Patent Publication Number: US-6210187-B1

Title: Card connector with reinforced card ejecting plate

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of The Invention 
     The present invention relates to a card connector, and particularly to a card ejecting mechanism of a card connector. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     Following the development of computer technology, a variety of cards, such as PCMCIA cards and memory cards, have been developed to meet different requirements, and a variety of card connectors have been developed to connect the cards to respective mother boards. Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 84210016, 85208532 and U.S. Pat No. 5,456,610 disclose such connectors. Each connector is equipped with an ejector mechanism having a card ejecting plate with at least a card engaging tab for engaging with an inserted card. When the ejector mechanism is activated to eject the inserted card, the card engaging tab exerts a push force on the card. 
     The card engaging tabs disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 84210016 and 85208532 extend in a direction parallel to an engaged side of the inserted card whereby a uniform ejecting force can be exerted on the card. However, due to the requirement of miniaturization of the card connector, the card ejecting plate becomes thinner and thinner. A card engaging tab arranged in this manner is not rigid enough to sustain the ejecting force and will deform excessively during ejection of the inserted card. When this happens, the card engaging tab can no longer properly perform its intended function. 
     U.S. Pat No. 5,456,610 discloses a card engaging tab extending in a direction perpendicular to an engaged side of the inserted card, whereby the engaging tab has an increased rigidity. However, in this arrangement, the contact area between the engaging tab and the card is relatively small causing a large amount of stress to be exerted on the card when the card is rejected. Thus, the card cannot be smoothly ejected out of the connector. 
     Furthermore, none of the prior art card connectors has a card ejecting mechanism which can be positively guided during operation to have a stable and reliable movement to eject the inserted card. 
     Hence, an improved connector is needed to eliminate the above mentioned defects of current card connectors. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an objective of the present invention is to provide a card connector having a card ejecting mechanism with an improved card ejecting plate which can smoothly eject an inserted card while card engaging tabs thereof will not be excessively deformed. 
     A further objective of the present invention is to provide a card connector having guiding means which can guide the card ejecting mechanism to have a stable and reliable movement to eject an electronic card inserted into the connector. 
     To fulfill the above mentioned objectives, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a card connector consists of a header connector with pins each having a contact portion at a front side thereof for engaging with an inserted card and a tail portion at a rear side thereof for being soldered to a printed circuit board. A metallic shielding has a head portion fixedly attached to the header connector and a pair of card guiding rails extending in front of the header connector. A card ejecting mechanism is drivably mounted on the shielding. The card ejecting mechanism includes a push rod reciprocably mounted on a rail of the shielding. A lever is pivotably mounted on the head portion of the shielding and has a first end engaging with the push rod and an opposed second end slidably engaging with an arced section formed by the head portion of the shielding. An elongate card ejecting plate is linearly and movably mounted on the shielding, and has a middle tab engaging with the lever near the second end thereof and two card engaging tabs at two lateral ends thereof for exerting an ejecting force on an inserted card. Each card engaging tab extends parallel to a longitudinal direction of the card ejecting plate to evenly exert an ejecting force on the card for smooth ejection. The card ejecting plate further forms two supporting tabs located immediately behind the card engaging tabs, respectively, which supportively abut the corresponding card engaging tabs when the card is ejected, thereby preventing an excessive deformation of the card engaging tabs due to the ejecting force. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a card connector in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a combination of a shielding and a card ejecting mechanism of the card connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a card ejecting plate of the card connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3A is a partially enlarged view of the card ejecting plate of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a card ejecting plate in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4A is a partially enlarged view of the card ejecting plate of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a card ejecting plate in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5A is a partially enlarged view of the card ejecting plate of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 to  3 A, a card connector  1  in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention includes a header connector  10  having an elongate dielectric housing  11  fixedly receiving a number of conductive contacts  13  therein. Each contact  13  has a contact portion  132  at a front side of the housing  11  for engaging with an electronic card (not shown) inserted into the connector  1  and a tail portion  134  for being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB, not shown). Two hexagonal depressions  112  are defined in two lateral ends of the housing  11  by which nuts and screws (not shown) can be used to fix the connector  1  to the PCB. Two guiding arms  12  extend forward from the two lateral ends of the housing  11  for guiding the card into/away from the header connector  10 . 
