Patent Publication Number: US-10763603-B2

Title: Electronic card connector and electronic card connector assembly thereof

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to an electronic card connector, and more particularly to a miniaturized and reversible electronic card connector and electronic card connector assembly thereof. 
     BACKGROUND 
     China Patent No. 101752697 discloses a stacked card connector including a main base, a number of contacts retained in the insulative housing, and a shell enclosing the main base and forming a cavity therebetween to receive a card. The main base includes a first base portion and a second base portion below the first base portion. Each contact has a contacting portion extending into the cavity and electrically connected with the corresponding card. However, the cavity of the stacked card connector is divided into two parts in a vertical direction, which increases height of the connector and make it inconvenient to insert the card in two sides. 
     China Patent No. 104425920 discloses an electronic card connector including an insulating body, a number of conductive terminals retained in the insulating body, and a drawer base cooperated with the insulating body. The insulating body has an accommodating cavity in which the drawer base acts. The drawer base is provided with a first accommodating space and a second accommodating space. The conductive terminals include a number of first conductive terminals and a number of second conductive terminals used for mating with different electronic cards. The first conductive terminals and the second conductive terminals are respectively disposed in corresponding the first accommodating space and the second accommodating space, and the first accommodating space and the second accommodating space are separated from each other. The electronic card connector can accommodate multiple electronic cards at the same time to ensure that an electronic device has a preferred size with the electronic card connector. The first accommodating space and the second accommodating space are arranged in a front-to-back direction, which decreased the height of the connector and increased the length of space in the electronic device occupied by the connector. Meanwhile, the structure of the drawer is a disadvantage to be inserted into the connector in two sides. 
     Hence, a new and simple electronic card connector and electronic card connector assembly thereof are desired to improve those disclosed in the aforementioned proposal. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the object of the present disclosure is an electronic card connector, used for receiving a card tray able to receive an electronic card either in two sides, comprise an insulative housing defining an accommodating cavity receiving the card tray and having a first base body, a plurality of conductive terminals retained in the insulative housing and defining an array of first contacts and an array of second contacts respectively located in two sides of the insulative housing in a vertical direction and a shielding shell attached to the insulative housing. Each terminal has an affixed portion retained in the insulative housing, a contacting portion extending into the accommodating cavity from the affixed portion, and a soldering portion extending outside of the insulative housing. The insulative housing is inject-molded with the first contacts and the shielding shell, and the first contacts are configured as same as the second contacts in a rotationally symmetrical direction in 180 degree, disregarding the insertion orientations of the card tray, the conductive terminals are always electrically connected with pins of the electronic card correctly. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of an electronic card connector assembly in a first embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is another assembled perspective view of the electronic card connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partially exploded perspective view of the electronic card connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of an electronic card connector of the electronic card connector assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partially exploded perspective view of the electronic card connector. 
         FIG. 6  is a partially exploded perspective view of a part of the electronic card connector. 
         FIG. 7  is another partially exploded perspective view of the part of the electronic card connector of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the part of the electronic card connector taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 9  is a partial enlarged view of the part of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is another partial enlarged view of the part of  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded perspective view of a card tray of the electronic card connector assembly. 
         FIG. 12  is an assembled perspective view of an electronic card connector assembly in a second embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a partially exploded perspective view of the electronic card connector assembly of  FIG. 12 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
       FIGS. 1 to 3  show an electronic card connector assembly  100  in a first embodiment mounted into a printed circuit board (not figured), and the electronic card connector assembly  100  includes an electronic card connector and a card tray  7  inserted into the electronic card connector. The electronic card connector includes an insulative housing, a number of conductive terminals retained in the insulative housing, and a shielding shell  3  attached to the insulative housing. In the first embodiment of this present disclosure, an accommodating cavity  101  is formed between the shielding shell  3  and the insulative housing along an insertion direction for the card tray  7  insertion. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 11 to 13 , the card tray  7  has a supporting portion receiving an electronic card and a panel portion located behind the supporting portion. The supporting portion is received in the accommodating cavity  101 , and the panel portion is located outside of the insulative housing. The supporting portion of the card tray  7  includes a pair of card-receiving grooves  70  respectively located in an upper surface and a lower surface thereof. The pair of card-receiving grooves  70  is of centro-symmetric distribution and owns the same structure so that disregarding the insertion orientations of the card tray  7 , the conductive terminals are always electrically connected with pins of the electronic card correctly. Moreover, as a free end of the panel portion with a corresponding free end of the supporting portion in a transverse direction perpendicular to the insertion direction has the same distance with the other free end of the panel portion with a corresponding free end of the supporting portion in a transverse direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, there is no need to increase a mistake-proofing structure. The structure of the card tray  7  is convenient to be used by customers and decreases the manufacturing costs. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 5 , the conductive terminals include an array of first contacts  201  and an array of second contacts  202  configured in two rows in a vertical direction perpendicular to the insertion direction and the transverse direction. The first contacts  201  are punching-and-blanking molded in a material ship, and the second contacts  202  are punching-and-blanking molded in another material strip. 
