Card connector

The present invention relates to a card connector to which a card having a built-in electronic circuit such as a memory chip is attached / detached, and particularly relates to a card connector having a card detection mechanism for detecting insertion or insertion of a card.

In recent years, the use of IC built-in cards (hereinafter, simply referred to as cards) has increased in electronic devices such as personal computers, digital cameras, recorders, mobile phones, portable audio equipment, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistance), and various information terminal devices. ing. There are many types of cards with built-in ICs that record, transmit, or process information, such as PC cards, MMC (Multi Media Card) cards, SD (Secure Digital) cards, and SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards. To do.

Usually, these cards are used by being attached to a card connector (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a connector) attached to a circuit board or the like of the above equipment. Here, the card is inserted into the card accommodating portion from the card insertion slot provided in the connector housing (hereinafter referred to as the connector housing) in a direction parallel to the surface thereof, and at least the tip region thereof is inside the connector housing. Be housed. Then, the contact pad that conducts to the electronic circuit inside the card and is taken out on the surface is electrically connected to the contact terminal provided at the bottom of the connector housing.

Further, the connector is provided with a card detection mechanism inside the connector housing into which the card is inserted. Then, the state of the inserted card, for example, whether or not write protection is set can be detected (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Alternatively, it is possible to detect the insertion of the card into the connector housing and further identify different types such as its outer shape and contact pad position (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3).

The basic structure of the card detection mechanism is a switch, and the card detection mechanism has an elastic and conductive switch spring piece mounted inside the connector housing. When the card is inserted into the connector housing, the switch spring piece is elastically deformed by the pressing force of the card. Then, the contact of the switch provided at a predetermined position of the switch spring piece is elastically displaced so as to come into contact with or separate from another contact of the switch provided in the connector housing. Here, the contact and disconnection of the pair of contacts is determined by detecting the presence or absence of a current due to the application of a voltage between them.

<p><patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-236469</text></patcit><patcit num="2"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-86299</text></patcit><patcit num="3"><text>Japanese Patent No. 3640343</text></patcit></p>

<p> By the way, in order to reduce the size and height (thinning) of the connector, the switch spring piece that performs the switching operation has a structure in which the contact portion with the card is arranged near the insertion / extraction port, from the base end portion to the tip end portion. It is attached to the side of the connector housing so that the direction of hanging on the portion is opposite to the direction of inserting the card. That is, the base end portion side fixed to the side portion of the card accommodating portion in the connector housing serves as a fulcrum, and the tip end portion, which is the free end of the switch spring piece, can be elastically displaced. Here, the closer the tip of the switch spring piece is to the card insertion slot, which is the card insertion slot of the card storage portion, the shorter the connector housing dimension in the card insertion direction can be. This makes it possible to promote the miniaturization of the connector.</p><p> However, in the conventional card detection mechanism, when the position of the tip end portion of the switch spring piece approaches the card insertion / removal port, the switch spring piece is likely to be damaged by the card insertion operation.</p><p> As described above, as cards become smaller and thinner, and various types of cards with different sizes appear, erroneous insertion operations by users of cards different from the regular cards for connectors are likely to occur. Then, when a non-regular card whose plane size is smaller than the regular one is inserted from the card insertion / removal port at an angle, for example, the front end of the card may give an unexpected overload different from the proper pressing force to the switch spring piece. is there. This unexpected overload includes, for example, a force that strongly pushes the switch spring piece in the direction in which the card is inserted. Here, when the tilting and rotating operations of the card are repeated in order to correct the oblique insertion, a force for pulling out the tip of the switch spring piece toward the center of the card accommodating portion also works. Such an overload causes the switch spring piece to be displaced beyond its elastic limit, causing its plastic deformation.</p><p> Further, for example, even if the connector has a structure in which two different types of cards are loaded into different card storages from one card insertion slot, the switch spring piece due to the same erroneous insertion as described above with a card having a small flat size can be used. There is a risk of causing plastic deformation. In the switch spring piece used in the conventional card detection mechanism, in order to prevent the spring damage as described above, the tip portion of the switch spring piece has to be arranged some distance from the card insertion / removal port. This has been one of the obstacles to the miniaturization and thinning of connectors having a card detection mechanism.</p><p> The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is the tip of a switch spring piece used in a card detection mechanism against an unexpected overload caused by an irregular operation such as diagonal insertion of a card. The purpose is to increase the resistance of the spring and prevent its plastic deformation. Another object of the present invention is to remove the limitation of miniaturization of a connector provided with a card detection mechanism.</p>

