Patent Publication Number: US-7713074-B2

Title: Portable data storage apparatus with connector retraction

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS 
     This is a National Phase of International Application No. PCT/SG2006/000402, filed on Dec. 21, 2006. 
     FIELD 
     This invention relates to portable data storage apparatus with connector retraction and refers particularly, though not exclusively, to a USB flash drive with connector retraction where the connector cap operates the retraction mechanism. 
     BACKGROUND 
     USB flash drives are now quite popular for data storage and transfer, authentication, and so forth. The normal construction has a body with a connector extending from the body. A releasable cap covers the connector when the USB flash drive is not in use. The cap may be a separate component, or may be attached to the body. However, caps become lost, or may be accidentally removed from the cover or connector and the connector can be damaged. This renders the USB flash drive virtually useless. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to a preferred aspect there is provided portable data storage apparatus comprising:
         a housing having a front wall, and an opening in the front wall;   a circuit board located within the housing;   a connector electrically connected to the circuit board and extending outwardly therefrom for movement therewith;   a cap pivotally connected to the housing for movement relative to the housing between a first position and a second position;   an operating mechanism operatively connecting the cap and the circuit board for moving the circuit board with the movement of the cap, the circuit board and the connector being in a retracted position when the cap is in the first position, and are in an extended position when the cap is in the second position.       

     The operating mechanism may comprise at least one pin engaging in at least one track, the at least one pin passing through at least one opening in the housing. The circuit board may be mounted within a cover, the connector being physically connected to at least one of: the circuit board, and the cover. The cover may have a top surface, and the top surface may comprise the at least one track. The at least one track may comprise an annular track. The annular track may be undercut, and the at least one pin may have a bulbous head for engaging in and being retained by the annular track. 
     Additionally or alternatively, the cover may have a lower surface, and the lower surface may comprise the at least one track. Further alternatively, the circuit board may comprise the at least one track. The at least one track or the at least one opening may be at an angle of inclination to a central longitudinal axis of the housing. The angle of inclination may be in the range 30° to 60°, preferably 45°. 
     The cap may be generally U-shaped and may comprise an upper arm pivotally connected to a top wall of the housing, a lower arm pivotally connected to a bottom wall of the housing, an end integral with and extending between the upper arm and the lower arm, and an open end. 
     The at least one pin may extend downwardly from the upper arm, upwardly from the lower arm, and downwardly from the upper arm and upwardly from the lower arm. When the connector is in the extended position, the connector may pass through the opening in the front wall. When the connector is in the retracted position an outer end of the connector may be located: within the housing, or in the opening in the front wall. 
     The housing may further comprise a plurality of sliders on which the circuit board or the cover can slide between the retracted position and the extended position. The connector may be a USB connector or an IEEE1394 connector. The circuit board may comprise non-volatile memory. 
     The cap may have a cam or over-centre action when moving into and out of the first and second positions for providing tactile feel of engagement and disengagement respectively. The cap may require a small force to pass over front corner edges at junctions of side walls of the housing with the front wall of the housing, and rear corner edges at junctions of the side walls of the housing with a rear wall of the housing. The at least one pin may form a pivot connection between the cap and the housing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order than the invention may be fully understood and readily put into practical effect there shall now be described by way of non-limitative example only exemplary embodiments, the description being with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of an exemplary embodiment in a first position; 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of the exemplary embodiment in an intermediate position; 
         FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of the exemplary embodiment in another intermediate position; 
         FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of the exemplary embodiment in a second position; 
         FIG. 5  is a transparent top view of the exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a longitudinal cross section along the line and in the direction of arrows  6 - 6  on  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a view corresponding to  FIG. 6  but in the first position 
         FIG. 8  is a view corresponding to  FIG. 6  of another exemplary embodiment; and 
         FIG. 9  is a view corresponding to  FIG. 7  of the another exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     In the drawings there is shown a portable data storage apparatus  10 . The portable data storage apparatus  10  has non-volatile data storage such as, for example, flash memory, a disk drive, and so forth. The apparatus  10  has a housing  12  and a USB connector  14  that passes through an opening  16  in a front wall  17  of the housing  12 . The connector  14  may be a USB connector or a connector according to the IEEE standard 1394—a “Firewire” connector. All reference to a USB connector is to be taken as including a reference to a “Firewire” connector. 
