Abstract:
A card connector is disclosed having a housing. An eject lever extends transversely to a card inserting direction, and has a first end, a second end, and a central portion pivotally mounted to the housing to pivot when a card is inserted into the card connector or ejected therefrom. A slider extends along the inserting direction and is in contact with the first end of the eject lever. The slider is pushed in the ejection direction by the eject lever when a card is inserted and pushes the first end of the eject lever in the inserting direction to pivot the second end of the eject lever in the ejecting direction to eject the card. A friction member is in direct contact with the eject lever throughout the pivotable range of the eject lever.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-005322, dated Sep. 12, 2013. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to a card connector, and more specifically a card connector into which a card, such as a memory card or a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, is inserted. 
     BACKGROUND 
     JP 06-151004 A discloses an ejector unit for ejecting a card, the ejector unit being provided with a cam bar pivotally mounted on a frame and an operation rod driving the cam bar. When a card inserted, the card itself determines the position of the cam bar and the operation rod by applying direct pressure thereto. Consequently, the inserted card prevents the cam bar and operation rod from rattling due to vibration. However, when there is no card inserted, the cam bar and the operation rod are subjected to vibrational movement. In particular, the cam bar is easily moved by the vibrations, which may cause rattling. 
     JP 2002-269513 A discloses a shutter mechanism for a card module, wherein an inserted card applies pressure against a shutter body. Similarly, when a card is inserted, the pressure of the card against the shutter mechanism prevents rattling of the shutter mechanism. However, when there is no card inserted, vibrations may cause the shutter mechanism to rattle. 
     In light of the above circumstances, there is a need for a card connector that does not rattle in the absence of an inserted card. 
     SUMMARY 
     A card connector has a housing, an eject lever, a slider and a friction member. The eject lever extends transversely to a card inserting direction, and has a first end, a second end, and a central portion pivotally mounted to the housing to pivot when a card is inserted into the card connector or ejected therefrom. The slider extends along the inserting direction and is in contact with the first end of the eject lever. The slider is pushed in the ejection direction by the eject lever when a card is inserted and pushes the first end of the eject lever in the inserting direction to pivot the second end of the eject lever in the ejecting direction to eject the card. The friction member is in direct contact with the eject lever throughout the pivotable range of the eject lever. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the following Figures, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is an external perspective view of a card connector; 
         FIG. 2  is an external perspective view of the card connector, the exterior of which is shown in  FIG. 1 , with a shell removed; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the card connector with the shell detached; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the card connector; 
         FIG. 5  is a partially sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of a portion in a circle R shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A card connector  1  is provided with a housing  10 , a shell  20 , and a tray  30 . The tray  30  has a large opening  31  formed in the center, and a support base  32  supporting a memory card positioned on the edge of the opening  31 . A SIM card (not shown) is supported on this tray  30  such that a peripheral edge of a bottom base of the SIM card rests on the support base  32  and a central area of the card bottom face faces downward through the opening  31 . The card connector  1  may also include a slider  13  and an eject lever  14 . 
     An insertion opening  1   a  through which the tray  30  is inserted is formed between the housing  10  and the shell  20 . In addition, a receiving space receiving the SIM card rested on the tray  30  is formed behind the insertion opening  1   a . The tray  30  is slidable in a direction of insertion (direction of arrow A shown in  FIG. 2 ) into the housing  10  and in a direction of ejection (direction of arrow B shown in  FIG. 3 ). 
     It should be noted that the inserting direction (direction of arrow A) and the ejecting direction (direction of arrow B) herein are collectively referred to as “inserting/ejecting direction”. The tray  30 , with the SIM card rested thereon, is inserted in the inserting direction (direction of arrow A) through the insertion opening  1   a , and is received in the receiving space formed between the housing  10  and the shell  20 .  FIGS. 1 and 2  show the tray  30  positioned in the receiving space. The position of the SIM card on the tray  30  while in the receiving space is referred to as “inserted position”. See  FIGS. 1  and  2 . An outer wall  33  of the tray  30  forms a portion of a housing for a device on which the card connector  1  is mounted.  FIGS. 1 and 2  also show the tray  30  positioned in the receiving space, with the outer wall  33  and the insertion opening  1   a  spaced at a distance apart. This spacing is created because the mount position of the card connector  1  in the device is set back from a surface of the case of the device. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the housing  10  includes a plastic body  11  and a plurality of metal contacts  12  molded integrally with the body  11 . Each contact  12  has a board connecting portion  12   a  to be soldered to a surface of a circuit board (not shown). Conductive pads on a lower face of the SIM card rest on the tray  30 . (not shown) These contacts  12  come into contact with the pads on the lower face of the card to electrically interconnect the SIM card and the circuit board. 
       FIG. 3  shows the card connector  1  with the shell removed and the tray  30  ejected from the receiving space. The position of the SIM card (not shown) on the ejected tray  30  is referred to as an “ejected position”. 
     The slider  13  extends in the inserting/ejecting directions (direction of arrows A-B), and is slidable on the body  11  in the inserting/ejecting directions (direction of arrow A-B), between the position shown in  FIG. 2  and the position shown in  FIG. 3 . The slider  13  moves from the position shown in  FIG. 2  to the position shown in  FIG. 3  in the inserting direction (direction of arrow A) through a pushing operation using an external pin (not shown). 
