Abstract:
A memory card connector mountable onto a printed circuit board for receiving at least one kind of memory card includes an insulating housing and a shielding shell covering the insulating housing to define a receiving chamber therebetween. The shielding shell has a contacting end at a side thereof. A detecting terminal is received in a side of the insulating housing, the detecting terminal has a soldering portion adapted for electrically connecting to the printed circuit board, a resilient conductive portion adjacent to the contacting end of the shielding shell, and a resilient contact portion extending towards the receiving chamber and capable of moving outwards resiliently to push the resilient conductive portion to electrically contact the contacting end of the shielding shell.

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 capable of detecting full insertion of a memory card without affecting the connection stability between the memory card and the memory card connector. 
   2. The Related Art 
   With the ever-increasing miniaturization and multifunction of portable electrical devices, a memory card connector for receiving and connecting a memory card to increase memory capacity is required for a portable electrical device. 
   Nowadays, a variety of memory card connectors are manufactured to connect with the memory cards. One kind of memory card connectors has no structure to identify whether the memory card has been fully inserted thereinto, and consequently, this kind of memory card connector can&#39;t guarantee the stable connection between the memory card and the memory card connector. As a result, the connection between the memory card and the memory card connector is susceptible to sudden disconnection in case that the memory card is not fully inserted into the memory card connector, which results in unstable signal transmission between the memory card and the memory card connector. 
   Another kind of memory card connectors has the structure to determine whether the memory card has been fully inserted thereinto. The memory card connector has a detecting terminal disposed at a bottom of the insertion chamber and a metallic shell. When the memory card is fully inserted into the insertion chamber, the detecting terminal is pressed downwardly by the memory card to electrically connect with the metallic shell to keep that the memory card is fully inserted into the memory card connector. This kind of detecting construction however, adversely affects steady electrical connection between the memory card and the memory card connector, because of the lift up of the memory card by the detecting terminal during insertion process. So this memory card connector is not suitable for portable electrical device. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a memory card connector capable of detecting full insertion of a memory card without affecting connection stability between the memory card and the memory card connector. 
   A memory card connector mountable onto a printed circuit board for receiving at least one kind of memory card includes an insulating housing and a shielding shell covering the insulating housing to define a receiving chamber therebetween. The shielding shell has a contacting end at a side thereof. A detecting terminal is received in a side of the insulating housing, the detecting terminal has a soldering portion adapted for electrically connecting to the printed circuit board, a resilient conductive portion adjacent to the contacting end of the shielding shell, and a resilient contact portion extending towards the receiving chamber and capable of moving outwards resiliently to push the resilient conductive portion to electrically contact the contacting end of the shielding shell. 
   As described above, the memory card connector has the detecting terminal disposed at a side of the receiving chamber, when the memory card is fully inserted into the receiving chamber, the detecting terminal is pushed out by the memory card to deform elastically and connect with the contacting end, which is not only able to detect whether the memory card is fully inserted into the memory card connector without affecting the connection between the memory card connector and the memory card, but also beneficial to fix the memory card to the memory card connector to prevent the memory card from moving so as to enhance stability of electrical connection. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an assembled, perspective view of a memory card connector of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of the memory card connector shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of an insulating housing of the memory card connector shown in  FIG. 2  seen from the left view, wherein a detecting terminal is located near the insulating housing; 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the insulating housing of the memory card connector shown in  FIG. 2  seen from the right view, wherein a fixing terminal is located near the insulating housing; 
       FIG. 5  is a plan view of the memory card connector shown in  FIG. 1  viewed from bottom, wherein a shielding shell is separated from the insulating housing; 
       FIG. 6  is a plan view of the detecting terminal shown in  FIG. 1  seen from the top view when a memory card is inserted into the memory card connector, wherein the shielding shell is removed; and 
       FIG. 7  is an assembled, perspective view of the memory card connector shown in  FIG. 1  seen from another view, wherein the shielding shell is removed and a memory stick card is inserted thereinto. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   With reference to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , an embodiment of a memory card connector according to the present invention is shown. The memory card connector includes an insulating housing  10 , a detecting terminal  20 , a fixing terminal  30 , a shielding shell  40  and a plurality of first and second terminals  50 ,  60 . 
