JPH06340193A - Information card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent malfunction and make operation of a lever easy, by a method wherein a notched part is formed in a corner part of a card, a changeover switch for changeover of operating conditions is laid in the notched part and sides of both slide directions of the lever are released. CONSTITUTION:In a corner part of a memory card provided, for example, with a light protecting switch, plastic frames 3, 3 are notched. A slide switch 5 is arranged on the notched part at an angle of 45 degrees so that force us applied evenly to both frames 3, 3 by being placed between the notches. Metallic panels 3, 3 on the surface and rear of the memory card are notched similarly and overhung parts 2a, 2a' are provided by allowing them to overhang from the top of the slide switch 5. Hereby, the slide switch 5 is situated between the overhung parts 2a, 2a' and a slide switch lever 4 is constituted so that it is slidable toward both released sides formed by notching the frames 3, 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information card, namely,
The present invention relates to an information card in which information can be written and read by recording information via various recording media such as an IC card, a memory card, an optical card, and a magnetic card, and connecting the information to an external device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information cards have been used and spread in various fields, and some of these information cards have a slide switch for switching the operating state when connected to an external device. There is. Here, a memory card will be described as an example of the information card.

A memory card with a built-in memory was initially RO
It started with making M cartridges into cards and making game software into cards, but in recent years, it has been increasingly used as an external storage device for devices such as personal computers. Such a memory card is used by being attached to a connector portion provided on the device side, and information is input to and output from the device via an interface circuit in the memory card. The memory built into the memory card is DR depending on the application.
There are various memories such as AM, SRAM, and ROM. Especially, in a memory card having a rewritable memory such as SRAM and PROM, a write protect switch is provided to prevent information destruction in the memory due to erroneous writing. Is generally used (for example, JP-A-63-9305).
No. 9).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional memory card provided with a write protect switch, and FIG.
FIG. 4A is an enlarged view showing the write protect switch installation portion of the memory card shown in FIG. 3 with a metal panel removed, and FIG. 4B is a write protect switch provided in the memory card shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a slide switch that constitutes

The memory card 11 contains a circuit such as a memory IC mounted on a substrate in a plastic frame 13 and is enclosed by a metal panel 12. For the slide switch 15, press the slide switch lever 14 with the arrow d.
By sliding it in the direction, switching between the write enable state and the write protect state for the internal memory is performed. The slide switch terminal 16 is soldered to the board 17 and is connected to the write protection circuit on the board.

By the way, in order to provide the write protect switch on the wide plane side (metal panel 12) of the memory card 11, the lever is provided so as to be buried in the metal panel 12 so as to prevent the lever from touching an object and erroneously operating. There must be.

However, while the thickness of the memory card defined by the JEIDA standard currently defined by the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association is 3.3 mm, the slide shown in FIG. 4B used for the write protect switch is shown. The total height g of the switch 15 is about 6.5 mm even if it is the smallest possible by the conventional technique, and it is technically impossible to set it to 3.3 mm or less. Therefore, the slide switch 15
If the memory card 11 is embedded so as to be buried in a wide flat surface, the card becomes a nonstandard card having a thickness of 6.5 mm or more. On the other hand, since the thickness e of the slide switch 15 can be sufficiently set to 3.3 mm or less, at present, as shown in FIG.
4 is provided on the peripheral portion of the
It is provided so as to be buried from the surface of the plastic frame 13 as shown in (a).

[0008]

In order to operate the slide switch lever 14 of such a memory card, a rod-shaped tool having a diameter of about 1 mm, such as the tip of a mechanical pencil, is used for opening the plastic frame 13 and the slide switch. The slide switch lever 14 is slid by inserting it into the gap f with the lever 14 and pushing it in the direction of arrow d. Therefore, the slide switch lever 14 cannot be switched without such a rod-shaped tool, and in order to slide the slide switch lever 14, a force must be applied in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the tool is inserted. Therefore, it is difficult to apply force to the lever,
There is a problem that a large force is required and it is difficult to slide the lever.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is an information card represented by a memory card having a switch for switching the operating state.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information card which can easily operate the lever without using a special switching tool while preventing the malfunction of the lever of the changeover switch.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the information card of the present invention is provided with a cutout portion at a corner of the information card, and the operation state changeover switch is embedded in the cutout portion. At the same time, it was decided to open both slide directions of the switch lever.

