Integrated circuit card

Disclosed is an IC card having a connector wherein a socket or a jack can be inserted in a direction that is parallel to the face of the IC card. The connector includes a connector body having a rotatable housing attached thereto. The housing has an opening by which a socket or a jack can be fitted and secured to the connector body. When a socket or a jack is not connected to the IC card, the housing member can lie level along the face of the IC card but when a socket is to be connected, the housing can be raised such that it is almost perpendicular to the face of the IC card. The socket or the jack can therefore be inserted parallel to the face of the IC card.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a computer integrated circuit (IC) card, 
such as a PCMCIA card, and in particular to an IC card connector which 
allows a socket or a jack to be inserted such that it is positioned 
parallel to a face of the IC card. 
2. Description of Related Art 
Conventionally, a personal computer has a plurality of integrated circuits 
(ICs) or large scale integrated circuits (LSIs) mounted in it for 
connection to external devices, (e.g., photomagnetic disk drives, CD-ROM 
drives, or token ring networks) and also includes a printed circuit board 
with a dedicated connector that is attached to the body of a computer. 
A printed circuit board on which a discreet IC or LSI is mounted can no 
longer be attached to an A4-sized notebook or an A5-sized sub-notebook 
portable computer, such as, for example, a ThinkPad (a product of 
International Business Machines Corporation) because the size of the 
computer case is limited. 
The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) for 
the standardization of personal computer IC cards, such as memory cards, 
was established in the United States in 1989, and determined the standards 
for personal computer IC cards. Accordingly, an IC card that conforms to 
the standards is called a PCMCIA card. 
Since the size of a PCMCIA card is standardized, and since various 
integrated circuits are packaged on this card which is almost the 
equivalent in size of a business card, many recent portable computers 
include a slot for such a PCMCIA card. However, a disadvantage of such 
PCMCIA cards is that it is difficult to attach a connector for an external 
device to the PCMCIA card because it is extremely thin, about 3 to 10 mm. 
One technique which has been proposed to resolve this shortcoming is shown 
in FIG. 1 and involves the use of an intermediate conversion cable 106 to 
connect a PCMCIA card 102 to an external socket 104. A disadvantage of 
this structure, however, is that an attachment portion 108 of the PCMCIA 
card 102 can be easily damaged when the conversion cable 106 is pulled. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,479 discloses a structure of a modular jack connector 
that is composed of a flat plate member which extends from one end to the 
other and parallel to the face of an IC card, wherein is formed at one end 
a hole having a freely opened and closed cover that, when open, permits 
the insertion of a modular jack so that the jack is positioned 
perpendicular to the face of the IC card. 
Since U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,479 discloses that a modular jack must be 
inserted such that it is perpendicular to the face of the IC card, when 
another PCMCIA card is inserted adjacent to that card, it is possible that 
the modular jack will abut upon the newly inserted PCMCIA card, thereby 
making it difficult to insert the modular jack or preventing the PCMCIA 
card from being coupled with a connector. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to an IC card which includes a flat plate 
member to which a rotatable housing is so attached that when the IC card 
is disconnected from a socket the flat plate member and the rotatable 
housing are level with the face of the IC card, and when a socket or a 
jack is to be connected, the rotatable housing can be shifted so that it 
is almost perpendicular to the face of the IC card. Further, an opening 
into which the socket or the jack can be fitted is provided within the 
housing. 
With the above structure, a socket or a jack can be inserted such that it 
is positioned parallel to the face of the IC card, and even when the IC 
card is located adjacent to it, interference with that IC card will be 
minimal. 
In addition, in accordance with another embodiment of the present 
invention, the portion of the flat plate member that can be positioned 
upright can be rotated to either side of the flat plate member so that the 
portion can be shifted to the side where it is most convenient.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention will now be described while referring to the 
accompanying drawings. 
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portable or laptop computer 200. The 
portable computer 200 includes a color liquid crystal panel screen 202 and 
a keyboard 204. A slot 206 into which a PCMCIA card can be inserted is 
provided in the right side of the computer 200. 
