1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to chip card holders, and particularly to a chip card holder with a protective structure for portable electronic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of wireless communication and information processing technologies, portable electronic devices such as mobile phones are now widely used. Surface contact cards are necessary elements in portable electronic devices.
One portion of conventional chip card holders are directly exposed from housings of the portable electronic device. The exposed portion defines a hole for convenient insertion and removal of the surface contact card with a tool. However, the hole on the portable electronic device affects the appearance. In addition, dust or water might penetrate through clearances between the exposed portion and the housing of the portable electronic device.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.
Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary chip card holder and portable electronic device using the chip card holders. Moreover, in the drawings like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment.
Referring to
The chip card holder 100 comprises a protective cover 20, a seat 40, at least one pivotable shaft 50, two trays 60, and two receiving frames 70.
The housing 30 may be a portion of the portable electronic device 200 or a separate element fixed to the portable electronic device 200. In this exemplary embodiment, the housing 30 is a top portion or a bottom portion of the portable electronic device 200. The housing 30 defines an opening 32. The chip cards 10 may be put into the housing 30 through the opening 32. A latching block 304 is located in the housing 30 for latching the protective cover 20. Referring to
The protective cover 20 is configured for covering the opening 32 of the housing 30. The protective cover 20 comprises a first plate portion 22 and a second plate portion 24 being integral with the first plate portion 22. At least one first barrel 202 is located at one end of an inside surface of the first plate portion 22. The second plate portion 24 defines a latching groove 204 for engaging with the latching block 304 to position the protective cover 20 on the housing 30. An operating knob 206 is located between the first plate portion 22 and the second plate portion 24, for conveniently operating the protective cover 20.
The seat 40 is slidably connected to the housing 30 and is rotatably connected to the protective cover 20. One end of the seat 40 has at least one second barrel 402. The shaft 50 is configured for being inserted into the first barrel 202 and the second barrel 402, for rotatably connecting the cover 20 to the seat 40. In this exemplary embodiment, there are three pivotable shafts 50, three first barrels 202 and six second barrels 402. The seat 40 comprises a seat body 401 and opposite extending plates 404 at opposite sides of the seat body 401. A plurality of positioning blocks 406 are formed at one end of the seat body 401, and two receiving spaces 407 are defined on the seat body 401 for receiving the trays 60. A bottom surface of each receiving space 407 defines a guiding groove 408 with an inner wall 409. One end of the guiding groove 408 communicates with one end of the seat 40, and the other end of the guiding groove 408 extends into one part of the seat 40. A longitudinal slot 4042 is defined in each extending plate 404. Each rail 306 of the housing 30 is slidably received in a corresponding slot 4042. Each slot 4042 has an opening end 4044, configured for allowing the rails 306 to slide into the slot 4042. One end of each extending plate 404 has a projection 4046. The projections 4046 can be stopped by the limiting blocks 308 in the housing 30, for preventing the seat 40 from separating from the housing 30.
Each tray 60 is configured for receiving one chip card 10 and is slidably received in a corresponding receiving frame 70. The tray 60 comprises a rectangular plate portion 601, an end edge 603, and two opposite side edges 604. The plate portion 601, the end edge 603, and the two side edges 604 cooperatively define a receiving groove 602, to receive the chip card 10. Each side edge 604 has a groove 606. Each latching portion 706 can be selectively received in a corresponding groove 606 for positioning the tray 60 in the receiving frame 70. A retaining tab 608 is formed on the plate portion 601 used for preventing the chip card 10 from separating from the receiving groove 602. Additionally, when the trays 60 are respectively placed on the receiving spaces 407 of the seat 40, each retaining tab 608 is slid into a corresponding guiding groove 408. When the seat 40 is slid to allow each retaining tab 608 to abut against the inner wall 409 of each guiding groove 408, the seat 40 with the trays 60 moves together. The plate portion 601 defines a notch 610 for allowing chip cards to be electronically connected to the PCB 110.
The two receiving frames 70 are secured on the housing 30 side by side and face the opening 32. Each receiving frame 70 comprises a frame body 701 and two opposite flanges 702, thereby cooperatively defining a cavity 703 communicating with the opening 32 for receiving a corresponding tray 60. Each flange 702 defines a cutout 704 and a latching portion 706, exposed from the cutout 704. To mount the receiving frames 70 on the housing 30, the frame body 701 may be adhered or welded on the PCB 110. Connectors 112 on the PCB 110 are received in each frame body 701. When each tray 60 is received in a corresponding receiving frame 70, the chip card 10 can be electronically connected to the connector 112 in the receiving frame 70 through the notch 610.
During assembly, referring to
To remove the chip cards 10, the protective cover 20 is pulled to move the seat 40 to extend from the opening 32. Referring to
As described above, the exemplary embodiment provides a chip card holder for portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones. The chip card holder can be easily opened, and the protective cover can effectively protect the trays 60.
Although numerous characteristics and advantages of the exemplary disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012 1 0059720 | Mar 2012 | CN | national |
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