Abstract:
Two integrated circuit cards, such as those having semiconductor memory for storing user identification codes and/or data, are removably inserted into a receptacle of a host electronic device by means of a carrier or cartridge that holds them and causes electrical contacts of the cards to be properly aligned with mating device contacts within the receptacle. Multiple cards held in this manner take up little more space in the host electronic device than the single card currently used. This compact, easy to use connector mechanism is particularly advantageous for cellular telephones, palm organizers and computers, and other small hand held, battery powered, portable electronic devices but also finds application in other electronic equipment as well.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to the use of integrated circuit cards, and other types of electronic modules, that are removably connected with electronic devices by hand, and, more specifically, to connectors that hold the modules in electrical connection with the devices.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    A card containing an integrated circuit chip is provided with certain types of electronic devices so that the card can be exchanged among two or more devices, or be used with a single device by allowing removal of the card from the device for configuration or programming of its integrated circuit. The integrated circuit cards are used to provide functionality to the electronic device, provide memory capacity for the device, and the like. A mechanism that is part of the electronic device holds the card with mating electrical contacts held against each other. Although not limited to use with small hand held portable electronic devices that are battery powered, the small size of such cards and low power consumption have resulted in them being commonly used with this class of devices. Examples of such devices include cellular telephones, other types of telephones and radio communication devices, and palm held organizers and computers.  
           [0003]    Electronic devices have recently been developed which use two such cards having different configurations and performing different functions. Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a technique and system for removably connecting two or more small circuit cards to the device but while consuming a minimum amount of space within the device.  
           [0004]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a connector mechanism that easily and assuredly causes each card to become electrically connected with the host electronic device when positioned in the device.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    These and other objects are accomplished by the present invention, wherein, briefly and generally, a cartridge that is removably insertible into a slot of a mating receptacle in the electronic device carries two or more circuit cards that are easily placed into and removed from the cartridge by hand. In a two card embodiment, the cards are placed on opposite sides of the cartridge with their surfaces containing the electrical contacts facing outward of the cartridge. The electronic device receptacle includes parallel surfaces forming a slot between them, in which the cartridge, with cards inserted, is positioned. Each of these surfaces contains contacts arranged in a pattern matching that of the contacts of one of the cards. In a specific embodiment, these receptacle contacts are resiliently biased away from their surfaces so that they make firm contact with the card contacts when the cartridge is inserted into the receptacle slot, thereby holding the cartridge in the slot as well as establishing electrical contact between the host device electronics and the cards.  
           [0006]    Additional objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of its preferred embodiments and comparison with the prior art, which description should be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand held telephone having a receptacle with a circuit card cartridge inserted therein;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the telephone of FIG. 1 with the cartridge removed from the telephone receptacle;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one side of the cartridge of FIG. 2 with its circuit card removed;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is the perspective view of FIG. 3 with its circuit card fully inserted into the cartridge;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the opposite side of the cartridge of FIG. 2 with its circuit card partially removed;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 is the perspective view of FIG. 5 with its circuit card fully inserted into the cartridge;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cartridge of FIGS.  3 - 6  carrying circuit cards, and a mating receptacle within the telephone of FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of FIG. 7, taken at section  8 - 8  thereof; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 9 is a modification of the views of FIGS. 7 and 8, where the cartridge is inserted into the receptacle within the telephone of FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    A very small card containing memory on an integrated circuit chip is commonly used with cellular telephones for storing data of the user of the telephone, including security and billing codes, and the like. It is termed a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). With increased capabilities being provided in portable electronic devices, use of a second card has been proposed. In the case of a cellular telephone, a non-volatile memory card using flash electrically erasable and programmable read-only-memory (EEPROM) can store the entire telephone book of a number of cities, serve to store voice mail messages, and provide other memory intensive functions. Other more recent standards for such cards include a Multi-Media Card (MMC) and Secure Digital (SD) card. Use of a second card allows use of the SIM card to continue without significant change. The techniques of the present invention provide for connecting both the mass memory (MMC or SD) and SIM cards to a host electronic device without becoming excessively complicated or requiring much more space. Alternatively, other types of data storage modules, such as those utilizing dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or read-only-memory (ROM), may be connected in this manner.  
         [0017]    Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, the improved connector of the present invention is provided in a cellular telephone  11  but may be used with advantage in a wide variety of host electronic devices, particularly those that are portable, hand held, and battery operated. The device  11  includes a usual removable battery  13  and an antenna  15 . An integrated circuit card or module carrier or cartridge  17  is inserted into and removed from an opening  19  of the outer case of the device  11  that connects to a receptacle within the case into which the cartridge  17  is inserted. The cartridge  17  is much thinner than it is long or wide. The receptacle within the device  11  is complementarily shaped to receive the cartridge when carrying two cards. The receptacle is preferably oriented to hold the cartridge with the cards it carries being parallel to the outer case of the device. This minimizes the effect upon the overall compact design of the device  11  of including the receptacle within it. The cartridge  17  has a length and width only slightly larger than that of the largest of the two cards it is designed to carry. The thickness of the cartridge is that of the two cards plus a small additional thickness of a card supporting structure. As a result, little additional space is taken by the cartridge to provide a convenient mechanism for inserting and removing two integrated circuit cards.  
