Abstract:
The present invention discloses a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof. The memory card connector includes a shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points arranged in the shell body; a plurality of external conductive points arranged at the outside of the shell body; and a plurality of wires for electrically connecting those internal conductive points and those external conductive points. Wherein, a notch is arranged at the shell body for containing a first memory card and a plurality conductive pad of the first memory card to be electrically connected with those internal conductive points in the shell body. The memory device combining the first memory card and the memory card connector has an appearance of a second memory card so as the present invention can utilize the memory card connector to transfer the first memory card into the second memory card for accessing data.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to a storage media, and more particularly relates to a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Currently, many electronic consuming products have their own memory cards to perform the data access, but there are various types of memory cards in the market, for example, the SD memory card, the MMC memory card, the CF memory card, the MS memory card, the SM memory card, the XD memory card, the RS-MMC memory card, the mini-SD memory card, the Trans Flash memory card and other different memory cards. Therefore, the manufacturers produce many kinds of specifications of memory cards to adopt the consuming products. And, a user usually needs to purchase the additional memory cards for complying with the consuming electronic products. It is expensive and complicated to manufacture various specific memory cards for these electronic consuming products.  
         [0005]     For solving the question hereinabove, many manufacturers design various memory card connectors, for example, a USB standard interface is applied in a USB card reader for conversion.  FIG. 1  is a conventional memory card connector schematic diagram. A connector  10  has a space  12  on one end to position a memory card  14 , and another end of the connector  10  has a USB portion  16  to connect with the electronic product that has the USB portion thereby. The connector  10  may be designed with different size of the space  12  configuration for different memory cards. However, a user still needs the USB portion  16  to perform the connecting operation. Therefore, the connector  10  cannot satisfy the user&#39;s requirement.  
         [0006]     Next,  FIG. 2  is another diagram illustrating an exemplary memory card connector of U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,801. As  FIG. 2  shows, one end of a memory card  18  has a USB portion  20 , wherein it is necessary for a user to utilize a connection-housing  22  to configure with the memory card  18  along the arrow A. However, a large size of the memory card  18  can not be converted to the small size of memory card by the connection-housing  22 , for example, the CF memory card can not be converted to the XD memory card by the connection-housing  22  directly, and therefore causes the limitation in practical use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In order to provide a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof that includes a first memory card and a memory card connector having an appearance of a second memory card. A user only needs to follow the specifications of the memory card from an electronic product to embed with certain memory card connector thereby. After assembling, the memory device is replaced of the memory card to configure in the electronic product. Therefore, the memory device is converted as various kinds of memory cards without utilizing additional memory card connectors.  
         [0008]     In order to provide a memory card, a memory card connector and a memory device thereof that a first memory card is converted as compatible interface with different specifications of a second memory card. Therefore, a user may easily purchase the memory card with lower price.  
         [0009]     Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a memory card connector including: a shell body; an opening configured in the shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points set in the shell body; a plurality of external conductive points set and exposed to the outside of the shell body; and a plurality of wires set in the shell body to electrically connect the internal conductive points and the external conductive points. Wherein, the opening is accommodated with a first memory card and the internal conductive points in the shell body to electrically connect the conductive pads of the first memory card; and the combination of the first memory card and the shell body has an appearance of a second memory card.  
         [0010]     Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a memory card, a memory card connector and combination thereof. Wherein, the memory card connector includes: a shell body; an opening configured in the shell body; a plurality of internal conductive points set in the shell body; and a plurality of external conductive points set and exposed to the outside of the shell body; a plurality of wires set in the shell house to electrically connect with the internal conductive points and the external conductive points; a first memory card having a plurality of conductive pads to expose to the outside. The opening is accommodated with a first memory card, and the internal conductive points in the shell body electrically connected to the conductive pads of the first memory card; the combination of the first memory card and the shell body having an appearance of a second memory card.  
         [0011]     Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention provides a memory card comprising: a substrate having a USB portion at one end thereof, and the USB portion set a plurality of USB interface pads thereon, another end of the substrate set a plurality of conductive pads; at least one memory set on the substrate to store the data; a controlling component set on the substrate to control the access of from the memory; and an encapsulated body encapsulating the substrate and exposed to the USB portion, the USB interface pads and the conductive pads.  
