Abstract:
A compact card reader is described. The compact card reader has a charging circuit and a cellular phone-connecting slot to enable the compact card reader to save/retrieve data to/from a memory card or a cellular phone, at the same time charge the cellular phone and the cellular phone battery in order to reduce the operation cost and this also increases the speed of the data processing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. The Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a chargeable compact card reader, and more particularly to a chargeable compact card reader using a charging circuit and a control chip installed therein to save/retrieve data, and charge battery to/from the cellular phone and the battery and memory card thereof for reducing the usage cost and reduce the processing time.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     In the digital technologies era, the mobile phone has been improved from an analogue mobile phone system (AMPS) to the group special mobile (GSM), and now the cellular phone can even link to the internet allowing the user to surf on the net at anytime. Nowadays, the cellular phones can be equipped with a digital camera or a digital video camera, and may also be equipped with game and MP 3  functionalities. The latest cellular phone is also capable of data transmission to the computer providing substantial convenience to the users.  
         [0005]     In spite of above enjoyment and convenience, the cellular phone still has certain defects, such as insufficient built-in memory, requiring a user to use an external memory card to expand the memory. Therefore, the user needs to have a card reader, a charger and a data transmission cable for making use of the most of resources of the cellular phone. However, there are several types of memory cards available on the market, and most of them are require USB to connect with the computer. Besides, there is no charger in the card reader for the cellular phone and the battery. If the charging of the battery and transmitting of the data need to be processed separately, this will certainly cause inconvenience and thereby increases the cost. Therefore, how to resolve the above defects has become the important issue for the manufacturer in the field.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     Accordingly, in the view of the foregoing, the present inventor makes a detailed study of related art to evaluate and consider, and uses years of accumulated experience in this field, and through several experiments, to create a new chargeable compact card reader. The present invention provides an innovated, cost effective chargeable compact card reader.  
         [0007]     According to an aspect of the present invention, the compact card reader comprises a charging circuit and a cellular phone-connecting slot to enable the compact card reader to save/retrieve data to/from a memory card or a cellular phone, at the same time charge the cellular phone and the cellular phone battery in order to reduce the operation cost and this also increases the speed of the data processing. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0008]     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference will now be made to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a chargeable compact card reader according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a connection block diagram of the chargeable compact card reader according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is an elevational view of a chargeable compact card reader according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a connection block diagram of the chargeable compact card reader according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]     Reference will be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0014]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an elevational view and a connection block diagram of a chargeable compact card reader according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown. As shown in the above-mentioned figures, the compact card reader  3  comprises a power slot  31 , a USB connector  32 , a charging circuit  33 , a control chip  34 , a battery-connecting slot  35 , a cellular phone-connecting slot  36  and one or plural memory card-connecting slot  37 .  
         [0015]     The above power slot  31  is installed above the case of the compact card reader  3  and can connect to an external power supply  1 .  
         [0016]     The USB connector  32  is installed at a rear side of the compact card reader  3  and can connect to a USB port  21  of a computer  2 .  
         [0017]     The charging circuit  33  is set within the compact card reader  3  and is connected to the power slot  31  and the USB connector  32 .  
         [0018]     The control chip  34  is set within the compact card reader  3  and is connected to the USB connector  32 .  
         [0019]     The battery-connecting slot  35  is installed on a topside of the compact card reader  3  and is connected to the charging circuit  33 , for receiving a cellular phone battery  4 .  
         [0020]     The cellular phone-connecting slot  36  is installed on a topside of the compact card reader  3  and is connected to the charging circuit  33  and the control chip  34 , for receiving a cellular phone  5 .  
         [0021]     The memory card-connecting slot  37  is installed on the frontal side of the compact card reader  3  and is connected to the control chip  34 , for receiving a memory card  6 .  
         [0022]     After assembling the above elements, when the battery  4 , the cellular phone  5  and the memory card  6  are respectively connected to the battery-connecting slot  35 , the cellular phone-connecting slot  36  and memory card-connecting slot  37  set on the compact card reader  3 , and the USB connecter  32  is connected to the USB port  21  of the computer  2 , the charging circuit  33  can charge to the battery  4  and cellular phone  5  with the power received through the USB connector  32  and USB port  21 . The cellular phone  5  and memory card  6  that are respectively connected to the cellular phone-connecting slot  36  and memory card-connecting slot  37  are used for processing saving or retrieving of data to or from the computer  2  through the control chip  34 , the USB connector  32  and USB port  21 . Thus, the process of data saving or retrieving to or from the memory card  6  or the cellular phone  5 , and the charging of the cellular phone  5  and the battery  4  can be achieved at the same time.  
         [0023]     If there is no data saving or retrieving being processed, the user can directly use the power slot  31  to connect to the external power supply  1  so that the battery  4  and cellular phone  5  connected to the battery-connecting slot  35  and the cellular phone- connecting slot  36  can be charged with power through the charging circuit  33 .  
         [0024]     Now referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , an elevational view and a connection block diagram of the chargeable compact card reader according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention are shown respectively. As shown, the structure of the compact card reader  3  is similar to that shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , except that on the case of the compact card reader  3  has a switch  38  connected between the control chip  34  and USB connector  32 , allowing the user to choose whether to process data transmission to or from the cellular phone  5  or the memory card  6  using the cellular phone-connecting slot  36  or the memory card-connecting slot  37 .  
         [0025]     Additionally, the above memory card-connecting slot  37  can be configured with a multi-functional memory card-connecting slot for receiving a variety of memory cards in order to provide minimize space occupation of the chargeable compact card reader of the present invention.  
         [0026]     While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific best mode, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations in which fall within the spirit and scope of the included claims. All matters set forth herein or shown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting sense.