Card connector

Card connector 10 includes a housing 30, a sliding lever 50 and a cam member 70 which cooperate to eject a card received within the card connector. In a side 33b of the housing 30, a recess 21 and a cantilever arm 36 overlapping the recess 21 are provided. When a pivot 72a, 72b of the cam member 70 is inserted in the recess 21, the cantilever arm is bent allowing for the insertion of the cam member 70. After the cam member 70 is inserted to its predetermined position in the recess, the cantilever arm returns to its original position locking the cam member in place. A spring 90 of metal wire is mounted along a front edge of the housing 30 springably engaging lever 50.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to card connectors receiving memory cards and other 
types of cards equipped with a means of card ejection. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
An example of a card connector of such a type can be found in Japanese 
Utility Model Publication No. 92-86970 and Japanese Utility Model 
Publication No. 93-75974. Both card connectors described in these 
publications have a cam member mounted in a rotational manner in the 
housing accommodating the card and a sliding lever linked to the cam 
member. In these card connectors, the cam members can be rotated by 
pushing the lever in an assigned direction, thus causing the ejection of 
the card inserted in the connector. In the second card connector, a spring 
is provided which at all times applies spring force to the lever in the 
direction opposite to the direction the lever is pushed to eject the card. 
However, the above card connectors needed improvements because they had 
relatively complicated structure and were difficult to assemble. 
Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to offer a card 
connector having less complicated structure and an easier assembly 
process. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention comprises a card connector including a cam member 
mounted in a rotational manner in a housing accommodating a card intended 
for the ejection of the card by means of cam member rotation wherein a 
recess is provided in the housing and opens to a side of the housing, the 
purpose of the recess is to house the cam member, a cantilevered arm is 
provided overlapping the recess and is pressed and bent into the recess by 
the cam member when the cam member is mounted in the recess and which 
returns to its initial position when the cam member reaches its prescribed 
position, thus locking the cam member in place while making it possible 
for the cam member to rotate in the recess. 
It is preferable that the recess has an opening oriented perpendicularly to 
an outside surface of the housing and that its rear portion is of a curved 
configuration. Before the insertion of the cam member, the cantilever arm 
extends so that its free end overlaps the recess. The free end of the 
cantilever arm locks the cam member in place while making it possible for 
it to rotate. 
In addition, the present invention is directed to a card connector having a 
cam member mounted in a housing accommodating the card, a lever engaged 
with the cam member can slide relative to the housing and move the cam 
member when the lever is slid in a predetermined direction, thus ejecting 
the card, and a spring connected to the lever which at all times presses 
the lever in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction, 
wherein the spring is a metal wire and is secured in the housing in the 
direction which is substantially perpendicular to the sliding direction of 
the lever. 
The metal wire is mounted along a forward edge of the housing forming a 
cantilevered configuration. The wire can be mounted in a deformed 
condition and is arranged in such a manner that it continuously exerts 
pressure on the lever. The metal wire has an axle bent at a right angle 
which is disposed in an opening in the housing. The metal wire is 
supported at least at two locations along its longitudinal length. The 
wire can be a steel piano wire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
As it is clear from FIGS. 1-13, card connector 10 has multiple electrical 
contacts 15 and a dielectric housing 30 in which the contacts are arrayed. 
As can be seen from FIGS. 1a-1d, the housing 30 has a card-receiving 
section 31 into which memory cards can be inserted. In the card-receiving 
section 31, contact sections 17 of contacts 15 are arranged. The card 
connector 10 is designed for flash memory cards or other memory cards. The 
card connector 10 is intended for mounting on printed circuit boards (not 
shown) for which purpose the connector has holes 32 for mounting screws. 
In addition, auxiliary reinforcing fixtures 40 are provided on sides 33a, 
33b of the housing 30 the purpose of which is to make mechanical 
connection to the circuit board more reliable. Multiple contacts 15 and 
auxiliary reinforcing fixtures 40 have soldering sections 16 and 41 
respectively for soldering to the board by SMT technology. They are 
soldered to soldering pads prepared on the printed circuit board (not 
shown). 
The card connector 10 also has an ejection mechanism for the ejection of a 
card (not shown) inserted in the card-receiving section 31 of the 
connector. The ejection mechanism includes a lever 50 arranged so that it 
can slide along the side 33b, a cam member 70 secured to the housing 30 in 
a pivoting manner and a linear spring 90 of spring metal wire. 
Configurations of all parts are discussed in detail below. 