<p> The card connector according to the present invention includes a housing in which a card storage space for accommodating a card and a card insertion / extraction port communicating therewith are formed, and a plurality of contact terminals provided at the bottom of the housing and electrically connected to the accommodating card. A card detection mechanism that is arranged on the side of the card accommodating space and detects the insertion or mounting of the card into the card accommodating space, and has elasticity that performs a switching operation by the pressing force received by the insertion of the card. It has a conductive switch spring member and a switch facing member that comes into contact with and separates from the switch spring member, and the switch spring member extends from its base end to its tip in a direction opposite to the card insertion direction. The card detection mechanism provided and the tip of the switch spring member provided on the side of the card accommodating space are located at the tip of the switch spring member, and the tip of the switch spring member receives the pressing force to receive the pressing force and the switch spring member. It is characterized by including a fixing protrusion in which the tip portion is engaged and locked even when an overload exceeding the elastic limit of the above is applied.</p>

<p> INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, resistance to an unexpected overload caused by an irregular operation such as diagonal insertion of a card is improved, and plastic deformation of a switch spring piece of a card detection mechanism is prevented. Then, the miniaturization of the connector provided with the card detection mechanism is promoted.</p>

<figref num="1">An example of the card connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown, and it is a top view which cut out a part of the upper wall thereof.</figref><figref num="2">It is an enlarged cross-sectional view of II-II arrow view of FIG.</figref><figref num="3">It is a figure which is provided for the explanation of the insertion operation of the card connector which has a write protection, (a) is the top view which cut out a part of the connector upper wall which shows the state which is switched on by the pressing force of a card, (b). ) Is a top view showing a state in which the card is further inserted into the connector from the state (a).</figref><figref num="4">It is a figure which is provided for the explanation of the insertion operation of the card connector which has a write protection, and (a) is the top view which cut out a part of the connector upper wall which shows the state which the card which the write protection switch is on is attached to the connector. , (B) is a top view of a part of the upper wall of the connector showing a state in which a card with the write protect switch turned off is attached to the connector.</figref><figref num="5">It is an enlarged top view which cut out a part of the connector upper wall for demonstrating the operation effect of the card detection mechanism in embodiment of this invention.</figref>

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. In each figure, parts that are the same or similar to each other are designated by a common reference numeral, and some duplicate explanations are omitted. In this specification, in order to make the explanation of the card connector structure easy to understand, the terms are unified based on the card insertion / removal direction with respect to the connector. For example, the term "front" is attached to the insertion direction of the front end of the card, and the term "rear" is attached to the withdrawal direction of the rear end of the card. In addition, the term "bottom" is attached to the bottom side of the connector where the contact terminals are arranged, and the term "top" is attached in the opposite direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the card connector 10 has a card accommodating space 12 in a connector housing 11 having a substantially flat rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. The card storage space 12 is opened as a card insertion / removal port 13 at the rear end of the connector housing 11. Further, a card detection mechanism 14 for detecting a card inserted or mounted from the card insertion / removal port 13 is provided on the side of the card storage space 12 in the connector housing 11.

