Connector and adapter utilizing connector

Abstract: A connector includes a housing, and a flange portion which is formed by extending one main surface of the housing in a direction that a first circuit board is inserted. An adapter includes a casing having an insertion port into which a cartridge for first game machine can be inserted, and having a shape capable of being inserted into an insertion port of a second game machine. An adapter circuit board is contained in the casing, and includes a data conversion circuit which converts first game machine data stored in the cartridge for first game machine into data capable of being utilized in the second game machine.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention generally relates to a connector and an adapter utilizing the same. More specifically the present invention relates to a connector which stably connects a first circuit board and a second circuit board to each other, and an adapter which is utilized for connecting a cartridge for a first game machine to a second game machine so as to be used in the second game machine. Description of the prior art In the past, such a connector is know from Japanese Utility Model Application Laying-open No. 62-98183 (corresponding to United States Patent Application No. 06/874,231) filed by the same assignee as that of the present invention. An adapter to which such a connector is applied is known from Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 63-119789 (corresponding to United States Patent No. 4,844,465 and EP-A-266 855) is known. The conventional connector (Japanese Utility Model Application Laying-open No. 62-98183) has structure in which a circuit board is held by pressure and a friction force between contact terminals and the circuit board, by which the contact terminals (connection electrodes) are brought into resilient contact with the cartridge substrate; however, since the area of contact between the connector and the circuit board is small in the above described holding method, in a case where the circuit board is pressed by an external force in a direction perpendicular to a main surface of the circuit board, there is a possibility that the circuit board is bent at a connection portion with the connector. and the circuit board is damaged. In order to overcome such a disadvantage of the conventional connector, the adapter disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-open 63-119789 is provided with a guide supporting portion by which the circuit board is reinforced against the external force of the direction perpendicular to the main surface of the circuit board (cartridge). However, the above described adapter is utilized by being inserted inside a game machine of a front loading system (second game machine), and therefore, in that case, it is impossible to make the thickness of the adapter greater than that of a cartridge intended for use in the second game machine. The guide supporting portion cannot support the cartridge with a surface, and therefore, the guide supporting portion only supports left and right side surfaces of the circuit board. Therefore, if a large external force acts on the cartridge in the direction perpendicular to a main surface of the cartridge, there is a possibility that the circuit board is bent at a root of the guide supporting portion, thus causing damage. Furthermore, in the field of game equipment, most of the intended users are young people, and especially children, which is in general an environment where the cartridge or the adapter are likely to be dropped or stamped down, which is undesirable. In the adapter disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying open No. 63-119789, since the contacting area between the cartridge and the adapter is still small, if the adapter is stamped down, it is impossible to prevent completely the connector circuit board from being bent at a connection portion with the connector, thereby leading to its destruction. Furthermore, in the conventional adapter for game machines there is an assumption that functions of the first game machine and the second game machine or processing abilities of CPUs contained in the first game machine and the second game machine are the same, and therefore, data formats of ROM cartridges are used in the first game machine and the second game machine are the same. Accordingly, no adapter exists by which a cartridge can be commonly used in game machines having different functions or processing abilities. Therefore, if the user wants to play a game with a game software having a given data format, when the data format of the game software is not adapted to the game machine, the user must obtain a game machine to which such a data format is applicable. Since the game machine is not necessarily cheap, this becomes a large burden for the user. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel connector which connects two circuit boards to each other, and having a sufficient strength against an external force in a direction perpendicular to a main surface of the circuit board, and capable of holding a cartridge stably, and capable of preventing the circuit board from being easily bent or damaged. Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel adapter which connects a cartridge intended for use with a first game machine to second game machine reliably and stably for use in the second game machine, and even if functions or processing abilities of the first game machine and the second game machine are different from each other, so that it is possible to make the cartridge to be commonly used in the first game machine and the second game machine. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a connector as defined in claim 1 of the claims appended hereto. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provide an adapter as defined in claim 3 as appended hereto. The flange portion of the connector according to the first aspect of the invention is preferably formed by extending one main surface of the housing. The flange portion holds the first circuit board (the cartridge intended for a first game machine) with respect to the connector with a surface, and therefore, it is possible to secure a large contacting area between the connector and the cartridge. Since the adapter according to the second aspect of the invention includes the connector of the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to secure a large contacting area with respect to the cartridge intended for use with the first game machine. Furthermore, the adapter circuit board is provided with a data format conversion means which converts a format of data stored in the memory of the cartridge for the first game machine into a data format applicable to the second game machine, and therefore it is possible to make a cartridge to be commonly used in game machines having different data formats. The above described objects and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a top plan view showing a connector 10 according to a first aspect of the invention; Figure 2 is a bottom plan view showing the connector of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a right side view showing the connector 10 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the connection 10 at line IV-IV in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a game machine system to which an adapter 20 according to the second aspect of the invention is applicable; Figure 6 is a top plan view of the adapter 20 of Figure 5 embodiment; Figure 7 is a front view showing the adapter 20 of Figure 5 embodiment; Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the adapter 20 of Figure 5 at line VIII-VIII; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the adapter 20 of Figure 5 in a disassembled condition; Figure 10 is a block diagram showing a complete game machine system in which the adapter according to the second invention is applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 is a top plan view showing one embodiment of a connector according to the present invention, and Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4 are bottom plan view, a right side view and a cross-sectional view at a line IV-IV of Figure 1, respectively. In the following, the connector will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The connector 10 includes a housing 11 which is uniformly formed by an insulation material such as synthetic resin. The housing 11 includes a long and thin rectangular parallelepiped bottom portion. A portion of the bottom portion is extended below, and therefore, the housing formed as a 'U' shape in cross-section in view of a side surface thereof. Attaching pieces 111 and 112 are formed at left and right side ends of the bottom portion. One longitudinal side 113 of the housing 11, is formed with holes (grooves) 114 for receiving connection electrodes 13 with constant intervals. On the other longitudinal side 115 of the housing 11, at a lower portion, a plurality of openings 116 are formed along the longitudinal direction through which openings 116 free ends of the connection electrodes are exposed. A bottom surface of the housing 11 is extended towards the left as shown in Figure 3 so as to construct a flange portion 12. Each of the connection electrodes 13 is formed by bending an electric conductive metallic plate into an L-shape, and the connection electrodes 13 are held in a state where both ends thereof are exposed from the housing (see Figure 4). One end 13a of each connection electrode 13 is positioned above the flange portion 12, and when a circuit board 51 of a cartridge for a first game machine 50 (Figure 5) is inserted, the one end 13a is brought into resilient contact with the circuit board 51. The other end 13b of each connection electrode 13 projects from the bottom surface of the housing 11, and connects to through holes 31 formed on an adapter circuit board 30 (Figure 9). The flange portion 12 is formed by extending the bottom surface of the housing 11 with a thickness similar to or slightly thinner than the thickness of the attaching pieces 111 and 112. In order to reduce the insertion friction resistance of the cartridge 50 for a first game machine, guide projections 14 which each project by a small amount are formed on an upper surface of the flange portion 12. On the bottom surface of the housing 11, positioning projections 15 are formed projecting outwardly of the bottom surface. The positioning projections 15 render the adapter circuit board 30 easily positionable in a cooperation with positioning holes 32 of the adapter circuit board 30. Figure 5 is a structural view showing a system in which an adapter of one embodiment according to the present invention is applicable. The connector 10 is contained in the adapter 20 (a game signal conversion apparatus) such that the cartridge 50 for a first game machine (hereinafter referred to as a "cartridge") used for a first game machine 40 (e.g. a game machine with a dot-matrix liquid crystal display, being manufactured and sold by the same assignee as that of the present invention, under the trademark "GAME BOY") can be detachably attached to the adapter 20. The adapter 20 is attached to a second game machine 60 and used in a state where