         [0012]     Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     The foregoing aspects and many of the accompanying advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a conventional memory card connector schematic diagram;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is another diagram illustrating an exemplary memory card connection of U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,801;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating a first memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a front-view diagram illustrating the memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  is a side-view diagram illustrating the memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  is an assembling schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  is an assembling schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 9  is a 3-Dimensional diagram illustrating a memory card connector and a first memory card in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 10  is a 3-Dimensional diagram illustrating a memory card connector and a first memory card in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 11  is a packaging flowchart illustrating a first memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 12  is a packaging schematic diagram illustrating a first memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 13A  is a front-view diagram according to the one embodiment of present invention; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 13B  is a front-view diagram according to the one embodiment of present invention.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0028]      FIG. 13A  and  FIG. 13B  are the front-view diagrams according to the one embodiment of present invention. As  FIG. 13A  shown, a memory connector  400  includes: a shell body  520 , and an opening  630  formed on the shell body  520 ; a plurality of the internal conductive points  620  set in the shell body  520 ; a plurality of external conductive points  610  set in the shell body  520 , and a plurality of wires  600  set in the shell body  520  to electrically connect the internal conductive points  620  and the external conductive points  610 .  
         [0029]     Next, the opening  630  is to accommodate a first memory card  100 , and the first memory card  100  has a plurality of conductive pads  320  exposing to outside. The internal conductive points  620  of the shell body  520  is electrically connected to the conductive pads  620  of the first memory card  100 . In addition, the shell body  520  includes a connection structure (not shown) to fix the first memory card  100  in the opening  630 . The connecting structure can be a latch connection structure, a clip connection structure, a notch connection structure or other kinds of connecting structure.  
         [0030]     As  FIG. 13B  shows, the first memory card  100  and the memory card connector  400  are assembled with an appearance of a second memory card. In one embodiment, the combination of the first memory card  100  and the memory card connector  400  only has partially appearance of the second memory card  110 . Thus, the present invention is not to be limited, the combination of the first memory card  100  and the memory card connector  400  has perfectly appearance of the second memory card  110 , too.  
         [0031]     In other embodiments, the first memory card is a SD memory card, MMC memory card, CF memory card, MS memory card, SM memory card, XD memory card, RS-MMC memory card, mini-SD memory card, trans flash memory card, smart card, credit card or UFD.  
         [0032]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. The memory device includes the first memory card  100  and the memory card connector  400 , wherein the appearance of memory card connector  400  is to be designed as the structure of the second memory card, and the first memory card  100  has the miniaturized structure to configure in the memory card connector  400 . Therefore, the exemplary memory device may be used as various memory cards.  
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating a first memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. The first memory card  100  includes a substrate  200 , a USB portion  300 , a plurality of USB interface pads  310  and a plurality of conductive pads  320 . One end of the substrate  200  has the USB portion  300 , and the USB portion  300  is set on the conductive pads  320  thereon. Therefore, the first memory card may be configured as a miniaturized structure of USB flash drive (UFD). Meanwhile, the USB portion  300  is compatible with the standard of universal serial bus (USB) to connect with another USB portion of the electronic product for accessing data.  
         [0034]     Next, in one embodiment, the present invention of the first memory card  100  has as least one memory (not shown) to set on the substrate  200  to access data. The memory is nonvolatile memory or other kinds of memory to apply in the first memory card  100 . In order to control data access, the first memory card  100  has a controlling component (not shown) and a passive component (not shown). Furthermore, an encapsulated body (not shown) is one-piece formed structure for encapsulating the substrate  200  and exposing the USB portion  300 , the USB interface pads  310  and the conductive pads  320  to the outside.  
         [0035]      FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  are front-view diagram and side-view diagram respectively illustrating the memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. The memory card connector  400  includes an upper cover  500 , a lower cover  510 , a plurality of wires  600 , a plurality of internal conductive points  610  and a plurality of external conductive points  620 , wherein the upper cover  500  and the lower cover  510  of the memory card connector  400  is assembled as the shell body  520 . The shell body  520  has an appearance of the first memory card  100  (Referring to  FIG. 3 ). The wires  600  are set on the memory card connector  400  therein. One end of the wires  600  is electrically connected to the external conductive points  610  of the memory card connector  400 , and another end of the memory card connector  400  is formed an opening  630  to electrically connect with the internal conductive points  620 .  
