Smart card connector with slider

• US 7,066,748 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2005
• Issued: 06/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Coactive Technologies Pte Limited
• Original Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ferraton, David, Pizard, Yves, Bricaud, Herve
• Primary Examiner(s): Nasri, Javaid H.
• Application Number:
  US11/220,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20060057892A1
• Time in Patent Office: 293 Days
• Field of Search: 439152-160
• US Class Current: 439/159
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/08 Feeding or discharging cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/0831 the ejection arrangement comprising a slide, carriage or drawer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/085 using an arrangement for locking the inserted card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/0875 the arrangement comprising a shutter for blocking at least part of the card insertion slot

Abstract

A smart card connector with a slot into which a smart card can be inserted, includes a slide assembly (251) that initially receives the smart card and moves the card forward to a fully installed operating position, and that can be moved to move the smart card a distance rearward to a retracted position and allows the rear card end to be easily pulled out of the connector. The slide assembly includes a card holding slider (500) that includes a sheet metal plate that lies under the card, and a retention bar (524) at the rear end of the plate that abuts the rear edge of the card. When the slider has been moved rearward to a retracted position, the retention bar can be lowered by bending the sheet metal plate, so the card can be grasped and pulled out. The slide assembly also includes a slidable carriage (250) that is mounted at one side of the card-receiving slot and connected to the slider to move with it, that is urged rearward by a coil spring (254), and that is coupled to a double click mechanism on the housing.

Claims

1. A smart card connector which has a housing that forms a card-receiving slot that receives a card by sliding the card forwardly into the slot, the connector including a slide assembly that is slideable in forward and rearward directions on said housing, an assembly spring that urges the slide assembly rearward, the slide assembly having a branch that presses against a front of the card so forward movement of the card moves the slide assembly forward and so that the slide assembly pushes the card rearward when released to do so, wherein:

said slide assembly includes a card-holding slider with a rear end having a retention bar which is urged upward toward a retention position wherein a front surface of the retention bar lies directly behind the slot to abut the card rear end, the retention bar being downwardly deflectable to a release position wherein the bar lies lower than in said retention position to allow the card to move largely rearward of the bar and out of the card-receiving slot.

2. The connector described in claim 1 wherein said housing includes an insulative support and a plurality of contact blades on said support to engage contact pads of a fully installed card, said card has a predetermined length in forward-rearward directions, said slider is slideable between a fully installed forward position wherein said contact blades engage contact pads of a fully installed card, and a retracted position that is rearward of said fully installed forward position by at least one-half centimeter;

and including

means for supporting said retention bar against downward deflection in said forward position of said card-holding slider and for allowing such downward deflection when said card-holding slider reaches said initial retracted position.

3. The connector described in claim 1 including:

a card biasing spring that is mounted on said slider assembly and that urges a card on the slider assembly against the front surface of the retention bar.

4. The connector described in claim 1 wherein:

said slider includes a resilient sheet that lies at the bottom of said card-receiving slot and that has a sheet rear part that is bendable about a lateral axis that is perpendicular to front and rear directions, and said retention bar is attached to a rear end of said resilient sheet rear part.

5. The connector described in claim 4 wherein:

said resilient sheet rear part forms a pair of laterally spaced flat resiliently bendable arms.

6. The connector described in claim 4 including a plurality of contact blades mounted on said insulative support, said contact blades having pad-engaging ends for engaging contact pads on the smart card, said pad-engaging ends lying in a predetermined pad-engaging end region in said card-receiving slot, and wherein:

said sheet has a front guiding part that lies under said pad-engaging end region and that is slideable in front and rear directions.

7. The connector described in claim 1 wherein:

said support has a pair of rear extensions with rails lying under laterally opposite sides of said card-receiving slot;

said slider comprises a piece of sheet metal with a part that lies at the bottom of said card-receiving slot, said piece of sheet metal having a pair of laterally opposite short arms with tabs bent about 180°

to form slideways, with said rails each lying in one of said slideways.

8. The connector described in claim 7 wherein:

said retention bar has a card abutting front surface of a height less than the thickness of the card, and said retention bar has a ramp that extends at a rearward-upward incline from a top of said card abutting front surface.

9. The connector described in claim 1 including:

a latch that holds said retention bar in said downward release position when the retention bar is downwardly deflected while the slider assembly lies in a rearward retracted position; and

until the retention bar is forced upward toward said retention position.

10. A smart card connector which has a housing that forms a card-receiving slot that receives a card that has upper and lower faces by sliding the card forwardly into the slot, the slot having a small vertical thickness and having a lateral width that is a plurality of times as great as said thickness, the connector including a slide assembly that is slideable in forward and rearward directions, the slide assembly having parts lying respectively forward and rearward of a card so the slide assembly and card move forward and rearward together, wherein:

said slide assembly includes a card-holding slider in the form of a plate with a center plate region that lies facewise against a lower face of a card that lies in said card-receiving slot, and a carriage that lies beyond a lateral side of said slot, both said slider and said carriage being slideable by limited distances in front and rear directions on said support;

a spring that urges said carriage rearward;

a double click mechanism connected to said housing and to said carriage which alternately latches said carriage in a forward operating position and releases said carriage to move rearward, when the carriage is repeatedly pushed forward by a small distance that is no more than 5 mm;

said slider and said carriage are independently slideably mounted on said housing, but are coupled so said slider and carriage slide forward and rearward together.

11. The connector described in claim 10 including:

a retractable bar connected to a rear end of said slider, and wherein;

said plate of said slider has a rear portion that is bendable about a lateral axis to lower and raise said retractable bar between a raised position wherein said bar lies against a rear edge of a card in said slot and a lowered position to allow the card to be moved largely rearwardly out of the connector.

12. The connector described in claim 10 including:

a retainer bar connected to a rear end of said slider, said bar having a card-abutting lower surface of a height that is less than the thickness of said card and that abuts the rear edge of a card lying in said slot;

said retainer bar forming a ramp that extends at a rearward-upward incline from the top of said card-abutting lower surface, to allow the rear end of the card to slide up along the ramp.

13. The connector described in claim 10 wherein said housing includes a lower insulative support and wherein said connector includes a plurality of contact blades mounted on a region of said insulative support, wherein:

said insulative support forms a recess under said mid region;

said plate has a front guiding region that lies below the level of said center plate region and that lies in said recess under said mid region of said support.

14. The connector described in claim 10 including two rows of blade contacts with upwardly projecting ends, and wherein:

said plate is of sheet metal and includes a switch plate part that engages a blade contact end in each of said two rows and disengages them, as the slider slides between forward and rearward positions.

15. A smart card connector which has a housing that forms a card-receiving slot that receives a card by sliding the card forwardly into the slot, the connector including a slide assembly that is slideable in forward and rearward directions on said housing, the slide assembly including a carriage that lies beside said slot and that is guided in forward and rearward sliding by said housing, a spring that urges the carriage rearward, and a double click mechanism that latches the carriage in a forward position and releases the carriage to move rearward when the carriage is pushed forward against, including:

a slider that includes a resilient sheet that lies directly under the card-receiving slot to support the card, and that has a retention bar that lies at the rear of the slider and that abuts the card, the slider being connected to the carriage so they move forward and rearward together, and the resilient sheet being bendable to lower the retention bar.

16. The connector described in claim 15 including an item of electrical equipment that has slot walls forming an equipment slot, and wherein:

said retention bar lies in said slot and adjacent to a lower one of said slot walls in the forward position of the slide assembly, and said retention bar projects at least partially rearwardly out of said slot in the slide assembly release position.