Abstract:
A chip card holder includes a housing, a receiving frame, an elastic member, a tray, and a protective cover. The housing defines two holes. The receiving frame is mounted in the housing. The tray is slidably received in the receiving frame. The protective cover is slidably connected to the housing to cover the holes. The elastic member torsionally connects the tray to the protective cover. After the protective cover is slid along the housing and is unlocked from the housing, the elastic member pulls the tray from the housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to chip card holders, and particularly to a chip card holder for a portable electronic device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    With the development of wireless communication and information processing technologies, portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, are now widely used. Chip cards are necessary elements in portable electronic devices. 
         [0005]    A chip card holder uses a tray for holding the chip card. The tray needs to be pulled out of the housing for convenient insertion and removal of the chip card. 
         [0006]    Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the chip card holder and portable electronic device using the chip card holders. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is an exploded view of one embodiment of a chip card holder used in a portable electronic device. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of a protective cover of  FIG. 1 , shown from another aspect. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows the protective cover attached to a housing in a locked state. 
           [0011]      FIGS. 4 and 5  show the chip card holder assembled to the housing in a locked state. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  shows the protective cover in an unlocked state. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is similar to  FIG. 6 , but shows the protective cover unlocked from the housing. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]      FIGS. 1 to 3  show an embodiment of a chip card holder, which can be used in a portable electronic device, such as a cellular phone, or any other electronic device where a chip card is required. The portable electronic device includes a housing  10 . The chip card holder is assembled in the housing  10 . A chip card  60  is placed in the chip card holder. The chip card  60  can be a subscriber identity module (SIM) card or a flash card, for example. 
         [0015]    The chip card holder includes a receiving frame  20 , a tray  30 , a protective cover  40 , and an elastic member  50 . 
         [0016]    The housing  10  can be a portion of the portable electronic device or a separate element fixed to the portable electronic device. In one embodiment, the housing  10  is a bottom portion of the portable electronic device. The housing  10  includes a main body  11 , and an end wall  12  integrated with the main body  11 . The end wall  12  defines a first hole  14  in an exterior surface thereof, and defines a second hole  15  in an interior surface thereof. The second hole  15  is partially aligned with the first hole  14 , thereby forming a stopper portion  16  between the first hole  14  and the second hole  15 . The chip card holder is received inside the housing  10  through the first hole  14  and the second hole  15 , and is supported by the main body  11 . 
         [0017]    The receiving frame  20  is secured on the main body  11  adjacent to and aligned with the first hole  14  and the second hole  15 . The receiving frame  20  includes a frame body  21  and two opposite flanges  22 . The frame body  21  and the flanges  22  cooperatively define a receiving cavity communicating with the second hole  15  and the first hole  14  for receiving the tray  30 . An entrance  211  is defined at one end of the receiving cavity to allow the tray  30  to be inserted inside. One end of each flange  22  forms a latching portion  23  extending into the receiving cavity. 
         [0018]    The tray  30  includes a tray body  31  slidably received in the receiving frame  20 . The tray body  31  defines a receiving space  32  in one surface for receiving the chip card  60 . The tray body  31  defines a latching groove  33  in opposite sides for engaging with the latching portions  23 . A corner of the tray body  31  defines a recess  34 , thereby forming two extending plates  341  at opposite sides of the recess  34 , respectively. Each extending plate  341  defines a fastener hole  311  for receiving a fastener  35 . 
         [0019]    The protective cover  40  is configured for slidably engaging in the first hole  14  and the second hole  15  for protecting and stopping the tray  30 . The protective cover  40  includes a plate body  41  and a subsidiary plate  42 . The plate body  41  has a first surface  411  and a second surface  412  opposite to each other. The second surface  412  forms a plurality of ribs to provide a gripping surface for convenient manipulation of the protective cover  40 . The subsidiary plate  42  is formed on the first surface  411 . One end of the subsidiary plate  42  has a latching block  421 , and a first limiting block  422  is located adjacent to and spaced from the latching block  421 . One end of the first limiting block  422  has a post  441  spaced from the first surface  411 . Another end of the subsidiary plate  42  has a hook  43  and an extending plate  45  adjacent to and spaced from the hook  43 . A second limiting block  423  is formed at one side of the subsidiary plate  42 , and is positioned between the first limiting block  422  and the extending plate  45 . The first limiting block  422 , the second limiting block  423 , and the extending plate  45  are spaced from one edge of the subsidiary plate  42  to define a receiving groove  44  for accommodating the elastic member  50 . 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the elastic member  50  is a metal wire that has been coiled and bent at predetermined locations. The elastic member  50  includes a first wire part  51 , a latching end  52 , a first torsional portion  53 , a second wire part  54 , and a second torsional portion  55 . The first wire part  51  is received in the receiving groove  44 . The latching end  52  is formed at one end of the first wire part  51 , and is latched with the hook  43 . The second wire part  54  is positioned between the first torsional portion  53  and the second torsional portion  55 . The first torsional portion  53  is fitted around the post  441 . The second torsional portion  53  is received in the recess  34 , and is secured in the tray  30  by the fastener  35 . In a free state, the first wire part  51  and the second wire part  54  are substantially parallel. 
         [0021]    During assembly, referring to  FIGS. 4-5 , the receiving frame  20  is mounted on the main body  11  of the housing  10  by hot melting. The entrance  211  of the receiving frame  20  is aligned with the overlapping parts of the first hole  14  and the second hole  15 . The second torsional portion  55  of the elastic member  50  is secured by the fastener  35  in the recess  34 . The tray  30  with the elastic member  50  is inserted inside the housing  10  through the first hole  14  and the second hole  15 . The tray  30  is slidably received in the receiving cavity and is retained by the flanges  22 . The protective cover  40  is assembled with the elastic member  50 . The first torsional portion  53  is fitted around the post  441 , and the latching end  52  is latched to the hook  43  of the protective cover  40 . The first wire part  51  is received in the guiding groove  44 . After the elastic member  50  is assembled to the protective cover  40 , the second wire part  54  is bent relative to the first wire part  51 , and the protective cover  40  is kept in a tilted state relative to the housing  10 . To engage the protective cover  40  in the housing  10 , the protective cover  40  is pressed toward the inside of the housing  10 . The protective cover  40  is rotated about the first torsional portion  53  until the plate body  41  and the subsidiary plate  42  are aligned with the first hole  14 . The protective cover  40  is slid along the first hole  14  until the stopper portion  16  blocks the latching block  421  and the extending plate  45 . At this time, the protective cover  40  is locked in the housing  10 . The first wire part  51  of the elastic member  50  is rotated about 90 degrees relative to the second wire part  54  to increase a torsional force holding the protective cover  40  in the locked state. Thus, the assembly process of the chip card holder in the housing  10  is finished. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , to remove the chip card, the protective cover  40  is slid along the first hole  14  and the second hole  15  until the latching block  421  and the extending plate  45  are not blocked by the stepped portion  16 . The tray  30  is pulled out of the receiving cavity by the restoring force of the first wire part  51  of the elastic member  50 . The tray  30  is then manually pulled out of the first hole  14  and the second hole  15 , and removed from the receiving frame  20 . The chip card  60  can now be easily removed from the tray  30 . 
         [0023]    As described above, the embodiment provides a chip card holder for portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones. The chip card holder can be easily opened, and the protective cover  40  can effectively hide and protect the tray  30 . 
         [0024]    Although numerous characteristics and advantages of the disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.