JP2004273431A - Card connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a card connector, demonstrating an excellent half lock performance over a long period of time, and demonstrating a strengthened half lock performance in the state where the card is set. <P>SOLUTION: A slider 3 is mounted to a cabinet 1 in a manner that the slider can be moved in the fore and aft direction, and the slider 3 is always resiliently energized in the card discharging direction. The slider 3 has a half lock mechanism 5 for removably engaging the card. The half lock mechanism 5 is separated into a moving piece 52 made of a resin mold body having an engagement protrusion 51 for removably engaging the card 100, and a spring body 55 made of a metal for resiliently energizing the moving piece 52 in the direction where the engagement protrusion 51 is fitted into a recessed part 110 of the card 100. The slider 3 has an auxiliary spring body 70 for strengthening the resilient power of the spring body 55 when the slider 3 is in pressed-in position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector having a function of half-locking a card such as a memory card inserted into a card insertion space of a housing so that the card can be pulled out.

  A card insertion space is formed by a housing having a contact piece corresponding to the card-side electrode, and a slider pushed by a card inserted into the card insertion space is provided at a position adjacent to the card insertion space, and In the card connector in which the slider is resiliently biased in the card ejection direction, the card connector has a function of locking the slider pushed by the card to the housing and a function of half-locking the card to the slider. Things are well known.

  As a prior example of this type of card connector, there is one in which a half-lock mechanism for half-locking a card with respect to a slider is formed by a sheet metal leaf spring. In this device, a chevron-shaped locking portion is bent at the end of a leaf spring held in a cantilever manner by a slider, and the side edge of the card inserted into the card insertion space passes over the side end surface of the card. The card is half-locked so as to be able to be pulled out with respect to the slider by fitting the locking portion into a recess provided at the end (for example, see Patent Document 1). Further, as another prior example, a cam is provided at an end of a spring body formed of resin or the like, and when a card inserted into a card insertion space pushes the cam to displace the spring body, the spring body is displaced after the displacement. There is one in which a click sound is generated by colliding with a side wall of the spring body accommodating portion by a return action, and the click sound allows an operator to know the completion of connection between the card and the connector (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  On the other hand, the card to which the card connector is to be used is generally made of a resin-molded outer shell, so that the locking portion of the half-lock sheet metal leaf spring shown in each of the above-mentioned prior examples can be used. The resin cam rubs against the resin surface of the outer shell of the card.

Further, in a device in which a half-lock mechanism for half-locking the card with respect to the slider is formed by a plate spring made of sheet metal, when the slider is at the pushed-in position, the retracting displacement of the locking portion formed at the tip of the plate spring is reduced. On the other hand, when the slider is in the standby position, the locking portion is made to correspond to the opening formed on the side wall surface of the housing. There is a prior example in which a card is prevented from being forcibly pulled out at a pushing position (for example, see Patent Document 3). At the same time, in this prior example, when the slider is at the pushing position, the restriction of retraction displacement of the locking portion is eliminated, and in order to cope with a situation where it is impossible to prevent the card from being ejected when ejected, it is necessary to retreat the locking portion. The free end of the auxiliary leaf spring faces the opening formed in the side wall surface of the housing in order to eliminate the displacement restriction, and the free end of the auxiliary leaf spring is elastically contacted with the locking portion, and the slider is moved to the standby position. , The elastic force of the leaf spring is increased.
JP-A-11-135192 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-55641 JP 2001-118633 A

  However, in the above-mentioned prior art (Patent Document 1), when the operation of inserting and ejecting the card is repeated and the locking portion of the leaf spring made of sheet metal repeatedly rubs against the resin surface of the outer shell of the card, The metal locking portion may cause the outer shell of the resin card to be shaved, causing the locking portion fitted into the recess of the card to significantly reduce the card holding force, and the half lock function by the half lock mechanism. It is impaired early, and it is difficult to maintain the initial half-lock performance for a long period of time.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to replace the above-mentioned leaf spring made of sheet metal with a spring body formed of a resin as shown in another prior art (Patent Document 2) and integrally form the locking portion with the spring body. In such a case, since the locking portion is formed of resin, even if the locking portion repeatedly rubs against the resin surface of the outer shell of the card, the outer shell of the card may be shaved by the locking portion. Disappears.

  However, simply replacing the above-described leaf spring made of sheet metal with a spring body molded of resin can only absorb variations in the size and width of the card and variations in the manufacturing accuracy of the card connector itself. It is difficult to apply the amount of displacement and the card holding force at the time of half-lock to the spring body. That is, the resin itself forming the spring body is less elastic than the leaf spring made of sheet metal, and the spring body formed of the resin is less likely to disperse the load during elastic deformation, so that the base end of the spring body Since the stress tends to concentrate only at one location, the plastic deformation occurs early due to the repeated deformation accompanying the insertion and removal of the card, and it is difficult to maintain the half-lock performance for a long time.