     The insulative housing includes a first base body  1  injection-molded with the first contacts  201  and a second base body  6  injection-molded with the second contacts  202 . The first base body  1  is configured separately with the second base body  6 , and the accommodating cavity  101  is located between the first base body  1  and the second base body  6  in the vertical direction. Therefore, the first base body  1  and the second base body  6  can be assembled individually or in combination to meet the needs of different customers and decreases the manufacturing costs. 
     The first base body  1  is equipped with a main portion  11  and a rear portion  12  located behind the main portion  11 . The accommodating cavity  101  is located under the main portion  11 . In the molding process, the material strip of the first contacts  201  is insert-molded in the first base body  1 , then the first contacts  201  connected to the material strip are cut out with each other. The accommodating cavity  101  is located above the second base body  6 . In the molding process, the material ship of the second contacts  202  is insert-molded in the second base body  6 , then the second contacts  202  connected to the material strip are cut out with each other. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5 to 8 , each conductive terminal includes an affixed portion  21  retained in the insulative housing, an elastic portion  22  extending into the accommodating cavity  101  from the affixed portion  21 , and a soldering portion  23  extending outside of the insulative housing. The elastic portion  22  has a contacting portion  24  electrically connected with the electronic card of the card tray  7 . The contacting portions  24  of the first contacts  201  are extending downwardly into the accommodating cavity  101 , and the contacting portions  24  of the second contacts  202  are extending upwardly into the accommodating cavity  101 . Furthermore, the contacting portion  24  of each first contact  201  is corresponding to the contacting portions  24  of each second contact  202  in the vertical direction, so that the card tray  7  can be inserted into the insulative housing either in an obverse side or in a reverse side. In other word, the card tray  7  can be inserted into the insulative housing in a rotationally symmetrical direction in 180 degree. Therefore, the card tray  7  inserted into the insulative housing in two sides can avoid being inserted into the insulative housing by mistake. Moreover, the accommodating cavity  101  is located between the first base body  1  and the second base body  6  without mechanical components, which decreases the total height of the electronic card connector and complies to a thinness tendency of the electronic card connector. 
     The first contacts  201  are configured in two rows in the insertion direction, and the second contacts  202  have the same configuration. The elastic portions  22  of the conductive terminals are extending into the accommodating cavity  101  along the insertion direction, and available to move toward the rear portion  12  of the insulative housing  1  so as to be connected with the corresponding electrical card. The soldering portions  23  of the first contacts  201  are configured in a row in the transverse direction and extending outside of the rear portion  12  of the first base body  1  to locate in a same plane with the soldering portions  23  of the first contacts  202 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9 to 10 , the shielding shell  3  forms a top wall  31  and a pair of side walls  32  bent downwardly from two opposite ends of the top wall  31 . The first contacts  201  with the first base body  1  is affixed to the top wall  31 . The top wall  31  has a number of holes  33  running through an upper surface and a lower surface thereof, a guiding portion  34  located in front thereof and extending into the accommodating cavity  101 , and a number of chamfers  330  located in an inner surface of the holes  33  and gradually broadening from the lower surface to the upper surface. The first base body  1  includes a number of protrusions  13  abutting against the chamfers  330 , and the pyramid shape of the protrusions  13  allows it to occupy the corresponding chamfer  330 . The first contacts  201  is inject-molded with the shielding shell  3  and the first base body  1  so as to further decrease the height of the insulative housing and the shielding shell  3 , and comply to miniaturization tendency. Therefore, it obtains a good firmness between the insulative housing and the shielding shell  3  and ensures the flatness of the top wall  31  of the shielding shell  3 . The holes  33  are used for positioning die when the first base body  1  is injection molding, and the protrusions  13  fix the first base body  1  to the top wall  31  of the shielding shell  3  firmly. 
     The guiding portion  34  is bent from the top wall  31  and extending inwardly and obliquely into the accommodating cavity  101  to guide the electrical card to insert into the insulative housing. The first base body  1  has an incline portion  14  located in the front of the main portion  11 , and a lower surface of the incline portion  14  is lower than a lower surface of the guiding portion  34  of the shielding shell  3 . The guiding portion  34  is located in front of the incline portion  14  and partially embedded in the first base body  1 . When the card tray  7  is inserted in the insulative housing, the card tray  7  is guided by the guiding portion  34  of the shielding shell  3  and sliding into the accommodating cavity  101  along the incline portion  14  of the first base body  1 . Therefore, the card tray  7  is less likely to crash or scrape to the main portion  11  of the first base body  1  during the insertion. 
