Abstract:
An electrical card connector comprises an insulative housing, a shell covering the insulative housing, a plurality of terminals received in the insulative housing, an ejecting mechanism assembled on one side of the shell and a dustproof device. The dustproof device retains on the shell away from the terminals, witch comprises a door member, a base portion and a pair of vertical wall extending downwardly from opposite sides of the base portion separately. A horizontal wall extends horizontally from one side of the base portion for retaining the ejecting mechanism. A engagement portion extends outwardly from each vertical wall for holding the electrical card connector. The dustproof device has a simple structure and can be assembled easily and firmly.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention generally relates to an electrical card connector, and more particularly to an electrical card connector with a dustproof device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Prior Art 
         [0004]    With the development of portable computer, the dimension of the portable computer gets more and more smaller so that the computer needs more memory cards to meet the requirement. Accordingly, the electrical card connectors are widely used in the portable computer. However, the portable computer is often used in outdoor situation, the dust easily enters into the interior of the portable computer through the opening of electrical card connector. Too much dust may influence the work of the portable computer, and even shorten the life of the portable computer. Accordingly, the electrical card connector always has a door for stopping the dust to enter into the interior of the portable computer. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,123 discloses an electrical card connector device with a dustproof device. The dustproof device comprises a frame, a door member assembled on the frame and a pair of holding members extending forwardly from opposite sides of the frame. The electrical card connector device is retained on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) by the holding members. As the holding members are very slim, themselves are easily deformed to influence the work of the device. The electrical card connector device further comprises an ejecting mechanism assembled on one side of the shell. After the ejecting mechanism frequently used, the ejecting mechanism and the shell may be separated each other, and the function of the ejecting mechanism is expired. 
         [0006]    Hence, it is desirable to have an improved card connector to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical card connector having an improved dustproof device with a simple structure capable of steadily assembled to the electrical card connector. 
         [0008]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, An electrical card connector comprises: an insulative housing; a plurality of terminals received in the insulative housing; a shell covering the insulative housing; a card receiving space defined by the insulative housing and the shell; an ejecting mechanism located at one side of the shell; and a dustproof device assembled on the shell opposite to the terminals, comprising a base portion, a pair of vertical walls extending downwardly from opposite sides of the base portion, respectively, a horizontal wall extending horizontally from one side of the base portion to retain with the ejecting mechanism, a pair of engagement portions extending outwardly from a lower portion of vertical walls, respectively, and a door member with a pair of posts formed at the opposite ends thereof and respectively assembled on the top positions of the vertical walls, the ejecting mechanism disposed in a space defined by the horizontal wall, the vertical wall and the engagement portion. 
         [0009]    Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical card connector in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is another perspective view of the electrical card connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is an exploded, perspective view of the electrical card connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a shell of the electrical card shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a dustproof device of the electrical card shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
         [0016]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , an electrical card connector  100  in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing  1 , a shell  2  covering the insulative housing  1 , a plurality of terminals  5  received in the insulative housing  1 , an ejecting mechanism  3  assembled on one side of the shell  2  and a dustproof device  4  opposite to the terminals. A card receiving space (not labeled) is defined by the insulative housing  1  and the shell  2 . 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the elongated insulative housing  1  comprises a base  10 , a pair of guiding arms  11  located at opposite sides of the base  10 , and a mating portion  12  extending backwardly from the base  10  and disposed between the two guiding arms  11 . The mating portion  12  defines a plurality of passages  13  for receiving the terminals  3 . Each guiding arm  11  comprises a thread hole  14  in the front thereof for mating with a nut  6 . 
         [0018]    The terminals  5  are received in corresponding passages  13  of the insulative housing  1  and extend into the card receiving space for electrically connecting with an electrical card. Per terminal  5  comprises a contact portion  530 , a retention portion  532  extending forwardly from the contact portion  530  and a solder portion  531  for soldering the terminal  3  to PCB (not shown). 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the shell  2  is configured of an L-shape covering on housing  1 , and comprises a top wall  20 , a pair of lateral walls  22  bent downwardly from lateral edges of the top wall  20 , and a front wall  21  bent downwardly from a front edge of the top wall  20 , these walls together define the card receiving space. The top wall  20  with an L-shape configuration, defines a plurality of protrusion  203  formed at lateral edges thereof and projecting into the card receiving space. A pair of springs  202  are formed, respectively, between two adjacent protrusion  203  of the lateral sides of the top wall  20 . Similarly, lateral walls  22  bent inwardly to form a pair of short pieces  26  (shown in  FIG. 2 ), and a plurality of protrusion  203  formed at two short pieces  26  and arrayed in a line. These protrusion  203  and springs  202  together define a pair of guiding slots  204  for guiding the insertion of the electrical card. A pair of retention pieces  23 , located at lateral sides of front wall  21 , communicate with the thread hole  14  of the insulative housing  1 . The nuts  6  mate with the thread hole  14  and the retention pieces  23  for fixing the shell  2  and the insulative housing  1  together. Moreover, an U-shaped sidewall  25  is formed beside the front end of the shell  2 . A transverse sidewall  24  extends downwardly from a transverse side of the top wall  20 , and a slot  201  is defined at the top wall  20  in a line with the U-shaped sidewall  25 . A plurality of holding portions  220 ,  221 ,  222  extend along different directions respectively. 
