PC card and PC card connector

Abstract: A PC card 1 includes a plate-like body having a front face 2 and at least one side face 4 extending in a card insertion direction A. A plurality of signal contact elements 3 are provided at the front face for coupling to a connector, and at least one shielded signal connection terminal 6 is provided on the side face 4 for receiving and/or sending signals from and to an external signal connection member.

Description: This invention relates to PC cards and connectors therefor. A PC card has a plate shape, which is inserted into a connector inside a slot provided on a case of an electronic device, such as computer. The PC card includes a plurality of signal contact elements at the front end face for coupling to corresponding contact elements of the connector. The plurality of signal contact elements need to occupy almost all the front end face of the PC card for their arrangement. The PC card may need a shielded connection terminal depending upon the purpose for which the card is used. However, a conventional PC card cannot provide such a connection terminal at the front end face since the contact elements are disposed over the full width of the front end face. In order to provide the shielded connection terminal, it would be necessary that a thick, enlarged portion be formed on the front end face of the PC card to accommodate the shielded connection terminal. As a result, the electrical connector and the slot must have shapes corresponding to the enlarged portion. A shielded connection terminal, however, has a relatively large diameter, almost as large as the full width of the PC card, so that, if the enlarged portion is formed, the PC card will become almost twice as thick as the conventional card. This results in a large-sized connector and a large-opened slot, letting dust in. Even if the enlarged portion is formed locally at the front end face of the PC card, these problems will still arise. It is also inconvenient when plural types of PC cards are used at the same electrical device since an enlarged portion is added to the conventional plate-like PC card having an uniform thickness. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a PC card in which this problem is avoided. This object is met by the invention claimed in Claim 1. It is another object of the present invention to provide a connector capable of receiving the PC card according to the invention claimed in Claim 1. This object is met by the invention claimed in Claim 3. Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a PC card and a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the connector of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a right side view of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a left side view of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the left half of the connector shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the cable support shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view showing a modified example of the lever 33 shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a modified example of the cable support and the coaxial terminals shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 10 is a plan view of still another embodiment of the present invention, showing the state where the cable support has started moving away from the PC card; Fig. 11 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 10, showing the state where the cable support has finished moving away from the PC card; Fig. 12 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 10 showing the state where the cable support is connected to the PC card; and Fig. 13 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the present invention. In Figs. 1-6, a PC card 1 has a rectangular plate shape with a substantially uniform thickness and includes a plurality of signal contact elements 3 disposed over the full width of the front end face 2 opposite to a connector 10 in an insertion direction A. In the embodiment, while the contact elements 3 are female-type contact elements disposed in two lines, the present invention is not limited thereto and the contact elements may be male-type. Also, the contact elements 3 can be disposed in a single line, or three lines or more. The PC card has side faces 4 and 5 perpendicular to the front end face 2 and parallel to the insertion direction A. On one side face 4, two shielded connection terminals 6 for respective coaxial shielded cables are provided as signal connection members. The shielded connection terminals 6 may be connected with solder to a substrate in the PC card 1. Such shielded connection terminals can be either male type or female type. These shielded connection terminals 6 are connected with respective circuits in the PC card 1. A locating hole 7 is formed between the two shielded connection terminals 6 on the side face 4 for positioning the PC card 1 and preventing it from dropping out. The connector 10 for slidably receiving the PC card 1 includes two guide members 11 and 12 extending parallel