1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an ejector, and more particularly to a product structure with an ejector.
2. Related Art
In the mechanism design of the electronic product, an ejector capable of hiding the inserted member, such as a multimedia storage card or a memory card, and exposing the to-be-ejected member has been widely applied to the electronic products and the computer peripheral products. The currently available memory cards for the computer in the market have many specifications, such as those for the Secure Digital Card (SDC), the MutiMedia Card (MMC), the Smart Media Card (SMC), the Memory Stick Card (MSC), the XD-Picture Card (XDC), and the like. In addition, an Express card for the memory card is also developed.
The connector to be connected to the memory card has an ejector for hiding the inserted memory card and exposing the to-be-ejected card. As shown in
The base 10 is composed of a base 11 and an upper cover 19 covering the base 11. As shown in
The terminals 25 are divided into many rows arranged on the base 11.
The sliding sheet 20 has an inverse-U shape, and has two sides resting against two sides of the receiving slot 18 of the base 11. One side of the sliding sheet 20 has a front end formed with a connection hole 21.
Two ends of the guiding rod 26 are formed with longitudinal hooking portions 27 for hooking the connection hole 21 of the sliding sheet 20 and the sliding slot 12 of the base 11, respectively.
The spring 28, disposed between the sliding sheet 20 and the rear end of the base 11, provides an elastic force for returning the sliding sheet 20 back to the home position after the sliding sheet 20 is moved into the base 10.
According to the above-mentioned structure, when the sliding sheet 20 is pushed by the inserted memory card, it drives the guiding rod 26 to slide in the sliding slot 12. Because the sliding slot 12 has the unidirectional circulation, the guiding rod 26 is pushed from the starting point 13 to the stroke point 14 and then pulled, by the elastic force of the spring, back to the positioning point 15 for positioning when the memory card is inserted. When the memory card is to be ejected, the memory card is also pushed, and the guiding rod 26 is pushed from the positioning point 15 to the card-ejecting starting point 16 and then pulled, by the elastic force of the spring, back to the starting point 13 so that the card can be inserted and ejected.
The conventional structure has the following drawbacks.
First, the sliding sheet 20 is not designed to engage with the base and slide relatively to the base. In order to make the sliding sheet 20 be stably assembled into the base, the sliding sheet 20 must be designed to have the inverse-U shape so that it can be stably placed on the base 11 and then positioned by the pressing of the upper cover. However, when the sliding sheet is designed to have the inverse-U shape, the used material becomes more, and the brittle plastic material tends to cause the crack.
Second, the sliding slot 12 is made by way of plastic injection molding. The plastic material has the poor structural strength. One end of the guiding rod 26 slides in the sliding slot 12 back and forth so that the sliding slot 12 tends to be worn after a long period of time.
In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, the metal sheet may be integrally bent into the core or the metal sheet may be integrally bent into the sliding sheet and the core. However, the shape of the core is more complicated, and it is difficult to integrally bend the metal sheet into the core, and it is more difficult to integrally bend the metal sheet into the sliding sheet and the core.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a product structure with an ejector, wherein a core of the ejector is composed of a seat and a metal baseplate so that the ejector may be easily manufactured and has the durability similar to the metal material.
The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a product structure including a base and an ejector. The ejector includes a core, a sliding sheet, a guiding rod and an elastic member. The core has a sliding slot having a circulating path. The sliding slot has one end formed with a positioning point, the other end formed with a starting point, and a bottom surface formed with unidirectional stopper blocks, so that the circulating path unidirectionally circulates from the starting point sequentially to the positioning point and to the starting point. The sliding sheet may slide back and forth relatively to the base and has a pushing portion. The guiding rod has one end engaged with the sliding slot of the core and can slide along the circulating path. The elastic member provides an elastic force for returning the sliding sheet to a home position after the sliding sheet is moved into the base. The core has a seat and a metal baseplate, which is engaged with the seat and has the unidirectional stopper blocks.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention.
The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.
Referring to
The base 3 has a plastic base 30 and a metal upper cover 40. The metal upper cover 40 covers the plastic base 30 to form a connection slot 31 between the metal upper cover 40 and the plastic base 30. An elastic sheet 42 protruding inwardly is formed on one side of the metal upper cover 40 by way of pressing. Two rows of terminals 32 are disposed on the plastic base 30. One side of the plastic base 30 is formed with a slide slot 35. One end of the slide slot 35 is formed with a protruding rod 36.
Referring to
The core 50 is disposed in the slide slot 35 of the plastic base 30 and has a seat 51 and a metal baseplate 57. The seat 51 is made of a plastic material by way of injection molding and has an outer track plate 53 and a slot 52. The outer track plate 53 has an opening 54 and is disposed above the slot 52. The opening 54 has one end, which is a tip end and defined as a starting point 65, and the other end, which has an M-like shape to form a middle projection and two concave portions. The two concave portions are respectively formed with a stroke point 66 and a card-ejecting starting point 68. The middle of the metal baseplate 57 is formed with an inner track plate 58 projecting beyond the plate surface of the metal baseplate 57, and the periphery of the metal baseplate 57 is formed with three unidirectional stopper blocks 59 and 60 each having a height difference with respect to the plate surface, wherein two unidirectional stopper blocks 59 project beyond the plate surface, and one unidirectional stopper block 60 sinks into the plate surface. The periphery of the metal baseplate 57 is symmetrically formed with four projecting pressing portions 61. The metal baseplate 57 engages with the slot 52 of the seat 51. The pressing portion 61 tightly presses against the slot 52 so that the inner track plate 58 is disposed in the opening 54. A sliding slot 62 is formed between the inner and outer track plates. The sliding slot 62 defines a circulating path. One end of the inner track plate 58 corresponding to one end of the M-shaped structure of the outer track plate 53 is also formed with an M-like shape to form a depressed positioning point 67. The other end of the inner track plate 58 is a tip end corresponding to the starting point 65. The sliding slot 62 presses the guiding rod 75 through the three unidirectional stopper blocks 59 and 60 and the elastic sheet 42 of the upper cover so that the circulating path unidirectionally circulates from the starting point 65 sequentially to the stroke point 66, to the positioning point 67, to the card-ejecting starting point 68 and to the starting point 65.
