Abstract:
The present invention discloses a subscriber identity module connector which places a detecting terminal and a grounding terminal into a same contact area. The above placement of the detecting terminal and the grounding terminal form a circuit to determine if a SIM card is inserted appropriately. As a result, there is no need to set conventional detecting unit, and the space of the subscriber identity module connector are advantageously saved. It not only simplifies the placement of circuit board (PCB) and but also reduces the manufacturing cost.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a subscriber identity module connector, and more particularly to an identity module connector that optimizes the placement of a detecting terminal and a grounding terminal. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the modem life, consumer electronics, such as digital camera, PDA, cellular phone, and electronic components thereof have the characteristics of small size, thin thickness and light weight. With the development of communication industry, the popularity of cellular phone is also increasing. Not only the office workers, the undergraduate students, high school students, but also the teenagers, the elders, and even the kids use cellular phones these days. Cellular phones provide convenient and prompt communications at work and in daily life. Several years ago, the cellular phone is only the tool for voice communication, and short message service; today, we can surf the internet, deliver e-mal, watch TV, and photograph by cellular phone. Cellular phones further satisfy people&#39;s needs at work and in daily life. 
     To identify the users&#39; identity or personal information, subscriber identity module cards (SIM cards) with conductive surfaces are installed in the cellular phones. SIM card connector is installed to provide a quick connection between the SIM card and the cellular phone. The SIM card connector helps to complete checking process and provide wireless communication service by electrical contacting to the conductive surfaces of the SIM cards. 
     There can be a problem of determining if the SIM card is inserted in the SIM card connector appropriately because the SIM card and SIM card connector are tiny units. Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is the diagram of SIM card connector according to the prior art. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a detecting terminal  901  is particularly placed on one side of a SIM card connector  90 . While the SIM card is inserted into the SIM card connector  90 , the detecting terminal  901  determines whether the SIM card is inserted into the SIM card connector  90  appropriately by contacting the SIM card. Hence, the detecting terminal  901  enlarges the size of the SIM card connector  90 . Moreover, the manufacturing cost of the SIM card connector  90  increases. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to solve the aforementioned drawbacks, the present invention provides a subscriber identity module connector and more particularly to a subscriber identity module connector that integrates a detecting terminal and a grounding terminal. 
     According to the above objectives, the present invention provides a subscriber identity module connector which has a plurality of first terminals, a plurality of second terminal and a insulation shell. Each of the second terminals is placed correspondingly to each of the first terminals. The first terminals and the second terminals are accommodated in the insulation shell. Each of the first terminals and each of the second terminals arc respectively formed with a regular part forming a space and a contact part extending from the regular part into the space. There is an interval provided between each of the regular parts and each of the contact parts. A plurality of hollow areas are formed on the insulation shell to allow each of the contact parts to expose outward. The subscriber identity module is characterized in that: a detecting terminal is placed in any one of the hollow areas of the insulation shell, the detecting terminal is formed with a detecting-regular part forming an activity space and a detecting-contact part extending from the detecting-regular part to the activity space. The detecting-regular part is accommodated in the insulation shell. The detecting-contact part extends from the detecting-regular part and one of the contact parts are placed in the same hollow area and exposed outward from the same hollow area of the insulation shell. 
     The present invention provides a subscriber identity module connector placing a detecting terminal and a grounding terminal in the same hollow area, which simplifies the conventional design of a subscriber module connector without setting a detecting element. As a result, the subscriber identity module connector of the present invention reduces the size of circuit board (PCB) and the manufacturing cost of the subscriber identity module connector. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of prior art SIM card connector; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of the terminals of the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3A  is a top view of the terminals connected with the insulation shell of the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is a diagram of the terminals connected with the insulation shell of the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of the terminals of subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  are the diagrams of a SIM card inserted into the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     Some sample embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that the present invention can be practiced in a wide range of other embodiments besides those explicitly described, and the scope of the present invention is expressly not limited except as specified in the accompanying claims. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a diagram of the terminals of the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , a plurality of first terminals  30  and a plurality of second terminals  32  are provided on a subscriber identity module connector. Each of the second terminals  32  is positioned correspondingly to one of the first terminals  30 . Each of the first terminals  30  is formed by a regular part  301  forming a space and a contact part  303  extending from the regular part  301  into the space. Each of the second terminals  32  is formed by a regular part  321  forming a space and a contact part  323  extending from the regular part  321  into the space. The contact part  303  of each of the first terminals  30  is connected with the regular part  301 . There is an interval between each of the contact part  303  and regular part  301 . Similarly, the contact part  323  of each of the second terminals  32  is connected with the regular part  321 . There is an interval between each of the contact part  323  and regular part  321 . 
     Moreover, a detecting terminal  40  is formed near one of the first terminal  30 . The detecting terminal  40  is formed with a detecting-regular part  401  forming a space (activity space) and a detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) extending from the detecting-regular part  401  to the space. The detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) is connected with the detecting-regular part  401  and there is an interval between the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) and the detecting-regular part  401 . The subscriber identity module connector according to the present invention includes, but not limited, three first terminals  30  and three second terminals  30  (total six terminals) Moreover, it should be recognized that the first terminals  30 , the second terminals  32 , the regular parts  301 ,  302 , the and contact parts  303 ,  323  are formed integrally. Similarly, the detecting terminal  40 , the detecting-regular part  401  and the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) are formed integrally. The regular parts  301 ,  321 , the contact parts  303 ,  323 , the detecting part  401  and the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) is formed in a geometrical shape. 
