Card Edge Connector Collapsible Ejector Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing card edge connectors with collapsible ejectors suffer from structural weakness due to the hole in the ejector's main portion, which compromises the connector's strength.
Innovation Solution
A card edge connector design featuring an elongated insulative housing with rotatable ejectors, including a base portion and a locking portion with a slot mechanism that allows for inward rotation to enhance strength and reduce height, while maintaining effective latching and ejection functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If a hole is provided on the main portion of the ejector to enable folding inwardly, then the height of the connector is reduced, but the strength of the ejector is weakened
Solution Approach 1:
The ejector is divided into two separate portions: a base portion that remains in the tower portion and a locking portion that can be rotated inward. This segmentation allows the locking portion to fold inward without compromising the structural integrity of the base portion, resolving the contradiction between reduced height and maintained strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking portion is extracted as a separate rotatable component from the main body of the ejector. By removing the locking portion and allowing it to rotate independently inward, the design achieves reduced height while the base portion maintains its full structural strength without requiring any holes or cutouts.
2Length of stationary object
If the ejector is made collapsible to reduce height, then the connector profile is lowered, but the structural integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The ejector structure is segmented into a stable base portion and a movable locking portion. The base portion maintains structural integrity and remains fixed in the tower portion, while the locking portion can collapse inward. This segmentation preserves structural stability during the collapsing operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking portion is designed with rotational capability, transforming from a static structure to a dynamic component that can change position. When rotated inward, it reduces the overall profile height while the base portion maintains its static structural integrity, resolving the contradiction between collapsibility and stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The enhanced design provides a high-strength ejector mechanism that effectively supports memory card latching and ejection while maintaining a reduced height, addressing the structural weaknesses of previous designs.
Implementation Method 1
an ejector rotatably attached to the insulative housing
Data Source
AI summary
A card edge connector includes an elongated insulative housing extending in a longitudinal direction and defining at least one tower portion extending upwardly from a longitudinal end thereof, a plurality of contacts retained in the insulative housing, and an ejector received in the at least one tower portion for latching with or ejecting a memory card. The ejector has a base portion rotatably attached to the tower portion and a locking portion rotatably attached to the base portion, the at least one tower portion has a slot, the locking portion is rotatable inward to face towards the top surface of the insulative housing in order to reduce a height of the card edge connector, the base portion has a lower ejecting section, and the locking portion has an upper locking section.