Here, the connector housing 11 has an integral structure made of an insulating resin material such as a liquid crystal polymer. Alternatively, for example, a base member made of an insulating resin material having excellent workability and having terminals can be combined with a cover member made of a leaf spring metal material such as a sheet metal cover made of stainless steel or the like. In this case, the cover member and the base member, which are vertically overlapped with each other, form a space in which the card detection mechanism 14 is arranged together with the card storage space 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, the card detection mechanism 14 has a basic structure of a switch, and has a switch spring piece 15 having elasticity and conductivity and a switch facing piece 16 facing the switch spring piece 15 as a pair of switch pieces. Have as. The switch spring piece 15 has a cantilever shape in which the base end portion 151 is planted on the left side wall 11a side of the connector housing 11 made of, for example, an insulating resin, and the elastic deformation portion 152, the engagement portion 153, and the contact portion 154 are integrated. It is formed in the structure. Here, the contact portion 154 is located at the tip of the engaging portion 153, which is the tip end portion of the switch spring piece 15. The base end portion 151 side fixed to the left side wall 11a of the connector housing 11 serves as a fulcrum, and can be elastically displaced as the free end of the switch spring piece 15.

The switch spring piece 15 is provided extending from the base end portion 151 to the engaging portion 153 in the direction opposite to the card insertion direction, and the engaging portion 153 is fixedly fixed to the side portion of the connector housing 11. It is designed to engage with the protrusion 17. Then, even if an overload due to card insertion from the card insertion / removal port 13 is applied to the engaging portion 153, the engaging portion 153 is locked to the fixing protrusion 17. Then, the displacement that exceeds the elastic limit of the switch spring piece 15 and leads to its plastic deformation is prevented. Therefore, the engaging portion 153 can be arranged at a position close to the card insertion / removal port 13.

In the example shown in FIGS. It has a portion 153b, a third engaging portion 153c, and a fourth engaging portion 153d. Here, the first engaging portion 153a becomes a contact portion 154 having two contacts at the leading end thereof, and the fourth engaging portion 153d is connected to the elastically deformed portion 152.

The fixing protrusion 17 is fixed to the side portion of the card accommodating portion 12 in the connector housing 11 so as to engage with the engaging portion 153 of the switch spring piece 15 when the card is attached to or detached from the connector 10. Further, it is provided so as to suppress the displacement of the switch spring piece 15 exceeding the elastic limit.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fixing protrusion 17 is fixed to the lower wall 11b of the connector housing 11 and is erected in the direction of the upper wall 11c. Here, the cross-sectional shape is formed to be a polygonal prism, and the first protruding surface 17a, the second protruding surface 17b, the third protruding surface 17c, and the fourth protruding surface corresponding to the semiring shape of the engaging portion 153. It has a protruding surface 17d and a fifth protruding surface 17e. Then, the first engaging portion 153a, the second engaging portion 153b, the third engaging portion 153c, and the fourth engaging portion 153d described above are formed on the first protruding surface 17a and the second protruding surface, respectively. It can come into contact with 17b, the third protruding surface 17c and the fourth protruding surface 17d.

An insulating material is used for the fixing protrusion 17. It is preferable that the fixing protrusion 17 is made of the same resin material as the connector housing 11 and is formed integrally with the connector housing 11 or the base member. Alternatively, a fixing protrusion 17 made of an insulating material of the same type or different from that of the connector housing 11 may be attached to the side portion of the connector housing 11.

The switch facing piece 16 is a cantilever metal piece planted on the left side wall 11a side of the connector housing 11 like the switch spring piece 15, and is formed so as to be juxtaposed with the switch spring piece 15. Then, the region of the free end of the switch facing piece 16 becomes a place where the contact portion 154 comes into contact due to the elastic displacement of the switch spring piece 15. Here, the contact portion 154 is subjected to a displacement (wiping) in which the surface of the switch facing piece 16 is slidably contacted in order to ensure contact with the switch facing piece 16. This means that even if foreign matter such as dust or oxide film is present on the surface of the contact portion 154 of the switch spring piece 15 or the free end region of the switch facing piece 16, a reliable electrical connection can be made between them. It is effective to do so. Further, since the contact portion 154 has a plurality of, for example, two contacts, the contact certainty with the switch facing piece 16 is increased, and stable contact can be obtained.

