Abstract:
A multi-in-one card connector allowing exclusive entry of one single card once and having the characteristics of low profile and short length is disclosed to include an electrically insulative housing, which has two upright sidewalls at two sides of a bottom panel thereof and a cover plate covering the upright sidewalls and defining with the bottom panel a front opening and a card-receiving space, multiple sets of metal terminals mounted on the bottom panel inside the housing at different locations, a lift board vertically movably mounted in the housing and dividing the front opening into relatively adjustable first opening and second opening, two first positioning devices bilaterally provided in the housing, two second positioning devices bilaterally provided at the lift board, and two spring members respectively connected between the first positioning devices and the second positioning devices to force the lift board vertically in one direction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to electrical connection devices and more particularly, to a multi-in-one card connector having a lift board. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Various multi-in-one card connectors are known disclosed for use with a card reader to fit different card members. In order to prevent a reading error due to insertion of multiple cards at a time, multi-in-one card connectors that allow insertion of only one card member are created. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,321 discloses an all-in-one card connector exclusive for entry of one single electronic card once. According to this design of all-in-one card connector, two movable guide members are provided at two sides inside the card connector. By means of vertical displacement of the movable guide members, one single electronic card is exclusively insertable into the card connector once. Further, front and rear stop means are necessary to keep movement of the guide members. This design requires a long length of the connector body. 
   Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,588 disclosed another design of all-in-one card connector, entitled “Multiple port memory card connector”. This design comprises a lower dielectric housing part having a terminal-mounting base and a pair of side wall sections extending forwardly from opposite sides of the base, an upper dielectric housing part mounted on top of the lower housing part and having a terminal-mounting roof, a card locating plate connected at opposite sides thereof to the side wall sections of the lower housing part and combining therewith to define a first card-receiving space beneath the plate. The card locating plate is spaced from the roof of the upper housing part and combines therewith to define a second card-receiving space above the plate. According to this design, the first card-receiving space and the second card-receiving space are discrete spaces unlike the respectively that are defined above and below the card locating plate unlike the vertical displacement design of the movable guide members of the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,321. Because the first card-receiving space and the second card-receiving space are discrete spaces, the card connector has a certain thickness that does not satisfy the low profile requirement. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a multi-in-one card connector that allows exclusive entry of one single card once and has low profile and short length characteristics. 
   To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the multi-in-one card connector comprises a housing that is electrically insulative, multiple sets of metal terminals, a lift board, and two spring members. The housing comprises a bottom panel, two upright sidewalls respectively upwardly extending from two opposite lateral sides of the bottom panel, a cover plate covering the upright sidewalls and defining with the d bottom panel a card-receiving space and a front opening in communication with the card-receiving space, and first positioning means bilaterally disposed in the housing near the front opening. The multiple sets of metal terminals include at least a set of first metal terminals mounted on the bottom panel inside the housing near a front side, and a set of second metal terminals mounted on the bottom panel inside the housing near a rear side. The lift board is mounted in the housing to divide the front opening of the housing into a first opening at an upper side and a second opening at a lower side. The lift board is vertically movable in the housing to adjust the relative height of the first opening and the relative height of the second opening. The lift board has second positioning means disposed at two sides corresponding to the first positioning means. The two spring members are provided between the lift board and a part of the housing, each having two opposite ends respectively connected to the first positioning means and the second positioning means. The spring members are adapted to impart a pressure to the lift board in a predetermined direction. By means of the aforesaid arrangement, the multi-in-one card connector allows exclusive entry of one single memory card once, and has the characteristics of low profile and short length. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a multi-in-one card connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic assembly view of the multi-in-one card connector in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the internal arrangement after removal of the cover plate from the housing. 
       FIG. 3  is an oblique bottom elevation of the lift board for the multi-in-one card connector in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the multi-in-one card connector in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic front view of the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a SD card inserted into the multi-in-one card connector. 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic front view of the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a XD card inserted into the multi-in-one card connector. 
       FIG. 8  is an exploded view of the first embodiment of the multi-in-one card connector in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, showing an alternate form of the cover plate. 
       FIG. 9  is a schematic front view of a multi-in-one card connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , a multi-in-one card connector  10  in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown comprising a housing  11 , three sets of metal terminals  21 ,  22  and  23 , a cover plate  31 , a lift board  41 , and two spring members  51 . 
   The housing  11  is electrically insulative, comprising a bottom panel  12 , two upright sidewalls  14  respectively upwardly extending from two opposite lateral sides of the bottom panel  12 , two shoulder plates  16  respectively perpendicularly extending from the rear part of the top of the upright sidewalls  14  toward each other, and the cover plate  31  that covers the upright sidewalls  14  and the shoulder plates  16  and defining therewith a card-receiving space  19  and an opening  18  in front of the card-receiving space  19 . The shoulder plates  16  each have a first positioning means  17 . According to this embodiment, the first positioning means  17  is a through hole. The bottom panel  12  has a stop face  13  in the front part. 
   The three sets of metal terminals  21 ˜ 23  include a set of first metal terminals  21 , a set of second metal terminals  22  and a set of third metal terminals  23  arranged on the bottom panel  12  at different locations spaced in direction from the front side of the base panel  12  toward the rear side thereof. The set of first metal terminals  21  corresponds to a memory card of XD (eXtreme Digital) standard. The set of second metal terminals  22  corresponds to a memory card of SD (Secure Digital) or MMC (Multi-Media Card) standard. The set of third metal terminals  33  corresponds to a memory card of MS (Memory Stick) standard. 