     A generally U-shaped cap  18  is pivotally connected to the housing  12  by a pivot connection  26  to the top wall  19  and/or a pivot connection  27  to the lower wall  21  of the housing  12 . The cap  18  has an upper arm  20 , a lower arm  22 , an end integral with and extending between the upper arm  20  and the lower arm  22 , and an open end  42 . 
     The cap  18  is able to move from a first position (shown in  FIG. 1 ) by a pivoting movement to a second position (shown in  FIG. 4 ). In the first position, the end  24  of the cap  18  covers end  17  and opening  16 , as well as the connector  14 . When in the first position the end  24  of the cap  18  covers and protects the connector  14 . In the second position, the end  24  of the cap  18  does not cover the front wall  17 , and the connector  14 . As such the connector  14  is able to be used in the normal manner. When in this position, the end  24  of the cap  18  is located over the rear wall  23 , the rear wall  23  being opposite the front wall  17 . 
     The connector  14  is operatively and physically connected to a circuit board  32  that contains the operating electronics for the apparatus  10  (including non-volatile memory such as, for example, a disk drive and/or flash memory), and extends axially outwardly therefrom. The circuit board  32  may be contained within a cover  34 , if required or desired. If there is a cover  34 , the connection of the connector may be electrically to the circuit board  32  and physically to the cover  34  and/or the circuit board  32 . An operating mechanism generally designated as  40  interconnects the cap  18  with the cover  34  or, if there is no cover  34 , the circuit board  32 . 
     In the exemplary embodiment the cap  18  has a pin  30  extending downwardly from a lower surface of the upper arm  20  of the cap  18  to the interior of the housing  12 . The pin  30  is located between the pivot connection  26  of the cap  18  to the housing  12 , and the open end  42  of the cap  18 . If required or desired, there may be a second pin (not shown) extending upwardly from an upper surface of the lower arm  22  of the cap  18  to the interior of the housing  12 . The second pin would be located between the pivot connection  27  of the cap  18  to the housing  12 , and the open end  42  of the cap  18 . 
     The pin  30  extends through at least one opening  28  in the top wall  19  of the housing  12  and engages in a track  36  formed in or on the top surface  44  of cover  34 . If there is no cover, the track  36  would be in a member attached to the circuit board  32 . The track  36  is inclined to the central, longitudinal axis of the top wall  17  of the housing  12  at an angle that is preferably in the range 30° to 60°, more preferably being 45°. If there is a second pin, it would pass through second openings in the housing  12 , and engage in a second track. It would be, in effect, a mirror image of the pin  30  and track  36 . The opening  28  will be arcuate and may cover an extended angle of movement to allow the cap to be moved between the first and second positions. 
     In this way, when the cap  18  is moved in a pivoting manner about the pivots  26 ,  27  the pin  30  will press against the side walls of the track  36  and force the cover  34 , or the circuit board  32 , to move in the direction of the central, longitudinal axis of the cover  34 . The movement may be clockwise ( FIG. 2 ) or anticlockwise ( FIG. 3 ) to move from the first position shown in  FIG. 1  to the second position shown in  FIG. 4 . The reverse movement could also be either clockwise or anticlockwise to move from the second position ( FIG. 4 ) to the first position ( FIG. 1 ). During the movement of the cap  18 , the connector  14  will move in the axial direction with the circuit board  32  and/or cover  34 . In this way, when the cap  18  is in the second position ( FIG. 4 ) the connector is fully extended and can be used in the normal manner. When the cap  18  is in the first position ( FIG. 1 ) the connector  14  is in a retracted position and is retracted within the housing  12  and its end  48  (as well as the opening  16 ) are covered by the end  24  of the cap  18 . When the cap  18  is in the second position ( FIG. 4 ) the connector  14  is in an extended position and extends through the opening  16  and axially outwardly from the housing  12  and can be used in the normal manner. In this way the connector  14  is fully protected when the cap  18  is in the first position. When in the retracted or first position, the end  48  of the connector  14  may be located within opening  16  in the end wall  17  and may not be withdrawn into the interior of housing  12 . This therefore provides correct alignment of connector  14  and opening  16  at all times. 