         [0020]    A guide member  15 , approximately in a triangular shape and disposed on one end of the guiding arm  11  adjacent to the insulative housing  1 , comprises a board  150  and an L-shaped perpendicular wall  151  extending forwardly and downwardly from a front end of the board  150 . The board  150  defines a passageway  152  communicating with the slot  201  of the shell  2  along a vertical direction. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 5 , the ejecting mechanism  3  comprises a push member  34 , a moveable member  31 , a pivoting member  32  and an ejecting member  33 . The push member  34  is received in a frame  30 , which comprises a top horizontal portion (not labeled) with a pair of locking pieces  300  thereon and a low horizontal portion (not labeled). Each lateral side of horizontal portion further comprises a plurality of hooks  301  for holding the ejecting mechanism  3  on the shell  2 . A part of the moveable member  31  is also received in the frame  30  moveably. One end  321  of the pivoting member  32  is received in a rectangular hole  311  of the moveable member  31 . The other end  322  is bifurcated to receive a rear end  332  of the ejecting member  33 . The pivoting member  32  further comprises a pivoting portion  320  in a middle portion thereof to be pivotally held in a pivoting hole (not labeled) of the shell  2 . The ejecting member  33  comprises an ejecting portion  330  passing through an opening  200  of the shell  2  to be exposed into the card receiving space for ejecting the electrical card, and a body portion  331  connects the ejecting portion  330  and the rear end  332 . A front section of the body portion  331  is moveably received in the U-shaped sidewall  25  in the front-to-back direction. The rear end  332  of the ejecting member  33  moves along the slot  201  and the passageway  152 . Detailed description on work process and assembly of the ejecting mechanism  3  omits thereafter, for it is obvious to an ordinary skilled person in this art. 
         [0022]    The dustproof device  4  is assembled on the shell  2  opposite to the terminals  5 , and comprises a base portion  40 , a first and second vertical walls  41  extending downwardly from opposite side of the base portion  40 , a horizontal wall  42  extending horizontally from one side of the base portion  40  for holding the ejecting mechanism  3 , a pair of engagement portions  43  extending outwardly from a lower portion of each vertical wall  41  with a through hole  430  thereon and a door member  45 . The horizontal wall  42  comprises a pair of cutouts  420 , 421  to mate with the locking pieces  300  of the frame  30  to make the ejecting mechanism  3  assembled on the dustproof device  4  steadily. The cutout  420  is longer than the cutout  421  in the front-to-back direction with a metal spring  422  therein. The metal spring  422  is against on one of the locking pieces  300  to prevent the frame  30  from moving. Another pair of cutouts  410 ,  411  of the vertical walls  41  have the same structure with the cutouts  420 ,  421  of the horizontal wall  42 , and mate with the holding portions  220 ,  221 ,  222  to hold the dustproof device  4  on the lateral walls  22  of the shell  2 . The first vertical wall  41  bends outwardly to form a holding member  44  with a holding hole (not labeled) therein, and the moveable member  31  passes through the holding hole of the holding member  44 . Each rear end of the vertical walls  41  defines a hole  46  adjacent to the base portion  40 . The second vertical walls  41  further defines a track  47  around the hole  46  thereof. The door member  45  is assembled between the first and second vertical walls  41  and comprises a main portion (not labeled), a pair of posts  450  formed at the opposite ends of the main portion and a positioning post  451  under one of the posts  450 . The posts  450  are pivotally held in corresponding holes  46 . The positioning post  451  received in the track  47  and capable of rotating around the post  450 . 
         [0023]    When the electrical card is inserted into the electrical card connector  100 , the front end of the card pushes the door member  45  of the dustproof device  4 , and the positioning post  451  moves along the track  47  to a top position. When the card is withdrawn from the electrical card connector  100 , the door member  45  resumes to an original position automatically by the weight of itself. In such a way, dust is stopped out of the electrical card connector  100 . The dustproof device  4  also can be used for holding the ejecting mechanism  3  steadily to prevent the dustproof device  4  from loosing from with the electrical card connector  100 . For integrating a pair of engagement portions  43  on the dustproof device  4 , it can reduce the accessory of the electrical card connector  100  and assembly process. 
         [0024]    It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.