Operation of the ejection mechanism can best be understood by following 
movements of all parts as shown in FIGS. 1a-1c and 2a--2c. The cam member 
70 has an ejection leg 71 pressing against a card edge. When the cam 
member 70 is rotated, the ejection leg 71 presses on the card, thus 
ejecting it outside the connector. The cam member 70 is engaged with the 
lever 50 (for details, see below). Therefore, when the lever 50 is pressed 
in the forward direction (shown in FIG. 1a by arrow P), the cam member 70 
is rotated causing card ejection. The spring 90 presses on the lever 50 in 
the opposite direction and after the card has been ejected, it returns the 
lever 50 from the position shown in FIG. 2a to its initial position shown 
in FIG. 1a. Below, the assembly of the card connector 10 will be 
explained. 
The first stage of assembly involves the installation of the spring 90 on 
the housing 30 with multiple electrical contacts secured therein. Since 
contacts 15 are fixed by a commonly-known method by pressing them in the 
housing, description thereof is omitted. The spring 90 mounted on the 
housing 30 can be made of a steel wire, for example, a piano wire. In this 
embodiment, it is made of SWP-A grade piano wire. As shown in FIGS. 4a, 
4b, one end 91 of the spring 90 which is intended for the connection to 
the lever 50 is obliquely bent. The other end is bent substantially 
perpendicular to the direction of the bent end 91, thus forming a pivot 
92. Housing 30 has an opening 39a into which the pivot 92 is inserted and 
retained, a lug 39b at some distance from the opening 39a supports the 
spring 90 from the other side and another lug 39c located near the end 91 
of the spring 90 is intended for a temporary support of the spring. These 
retaining means are along a front end of the housing 30. The mounting of 
the spring 90 begins with the pivot 90 being inserted in the opening 39a. 
After that, the spring 90 can freely rotate around the opening 39a as the 
center of rotation. Next, the spring 90 is placed over a wall 89 of the 
housing 30 on the card insertion side 31. This state is shown in FIG. 3. 
The spring 90 is rotated in a direction indicated by arrow R. The spring 
90 is moved in this direction sliding along the wall 89 until it reaches 
retaining lug 39b and temporary retention lug 39c. When the spring 90 is 
in a position nearly overlapping these retention means, it is pressed 
downward so that it is engaged with lugs 39b and 39c. As can be seen from 
FIG. 5a, the spring 90 is reliably secured and only slightly deformed by 
retention points at the opening 39a, lug 39b and temporary retention lug 
39c. 
The second stage of the assembly involves the installation of the cam 
member 70 in the housing 30. Configuration of the cam member 70 is shown 
in FIGS. 7a-7d. Cam member 70 has a flat base section 74, pivot members 
72a, 72b extending up and down from approximately the center of the base 
section 74, and engaging sections 73a, 73b extending up and down from one 
end of the base section 74. The engaging sections 73a, 73b are intended 
for engagement with the lever 50 according to the explanation below. On 
the end of the base section 74, which is opposite to the end where the 
engaging sections 73a, 73b are located, a card-ejection section 71 is 
located. The pivot members 72a and 72b are of the same size and have a 
symmetrical configuration. The engaging sections 73a, 73b are not 
symmetrical in the vertical direction, but surfaces 76, 77 are common for 
both members and they connect together connecting sections 73a, 73b 
forming an engaging end 78. An especially important feature is the surface 
75 of the engaging section 73b, the purpose of which is explained below. 
When the cam member 70 is installed, it is moved in the direction shown by 
arrow X in FIGS. 5a, 5b. As can be seen, a recess 21 is formed at the edge 
of the top wall 89 of the housing 30, so that its opening is substantially 
perpendicular to the side 33b and the rest of the recess 21 is curved 
toward the front end of the housing. The recess 21 is in communication 
with the space 38 linked to the card-receiving section 31. In the lower 
part of the space 38, a cantilevered arm 36 is located so that its end 
extends into the recess 21 toward the rear of the card-receiving section 
31. During assembly, the base section 74 of the cam member 70 is inserted 
in the space 38 so that the pivot member 72a is aligned with the recess 
21. At this time, the pivot member 72b is located at the same level as the 
arm 36. Therefore, in order to insert the cam member 70 in the housing 30, 
it is necessary to advance the pivot member 72a inside the recess 21 so 
that contact is formed between the pivot member 72b and the arm 36. When 
the cam member 70 is advanced further, the arm 36 is bent inward in the 
direction indicated by arrow Q (see FIG. 5b) so that the pivot member 72a 
can be advanced even further inside recess 21. Since as mentioned above 
recess 21 is curved toward the rear, the pivot member 72a is guided toward 
the rear along the curve. When the pivot member 72a reaches the 
predetermined position, that is the deepest part of the recess 21, the 
engagement between the pivot member 72b and the arm 36 is discontinued, 
and the arm 36 returns to its initial non-bent position and its end 35 
locks the pivot member 72b in place in recess 21. Therefore, cam member 70 
is secured in position in the housing 30 as shown in FIGS. 6a, 6b so that 
it can rotate. Arrow S indicates directions in which the cam member can 
rotate. 
The third stage of the assembly involves the installation of the lever 50. 
The steps of the lever installation are shown in FIGS. 8-12. 
The configuration of the lever 50 can be seen in FIGS. 8, 9 and 12. The 
lever 50 includes a mounting extension 51 for attachment of an operating 
button, a main body 52 and a connecting section 53 for engagement with the 
cam member 70. The operating button is not shown in the drawing, but any 
type of button according to the customer needs can be affixed to the 
mounting extension 51. An inside surface 52a of the main body 52 facing 
the housing 30 has a step 54 extending therealong. The step 54 has a catch 
55. At two locations along the length of the inside surface 52a, slots 
56a, 56b are located. The slot 56a is wider than the slot 56b. As shown in 
FIG. 12, the main body 52 has an L-shape cross section, and as can be seen 
from FIG. 9, a slot 57a in communication with an opening 57b is formed in 
the longitudinal direction of the outer surface 52b of the main body 52. 
It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 9, the opening 57b is opened 
downward. Thus, slot 57a and opening 57b form an L-shape. The connecting 
section 53 has a contact surface 58 which engages with the contacting end 
78 of cam member 70, and an extension 61 protruding forward from an upper 
portion of the contact surface 58. As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, a groove 62 is 
located in a front end of the extension 61. From FIG. 9, it can be seen 
that the groove 62 has a U-shape profile and extends along the edge of the 
front end of the extension 61. The operation of this arrangement is 
explained below. 
According to FIG. 8, on the side 33b of the housing 30 to which the lever 
50 is to be attached, keys 37a, 37b of different widths are located. An 
L-shaped lever-supporting arm 36 fits between keys 37a, 37b. Near the 
center of the inner side of the lever-supporting arm 36, a rib 36a is 
located (see FIG. 12). 
During the first stage of assembly, the lever 50 is placed relative to the 
housing 30 as shown in FIGS. 8, 9. As shown in FIG. 8, the lever 50 is 
positioned so that keys 37a, 37b and key slots 56a, 56b are aligned; then 
the lever 50 is moved in the direction shown by arrow A so that it 
overlaps the lever-supporting arm 36. 
During the second stage of assembly, the lever 50 is moved in the direction 
indicated by arrow B (FIG. 9) so as to be attached to the side 33b of the 
housing 30. At this time, if the parts are aligned correctly during the 
first stage of assembly, keys 37a, 37b are inserted in the slots 56a, 56b, 
thus making it possible to move the lever 50 to a predetermined height. 
During this movement, the rib 36a is disposed within the opening 57b in 
the outer surface 52b of the lever 50. When the lever 50 reaches the 
predetermined position, the rib 36a is at the top of the opening 57b (see 
FIG. 9) in alignment with slot 57a. 
During the third stage of assembly, the lever 50 is moved in the direction 
shown by arrow C in FIGS. 9, 10, that is it is pushed forward. At the end 
of this movement, the lever 50 reaches the extreme forward position. In 
this position, rotation of the cam member 70 is blocked due to contact 
between the surface 75 of the cam member 70 and the side 33b of the 
housing 30 (see FIGS. 7, 8). The blocking action of the cam member 70 
caused by the contact between the surface 75 and the side 33b takes place 
not only during the mounting of the lever 50 but every time during card 
ejection. As shown in the drawings, in the extreme forward position of the 
lever 50, the groove 62 in the end of the lever 50 and the end 91 of the 
spring 90 are engaged and the spring 90 is bent back. 
During the fourth stage of assembly, the pressure applied to the lever 50 
in the direction indicated by arrow C is relieved. This results in a force 
applied to the lever 50 by the spring 90 in the opposite direction 
indicated by arrow D in FIG. 11. At that time, as shown in FIG. 11, the 
catch 55 is engaged with the shoulder 39 of the key 37a, thus preventing 
the lever 50 from further movement in the direction indicated by arrow D. 
It should be noted that at this time the spring 90 is only slightly 
deformed. As a result of the operations described above, the lever 50 
becomes movably mounted on the housing 30, thus completing the assembly of 
the card connector 10. In this state, the cam member 70 can freely rotate 
to any position, for example to the position shown in FIG. 11. However, 
when a card is inserted in the card connector 10, the card engages against 
the ejection section 71 thereby turning the cam member 70. When the card 
is fully inserted, the cam member 70 assumes the position shown in FIG. 1 
in which the card is in contact with the ejection section 71, thus 
enabling ejection of the card. 
As can be seen from FIGS. 13a-13d, multiple contacts 15a -15f are arranged 
in the connector for sequential connection. Contact pairs 15a, 15b shown 
in FIGS. 13a-13c, located at the sides of the connector and contact pair 
15a, 15b located in the center of the connector have long contact sections 
16a, 16b, and they are used for power supply. Contact pair 15c, 15dshown 
in FIGS. 13a, 13chave the short contact sections 16c, 16d; they are used 
for the detection of the card position. Typical contacts 15e, 15f shown in 
FIG. 13d have contact sections 16e, 16f of an intermediate length between 
lengths of contact sections 16a, 16b and 16c, 16d. Contacts 15e, 15f are 
used for the transmission of signals. All contacts 15a-15f have post 
sections 18a-18e, including surface mounting sections 17a-17e. Tie-ins 
18a-18e are brought out from the housing 30 through slots 81 made in the 
back wall of the housing and are arranged in one row. As can be seen from 
FIG. 13a, slots 81 have an oblique surface 82 whose top edge is separated 
from the post sections 18a-18e, and whose lower edge 84 is located closer 
to the post sections 18a-18e. Such a configuration is provided to 
compensate for allowances made during assembly. 
FIGS. 14-17b show an alternative embodiment of the card connector according 
to this invention. 
The difference between card connectors 110, 110' of the alternative 
embodiment of this invention shown in FIGS. 14-17b and the card connector 
10 is mostly in the way the spring is secured on the housing and in the 
configuration of the spring. As can be seen from FIGS. 14a, 14b, 16a, 16b, 
card connectors 110, 110' differ by the side to which the ejection cam 
member 170, 170' is mounted. Card connectors 110, 110' have pairs of 
openings 139a, 239a and 139a', 239a'; pairs of lugs 139b, 239b and 139b', 
239b' and pairs of temporary retention lugs 139c, 239c and 139c', 239c'. 
Housings 130, 130' also have on both their sides matching recesses 121, 
221 and 121', 221'. Similar to the connector shown in FIG. 1, connectors 
depicted in FIGS. 14 and 17 have levers engaged with cam members 170, 170' 
which are arranged along side 133b, 133b' of the housings 130, 130' (these 
levers are not shown in FIGS. 14 and 17). As can be seen from the plan 
view of the springs 190, 190' for card connectors 110, 110', they are not 
straight. The first oblique sections 191, 191' and the second oblique 
sections 192, 192' form bulges facing forward. 
The advantage of structures shown in FIGS. 14 and 17 is that the same metal 
parts can be used in both of the housings 130 and 130'. The difference 
between the housings 130, 130' is that slots for the lever-supporting arms 
186, 186' are formed on different sides of the housings. Therefore, 
lever-supporting arms 186, 186' can be used interchangeably in either of 
the housings 130, 130'. This makes it possible for the customers to 
quickly change configuration of equipment to better suit their 
preferences. The purpose of bulged sections of springs 190, 190' formed by 
oblique sections 191, 191' and 192, 192' is to extend along lugs 239b, 
139b, which are not used in the selected configuration, thus making it 
possible to modify connectors. 
Above, explanations concerning embodiments of card connectors according to 
this invention have been provided, which are used as examples and do not 
limit the scope of the invention in any way; it is a matter of fact that 
changes and modifications can be introduced by experts in the field. As an 
example of possible modifications, it is possible to use a cam member 70' 
shown in FIG. 18. The specific feature of the cam member 70' is that the 
pivot 72' has an oval rather than round cross section, and that on the 
right side R the curvature is smaller (that is, the radius of the curve is 
larger) than on the left side L. Because of such configuration, card 
ejection can be initiated by a shorter stroke of the lever but the 
ejection will require a greater effort at the beginning which will 
decrease as the ejection progresses. This results in a smoother operation 
of the card-ejection mechanism. 
The first specific feature of the card connectors according to this 
invention is that a recess is formed in the housing with an opening to a 
side of the housing and a cantilevered arm overlaps the recess. When the 
cam member is mounted through the opening in the side of the housing, the 
cantilevered arm is bent, and when the cam member reaches its 
predetermined position, the cantilevered arm returns to its initial 
position locking the cam member in place while allowing it to rotate, thus 
making it possible to simplify the installation of the cam member which is 
an essential part of the card-ejection mechanism. Such a structure makes 
it possible to implement assembly by automatic machinery. The second 
specific feature of the card connectors according to this invention is 
that a spring provides at all times pressure to a lever in the direction 
opposite to that of its insertion, it is made of a metal wire; and, due to 
the fact that it is mounted on the housing practically perpendicular to 
the direction of the sliding motion of the lever, spring configuration is 
substantially simplified and its installation is much easier. Such a 
configuration provides for an easy linking of the spring to the lever.