     Sliders  46  may be provided on which the cover  34  moves to facilitate ease and accuracy of movement. 
     The cap  18  may have a cam or over-centre action when moving into and out of the first and second positions to provide tactile “feel” of engagement and disengagement respectively. This may be by selection of dimension such that the cap  18  requires a small force to pass over the corner edges of the side walls  25  of the housing  12  at the junction with the front and rear walls  17 ,  23 . Additionally or alternatively, this may be given by the cover  34  or the circuit board  32  contacting the front and rear walls  17 ,  23  at the ends of its movement. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  show another exemplary embodiment where the same reference numerals are used for like components but with the addition of a prefix number  2 . 
     In this embodiment the track the cap  218  has a pin  230  extending downwardly from a lower surface of the upper arm  220  of the cap  218  to the interior of the cover  234 . The pin  230  forms the upper pivot connection of the cap  218  to the housing  212 . 
     In this exemplary embodiment the form of the opening  228  and the track  236  is the reverse of that of the earlier exemplary embodiment. As such the pin  230  extends through at least one opening  228  in the top wall  219  of the housing  212  and engages in a track  236  formed in or on the top surface  244  of cover  234 . If there is no cover, the track  236  would be in a member attached to the circuit board  232 . The opening  228  is inclined to the central, longitudinal axis of the top wall  219  of the housing  212  at an angle that is preferably in the range 30° to 60°, more preferably being 45°. The track  28  will be arcuate and may cover an extended angle of movement to allow the cap to be moved between the first and second positions. Preferably, and as shown, the track  236  is an annular track that extends for 360°. 
     In this way, when the cap  218  is moved in a pivoting manner about the pivots  227  and  230 , the pin  230  will slide along the opening  228  and press against the side walls of the track  236  and force the cover  234 , or the circuit board  232 , to move in the direction of the central, longitudinal axis of the cover  234 . The opening  228  may be of a width greater than the width of the pin  230  to accommodate variations in the movement of the pin  230  as it travels along the opening  228 . The pin  230  may have a bulbous head and track  236  may be undercut so that pin  230  engages in and is retained in the track  236 . In this way the pin  230  acts as the upper pivot connection between the cap  218  and the housing  212 . Therefore, a separate pivot pin  26  would not be required. However, one may be provided of required or desired. 
     During the movement of the cap  218 , the connector  214  will move in the direction of the longitudinal axis with the circuit board  232  and/or cover  234 . In this way, when the cap  218  is in the second position ( FIG. 8 ) the connector is fully extended and can be used in the normal manner. When the cap  218  is in the first position ( FIG. 9 ) the connector  214  is in a retracted position and is retracted within the housing  212  and its end  248  (as well as the opening  216 ) are covered by the end  224  of the cap  218 . When the cap  218  is in the second position ( FIG. 8 ) the connector  214  is in an extended position and extends through the opening  216  and axially outwardly from the housing  212  and can be used in the normal manner. In this way the connector  214  is fully protected when the cap  218  is in the first position. When in the retracted or first position, the end  248  of the connector  214  may be located within opening  216  in the end wall  217  and may not be withdrawn into the interior of housing  212 . This therefore provides correct alignment of connector  214  and opening  216  at all times. 
     Whilst there has been described in the foregoing description preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the technology concerned that many variations in details of design, construction and/or operation may be made without departing from the present invention.