to the card insertion direction A for guiding the narrow side faces 4 and 5 respectively of the PC card 1. The guide members 11 and 12 are united by a cross-member 13 at their rear ends. A plurality of male contact elements 14 extend through the cross-member 13. The contact elements 14 comprise connection parts 14A extending toward the front end face 2 of the PC card and which are disposed in two lines corresponding to the arrangement of the contact elements 3, and wiring parts 14B which extend away from the PC card 1 on the opposite side of the member 13 and are bent so as to uniformly contact a face of a circuit substrate, not shown. The guide member 11 has a channel-like cross section to define a guiding groove 11B extending in the longitudinal direction for guiding the side face 4, and also has an exposed face in which a screw hole 11A is formed to house the head of a screw by which the guide member 11 is fixed in position. In the middle of the guide member 11 a housing 16 extends laterally outwardly for slidably accommodating a cable support 15, the cable support 15 being slidable in the housing 16 towards and away from the side face 4 of a PC card 1 located in the connector 10. The cable support 15 is guided in its sliding movement by having guide rails 24 along each side edge which slidably engage guide grooves 26 along the interior side edges of the housing 16. The cable support 15 has two U-shape grooves 19 for accommodating respective coaxial terminals 18, as signal connection members, to which shielded cables 17 are connected in this embodiment. The coaxial terminals 18 are retained in position in the cable support 15 by a cover 20 which is tightened down on the terminals 18 with a screw 20A. The coaxial terminals 8 can directly engage respective connection terminals 6 parts on the PC card by sliding the cable support 15 towards the side face 4 when the latter is located in the connector 10. On the front of the cable support 15, a projecting shaft 21 is provided which can enter the locating hole 7 to properly position the PC card 1 for engagement of the terminals 18 with the terminals 6. On the rear of the cable support 15, a spring retaining tube 23 is provided for supporting a coil spring 22 serving as a resilient member. The resilient member may be another type of spring or other resilient material, such as rubber or plastic. In addition, a cam shaft 25 projects downwardly from the bottom face of the cable support 15 so as to cooperate with a cam described later. Around the inside surface of the housing 16, near its rear end, a groove 27 is formed to receive a keep plate 28 which is pressed into the groove 27. The keep plate 28 has U-shape cut-outs 29 to permit the cables 17 to freely pass through. The spring 22, held in position by the spring retaining tube 23, is compressed between the cable support 15 and the keep plate 28, biasing the cable support 15 laterally inwardly towards the PC card 1. The cam shaft 25 on the bottom face of the cable support 15 projects downwardly through an elongated hole 30 in the bottom of the housing 16 and is movable along the elongated hole 30 as the cable support 15 slides in the housing 16. A sliding lever 31 extends alongside the guide member 11 for moving the cable support 15 towards and away from the PC card 1. The lever 31 is provided with a push-button part 32 at its front end and a lever part 33 extending rearwardly from the push-button part 32. The lever part 33 has flat portions at the front and rear ends which are accommodated respectively in guide grooves 35 and 34 provided on the outside face of the guide member 11 for sliding movement of the lever 31 back and forth alongside the guide member 11. In the middle of the lever part 33, a portion 36 is bent downwardly so as to pass underneath the housing 16. The part 36 has a cam section 37 consisting of a V-cam 38 and a flat cam 39. Initially, before the lever 31 is pushed rearwardly, the cam shaft 25 projecting from the elongated hole 30 in the housing 16 engages the flat cam 39 and the cable support 15 is retracted to the rear of the housing 16, i.e. outwardly away from the guide member 11, against the bias of the spring member 22. From this position, if the lever 31 is pushed rearwardly using the push-button 32, the cam shaft 25 slides into the V-cam 38 and the cable support 15 slides towards the PC card 1 under the bias of the spring 22, thereby permitting the coaxial terminals 18 to engage the connection terminals 6 of the PC card. The lever 33 further includes a retaining groove 40, described later, between the cam section 37 and the push-button part 32. The guide member 12 has a channel-like cross section to define a guiding groove 12B, similar to the guide member 11 discussed above, for guiding the side face 5 of the PC card 1. A ground spring 42 is provided between the guiding groove 12B and the PC card 1 for grounding the PC card. A screw hole 12A, similar to that of the guide member 11, is also formed in the guide member 11A,12. The guide members 11 and 12 are further united by another cross member 43 approximately in the middle. The cross-member 43 has a pin-like support member 44 in the middle with a swinging lever 45 pivotally attached thereto. The retaining groove 40 formed on the edge of the lever part 33 is engaged by a downwardly bent end 46 of the swinging lever 45 so that the lever 33 is caused to move as the lever 45 rotates. A card removing lever 47 is provided on the outside of the guide member 12, which includes a lever member 49 extending rearwardly from a push-button part 48 and an auxiliary lever member 50 connected to the lever member 49. On the inside face of the push-button part 48, a groove 51 is formed so that the card removing lever 47 can be guided along a guide rail 52 on the outside face of the guide member 12. In the middle of the lever member 49, a retaining slot 53 is formed for engagement by a bent claw 54 formed at the other end of the swinging lever 45 to the end 46. In the rear end of the lever member 49, an elongated retaining hole 55 is provided for engagement by an L-shaped claw 56 formed at the forward end of the auxiliary lever member 50. The auxiliary lever member 50 also includes a retaining slot 57 at the rear end. In the neighborhood of the cross-member 13 a receiving member 58 is provided over the guide members 11 and 12. The receiving member 58 is movable back and forth in a direction parallel to the insertion direction A and receives the front end face of the PC card 1. The receiving member 58 has windows thereon with respective abutment faces 59, each formed by bending the rear edge of the window downward out of the plane of the member 58, to abut the front end face of the PC card 1. The receiving member 58 also has a face 60 which is pushed forwardly by a plate-like shifter lever 61. The shifter lever 61 is pivoted on a pin 62 on the cross member 13; one end 63 is retained in the retaining slot 57 of the auxiliary lever 50 and the other end forms a pushing face 64 to abut the face 60. The PC card 1 is inserted into and removed from the connector 10 in the following manner. (1) Before insertion of the PC card 1, the push-button part 32 of the moving lever 31 projects forwardly, so that the cam shaft 35 on the bottom of the cable support 15 engages the flat cam 39 of the lever 31 so that the cable support 15 is retracted in the housing 16 against the bias of the spring 22. (2) The PC card 1 is then inserted between the guide members 11 and 12 and pushed fully into position so that the signal contact elements 3 engage the connection parts 14A of the contact elements 14 so as to be electrically connected with the connector 10. (3) With the PC card 1 in this position, the push-button 32 of the lever 31 is pushed rearwardly. As a result, the cam shaft 25 of the cable support 15 moves to V-cam 38 and thereby the spring 22 biases the cable support 15 toward the PC card 1. The projecting shaft 21 of the cable support 15 then enters the locating hole 7 of the PC card 1 so that the PC card 1 is accurately positioned and prevented from dropping out, and the two coaxial terminals 18 engage the respective shielded connection terminals 6. (4) Removal of the PC card 1 is performed by pushing the push-button part 48 of the card removing lever 47 rewardly. This causes the swinging lever 45, whose end 54 is retained by the retaining slot 53 of the card removing lever 47, to pivot about the pivot member 44 so that its end 46, which is engaged in the groove 40, forces the lever 31 to move forwardly. Thus the cam shaft 25 of the cable support 15 moves from the V-cam 38 to the flat cam 39, away from the PC card 1. The projecting shaft 21 of the cable support 15 therefore comes out of the locating hole 7 of the PC card 1, while at the same time the coaxial terminals 18 are disengaged from the respective shielded connection terminals 6, resulting in a standby condition wherein the PC card 1 can be removed from the connector 10 without damage. When pushing the card removing lever 47 so as to pivot the lever 45, also starts swinging, though, the auxiliary lever 50 remains motionless until the claw 56 meets the forward edge of the elongated retaining hole 55 of the card removing lever 47. (5) Further rearward movement of the card removing lever 47 causes the forward edge of the retaining hole 55 to push the claw 56 of the auxiliary lever 50 rearwardly and thereby the auxiliary lever 50 forces the shift lever 61 to pivot on the pin 62. The pushing face 64 of the shifter lever 61 then pushes the face 60 of the receiving member 58 so as to move the receiving member 58 forward, which causes the PC card 1 to be pushed in the direction opposite to the insertion direction A and disconnected from the connector 10, thereby permitting the PC card 1 to be removed manually. While the bent portion 36 of the lever 31 is formed to pass underneath the housing 16 in this embodiment, the bent portion may be formed to pass above the housing 16, as shown at 36A in Fig. 7. In this case, a cam section 37A is provided on the bent portion 36A, including a V-cam 38A and a flat cam 39A. A cam shaft 25A will be also formed so as to project upward from the cable support 15 for engagement with the V-cam 38A and the flat cam 39A. Furthermore, while coaxial terminals 18 connected with the shielded cables 17 are retained in the cable support 15 by tightening a cover 20 with a screw 20A in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto and, as shown in Fig. 8, the coaxial terminals 18A may be sufficiently retained in the cable support 15 without a cover. For example, one may attach lances 18B to the coaxial terminals 18A and insert them to the insertion holes 19A of the cable support 15. Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above embodiment of Figs. 1 to 6, the lever 33 performs reciprocating motion along the insertion direction A. Alternatively, in the embodiment of Fig. 9, a lever 71 is pivotable about a pivot point 72 for rotational movement in directions A and B. The lever 71 is also pivoted by a pin 73 to a cable support 74 similar to the cable support 15. Rotation in the direction A separates the cable support 74 from the PC card, not shown, while rotation in the direction B moves the cable support 74 towards the PC card. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The above two embodiments require two kinds of levers; the one is a card removing lever and the other is a lever for moving the cable support from or to the PC card. The embodiment shown in Figs. 10 to 12 is characterised in that the moving operation of the cable support can be performed by the card removing lever. Referring to Fig. 10, a card removing lever 81 includes a push-button part 82 and a lever member 83 extending rearwardly from the push-button part 82. The card removing lever 81 is guided for sliding back and forth by a guide 84A carried by a guide member 84 (similar to the guide member 12) and is pivoted to the shifter lever 61 at the rear. In this embodiment the shifter lever 61 and the receiving member 58 connected thereto are the same as those of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 6, so that those elements are represented by the same reference numbers and their description will be omitted. A coil spring 89 between the guide 84 and the push-button part 82 biases the lever member 83 forwardly so that it normally assumes the position shown in Fig. 12. Fig 12 shows the situation with the PC card fully inserted into the connector, with the cable support 15 against the side face 4 of the PC card and the coaxial terminals 18 engaging the shielded connection terminals 6. However, the position of the lever member 83 is the same if the PC card is absent. In order to eject the PC card from the fully inserted position shown in Fig. 12 the push-button 82 is pressed against the bias of the spring 89 to move the lever member 33 rearwardly and thus rotate the pivoted lever 61. The latter in turn causes the receiving member 58 to move forwardly and eject the PC card in the manner previously described. However, in this embodiment, a trapezoidal bend 85 is formed at the lateral end of the receiving member 58 and extends along the outside face of the guide member 11, i.e., on the cable support 15 side of the connector 10. The cable support 15 partially projects rearwardly and has an inclined edge 86. The bend 85 engages the inclined edge in a camming action to move the cable support 15 away from the PC card 1, and hence disengages the terminals 18 from the terminals 6, just before engagement and removal of the PC card by the receiving member 58 (see Fig. 10). Then, further rearward movement of the lever member 33 (Fig. 11) causes the receiving member 58 to engage the PC card and push it forwardly so that the PC card disengages the contact elements 14 and the card can be removed from the connector. After removal of the PC card, the card removing lever 81 is returned to the Fig. 12 position under the bias of the spring 89 so that the cable support 15 is also returned to the Fig. 12 position under the bias of the spring 22 because the bend 85 is disengaged from the tapered part 86. In order to move the cable support 15 laterally outwardly as the PC card is inserted into the connector, as the card advances into the connector the side face of the PC card engages an inclined projection 87 provided on the front edge of the cable support 15, so that the cable support 15 is cammed away from the PC card as the card is inserted. Then, as the PC card reaches its fully inserted position, the inclined projection 87 is biased by the spring 22 into an inclined recess 88 in the side face of the card (see Fig. 12). As in the above embodiments, the proper position of the inserted PC card is determined by a projecting shaft 21 on the cable support 15 engaging in a locating hole 7 of the PC card. In the embodiment of Figs. 10 to 12, it may occur that the cable support is tilted when it is pushed away from the PC card since the cable support is engaged by the bend 85 at one edge rather than at the center. Fig. 13 shows still another embodiment to solve the above problem. Referring to Fig. 13, a cable support 91 has an