         [0018]    One end  21  of the cartridge is given the shape of the device case, so that the outer surface of the case and cartridge is continuous when the cartridge  21  is inserted into the device  11 , as shown in FIG. 1. However, the surface  21  of the cartridge  17  is provided with an indentation  23  for the user to insert an end of a finger to slide the cartridge  17  out of the device  11 . The cartridge  17  is made to be slidable into and out of the device  11  by hand and retained in the device by frictional forces of electrical contacts, described below, pushing against the cards from opposite sides of the cartridge.  
         [0019]    FIGS.  3 - 6  best show the structure of the cartridge  17  and its holding of a SIM  25  and a MMC  27  against opposite sides of a wall  28 . The SIM  25  has two rows of metallic contacts  29 - 37  extending across one of its opposing sides. The MMC  27  has one row of contacts  39 - 45  extending across one of its opposing sides adjacent an edge of the card. The width and length of the cartridge wall  28  are only slightly larger than that of the MMC  27 , thus requiring little extra area for the electronic device  11  to accommodate the cartridge. The MMC  27  is larger in its width and length than the SIM  25 . The thickness of each card is about one millimeter or less.  
         [0020]    On one side of the wall  28  is a ridge (FIGS. 3 and 4) positioned to surround the card  25  on three sides, the fourth side opposite from the end  21  being left open for insertion and removal of the card. The ridge  47  includes ledges  49  having bottom surfaces that are parallel with that side of the wall  28 , to form a vertical slot  51  in the ridge  47  that is slightly higher than the thickness of the card  25 . The card  25  is then easily slidable into and out of the slot through the open side of the ridge  47 . The card  25  is retained in the slot  51  by protrusions  53  and  55  that extend above the wall surface for a distance less than the thickness of the card  25 . The slot  51  is made sufficiently higher than the thickness of the card  25  to allow the card to be slid into the slot over the tops of the protrusions  53  and  54 . Displacement of the ledges  49  a distance from the protrusions  53  and  55  also allows the card&#39;s limited flexibility to be used when the card  25  is slid into the slot over the protrusions  53  and  55 . Once in place, as shown in FIG. 4, the card  25  is retained in the cartridge by the ridge  47  on three sides, the protrusions  53  and  55  on the fourth side and the slot  51 . The slot  51  also retains the card  25  from movement away from the wall  28 .  
         [0021]    On an opposite side of the wall  28 , a duplicate of the same elements described above to hold the card  25  are provided to hold the card  27  but with different dimensions because of the different sizes of the two cards. As can be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, a card receiving slot  59  is formed along opposite sides of the wall  28 . The card  27  is retained in the cartridge  17  when slid into the slot  59  over the protrusions  53  and  55 .  
         [0022]    The manner in which the cartridge  17  and the two cards it is carrying cooperate with a mating receptacle  61  within the electronic device  11  is shown in FIGS.  7 - 9 . Two parallel surfaces  63  and  65  of the receptacle  61  form a slot into which the loaded cartridge  17  is inserted. The surfaces  63  and  65  are separated sufficiently to allow easy insertion and removal by hand of the loaded cartridge. The loaded cartridge  17  is retained within the receptacle  61  by the resilient force of the receptacle&#39;s electrical contacts pushing against the mating surface contacts of the cards from opposite sides of the cartridge  17 . Of course, some other mechanism can additionally be added or substituted to more positively retain the cartridge  17  within the receptacle  61 .  
         [0023]    The surface  63  of the receptacle  61  contains contacts  68 - 73  arranged in the same pattern thereacross as the contacts  29 - 31  and  34 - 36  of the SIM  25  (FIG. 3). Contacts are not provided in the receptacle for the SIM contacts  33  and  37  but can be if desired. Each of the contacts  68 - 73  is made of resilient metal and held within a slot in the surface  63 . As can be seen from FIG. 9, these contacts are pushed against their resiliency a distance into their respective slots when the card  25  is positioned against the surface  63 . Electrical connection is then made between the card  25  and electronic circuits within the host device  11 .  
         [0024]    Similarly, the surface  65  contains slots in which seven spring loaded contacts are held, such as contacts  75  and  77 , in a pattern across that surface that matches that of the contacts  39 - 45  of the MMC  27 . Therefore, when the cartridge  17  is inserted into the receptacle  61 , each of these contacts firmly presses against its counterpart contact on the card  27 . This establishes electrical connection between the card  27  and electronic circuits within the host device  11 .  
         [0025]    Although the various aspects of the present invention have been described with respect to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is entitled to protection within the full scope of the appended claims.