[0011]

In the information card constructed as described above, the operating state changeover switch is embedded in the notch so that the lever of the switch does not malfunction due to contact with an object. Further, since both the sliding directions of the switch lever are open, a force can be directly applied in the sliding direction, and the switch lever can be easily slid by a claw or the like without inserting a rod-shaped switching tool.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a memory card having a write protect switch as an example of the information card according to the present invention. The memory card 1 contains a circuit such as a memory IC mounted on a substrate in a plastic frame 3 and is enclosed by a front metal panel 2 and a rear metal panel 2 '. The slide switch 5 provided as a write protect switch is provided in a notched portion of a corner portion (enclosed by a broken line circle) of the memory card 1.

FIG. 2 (a) is an enlarged view of the memory card shown in FIG. 1 with the metal panel 2 on the surface of the corner removed, and FIG. 2 (b) is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. It is a figure.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the slide switch 5 is formed by cutting out the plastic frame 3 at the corner of the memory card 1 and sandwiching the plastic frame 3 between them so that the force is evenly applied to both frames 3 at 45 degrees. It is provided at an angle. Further, the corners of the metal panels 2 and 2'are also cut parallel to the upper surface of the slide switch 5 (the surface on which the slide switch lever 4 is provided) at a 45 degree angle with respect to the plastic frame 3. It protrudes from the upper surface of the slide switch 5. A slide switch lever 4 is provided on the upper surface of the slide switch 5, and by sliding the slide switch lever 4 left and right with respect to the slide switch 5, the electrical connection to the terminal 6 is switched inside the slide switch 5, so that the memory Whether or not to protect the information written in is switched.
The slide switch terminal 6 is soldered and connected to a write protection circuit (not shown) on the board. Note that, in FIG. 2B, a circuit such as a memory IC is installed in the space 8.

As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the slide switch lever 4 has a protruding portion 2 of the metal panels 2 and 2 '.
Since it is embedded in a and 2'a, it does not cause an erroneous operation even if an object is touched. Further, since the plastic frame 3 is notched and opened on both sides of the slide switch lever 4 in the sliding direction, a tool for sliding the slide switch lever 4 can be inserted from either side in the sliding direction. However, it can be slid with a nail, for example, without using a special tool. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a thin rod-shaped tool as in the conventional case. Further, with this open structure, since a force can be directly applied to the slide switch lever 4 in the sliding direction, the force for sliding the lever 4 can be small.

Although the memory card having the write protect switch has been described in the above embodiment, the information card according to the present invention is not limited to the memory card, and a slide for switching the operating state when connected to an external device. It can be implemented in any information card that has a switch. Further, the changeover switch of the embodiment may of course be a switch used for changing the operating state other than the write protect switch.

[0018]

Since the information card according to the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to prevent malfunction of the lever of the operation state changeover switch and to easily use a special tool such as a claw with a small force without using a special tool. You can operate the lever.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a memory card having a write protect switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged view showing a corner portion of the memory card shown in FIG. 1 with a metal panel removed,
(B) is the DD sectional view taken on the line in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional memory card provided with a write protect switch.

4A is an enlarged view showing the write protect switch installation portion of the memory card shown in FIG. 3 with a metal panel removed, and FIG. 4B is a slide switch used in the write protect switch shown in FIG. It is a perspective view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11 Memory card 2, 2 ', 12, 12' Metal panel 3, 13 Plastic frame 4, 14 Slide switch lever 5, 15 Slide switch 6, 16 Slide switch terminal 7, 17 Board

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display area // G06F 3/08 A

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A changeover switch for changing the operation state when the card is connected to an external device is embedded in a cutout formed by cutting out a corner of the card, and the lever of the changeover switch is provided. An information card that is open on both slide direction sides. 2. The information card according to claim 1, wherein the information card is a memory card. 3. The information card according to claim 2, wherein the changeover switch is a write protect switch.