the cartridge 50 is attached to the adapter 20 instead of a cartridge 70 for the second game machine 60 (e.g. a 16-bit television game machine manufactured and sold by the same assignee as that of the present invention, under the trademark "SUPER FAMICOM" or "SUPER NES"). More specifically, an insertion port 41 having a rear surface to which the cartridge 50 is inserted is formed on the first game machine 40 (see Fig. 5). The cartridge 50 includes a housing 52 composed of a front housing 52F and a rear housing 52R. The cartridge circuit board 51 is contained within the housing 52, and on the cartridge circuit board 51, a storage device (not shown) storing game data which is programmed on the basis of a data format for the first game machine 40. One end 53 of the cartridge circuit board 51 is held so as to be exposed from an opening 54 of the housing 52. An end portion of the housing 52 at a side of the opening 54 is formed with a shape adapted for insertion to the insertion port 41. The one end 53 of the cartridge circuit board 51 is connected to a connector (not shown) which is provided in the innermost end of the insertion port 41 in the direction of cartridge insertion, and the game data is read-out by a CPU (not shown) within the first game machine 40 to be used. An insertion port 61 for inserting a cartridge for second game machine (hereinafter, simply called as "cartridge") 70 is formed on an upper surface of the second game machine 60. The cartridge 70 has a housing 71 composed of a front housing 71F and a rear housing 71R. A cartridge circuit board (not shown) is contained within the housing 71. A storage device (not shown) such as a ROM which stores data (game program) programmed for the second game machine 60 is mounted on the cartridge circuit board. One end of the cartridge circuit board is held in a manner such that it is exposed from an opening (not shown) which is formed on a bottom surface of the housing 71. An end portion 72 of the housing 71 at a side of the opening is formed with a shape insertable to the insertion port 61. The one end of the cartridge circuit board is connected with a connector (shown by reference numeral 63 in Figure 10) provided in the innermost end of the insertion port 61 in the direction of cartridge insertion, and the game data can be read out by a CPU (shown by reference numeral 62 in Figure 10) contained in the second game machine 60. The adapter 20 includes a casing 21 composed of a front casing 21F and a rear casing 21R. An insertion port 22 into which the cartridge 50 is insertable is formed on the front casing 21F with a shape similar to the shape of the insertion port 41. The adapter circuit board 30 is contained within the casing 21. External connection terminals 33 of the adapter circuit board 30 are exposed from an opening 23 formed on a bottom surface of the casing 21. One end of the housing 21 at a side of the opening 23 is formed with a shape similar to the shape of an end portion 72 of the cartridge 70, so that the casing can be inserted into the insertion port 61. Figure 6 to Figure 9 show the adapter in detail, and especially, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8 and Figure 9 are top plan view, a front view, a cross-sectional view at a line VIII-VIII in Figure 7, and a disassembled perspective view, respectively. The connector 10 is mounted at the innermost end of the insertion port 22 in the direction of cartridge insertion, and a portion of the flange portion 12 is exposed from the insertion port 22. Within the insertion port 22, projections 24 similar to the guide projections 14 formed on the flange portion 12 are formed. The adapter circuit board 30 (hereinafter referred to as a "circuit board") is formed with desired circuit patterns (not shown) with printed tracks and a plurality of withdrawing electrodes 34 which are connectable to the connector (62 in Figure 10) of the second game machine 60 are formed on one end 33 of the circuit board 30. A plurality of electronic components or parts such as a CPU, RAM, ROM etc. (components or parts within a portion surrounded by a frame indicated by a reference numeral 20 in Figure 10) are mounted on the circuit board 30. In a state where the plurality of electronic components or parts are mounted on the circuit board 30, the aforementioned other ends 13b of the connection electrodes 13 are inserted into through holes 31 formed on the circuit board 30, and are soldered to predetermined patterns of the circuit board 30. The positioning of the connector 10 and the circuit board 30 is performed by the positioning projections 15 and the positioning holes 32. Furthermore, by the cooperation of the connection electrodes 13, which are arranged in a zigzag fashion in two lines, with the through holes 31 which are formed in corresponding zigzag fashion, the connector 10 is prevented from being erroneously attached to the circuit board 30. Once all of the electronic components or parts and the connection 10 are mounted on the circuit board 30, the circuit board 30 is attached to the rear casing 21R. Holes 35 each having a diameter larger than a diameter of each of bosses 16 of the connection 10 are formed on the circuit board 30. The bosses 16 penetrate the holes 35 in a state where the connector 10 is soldered onto the circuit board 30. Then. the connector 10 and the rear casing 21R are coupled to each other by screws 17, and the circuit board 30 is sandwiched by the connector 10 and the rear casing 21R. By holding the circuit board 30 in the above described manner, cracks which may easily occur at screwed portions in the circuit board can be