Abstract:
An electrical card connector ( 100 ) adapted for engaging with a CardBus ( 800 ) includes a housing ( 1 ) with a plurality of terminals ( 2 ) received therein, a shell ( 3 ), and an ejector device ( 4 ) mounted on the housing. The shell defines a rectangular opening ( 331 ) in a side plate ( 33 ) thereof and a stamped spring finger ( 332 ) connecting with a forward edge of the opening and extending backwardly. The spring finger has a pair of stop protrusions ( 3324 ) formed thereon for preventing an undesired card, such as a smart card ( 900 ), from inserting into the connector.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical card connector, and particularly to an electrical card connector having a reliable blocking spring finger for preventing an undesired card from inserting into the card connector. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     CardBus, the 32-bit high performance mastering architecture for PC card, was standardized by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) in May 1996, the homepage of which is http://www.pcmcia.org/. It was conceived as a means to add high bandwidth capabilities to the PC Card technology and to match the system performance achieved by today&#39;s PCI bus-based mobile computers. The CardBus connected to a printed circuit board is through a CardBus connector, which is designed and manufactured according to the standard of the CardBus. Basically, a conventional card connector usually includes a housing with a plurality of terminals received therein, a shell enclosing the housing and an ejector. The related arts can be found in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2001/0046799A and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,369,259, 6,129,571, 6,056,566 and 6,039,587. However, a mobile computer usually has a CardBus as well as a smart card which is thinner than the CardBus. The mobile computer provides a CardBus connector and a smart card connector to respectively accommodating the CardBus and the smart card. Possibly, a smart card may be incorrectly inserted into a conventional CardBus connector since the smart card is thinner than the CardBus, thereby damaging the smart card or the CardBus connector. So, it is desired to provide a CardBus connector having means for blocking a smart card from inserting into the CardBus connector. 
     Hence, an improved CardBus connector is required. It is noted that U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,516 with the same assignee as the invention, discloses an approach to prevent the desired card from being misoriented into the connector. Somewhat differently, the instant invention is to provide the anti-mismating device for blocking the undesired different (thickness) cards. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical card connector having a blocking means for protecting the electrical card connector from damages by an insertion of an electrical card which is not designed to be used with the electrical connector. 
     In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electrical card connector in accordance with the present invention includes a dielectric housing with a plurality of terminals arranged therein, a conductive shell covering the dielectric housing, an ejector device and a grounding plate for grounding purpose. The conductive shell comprises a cover plate and a pair of side plates extending vertically from opposite lateral edges of the cover plate. One of the two side plates provides a generally V-shaped spring finger that is stamped therefrom and thereby defining an opening therein. The V-shaped spring finger extends firstly inwards into a chamber for receiving an inserting card and then extends outwards until the one of side plates. The spring finger comprises a base portion connected with a forward edge of the opening, a triangular free end portion, and an intermediate portion connecting the base portion and the free end portion. The intermediate portion defines a pair of stop protrusions oppositely beside the free end portion and confronting an inserting direction of the inserting card for preventing a wrongly inserted undesired card from inserting into the electrical card connector. 
    
    
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical card connector in accordance with the present invention with a CardBus to be inserted thereinto; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electrical card connector shown in FIG. 1, from a bottom aspect; 
     FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate, in a cross-sectional manner, an insertion process of the CardBus into the electrical card connector shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; 
     FIG. 3D is an enlarged, cross-sectional view illustrating relationship between a spring finger of the electrical card connector and the CardBus before the CardBus engages with the spring finger; and 
     FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate an insertion process of a smart card, which is much thinner than the CardBus into the electrical card connector in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is aimed to provide an electrical card connector  100  permitting a card bus  800  to be inserted into the connector  100  to electrically connect therewith, but preventing a card which is thinner than the card bus  800  from being inserted into the card connector  100  to damage terminals thereof. The electrical card connector  100  comprises a dielectric housing  1 , a plurality of terminals  2 , a conductive shell  3  attached to the dielectric housing  1 , an ejector device  4 , and a grounding plate (not shown). 
