Abstract:
In a card connector for connection to a card, a housing is provided therein with a contact for contacting the card. For ejecting the card from the card connector, an ejecting mechanism includes an ejecting bar coupled to the housing and movable in directions of insertion and ejection of the card. For controlling an operation of the ejecting bar, a cam mechanism is coupled to the ejecting bar. The ejecting bare is constantly biased by an elastic member towards direction of the ejection of the card. The ejecting bar has a retaining portion for retaining the card. The ejecting bar moves along with the card with the retaining portion retaining the card when the ejecting bar is operated to eject the card from the card connector.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims priority to prior Japanese patent application JP 2003-433079, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a card connector for connection to a card such as an integrated circuit card (which will often be called hereunder an IC card).  
         [0003]     In a card connector having a so-called W-Push function that alternately repeats loading and ejection of a card every time the card is pushed, the card is forcibly ejected by a load which is obtained by pushing the card to deform a coil spring.  
         [0004]     There is, however, a problem that the card leaps out of the connector depending on a manipulation manner.  
         [0005]     As a countermeasure, a method is generally employed wherein a brake is provided in a card connector to exert a frictional force on a card to thereby prevent the card from leaping out of the connector.  
         [0006]     Japanese Patent No. 3383917 (JP-B) (hereinafter referred to as Reference Document  1 ) describes a card connector comprising a housing and a cover covering it. At one side in the housing, the connector further comprises, as a card ejecting mechanism, an L-shaped ejecting bar and a coil spring biasing the ejecting bar toward the front end of the connector. A distal bent end portion of the L-shaped ejecting bar engages with an insertion-side end of a card so that the ejecting bar moves toward the rear end of the connector following the insertion of the card.  
         [0007]     Every time the card is pushed for loading or ejection thereof, a heart-cam mechanism causes the ejecting bar to alternately repeat a locked state where the ejecting bar is stopped at the rear end against a biasing force of the coil spring and an unlocked state where the ejecting bar is moved forward by the biasing force of the coil spring.  
         [0008]     The cover is provided with a plate-like brake formed by cutting. The brake has elasticity and is pushed up outward by the card upon insertion thereof so as to be in constant sliding contact with one surface of the card. When ejecting the card from the connector, the brake continues to apply a frictional force to the card while slidingly contacting the card, to thereby prevent the card from leaping out of the connector.  
         [0009]     In the foregoing card connector, however, there may arise a problem that when the frictional force is greater than the force to eject the card achieved by the coil spring, the card is not fully ejected and stops inside the connector. In view of this, it has been difficult to increase the braking force to thereby suppress the leaping-cut of the card.  
         [0010]     Similarly, Japanese Utility Model Registration (JP-Y) No. 2568489, Japanese Utility Model Registration (JP-Y) No. 2597283, and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication (JP-U) No. H05-66768 (hereinafter referred to as Reference Document  2 , Reference Document  3 , and Reference Document  4 , respectively) each discloses a card connector having a brake. This card connector has a structure wherein a card is ejected via a lever by pushing a button. Specifically, a lock or brake is provided at a portion where the card is guided, and braking is achieved by sandwiching the card between the brake and a card guide. Since the braking serves as a frictional force against a force to eject the card or a force to push the button, there is possibility of occurrence of ejection failure.  
         [0011]     On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H11-53486 (hereinafter referred to as Reference Document  5 ) describes a structure wherein a card is ejected by directly manipulating an eject lever. Braking is achieved by sandwiching the card between a lock or brake and a portion serving to guide the card. Since the braking serves as a frictional force against a force to eject the card or a force to manipulate the eject lever, there is possibility of occurrence of ejection failure.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a card connector that can prevent both leaping-out and ejection failure of a card.  
         [0013]     Other objects of the present invention will become clear as the description proceeds.  
         [0014]     According to an aspect of this invention, there is provided a card connector for connection to a card. The card connector comprises a contact for contacting the card, a housing provided therein with the contact, and an ejecting mechanism for ejecting the card from the card connector. The ejecting mechanism comprises an ejecting bar coupled to the housing and movable in directions of insertion and ejection of the card, a cam mechanism coupled to the ejecting bar for controlling an operation of the ejecting bar, and an elastic member constantly biasing the ejecting bar towards the direction of the ejection of the card. The ejecting bar has a retaining portion for retaining the card and. The ejecting bar moves along with the card with the retaining portion retaining the card when the ejecting bar is operated to eject the card from the card connector.  
