A FLAT CONTACT ELEMENT FOR A SMART CARD CONNECTOR AND A SMART CARD CONNECTOR USING A FLAT CONTACT ELEMENT

Abstract: A smart card connector, in particular a SIM card connector, comprising: a contact support (3), contact elements (2) moutned in said contact support (3), said contact elements being adapted to provide contact between contact zones of a smart card and a SIM card, respectively, and wherein the contact element (2) comprises a frame (10) which generates part of the spring force of the contact element.

Description: Description A Flat Contact Element for a Smart Card Connector and a Smart Card Connector Using a Flat Contact Element Technical Field This invention relates generally to a contact element and more particularly to a contact element for a smart card connector. This invention further relates to a smart card connector, in particular to a SIM card connector using the flat contact element. Background Art Contact elements as well as flat contact elements are used in many areas of technology and in particular in smart card connectors which are used to provide an electrical connection to contact zones of a smart card used together with a smart card connector should have dimensions as small as possible, but good electric and mechanical stability is also important. Disclosure of the Invention In one aspect of the present invention a contact element is provided which is of a flat design and comprises a frame which adds to the resiliency or spring action of the contact element at the time, the contact element makes contact. The flat contact element comprises a mounting section by means of which the contact element can be fixedly mounted at a contact support. The contact element comprises adjacent to the mounting section a contacting section as well as a spring or bending section. Preferably, a contact arm supported by the frame extends out of the plane defined by the frame. The contact arm has a free end forming a cusp- shaped contact zone adapted to contact a contact zone provided on a smart card or on a SIM card. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a smart card connector in the form of a SIM card connector according to an embodiment of the invention using a contact element of the invention; Fig. 2 is a view onto the bottom surface of the smart card connector of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the smart card connector of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4 is a detail of the top plan view of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 5 is a detail of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the contact element of the invention as it is used in the SIM card connector shown in Fig. 1 ; Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the contact element of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a frontal view of the contact element shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view along line 9-9 of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the contact element shown in Figs. 6 through 8; Fig. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a detail of the smart card connector shown in Fig. 1 ; Fig. 12 an enlarged perspective view of the smart card connector shown in Fig. 2. Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention Referring now to Fig. 1 , there is shown a smart card connector 1 according to the present invention. The smart card connector 1 as shown is specifically used for contacting a smart card in the form of a SIM card and thus can be also called a SIM card connector. The smart card connector 1 , please see also Figs 2 through 12, and in particular Figs. 2 and 3, comprises a contact support 3 within which generally six contact elements 2 are mounted. Each contact element 2 comprises - see Fig. 7 - a mounting section 26 and adjacent thereto a spring or bending section 27. The contact element 2 further comprises a contacting section 28. The contacting section 28 comprises in substance a contact element arm or contact arm 11. As is shown in Fig. 9, the contact arm 11 ends at its free end in a contact cusp 29. Fig. 9 also discloses that the contact support 3 which is typically injection molded from a plastic material comprises a mounting or fixing section 126 for fixedly mounting and holding the contact element 2 due to a cooperation between said mounting section 126 of the contact support 3 and the mounting section 26 of the contact element 2. The contact support 3 is further provided with a section 127, also called a spring movement allowance section 127, which allows a spring or resilient deflection or movement of a part of the contact element 2, i.e. of the spring section 27 at the time the contact cusp 28 of a contact element 2 is contacted by a contact zone of a smart card. The spring movement allowance section 126 provides a free space (Fig. 9) for the upward movement (Fig. 9) of the spring section 27 of the contact element 2. The free space is preferably provided by having an upper wall 55 of the contact support 3 provided with a tapered thickness. This is done by having the bottom surface 80 of the upper wall 55 being upwardly inclined by about 5 to 10; as shown in Fig. 9. If, as is shown in Fig. 10, a force F is applied to the contact cusp 28, a frame 10 of the contact element 2, more specifically the spring section 27, is moved slightly in upward direction, such that the outermost point P (see Fig. 9) of the frame 10 or the spring section 27 moves about 0.12 mm upwardly in the direction of the arrow A. As is clear, the force F is typically