Patent Publication Number: US-7896667-B2

Title: Latching element and method of manufacturing the same

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The present disclosure generally relates to latching elements, particularly, to a latching element for a chip card holder and a method of manufacturing the latching element. 
     With the development of wireless communication and information processing technologies, portable electronic devices such as mobile phones are now in widespread use. These electronic devices enable consumers to enjoy high-tech services almost anytime and anywhere. Surface contact cards having special circuits are widely used in portable electronic devices to enhance and personalize the functions of the portable electronic devices. For example, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card can be placed in a mobile phone and holds data to automatically activate the mobile phone into which it is entered. The SIM cards make it easy to switch to a new phone by simply removing the SIM card from one mobile phone and inserting into another mobile phone. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 10 and 11 , a typical card holder  600  for mobile phone includes a receiving tray  61 , a cover  63  and a pivot shaft  65 . The receiving tray  61  is configured for carrying a chip card  700  therein. The receiving tray  61  includes a bottom plate  611  and a plurality of flanges  6111  perpendicularly extending from an edge of bottom plate  611 . The flanges  6111  with the bottom plate  611  cooperatively surround a receiving space  613 . The chip card  700  is received in the receiving space  613 . A barrel  615  is formed at one side of the bottom plate  611 . The cover  63  includes a main section  631  for covering the receiving space  613 . One side of the cover  63  forms two spaced mounting portions  633 . The distance between the two mounting portions  633  is substantially equal to the length of the barrel  615 . The other side of the cover  63  forms a locking portion  635 . The locking portion  635  extends upward from the edge of the main section  631 . The pivot shaft  65  is substantially a cylindrical rod, and is used for passing through the barrel  615  and the two spaced mounting portions  633  to rotatably connect the cover  63  to the receiving tray  61 . 
     However, the pivot shaft  65  and the barrel  615  have to be manufactured separately, and the pivot shaft  65  has to pass through the barrel  615  and the two spaced mounting portions  633  during assembling. The assembly process of the chip card holder  600  is complicated, which inevitable increases cost. 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the latching element and the method of manufacturing the same can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the latching element and the method of making the same. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is an assembled view of a latching element incorporated into a portable electronic device. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged, isometric view of the latching element shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing the latching element shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a top plan view of a metal plate for making the latching element. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view showing the effect of the first bending of the metal plate. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view showing the effect of the second bending of the metal plate. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view showing the effect of the reel-stretching of the metal plate. 
         FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the metal plate after the step of reel-stretching. 
         FIG. 9  is a top plan view showing the effect of the step of cropping. 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded, isometric view of a conventional chip card holder. 
         FIG. 11  is an assembled view of the chip card holder. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present latching element for chip card holder is suitable for portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable electronic games, etc. The chip card holder can be used for holding surface contact cards such as SIM cards, compact flash cards (CFs), multimedia cards (MMCs), etc. 
       FIG. 1  shows a latching element  100  with a SIM card  300  incorporated in a mobile phone or portable electronic device. The mobile phone and the SIM card  300  are exemplary applications for the purposes of describing details of the latching element  100  of the exemplary embodiment. The mobile phone has a main body  200 . The main body  200  defines a rectangular cavity  210  cooperatively surrounded by four sidewalls  230  and a bottom surface  232 . Two mounting portions  233  extend upward from the bottom surface  232 . Each mounting portion  233  defines a shaft hole  2331  and an opening  2333  communicating with the shaft hole  2331 . The two mounting portions  233  are made of metal or plastic. A portion of one of the sidewalls  230  defines an arcuate surface  234 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the latching element  100  is configured for retaining the SIM card  300  in the cavity  210 . The latching element  100  is made of metal, and includes a main section  11 . The main section  11  has a first end  12  and a second end  14  opposite to the first end  12 . The main section  11  further defines a connecting portion  111  at the edge of the first end  12  of the main section  11 , and a shaft  13  forms on the edge of the connecting portion  111 . The shaft  13  is integrally formed by reel-stretching; therefore, the cylindrical portion of the shaft  13  is hollow. The second end  14  has a locking portion  112  formed therefrom. The locking portion  112  perpendicularly extends from the edge of the second end  14  of the main section  11 . The locking portion  112  is integrally formed with the main section  11  by punching. 
     When assembling the latching element  100  to the main body  200  of mobile phone, the two ends of the shaft  13  are respectively inserted into the corresponding shaft hole  2331 , thereby completing the assembly of the latching element  100  to the mobile phone. 
     When assembling of the SIM card  300  to the mobile phone, firstly, the user places a finger on the concave portion  234  of the mobile phone and pushes the locking portion  112  away from the concave portion  234  of the main body  200 . Then, the locking portion  112  is pushed so as to force the latching element  100  to rotate to open relative to the main body  200  about the shaft  13 . After that, the SIM card  300  is placed into the cavity  210 . When the SIM card  300  is completely placed into the cavity  210 , the latching element  100  rotatably covers the SIM card  300 . 
     The steps of removing the SIM card  300  from the mobile phone are the reverse of the placing method shown above. 
       FIG. 3  schematically depicts the steps of an exemplary method for manufacturing the latching element  100 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a metal plate  20  is provided. In Step S 10 , the metal plate  20  is cut by the laser to form a predetermined shape with an extending portion  21 . The material of the metal plate  20  is preferably 1Cr17Ni7 or SUS301-H. The yield strength of the material is typically no more than about 80 kg/cm 2 , and the elongation rate of the metal should not be less than about 5%. Preferably, the thickness of the metal is in a range of about 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , in step S 20 , the extending portion  21  undergoes a first bending process to form an arcuate bent portion  22  at one end. In the first bending process, the width of the extending portion  21 , about ¼˜⅙ of a circumferential length of the predetermined shaft. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , in step S 30 , the bent portion  22  undergoes a second bending process to form a curl portion  23 . In the second bending process, the curl portion  23  and the metal plate  20  form an angle of 70°˜110°; and the length of the curl portion  23  is approximately equal to the circumference of the shaft  13 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , in step S 40 , the curl portion  23  is reel-stretched to form a shaft  13 , the curl portion  23  is pressed gradually to prevent it from cracking 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , in step S 50 , the metal plate  20  is cropped to form a connecting portion  111 . The connecting portion  111  is spaced from the metal plate  20 . The connecting shaft  13  is longer than the connecting portion  111 . 
     The shaft  13  is reshaped to have enough roundness and the metal plate  10  is punched to form other protrusions or defines holes required to form the latching element  100 . 
     It is to be understood that the process of punching of protrusions or holes is not limited to during reshaping, but could be carry out in any process before or afterwards. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the exemplary 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 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.