This invention is related to a card mounting apparatus.
As a card mounting apparatus, for example, a fold type portable electronic apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, on which a plurality of IC cards are mounted in a space-saving way, is conventionally known. The conventional card mounting apparatus allows an SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, a kind of IC card, to be inserted into and removed from a card chamber in the fold type cellular phone by sliding it back and forth along with an SIM tray with the card accommodated therein.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004222170
However, it is a problem in the conventional card mounting apparatus that, if a user tries to insert the SIM card on an opposite side (lower side) instead of a card receiver side, it is not possible to prevent the SIM card or the SIM tray from being damaged by a wrong insertion beforehand, since there is no measure to prevent such a wrong insertion.
The invention is aimed at solving the above-mentioned problem advantageously. A card mounting apparatus according to the invention comprises a housing having a card chamber into which a card is inserted through an opening, and a card holder having a card facing surface and accommodated in the card chamber, the card holder adapted to be moved forward from the opening to be outside of the housing as well as backward to be inside of the housing again. The housing comprises projected parts extending from an inner wall which defines the card chamber, into the card chamber, wherein the card holder comprises a pull tab which is exposed from the opening of the housing, on one end, a card engagement part contacting with the card and moving it forward by a forward movement of the card holder on the other end opposite to the end with the pull tab and a guide extending in a direction of the forward and backward movements of the card holder. The projected parts of the housing engage with the guide to guide the forward and backward movement of the card holder.
In the card mounting apparatus of the present invention, the housing has the card chamber into which the card is inserted through the opening, and the projected parts extending from the inner wall, which defines the card chamber, into the card chamber; and a card holder comprises a card facing surface and is accommodated in the card chamber, the card holder being able to be moved forward through the opening from the housing as well as backward into the housing again. The card holder further comprises a pull tab on one end, which is exposed from the opening of the housing, a card engagement part contacting with the card and moving it forward by a forward movement of the card holder on the other end opposite to the end with the pull tab, and a guide extending in a direction of the forward and backward movement of the card holder. The projected parts of the housing engage with the guide to guide the forward and backward movements of the card holder. Thereby, upon insertion of a card, the card is moved and inserted into the card chamber with the card holder from the opening of the housing by sliding the card along the card facing surface of the card holder which is either moved backward into the card chamber, or moved forward from the card chamber. Upon removing a card, if the card holder is moved forward from the card chamber through the opening of the housing by pulling the pull tab, the card engagement part engages with the card held on the card facing surface and moves it forward, and thereby the card is removed from the card chamber through the opening of the housing.
Further, if the card holder is moved forward or backward, the projected parts extending from the inner wall of the card chamber of the housing into the card chamber engage with a guide extending in a direction of forward and backward movements of the card holder, and guide the forward and backward movements of the card holder. Upon insertion of a card, if the card is about to be inserted into the card chamber from the opening of the housing along a surface opposite to the card facing surface of the card holder, the card is contacted with the projected parts projecting into the card chamber and a further insertion of the card is reliably prevented.
With the card mounting apparatus of this invention, upon insertion of a card, if the card is about to be inserted on the opposite surface side instead of the card facing surface, it is ensured that a wrong insertion and damaging of a card or a card holder can be inhibited beforehand.
a) and (b) are a sectional view along line A-A in FIG, 2 showing an embodiment of a card mounting apparatus of the present invention for a fold type cellular phone as a portable electronic apparatus;
a) is a perspective view from a front case side and
a) is a perspective view from a front case side and
a) is a perspective view of the UIM drawer moved backward and
a) is a perspective view and
1 fold type cellular phone
2 display side housing
2
a,
3
a front case
2
b,
3
b rear case
3 character input side housing
3
c battery receiver
3
d opening
3
e opening
3
f card chamber
3
g projected parts
4 hinge
5 liquid crystal display unit
6 circuit board
7 shield case
8 operational key
9 battery cover
10 card mounting apparatus
11 UIM card
12 UIM drawer
12
a card holding surface
12
b pull tab
12
c card engagement part
12
d fitting part
12
e elongated guide hole
13 card holder
13
a connector
13
b metal plate
13
c inlet
13
d spring terminal
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The display side housing 2 includes a circuit board (not shown) implemented inside of the front case 2a and the rear case 2b. A liquid crystal display unit 5 is arranged on a surface of the circuit board such that it can be visually recognized from the front case 2a via a trim plate. Further, various electronic parts such as speakers and the like are implemented on and connected to the circuit board.