prevented. Furthermore, notches 36 are formed on the circuit board 30, and in cooperation with ribs 25 on the rear casing 21R. the circuit board 30 is prevented from being attached to the rear casing 21R in a reversed direction. An engage portion 26 is formed on the casing 21. The engage portion 26 is composed of engaging claws 26F (Figure 7) formed on the front casing 21F and engaging holes 26R formed on the rear casing 21R. Then, after making the engage portion 26, by fastening screws 27 to bosses 28R through holes 28F such that the front casing 21F and the rear casing 21R are coupled to each other by screw, the housing 21 can be uniformly constructed. When the housing is uniformly constructed, the opening portion 23 is formed at a side of the bottom surface by a bottom portion notch 23F of the front casing 21F and a bottom portion notch 23R of the rear casing 21R. The one end 33 of the circuit board 30 is exposed from the opening portion 23, and the withdrawing electrodes 34 are connected to the connector (63 in Figure 10) of the second game machine 60. If the processing abilities or functions (and therefore, data formats etc.) of the first game machine 40 and the second game machine 60 are the same, the adapter 20 applies the data from the cartridge 50 to the second game machine 60 with no change, and therefore, the adapter 20 may be considered to be adapting in terms of cartridge shape only. However, if the data formats of the first game machine 40 and the second game machine 60 are different from each other. the game data read-out from the cartridge 50 is to be converted into the data format applicable to the second game machine 60. Therefore, electronic circuits or semiconductor integrated circuits are mounted on the circuit board 30 contained in the adapter 20, as shown surrounded by a dotted line indicated by a reference numeral 20 shown in Figure 10. Figure 10 is a block diagram showing a whole game machine system to which the adapter 20 according to the present invention is applied. In the game system. in order to use the cartridge 50 for the first game machine 40 as the cartridge 70 for the second game machine 60, the adapter 20 is used to attach or detach the cartridge 50 to or from the second game machine 60. The adapter 20 contains therein a CPU 201 having the same ability or performance as that of an 8-bit CPU (not shown) used in the first game machine 40 to which the cartridge 50 is originally applied. The term "CPU" includes not only a central processing unit called in general a CPU but also an IC or unit dedicated for image processing or video signal processing. If the first game machine 40 is a game machine with a monochrome liquid crystal display, the CPU 201 generates a graded image date (hereinafter, called as "gradation data"), and if the first game machine is an 8-bit television game machine, the CPU 201 generates a color-toned image data. The CPU 201 is connected to the connector 10 via a data bus and an address bus. An image data interface 202 is connected to the CPU 201. A buffer memory (hereinafter called the "buffer RAM") 203 is connected to the image data interface, and further a system ROM 204 and the connector connection terminals 33 are connected to the image data interface 202 via the data bus and the address bus. The cartridge 50 attached to the adapter 20 contains a non-volatile memory (e.g. a read-only-memory, hereinafter referred to as "ROM") 55. The ROM 55 includes a plurality of storage areas. Given storage areas include a register file by which the cartridge 50 can be applied to the adapter 20, for example, ID data which is used for determining an authenticity of the cartridge 50 in starting an operation (in turning-on a power source), a code of a manufacturer of the cartridge 50, and a color palette setting identifying code, respectively. Another storage area is a storage area for storing image display data for a monochrome display, and for storing at least character data of a plurality of game characters and program data for controlling the display of the plurality of characters. More specifically, each of the characters is constituted by 8 x 8 pixels, and therefore, the character storage area stores the character data of a single character by gradation data representative of four kinds of gradations by 2 (two) bits for each dot. For example, black, dark grey, light grey and white are represented by the gradation data of "11", "10", "01" and "00", respectively. Therefore, the character storage area of the ROM 55 has a storage capacity of 16 times the number of characters capable of being displayed at maximum because an area of twice 8 bits x 8 bytes (16 bytes) is required for the single character. Then, the CPU 201 generates gradation data composed of a plurality of gradations for each character on the basis of the image display data stored in the ROM 55 contained in the cartridge 50, and outputs the gradation data to the image data interface 202 in synchronism with timings for displaying the character on the dot-matrix liquid crystal display. A buffer RAM 203 for temporarily storing image data processed for the first game machine by the CPU 201, for example the gradation data for each dot, is connected to the image data interface 202. The buffer RAM 203 is used for synchronization adjustment between a timing when the CPU 201 generates the gradation data for the first game machine 40 and a timing when the character is displayed in the second game machine 60. On the assumption that a storage capacity capable of storing the gradation data for 20 (twenty) characters, for example, is 1 (one) block, the buffer RAM 203 has a storage capacity