Patent Publication Number: US-2007111603-A1

Title: Memory card connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a memory card connector, and more particularly to a memory card connector with a latching mechanism which can limit the horizontal displacement of the metal shell of the memory card connector to secure the metal shell not to be shifted to the rotatable position.  
      2. Description of Related Art  
      Recently, the metal shell applied in the memory card connector is mostly adopted in rotary slide mode, i.e. the metal shell can be rotated to open, and in this state the memory card can be inserted in or taken out. When the metal shell is rotated to close, then the metal shell can be slid forward or backward to make the metal shell not to be rotated to open any more. In this art, a guarding plate is disposed on the metal shell, when the metal shell is horizontally shifted, the guarding plate will be clasped with the insulative housing to make the metal shell not to be rotated to open, i.e. the metal shell has a fixing effect in rotary shift, thereby to secure the memory card connector in connecting state.  
      Taiwan Patent No. M277159 is a utility model patent employing the above art, furthermore, this patent improves the defects of the above art, and it also increases the fixing effect in the horizontal displacement of the metal shell. A side edge of the metal shell extends a matching member, which has a latching portion, and the insulative housing has a notch for clasping the latching portion, thereby, when the metal shell is shifted horizontally, it can achieve a fixing effect by the interfering force between the notch and the latching portion to restrict the metal shell.  
      Such a design certainly makes the connecting state of the memory card connector more stable, but the above patent still has space for improving, especially the above notch is dented on the insulative housing directly, therefore the notch is identical with the insulative housing in material, after being continuous use for a while, the notch will be deformed or worn away due to rubbing with the latching portion. When the notch is deformed or worn away, the latching effect becomes very poor, which will result in the connecting state of the memory card becoming unstable. Because of the above defects, the existing memory card connector still needs to be improved.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is a main object of the present invention to provide a memory card connector with a latching mechanism, which can increase the stability of the metal shell in horizontal fixing position to make the metal shell not apt to be displaced horizontally.  
      It is another object of the present invention to provide a memory card connector with a latching mechanism, in which the latching mechanism can remain in perfect using state after a time period of use to prevent the memory card connector from becoming unstable.  
      To achieve the above objects, the memory card connector with a latching mechanism according to the present invention comprises a metal shell, an insulative housing, a plurality of conductive terminals and a plurality of fastening members, wherein the conductive terminals are fixed in the insulative housing, the fastening members are arranged on two sides of the insulative housing, the fastening members each has a plurality of fixing portions extended outward from the lower side of the insulative housing for fastening the insulative housing to a circuit board by soldering or surface mount technology (SMT) and the like. The metal shell is bent downward at both ends, and extending outward two axle portions. The insulative housing has two bearing portions at the positions relative to the axle portions, the bearing portions are elongated concave grooves disposed on two side surfaces of the insulative housing in horizontal direction, which makes the metal shell to be rotated on the bearing portion of the insulative housing through the axle portion. At the same time, when the metal shell is rotated and closed on the insulative housing, the metal shell can be shifted horizontally on the bearing portion through the axle portion. Besides, the metal shell has at least a clasping portion, and the insulative housing has a blocking portion relative to the clasping portion, after the metal shell is rotated and closed on the insulative housing, the vertical position of the blocking portion is higher than that of the clasping portion, which makes the clasping portion to be shifted horizontally to the lower side of the blocking portion. After the clasping portion is shifted to the lower side of the blocking portion, the blocking portion thus limits the clasping portion to move upward freely, i.e. the metal shell can&#39;t be rotated upward.  
      The above memory card connector is a rotary slide memory card connector, the above structures may have been disclosed in the prior arts, but the art of the present invention is characterized in that the metal shell includes at least an elastic clipping member, the distal end of the elastic clipping member has a downward projected convex portion, and the fastening member has a limiting portion on the position relative to the elastic clipping member.  
      Therefore, the elastic clipping member and the limiting portion form a latching mechanism, after the metal shell is rotated and closed on the insulative housing and when the metal shell is shifted horizontally along the bearing portion, the convex portion of the elastic clipping member will be shifted across the limiting portion. When the convex portion is shifted across the limiting portion, the limiting portion thus provides a resistance to make the metal shell be retained on the limiting portion if it doesn&#39;t surpass a definite pressure scope, so as to secure the memory card connector in perfect connecting state.  