applied by a contact zone of a SIM card or a smart card which is moved towards the upper surface of the upper wall 55. More specifically, the frame 10 can move slightly upwardly, as described, with the area IQ as referred to in Fig. 9 primarily with the earlier mentioned bending or spring movement section 27. This upward movement occurs in the above-mentioned spring allowance section 127 of the contact support 3. In this context it should be noted that the smart card connector 1 shown in Fig. 1 , which is designed as a SIM card connector, has a length of approximately 12.8 mm and a width B of approximately 7.6 mm. The thickness of the SIM card connector 1 is in the order of magnitude of 1.1 mm. In an unactuated condition of the smart card connector the contact cusps 29 of the contact elements 2project by about 0.6 mm above an upper surface 110 (Fig. 3) of the upper wall 55. After this short summary of some essential features of the invention, firstly the contact element 2 and secondly the contact support 3 will be is described in detail. The Contact Element 2 Figs. 6 through 8 as well as Figs. 9 and 10 disclose the contact element 2 in some detail. The contact element 2 comprises, as mentioned earlier, the frame 10. The frame 10 defines a plane above which the contact arm 11 projects upwardly as is shown in Fig. 6. The frame 10 - see in particular Fig. 7 - comprises a first longitudinal arm 12, a second longitudinal arm 13, a first transversal arm 14 and a second transversal arm 15. The contact arm 11 extends starting from the first transversal arm 14 in longitudinal direction towards the second transversal arm 15. The contact element 2 is preferably stamped out of sheet metal. Subsequent to the stamping operation there are bending or angling operations forming - see Fig. 7 - angled portion 23. There is an angled or bent portion 23 at an outward projection from the second transversal arm 15 which forms a bent around portion 24. The bent around portion 24 forms a mounting means. As is shown in particular in Fig. 7, at the two right ends of the first and second longitudinal arms 12 and 13, there are detent or mounting means in the form wedge shaped cutting edges 17, 18. Said cutting edges 13, 18 are adapted to cut into the plastic material of the contact support 3 at the time the contact element 2 is inserted into the contact support 3 from the right-hand side as shown for instance in Fig. 11. Figs. 6 through 8 disclose the starting point 19 for the mounting means 17, 18 which continuously widen in the direction towards the transversal arm 15. The mounting means 17, 18 end in frontal faces 20 which border a cut-out of the contact element 2 (Fig. 7 and 10). As is also shown in Fig. 7, the contact element 23 forms with its frame 10 a cut-out or window 21 in the area of which extends the contact arm 11. The contact arm 11 is spaced from the longitudinal arms 12 and 13. The contact arm 11 extends, as mentioned, from the first transversal arm 14 and is integral therewith. The second transversal arm 15 forms the bent-around portion 24 and ends in an inclined section 25. As can be seen in particular in Figs. 9 and 11 , the bent-around portion 24 resiliently grips a portion of the contact support 3 at the time the contact element 2 is inserted into the contact support 3. The inclined part 25 in cooperation with an inclination 125 (Fig. 9) at the contact support allows an easy and safe insertion of the contact element 2 in the mounting position of the contact element 2 shown in Fig. 9. The Contact Support 3 For instance Figs. 1 , 2 and 11 disclose that the contact support 3 comprises a longitudinal side wall 51 as well as spaced therefrom a parallelly extending longitudinal side wall 52. In accordance with Fig.2 transversal walls, also called transversal ribs 53, 54 extend at the oppositely located transversal sides of the contact support 3 between the longitudinal side walls 51 , 52. Moreover, at the bottom side of the contact support 3 a center rib 50 is provided, so as to provide reinforcement with regard to a bending movement of the contact support 3. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the contact support 3 comprises an upper wall 55 (Fig. 1 ) and a bottom wall 56 (Fig. 2). The upper wall consists for all practical purposes of a transversal plate 57 which is also well-shown in Fig. 11. Extending from said transversal plate 57 are two longitudinal ribs 58 which extend in longitudinal direction of said contact support 3. Each two transversal ribs 59 extend from said longitudinal ribs 58. The bottom wall 56 - see Figs. 2 and12 - comprises between the longitudinal walls 51 , 52 two spaced transversal plates 70 which form cut-outs 71. The transversal plates 70 form longitudinal ribs 73, 74 extending between respective ribs 54, 53. The bottom surfaces 76, 77 formed by said ribs are - see Fig. 12 - on an elevation somewhat higher than the bottom surface 75 of the transversal plate 70. Fig. 12 shows the already mentioned bottom side 80 of the contact support 3. Said bottom surface 80 which is formed by the upper wall 55 is - as is shown in Fig. 9 - inclined upwardly (leftwardly in Fig. 9) so as to form the free space mentioned earlier to allow for the small spring action movement of the spring section 27. The mounting of the contact element 2 at the contact support 3 occurs in the following manner: Firstly, by sliding the contact arm 11 into the space which is formed by the longitudinal ribs 58, the mounting means 17, 18 preferably in the form of inclined wedge shaped ribs cut into the