     A metallic shielding  2  is formed by stamping a metal sheet to have a body portion  20  in front of the header connector  10  and a head portion  21  mounted on the header connector  10 . The body portion  20  forms first and second guiding rails  22 ,  23  at two lateral sides thereof for guiding the card into/away from the card connector  1 . Two mounting legs  25  are integrally formed with the guiding rails  22 ,  23 , respectively, and extend downward therefrom for extension of two screws (not shown) therethrough for fixing the shielding  2  to the PCB. The second rail  23  is additionally formed with a projection  232  defining a cut  235  and two brackets  233 ,  234 . 
     The head portion  21  of the shielding  2  forms two mounting ears  24  at two lateral ends thereof for being fixedly received in the depressions  112  of the housing  11  of the card connector  10 . A rectangular hole  215  is defined in a middle of the head portion  21 . An arced slit  217  is defined in the head portion  21  to the right of the rectangular hole  215 . An arced guiding plate  216  is formed by depressing the head portion  21  immediately beside the arced slit  217 . The arced guiding plate  216  is at a level slightly lower than the head portion  21 . An elongate slit  219  is defined in the head portion  21  to the right of the arced guiding plate  216 , and a rectangular guiding plate  218  is formed by depressing the head portion  21  immediately beside the elongate slit  219 . The rectangular guiding plate  218  is also at a level slightly lower than the head portion  21 . Two pear-shaped holes  211 ,  212  are defined in the head portion  21  to the left of the rectangular hole  215 . 
     An elongate push rod  31  is formed by stamping a metal sheet to have an engaging lug  313  at a rear end thereof, a handle  311  at a middle portion thereof for receiving a push force, and a projection  312  in front of the handle  311 . The lug  313  defines a rectangular hole  314  and the projection  312  defines a cut  315 . The handle  311  extends in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the rod  31 . 
     An elongate card ejecting plate  33  is formed by stamping a metal sheet to have a push force receiving tab  332  on a rear side of a middle portion thereof, a guiding tab  333  on a right side thereof pointing toward a right end, and two card engaging tabs  331  at two lateral ends thereof. The card engaging tabs  331  extend along a longitudinal direction of the card ejecting plate  33  for having a large engaging area with an electronic card inserted into the card connector  1 ; thus, the inserted card can be smoothly ejected out of the header connector  10  by the card ejecting plate  33 . 
     Particularly referring to FIGS. 3 and 3A, the card ejecting plate  33  is further formed with two supporting tabs  334  located behind the card engaging tabs  331 . Each supporting tab  334  has a front edge  3342  which, when the card ejecting plate  33  is activated to eject an inserted card, supportively abuts the corresponding card engaging plate  331  thereby preventing excessive deformation from occurring thereto due to the card ejecting force. In this embodiment, both the supporting tabs  334  and card engaging tabs  331  are formed by bending the corresponding lateral sides of the card ejecting plate  33  downward, and the supporting tabs  334  are oriented to be perpendicular to the corresponding card engaging tabs  331 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 4A show a card ejecting plate  33 ′ in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention which has a push force receiving tab  332  and a guiding tab  333  identical to the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, a card engaging tab  331 ′ is integrally formed with a side wall  335  extending rearward from a lateral side of the corresponding card engaging tab  331 ′. The side wall  335  has an upper key  3352  protruding from a top edge  3353  thereof. Two supporting tabs  336  horizontally extend from two lateral ends of the card ejecting plate  33 ′ behind the corresponding keys  3352 . When the card ejecting plate  33 ′ is activated to eject an inserted card, the 15 supporting tabs  336  supportively abut the keys  3352  to prevent excessive deformation of the card engaging tabs  331 ′ due to the card ejecting force. 
