IC card and cable harness

A cable harness for connecting to the input/output port at the rear of a thin IC card, comprising:

• a connector which includes a housing with front and rear ends and laterally-spaced opposite sides, said front end forming two laterally-spaced plug parts each projecting forwardly at said housing front, each plug part having a row of contact-receiving passages;
• a plurality of signal socket contacts, each lying in a different one of said contact receiving passages;
• a cable having a plurality of wires and a shield around said wires, said cable having a front end lying in said connector housing with each of said wires connected to a different one of said socket contacts;
• a grounding contact having a pin like forward portion extending along an axis, and a rearward portion electrically coupled to said cable shield;
• said pin like forward portion of said grounding contact lying between said plug parts and being exposed in directions radial to said axis.

A card and cable combination, comprising:

• an IC card having forward and rearward ends, a forward connector at said forward end for connection to an electronic apparatus that receives said card, and a rearward connector at said rearward end, said rearward connector having a plurality of card signal contacts;
• a cable harness which includes a cable with a front end and a connector coupled to said cable front end, said cable connector being mated with said card rear connector, and said cable connector having a plurality of connector signal contacts mating with said card signal contacts, said connector being demateable from said card connector;
• said cable connector having a cable grounding contact with a pin-shaped front end port which extends along an axis;
• said card rearward connector including a grounding socket contact which receives said front end part of said cable grounding contact;
• said pin-shaped received front end part of said cable grounding contact, being exposed in directions radial to said axis along the entire length thereof when said cable connector and card rearward connector are not mated.

An IC card of the type which is designed to fit into a thin slot of an electronic apparatus, comprising:

• a plastic integrally molded IC card frame having longitudinally-spaced forward and rearward ends, laterally-spaced opposite sides, and vertically spaced top and bottom surfaces, said frame having elongated opposite side beams lying at said opposite sides and extending in said longitudinal direction, said frame having an integral rear connector housing part that extends between the rear ends of said side beams and that forms a plurality of longitudinally extending contact-receiving through passages, said frame also having a laterally extending cross beam spaced forwardly of said rear connector housing part;
• a first of said passages having a wide forward passage portion for receiving the rear portion of a grounding socket contact and having a rear passage portion forming a restriction of smaller width than said forward portion to prevent entrance of an oversize pin contact;
• said first passage has upper and lower passage walls and has at least three vertical holes forming said forward portion of said first passage, said vertical holes each extending vertically through one of said walls and through said passage but not through the opposite surface wall, with at least one hole extending through said top wall and at least one hole extending through said lower wall, to thereby enable molding despite said cross beam.