   The lift board  41  is vertically movably mounted in the housing  11  above the set of first terminals  21 . The lift board  41  divides the opening  18  into a first opening  181  at an upper side and a second opening  182  at a lower side. Subject to vertical displacement of the lift board  41 , the upper first opening  181  and the lower second opening  182  are partially overlapped. The lift board  41  has two second positioning means  42  bilaterally disposed at the top. According to this embodiment, the two second positioning means  42  are pins spaced below and respectively aimed at the first positioning means  17  of the shoulder plates  16 . The lift board  41  further has a plurality of grooves  44  on the bottom side. The first terminals  21  are respectively positioned in the grooves  44 . The rear side of the lift board  41  is stopped against the stop face  13 . The lift board  41  has a sloping face  46  on the front bottom side, and therefore the second opening  182  has a height gradually reducing toward the inside. The lift board  41  has two guide rids  48  bilaterally disposed at the top to fit the configuration of the two lateral sides of the bottom wall of a SD card  91  (see  FIG. 6 ). 
   The two spring members  51  are bilaterally arranged on the lift board  41 , having the respective two opposite ends respectively fastened to the first positioning means  17  and the second positioning means  41 , i.e., the spring members  51  each have one end respectively affixed to the first positioning means (through holes)  17  and stopped against the cover plate  31  that surrounds the shoulder plates  16  and the other end sleeved onto the second positioning means (pins)  42 . The spring power of the spring members  51  is acted upon the lift board  41 , forcing the lift board  41  downwards. 
   The use of the multi-in-one card connector is outlined hereinafter. 
   Referring to  FIG. 5 , before insertion of a memory card into the multi-in-one card connector, the spring power of the spring members  51  holds the lift board  41  in the lower limit position within its range of displacement. 
   Referring to  FIG. 6 , when inserting a SD card  91  into the multi-in-one card connector  10 , the SD card  91  is inserted through the first opening  181 . During insertion, the SD card  91  is directly moved from the first opening  181  into the card receiving space  19 , and the guide rids  41  of the lift board  41  guide the SD card  91  into position. After the SD card  91  has been inserted into position, the SD card  91  holds down the lift board  41 , at this time the lift board  41  is prohibited from upward displacement and blocks the second opening  182  to prohibit insertion of a card into the second opening  182 . When removing the SD card  91  from the multi-in-one card connector  10 , the SD card  91  is directly pulled out of the housing  11  or ejected by means of a card ejector (not shown). A card ejector for this purpose can easily be obtained from conventional techniques. No further description in this regard is necessary. If there is a memory card inserted above the lift board  41 , the lift board  41  is at the bottom side to hold down the set of first metal terminals  21  (see  FIG. 5 ), protecting the set of first metal terminals  21  from impact or friction of the memory card above. 
   Referring to  FIG. 7 , when inserting a XD card  92  into the multi-in-one card connector  10 , the XD card  92  is inserted through the second opening  182 . During insertion, the front edge of the XD card  92  is forced against the sloping face  46  of the lift board  41 . Therefore, continuous insertion of the XD card  92  will lift the lift board  41  to expand the second opening  182  and to narrow the first opening  181 . After the XD card  92  has been inserted into position, the lift board  41  is in the top position, at this time the narrowed first opening  181  When removing the XD card  92  from the multi-in-one card connector  10 , the XD card  92  is directly pulled out of the housing  11  or ejected by means of a card ejector. 
   In the aforesaid operation procedure, either the insertion of a SD card  91  into the first opening  181  or a XD card  92  into the second opening  182 , the effect of the spring members  51  and stop face  13  prohibits backward displacement of the lift board  41 , and therefore the lift board  41  can only be moved vertically and is prohibited from backward displacement, i.e., the lift board  41  will never move out of its range of displacement even if it receives an impact from the inserted memory card. Further, during removal of the inserted memory card, the friction force produced between the memory card and the lift board  41  does cause forward displacement of the lift board  41  because the effect of the spring members  51  and effect of the first positioning means  17  and second positioning means  42  keep the lift board  41  in place. 
     FIG. 8  illustrates an alternate form of the cover plate  31 ′ that surrounds at least a part of the bottom panel  12  of the housing  1 . 
     FIG. 9  illustrates an all-in-one card connector  60  in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. This second embodiment is substantially similar to the aforesaid first embodiment with the exception that: 
   The two first positioning means  67  are bilaterally disposed at the front side of the bottom panel  62 , the two second positioning means  72  are bilaterally disposed at the bottom wall of the lift board  71 , and the spring members  81  are adapted to impart an upward pressure to the lift board  71 . According to this embodiment, the two first positioning means  67  are insertion slots, and the two second positioning means  72  are pins for fitting into the first positioning means (insertion slots)  67 . Further, the spring members  81  are respectively connected between the first positioning means  67  and the second positioning means  72  to impart an upward pressure to the lift board  71 . 
   The operation and effect of this second embodiment are same as the aforesaid first embodiment, and therefore no further detailed description in this regard is necessary. 
   As stated above, the invention has the advantages and features as follows: 
   1. Low profile with metal terminal protection: The arrangement of the lift board allows the first opening and the second opening to share a common space, thereby shortening thickness requirement. U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,321 saves vertical space requirement by means of the working effect of the movable guide members, however the movable guide members do not provide protection for the metal terminals. The lift board of the present invention is provided above the set of first metal terminals. Upon insertion of a SD card into the multi-in-one card connector, the lift board is pressed on the set of first metal terminals, preventing contact between the SD card and the set of first metal terminals, and therefore the set of first metal terminals is well protected. 
   2. Reduction of connector length: The effect of reduction of connector length is achieved by means of the effect of the spring members and the connection between the first positioning means and the second positioning means to secure the lift board from horizontal displacement. This design eliminates the requirement of front and rear stop members to stop the lift board from horizontal displacement. The stop face of the present invention is simply an enhancement design, not the requisite. 
   Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.