the direction of arrow F by planar view by elastic deformation. At this time, the folded portion 52 and a portion in the vicinity of the folded portion 52 are also elastically deformed to allow the first extending portion 51 to extend in the direction of the arrow F. That is, due to these elastic deformations, the first extending portion 51 comes into contact with the inserted micro SIM card with an appropriate contact pressure.

  As described above, the card connector 10 of the present embodiment has a shape close to a both-end supported beam while allowing an appropriate elastic deformation. For this reason, in this card connector 10, the micro-SIM card or the adapter for the nano M card is prevented from being caught. Therefore, in this card connector 10, the contact 50 is reliably prevented from being buckled or broken.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a modified contact that can be employed in the card connector 10 shown in FIG. Here, for the sake of easy understanding, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS.

  The contact 50 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 has a folded portion 52 bent downward at a right angle. On the other hand, in the contact 50 of the modification shown in FIG. 5, the folded portion 52 is bent obliquely downward. By doing so, the thickness of the housing 40 can be reduced and a card connector with a lower profile can be realized.

  In the present embodiment, the second end 512 side of the first extending portion 51 is bifurcated, and accordingly, two folded portions 52 and two second extending portions 53 are also provided. However, in the present invention, the first extending portion 51 does not need to be bifurcated and may be one. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide two folded portions 52 and second extending portions 53. This folding | returning part 52 may be folded | backed only to either one of right and left in the horizontal direction. Accordingly, only one second extending portion 53 may be provided.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the micro SIM card is inserted in the direction of arrow F. However, it may be configured to be inserted in the direction opposite to the arrow F, that is, from the second end 512 side.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Card connector 20 Housing assembly 30 Shell 40 Housing 50 Contact 51 1st extension part 511 1st end 512 2nd end 52 Folding part 53 2nd extension part

Claims (3)

A housing in which a receiving space for receiving a card inserted in the insertion / extraction direction is formed, and a contact supported by the housing;
The contact is formed through punching and bending of a metal plate,
A first extension fixed to the housing and extending in a direction intersecting the insertion / extraction direction so as to be elastically deformed by being pushed by the inserted card;
A folded portion folded sideways at the second end;
A second extending portion that is folded back at the folded portion toward the first end and is fixed to the housing;
The card connector, wherein the folded portion has a shape bent in a direction away from the inserted card. The second end side of the first extending portion has a shape that branches and extends into two branches,
The folded portion is a second end of the tip that branches and extends into the forked portion of the first extending portion, both have a shape that is lateral and folded in the opposite direction;
2. The card connector according to claim 1, wherein both of the second extending portions folded back in opposite directions at the folded portion extend toward the first end, and both are fixed to the housing. . A contact supported by a housing formed with a receiving space for receiving a card inserted through the insertion and removal direction, formed by punching and bending a metal plate,
A first extension fixed to the housing and extending in a direction intersecting the insertion / extraction direction so as to be elastically deformed by being pushed by the inserted card;
A folded portion folded sideways at the second end;
A second extending portion that is folded back at the folded portion toward the first end and is fixed to the housing;
The contact, wherein the folded portion has a shape bent in a direction away from the inserted card.

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