Contact guide device

Abstract

The invention relates to a contact guiding device for abutting against at least one contact, the contact guiding device comprises a fixing frame, a chip module and a guiding structure, the chip module is provided with a substrate connected with the fixing frame and at least one terminal arranged on the substrate, and the guiding structure is arranged on the fixing frame or the terminal. When the terminal is close to the contact, the position of the contact is guided so that the contact is abutted against the terminal. Therefore, the contact guiding device provided by the invention can guide the contact to a correct position and make contact with the terminal indeed, so that the deformation of the contact can be prevented, and the deformed contact can be corrected.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device, and in particular to a contact guiding device for the electronic device. Background Art

[0002] Electronic devices are widely used in modern life. In order to transmit signals or control actions, different units of the electronic devices need to rely on terminals or contacts to abut against each other to achieve the purpose of communicating information or controlling actions. Taking electronic imaging devices (such as printers, etc.) as an example, replaceable cartridges such as toner cartridges, ink cartridges, and photosensitive drum cartridges need to be installed in the printer to provide toner supply, ink supply or other predetermined functions. In order to communicate information or control actions, these cartridges are provided with a plurality of terminals. When the cartridges are installed on the printer, the terminals of the cartridges can be connected to a plurality of contacts on the printer, thereby communicating information or transmitting control signals.

[0003] Since there are inevitably dimensional tolerances during manufacturing, in order to ensure that the contacts on the printer can contact the terminals on the housing, the contacts are usually made of elastically deformable materials into a spring-shaped structure. However, because the contacts are elastic, if the user does not align the housing correctly when installing the housing, the spring will be skewed. In serious cases, the terminals and contacts will have poor contact. In addition, there is no correction mechanism. Once the spring is skewed, it will usually become more and more serious, and eventually it will not be able to connect correctly. Therefore, it is necessary to improve it. Summary of the invention

[0004] One object of the present invention is to provide a contact guiding device which can guide the contact to the correct position and ensure contact with the terminal; another object of the present invention is to provide a contact guiding device which can prevent the contact from deforming and can correct the deformed contact.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the contact point guiding device of the present invention is used to abut against at least one contact point. The contact point guiding device includes a fixing frame, a chip module and a guiding structure. The chip module has a substrate connected to the fixing frame and at least one terminal is arranged on the substrate. The guiding structure is arranged on the fixing frame or the terminal. When the terminal is close to the contact point, the position of the contact point is guided so that the contact point and the terminal abut against each other. In this way, the contact point guiding device of the present invention can guide the contact point to the correct position and make sure to contact with the terminal. In addition to preventing the contact point from being deformed, the deformed contact point can also be corrected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 A three-dimensional diagram of the connection between the contact guide device and the terminal according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0007] Figure 2 An exploded view of a contact guide device and a terminal according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0008] Figure 3 A partial cross-sectional exploded view of a contact guide device and a terminal of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0009] Figure 4 A three-dimensional diagram of a contact guide device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0010] Figure 5 A partial cross-sectional view of a contact guide device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] Figure 6 A partial cross-sectional view of a contact guide device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0012] Figure 7 It is a partial cross-sectional view of a contact guiding device according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0013]

Explanation of symbols

[0014] 1Contact guide device

[0015] 2 contacts 2a communication lead 2b ground lead

[0016] 3 columns

[0017] 10 fixing frame 12 body 13 embedding groove

[0018] 19 Elastic Arm

[0019] 20 chip module 22 substrate 23 processing chip

[0020] 24 terminals

[0021] 30 guiding structure 32, 32a, 32b guide groove 33 groove body

[0022] 34,34a,34b opening 35 wide end

[0023] 36 Narrow End

[0024] 40, 40a contact guide device 42, 42a fixing frame 44, 44a chip module

[0025] 46,46a terminal 47,47a end

[0026] 48,48a Guiding structure 49,49a Left branch

[0027] 50,50a right branch 52 plate DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following three preferred embodiments are combined with the accompanying drawings to explain the technical content and features of the present invention in detail. Figures 1 to 5As shown, a contact point guiding device 1 provided in a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is used to be arranged on a first electronic device such as a toner cartridge (not shown) to dock with a second electronic device such as a printer (not shown). The printer is provided with four contacts 2, which include three communication guides 2a and a grounding guide 2b. The contact point guiding device 1 is used to abut against the four contacts 2. The contact point guiding device 1 includes a fixing frame 10, a chip module 20 and a guiding structure 30.

[0029] The fixing frame 10 includes a body 12, a slot 13 recessed from the bottom of the body 12, and two elastic arms 19 extending from opposite sides of the body 12. The two elastic arms 19 are used to engage with the toner cartridge, so that the fixing frame 10 and the toner cartridge are connected together.

[0030] The chip module 20 has a substrate 22 connected to the fixing frame 10, a processing chip 23 disposed on the substrate 22, and four terminals 24 disposed on the substrate 22 and electrically connected to the processing chip 23, wherein the substrate 22 is accommodated in the embedding groove 13 of the fixing frame 10, and the four terminals 24 are generally semicircular sheets, but the shape or structure of the terminals 24 can be changed as needed.