  By the way, in order to prevent forcible removal from the card setting state, it is advantageous to hold the card with a large force, but the half lock force, that is, the spring force of the leaf spring having the locking portion at the tip end is reduced. If the size is simply increased, the friction between the locking portion of the sheet metal leaf spring and the resin surface of the outer shell of the card is further increased, which not only sharply reduces the half lock performance but also causes the slider to be in the standby position. In this state, the insertion / extraction resistance of the card is large, making insertion / removal of the card difficult. In addition, the slider moves when the card is inserted, and the feeling of insertion is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and among the components of the half lock mechanism, an element that rubs against a card is formed of resin, and an element that is required to exhibit an elastic action is formed of metal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a card connector capable of maintaining the initial half-lock performance for a long period of time based on the concept of manufacturing.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a card connector that can incorporate a half-lock mechanism by utilizing a small space that can be secured in a slider.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides a card connector in which the durability of a resin-molded element is enhanced despite the fact that it is possible to incorporate a half-lock mechanism by utilizing a small space that can be secured in a slider. Aim.

  Further, the present invention provides a card connector in which an element made of metal exerts a stable elastic action even though a half-lock mechanism can be incorporated by utilizing a small space that can be secured in a slider. The purpose is to do.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a card connector which can improve the half-lock force in a card set state while achieving the above object.

  The card connector according to the present invention is pushed by a card inserted into the card insertion space of the housing and is pushed from the standby position to the pushing position corresponding to the card setting position, and at the pushed position, the card is ejected in the card ejection direction. A biased slider is attached to the housing so as to be movable back and forth, and has a function of locking the slider at a pushing position and a function of releasing a locked state of the slider locked at the pushing position. And a half lock mechanism for locking the card so that the card can be pulled out. Then, a locking protrusion that locks the card so that it can be pulled out by the component of the half lock mechanism getting over the card inserted into the card insertion space and fitting into the recess of the card is integrated. A movable piece made of a flexible deformable resin molded body, and a metal spring body that elastically urges the movable piece in a direction in which the locking projection fits into the recess of the card. Is formed.

  With this configuration, since the movable piece integrally provided with the locking projection that rubs with the card is a resin molded body, even if the outer shell of the card with which the locking projection rubs is resin, the outer shell of the card is formed with the locking projection. The situation that it is cut by does not occur. Therefore, the card holding force due to the shaving of the outer shell of the card is less likely to decrease, and the initial half-lock performance is maintained for a long time. In addition to this, the locking projections are made of resin, so that the thickness dimensions of the locking projections, the inclination angle of the invitation surface for climbing onto the card, the locking width and contact with the card at half lock There is also an advantage that the shape of a portion related to the force at the time of insertion and removal of the card, such as the angle, can be easily changed as compared with the case where the locking projection is formed by bending the tip of a sheet metal leaf spring. Also, since the spring body for urging the movable piece is made of metal, it is required to have a displacement amount and a half lock that can absorb variations in the size and width of the card and variations in the manufacturing accuracy of the card connector itself. It becomes easy to apply a sufficient card holding force to the spring body. In addition, a situation in which the spring body is plastically deformed at an early stage and half-lock performance is impaired at an early stage does not occur.

  In the present invention, the movable piece extends cantileverly from the slider along the card insertion direction with respect to the card insertion space, and the leading end of the movable piece rides on the side end surface of the card and the card It is preferable that the locking projection be fitted into a recess provided at the side end of the movable piece, and the spring be housed and held in a recess provided in the slider at the back of the movable piece. By adopting this configuration, it is possible to incorporate the half-lock mechanism utilizing the small space that can be secured in the slider, and maintain the initial half-lock performance for a long time without increasing the size of the card connector It is possible to provide a card connector that is used.

  In the present invention, the spring body has a spring main portion that extends along the back surface of the movable piece that cantileverly extends from the slider and is disposed in an overlapping manner with respect to the back surface, and the movable piece has It is preferable that a portion including a portion connected to the slider is provided with a load dispersing portion whose thickness changes so as to be thinner at a position farther from the connected portion. In addition, the movable piece has a portion extending from a portion connected to the slider to an intermediate point in the extending direction of the movable piece, and the load dispersing portion, and a portion extending from an end point of the load distributing portion to a free end has a thickness. Is desirably uniform.

  According to this, when the locking projection climbs over the card and the movable piece made of resin is flexed and deformed, the flexing deformation is caused by the narrow area of the base portion of the movable piece (where the movable piece is connected to the slider). The movable piece gradually bends over a wide range such as a load distribution portion and a portion on the tip side thereof, without depending only on bending deformation. In addition, the stress applied to the movable piece when such a movable piece is deformed is released by the spring body disposed in an overlapping manner with respect to the back surface of the movable piece and received by the spring main portion. As a result, the situation where stress concentrates on the base of the movable piece and the base of the movable piece is plastically deformed at an early stage is less likely to occur, the durability of the movable piece made of a resin molded body is improved, and the initial half-locking is performed. Performance will be maintained over time.