The sliding sheet 70 and the seat 51 of the core 50 are integrally made of the plastic material by way of injection molding. The sliding sheet 70 substantially has an inverse-L shape and has a pushing portion 71 and a resting portion 72. The pushing portion 71 is disposed on one end of the sliding sheet 70 and projects into the plastic base 30 so that it can be pressed by the inserted memory card.
The guiding rod 75 has an inverse-U shape and has one end 76 for hooking and positioning the plastic base 30, and the other end 77 fit with the sliding slot 62 of the core 50. When the sliding sheet 70 is pushed, the core 50 is driven to make the other end 77 of the guiding rod 75 slide in the sliding slot 62.
The spring 80, disposed in the slide slot 35 of the plastic base 30, has one end fit with the protruding rod 36, and the other end pressing against the resting portion 72 of the sliding sheet 70, and provides the elastic force for returning the sliding sheet 70 to the home position after the sliding sheet 70 moves into the base.
According to the above-mentioned structure, as shown in
According to the above-mentioned descriptions, the invention has the following advantages.
First, the sliding sheet 70 and the seat 51 of the core are integrally made of the plastic material by way of injection molding so that the simplicity in manufacturing may be obtained.
The wear-resistant bottom surface and the inner track plate are made of a metal baseplate so that the long lifetime is obtained. In addition, the metal baseplate is simply pressed to form multiple unidirectional stopper blocks and one inner track plate. Thus, the pressing process is simpler than that of pressing the sliding sheet and the core, which are integrally formed.
Third, the sliding sheet 70 and the core 50 are combined together so that the structure can be simplified, and the overall structure may slide on the plastic base more stably.
As shown in
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In the first embodiment, the sliding sheet and the seat of the core are integrally formed by way of injection molding. In the third embodiment, the plastic base and the seat of the core are integrally formed by way of injection molding. However, the seat of the core, which is individually formed by way of plastic injection molding or metal casting, is also deemed as falling within the scope of the invention.
As shown in
The seat 51 and the sliding sheet 70 are also integrally formed by way of plastic injection molding and has one outer track plate 53 and one inner track plate 58. The outer track plate 53 has an opening 54. The opening 54 has one end being a tip end defined as the starting point 65, and the other end having an M-like shape to form a middle projection and two concave portions. The two concave portions are respectively the stroke point 66 and the card-ejecting starting point 68. The inner track plate is disposed in the opening 54. A sliding slot 62 is formed between the inner and outer track plates. The sliding slot 62 has a circulating path. One end of the inner track plate 58 corresponding to the end of the M-like shape of the outer track plate 53 also has an M-like shape to form a depressed positioning point 67. The other end of the inner track plate 58 is a tip end corresponding to the starting point 65. In addition, the upper section of the front end of the seat 51 is formed with a fitting hole 56.
The middle of the metal baseplate 57 is formed with an opening 612 corresponding to the inner track plate 58, and the periphery of the metal baseplate 57 is formed with three unidirectional stopper blocks 59 and 60 each having a height difference with respect to the plate surface, wherein two unidirectional stopper blocks 59 project beyond the plate surface, and one unidirectional stopper block 60 sinks into the plate surface. The metal baseplate 57 is inserted into the seat 51 from the fitting hole 56 of the seat 51. The metal baseplate 57 is pressed down after the opening 612 is aligned with the inner track plate 58, and the metal baseplate 57 is located on the bottom surface of the sliding slot 62. The sliding slot 62 presses the guiding rod through the three unidirectional stopper blocks 59 and 60 and the elastic sheet of the upper cover, such that the circulation path unidirectionally circulates from the starting point 65 sequentially to the stroke point 66, to the positioning point 67, to the card-ejecting starting point 68 and to the starting point 65.
The inner track plate 58 of this embodiment and the seat are directly injection molded, and only three unidirectional stopper blocks 59 and 60 are pressed on the metal baseplate 57. Thus, the manufacturing processes are simpler than those of the first embodiment. Because the three unidirectional stopper blocks 59 and 60 tend to be worn more easily, this embodiment has the effect of the long lifetime, and provides the simpler manufacturing processes.
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In the above-mentioned embodiments, multiple cards may share the memory card connector. However, the structure of the invention may also be applied to the Express card connector or any other product with the ejector. Any product adopting the characteristic of the invention is still deemed as falling within the scope of the invention.
While the invention has been described by way of examples and in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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098215078 | Aug 2009 | TW | national |
099201498 | Jan 2010 | TW | national |