         [0015]     It may be arranged that the retaining portion comprises a pair of spring pieces and acts to sandwich the card between the spring contacts.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0016]      FIG. 1A  is a plan view showing one example of a conventional card connector;  
         [0017]      FIG. 1B  is a sectional view taken along line IB-IB in  FIG. 1A ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing an overall structure of a card connector according to a preferred embodiment of this invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the card connector shown in  FIG. 2  with a cover removed;  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view showing a portion of the card connector shown in  FIG. 2  in the neighborhood of a brake engaging with an ejecting bar;  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  is a partial exploded perspective view of a card ejecting mechanism of the card connector shown in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0022]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the card connector shown in  FIG. 2  for describing operation of the brake, which shows the state before insertion of a card or after ejection of the card; and  
         [0023]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of the card connector shown in  FIG. 2  for describing operation of the brake, which shows the state where the card is loaded. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]     In order to facilitate understanding of this invention, a conventional card connector will first be described with reference to  FIGS. 1A and 1B  prior to describing a preferred embodiment of this invention.  
         [0025]     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , a card connector  11  according to Reference Document  1  comprises a housing  13  and a cover  15  covering it. At one side in the housing  13 , an L-shaped ejecting bar  17  is provided and biased by a coil spring  19  toward the front end of the connector  11  as indicated by an arrow  27 . A projecting portion of the L-shaped ejecting bar  17  is adapted to engage with an insertion-side end of a card  21  so that the ejecting bar  17  moves toward the rear end of the connector  11  following the insertion of the card  21 . The cover  15  is provided with a brake  23  that Is formed by cutting so as to be inclined toward the inside of the connector  11 . Every time the card  21  is pushed for loading or ejection thereof, a heart-cam mechanism (not illustrated) causes the ejecting bar  17  to alternately repeat a locked state where the ejecting bar  17  is stopped at the rear end against a biasing force of the coil spring  19  and an unlocked state where the ejecting bar  17  is moved forward by the biasing force of the coil spring  19 .  
         [0026]     The brake  23  has elasticity and is pushed up outward by the card  21  upon insertion thereof so as to be in constant sliding contact with one surface of the card  21 . When ejecting the card  21  from the connector  11 , the brake  23  continues to apply a frictional force to the card  21  as indicated by an arrow  25  while slidingly contacting the card  21 , to thereby prevent the card  21  from leaping out of the connector  11 .  
         [0027]     In the conventional card connector  11 , however, there may arise a problem that when the frictional force is greater than the force to eject the card  21  achieved by the coil spring  19 , the card  21  is not fully ejected and stops inside the connector  11 . In view of this, it has been difficult to increase the braking force to thereby suppress the leaping-out of the card  21 .  
         [0028]     Now, the preferred embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to FIGS.  2  to  7 .  
         [0029]     Referring to FIGS.  2  to  7 , a card connector  29  according to this embodiment has the W-Push function that alternately repeats loading and ejection of a card  21  in the form of an IC card every time the card is pushed. The connector  29  comprises a housing  39  and a cover frame  41 . The housing  39  has a bottom portion  31 , side walls  33  and  35 , and a rear wall  37  that form a rectangular box-like shape having a “]”-shape in cross section. The cover frame  41  has a “]”-shape in cross section and covers the housing  39 . A box formed by the housing  39  and the cover frame  41  has a front end where an opening  43  is formed for insertion and removal of the card  21  therethrough. In the following description, the card insertion direction shall be defined as a first direction and, in this first direction, the end of the connector  29  where the opening  43  is formed shall be defined as a front end and its opposite end as a rear end. Further, the width direction of the connector  29  shall be defined as a second direction and its height direction as a third direction, wherein the first, second, and third directions are set perpendicular to each other.  
         [0030]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the connector  29  further comprises contacts  51  for electrical connection to the card  21 . The contacts  51  are provided at the bottom portion  31  of the housing  39  such that contact portions  47  thereof protrude from rectangular mounting holes  45  arrayed in two rows in the second direction. The housing  39  further serves as a guide for the card  21  and an ejecting bar  53 .  
         [0031]     Referring also to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the connector  29  further comprises, on an inner side of the side wall  33  of the housing  39 , the ejecting bar  53  extending in the first direction along an inner surface of the side wall  33 , a brake  55  engaging with the ejecting bar  53 , and a coil spring  57  biasing the ejecting bar  53  in the first direction toward the front end from the rear end. The ejecting bar  53  is formed with a heart-cam groove  59  at a portion thereof where a base portion of the brake  55  is fixedly received. The heart-cam groove  59  constitutes part of the heart-cam mechanism. The heart-cam mechanism further comprises a cam follower  63  provided between the ejecting bar  53  and the side wall  33  of the housing  39 . The cam follower  63  has an inward projecting tip end portion  61  that is inserted into the heart-cam groove  59  on the side of the ejecting bar  53 . The cam follower  63  further has at its rear end a hole  67  receiving therein a pin  65  projecting into the inside of the housing  39  through the side wall  33  so that the cam follower  63  is rotatable about the pin  65 . For details about the heart-cam mechanism, see paragraphs [0013], [0015], and  FIG. 4  of Reference Document  1 . In this embodiment, a card ejecting mechanism comprises the ejecting bar  53 , the brake  55 , the coil spring  57 , and the heart-cam mechanism. In  FIG. 5 , numeral  73  denotes a lateral end of the ejecting bar  53 , while numeral  75  denotes a guide groove of the ejecting bar  53 .  