         [0036]     Accordingly, the present invention of the memory card connector can be made of an appearance with the SD card, the MMC card, the CF memory card, the MS memory card, the SM memory card, the XD memory card, the RS-MMC memory card, the mini-SD memory card, the trans flash memory card, the smart card, the credit card and the UFD, etc. Moreover, the upper cover  500  and the lower cover  510  have an exposing area to expose the external conductive points  610  of the memory card connector  400 , the opening  630  of the memory card connector  400  and the internal conductive points  620  of the opening  630 . The upper cover  500  and the lower cover  510  are made of plastic materials. The wires  600  and the external conductive points  610  are conductive metal materials, and the internal conductive points  620  have an elastic structure of the conductive metal.  
         [0037]      FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  are assembling schematic diagrams illustrating the memory device in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. In one embodiment, as  FIG. 7  shown, the first memory card  100  is to be moved toward the opening  630  of the memory card connector  400  along with the arrow B. The first memory card  100  is configured in the opening  630  of the memory card connector  400  to electrically connect the conductive pads  320  of the first memory card  100  to the internal conductive points  620  of the memory card connector  400  thereby. Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the memory card connector  400  with an appearance of the second memory card and the first memory card  100  are finished after assembling procedure.  
         [0038]      FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10  are the 3-Dimensional diagrams illustrating a memory card connector and a first memory card in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. In one preferred embodiment, in order to locate the position, a connection structure is configured at two sides of the opening  630  (Referring to  FIG. 7 ) of the memory card connector  400  and the first memory card  100 . For example, as  FIG. 9  shows, the connecting structure is a notch structure, and the notch structure  701  is ∩ shaped. As  FIG. 10  shown, the notch is V shaped. Therefore, from the aforementioned, the connecting structure is a latch connection structure, a clip connection structure or other connecting structures/devices to locate the position between the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card. The preferred embodiment is only depicted hereinabove, not to be limited to the particular form disclosed.  
         [0039]     Next, please referring to  FIG. 11  and  FIG. 12  are the packaging flowchart and schematic diagrams respectively illustrating a first memory card connector in accordance with one embodiment of present invention. Firstly, a USB portion  300 (S 10 ) is formed at one end of a substrate  200 . Next, a memory  330 , a controlling component  340  and a passive component  350  are set on the substrate  200 (S 20 ). Then, the memory  330 , the controlling component  340  and the passive component  350  are electrically connected to the substrate  200 (S 30 ), for example, a plurality of connecting wires  360  are electrically connected from the memory  330  to the substrate  200 . Next, an upper molding  800  and a supporting molding  810  perform the molding compound process. An encapsulated body (not shown) passes through a molding hole  820  to encapsulate the memory  330 , the controlling component  340  and the passive component  350  and substrate  200 (S 40 ). Wherein, the USB portion  300 , the USB interface pads (not shown) and the conductive pads (not shown) contact with the supporting molding  810 . Therefore, the encapsulated body has no encapsulation area to expose the USB portion  300 , the USB interface pads and the conductive pads. Moreover, the method of electrically connection utilizes the flip-chip or other techniques to manufacture thereby. Due to the requirements for the design and process procedure, the encapsulation area and shape can be changed. The one embodiment as explained from above, after filling process, the first memory card gets the one-piece form structure to elevate the yields.  
         [0040]     Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention of the miniaturized structure of the first memory card, such as the miniaturized structure of the USB, has reduced its size to fit in memory card connector of the second memory card, such as the SD memory card, the MS memory card, the CF memory card and the XD memory card, etc. The memory is embedded in first memory card to be utilized by various features of the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card for achieving the purpose of conversion directly, and the user decreases the expense to purchase the memory card thereby. Therefore, the user only needs to distinguish the specification of memory card from the specific electronic product, and choose the proper memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card. Then, the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card are assembled as the memory device thereby. The memory device is configured in the specific electronic product to be utilized, for example, the user owns a digital camera (DC) and personal digital assistant (PDA) that have the specifications of memory card are XD and CF respectively. If the user utilizes the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card from the present invention, the first memory card is configured in the second memory card connector with an appearance of the XD memory card or the CF memory card. Therefore, the user achieves to covert the specifications of XD memory card and CF memory card to the DC and PDA each other for data sharing and storage.  
         [0041]     To make a summary, the present invention provides the first memory card and the memory card connector having an appearance of the second memory card, the user only needs to follow the specifications of the memory card from the electronic product to embed with certain memory card connector thereby. After assembling, the memory device is replaced of the memory card to configure in the electronic product. Therefore, the memory device is converted as various kinds of memory cards without additional memory card connectors. Meanwhile, the first memory card is converted as the compatible interface with different specifications of the second memory card. Therefore, the user easily purchases the memory with lower price.  
         [0042]     While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific example thereof has been shown in the drawings and is herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.