     The dielectric housing  1  includes an elongated main body  10  and a pair of side arms  11  extending forwardly from opposite lateral sides of the main body  10 . Turning to FIGS. 3A-3C, the plurality of terminals  2  received in the dielectric housing  1  each have a contacting portion  21  extending rearwards from a rear side of the main body  10  for electrical connection with contacts (not shown) of the card bus  800  and an engaging portion  22  extending forwards from a front side of the main body  10  for coupling with an adapter (not shown) which electrically connects the connector  100  with a printed circuit board (not shown). 
     Turning back to FIG. 1, the conductive shell  3  is stamped and formed from a metal sheet, and comprises a rectangular cover plate  31  and a pair of side plates  33  perpendicularly projecting from opposite lateral edges of the cover plate  31 . The side plates  33  each form a flange  330  along a longitudinal bottom edge thereof. An opening  331  with a rear V-shaped cutout is substantially defined in a middle of one of the side plates  33 . A spring finger  332  is formed by the one side plate  33 , having a front end connecting with the side plate  33  and a body projecting from the front end into the opening  331 . Together referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the body of the spring finger  332  comprises an inwardly extending base portion  3321  connecting with the forward edge of the one side plate  33 , an outwardly extending triangular free end portion (or an actuation portion)  3322 , and an intermediate portion  3323  interconnecting the base portion  3321  and the triangular free end portion  3322 . The triangular free end portion  3322  has a rear end received in the V-shaped cutout of the opening  331 . The intermediate portion  3323  has a pair of stop protrusions  3324  formed on upper and lower edges thereof, respectively. The protrusions  3324  are located in a space of the connector  100  through which the card bus  800  is inserted to electrically connect with the terminals  2 . The triangular free end portion  3322  has a pair of upper and lower bevel edges  3325  formed thereon for guiding a wrongly inserted card to be blocked by a corresponding one of the protrusions  3324 , which will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     In use, as shown in FIGS. 3A-3D, when the card bus  800  is inserted into the electrical card connector  100  and extended through the spring finger  332  towards the dielectric housing  1  from a rear side of the spring finger  332 , a lateral foremost edge  801  of the card bus  800  is first led by and slides on an inner surface of the triangular free end portion  3322 . The lateral foremost edge  801  of the card bus  800  then deflects the spring finger  332  out of the inserted way and so that the movement of the card bus  800  is not hitched by the pair of stop protrusions  3324  of the intermediate portion  3323  because the card bus  800  has a thickness larger than a distance between a tip point  3328  (FIGS. 2 &amp; 4C) of the triangular free end portion  3322  and an inner face of the flange  330  of the one side plate  33 . 
     In order to explain how the connector  100  works to prevent a card not designed for use with the connector  100  from being wrongly inserted into the connector  100 , a smart card which is much thinner than the card bus  800  is adopted as an example. Referring to FIGS. 4A-4C, once a smart card  900  is mistakenly inserted into the electrical card connector  100 , the tip point  3328  will divert a lateral foremost edge  901  of the smart card  900  to move on the lower bevel edge  3325  of the triangular free end portion  3322  of the spring finger  332 . The smart card  900  will move along the lower bevel edge  3325  of the free end portion  3322  until it is trapped by the lower stop protrusion  3324 . Thus, the smart card  900  is prevented from moving through the spring finger  332  to damage or be damaged by the terminals  2 . Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, a height of one of the stop protrusions  3324  of the spring finger  332  is substantially equal to a thickness of the smart card  900 . Still, the wrongly inserted card will be tucked between the lower bevel edge  3325  and the flange  330  of the side plate  33  even if the height of the stop protrusions  3324  is smaller than the thickness of the wrongly inserted card. Clearly, one of the bevel edges  3325  of the spring finger  332  performs as a guiding portion to lead the wrongly inserted card to move towards a corresponding one of the stop protrusions  3324  and cooperates with the flange  330  of the side plate  332  (as shown in the preferred embodiment) or the cover plate  31  to block the wrongly inserted card. 
     To illustrate the present invention more clearly, a distance from the tip point  3328  to the side plate  33  is labeled “H′” (FIG.  4 C), a height between two opposite inner faces of the side plate  33  is labeled “H” (FIG. 2) while a thickness of the inserted smart card is labeled “h” (FIG.  4 A). In the preferred embodiment, H′ is half of H. When h&lt;H′, the card is blocked up during insertion; when H′&lt;h&lt;H, the card can be inserted into the connector; when h&gt;H, the card cannot be inserted into the connector. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, 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 invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.