Card connector

Abstract

A card connector is provided, which includes a group of contact pieces, a substantially rectangular and tabular housing, and an eject mechanism for extracting an IC card. The contact pieces are electrically connected to connecting terminals of the IC card. The housing supports the group of contact pieces. The eject mechanism is provided in the housing. The IC card is inserted and extracted in substantially parallel with one plane of the housing. The eject mechanism includes a pair of guiding walls lying opposite to each other adjacent to the contact pieces, an eject plate which can slide between the pair of guiding walls, and a cover plate for the eject plate. The eject plate includes at its first end portion a bent strip abutting an end portion of the IC card, and at its second end portion a pull-out strip allowing extraction of the IC card.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A to FIG. 1E each show a card connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a front view, FIG. 1B is a plan view, FIG. 1C is a bottom view, FIG. 1D is a left side view and FIG. 1E is a right side view;

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B each show an eject plate of the card connector according to the embodiment, which has been withdrawn, FIG. 2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a right side view;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line X-X represented in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a housing according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B each show the eject plate according to the embodiment, FIG. 5A is a front view and FIG. 5B is a plan view;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an SIM card which is inserted into a cellular phone, in which the card connector, according to the embodiment, has been installed;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B each show an SIM card connected with a card connector when the SIM card is inserted into the cellular phone in FIG. 6, FIG. 7A is a front view and FIG. 7B is a right side view; and

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B each show an eject plate which has been withdrawn so as to extract an SIM card inserted in the cellular phone of FIG. 6, FIG. 8A is a front view, and FIG. 8B is a right side view.

Claims

1. A card connector, comprising: a group of contact pieces which are electrically connected to connecting terminals of an IC card;a substantially rectangular and tabular housing which supports the group of contact pieces; andan eject mechanism for extracting the IC card, the eject mechanism being provided in the housing;wherein the IC card is inserted and extracted in substantially parallel with one plane of the housing,wherein the eject mechanism includes a pair of guiding walls lying opposite to each other adjacent to the group of contact pieces, an eject plate which can slide between the pair of guiding walls, and a cover plate attached to the housing so as to cover the eject plate, andwherein the eject plate includes at a first end portion thereof a bent strip abutting an end portion of the IC card, and at a second end portion thereof a pull-out strip allowing extraction of the IC card with respect to the housing.

2. The card connector of claim 1, wherein the eject plate includes a pair of protrusions spaced each other that protrude towards the cover plate,the cover plate includes an engaging hole which engages with the pair of protrusions,a first protrusion engages with the engaging hole when the IC card is inserted, anda second protrusion engages with the engaging hole when the IC card is withdrawn.

3. The card connector of claim 1, wherein the card connector is mounted on a printed circuit board.

4. The card connector of claim 1, wherein the IC card includes an SIM card.

5. A cellular phone comprising: a card connector including a group of contact pieces that are electrically connected to connecting terminals of an IC card, a substantially rectangular and tabular housing that supports the group of contact pieces, and an eject mechanism for extracting the IC card provided in the housing,wherein the IC card is inserted and extracted in substantially parallel with one plane of the housing,wherein the eject mechanism includes a pair of guiding walls lying opposite to each other adjacent to the group of contact pieces, an eject plate which can slide between the pair of guiding walls, and a cover plate attached to the housing so as to cover the eject plate, andwherein the eject plate includes at a first end portion thereof a bent strip abutting an end portion of the IC card, and at a second end portion thereof a pull-out strip allowing extraction of the IC card with respect to the housing.