Card grounding apparatus
AssigneesITT Corporation, Intel Corporation
InventorsCarl C. Perkins, Duncan D. MacGregor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system is provided wherein an IC memory card (10) is inserted into a slot (12) of an electronic device (14), which discharges any static electric charge on the card prior to mating of card and device contacts (32, 34). The card has a frame with opposite sides that have metal clips, and the electronic device has grounding terminals (74, 76) that engage the clips, as the card is inserted.
Claims13
An IC card which includes a frame comprising a molded body of plastic material having opposite sides and forward and rearward ends, and a top and bottom, with the distance between said opposite sides being a plurality of times greater than the distance between said top and bottom, and a circuit board assembly which lies in said frame and which includes a board having a ground plane and a plurality of circuit components mounted in said board, said card being constructed to be inserted into a slot of an electronic device until card contacts that lie at the front end of the card mate with device contacts in the device, characterized by:
- said frame includes a sheet metal clip of material which has a higher bulk conductivity than said plastic material of said body, said clip having a first portion connected to said ground plane and having a second portion extending from said first portion and fixed to a first of said body sides and exposed at said first of said body sides, whereby to enable early static discharge of said ground plane.
An IC card comprising:
- a frame comprising a body having opposite sides and front and rear ends and having top and bottom covers that each have a peripheral portion, with distance between said opposite sides being a plurality of times greater than the distance between said top and bottom covers;
- a circuit board assembly mounted in said body, said circuit board assembly including a board and at least one circuit component mounted on said board, said board having a ground plane;
- a connector on said front end of said body, said connector having a plurality of contacts;
- at least one sheet metal clip mounted in a stationary position on said body and connected to said ground plane, said clip having a first clip portion lying at and exposed at one of said sides of said frame, and having a second clip portion, which is engaged with one of cover peripheral portions.
A combination of an electronic device having walls forming a card-receiving slot, and an IC card which can be inserted and withdrawn from said slot with said card including a circuit board assembly with a ground plane, wherein said slot has a rear end into which said card is initially inserted and a front end and said device has a plurality of device contacts arranged in a plurality of rows lying at said slot front end, and said card has a front end with a connector having a plurality of forwardly extending card contacts that are arranged in a corresponding number of rows and that mate with said device contacts when said card is in a fully inserted position, the improvement wherein:
- said card has a frame with a stationary electrically conductive region spaced from said rows of contacts and connected to said ground plane, and said device has at least a first grounding terminal lying substantially at the walls of said slot and positioned to engage said conductive region and discharge any static charge on said card while said card lies at least one-quarter inch rearward of a position at which any of said card and device contacts mate.
The combination of components which when assembled forms the housing of an IC card that is adapted to support a circuit board that has opposite sides and a ground plane, said combination comprising:
- a molded plastic body that has opposite body sides and a top and bottom, said body having opposite body side edges facing substantially away from each other, said opposite body sides being constructed to support the opposite sides of a circuit board, the distance between said opposite sides being a plurality of times greater than the distance between said top and bottom;
- a sheet metal clip which is mounted in a stationary position on a first of said body sides, said clip having an outer side portion covering part of the side edge of said body first side, and said clip having a second portion which extends inwardly from said outer portion to direct electrically connect to the ground plane of a circuit board which is supported on said body sides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.