Abstract:
An IC card connector is provided for connecting an IC card having a terminal array to external equipment. The connector includes a base member having a plurality of electrically conductive contacts exposed on one side of the base member for engaging the terminal array of the IC card. A cover is hinged to the base member for movement toward and away from the one side of the base member. The cover has a receptacle for securing the IC card thereon for pivotal and slidable movement therewith, whereby pivoting of the cover onto the base member of the IC card connector and sliding the cover relative to the base member effects engagement of the IC card terminal array with the contacts.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, particularly, to an IC card connector for connecting an IC card, especially a SIM card, in an IC card reader system in a cellular phone or the like. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     IC cards have been developed and contain IC&#39;s (integrated circuits) including memory circuits, such as rams (random access memories), and control circuits, such as CPUs (central processing units). A special type of IC card, called a SIM card (subscriber identification module card) is of increasing interest and used in cellular phones as an identification and storage unit for subscriber related data. SIM cards normally include a terminal array for connection through a card reader system to the external equipment. The connector usually includes some form of IC card socket and a plurality of electrodes or contacts exposed in the socket for engaging the terminal array of the IC card. The card is inserted and removed from the socket, and the connector contacts are resilient or comprise springy contacts for yieldably engaging the terminal array of the card when the card is inserted into the socket. 
     With the ever-increasing miniaturization of IC cards and their respective connectors, various problems continue to arise. For instance, the very handling of the miniature IC cards is difficult, and proper positioning of the cards in the connector presents corresponding problems when the card is inserted into and removed from the card-receiving cavity or other receptacle means of the connector. In addition, the terminal array on the card can become contaminated or soiled which can result in incomplete connections between the terminal array on the card and the contacts of the connector which, in turn, results in incomplete or intermittent connections to the external equipment. 
     For improving contact between a SIM card and further electronic circuitry, prior art EP 0 633 633 B1 recommends to provide electrical contact elements for mounting and contacting the connector which extend beyond at least one edge of the base of the connector. Such space-consuming terminals appear to be necessary for this type of connector since opening of the cover takes place by deformation of the cover tending also to deform the base member or to loosen the base member of the connector from the underlying electronic circuitry. However, this relatively long terminal is fragile daring transportation and handling, susceptible to damage and consumes unnecessary mounting space on a printed circuit board. Obviously, there is a deleterious influence on the SIM card during opening and closing of the cover if deformations are introduced by the deformed cover into the card. U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,552 teaches a contacting apparatus for an integrated IC chip card having a rotatable cover accommodating a chip card. The cover is movable relative to the chip card which is accommodated in the cover. It is intended to prevent any relative movement between the chip card and the contact elements of a base member when the cover is moved to the locking position. However, any contamination on the contacts of the base member or the chip card, e.g. as occurring during normal use from dirt, contaminants, oxidation or due to touching the contacts by the user, may cause a deterioration of the electrical properties of the contacts. 
     This invention is directed to solving the above problems in a miniature SIM card connector which is simple to manufacture and assemble. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved IC card connector for connecting an IC card having a terminal array, in an IC card reader system or the like. 
     In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the IC card connector includes a base member having a plurality of electrically conductive contacts exposed on one side thereof. A cover is hinged to the base member for movement toward and away from the one side. The cover has receptacle means for securing the IC card thereon for movement therewith, whereby closing the cover onto the base member effects engagement of the IC card terminals with the contacts on the base member. 
     According to the invention, the cover is mounted pivotally and slidably on the base member, whereby in a position of the cover rotated toward said one side of said base member a sliding movement of the cover relative to the base member causes engagement or disengagement of locking elements of the cover and the base member and causes a movement of the IC card relative to the base member. 
     According to the invention there is no deformation of the cover necessary for opening or closing the connector. As a consequence thereof, forces for opening and closing the cover are well defined so that any terminals for making contact with electronic circuitry of a card reader are relatively shorter and lie within the dimensions of the base member. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the IC card is moved relative to the base member due to the sliding movement during opening and closing of the cover wiping away any contamination on the contacts. Thus a reliable and undisturbed contact is ensured over an extended time of use. 
     Moreover, based on the sliding movement an indication can he provided to the external circuitry whether the connector is closed correctly. By using additional contacts held in the cover and further contacts mounted on the base member, a signal is provided due to a bridging of said additional contacts at the base member by means of the contacts of the cover. According to the invention, bridging only takes place in the finally closed position of the cover. 
     In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the cover and the base member, respectively, are provided as a unitarily molded component of dielectric material such as plastic or the like. The cover has flanges providing means for slidably receiving the IC card in an edge-wise fashion. 