   The insulating housing  10  is substantially rectangular and defines an upper surface  11 , a front side  12 , a rear side  13  and two opposite lateral sides  14 ,  15 . The upper surface  11  is recessed downwardly to form a first receiving cavity  16  near the rear side  13  and a second receiving cavity  17  communicating with the first receiving cavity  16 . A bottom of the first receiving cavity  16  has a plurality of first terminal recesses  161  for receiving the first terminal  50 . An end of the first terminal recess  161  extends to pass through the rear side  13 . The second receiving cavity  17  passes through the front side  12  and has a plurality of second terminal recesses  171  formed a bottom thereof for receiving the second terminals  60  therein. Both bottom sides of the second receiving cavity  17  respectively extend toward the lateral sides  14 ,  15  to a predetermined distance. The first and second terminal recesses  161 ,  171  are all arranged to extend forward and backward and at intervals. The upper surface  11  has a protrusion portion  111 . The protrusion portion  111  is of strip-board shape and adjacent to the rear side  13 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the upper surface  11  of the insulating housing  10  has a lateral recess  18  for receiving the detecting terminal  20 . The lateral recess  18  includes a first recess  181  communicating with the first receiving cavity  16  and passing through the lateral side  14 , and a second recess  182  communicating with the first recess  181  and extending to reach the rear side  13 . The second recess  182  is narrower than the first recess  181 . A bottom of the second recess  182  has two fixing cavities  183  defined therein. 
   Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 6 , the detecting terminal  20  made of a metal sheet has a main body  21 . The main body  21  is a longwise-board shape and partly received in the second recess  182 . An end of the main body  21  extends and is inclined outwards to form a resilient conductive portion  22 . A free end of the resilient conductive portion  22  extends and bends inwards to form a resilient contact portion  23  with a sharp angle formed therebetween. A free end of the resilient contact portion  23  bends toward the resilient conductive portion  22  to show an arc shape for contacting a memory card (not shown) smoothly. The resilient conductive portion  22  and the resilient contact portion  23  are all received in the first recess  181 . A side of the main body  21  extends perpendicularly to form a soldering portion  24  away from the resilient conductive portion  22  and disposed out of the rear side  13  of the insulating housing  10  for being soldered on a printed circuit board (not shown), and two fixing pieces  25  extend outwards from the bottom side of the main body  21  corresponding to the fixing cavities  183 . The fixing pieces  25  respectively are inserted into the corresponding fixing cavities  183  for fixing the detecting terminal  20  to the insulating housing  10 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , the upper surface  11  of the insulating housing  10  has a fixing slot  19  extending forward and backward near the lateral side  15 , and a bottom side of the fixing slot  19  near the front side  12  defines an opening  191  facing the second receiving cavity  17 . A bottom of the fixing slot  19  has two fixing recesses  192  near the rear side  13 . 
   The fixing terminal  30  received in the fixing slot  19  has a basic body  31 , and an end of the basic body  31  extends angularly upwardly and bends oppositely to form a propping portion  32 . The propping portion  32  is of arc-shape and partly protrudes in the second receiving cavity  17  through the opening  191 . A free end of the propping portion  32  extends horizontally to form a stopping end  33  which is received in an end of the fixing slot  19  near the front side  12 . A bottom side of the basic body  31  extends downwardly to form two fixing patches  34  corresponding to the fixing recesses  192 . The fixing patches  34  respectively are inserted into the corresponding fixing recesses  192  for fixing the fixing terminal  30  to the insulating housing  10 . 
   With reference to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 5 , the lateral side  14  has a first lump  141  formed at a front end thereof and a first block  142  disposed at an opposite end thereof. An end of the block  142  is at the same level as the rear side  13 . The lateral side  15  has a second lump  151  and a second block  152  disposed to be uniform to the first lump  141  and first block  142 . 