  In the present invention, the spring body is a leaf spring in which the spring main portion is connected to a mounting piece portion attached to a recess of the slider via an arc-shaped folded portion so as to face the mounting piece portion. Desirably, When the spring body is formed in this way, it is easy to secure a longer length of the spring main part for the area (or volume) of the concave portion of the slider in which the spring body is installed. That is, the range in which the spring body can be flexibly deformed is a range in which the spring main portion and the arc-shaped folded portion are combined. Therefore, as compared with the leaf spring made of sheet metal attached to the slider in the manner described at the beginning of the description, the range in which bending deformation is possible is increased by the length of the arc-shaped folded portion. Therefore, it is possible to assume a larger bending deformation width (displacement width) for the same load, which suppresses a variation in card holding force at the time of half lock due to a variation in dimensions of a card or the like. Help. In addition, since the stress is dispersed at the arcuate folded part, the stress does not concentrate on the local part or the stress is repeatedly applied to the local part, so that the situation that the durability is reduced does not occur, and the load resistance increases, The half-lock performance becomes stable for a long time.

  The card connector according to the present invention can be suitably used for a card in which the surface of the side end where the locking projection rubs is formed at least as a synthetic resin surface.

  Further, the card connector according to the present invention includes an auxiliary spring body that increases the elastic force of the spring body when the slider is at the pushing position.

  By employing this configuration, the spring force of the spring body, that is, the half-lock force, can be increased by the auxiliary spring body only when the slider is at the pushing position. When the slider is in the standby position, the auxiliary spring body does not act on the spring body, so that the half lock performance can be maintained for a long period of time and a good feeling can be obtained when the card is inserted.

  In the present invention, the auxiliary spring body may be a leaf spring cut and raised from the side wall of the housing so that the free end faces the back side of the spring body when the slider is at the pushing position. desirable.

  According to this, since the auxiliary spring body does not become an additional component, it does not hinder cost reduction and downsizing. In the case where the side wall portion of the housing has a cover side plate made of sheet metal overlapped with the outer surface of the side wall made of resin, the auxiliary spring body is constituted by a plate spring cut and formed from the outer cover side plate. Thereby, the required resilience is easily obtained. At the same time, the auxiliary spring body closes the opening formed in the side wall of the body correspondingly, thereby exhibiting a dustproof action.

  In the present invention, the contact portion is formed to project from the free end of the spring body toward the rear surface side, and the locking projection is disengaged from the recess when the slider is at the pushing position. It is desirable that when the is deformed, the free end portion of the auxiliary spring body elastically contacts the contact portion before the locking projection comes off the concave portion.

  With this configuration, the elastic force of the auxiliary spring body can effectively urge the free end of the spring body only at the time of forcible removal from the card setting state when the slider is at the pushing position. .

  As described above, according to the card connector of the present invention, of the components of the half lock mechanism, the elements that rub against the card are formed of resin, and the elements that are required to exhibit elasticity are manufactured of metal. As a result, the situation where the card is repeatedly removed and inserted into the card insertion space to be scraped and the initial half-lock performance is not impaired at an early stage does not occur, and a good half-lock performance is exhibited over a long period of time. It becomes possible to provide a card connector. In addition, it is possible to provide a card connector that improves the durability of a movable piece that is a resin element and a spring body that is a metal element and exhibits good half-lock performance over a long period of time. In addition, since the half-lock mechanism can be incorporated by utilizing the small space that can be secured in the slider, it is possible to suitably apply the present invention to a card connector that is required to be reduced in size and thickness. You.

  Further, according to the card connector of the present invention, in addition to the spring body that constantly urges the movable piece against the spring, an auxiliary spring body that increases the spring force of the spring body when the slider is at the pushing position is provided. With this feature, the card can be held with a large force at the time of forcible removal in the card set state, preventing forcible removal at the card set state, and at the time of card insertion or removal when the slider is in the standby position. The card can be inserted and removed with an appropriate half-lock force, and is effective for maintaining the life of the half-lock force. As a result, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a card connector in which the half-lock force in the card setting state is improved without impairing the above effects.

  FIG. 1 is an overall schematic external view of a card connector according to the present invention. In this card connector, a housing 1 is formed by a body 12 made of a synthetic resin molded body and a sheet metal cover 13 mounted on the body 12, and the housing 1 forms a card insertion space (throttle). In addition, a slider (described later) is provided inside the housing 1 on the side of the card insertion space.