     The card reader system may include a printed circuit board and, in such an application, the base member is illustrated herein as including means, i.e. mounting pegs, for mounting the base member to the printed circuit board with the contacts engageable with circuit traces on the board. The contacts have resilient portions exposed on the one side of the base member for engaging the terminal array of the IC card. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with its objects and the advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements in the figures and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an opened IC card connector seen from above and embodying the concepts of the invention, illustrating an IC card being inserted edge-wise into the cover of the connector; 
     FIG. 2 is an elevational plan view from above showing a connector being closed and accommodating a SIM card; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the opened IC card connector seen from below, illustrating an IC card being inserted edge-wise into the cover of the connector; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the connector in a position where the connector locking elements are disengaged and the tactile/audible device is in its initial closing position; 
     FIG. 5 is an elevational plan view from above showing a connector being open but about to be closed in its initial closing position; 
     FIG. 6 is a side plan view showing the inventive connector in its closed position; 
     FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the connector in its closed position where the connector locking elements are interengaged and the sensory tactile/audible device is in its final closing position; 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of an opened IC card connector showing the base member and the cover in more detail; 
     FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view along line A—A of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of an opened IC card connector showing hinge means of the base member and the cover in more detail; and 
     FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing the hinge means of the base member and the cover in the closed position of the IC card connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and first to FIG. 1, the concepts of the invention are embodied in an IC card connector, generally designated  10 , which is extremely simple and includes two basic components, namely a base member, generally designated  11 , and a cover, generally designated  12 . As described in greater detail hereinafter, FIG. 1 shows an IC card  13  inserted into cover  12  in the direction of arrow “A”. 
     The IC card  13  is a miniature card of conventional or known construction and includes a terminal array  14  on the bottom side thereof. In a most preferred embodiment the IC card  13  is a SIM (subscriber identification module) card as used in cellular phones for identification and storage of subscriber related data. 
     Referring to FIG. 1 in conjunction with FIG. 3, base member  11  includes a generally flat base portion  15  having raised areas  17 ,  18  at the front thereof. Part  16  of base member  11  at the rear end of flat portion  15  is thicker than base portion  15  to support hinge means  19  and forces introduced by the cover  12 . Hinge means  19 , including a pair of upwardly projecting portions  20 ,  21  and hook or snap-fit portions  20   a ,  21   a  at the end thereof shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, are provided at the rear of base portion  15 . Cover  12  is held pivotally and slidably in the direction of the axis of rotation (shown as double headed arrow “B” in FIG. 2) within hinge means  19 . 
     A plurality of mounting pegs  22 ,  23  depend from the underside of base portion  15  as shown in FIG. 3 for mounting in appropriate mounting holes in a printed circuit board (not visible in the appended drawings), for instance. Each mounting peg  22 ,  23  may have a different diameter to ensure correct mounting on the printed circuit board. 
     Lastly, a plurality of contacts, generally designated  25 ,  39 ,  41  on base member  11 , is mounted in base member  11  as will be described in greater detail hereinafter, whereby portions of the contacts are exposed on the top side of the base member  11  as can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 9. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, raised areas  17  and  18  include projections which defined respective recesses  26 ,  27  for accommodating in the closed position of the connector  10  locking steps or projections  26 ,  29  extending generally perpendicular to the axis of rotation from cover  12 . 
     Base member  11 , therefore includes all of the elements described above, including upwardly projecting portions  20 ,  21  having associated hook or snap-fit portions  20   a ,  21   a , locking recesses  26 ,  27 , and mounting pegs  22 ,  23 , and is fabricated of a unitarily molded single component of dielectric material, such as plastic or the like, as seen in FIGS. 8 and 10. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 in conjunction with FIGS. 7 and 9, FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the base member as seen from the rear and below and FIGS. 4 and 7 show plan views of the bottom of base member  11 , whereas in FIG. 9 a cross sectional view along line A—A of FIG. 5 is depicted. These figures best illustrate the configuration and mounting of contacts  25 ,  39  and  41  on the base member  11 . More particularly, it can be seen in FIG. 9 that each contact  25  includes a generally horizontal leg  25   a  held within base member  11  and terminating at one end in a card contact portion  25   b . The contacts are formed with a resilient or springy leg  25   c  which is formed such that the resilient leg  25   c  projects upwardly beyond the top surface of the base member  11  so as to be exposed on the top side thereof and terminates in card contact portion  25   b.    