side walls101 , 102 - see Fig. 11 - of the contact support and thus fixedly mount the contact element 2 in the contact support 2. The upper surfaces 95 (see Fig. 11 ) formed by the rib 53 form a support and the bottom sides 105 of the transversal or cross ribs 59 provide support in upward direction. As is shown in Fig. 9, the arrangement is such that the free end of the contact arm 11 can move downwardly without interference as can be seen in Fig. 11. Fig. 11 also discloses that the frontal surfaces of the transversal projections 59 provide for a lateral guidance of the contact cusp 29 of the contact arm 11. Moreover, Fig. 11 discloses that due to a respective design of the bottom surface 98 of the upper wall 55 a pre-tensioning or pre-biasing of the contact element 2, i.e. of its contact cusp 29 is possible. Secondly, the mounting of the contact element 2 in the contact support 3 uses besides said mounting means in the form of cutting projections 18 additional mounting means in the form of the bent-around section 24. Said bent-around section 24 resiliently extends under the rib 53, 54 as is shown in Fig. 9 after the contact element 2 has been inserted into the contact support 3. The bent-around portion 24 is also preferably used with its bottom surface as a soldering termination. Industrial Applicability The contact element of the invention can be easily manufactured and provides a reliable contact action between the contact zones of a smart card and an apparatus in which the contact element is used. The contact element of the invention has only a small height and thus, a smart card reader using the contact elements of the invention has also a very small height dimension.

Claims: C l a i m s: 1. A smart card connector, in particular a SIM card connector, comprising: a contact support (3), contact elements (2) mounted in said contact support (3), said contact elements being adapted to provide contact between contact zones of a smart card and a SIM card, respectively, and wherein the contact element (2) comprises a frame (10) which generates part of the spring force of the contact element. 2. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein said frame (10) has a rectangular shape and forms at one end mounting means for attachment to the contact support and forms at the opposite and resilient or spring section from which a contact arm extends out of a plane defined by said frame. 3. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact element comprises a contact section arranged between a mounting section and a bending section. 4. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein a contact element arm (11 ) having at its free end a contact cusp (29) extends from the frame (10) of the contact element (2) and out of a plane defined by said frame (10). 5. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact element arm (11 ) comprises two longitudinal arms connected by two oppositely arranged transversal arms (14) and wherein detent elements are provided at the longitudinal arm. 6. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact support (3) comprises a mounting section (128) for the contact element and further a spring action allowance section (127) allowing the spring movement of the contact elements. 7. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact support (3) provides at its bottom side (80) a free space. 8. The smart card connector of claim 1 , wherein the movable contact cusp (29) is located adjacent to the mounting of the contact element at the contact support. 9. The smart-card connector of claim 1 , wherein the contact support (3) comprises a longitudinal side wall (51) as well as spaced therefrom a parallelly extending longitudinal side wall (52) with transversal walls, also called transversal ribs (53, 54) extending at the oppositely located transversal sides of the contact support (3) between the longitudinal side walls (51 , 52). 10. The smart-card connector of claim 9, wherein at the bottom side of the contact support (3) a center rib (50) is provided, so as to provide reinforcement with regard to a bending movement of the contact support (3). 11. The contact element according to claim 10, wherein the bottom wall (56) comprises between the longitudinal walls (51 , 52) two spaced transversal plates (70) which form cut-outs (71 ), the transversal plates (70) form longitudinal ribs (73, 74) extending between respective ribs (54, 53) and the bottom surfaces (76, 77) formed by said ribs are on an elevation somewhat higher than the bottom surface (75) of the transversal plate (70). 12. The smart-card connector according to claim 11 , wherein said bottom surface (80) which is formed by the upper wall (55) is inclined upwardly so as to form the free space mentioned earlier to allow for the small spring action movement of the spring section (27). 13. A contact element, in particular for a smart card connector, said contact element comprising: a frame (10) forming a window (21), a contact arm (29) integrally formed with said frame and extending out of the plane defined by said frame, said contact arm having a contact cusp (29), mounting means (24) at the frame for mounting said frame and said contact element at the contact support (3). 14. The contact element of claim 13, wherein detent means are provided laterally at the frame.

Inventors: SEIDEL VOLKER, SEIDEL, VOLKER
Applicants: AMPHENOL TUCHEL ELECT, SEIDEL VOLKER, AMPHENOL-TUCHEL ELECTRONICS GMBH, SEIDEL, VOLKER
Application year: 2001
Main classification: H01R
IPC codes: G06K7, G06K19, H01R12, H01R13