  2 is a plan view of the body 12 in an initial state in which the card 100 is inserted into the card insertion space, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part of the body 12 in a state where the slider 3 is locked, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part of the body 12 at a time point.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the body 12 has a large number of contact pieces 2 arranged side by side on the head portion 14 at the front end thereof, and the tip of the contact piece 2 protruding inside the body 12 is attached to a card 100 described later. The other end of the contact piece 2 protruding outside the body 12 is soldered to a land of a wiring board (not shown), while the contact 21 is formed as a contact 21 corresponding to the provided electrode. 22. The body 12 has side walls 15 and 16 at its left and right edges, and the space between the side walls 15 and 16 is defined by the card insertion space for inserting the card 100 and the card insertion space. A large number of the above-mentioned contact pieces 2 project from the front end of the card insertion space.

  A vertically long slider 3 is attached to the slider accommodating space of the body 12 so as to be movable back and forth. The slider 3 has a card receiving portion 31 protruding inward at a front end thereof, and the card receiving portion 31 receives a front end corner of the card 100 inserted into the card insertion space as shown in FIG. It has become. The slider 3 is constantly elastically urged rearward by a spring member 32 formed of a coil spring. The retreat limit position is determined by the slider 3 hitting the projection 17 provided at the rear end of the body 12. It is being regulated. The position of the slider 3 when the position of the slider 3 is restricted by hitting the projection 17 is the standby position of the slider 3 (the position shown in FIG. 2).

  The slider 3 has a cam mechanism 4. The cam mechanism 4 includes a cam pin 41 whose base end is swingably held by the protrusion 17 of the body 12 and a cam groove 45 serving as a mating element of the cam pin 41. The slider 3 is formed. The cam groove 45 has a forward path and a return path which are formed in an endless elongated heart shape, and is formed by a recess for locking the cam pin 41 at a connection point between the forward path and the return path. A stop 46 is provided. Then, when the first push operation in which the slider 3 is pushed by the card 100 and pushed forward from the standby position is performed, after the cam pin 41 passes through the outward path of the cam groove 45, The slider 3 is slightly retracted as shown by the arrow r in FIG. 4 and the locking portion 46 is locked to the cam pin 41 as shown in FIG. This state is a locked state of the slider. In this locked state, the electrode on the card 100 side resiliently contacts the contact 21 of the contact piece 2 to electrically connect them. When the second push operation is performed from the locked state of the slider 3, the front end of the card 100 moved in the direction of arrow f in FIG. 3 at the beginning of the push operation abuts on the head portion 14 of the body 12 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the locked state is released by the cam pin 41 being separated from the locking portion 46 of the cam groove 45, and thereafter, the cam pin 41 passes through the return path of the cam groove 45 and returns to the beginning of the forward path, and at the same time, the slider 3 is moved. The spring member 32 returns to the standby position by the urging force. Therefore, in this card connector, insertion and ejection of the card are performed by a so-called push-push operation.

  The slider 3 has a half lock mechanism 5. The half lock mechanism 5 has a function of locking the card 100 to the slider 3 so that the card 100 can be pulled out. That is, when the card 100 is inserted into the card insertion space and its front end abuts against the card receiving portion 31 of the slider 3, the card 100 is locked to the slider 3 by the half lock mechanism 5. The locking force of the card according to 5 is determined to such an extent that when the card 100 is pulled in the pulling-out direction with a certain force or more, the locked state is released and the card 100 is pulled out.

  FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the half lock mechanism 5 when the card 100 is half-locked, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the half lock mechanism 5 when the card 100 is not half-locked. Next, the half lock mechanism 5 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the half lock mechanism 5 is provided on the surface of the slider 3 opposite to the cam forming surface.

  The half lock mechanism 5 is formed by being divided into two elements: an element formed of a resin molded body integrated with the slider 3 and an element made of metal. Among these elements, the movable piece 52 integrally provided with the locking projection 51 corresponds to an element made of a resin molded body, and a sheet metal spring body 55 made of a leaf spring corresponds to an element made of metal.