     Each side wall  32  of the shielding shell  3  has a resisting portion  35  with resilience and a number of tail portions  36  mounted to the printed circuit board. The resisting portion  35  is separated from the top wall  31  and protruding into the accommodating cavity  101 . When the card tray  7  is inserted into the insulative housing, the resisting portion  35  is locked in a resisting slot  71  of the card tray  7  to firmly lock. The tail portions  36  and the soldering portions  23  are located in a same plane to be mounted to the printed circuit board to ensure the electronic card connector affixed to the printed circuit board firmly. 
     The electronic card connector further includes a detecting contact  4  inject-molded with the first base body  1  and an elastic contact  5  retained in the rear portion  12 . The detecting contact  4  is punching-and-blanking molded in the same material strip with the first contacts  201  and has a connecting portion  41  exposed on the rear portion  12  and a soldering leg  42  extending outside of the rear portion  12 . The soldering leg  42  of the detecting contact  4  and the soldering portions  23  of the conductive terminals are arranged in a row. The elastic contact  5  includes a main portion  51  extending curvedly into the accommodating cavity  101  and a retained portion  52  connected with a free end of the main portion  51  and abutting against the connecting portion  41 . While the card tray  7  is absent from the accommodating cavity  101 , the retained portion  52  is abutting against the connecting portion  41 . While the card tray  7  is received in the accommodating cavity  101 , the card tray  7  pushes the elastic contact  5  rearwardly so as to separate the retained portion  52  from the connecting portion  41 . 
     The contacting portions  24  of the first contacts  201  are configured corresponding to the contacting portions  24  of the second contacts  202  in the vertical direction, so that the card tray  7  can be inserted into the insulative housing either in an obverse side or in a reverse side. In other word, the card tray  7  can be inserted into the insulative housing in a rotationally symmetrical direction in 180 degree. Therefore, the card tray  7  inserted into the insulative housing in two sides can avoid being inserted into the insulative housing by mistake. Moreover, as a free end of the panel portion with a corresponding free end of the supporting portion in the transverse direction perpendicular to the insertion direction has the same distance with the other free end of the panel portion with a corresponding free end of the supporting portion in the transverse direction, there is no need to increase a mistake-proofing structure. The structure of the card tray  70  is convenient to be used by customers and decreases the manufacturing costs. 
       FIGS. 12 and 13  show an electronic card connector  200  in a second embodiment. The structure of the electronic card connector  200  is the same as the electronic card connector in first embodiment in general and the difference therebetween is as follows. 
     The guiding portion  34  of the shielding shell  3  shapes like a rib extending into the accommodating cavity  101  from the top wall  31  so as to enhance the intensity of the shielding shell  3 . The guiding portion  34  is located in front of the incline portion  14  and forms a gap with first base body  1 . The first contacts  201  are configured in two rows and the second contacts  202  have the same configuration. The elastic portions  22  of the first contacts  201  and the second contacts  202  extend into the accommodating cavity  101  in the transverse direction and are configured face-to-face. The electronic card connector  200  further includes an insulator  37  inject-molded with the resisting portion  35  and extending into the accommodating cavity  101 . 
     In the present disclosure, the first base body  1  inject-molded with the first contacts  201  and the shielding shell  3  is viewed as a whole, and forms the accommodating cavity  101  with the second base body  6  inject-molded with the second contacts  202 . It is convenient for customers to assemble the components and insert the card tray  7  in two sides. In other embodiment, the first base body  1  inject-molded with the first contacts  201  and the shielding shell  3  can form the accommodating cavity  101  with the printed circuit board to decrease the height of the electronic card connector. The first base body  1  with the first contacts  201  is assembled in the top wall  31  of the shielding shell  3 , the side walls  32  has the tail portions  36  mounted into the printed circuit board, and the shielding shell  3  with the first base body  1  and the printed circuit board forms the accommodating cavity  101  to decrease the height of the electronic card connector and comply to miniaturization tendency. The first base body  1  and the second base body  6  are located at two opposite sides of the accommodating cavity  101  in the vertical direction and separated from each other. Therefore, the second base body  6  can be removed from the first base body  1 , which is convenient to increase the space for the electronic card connector to cooperate with other components and meets different needs of customers. As an example, the first base body  1  can be cooperated with a connector besides the second base body  6 . The electronic card connector of the present disclosure has diversified applications, so that there is no need to prepare different moulds and it decreases the manufacturing costs of the moulds. 
     However, the disclosure is illustrative only, changes may be made in detail, especially in matter of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure.