The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 02, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 16, 1997
Toru Nishioka, Miyagi-ken, JP;
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A thin design IC card connector which is provided with a sequence mechanism for defining the connection sequence of terminals of an IC card (for example, for ground lines, power supply lines, and signal lines in that order) performs a safe and reliable sequence operation. The IC card connector comprises first brushes that are connected to power supply lines, ground lines and signal lines of an IC card when the IC card is mounted, second brushes that are not directly connected to the first brushes but connected to a circuit board of a host apparatus, and a sequence mechanism which is arranged between the first brushes and the second brushes and which defines the connection sequence of the contact points of the IC card for making or breaking the connections between the first brushes and the second brushes according to the defined connection sequence. By operating the sequence mechanism, a sequence operation is performed with the contact points of the IC card remaining connected to the first brushes.