   The shielding shell  40  mating with the insulating housing  10  has a basic plate  41  and two side plate  42 ,  43  respectively extending downward from two opposite sides of the basic plate  41 . The basic plate  41  is oblong and has a stopping opening  411  formed at a rear end thereof corresponding to the protrusion portion  111 . A front end of the basic plate  41  is punched to form a cantilever portion  412  near the side plate  43 . A free end of the cantilever portion  412  extends downwardly and then bends oppositely to form a cantilever end  413  for pressing the memory card. The side plate  42  has a first buckling piece  421  formed at a front end thereof for abutting the insulating housing  10  and a first mating opening  422  formed at a rear end thereof. A first leading hole  423  corresponding to the first lump  141  is formed at the side plate  42  and adjacent to the first buckling piece  421 . A side of the first leading hole  423  extends a certain distance toward the first mating opening  422 . The side plate  42  is punched to form a contacting end  424  corresponding to the resilient conductive portion  22 . The contacting end  424  is a cantilever and located between the first mating opening  422  and the first leading hole  423 . A bottom side of the side plate  42  bends inwardly to form a first catch  425  near the first mating opening  422 . The side plate  43  has a second buckling piece  431 , a second mating opening  432  and a second leading hole  433  respectively similar to the first buckling piece  421 , the first mating opening  422  and the first leading hole  423 . Two second catches  434  similar to the first catch  425  are arranged at two ends of a bottom side of the side plate  43 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1-2  and  FIG. 5 , in assembly, the lateral side  15  of the insulating housing  10  inclines downwards to partly abut the side plate  43  of the shielding shell  40  with the second lump  151  inserting into the second leading hole  433 , and the lateral side  14  is pressed downwards to abut the side plate  42  with the first lump  141  inserting into the first leading hole  423 , and then the insulating housing  10  is pushed to slide in the shielding shell  40  slowly until the stopping opening  411  mating with the protrusion portion  111  and the first and second mating opening  422 ,  432  coupling with the first and second block  142 ,  152  respectively, thus a receiving chamber is formed between the shielding shell  40  and the insulating housing  10 . The first and second catches  425  and  434  are pressed against a bottom of the insulating housing  10  for fastening the shielding shell  40  and the insulating housing  10  together. This method of assembly of the memory card connector can efficiently reduce deformation of the shielding shell  40 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 6 , before a micro secure digital (micro SD) card  70  is not inserted into the first receiving cavity  16 , the resilient conductive portion  22  is completely located in the first recess  181  and spaced a certain distance away from the contacting end  424  of the shielding shell  40 . When the micro SD card  70  is fully inserted into the first receiving cavity  16 , the micro SD card  70  pushes the resilient contact portion  23  to move outwards resiliently so as to push the resilient conductive portion  22  to electrically contact the contacting end  424 . By this manner, the memory card connector offers the function of detecting whether the micro SD card  70  is fully inserted thereinto. Furthermore, the elastic deformation force of the detecting terminal  20  is applied to a side of the micro SD card  70 , which effectively prevents the micro SD card  70  from moving left and right. Consequently, it guarantees that the micro SD card  70  is connected with the first terminals  50  steadily. 
   Referring to  FIG. 7 , when a memory stick card  80  is inserted into the second receiving cavity  17 , the propping portion  32  of the fixing terminal  30  is pushed to move back to the fixing slot  19  and deform elastically, after the memory stick card  80  is fully inserted therein, the propping portion  32  restores antitype and is inserted into a cavity of the memory stick card  80  for preventing the memory stick card  80  from moving, which can guarantee the memory stick card  80  to electrically connect with the second terminals  60  steadily. 
   As described above, the memory card connector has the detecting terminal  20  disposed at a side of the first receiving cavity  16 , when the micro SD card  70  is inserted into the first receiving cavity  16 , the resilient contact portion  23  of the detecting terminal  20  is pushed by the micro SD card  70  to move outward resiliently so as to push the resilient conductive portion  22  to electrically contact the contacting end  424 , which is not only able to detect whether the micro SD card  70  is fully inserted into the memory card connector without affecting the connection between the first terminals  50  and the micro SD card  70 , but also is beneficial to fix the micro SD card  70  to the memory card connector to prevent the micro SD card  70  from moving so as to enhance stability of electrical connection. 
   The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to those skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined by the accompanying claims.