As shown in
As shown in
The card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, provided in such a character input side housing 3 of the fold type cellular phone 1, is used, for example, for detachably mounting a UIM (User Identity Module) card 11 as an IC card on the fold type cellular phone 1. The card mounting apparatus 10 comprises the character input side housing 3 of the fold type cellular phone 1 as a housing and a UIM drawer 12 as a card holder, as shown in
The UIM drawer 12 forms a plate like shape having a cross section with approximate U shape and a card holding surface (a card facing surface) on one surface (lower surface in
The card mounting apparatus 10 of this exemplary embodiment is further described now with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
In addition, as shown in
As shown in
In this card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, the character input side housing 3 comprises the card chamber 3f into which a card is inserted through the opening 3e, and the projected parts 3g extending from the inner wall of the card chamber 3f into the card chamber 3f. The UIM drawer 12 comprises the card holding face 12a and is accommodated in the card chamber 3f, so that the UIM drawer 12 can be moved forward and backward. The UIM drawer 12 further comprises a pull tab 12b on one end, which is exposed from the opening 3e, and on the other end opposite to the end with the pull tab, the card engagement part 12c which engages with the UIM card 11 held on the card holding face 12a and moves the UIM card 11 forward by a forward movement of the UIM drawer 12 through the opening 3e. The UIM drawer 12 further comprises the elongated holes 12e extending on the opposite side of the card holding face 12a in a direction of the forward and backward movements of the UIM drawer 12. The projected parts 3g are contacted with the elongated guide holes 12e and guide the forward and backward movements of the UIM drawer 12, cooperating with the fitting structure of the fitting parts 12d of the UIM drawer 12 and both sides of the card holder 13.
By the structure described above, upon insertion of an UIM card, the UIM card 11 is inserted by sliding it along the card holding face 12a of the UIM drawer 12 which is retained in a backward position in the card chamber 3f, or the UIM card 11 is inserted by moving it along the card holding face 12a of the UIM drawer 12 which is moved forward from the card chamber 3f. Thereby, the UIM card 11 is inserted into the card chamber 3f through the opening 3; as shown in
With the card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, as shown in perspective view in
With the card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, a terminal face of the UIM card 11 is contacted and electrically connected with a spring terminal 13d on the connector 13a in a predetermined position in which the UIM card 11 is moved backward with the UIM drawer 12. Then, the spring terminal 13d deforms resiliently and pushes the UIM card 11, so that the electric connection is maintained in a more suitable way. In the card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, the projected parts 3g of the character input side housing 3 run through the elongated guide holes 12e of the UIM drawer 12, and are formed higher than the thickness of the circumference of the elongated guide holes 12e in the UIM drawer 12, thereby, projecting from the surrounding card holding face 12a and guiding the UIM card 11 in card chamber 3f by contacting with the UIM card 11 in a sliding way, as shown in
In the card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, the UIM drawer 12 has a thick part compared to other parts of the card holding surface 12a and the thick part is located opposite to the connecter 13a, when the UIM drawer 12 is moved backward to a predetermined position. The thick part is pushed by the spring terminal 13d provided on the connector 13a, when the UIM card 11 is held on the card holding face 12a of the UIM drawer 12 which is moved backward to the predetermined position. Then the connector 13a is contacted and electrically connected with the terminal face of the UIM card 11, so that the electric connection between the terminal face of the UIM card 11 and the connector 13 is also preferably maintained in this aspect. The metal plate 13b can be slightly deflected toward the connector 13a by a fine adjustment of the thickness of the card holding face 12a of the UIM drawer 12 around the elongated guide holes 12e, so that the UIM card 11 can be also pushed toward the connector 31a by the metal plate 13b.
With the card mounting apparatus 10 according to this embodiment, the character input side housing 3 comprises a card holder 13 fixed in the card chamber 3f, and the card holder 13 comprises the inlet 13c oriented to the opening 3e open to the battery receiver 3c of the character input side housing 3 and holds the UIM card 11 inserted from the inlet 13c. The UIM drawer 12 is disposed between the inner wall with the projected parts 3g of the card chamber 3f and the card holder 13. The end faces of the end parts of the projected parts 3g passing through the elongated guide holes of the UIM drawer, and the back surface (inner surface) of the metal plate 13b forming the inlet 13c of the card holder 13 are smoothly connected, so that, upon insertion of the UIM card 11 along the card holding face 12a, the UIM card 11 can be inserted without any disturbance, as a result, preventing the UIM card 11 from contacting with the metal plate 13b and being stuck.
Further, the card mounting apparatus of this embodiment is easy to operate, since the UIM drawer 12 is disposed above the UIM card in
If the UIM drawer 12 is arranged above the UIM card 11 in
While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments and drawings, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and can be modified appropriately within a scope of claims. For example, the card mounting apparatus of the present invention can be applied to a portable electronic apparatus other than a cellular phone such as a palm top computer or a game machine with a function of wireless communication, or other various electronic apparatuses. A card used in the card mounting apparatus of this invention can be any card other than an IC card such as a UIM card 11, an SIM card and the like.
While the pull tab 12b of the UIM drawer 12 is exposed from the opening 3e open to the battery receiver 3c of the character input side housing 3 and projects from the opposite side of the card holding face 12a in the embodiment described above, the pull tab of the card holder can be provided with a concave part or a slit into which a finger or a nail can be put. Instead of the spring terminal 13d, other connecting terminals, such as a connecting terminal without resiliency can be used.
While the elongated guide holes 12e are formed as a guide in the UIM drawer 12 in the embodiment above, a guide groove can be formed, with which projected parts 3g shorter than those of the embodiment above can engage.
Thus, with the card mounting apparatus of this embodiment, upon insertion of a card, if the card is about to be inserted on the opposite side by mistake instead of the card receiving side, a wrong insertion of the card can be reliably prevented and damaging of the card or the card holder due to the wrong insertion can be inhibited beforehand.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2006-316338 | Nov 2006 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2007/072690 | 11/22/2007 | WO | 00 | 9/14/2009 |