upwardly projecting part 93 in a substantially central position. The projecting part 93 includes a camming face 92 which is cut at an angle. The cable support 91 is housed in the housing 16 and is biassed towards the PC card (not shown) by a spring 95 surrounding a cylindrical shaft 94,. A lever 96 extends forwards from the receiving member 58 and includes an inclined projecting edge 97 for engaging the face 92 of the cable support 91. The edge 97 and face 92 cooperate to force the cable support 91 laterally away from the PC card in a similar manner to the bend 85 and inclined edge 86 of the embodiment of Figs. 10 to 12. However, in this case the edge 97 engages the face 92 substantially in the centre of the cable support 91 thereby preventing the cable support 91 from being tilted. In any of the embodiments, the spring for biasing the cable support can be either supported by a projection or put in a tube with enough clearance in order to make the spring position stable. Also, the cover of the cable support can be omitted by attaching lances to the coaxial terminals, as described. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to an electrical connector but also to an optical fiber connector. In the former case, the coaxial terminals are engaged with the connection terminals on the side face of the PC card for making electrical connection. By contrast, in the latter case one can establish a signal connection without engagement of the terminals since an adequate signal connection can be made even if the terminals are slightly spaced. As will be seen from the above, this invention permits the PC card to connect with external signal connection members by having additional terminals on the side face, so that the thickness of the PC card can be kept uniform and of conventional size without reduction in the number of the signal contact elements on the front end face. Also, there is no need to enlarge the slot on the connector for insertion of the PC card and this makes it possible to mitigate the problem arising from the entry of dust.

Claims: A PC card comprising: a plate-like body having a front face (2) and at least one side face (4,5) extending in a card insertion direction; a plurality of signal contact elements (3) provided at the front face for coupling to a connector; and at least one signal connection terminal (6) provided on the side face for receiving and/or sending signals from and to an external signal connection member. A PC card according to claim 1, which further comprises a hole (7) provided on the side face (4) so as to locate the PC card in a predetermined position relative to a connector (10). A connector for the PC card (1) of claim 1, comprising: a guide means (11, 12) for guiding the PC card in the card insertion direction (A); a plurality of contact elements (14) for engaging the contact elements (3) at the front face of the PC card; a support (15) for at least one signal connection member mounted on the same side of the guide means (11) as the side face (4) of the PC card and movable towards and away from the side face, the support being biased by a spring member (22) toward the side face; and means for manually moving the support away from the side face against the bias of the spring member. A connector according to claim 3, wherein the moving means includes a lever (31) reciprocal in the card insertion direction and cooperating cam (25, 37) means on the lever and support respectively, the cam means being operative to move the support (15) away from the side face of the PC card or to permit the support to be biassed towards the PC card according to the position of the lever. A connector according to claim 3, wherein the moving means includes a lever (71) extending in the card insertion direction and pivotable for moving the support away from and toward the side face of the PC card. A connector for the PC card according to claim 3, wherein said moving means includes a card removing lever (81) reciprocal along the opposite side of the guide means (12) to the support and a pivoted lever (61) of which one end is connected to the card removing lever and the other end operates to push a card removal member (58) in a card removal direction upon movement of the card removal lever in a given direction the card removal member having means which acts as a cam (86) to move the support (15) away from the side (4) face of the PC card. A connector for the PC card according to claim 6, wherein said cam action operates prior to card movement in the removal direction. A connector for the PC card according to claim 3, wherein the signal connection support (15) includes a projecting shaft (21) to engage in the locating hole (7) of the PC card (1).

Inventors: TUNEMATSU KAZUHISA, YAMANE MASAHIRO, TUNEMATSU, KAZUHISA, YAMANE, MASAHIRO, Tunematsu, Kazuhisa, c/o Hirose Elec. Co. Ltd., Yamane, Masahiro, c/o Hirose Elec. Co. Ltd.
Applicants: HIROSE ELECTRIC CO LTD, HIROSE ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: H01R12
IPC codes: H05K5, G06K7, H01R33, H01R13, G06K19, H01R31, G06K17, H01R12, G06F3