Patent ID: 7238033

Claim:
An apparatus having a card holding mechanism, wherein the card holding mechanism comprises: a first card housing section having a holding section which holds one end of a first card, a second card housing section having a holding section which holds one end of a second card, and a sliding holding section which can hold the end opposite to the one end of the first card housed in the first card housing section and the end opposite to the one end of the second card housed in the second card housing section simultaneously, the sliding holding section can slide among: a first position at which the sliding holding section holds the opposite end of the first card housed in the first card housing section and also holds the opposite end of the second card housed in the second card housing section, a second position at which the sliding holding section leaves the second card housing section open to make it possible to house the second card while holding the opposite end of the first card housed in the first card housing section, and a third position at which the sliding holding section leaves the first card housing section open to make it possible to house the first card while holding the opposite end of the second card housed in the second card housing section.