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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
A SIM card mounting structure of a mobile phone includes a SIM card
receiving recess 5 provided in a rear surface portion of a front
side casing of the mobile phone for fittingly receiving a SIM card
1 therein, a pressing portion 3 formed of an elastic material and
having one end integrally formed with the rear surface portion of
the front side casing and the other end positioned over the SIM
card receiving recess to elastically press the SIM card 1 and electrode
terminals 2 for connecting electrodes of the SIM card 1 to a battery.
The electrode terminals 2 are formed of an elastic material and
arranged on a bottom of the recess 5 in an opposing relation to
electrodes of the SIM card 1. The one end of the pressing portion
is formed integrally on an end portion of the SIM card receiving
recess 5 in a longitudinal direction of the mobile phone such that
the pressing portion functions as a longitudinal leaf spring. The
pressing portion 3 has a notch 4 for setting elasticity of the pressing
portion appropriately and facilitating a handling operation of a
SIM card.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A SIM card mounting structure of a mobile phone having a front
side casing and a back side casing, comprising: a SIM card receiving
recess provided in a rear surface portion of said front side casing
of said mobile phone for fittingly receiving a SIM card therein;
a pressing portion having one end integrally formed with said rear
surface portion of said front side casing and the other end positioned
over said SIM card receiving recess to elastically press said SIM
card; and electrode terminals for connecting electrodes of said
SIM card to a battery, said electrode terminals being formed of
elastic material and arranged on a bottom of said SIM card receiving
recess in an opposing relation to said electrodes of said SIM card.
2. A SIM card mounting structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said pressing portion is formed of a plastic material.
3. A SIM card mounting structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said pressing portion is formed with a notch for setting elasticity
of said pressing portion appropriately and for facilitating a handling
operation of said SIM card.
4. A SIM card mounting structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein
said end of said pressing portion is integrally formed on an end
portion of said recess in a longitudinal direction of said mobile
phone such that said pressing portion functions as a longitudinal
leaf spring.
5. A SIM card mounting structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein
said one end of said pressing portion is integrally formed on an
end portion of said recess in a lateral direction of said mobile
phone such that said pressing portion functions as a lateral leaf
spring.
6. A SIM card mounting structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said pressing portion has an opening for confirming a mounting state
of said SIM card.
7. A mobile phone having a SIM card mounting structure as claimed
in claim 1.
8. A mobile phone having a SIM card mounting structure as claimed
in claim 2.
9. A mobile phone having a SIM card mounting structure as claimed
in claim 3.
10. A mobile phone having a SIM card mounting structure as claimed
in claim 4.
11. A mobile phone having a SIM card mounting structure as claimed
in claim 5.
12. A mobile phone having a SIM card mounting structure as claimed
in claim 6.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a SIM card mounting structure
of a mobile phone.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are a plan view and a cross sectional side
view of a conventional SIM card mounting structure, respectively.
In FIG. 4A showing a rear surface of a front side casing of a mobile
phone, one end portion of a back side casing (not shown) is rotatably
supported by a rotary shaft 11 provided in one end portion of the
front side casing so that the back side casing can be lain upon
a SIM card mounting portion 10 of the SIM card mounting structure.
When a telephone function of the mobile phone is used, the back
side casing lain upon the SIM card mounting portion 10 is locked
in its position by a locking member 24. The SIM card mounting structure
shown in FIG. 4A is in a state where the back side casing is removed
and a SIM card is exposed. The term "front side" used
in this specification means a side of the SIM card mounting structure,
on which character input buttons, etc., are arranged. A battery
is housed in the back side casing, which is not shown.
A microphone housing portion 20 shown in an upper portion of FIG.
4A is screwed on the front side casing. A microphone is housed in
the microphone housing portion 20. In FIG. 4A, reference numerals
21 and 22 in FIG. 4A depict screws for screwing the microphone housing
portion to the front side casing and a reference numeral 23 depicts
an opening for voice communication.
A recess 13 is provided in the SIM card mounting portion 10 and
a SIM card 1 is received in the recess 13. The SIM card 1 is pressed
down in the recess 13 by a metal lock member 12. The metal lock
member 12 can slide in lateral directions in the drawing sheet.