     Next, please refer to  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B .  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are respectively the top view and the diagram of the terminals connected with the insulation shell of the subscriber identity module connector of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 3A , an insulation shell  20  includes a plurality of hollow areas  201 . The first terminals  30 , the second terminals  32  and the detecting terminal  40  are accommodated in the insulation shell  20 . The regular parts  301 ,  321  and the detecting-regular part  401  are covered by the insulation shell  20 ; and the contact parts  303 ,  323  and the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C)are exposed from the hollow areas  201 . Additionally, the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) and one of the contact part  303 ′ (i.e. the contact part of the ground terminal D) are placed and exposed in a same hollow area  201 ′. Furthermore, each of the first terminals  30 , each of the second terminals  32  and the detecting terminals  40  further extends respectively to form a soldering parts  305 ,  325 ,  405 , and the soldering parts  305 ,  325 ,  405  are used to be soldered with a printed circuit board. Each of the soldering parts  305 ,  325 ,  405  is exposed on the outer part  203  outside the insulation shell  20 . 
     Next please refer to  FIG. 3B . As shown in  FIG. 3B , each of the contact parts  303 ,  323  and the detecting-contact parts  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C) respectively extends to form a curving part  3031 ,  3231 ,  4031 , which makes the contact parts  303 ,  323  and the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C 0  exposing outward from the hollow areas  201  of the insulation shell  20  to protrude out of the insulation shell  20  surface. Moreover, the free end of the curving part  3031 ,  3231 ,  4031  respectively forms reaching parts  3033 ,  3233 ,  4033 , which are used to contact with SIM cards or IC cards. The first terminals  30 , second terminals  32  and detecting terminal  40  are preferably but not limited covered by the insulation shell  20  by an insert injection molding process. However, the way of covering the those terminals are not limited according to the present invention. The insulation shell  20  is made of macromolecular material and the terminals (modules)  30  are made of metal in this embodiment. Moreover, the shapes of the hollow areas  201  can be modified to match the first terminals  30 , the second terminals  32  and the detecting terminals  40 . In addition, to accommodate the contact part  323  and the detecting-contact part  403  (i.e. the detecting-contact part of the switch terminal C), the size of the hollow area  201 ′ is larger than that of other hollow areas  201 . However, the size of the hollow areas  201 ,  201 ′ are not limited in the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is the diagram of the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , there are seven terminals provide on the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention, including: serial data input/output terminal A, programming voltage terminal B, switch terminal C(i.e. detecting terminal  40 ), ground terminal D, clocking signal terminal E, reset signal terminal F, and power supply terminal G. The switch terminal C (i.e. detecting terminal  40 ) and the ground terminal D are both placed in the same hollow area  201 ′. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B .  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  are the diagrams of a SIM card inserted into the subscriber identity module connector in accordance with the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 5A , there are eight contact areas  501 ,  503 ,  505  on a SIM card (or a IC card)  50 . Generally, the SIM card for mobile communication merely use six of the aforesaid eight contact areas  501 , and other two spare contact areas  503 ,  505  are not used. Hence, the six functional contact areas  501  are used for describing the embodiment of the present invention in the following description. The six functional contact areas  501  correspond respectively to each of the terminals used (contact parts  303 ,  323  and detecting-contact part  403 )(i.e. the detecting-part of the switch terminal C). When the SIM card  50  is inserted into the subscriber identity module connector of a device such as the SIM card holder of a cellular phone or a tablet PC, the six functional contact areas  501  firstly contacts serial data input/output terminal A, programming voltage terminal B, ground terminal D, clocking signal terminal E, reset signal terminal F, and power supply terminal G. And then, please refer to  FIG. 5B , when the SIM card  50  is fully inserted, the contact area  501  simultaneously contacts with the ground terminal D and the switch terminal C (detecting terminal  40 ) such that an electrical connection is formed between the switch terminal C (i.e. detecting terminal  40 ) and the ground terminal D. In other words, when the SIM card  50  is fully inserted, the contact area  501  simultaneously contacts with the contact part  303 ′ of the ground terminal D and the detecting-part  403  of the detecting terminal  40  such that an electrical connection is established between the detecting terminal  40  and the ground terminal D so as to activate a circuit on the printed circuit board. 
     The electrical connection established between the aforesaid two terminals enable the electrical devices such as cellular phone and tablet PC to determine if the SIM card  50  is inserted in the SIM card holder appropriately; meanwhile, the switch terminal C (i.e. detecting terminal  40 ) and the ground terminal D are both placed in the same hollow area  201 ′ to simplify the assembly of the detecting unit of the subscriber identity module connector. It not only reduces the volume of the circuit board (PCB) but also decreases the manufacturing cost. In addition, placing the switch terminal C (i.e. detecting terminal  40 ) and the ground terminal D in the same hollow area  201 ′ advantageously reduces the interference of noise. However, the placement of the switch terminal C (i.e. detecting terminal  40 ) and other terminals in a same hollow area  201 ′ is not limited in the present invention, Furthermore, once the arrangement of the contact areas  501  of the SIM card  50  changes, or the once the more contact areas such as spared contact areas  503 ,  505  are used for IC cards or credit cards, the number of the hollow areas  201 , the first terminals  30  and the second terminals  32  can be modified accordingly. Therefore, the number of the hollow areas  201 , the first terminals  30  and the second terminals  32  are not limited in the present invention. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.