  The movable piece 52 cantileverly extends rearward from the slider 3 along the insertion direction of the card 100 into the card insertion space (the direction of the arrow I in FIG. 2). The locking projection 51 protruding into the insertion space is integrally provided. When the card 100 is inserted into the locking projection 51, the inclined projection surface 53 for allowing the locking projection 51 to ride on the side end of the card 100 and the locking projection 51 The engaging surface 54 is provided so that the engaging surface 54 can be engaged with the front side wall surface 112 of the recess 110 when the recess 110 is fitted in the side end of the recess 100. On the other hand, the spring body 55 is housed and held in the recess 33 provided in the slider 3 at the back of the movable piece 52. That is, the spring body 55 extends from the front end edge of the wide mounting piece portion 56 fixed to the slider 3 by being inserted into the mounting groove portion 34 formed in the concave portion 33, and has a narrow width curved in an arc shape. It has a folded portion 57 and a plate-shaped spring main portion 58 connected to the folded portion 57 with the same width as the folded portion 57, and the spring main portion 58 extends along the back surface of the movable piece 52. It comes out and overlaps with the movable piece 52 and faces the mounting piece 56. By adopting this configuration, it is possible to incorporate the half-lock mechanism by utilizing the concave portion 33 which is a small space that can be secured in the slider 3, and the initial half-lock performance can be improved without increasing the size of the card connector. It has become possible to provide a card connector that is maintained for a long time. In this embodiment, when the card 100 is not inserted, the front surface 52a of the movable piece 52 in a no-load state is positioned flush with the inner surface 3a of the slider 3. Further, the spring main portion 58 overlapping with the movable piece 52 is simply in contact with the spring main portion 58 even when the spring main portion 58 is in a state of elastic contact with the movable piece 52 in a no-load state. The movable piece 52 may be in a state in which the movable piece 52 is not biased, but in any state, when the card 100 is not inserted, the front surface 52 a of the movable piece 52 is flush with the inner surface 3 a of the slider 3. Preferably, the card 100 is smoothly inserted into the card insertion space without abutting against the movable piece 52 or the locking projection 51. The projection width of the 51 from the movable piece 52 can be reduced.

  According to the card connector described above, when the card 100 is inserted into the card insertion space, the locking projection 51 is moved outward of the movable piece 52 until the card 100 hits the card receiving portion 31 of the slider 3. After climbing on the side end of the card 100 with bending deformation, the movable piece 52 returns to the original position as shown in FIG. 2 or 5, and the locking projection 51 fits into the recess 110 of the card 100. I do. In this case, when the locking projection 51 rides on the side end of the card 100 with the bending deformation to the outside of the movable piece 52, the spring main portion 58 and the folded portion 57 of the spring body 55 are elastically deformed. When the displacement of the movable piece 52 is absorbed and the locking projection 52 gets over the side end of the card 100 and reaches the recess 110, the movable piece 52 returns to the original position by the return deformation of the spring body 55, and the locking is performed. The protrusion 51 fits into the recess 110. When the locking projection 51 is fitted in the recess 110 of the card 100 in this manner, the locking surface 54 of the locking projection 51 faces the front side wall surface 112 of the recess 110, so that the card 100 is When pulled, the locking surface 54 is locked by the front wall surface 112 of the recess 110. When the pulling force is not so large, the movable piece 52 does not bend and deform against the bias of the spring body 55 even if the locking surface 54 is pushed backward by the front wall surface 112 of the recess 110. . This is the half-lock function. However, when the withdrawal force is equal to or more than a certain value, the locking surface 54 is pushed rearward by the front side wall surface 112 of the recess 110, so that the movable piece 52 is deformed outwardly against the bias of the spring body 55. Therefore, the locking projection 51 is pushed out from the recess 110, and the card 100 is pulled out. Here, since the spring body 55 includes the arc-shaped folded portion 57 and the elongated spring main portion 58 connected to the folded portion 57, the area of the concave portion 33 of the slider 3 on which the spring body 55 is installed (or For this reason, it is possible to secure a long length of the combination of the spring main portion 58 and the arc-shaped folded portion 57, which is the range in which the spring body 55 can be flexibly deformed, for the capacity. In addition, it is possible to secure a large deflection deformation width of the spring main portion 58, which is useful for suppressing a variation in card holding force at the time of half lock due to a variation in dimensions of a card or the like. . In addition, since the stress is dispersed at the arcuate folded portion 57, the stress does not concentrate on the local area or the stress is repeatedly applied to the local area, so that the situation that the durability is reduced does not occur, the load resistance increases, and the half load is increased. Locking performance has become stable for a long time.

  In this card connector, the locking projections 51 that rub against the card 100 are resin-molded integrally with the movable piece 52 made of a resin molded body. Therefore, even if the outer shell of the card 100 with which the locking projections 51 rub is resin, The situation where the outer shell of 100 is shaved by the locking projection 51 does not occur. For this reason, the outer shell of the card 100 is shaved and the reduction of the card holding force by the half lock mechanism 5 does not easily occur, and the initial half lock performance is maintained for a long time. In addition, when the locking projection 51 is formed of resin, the thickness dimension of the locking projection 51, the inclination angle of the invitation surface 53 for climbing onto the card 100, the locking width and the contact with the card 100 at the half lock. It is possible to easily change the shape of a portion such as an angle, which is related to the force when inserting or removing the card. On the other hand, since the spring body 55 for urging the movable piece 52 is made of a metal leaf spring, it can absorb variations in the size and width of the card 100 and variations in manufacturing accuracy of the card connector itself. It is possible to easily provide the spring body with only a displacement amount and a card holding force of a sufficient magnitude required for the half lock. In addition, a situation in which the spring body is plastically deformed at an early stage and half-lock performance is impaired at an early stage does not occur.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the movable piece 52 employed in this embodiment is provided at a position including the connection point a with the slider 3 so that the distance from the connection point a becomes thinner. A load dispersing portion 61 having a varying thickness is provided. The load dispersing portion 61 corresponds to a portion extending from the connection point a with the slider 3 to an intermediate point in the extending direction, and a portion from the end point 61 a of the load distributing portion 61 to the free end corresponds to the movable piece 52. Have a uniform thickness. In this embodiment, in order to provide the movable piece 52 with the load dispersing portion 61, a gradient θ is given to the outer surface outside the movable piece 52.