Further, a receiving portion 14 is provided in one end portion of
the recess 13 of the SIM card mounting portion 10, for receiving
the metal lock member 12. When the SIM card 1 is to be mounted,
the metal lock member 12 is slid to the receiving portion 14 and
then the SIM card is inserted in the recess 13. Thereafter, the
metal lock member 12 is slid back from the receiving portion 14
onto the SIM card 1 to press down the latter. A contact terminal
portion 15 to be in contact with an electrode terminal portion on
the SIM card 1 is provided in a bottom of the recess 13 in an opposing
relation to the electrode terminal portion of the SIM card 1. In
FIG. 4A, a reference numeral 16 depicts electrodes connected to
electrodes of the battery housed in the back side casing when the
back side casing is mounted on the SIM card mounting portion 10.
Incidentally, symbols + and - in the same figure indicate polarities
of the battery.
As described above, the conventional SIM card mounting structure
requires a mounting part such as the metal lock member 12 or an
open/close type mounting holder, which is prepared as a separate
piece. In such conventional SIM card mounting structure, however,
there are problems of complication of the SIM card mounting structure,
cost-up of the mobile phone due to provision of such separately
provided part and necessity of providing a space for the separate
part. Therefore, it is difficult to make the SIM card mounting structure
inexpensive, lightweight and compact.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a SIM card mounting
structure, which does not use a specially dedicated part, is inexpensive,
can easily confirm a mounting state of the SIM card therein and
can be disassembled easily.
In order to achieve the above object, a SIM card mounting structure
of a mobile phone having a front side casing and a back side casing,
according to the present invention, comprises a SIM card receiving
recess formed in a rear surface portion of the front side casing
and adapted to fittingly receive a SIM card therein, a pressing
portion formed of an elastic material for elastically pressing the
SIM card received in the SIM card receiving recess, the pressing
portion having one end portion formed integrally with an end portion
of the rear surface portion of the front side casing by simultaneous
molding and the other end portion extending over the SIM card receiving
recess, and electrode terminals provided on a bottom of the SIM
card receiving recess, the electrode terminals being formed of an
electrically conductive, elastic material and positioned in an opposing
relation to respective electrodes of the SIM card.
The pressing portion may be formed of a plastic material.
Further, it is preferable that the pressing portion has a notch
portion for setting elasticity of the pressing portion appropriately
and facilitating a handling of the SIM card.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the one end portion
of the SIM card receiving recess, which is formed integrally with
the one end portion of the pressing portion, is in an end portion
in a longitudinal direction of the mobile phone such that the pressing
portion functions as a longitudinal leaf spring.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the one end portion
of the SIM card receiving recess, which is formed integrally with
the one end portion of the pressing portion, is an edge portion
of the SIM card mounting recess in a direction orthogonal to the
longitudinal direction of the mobile phone such that the pressing
portion functions as a lateral leaf spring.
The pressing portion may have an opening for confirming a mounting
state of the SIM card. That is, a user can confirm the mounting
state of the SIM card through the opening.
As mentioned, according to the present invention, it is possible
to provide an inexpensive SIM card mounting structure of a mobile
phone by forming a spring of a plastic material in a portion of
a casing of the mobile phone without using a specially dedicated
part. Further, a confirmation of a mounting state of the SIM card
and a mounting operation of the SIM card can be facilitated by forming
an opening or a notch in the spring structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying of drawings
in which:
FIG. 1A is a plan view of a whole construction of a SIM card mounting
structure of a mobile phone, according to a first embodiment of
the present invention;
FIG. 1B is a cross sectional side view of the construction shown
in FIG. 1A;
FIG. 2A is an enlarged plan view showing a main portion of the
construction of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1A;
FIG. 2B is a cross sectional side view of the main portion shown
in FIG. 2A;
FIG. 3A is an enlarged plan view showing a main portion of a construction
of a SIM card mounting structure of a mobile phone, according to
a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3B is a cross section taken along a line A-A' in FIG. 3A;
FIG. 3C is a cross section taken along a line B-B' in FIG. 3A;
FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a construction of a conventional
SIM card mounting structure; and
FIG. 4B is a cross sectional side view of the conventional SIM
card mounting structure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A SIM card mounting structure of a mobile phone, according to the
present invention, is constructed such that a SIM card can be mounted
and demounted easily by only a part formed integrally with a front
side casing of the mobile phone without necessity of using a separately
prepared SIM card mounting part such as the metal lock member 12
shown in FIG. 4A. FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are a plan view and a cross
sectional side view showing a whole construction of a SIM card mounting
structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention,
respectively, and FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are an enlarged plan view
and an enlarged cross sectional side view showing a main portion
of the mobile phone shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, respectively.
In these figures, parts, which are the same as those shown in FIG.
4A and FIG. 4B, are shown without using reference numerals.
Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B and FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, a pressing
portion 3 and a SIM card mounting portion 10 of the SIM card mounting
structure according to the present invention are provided in the
rear surface portion of the front side casing of the mobile phone.
The SIM card mounting portion 10 includes a SIM card receiving recess
5 for receiving a SIM card 1 and the pressing portion 3 has one
end integrally formed on the rear surface portion of the front side
casing by simultaneous molding of an elastic material and the other
end portion extending over the SIM card receiving recess portion
5 and elastically pressing down the SIM card 1 received in the SIM
card receiving recess 5. Contact terminals 2 formed of an electrically
conductive, elastic material, for connecting electrodes of the SIM
card 1 to a battery housed in a back side casing of the mobile phone,
are provided on a bottom of the SIM card receiving recess 5 in an
opposing relation to the respective electrode of the SIM card 1.
In this embodiment, the one end of the pressing portion 3 is integrally
formed with one portion of the SIM card receiving recess 5 in a
longitudinal direction of the mobile phone and the other end portion
of the pressing portion 3 extends such that the pressing portion
3 functions as a longitudinal leaf spring for elastically pressing
the SIM card 1 received in the SIM card receiving recess 5. Further,
the pressing portion 3 is formed of a plastic material and has a
notch portion 4 for setting elasticity of the pressing portion 3
appropriately and facilitating a handling operation of the SIM card.
With using the pressing portion 3 in the form of the plastic leaf
spring formed integrally with the front side casing and having the
notch portion 4, the electrodes of the SIM card 1 are pressed to
the respective contact terminals 2 with an appropriate pressure,
when the SIM card 1 is received in the SIM card receiving recess
5. Further, the pressing portion 3 may be formed with a through-hole
in a center portion of the pressing portion 3 or cut-away portion
in one or both sides of the pressing portion for facilitating confirmation
of the mounting state of the SIM card 1 therethrough. With such
through-hole or cut-away portion, demounting of the SIM card 1 may
be done by using a finger or the like. In this manner, according
to the SIM card mounting structure of the present invention, an
effect similar to that obtainable by the conventional SIM card mounting
structure can be obtained without using any separately prepared
part and the confirmation of the mounting state of the SIM card
and the demounting of the SIM card can be performed easily.
Now, a second embodiment of the SIM card mounting structure of
the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3A
to FIG. 3C. The pressing portion of the SIM card-mounting structure
according to the first embodiment is formed such that it functions
as the longitudinal leaf spring for pressing the SIM card in the
SIM card receiving recess. In the second embodiment, however, one
end portion of a pressing portion is integrally formed on an end
portion of a SIM card receiving recess of a front side casing of
a mobile phone in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction
such that the pressing portion functions as a lateral leaf spring.
In detail, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C show a main portion of the SIM card
mounting structure of the second embodiment in an enlarged scale,
in which FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a cross section taken
along a line A-A' and FIG. 3C is a cross section taken along a line
B-B' in FIG. 3A. In these figures, parts, which are the same as
those shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, are shown without using reference
numerals. The pressing portion 3A according to the second embodiment
is integrally formed on the front side casing of the mobile phone
as a plastic leaf spring. Elasticity of the pressing portion 3A
in the form of the plastic leaf spring can be appropriately set
by forming a hole and/or a notch 4A in the pressing portion 3A.
The position of the SIM card 1 in the SIM card receiving recess
can be confirmed without using any separately prepared part similarly
to the case of the longitudinal leaf spring, by forming the hole
and/or the notch 4A in the pressing portion 3A such that the end
face of the SIM card can be confirmed through the hole and/or the
notch 4A. The setting operation of the SIM card 1 in a predetermined
position is also facilitated by the hole and/or the notch 4A.
As mentioned previously, in the conventional SIM card mounting
structure shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B in which the pressing portion
is formed as a separate part and is slid after the SIM card is set
to make the electrodes of the SIM card in pressure contact with
the electrode terminals arranged in an opposing relation to the
electrodes of the SIM card. In this conventional SIM card mounting
structure in which the pressing portion has to be formed as the
separate piece, the demounting of the SIM card requires a relatively
difficult operation such as turning-over of the casing of the mobile
phone or picking out the SIM card by inserting a finger nail into
a space around the SIM card. According to the present invention,
the SIM card is inserted into the pressing portion formed integrally
with the casing of the mobile phone and the mounting state of the
SIM card can be confirmed through the hole or the notch formed therein.
As a result, the setting operation of the SIM card in a predetermined
position of the mobile phone and the demounting operation of the
SIM card from the predetermined position can be done easily by pushing
the SIM card by a finger or the like through the hole or the notch.
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