of 4 (four) blocks. Furthermore, the CPU 201 outputs a sound signal on the basis of sound source data stored in the ROM 55, and applies the same to a sound signal output terminal of the connector terminals 33. Techniques for generating or producing the image data by the CPU 201, are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2-210562 (corresponding to US-A-5,134,391). The image data interface 202 generates the gradation data to be stored temporarily in the buffer RAM 203, and controls read-out of the gradation data of one block for each interrupt signal from a CPU 62, whereby the gradation data generated in synchronization with a display timing of the liquid crystal display can be transferred to a W-RAM 64 from the buffer RAM 203 via a data bus, an address bus, the connector terminals 33, the CPU 62 and the connector 63, and therefore, the gradation data can be outputted from the second game machine 60 in synchronization with raster scanning of the monitor. Furthermore, a system ROM 204 is further connected to the data bus and the address bus. The system ROM 204 stores a program which is executed by the CPU 62 included in the second game machine 60 and for converting the gradation data for the first game machine 40 into image display data capable of being applied to the second game machine 60, and other programs. Furthermore, a controller interface 205 is connected to the data bus, and an output of the controller interface 205 is applied to the CPU 201. The controller interface 205 transfers the data to the CPU 201 when the data indicating an operation status of an operation device or controller 80 in the game mode is supplied. Furthermore, the controller (operation device) 80 is connected to the CPU 62 via an interface 67, and the data indicative of operated status of the controller 80 is read into the CPU 62 at regular time intervals, and the data is used as a command signal for controlling or changing a displayed state of the character. In addition, in order to exclude an unauthorised, copied or modified, cartridge, a program for determining the authenticity of the cartridge may be stored in the adapter such that when a false cartridge is attached, execution of the game may be made impossible.

Claims: A connector (10) for detachably connecting a first circuit board (51) to a second circuit board (30), comprising: a plurality of L-shaped connection electrodes (13) each of which is formed by bending an electrically conductive metallic strip; each electrode including a first end (13a) resiliently contactable with a first circuit board (51) and a second end (13b) electrically connectable to a second circuit board (30); a housing (11) of an insulating material, receiving said plurality of connection electrodes (13) along a first direction such that the connection electrodes (13) are separated, and holding the connection electrodes (13) such that both ends (13a, 13b) of the connection electrodes (13) are exposed; characterised by a flange portion (12) being an extension of one surface of said housing (11), said flange extending in a direction of the first end (13a) of each of said connection electrodes (13); opposite to the orientation of a second circuit board (30) connected in use to the second ends (13b) of the electrodes (13) ; a guide projection (14) which extends in the plane of said flange portion and of a first circuit board (51) attached in use on a surface of said flange portion (12); and an attaching portion (111, 112) which is formed on said one surface of said housing. A connector according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of connection electrodes (13) are arranged in a zigzag fashion in two lines. An adapter for adapting a memory cartridge for a first game machine (40) to be used with a second game machine (60), comprising: a casing (21) which includes a front casing (21F) and a rear casing (21R), and has an insertion portion (23) for insertion into a second game machine (60); an opening portion (22) which is formed on said front casing and for receiving a cartridge (50) for a first game machine (40); an adapter circuit board (30) which is contained in said casing (21) such that an end portion thereof is exposed and is connectable to a second game machine (60) which board (30) has one main surface on which electronic components are mounted and a connector according to claim 1 being attached to another surface of said adapter circuit board (30), the connecting electrodes thereof being resiliently contactable with a circuit board of a cartridge (50) received in the opening (22). An adapter according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of connection electrodes (13) are arranged in a zigzag fashion in two lines, and said adapter circuit board (30) is formed with through holes (31) arranged in a zigzag fashion in two lines corresponding to said plurality of connection electrodes (13), and being asymmetrical in plan view. An adapter according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein said adapter circuit board (30) includes a data transfer means (201-205) which converts game control data stored in a cartridge for a first game machine into data applicable for display control in a second game machine, and transfers the data to said second game machine.

Inventors: OTA MASAHIKO, SHIRAE YUTAKA, YUKAWA MASAYUKI, OTA, MASAHIKO, SHIRAE, YUTAKA, YUKAWA, MASAYUKI, OTA, MASAHIKO, C/O NINTENDO CO., LTD., SHIRAE, YUTAKA, C/O NINTENDO CO. LTD., YUKAWA, MASAYUKI, C/O NINTENDO CO., LTD.
Applicants: NINTENDO CO LTD, NINTENDO CO. LIMITED
Application year: 1995
Main classification: H01R23
IPC codes: H01R31, H01R12, H05K5