The switch spring piece 15 and the switch facing piece 16 can be integrally formed so as to be connected to the external connection terminals 18 and 19 for the switch extending from the front wall 11d of the connector housing 11 to the outside of the housing, respectively. Then, these external connection terminals 18 and 19 for the switch are electrically connected to the wiring of the circuit board to which the card connector 10 is attached by, for example, soldering. In electronic devices incorporating these circuit boards, the switch spring piece 15 and the switch facing piece 16 are on or off, that is, the switch spring piece 15 and the switch facing piece 16 are in contact with each other or are not in contact with each other. It is designed to detect and determine whether or not there is a current due to voltage application.

For the switch spring piece 15, a metal exhibiting appropriate elasticity is preferably used as the material thereof. Examples of such a metal material include copper alloys such as phosphor bronze and beryllium copper. For example, the metal plate is punched to produce an elongated spring piece. Then, the engaging portion 153 having a desired engaging surface is formed through the bending process in the thickness direction of the spring piece. Here, at least the contact portion 154 may be formed with a plating layer made of, for example, gold or platinum so that an oxide film is not formed on the surface thereof.

A metal exhibiting conductivity is used as the material for the switch facing piece 16. As the metal material, for example, stainless steel, aluminum, alloy, or the like, which has mechanical strength and is easy to process, is preferable. Alternatively, as a metal material having appropriate elasticity, a copper alloy such as phosphor bronze or beryllium copper can be mentioned. The metal plate is punched to produce a switch facing piece 16 which is an elongated metal piece. Here, at least in the region of the free end of the switch facing piece 16 with which the contact portion 154 of the switch spring piece 15 comes into contact, a plating layer made of, for example, gold or platinum is formed so that an oxide film is not formed on the surface thereof. May be good.

Then, an IC built-in card such as an SD card is inserted or withdrawn from the card insertion / removal port 13 opened at the rear end of the card storage space 12. Here, on the bottom of the connector housing 11, for example, contact terminals 20 composed of a plurality of (9 in the figure) elastic contact pieces that are in pressure contact with a contact pad provided at the front end of the card are provided in a line shape. ing. The contact terminal 20 is embedded in the lower wall 11b of the connector housing 11 or press-fitted to be planted in a desired shape. A contact terminal partition wall 21 is provided around the contact terminal 20. The contact terminal 20 is not limited to the example provided at the bottom of the connector housing 11, and may be provided at the top of the connector housing 11.

Each of these contact terminals 20 is connected to a contact external connection terminal 20a extending from the front wall 11d of the connector housing 11 to the outside of the housing. These external connection terminals for contacts 20a are electrically connected to the wiring of the circuit board to which the card connector 10 is attached by, for example, soldering.

For example, SD cards have stepped guides on both sides. When inserting the card into the card storage space 12, the left and right edges of the card are smoothly guided by, for example, the left guide step 22 and the right guide step 23, respectively, corresponding to the side edges of the SD card. ing. Here, the left guide step portion 22 is provided in parallel with the left side wall 11a of the connector housing 11 and serves as a partition portion between the area where the card detection mechanism is arranged and the card accommodating space 12 in the connector housing 11. There is. On the other hand, the right guide step portion 23 is provided along the right side wall 11e of the connector housing 11.

When the card is attached to the card connector 10, the contact terminal partition wall 21 provided around the contact terminal 20 fits into a recess (not shown) provided at the front end of the card. Then, the chamfered portion (not shown) provided at the right corner of the front end portion of the card comes into contact with the inclined surface 11f formed in the region where the front wall 11d and the right side wall 11e of the connector housing 11 intersect. There is. When the mounting is completed, the contact pads attached to the inner surface of the recesses at the front end of the card are electrically connected to the respective contact terminals 20. The inclined surface 11f or the contact terminal partition wall 21 described above also serves as a mechanism for preventing erroneous insertion of the card into the card connector 10.

Next, the operation of the card connector 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Hereinafter, a case where a regular card 100 compatible with the card connector 10 to which write protection can be set is attached to the card connector 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3A, a slideable write protect button 101 is arranged at a predetermined position on the left end 100a of the regular card 100, and is slid to one of the positions shown by the solid line. Insert the front end 100b of this regular card 100 into the card insertion slot 13 of the card connector 10 and press the rear end 100c. By this pressing, the rounded left corner portion 100d of the front end 100b abuts on the second engaging portion 153b of the engaging portion 153 of the switch spring piece 15, and the switch spring piece 15 is elastically deformed.

