Smart card actuated dome contact switch
US6169257A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 7, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jan 2, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 7, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06K7/0021
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A switch assembly (30, FIG. 3) for detecting full insertion of a smart card, is of small thickness and can be mass produced with high precision. The switch assembly includes a molded support (100) forming an upwardly-opening support cavity (114), outer and central contacts (38, 40) mounted on the support and having dome-engaging parts (148, 150) lying in the support cavity, and a tripping dome (36) lying in the support cavity with a center portion lying over the dome-engaging part of the central contact. A cover (32) receives the support in a downward-opening cover cavity (65), and holds an actuating device (42) that can depress the tripping dome to close the switch. The actuating device is of sheet metal, with a heel (67) that is fixed in the rear end of the cover cavity, with a second part (82) substantially engaged with the center portion of the tripping dome, and with a front end forming an actuating lever (88) that extends through an opening (52) in the cover to be depressed by a smart card. The contacts have intermediate portions lying in a common plane and embedded in the support, with the dome-engaging part of the central contact being downwardly bent.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.