Smart card connector with preloaded data contacts

Claim 2

A connector for use with a smart card reader, comprising: a housing including a base and a cover, said base including a plurality of spaced apart ribs defining channels therebetween; a slot located between the base and the cover, and extending into the housing from one side and configured for insertion of a smart card into the slot; data contacts positioned in the housing and protruding into the slot, the data contacts being positioned to engage a smart card upon insertion into the slot, each data contact comprising a resilient member having an upper portion extending to a free tip, the data contacts including at least one contact mounted at a rear of the housing with the free tip of the upper portion facing forwardly toward a card receiving mouth of said slot, said data contacts further including at least one contact mounted at a front of said housing with the free tip of the upper portion facing rearwardly toward said rear of said housing, at least one of the data contacts being preloaded by deflecting the at least one contact with a part of the housing such that the contact extends along a respective channel and a leading free tip of the contact is received in said channel such that each said preloaded data contact protrudes into the slot a first amount, and remaining data contacts protrude into the slot a second amount, the first amount being less than the second amount; and said cover includes cover ribs for engaging forwardly racing data contacts to deflect the free tip of said at least one the forwardly facing contact into the channels, thereby preloading said at least one forwardly facing contact to prevent said free tip of said at least one contact from being engaged by a loading edge of said card as said card is received in said mouth of said slot and moved rearwardly into said slot.

Claim 3

The connector of claim 1 wherein the height of the card slot can be changed by attaching a different cover to a common base, the at least one preloaded contact and the remaining data contacts protruding into the slot by the same respective first and second amounts independent of the height of the slot.

Claim 4

The connector of claim 2 further including at least one resilient arm in the base and protruding into the card slot and along side said data contacts that protrude into the slot so that a card inserted into the slot is pushed away from the data contacts during insertion of the card into the card slot thereby reducing wear on the data contacts.

Claim 5

The connector of claim 3 wherein said at least one resilient arm comprises an integral portion of the housing base, the resilient arm engaging a card inserted into the card slot to exert a force upwardly tending to prevent inadvertent removal of the card from the slot.

Claim 6

The connector of claim 1 wherein the data contacts are inserted into contact cavities through a top surface of the housing base, the top surface of the base comprising the lower surface of the slot.

Claim 7

The connector of claim 5 wherein each data contact includes barbs that engage walls of the contact cavities to secure the data contact in its corresponding contact cavity.

Claim 8

The connector of claim 6 wherein the barbs force the contact into engagement with the wall of the contact cavity furthest from the contact arm to precisely position the data contact.

Claim 9

The connector of claim 6 wherein the ends of the barbs are angled relative to the position of the data contact on which the barbs are located and relative to the sidewalls of the contact cavities.

Claim 10

The connector of claim 1 wherein each data contact comprises a contact arm and a leg portion, the contacts being positioned in respective contact cavities in the housing with the data contact leg portions extending from the contact cavities and the contact arms extending into the slot, each contact arms flexing about a bend line adjacent its respective contact cavity.

Claim 11

A connector for use with a smart card reader, comprising: a housing; a slot extending into the housing from one side and configured for insertion of a smart card into the slot; and data contacts positioned in two rows of contact cavities in the housing, one row adjacent a front of the slot and the other row adjacent a rear of the slot and protruding into the slot, the data contacts being positioned to engage a smart card upon insertion into the slot; each data contact comprising a resilient contact arm having at least one tab extending laterally therefrom and a leg portion, the contacts being positioned in respective contact cavities with the data contact leg portions extending from the contact cavities and the contact arms being positioned in channels in the housing and extending into the slot such that the contact arms of contacts in respective cavities in each row extend toward the corresponding data contact in the other row, the contact arms flexing about a bend line adjacent the contact cavity, and the contact arms being formed adjacent the ends thereof to form a convex contact section, said at least one tab being between the convex contact section and the leg portion; at least one of the data contacts is preloaded to control the amount of the resilient contact arm extends into the slot, by deflecting the contact arm of at least one of the data contacts and engaging said at least one tab thereon with a protrusion of the housing channel such that only the convex contact section of each said preloaded data contact extends into the slot, with the contact arms of the remaining data contacts protruding further into the slot, the at least one data contact being preloaded so that a smart card inserted into a front of the slot does not stub against a free end of said at least one data contact; and at least one resilient arm protruding into the card slot and along side said data contacts that protrude into the slot so that a card inserted into the slot is pushed away from the data contacts during insertion of the card into the card slot thereby reducing wear on the data contacts.

Claim 12

A connector for use with a smart card reader, comprising: a housing; a slot extending into the housing from one side and configured for insertion of a smart card into the slot; and data contacts positioned in two rows of contact cavities in the housing, one row adjacent a front of the slot and the other row adjacent a rear of the slot and protruding into the slot, the data contacts being positioned to engage a smart card upon insertion into the slot; each data contact comprising a resilient contact arm having at least one tab extending laterally therefrom and a leg portion, the contacts being positioned in respective contact cavities with the data contact leg portions extending from the contact cavities and the contact arms being positioned in channels in the housing and extending into the slot such that the contact arms of contacts in respective cavities in each row extend toward the corresponding data contact in the other row, the contact arms flexing about a bend line adjacent the contact cavity, and the contact arms being formed adjacent the ends thereof to form a convex contact section, said at least one tab being between the convex contact section and the leg portion; at least one of the data contacts is preloaded to control the amount of the resilient contact arm extends into the slot, by deflecting the contact arm of at least one of the data contacts and engaging said at least one tab thereon with a protrusion of the housing channel such that only the convex contact section of each said preloaded data contact extends into the slot, with the contact arms of the remaining data contacts protruding further into the slot, the at least one data contact being preloaded so that a smart card inserted into a front of the slot does not stub against a free end of said at least one data contact; and at least one resilient arm protruding into the card slot and along side said data contacts that protrude into the slot so that a card inserted into the slot is pushed away from the data contacts during insertion of the card into the card slot thereby reducing wear on the data contacts.

Claim 13

The connector of claim 9 including several preloaded data contacts wherein the contact arms are located in respective channels in the housing, the contact arms engaging respective protrusions in the housing channels to preload the several data contacts.

Claim 14

The connector of claim 10 wherein the channels are formed by ribs extending between the two rows of contact cavities.

Claim 15

The connector of claim 11 wherein channel protrusions comprising lateral extensions of the ribs engage several of the data contacts to preload the several data contacts.

Claim 16

The connector of claim 13 wherein the channel protrusions extend into each channel from ribs on either side of each channel with the channel protrusions on opposite sides of a rib extending into adjacent channels.

Claim 17

The connector of claim 14 wherein the at least one laterally extending tab of each said data contact is positioned to engage the lower surface of a corresponding channel protrusion after the contact arm is snapped into the channel and wherein the ribs are flexible, the contact arms being snapped into its corresponding channel as the ribs flex laterally outward to position the contact arms below the protrusions on the ribs.

Claim 18

The connector of claim 15 wherein the channel protrusions are located only at the top of the ribs.

Claim 19

The connector of claim 12 wherein free ends of the data contact arms extending toward the front of the slot are positioned below the slot by the engagement of the channel protrusions with the respective contact arms, so that a smart card inserted into the front of the slot does not stub against the free ends of the data contacts.

Claim 20

The connector of claim 10 wherein the height of the card slot can be changed by attaching a different cover to a common base, the at least one preloaded contact and the remaining data contacts protruding into the slot by the same respective first and second amounts independent of the height of the slot.