Then, the engaging portion 153 is displaced in the direction of the switch facing piece 16 together with the card insertion direction by the pressing force from the regular card 100 received by the second engaging portion 153b. Due to this elastic displacement, the cutting edge of the first engaging portion 153a, that is, the contact portion 154, comes into contact with the switch facing piece 16 and switches on. At the same time, the switch spring piece bends in the card insertion direction, and the first engaging portion 153a comes into contact with the first protrusion surface 17a of the fixing protrusion 17.

Then, when the regular card 100 is further inserted, the first engaging portion 153a is engaged with and locked with the first protruding surface 17a. Then, by locking the first engaging portion 153a with the first protruding surface 17a, displacement of the switch spring piece 15 in the card insertion direction due to elastic deformation is prevented from being suppressed. Further, the displacement of the engaging portion 153 to the central region of the card accommodating space 12 caused by the friction between the left corner portion 100d of the regular card 100 and the second engaging portion 153b is also regulated.

Next, at the card insertion stage shown in FIG. 3B, the left end 100a of the regular card 100 comes into contact with the third engaging portion 153c of the engaging portion 153. At the same time, the third engaging portion 153c comes into contact with the third protrusion surface 17c of the fixing protrusion 17. Then, the regular card 100 is also inserted and guided by the third engaging portion 153c. Further, at the stage of inserting the card, the first engaging portion 153a is separated from the first protruding surface 17a of the fixed protrusion 17 with which the first engaging portion 153a is engaged. Along with this, the first engaging portion 153a moves rearward, and the contact portion 154 at the tip of the first engaging portion 153a slides on the contact surface while being in contact with the switch facing piece 16. That is, wiping of the contact portion 154 of the switch spring piece 15 occurs.

Then, when the insertion of the regular card 100 shown in FIG. 4A is completed, the write protect button 101 arranged at the left end of the regular card 100 hits the third engaging portion 153c of the engaging portion 153. Get in touch. Then, the third engaging portion 153c remains in contact with the third protruding surface 17c of the fixed protrusion 17, and the switch spring piece 15 is electrically connected to the switch facing piece 16 through the contact of the contact portion 154. This electrical connection is detected by an electronic device via a circuit board, for example, as described above. Then, it is detected that the attribute information of the regular card 100, for example, data can be written.

The attachment / detachment of the regular card 100 from the card connector 10 is performed by grasping the rear end 100b side of the regular card 100 and pulling out the regular card 100 from the card insertion / removal port 13 in the opposite manner to the case of insertion. In the case of pulling out the regular card 100 in this case, the movement of the switch spring piece 15 due to the elastic deformation is almost the opposite of that in the case of inserting the card.

When write protection is not set, the write protect button 101 is slid to the other position shown by the broken line, as shown in FIG. 3 (a). In this case, the insertion of the regular card 100 is the same as in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). When the insertion of the regular card 100 is completed, the write protect button 101 arranged at the left end 100a of the regular card 100 is the third engaging portion of the engaging portion 153 as shown in FIG. 4 (b). It will not come into contact with 153c. Then, the contact portion 154 of the switch spring piece 15 is separated from the switch facing piece 16 and is switched off without contact. This separation is detected by the electronic device as described above. Then, it is detected that the writing of the data of the regular card 100 is prohibited.

In this case, when the regular card 100 is attached / detached, the rear end 100b side is grasped, and the regular card 100 is pulled out from the card insertion / removal port 13 contrary to the case of insertion. The fourth engaging portion 153d of the portion 153 comes into contact. Then, the subsequent movement of the switch spring piece 15 due to the elastic deformation is almost the opposite of that in the case of inserting the card.

The setting and non-setting of the write protection are determined by the electronic device from the switching operation in the card detection mechanism 14 as described above. Here, conversely, it is determined that the switch-on state of the card detection mechanism 14, that is, the state of FIG. 4 (a) is write-protected to the regular card 100, and the switch-off state, that is, the state of FIG. 4 (b) is writable. It doesn't matter.