[0031] The guide structure 30 is disposed on the fixing frame 10, and guides the positions of the contacts 2 when the terminals 24 are close to the contacts 2 so that the contacts 2 and the terminals 24 are in contact with each other. The guide structure 30 includes four guide slots 32 disposed on the body 12 of the fixing frame 10, each of the guide slots 32 having a slot body 33 and an opening 34, the slot bodies 33 are for the terminals 24 to extend into, the four slot bodies 33 are parallel to each other and communicate with the embedding slot 13, the opening 34 has a wide end 35 and a narrow end 36 opposite to each other, the wide end 35 faces the contacts 2, the narrow end 36 is connected to the slot body 33, the width (D1) of the wide end 35 is greater than the width (D2) of the narrow end 36, the width of the opening 34 is gradually reduced from the wide end 35 to the narrow end 36 in a continuous manner, but in other embodiments, the width of the opening 34 can also be reduced in a stepwise or irregular manner.

[0032] Since the structures of the four contacts 2 are different, the three communication guides 2a are made into bent springs, and the exposed parts are partial triangles, while the two exposed parts of the grounding guide 2b are upright and arranged on the two opposite side walls of a column 3, so each of the openings 34 also has a corresponding different structure, wherein the openings 34a of the three guide slots 32a corresponding to the three communication guides 2a face downward to align with the predetermined contact positions (inclined surfaces) of the three communication guides 2a, and the openings 34b of the guide slots 32b corresponding to the grounding guide 2b face directly downward, so that when the terminals 24 move downward to approach the contacts 2, the side walls of the openings 34 guide the contacts 2 to align their positions with the terminals 24, so that when the fixing frame 10 is combined with the printer, the contacts 2 can be surely contacted with the terminals 24 and electrically connected.

[0033] In addition, since these openings 34 are all in the shape of a funnel that is wide outside and narrow inside, they can not only prevent these contacts 2 from being deformed, but also prevent the deformed contacts 2 from being further deformed and can even correct them, thereby achieving the purpose of the present invention.

[0034] Based on the design spirit of the present invention, the structure of the contact guiding device 1 may have other changes, such as Figure 6 As shown, the contact guiding device 40 provided by the second preferred embodiment of the present invention has a fixing frame 42, a chip module 44 and a terminal 46 in the same manner as the first embodiment, wherein the terminal 46 is in a sheet shape and its end 47 is in an arc shape. The difference from the first embodiment is that a guiding structure 48 is arranged on the terminal 46, wherein the guiding structure 48 includes a left branch 49 extending from the end 47 of the terminal 46 to the left, and a right branch 50 extending from the end 47 to the right. The left branch 49 and the right branch 50 can be made of the same material as the terminal 46. The farther away from the end 47, the greater the distance between the left branch 49 and the right branch 50. Thus, the contact guiding device 40 can not only guide the contact to ensure that it contacts the terminal 46, but also prevent the contact from deforming and correct the deformed contact.

[0035] Another example Figure 7 As shown, the contact point guiding device 40a provided by the third preferred embodiment of the present invention also has a fixing frame 42a, a chip module 44a and a terminal 46a, wherein the terminal 46a is in a sheet shape and its end 47a is in an arc shape, and its guiding structure 48a is different from the second embodiment in that the end 47a of the terminal 46a also has a plate portion 52, the left branch 49a extends to the left from the plate portion 52, and the right branch 50a extends to the right from the plate portion 52. The plate portion 52 can provide a larger contact area for the contact point, so that the contact point guiding device 40a can guide the contact point to make it more reliably contact with the terminal 46a.

[0036] According to the spirit of the present invention, the guiding structure can be changed. As long as it is a structure that is wide outside and narrow inside and can guide the contact to the correct position, it should be covered by the patent application scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A contact guiding device, characterized in that: For contacting at least one contact point, the contact point guiding device comprises: a fixing frame; A chip module having a substrate connected to the fixing frame and at least one terminal disposed on the substrate; and A guiding structure is arranged on the fixing frame or the terminal, and guides the position of the contact point when the terminal is close to the contact point so that the contact point and the terminal are in contact with each other.

2. The contact point guiding device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guiding structure includes at least one guiding groove arranged on the fixing frame, the guiding groove has a groove body and an opening, the groove body is for the terminal to extend into, the opening has a wide end and a narrow end opposite to each other, the wide end is facing the contact point, and the narrow end is connected to the groove body.

3. The contact point guiding device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The width of the opening decreases from the wide end to the narrow end in a continuous or stepwise manner.

4. The contact point guiding device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guiding structure includes a left branch extending from an end of the terminal to the left, and a right branch extending from the end to the right. The farther away from the end, the greater the distance between the left branch and the right branch.

5. The contact point guiding device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The distance between the left branch and the right branch increases in a continuous or step-wise manner in a direction away from the end.

6. The contact point guiding device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The terminal is in a sheet shape and the end thereof is in an arc shape.

7. The contact point guiding device according to claim 4 or 6, characterized in that: The end of the terminal also has a plate portion, the left branch portion extends leftward from the plate portion, and the right branch portion extends rightward from the plate portion.

8. The contact point guiding device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fixing frame has an embedding groove for accommodating the substrate of the chip module.

9. The contact point guiding device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The invention is used to be arranged on a carbon powder box, and the contact point is arranged on an electronic imaging device.

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