  By forming the base portion of the movable piece 52 made of a resin molded body as the load dispersing portion 61 so that the thickness is made thinner at a portion closer to the free end, the locking projection 51 becomes as shown in FIG. When the movable piece 52 made of resin is bent and deformed after riding on the card 100, the bent deformation does not depend only on the bending deformation of a narrow area at the base of the movable piece 52, but rather the load distributing portion 61 or the tip end thereof. The movable piece 52 gradually bends over a wide range such as a side portion. In addition, the stress applied to the movable piece 52 when the movable piece 52 is flexed and deformed is released to the spring body 55 arranged in an overlapping manner with respect to the back surface of the movable piece 52, and Since it is received by the main portion 58, stress does not concentrate on the root portion of the movable piece 52, and the root portion of the movable piece 52 is not plastically deformed early. Therefore, the durability of the movable piece 52 made of a resin molded body is improved, and the initial half-lock performance is maintained for a long time.

  FIGS. 7 to 9 show a structure for increasing the half lock force in the half lock mechanism 5 shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 when the slider 3 is at the pushed position, that is, when the card is set. In addition, an auxiliary spring 70 is added to the half lock mechanism 5 shown in FIG. 6 to increase the resilience of the spring 55 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position.

  The auxiliary spring body 70 is a leaf spring cut and raised from the side wall of the housing 1 so that the free end faces the back side of the spring body 55 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. Specifically, an opening 71 long in the front-rear direction is formed in the side wall 15 on one side of the body 12 with which the outer surface of the slider 3 slides. The opening 71 extends from the rear surface of the locking projection 51 when the slider 3 is at the standby position (the position indicated by the imaginary line in FIG. 8) when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. 8 (a position shown by a solid line in FIG. 8). Here, the left and right side edges of the cover 13 made of sheet metal have side plates 15a and 16a to be superimposed on the outer surfaces of the left and right side walls 15 and 16 of the body 12, respectively. Are formed in a double structure. Then, a portion of the side plate 15a on one side of the cover 13 that overlaps with the side wall portion 15 having the opening 71 formed thereon is cut and raised to form a metal leaf spring, and the slider 3 is moved to the standby position. The auxiliary spring body 70 is formed in a range from the rear portion of the locking projection 51 at a certain time to the rear portion of the locking projection 51 at the time when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. The auxiliary spring body 70 configured as described above moves from the rear surface of the locking projection 51 when the slider 3 is at the standby position to the rear surface of the locking projection 51 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. The opening 71 is cantilevered in a form that substantially closes the opening 71, and is extended in an inclined manner to enter the opening 71 from the base end toward the free end, and can be elastically displaced in the left-right direction. The free end faces the rear side of the locking projection 51 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. The free end of the auxiliary spring body 70 is elastically supported on the outer surface of the slider 3 with an appropriate elasticity (a degree that does not hinder the smooth movement of the slider 3).

  On the other hand, on the slider 3 side, the spring main portion 58 that overlaps the back side of the free end of the spring body 55 in the recess 33 that houses and holds the spring body 55, that is, the back side of the locking projection 51. A notch 72 is provided to open a further back side of the end of the slider 3 to the outside of the slider 3. When the slider 3 is at the pushed-in position, the auxiliary spring body 70 is free on the back side of the end of the spring main part 58. The ends are opposed to each other via the opening 71, and a contact portion 73 is formed to project from the rear surface of the end of the spring main portion 58. The contact portion 73 is formed by bending a flat metal piece integrally connected to the end portion of the spring main portion 58 and extending to the rear side of the end portion of the spring main portion 58. Alternatively, the flat metal piece may be bent at a right angle to the spring main part 58 to form the contact part 73 in a flat plate shape. As shown in FIG. 7, it is preferable that the contact portion 73 is formed to have a spring property by being bent into a U-shape as shown in FIG. Further, when the slider is at the pushing position, the abutting portion 73 is provided between the movable end 52 and the free end of the auxiliary spring body 70 in a state where the spring main portion 58 is not bent and deformed. The spring main portion 58 is formed so as to protrude from the free end portion of the spring main portion 58 toward the back side so as to have a gap, and the spring main portion 58 is moved together with the movable piece 52 in a direction in which the locking projection 51 is separated from the recess 110. The free end portion of the auxiliary spring body 70 is configured to elastically contact the contact portion 73 before the locking projection 51 comes off the concave portion 110 when the bending deformation occurs.