Next, the action and effect of the switch spring piece 15 in the card detection mechanism 14 will be described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the resistance to plastic deformation of the switch spring piece 15 described in the present embodiment against an unexpected overload will be shown. Here, FIG. 5 is a top view of a non-regular card 200 having a small plane size, for example, when it is diagonally inserted from the card insertion / removal port 13 of the card connector 10.

When the non-genuine card 200 is inserted diagonally from the card insertion slot 13, the left corner portion 200b of the front end 200a of the card is properly pushed to the second engaging portion 153b of the engaging portion 153 on the switch spring piece 15. Gives an unexpected overload that is different from pressure. Here, if the rotation direction M of the card 200 is operated in order to correct the diagonal insertion, the overload is in the direction in which the card 200 acting on the engaging portion 153 of the switch spring piece 15 is inserted. Pushing force F₁And the pushing force F that pulls out the card storage space 12 toward the center.₂become.

In the diagonal insertion operation of the non-regular card 200, the first engaging portion 153a of the engaging portion 153 first engages with the first protruding surface 17a of the fixed protrusion 17. Then, the first engaging portion 153a receives the pushing force F from the first protruding surface 17a.₁Drag R with the same absolute value in the opposite direction₁Receive. Similarly, the pushing force F from the first protruding surface 17a₂Drag R with the same absolute value in the opposite direction₂Receive. Then, the first engaging portion 153a is strongly locked to the first protruding surface 17a.

By locking the first engaging portion 153a with the first protruding surface 17a, the switch spring piece 15 is suppressed from being displaced beyond its elastic limit. Then, the plastic deformation of the switch spring piece 15 is prevented. The plastic deformation of the switch spring piece 15 usually tends to increase due to repeated unexpected overloads as described above. However, in the switch spring piece 15 of the present embodiment, since the drag against the overload always acts from the fixing projection 17 to the engaging portion 153, such plastic deformation is also suppressed.

In the switch spring piece 15, it is preferable that the engaging portion 153 can always engage with the fixing protrusion 17 when various unexpected overloads occur. For that purpose, in the switch spring piece 15 in the state as shown in FIG. 1, the leading edge of the first engaging portion 153a, that is, the contact portion 154 is located in front of the fixing protrusion 17 in the card insertion direction. Is preferable. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact portion 154 is located in front of the ridge line P where the first protrusion surface 17a and the second protrusion surface 17b of the fixed protrusion 17 intersect in the insertion direction. With such an arrangement, the extrusion force F described in FIG. 5₂The absolute value of is the pushing force F₁The first engaging portion 153a can be easily engaged with the first protruding surface 17a even in the case of an unexpected overload that is larger than the absolute value of.

Next, a modified example of the switch spring piece 15, the switch facing piece 16, and the fixing protrusion 17 in the card detection mechanism 14 described above will be described. The switch spring piece 15 is described as a cantilevered leaf spring, which may be an elastic rod-shaped spring. Alternatively, a rod-shaped spring portion and a plate-shaped spring may be mixed. Further, the engaging portion 153 may be hook-shaped so as to engage with the fixing protrusion 17, and may be a semicircular ring in addition to the semicircular ring as described above, or these parts may be mixed. It may be semicircular. In this case, the engaging portion 153 is formed in a semi-annular shape so as to surround a part of the surface of the fixing projection 17 to be erected and to be convex toward the card accommodating space 12.

Various other modifications can be considered, but in any case, even if an overload due to card insertion from the card insertion / removal port 13 is applied to the engaging portion 153, the engaging portion 153 is locked to the fixing protrusion 17. To. Then, it suffices that the displacement that exceeds the elastic limit of the switch spring piece 15 and leads to its plastic deformation is prevented. Further, in the switch spring piece 15, the contact portion 154 is not limited to the cutting edge of the engaging portion 153, and may be provided at a predetermined position of the elastically deformed portion 152, for example.