     A pin receiving hole  34  into which the pin is inserted is formed in the tray  30 , and an opening  11   a  receiving the pin is also formed in the body  11 . 
     The eject lever  14  extends transversely in the inserting/ejecting direction (direction of arrow A-B), and is pivotally mounted at a central portion on the body  11 . One end of the eject lever  14  is positioned so as to interfere with the inserted tray  30 , while the other end is positioned so as to interfere with the slider  13 . When the tray  30  is inserted, the eject lever  14  is pushed by the tray  30  and pivoted clockwise, thereby sliding the slider  13  to the position shown in  FIG. 2  in the ejecting direction (direction of arrow B). Once the pin is inserted through the pin receiving hole  34  of the tray  30  and pushes the slider  13 , the eject lever  14  is pushed by the slider  13  and pivoted counterclockwise, thereby ejecting the tray  30 . The outer wall  33  of the tray  30  which is at the position shown in  FIG. 3 , projects from the device on which the card connector  1  is mounted. The tray  30  can be pulled out of the card connector  1  by a user through pinching the outer wall  33 . 
     In the shell  20  shown in  FIG. 1 , a spring member  21  is formed at a position facing the eject lever  14  disposed in the housing  10 . In an embodiment, the spring member  21  is a friction providing element. In an exemplary embodiment, the shell  20  is made of metal. 
     In  FIG. 4 , an upper face of the housing  10  covered with the shell  20  is drawn in broken line. A dimple  21   a  is positioned on the spring member  21  and projects towards and contacts the eject lever  14 . The dimple  21   a  is always in contact with the eject lever  14  regardless of the pivoted posture of the eject lever  14  and therefore creates friction against the movement of the eject lever. In both the inserted position ( FIG. 1 ) of the tray  30  and in the ejected position ( FIG. 4 ) of the tray  30 , the dimple  21   a  creates friction against the eject lever  14 . 
     The friction generated by the dimple  21   a  is set to a level in which the primary movement of the eject lever  14  is not blocked when either pivoting clockwise when the eject lever  14  is pushed by the tray  30 , or counterclockwise when the eject lever  14  is pushed by the slider  13 . 
     The amount of applied friction is set to a level in which the eject lever  14  does not easily move, even if this card connector  1  is subjected to vibrations with the tray  30  drawn out. A major cause of rattling in card connectors is the movement of the eject lever  14  due to vibrations which the card connector  1  is subjected to with the tray  30  drawn out. In the case of the card connector  1  in an embodiment of the invention, since the eject lever  14  does not easily move even if the card connect  1  is subjected to vibrations with the tray  30  drawn out, the generation of rattling is suppressed. 
     In an embodiment, since the friction against the eject lever  14  is created by the spring member  21  of the shell  20 , a constant level of pressing force can be applied to the eject lever  14  without being affected by part tolerances. In addition, the dimple  21   a  is provided on the spring member  21 , and the dimple  21   a  is always pushing against the eject lever  14  during an entire range of pivoting by the eject lever  14 . Therefore, even if the position of the eject lever  14  changes instantaneously due to application of an especially strong vibration, the eject lever  14  is still subjected to the pressing force of the dimple  21   a , and rattling is still suppressed. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the slider  13  is shown in  FIG. 6 . The slider  13  slides in the inserting/ejecting directions (arrow A-B) along a guide wall  111  of the body  11 . A post  112  is also positioned in the body  11 . The guide wall  111  and the post  112  slidably hold the slider  13  from both sides transverse to the inserting/ejecting direction (direction of arrow A-B). A projection  111   a  extending vertically (upward and downward) is formed on the guide wall  111  so as to project towards the slider  13 . Similarly, a projection  112   a  extending vertically is also formed on the post  112  so as to project towards the slider  13 . These projections  111   a ,  112   a  hold the slider  13  therebetween with appropriate pressing force. 
     Therefore the slider  13  does not easily move, even if the card connector  1  is subjected to strong vibrations, thus preventing any rattling. However, the slider  13  can still slide smoothly in the inserting/ejecting directions (direction of arrow A-B) when the tray  30  is inserted. Further, the slider  13  can still be pushed by the eject lever  14  as the eject lever  14  is displaced the tray  30 , and when the slider  13  is pushed in by the external pin. (not shown) 
     The embodiments described herein are for a card connector  1  of a type which has a tray for a SIM card to rest on and into/from which the tray  30  with the SIM card rested on is inserted/ejected. However, the card connector of the present invention is also applicable to a card connector of a type which is not provided with a tray and into/from which a card is directly inserted and ejected. In application using the latter type of card connector, the eject lever  14  directly interferes with the card such that the eject lever  14  is pushed by the inserted card, while the eject lever  14  pushes the card when the slider  13  is pushed in. 
     It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the dimple  21   a  is shown as an example of a projecting portion, but the projecting portion is not limited to the dimple  21   a  having a semispherical shape, but may be a ridge or bead extending substantially in the inserting/ejecting directions (direction of arrow A-B).