  Next, the operation of the auxiliary spring body 70 will be described. When the slider 3 is at the standby position, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 8, the locking projection 51 formed at the distal end of the movable piece 52 and the back surface thereof. The base end of the auxiliary spring body 70 is opposed to the free end of the spring main part 58 that overlaps with the main body 58. For this reason, when inserting and removing the card 100 when the slider 3 is at the standby position, when the locking projection 51 is disengaged from the recess 110 of the card 100 and rises on the side end of the card 100, With the amount of bending displacement of the movable piece 52 and the spring main portion 58 to the outside, the contact portion 73 does not abut on the auxiliary spring body 70. Therefore, when the slider 3 is at the standby position, the elastic force of the auxiliary spring body 70 is not applied to the spring body 55, and the elastic force of the spring body 55, that is, the half-lock force is not increased. On the other hand, when the slider 3 is at the pushing position, as shown in the solid lines in FIGS. 7 and 8 and in FIG. 9, the free end of the auxiliary spring body 70 is opposite. For this reason, when the slider 3 is in the pushed-in position and the locking projection 51 is engaged with the recess 110 of the card 100, that is, when the card 100 is forcibly pulled out of the card setting state, the above-mentioned situation occurs. When the movable piece 52 and the spring main portion 58 are displaced by bending outward as the locking projection 51 is disengaged from the recess 110 of the card 100, before the locking projection 51 comes off the recess 110 of the card 100, At the end of 73, the auxiliary spring body 70 is in elastic contact with its free end. Thereafter, the resilient force of the auxiliary spring body 70 is applied to the spring body 55, and the resilient force of the spring body 55, that is, the half-lock force, is increased from when the slider 3 is at the standby position, so that the guard 100 is increased. The card 100 can be held by force, and a function of preventing the card 100 from being forcibly removed from the card setting state is exhibited.

  As described above, by providing the auxiliary spring body 70 for increasing the resilient force of the spring body 55 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position, the elastic force of the spring body 55, that is, the half-lock force is reduced. It can be increased by the auxiliary spring 70 only when 3 is in the pushed-in position. When the slider 3 is at the standby position, since the auxiliary spring body 70 does not act on the spring body 55, the half-lock performance can be maintained for a long time, and a good feeling can be obtained when the card is inserted.

  A plate formed by cutting and raising the auxiliary spring body 70 from the side wall portions 15 and 15a of the housing 1 so that the free end faces the back side of the spring body 55 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. By using a spring, the auxiliary spring body 70 does not become an additional component, and does not hinder cost reduction and compactness. When the side walls 15 and 15a of the housing 1 are overlapped with the side plates 15a and 16a of the sheet metal cover 13 on the outer surfaces of the side walls 15 and 16 of the resin body 12, the outer cover side plate is provided. By forming the above-mentioned auxiliary spring body 70 with a leaf spring cut and raised from 15, a required elastic force can be easily obtained. At the same time, since the auxiliary spring body 70 closes the opening formed in the body side wall 15 correspondingly, the auxiliary spring body 70 exerts a dustproof action.

  Further, a contact portion 73 is formed so as to protrude from the free end of the spring body 55 toward the rear side, and the movable piece is moved in a direction in which the locking projection 51 comes off from the recess 110 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. When the spring main portion 58 of the spring body 55 is bent and deformed together with 52, the free end of the auxiliary spring body 70 elastically contacts the abutment portion 73 before the locking projection 51 comes off the concave portion 110, The elastic force of the auxiliary spring body 70 can effectively urge the free end of the spring main portion 58 of the spring body 55 only at the time of forcible removal from the card setting state when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. Thus, the half-lock force when the slider 3 is at the pushing position can be efficiently improved.

  Thus, in addition to the spring body 55 which constantly biases the movable piece 52, an auxiliary spring body 70 which increases the spring force of the spring body 55 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position is provided. Therefore, it is possible to hold the card 100 with a large force at the time of forcible removal in the card set state, to prevent forcible removal in the card set state, and to insert or remove the card when the slider 3 is in the standby position. In some cases, the card 100 can be inserted and removed with an appropriate half-lock force, and it is effective to maintain the life of the half-lock force. As a result, the half-lock force can be improved in the card setting state while maintaining the half-lock performance for a long period of time.