     FIGS. 5 and 5A show a card ejecting plate  33 ″ in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. The card ejecting plate  33 ″ has a push force receiving tab  332  and a guiding tab  333  identical to the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the card ejecting plate  33 ″ has card engaging tabs  331 ″ formed by inwardly bending lateral ends of the card ejecting plate  33 ″ into cavities  337  defined in the lateral ends of the plate  33 ″. Each card engaging tab  331 ″ is located in front of a horizontally extending supporting tab  339  and has an upper portion  338  extending upward therefrom. When the card engaging tabs  331 ″ eject an inserted card, the supporting tabs  339  supportively abut the upper portion  338  of the card engaging tabs  331 ″ to prevent excessive deformation from occurring thereto. Each card engaging tab  331 ″ is connected with the corresponding supporting tab  339  via a flap  340  vertically extending downward from a lateral end of the corresponding supporting tab  339 . 
     Details regarding how the inserted card is ejected from the header connector  10  by the card ejecting plates  33 ,  33 ′,  33 ″ are given below. 
     Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, a lever  32  is made by stamping a metal sheet to have a force receiving end  323  extending downward from a left end thereof. A guiding tab  3211  extends from a right end of the lever  32 . A necked hole  328  is defined in the lever  32  near the guiding tab  3211 . Two round protrusions  324 ,  325  project upward between the force receiving end  323  and the necked hole  328 . 
     To assemble the connector  1 , the shielding  2 , the lever  32 , the card ejecting plate  33  and the push rod  31  are assembled together as shown in FIG.  2 . The push rod  31  is reciprocably mounted on the brackets  233 ,  234  with the lug  313  being located below the head portion  21  of the shielding  2 . A helical spring  34  has a front end fixedly received in the cut  235  in the projection  232  of the shielding  2  and a rear end fixedly received in the cut  315  in the projection  312  of the rod  31 . When a push force exerted on the handle  311  to eject an inserted card is released, the spring  34 , which has been extended by the push force, can automatically force the handle  31  together with the lever  32  and the card ejecting plate  33  to return to their original positions as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     Thereafter, the lever  32  is mounted to the shielding  2  and the rod  31  by extending the force receiving end  323  into the hole  314  defined by the lug  313  of the rod  31  to drivably engage therewith. Two round protrusions  324 ,  325  are received in the corresponding pear-shaped holes  211 ,  212  of the shielding  2 , and the guiding tab  3211  is inserted through the arced slit  217  to slidably engage with the arced guiding plate  216 . 
     Afterward, the card ejecting plate  33  is mounted to the lever  32  and the shielding  2  by extending the force receiving tab  332  into the necked hole  328  of the lever  32  and the guiding tab  333  through the elongate silt  219  to slidably engage with the rectangular guiding plate  218 . 
     Finally, the above subassembly is mounted to the header connector  10  and assembled therewith to a printed circuit board (not shown) in a manner known by those skilled in the art which is irrelevant to the inventive features of the present invention, thus, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted herein. 
     When the push rod  31  is pushed toward the head portion  21  of the shielding  2  from the position shown in FIG. 2, the push force causes the lever  32  to pivot while the guiding tab  3211  moves forward along the arced guiding plate  216 . The pivoting movement of the lever  32  pushes the force receiving tab  322  to cause the card ejecting plate  33  to move forward thereby ejecting the inserted card away from the header connector  10 . During the forward movement of the card ejecting plate  33 , the guiding tab  333  moves along the rectangular guiding plate  218 . By cooperation between the guiding tab  3211  and the arced guiding plate  216 , and between the guiding tab  333  and the rectangular guiding plate  218 , the lever  32  and the card ejecting plate  33  can stably and reliably eject an inserted card. 
     The card ejecting plate  33  can be replaced by either of the card ejecting plates  33 ′,  33 ″, since the only difference concerns the configuration of the card engaging tabs and supporting tabs. When the card ejecting plate  33  is replaced by the plate  33 ′ or  33 ″ and the push rod  31  is pushed toward the head portion  21  of the shielding  2 , the card ejecting plate  33 ′,  33 ″ ejects the inserted card by its card engaging tabs  331 ′,  331 ″ in a manner similar to the card ejecting plate  33 . 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications to the present invention can be made to the preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.