         [0032]     The ejecting bar  53  is formed into an L-shape so as to have at its rear end a projection  69  that is adapted to engage with an insertion-side end of the card  21 . The card  21  is ejected by a biasing force of the coil spring  57  exerted on the ejecting bar  53  that is in direct contact with the card  21 .  
         [0033]     The brake  55  comprises a pair of springs (contact pieces)  71  as a card retaining portion for sandwiching the card  21  under pressure from upper and lower sides in the figures. The brake  55  is fixed to the ejecting bar  53  and thus moves together with the ejecting bar  53  upon insertion and ejection of the card  21 . This allows the card  21  to be prevented from leaping out of the connector  29  when the card  21  is ejected.  
         [0034]     In the brake  55 , although the pair of springs  71  have such elastic forces that the springs cause abrasion forces with clipping the card  21  equally from both sides, the card  21  can be clipped to be prevented from leaping out of the connector  29  when inserting or ejecting the card but can not be prevented from ejecting. When the card  21  is inserted through the opening  43  in the state of  FIG. 6 , the contact pieces  71 , arranged in a “&lt;”-shape, of the brake  55  are pushed open to thereby sandwich the card  21  therebetween under pressure as illustrated in  FIG. 7 . More specifically, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , when the card  21  is inserted, the contact pieces  71  of the brake  55  sandwich the card  21  therebetween by applying the same load to the card  21  from upper and lower sides thereof as indicated by arrows  79  and move together with the ejecting bar  53  to a card loading position where the ejecting bar  53  is locked by the heart-cam mechanism so that the card  21  is loaded in the connector  29 .  
         [0035]     Then, when the card  21  is pushed in the state of  FIG. 7 , the ejecting bar  53  is unlocked by the heart-cam mechanism so that the ejecting bar  53  along with the card  21  is moved by the biasing force of the coil spring  57  toward the front end as indicated by an arrow  81 . Because of being fixed to the ejecting bar  53 , the brake  55  moves together with the ejecting bar  53  while sandwiching the card  21  under pressure even during the ejection of the card  21 .  
         [0036]     Accordingly, since the braking force of the brake  55  does not serve as a frictional force against the biasing force of the coil spring  57  to eject the card  21  via the ejecting bar  53 , it is possible to increase the braking force while, at the same time, preventing occurrence of stoppage of the card  21  on the way of its ejection. Further, since the card  21  is constantly sandwiched under pressure, it is possible to prevent the leaping-out of the card  21  during the ejection. Consequently, the ejection of the card  21  can be achieved with high reliability.  
         [0037]     As described above, in this embodiment, the card ejecting mechanism is configured to eject the card  21  by the use of the coil spring  57 , which is different from the conventional mechanism of ejecting the card via the lever by pushing the button. Therefore, the ejecting bar  53  is prevented from stopping on the way of ejection of the card  21 .  
         [0038]     Further, in this embodiment, the brake  55  is fixed to the ejecting bar  53  itself serving to eject the card  21 , and the card  21  is retained by the brake  55  itself. Therefore, the retaining force of the brake  55  does not function as the frictional force against the force to eject the card  21  so that it is possible to prevent occurrence of ejection failure wherein the card  21  stops on the way of its ejection.  
         [0039]     As described above, in the prior art, the brake springs  23  are formed inside the case so that the card is often leaped out from the case or stopped on the way of ejecting the card  21 . On the contrary, according to the embodiment, the brake springs  71  are formed at ejecting bar  53  so that the card  21  can not be leaped out from the case or can not be stopped on the way of ejecting the card  21 .  
         [0040]     In addition, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide the card connector with high reliance that can prevent both the leaping-out and the ejection failure of the card  21 .  
         [0041]     In this embodiment, the description has been given about the example wherein the card is the IC card, but it is readily understood that this invention is applicable to so-called electronic cards incorporating electronic circuit elements, not limited to the IC card.  
         [0042]     As described above, the card connector according to this invention has high reliability and is applicable to card slots of personal computers, and card connectors of portable mobile terminals, various digital devices, and various electrical and electronic devices.  
         [0043]     While this invention has thus far been described in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be readily possible for those skilled in the art to put this invention into practice in various other manners without departing from the scope set forth in the appended claims.