  When only the half-lock force in the card setting state is to be improved, the spring body 55 is eliminated, and the elastic force of the auxiliary spring body 70 is directly applied to the locking projection 51 when the slider 3 moves to the pushing position. All you need to do is rush. In this case, a contact portion having the same function as the contact portion 73 is formed so as to protrude from the locking projection 51 to the rear side. In such a case, the card 100 is pushed by the card 100 inserted into the card insertion space of the housing 1 and is pushed from the standby position to the pushing position corresponding to the card setting position. The slider 3 is attached to the housing 1 so as to be movable back and forth, and has a function of locking the slider 3 at a pushing position and a function of releasing a locked state of the slider 3 locked at the pushing position. A card connector provided with a half lock mechanism 5 for locking the card 100 to the slider 3 so that the card 100 can be pulled out, wherein a component of the half lock mechanism 5 is a card connector inserted into the card insertion space. A locking projection 51 that locks the card 100 so that the card 100 can be pulled out by being fitted into the recess 110 of the card 100 by climbing over A movable piece 52 made of a deformable resin molded body obtained; a metal spring body for urging and urging the movable piece 52 in a direction in which the locking projection 51 fits into the recess 110 of the card 100; And that the spring body resiliently urges the locking projection 51 when the slider 3 is at the pushing position. The spring body in this case is The auxiliary spring body 70 shown in this embodiment corresponds to this.

1 is an overall schematic external view of a card connector according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a body in an initial state where a card is inserted into a card insertion space. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of the body in a state where the slider is locked. It is a principal part top view of the body at the time of lock release. It is an enlarged plan view of the half lock mechanism in a half lock state. It is an enlarged plan view of the half lock mechanism in the half lock release state. FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a half lock mechanism showing a structure for increasing a half lock force in the half lock mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 when a card is set. FIG. 8 is a plan view (a) and a side view (b) of a half lock mechanism showing a structure similar to FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of a half lock mechanism having a structure similar to that of FIG. 7.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 3 Slider 5 Half lock mechanism 12 Body 13 Cover 15, 16 Side wall part 15a, 16a Side plate 33 Depression 51 Locking projection 52 Movable piece 55 Spring body 56 Mounting piece part 57 Folding part 58 Spring main part 61 Load distribution part 61a End point of load dispersing part 70 Auxiliary spring body 71 Opening part 72 Notch part 73 Contact part 100 Card 110 Card concave part a Place where movable piece is connected to slider

Claims (9)

  The slider that is pushed by the card inserted into the card insertion space of the housing and is pushed from the standby position to the pushing position corresponding to the card setting position, and is elastically urged in the card ejection direction at the pushing position, can move back and forth. A function of locking the slider at the pushing position and a function of releasing the locked state of the slider locked at the pushing position, and locking the card to the slider so that the card can be pulled out. In a card connector provided with a half-lock mechanism, a component of the half-lock mechanism can be pulled out by fitting over a card inserted into the card insertion space and fitting into a recess of the card. A movable piece made of a flexibly deformable resin molded body integrally provided with a locking projection for locking to the card; Card connector, characterized in that it is formed by dividing the movable piece in the direction fitted at to the metallic spring member for resiliently urging.   The movable piece cantileverly extends from the slider along the card insertion direction with respect to the card insertion space, and the movable piece rides on the side end surface of the card at the tip end thereof. 2. The card connector according to claim 1, further comprising the locking projection fitted in the recess provided in the slider, wherein the spring body is housed and held in a recess provided in the slider at a back portion of the movable piece.   The spring body has a spring main portion that extends along the back surface of the movable piece that cantileverly extends from the slider and is arranged in an overlapping manner with respect to the back face, and the movable piece is provided with the slider and the slider. 3. The card connector according to claim 2, further comprising: a load dispersing portion having a thickness that changes at a position including the connecting portion, such that a thickness of the load distributing portion becomes thinner as the position becomes farther from the connecting portion.   In the movable piece, a portion extending from a portion connected to the slider to an intermediate point in the extending direction is the load distribution portion, and a thickness from the end point of the load distribution portion to the free end is one. 4. The card connector according to claim 3, wherein:   The said spring body is a leaf | plate spring which the said spring main part was connected in the form which opposes the said mounting piece part via the arc-shaped folded part at the mounting piece part attached to the recessed part of the said slider, The claim | item The card connector according to claim 3 or 4.   The card connector according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a card having at least a synthetic resin surface at a side end portion at which the locking projections rub against each other is used.   The card connector according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an auxiliary spring body that increases the resilience of the spring body when the slider is at the pushing position.   9. The auxiliary spring body according to claim 7, wherein the auxiliary spring body is a leaf spring cut and raised from a side wall portion of the housing so that the free end faces the back side of the spring body when the slider is at the pushing position. Card connector.   A contact portion is formed to project from the free end of the spring body toward the back side, and when the slider is at the pushed-in position, the spring body flexes and deforms together with the movable piece in a direction in which the locking projection comes off the recess. 9. The card connector according to claim 7, wherein the free end of the auxiliary spring body elastically contacts the contact portion before the locking projection comes off the concave portion.

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