Card connector having a shape memory alloy wire coupled to a slider for operating a card-locking latch
AssigneesFoxconn (Kunshan) Computer Connector Co., Ltd., Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited
InventorSHUN-JUNG CHUANG
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Abstract
A card connector includes: an insulative body; plural contacts secured to the insulative body; and an operating mechanism including a latch moveable relative to the insulative body and an actuator coupled to the latch, wherein: the actuator includes a pair of terminals, a slider coupled to one of the pair of terminals, and a shape memory alloy wire coupled between the other terminal and the slider; and the slider is operable by the shape memory alloy wire to move the latch from a card-locking position to a card-unlocking position.
Claims20
A card connector comprising:
- an insulative body;
- a plurality of contacts secured to the insulative body;
- and
- an operating mechanism including a latch moveable relative to the insulative body and an actuator coupled to the latch;
- wherein
- the actuator includes a pair of terminals, a slider coupled to one of the pair of terminals, and a shape memory alloy wire coupled between the other terminal and the slider;
- and
- the slider is operable by the shape memory alloy wire to move the latch from a card-locking position to a card-unlocking position.
A card connector assembly comprising:
- an insulative body;
- a plurality of contacts secured to the insulative body;
- a card tray received by the insulative body;
- an operating mechanism including a latch locking the card tray in position and an actuator, the actuator including a pair of terminals, a slider coupled to one of the pair of terminals, and a shape memory alloy wire coupled between the other terminal and the slider, the slider being operable to move the latch to unlock the card tray.
A card connector assembly comprising:
- an insulative body;
- a plurality of contacts retained in the insulative body;
- a card tray moveably received within the insulative body in a front-to-back direction, a notch formed in a lateral side of the tray;
- and
- a latch pivotally moveable with regard to the insulative body and including a first end with a hook adapted to be engaged within the notch, and a second end opposite to the first end;
- wherein
- said second end is actuated to move by a shape memory alloy wire operated in a circuit loop whereby when current passes the shape memory alloy wire, a dimension of the shaped memory alloy wire changes to move the second end of the latch, thus disengaging the hook from the notch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.