      The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an assembled perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in open state;  
       FIG. 3  is another assembled perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in close state;  
       FIG. 4  is a side view showing the using state of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 5  is another side view showing the using state of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Refer to FIGS. 1  and  2 , which show a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the memory card connector of the present embodiment comprises a metal shell  1 , an insulative housing  2 , a plurality of conductive terminals  3  and two fastening members  4 . The multiple conductive terminals  3  are fixed in the insulative housing  2 . The two fastening members  4  are arranged on two sides of the insulative housing  2 , each fastening member  4  has a plurality of fixing portions  41  extended outward from the lower side of the insulative housing  2  for fastening the insulative housing  2  to a circuit board (not shown) by soldering or surface mount technology (SMT) and the like. The metal shell  1  is bent downward at both ends respectively, and extending outward two axle portions  11 . The insulative housing  2  has two bearing portions  21  at the positions relative to the axle portions  11 , each bearing portion  21  is an elongated concave groove disposed on two side surfaces of the insulative housing  2  in horizontal direction, which makes the metal shell  1  to be rotated on the bearing portion  21  of the insulative housing  2  through the axle portion  11 . At the same time, when the metal shell  1  is rotated and closed on the insulative housing  2 , the metal shell  1  can be shifted horizontally on the bearing portion  21  through the axle portion  11 . Besides, the metal shell  1  has at least a clasping portion  12 , and the insulative housing  2  has a blocking portion  22  relative to the clasping portion  12 , after the metal shell  1  is rotated and closed on the insulative housing  2 , the vertical position of the blocking portion  22  is higher than that of the clasping portion  12 , which makes the clasping portion  12  can be shifted horizontally to the lower side of the blocking portion  22 . After the clasping portion  12  is shifted to the lower side of the blocking portion  22 , the blocking portion  22  thus limits the clasping portion  12  to move upward freely, i.e. the metal shell  1  can&#39;t rotate upward.  
      In the present embodiment, the metal shell  1  has two elastic clipping members  13  disposed on the left and right sides thereof, on the distal end of the elastic clipping member  13  having a downward projected convex portion  131 , which is formed by bending a downward V-shaped portion at the distal end of the elastic clipping portion  13 . The two fastening members  4  each includes a limiting portion  42  relative to the convex portion  131 , the limiting portion  42  has an upward projected rib portion  421 , which is formed by bending a upward V-shaped portion in the middle of the limiting portion  42 .  
      Please refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the convex portion  131  of the elastic clipping member  13  and the rib portion  421  of the limiting portion  42  form a latching mechanism, after the metal shell.  1  is rotated and closed on the insulative housing  2  and when the metal shell  1  is shifted along the bearing portion  21  horizontally, the convex portion  131  of the elastic clipping member  13  can be shifted across the rib portion  421  of the limiting portion  42 . When the convex portion  131  is shifted across the rib portion  421 , the rib portion  421  provides a resistance to limit the convex portion  131  of the metal shell  1  on the back of the rib portion  421  if the pressure imposed on the metal shell  1  doesn&#39;t surpass a definite scope, i.e. it can make the metal shell  1  be retained on the limiting portion  42 , so as to secure the clasping portion  12  of the metal shell  1  not to be shifted out of the blocking portion  22  of the insulative housing  2 , therefore the metal shell  1  can&#39;t be rotated upward, so as to keep the connector in firmly connecting state.  
      The advantages of the present invention lie in that the latching mechanism is formed respectively by the elastic clipping portion  13  of the metal shell  1  and the limiting portion  42  of the fastening member  4 , it is independent from the insulative housing  2 , therefore it could achieve a perfect management in quality control independently; besides, if the fastening members  4  are made of a metal, the latching effect of the metal shell  1  can be further improved and can go through a long time using test.  
      In the embodiment of the present invention, the limiting portion  42  also could be a concave portion dented downwardly on the fastening member  4  to be used for limiting the horizontal displacement of the convex portion  131  of the elastic clipping portion  13 .  
      While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.