In FIG. 3 there is shown a PCMCIA card 302 that has a connector 304 
according to the present invention. The connector 304 can be employed to 
connect an external device to the card 302 via a socket or jack. As an 
illustrative example, the connector 304 can be used to connect a telephone 
to card 302 via a modular jack. The PCMCIA card 302 can function as, for 
example, a modem for the portable computer 200. The PCMCIA card 302 can be 
inserted into the slot 206 in the direction indicated by the arrow A. In 
one state of the connector 304, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector 
304 is disposed within the body of the PCMCIA card 302. 
The connector 304 is loaded using a push-pop mechanism. By pressing inward 
in the direction that is the opposite of that indicated by the arrow B in 
FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector 304 can projected outward from the PCMCIA 
card 302 in the direction that is indicated by the arrow B in FIGS. 3 and 
4. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a state when the connector 304 has been projected 
outward in the above described manner. The connector 304 includes a 
connector body 305, which can be shifted parallel to the face of the card 
302, and an inverted U-shaped housing 306, which is supported at the 
connector body 305 so as to be rotatable around an imaginary axis 
indicated by X--X. The connector body 305 and the housing 306 are both 
made of insulating plastic. The connector body 305 further includes a 
convex rib 308, which abuts upon the front face of an inserted modular 
jack to guide and secure it. The connector body 305 also includes a 
plurality of conductive terminals 310 which are contacted by and 
electrically connected to the terminals of the modular jack when the 
modular jack is inserted and is in contact with the rib 308. 
To place the connector 304 back inside the card 302, the housing 306 is 
rotated downward to the original position shown in FIG. 5. Next, the 
connector 304 is pushed inside the card 302 as shown in FIG. 4. The 
connector 304 is then held within the body of the card 302 by the 
aforementioned push-pop mechanism, as shown in FIG. 4. In this manner, it 
is possible to prevent the connector 304 from being damaged by, for 
example, its striking a desk or a chair while the portable computer 200 is 
being carried. 
Turning now to FIG. 6, the IC card of the present invention is shown 
wherein the housing 306 has been rotated upward and around the axis X--X 
with a user's fingers until it is perpendicular or substantially 
perpendicular to the top face of the PCMCIA card 302. Since the housing 
306 is formed such that it has an inverted U shape, the housing 306 forms 
an opening 312 while it is upright. A recessed portion 314 is formed in 
the upper end of the opening 312 to engage a latch 604 of a modular jack 
602. 
When the modular jack 602 is moved in the direction that is indicated by 
the arrow C (FIG. 6) and is inserted into the opening 312 of the housing 
306, as is shown in FIG. 7, the front end of the modular jack 602 abuts 
upon the rib 308 and the latch 604 is fitted into the recessed portion 314 
such that the modular jack 602 is fixedly retained in the connector 304. 
FIG. 8 is a view of the IC card and modular jack of FIG. 7 viewed from a 
different direction. To remove the modular jack 602, it need only be 
pulled in the direction that is the opposite of that indicated by the 
arrow C in FIG. 6 while the latch 604 is depressed. 
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a rib 308 
and terminals 310 can be formed on the reverse side (not shown) of the 
connector 304 in the same manner as is shown in FIG. 5. In this 
embodiment, the housing 306 can be rotated downward until it is almost 
perpendicular to the bottom face of the PCMCIA card 302 as shown in FIG. 
9. In FIG. 9, the modular jack 602 is upside down when it is inserted into 
the connector 304. 
As described above, according to the present invention, a rotatable housing 
is provided as an IC card connector that can be raised until it is 
substantially perpendicular to the face of the IC card, and an opening is 
formed in the housing into which a socket (a jack) can be fitted. Thus, 
the socket can be inserted in a direction that is substantially parallel 
to the face of the IC card, and even when there is an adjacently located 
IC card, interference with that card will be minimal. 
According to another embodiment of the present invention, as described 
above, the housing can be rotated to either side, and a user can therefore 
rotate the housing to the side that is the most convenient to use. 
Although the present invention has been described with regard to employing 
a modular jack as an example device that is fitted into the connector 304, 
the connector 304 used in the present invention can be applied or formed 
to correspond any socket, jack, or plug that is intended to be fitted into 
an opening. 
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with respect 
to preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled 
in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be 
made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention 
as defined in the appended claims.