The switch facing piece 16 may form a switch together with the switch spring piece 15, and may not be in the shape of a spring. For example, in FIG. 1, it may be fixed to the inner surface of the left side wall 11a by joining. Alternatively, a part thereof may be embedded and fixed in the lower wall 11b. Then, for example, the contact portion provided on the elastically deformed portion 152 so as to extend toward the switch facing piece 16 side does not come into contact with or come into contact with the predetermined position of the fixed switch facing piece 16 as a contact. ..

The fixing protrusion 17 does not necessarily have to be columnar. Then, the fixing protrusion 17 may have a tubular shape. Alternatively, the cross-sectional shape may be a triangle, a circle, an ellipse, or the like in addition to the polygon. In any case, when the card is attached to or detached from the card connector 10, the connector housing 11 is fixed to the side of the card accommodating space 12 so as to engage with the engaging portion 153 of the switch spring piece 15. Then, the engaging portion 153 may be locked against an overload exceeding the elastic limit of the switch spring piece 15.

In the present embodiment, the card detection mechanism for detecting the insertion or attachment of the card into the connector is provided on the side of the card storage space. A switch spring piece constituting the switch having the basic structure is provided extending from the base end portion to the tip end portion in the direction opposite to the card insertion direction. The engaging portion at the tip portion engages with the fixing protrusion fixed to the side portion of the card accommodating space. Then, even if an overload due to card insertion from the card insertion / removal port is applied to the engaging portion, the engaging portion is locked by the fixing protrusion, exceeds the elastic limit of the switch spring piece, and displacement leading to its plastic deformation is prevented. It has become so.

Therefore, in the card detection mechanism of the present embodiment, the resistance of the switch spring piece is extremely high against an unexpected overload due to an erroneous insertion operation of the card such as diagonal insertion, and plastic deformation is prevented. Here, there are various unpredictable forces in the unexpected overload, and for example, a strong pushing force in the direction in which the card is inserted or an pushing force in the central direction of the card accommodating space can be considered. And it enables highly reliable and high quality connectors.

Further, since the resistance to the unexpected overload of the switch spring piece described above is increased, the tip end portion of the switch spring piece can be positioned near the card insertion / removal port. Therefore, the size of the switch spring piece in the card insertion direction in the connector can be shortened as compared with the case of the conventional card detection mechanism. Then, the miniaturization of the connector becomes easy.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments do not limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes in specific embodiments without departing from the technical idea and scope of the present invention.

For example, although the case where the card detection mechanism in the embodiment is provided on the left side of the card storage space is described, it may be mounted on the right side of the card storage space.

Further, the connector may have a structure provided with an eject mechanism for pulling out the card mounted in the card storage space. Alternatively, a structure may be formed in which a plurality of card storage spaces are formed in which two or more types of cards can be attached and detached, and a mechanism for preventing erroneous insertion of such cards is provided.

10 ... card connector, 11 ... connector housing, 11a ... left wall, 11b ... lower wall, 11c ... upper wall, 11d ... front wall, 11e ... right wall, 11f ... inclined surface, 12 ... card storage space, 13 ... card insertion slot, 14 ... card detection mechanism, 15 ... switch spring piece (switch spring member), 151 ... base end , 152 ... elastically deformed part, 153 ... engaging part (tip part), 153a ... first engaging part, 153b ... second engaging part, 153c ... third Engagement part, 153d ... 4th engagement part, 154 ... Contact part, 16 ... Switch facing piece (switch facing member), 17 ... Fixed protrusion, 17a ... 1st protrusion surface , 17b ... 2nd protruding surface, 17c ... 3rd protruding surface, 17d ... 4th protruding surface, 17e ... 5th protruding surface, 18,19 ... External connection terminal for switch, 20 ... contact terminal, 20a ... external connection terminal for contact, 21 ... contact terminal partition, 22 ... left guide step, 23 ... right guide step, 100 ... regular card, 100a ... left edge, 100b, 200a ... front edge, 100c ... rear edge, 100d, 200b ... left corner, 101 ... write protect button, 200 ... non-genuine card