Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7416133
Timestamp: 2015-01-27 06:08:00
Document Index: 391564268

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 2', 'art 2', 'arts 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2']

Patent US7416133 - IC card - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn IC card is prevented from falling off readily an electronic device while maintaining the mechanical strength of the IC card. A recess for preventing a memory card from falling off an electronic device is provided at the side of one side of a principal surface of a cap of the memory card which is configured...http://www.google.com/patents/US7416133?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7416133 - IC cardAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7416133 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/961,136Publication dateAug 26, 2008Filing dateOct 12, 2004Priority dateOct 20, 2003Fee statusPaidAlso published asCN1610194A, US20050082375, US20080283619Publication number10961136, 961136, US 7416133 B2, US 7416133B2, US-B2-7416133, US7416133 B2, US7416133B2InventorsHirotaka Nishizawa, Akira Higuchi, Kenji Osawa, Junichiro Osako, Tamaki WadaOriginal AssigneeRenesas Technology Corp.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (12), Classifications (18), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetIC cardUS 7416133 B2Abstract An IC card is prevented from falling off readily an electronic device while maintaining the mechanical strength of the IC card. A recess for preventing a memory card from falling off an electronic device is provided at the side of one side of a principal surface of a cap of the memory card which is configured by fitting a memory body in a recess formed on a parts mounting surface of the cap. The bottom of the recess is terminated in the middle of the thickness of the cap. This construction makes it possible to prevent the memory card from falling off readily an electronic device while maintaining the mechanical strength of the memory card.
A sheet metal cap 2 forming the appearance of the memory card 1A is formed of an insulating resin such as ABS resin and PPE (Poly Phenylen Ether) in terms of weight reduction, machinability, and flexibility. To improve mechanical strength, a glass-reinforced fiber having higher tensile strength per sectional area than the above-mentioned insulating resin forming the cap 2 is mixed into the resin. A chamfered part 2 a at one corner at the front side of the cap 2 is used for index. A small recess (second recess) 2 b formed on a short side of the cap 2 on the side of the chamfered part 2 a is provided to realize a latch mechanism for holding the memory card 1A in an electronic device to prevent the memory card 1A incorporated in the electronic device from being forcibly extracted, or prevent the memory card 1A from popping out when the electronic device is dropped. The length L2 of the recess 2 b is about 1.5�0.1 mm, and the length L3 is about 0.55�0.1 mm. The recess 2 b, when viewed from a side thereof, is formed to terminate in the middle of thickness of the cap 2 from the principal surface (first surface), so that its depth is about 0.65�0.1 mm. Although the recess 2 b can be provided at plural locations, when too many recesses 2 b were provided, the mechanical strength of the cap 2 would decrease. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the recess 2 b is provided only at the side of one side of the memory card 1A. Thereby, the mechanical strength of the cap 2 can be maintained. For RSMMC, since the length L1 of the memory card 1A in the direction of the arrow A is shorter than the width W1 orthogonal to it, and the length of a card guide of a connector to which the memory card 1A is attached becomes short, when a connector for pressing the sides of the memory card 1A is used, the memory card 1A is liable to disconnect from the connector due to rotary deviation (rotation direction within a surface parallel to the principal surface of the memory card 1A). Accordingly, in that case, the recess 2 b may be provided at each of sides opposite to each other of the cap 2. Since rotary deviation can be prevented by this construction, the ability to prevent the memory card 1A from falling off can be increased. The recess 2 b will be described in detail later. Adapter attaching parts 2 c having a convex cross section at both corners at the back of the cap 2 are fitted into recesses of the adapter for converting RSMMC into FSMMC. An adapter claw attaching part 2 d at the center in a longitudinal direction in the vicinity of the back of the back surface of the cap 2 is engaged with a claw of the adapter. A plane triangular mark 2 e at the front side of the principal surface of the cap 2 indicates the direction in which the memory card 1A is inserted into a desired electronic device. An indentation 2 f is used to stick a seal capable of describing various information (classification of the memory card 1A, etc.). A groove 2 g is a groove for removing the card.
FIG. 18 is a side view showing major parts of the cap 2. FIGS. 19 and 20 respectively show the depth of the recess 2 b. As shown in FIG. 18, the depth D2 of the recess 2 b is about a third to two thirds of the thickness D1 of the cap 2, preferably about two fifths to three fifths, more preferably half the thickness of the cap 2. Half the thickness of the cap 2 referred to here is not only the actual half 0.7 mm but also includes a range of error. That is, when a range of error is e.g., �0.1 mm, half the thickness of the cap 2 referred to here is 0.6 to 0.8 mm. The reason for this is that, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, when the cap 2 is bent, since a neutral plane of a compressive stress F and a tensile stress G occurs at a location half the thickness of the cap 2, by forming the bottom of the recess 2 b in the neutral plane position or its vicinity, the bottom of the recess 2 b can be less affected by the compressive stress and the tensile stress. As a result, according to the first embodiment, cracks can be inhibited or prevented from occurring at both corners 2 b 1 of the bottom of the recess 2 b due to the bend stress of the cap 2. In the first embodiment, round tapers are formed at both corners 2 b 1 of the bottom of the recess 2 b. By this construction, since stress applied to the both corners 2 b 1 at the bottom of the recess 2 b can be dispersed, cracks can be further inhibited or prevented from occurring at both corners 2 b 1 of the bottom of the recess 2 b due to the bend stress of the cap 2. Accordingly, the mechanical strength of the cap 2 can be maintained even when the recess 2 b for falling-off prevention is provided in the thin cap 2.