     Each contact  25  is held in the base member  11  by injection molding, e.g. insert molding, whereby the dielectric material of base member  11  encloses a portion of contacts  25 . The base member  11  is shown in FIG. 4 as being of generally rectangular shape mounting contacts  25  below the terminal array  14  of IC card  13 . The outside ends  25   d  of contacts  25  are adapted to contact the external circuitry of an underlying printed circuit board and do not project beyond the dimensions of base member  11  (see FIG. 9) 
     When contacts  25  are properly held within base member  11 , and the base member  11  is properly mounted to the printed circuit board, outside ends  25   d  of contacts  25  are maintained in surface contact with appropriate circuit traces on the surface of the printed circuit board. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in conjunction with FIG. 3, cover  12  is a one-piece component fabricated of molded dielectric material, such as plastic or the like. The cover includes a thin, flat body  31 , locking projections  28 ,  29  projecting from the front of body  31 , and rear hinge pins  32   a ,  32   b  extending transversely of the body  31  and within portions  20 ,  21  of base member  11 . A pair of side flanges  33 ,  34  is formed to be spaced slightly from an inside surface of the body  31  and a rear flange  35  is formed at the rear of cover  12 . Flanges  33  and  34  project toward the middle of the body  31  to define receptacle means for an IC card  13  between the inside surface of body  31  and inside surfaces of flanges  33  and  34 . The IC card  13  is inserted edge-wise prior to use in the direction of arrow “A” beneath and between side flanges  33  and  34  of the cover  12  in the preload position as shown in FIG. 1 until a leading edge of the IC card becomes stopped by rear flange  35  of the cover  12 . 
     In assembly of cover  12  to base member  11 , hinge pins  32   a ,  32   b  of the cover  12  are seated into portions  20 ,  21  of base member  11  (see FIGS. 2 and 10) in a way that extension  42  defined by hinge pin  32   b  abuts the right side of rear upwardly projecting portion  21 . In this upright position of cover  12  extension  42  blocks any lateral movement of the cover  12  relative to base member  11 . 
     After insertion, the cover may be pivoted downwardly in the direction of arrow “C” (FIG. 3) and locking projections  28 ,  29  of the cover  12  are placed adjacent recesses  26 ,  27  of base member  11  (see FIG.  5 ). In this completely downwardly pivoted position, extension  42  of cover  12  is not in contact with upwardly projecting portions  21  enabling a lateral sliding movement of cover  12  relative to base member  11 . Due to this sliding motion in the direction of arrow “D” shown in FIG. 5, projections  28 ,  29  are moved into recesses  26 ,  27  of base member  11  to prevent the cover  12  from being pivoted upwardly in a direction opposite arrow “C” and extension  42  is positioned between upwardly projecting portions  21 . In a preferred embodiment, recesses  43  are defined in upwardly projecting portions  21  for accommodating extension  42  in the closed position of the connector  10 . 
     Looking to FIG. 8 in conjunction with FIGS. 4 and 5, formed on flat base portion  15  is a sensory device  36  being a tactile/audible device comprising an arm  36   a  having a projection or nose  37  camming in the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 with an associated projection or nose  38  of side flange  34  of cover  12 . At the beginning of sliding motion of cover  12  relative to base member  11 , an increased slide resistance is encountered due to the camming motion of projections  37 ,  38  and a click is heard in the finally closed position of connector  10  along with a decreased slide resistance in the last part of the sliding movement. During the sliding movement of cover  12  relative to base member  11 , contact array  14  of an IC card  13  inserted into cover  11  is displaced relative to contacts  25  of portion  15  causing a sliding and wiping motion of contacts of array  14  relative to contacts  25 . Moreover, in the course of sliding cover  12 , one or two plastic rails  40  of base member  11  guide the rear edge of cover  12  which defines a groove  44  (see FIG.  8 ). Due to the mechanical contact between plastic rails  40  and groove  44  in the downwardly pivoted position of cover  12 , any unwanted tilt or motion perpendicular to the axis of rotation is prevented. 
     Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7 in conjunction with FIG. 1, bridging contacts  45  are held at side flange  34  of cover  12  and make contact with contacts  39 ,  41  of base member  11  in the finally closed position of connector  10  as shown in FIG.  7 . In this position, external circuitry may sense a reduced electrical resistance along the electrical path defined by contacts  39 ,  41  and bridging contacts  45  and produce a signal indicating the closed position of connector  10 . 
     When cover  12  is moved from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 4, due to the sensory tactile/audible device  36 , first, a predefined increased slide resistance is encountered decreasing subsequently with an audible click. This click indicates that locking projections  28 ,  29  are moved out of recesses  26  and  27  unlocking the cover  12  relative to base member  11  and that bridging contacts  45  are moved apart from contacts  39 ,  41  causing an increased electrical resistance between contacts  39 ,  41  indicating that cover  12  is opened. 
     At this moment cover  12  may be pivoted in a direction opposite arrow “C” shown in FIG. 3 to the opened position of cover  12  and the IC card  13  may be removed from connector  10 . 
     In handling, especially removing or inserting, an operator simply grasps the IC card  13  by its edges, to preclude the possibility of touching the terminal array  14  of the IC card  13 . No touching is required of the terminal array  14  when removing or inserting the IC card from or into engagement with contacts  25  and/or to mount the IC card onto the base member  11 . It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.