FIG. 21 schematically shows glass-reinforced fibers 8 on the side of the cap 2. When the recess 2 b is too deep, the orientation of the glass-reinforced fibers 8 falls into disorder, so that the mechanical strength of the cap 2 may be lost. Accordingly, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the depths of the recess 2 b is designed so as not to heavily disorder the orientation of the glass-reinforced fiber 8 contained in the cap 2. Specifically, among the glass-reinforced fibers 8 contained under the recess 2 b of the cap 2 (especially the frame part 2 i), more glass-reinforced fibers 8 are oriented along the longitudinal direction of the frame part 2 i than along other directions. By this construction, the mechanical strength of the frame part 2 i of the cap 2 can be enhanced, and the mechanical strength of the cap 2 (rigidity to bending and twisting) can be enhanced. To form such a construction, the depth of the recess 2 b has only to be set so that a resin having a thickness of 0.15 mm or longer, preferably 0.2 mm or longer, is left at the bottom of the recess 2 b. FIGS. 24 and 25 show overall plan views of the back surface of the cap 2. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 24, the recess 2 b is formed so that its depth length L3 is smaller than the width w2 of the frame part 2 i. In this case, the width W2 of the frame part 2 i is about 0.6�0.1 mm, for example. However, depending on products, performance improvement and an increase in chip size force the plane area of the wiring board 3 a to be expanded, so that, in some cases, the width of frame part 2 i may be decreased accordingly. On the other hand, the depth length L3 of the recess 2 b must be about 0.5 to 0.6 mm to maintain the ability to prevent the memory card 1A from falling off. As a result, as shown in FIG. 25, the depth length L3 of the recess 2 b becomes greater than the width W3 of the frame part 2 i, and part of the recess 2 b overlaps an area of the recess 2 h. When the recess 2 b is thus made too deep on the condition that depth length L3>width W3, as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the recess 2 b will penetrate the recess 2 h, and a part (a coating side of an adhesive) of the principal surface (chip mounting surface) of the wiring board 3 a will be exposed. The depth length L3 of the recess 2 b should be preferably long to enhance the ability to prevent the memory card 1A from falling off. However, when the recess 2 b is excessively extended to the right direction of FIG. 26, the recess 2 b will penetrate the recess 2 h at a side of the recess 2 b. FIG. 26 is a sectional view along the line X2-X2 of FIG. 25. FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing major parts of the recess 2 b of the cap 2 of FIG. 26.
FIG. 31 is a plan view of the principal side of the memory card 1A when an adapter 9 is attached to the memory card 1A (RSMMC). FIG. 32 is a side view of the memory card 1A of FIG. 31. FIG. 33 is a plan view of the back surface of the memory card 1A of FIG. 31. By attaching the adaptor 9 to the memory card 1A, RSMMC can be converted into FSMMC, that is, FSMMC size (e.g., 32 mm�24 mm�1.4 mm). The recess 2 b for falling-off prevention is exposed at one side of the principal surface of the converted memory card 1A, and the converted memory card 1A can also be prevented from falling off and popping out of an electronic device.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS4838804 *Mar 25, 1988Jun 13, 1989Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki KaishaMechanism for connecting IC card and external deviceUS6256878 *Sep 28, 1998Jul 10, 2001Molex IncorporatedIC card housing and method of manufactureUS20020076954 *Apr 20, 2001Jun 20, 2002Kuan-Ming ChenPersonal computer card having receptacle for mounting therein micro cardUS20030085285 *Jun 3, 2002May 8, 2003Luu Daniel V.H.SIM card carrierUS20030166360 *Dec 16, 2002Sep 4, 2003Thornton Bradley A.Apparatus for storing interchangeable modules and method of manufacturing the sameUS20040201969 *Apr 11, 2003Oct 14, 2004Piau FongMethod for packaging small size memory cardsUS20060108430 *Jan 6, 2006May 25, 2006Renesas Technology Corp.Electronic device and method of manufacturing the sameUS20060170084 *Mar 30, 2006Aug 3, 2006Masachika MasudaSemiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the sameJP20036576A Title not availableJP2003086293A Title not availableJP2003086296A Title not availableJP2003091700A Title not available* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification235/492, 235/486, 439/325International ClassificationG06K19/06, G06K17/00, H01R13/639, H01R13/629, G06K19/07, G06K19/00, G06K19/077Cooperative ClassificationG06K19/077, H01L2924/1815, G06K13/0825, H01L2224/48091, H01L2224/48227, H01L2924/01079European ClassificationG06K13/08A4, G06K19/077Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionSep 21, 2011FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Aug 13, 2010ASAssignmentOwner name: NEC ELECTRONICS CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: MERGER;ASSIGNOR:RENESAS TECHNOLOGY CORP.;REEL/FRAME:024879/0190Effective date: 20100401Owner name: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:NEC ELECTRONICS CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:024864/0635Oct 12, 2004ASAssignmentOwner name: RENESAS TECHNOLOGY CORP., JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:NISHIZAWA, HIROTAKA;HIGUCHI, AKIRA;OSAWA, KENJI;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:015884/0833Effective date: 20040908RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services