The present invention relates carriers for memory devices, and in particular relates to a device that both carries and protects memory cards.
Common to personal computers and consumer electronic components are portable memory devices, such as the well known three and one-half inch floppy diskette. That diskette includes a magnetic memory media housed within a rigid plastic case including a spring biased, metal slide gate on a top or insertion edge of the diskette case. Whenever such a diskette is inserted within a computer or consumer electronic component, such as an electronic keyboard, the slide gate slides from a closed to an open position to provide access by the computer or component to the magnetic media within the plastic case. It is well known that the three and one-half inch diskettes are commonly used for transferring data from one computer to another, for backing up a computer in order to preserve data in the event of failure of the computer, for transferring data from a computer to a consumer electronic component, and for various other common tasks. Consequently, there are many carriers available for storing the three and one-half inch diskettes.
Most carriers for such diskettes have common features. Typically they provide for ease of access to identifying labels on the diskettes, so a user may readily select a specific diskette without searching through many diskettes to find the specific diskette. For example, a recent diskette carrier is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,020 issued on Jun. 30, 1998 to Hara. The Hara carrier includes a planar sheet having six holding cavities for six diskettes wherein a user may readily view front or label surfaces of the diskettes. Opposed, biased "pressing strips" extend from an edge of each cavity to apply pressure to the diskette to secure it within the cavity. The pressing strips are positioned to avoid substantial direct contact with the metal slide gate because the gate is well known to be delicate, and any excessive pressure could easily damage the slide gate, or the magnetic media under the gate within the plastic case of the diskette. U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,183 issued on Jun. 25, 1996 to Nishikawa and U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,374 issued on Jun. 30, 1987 to Wilkins are also typical of three and one-half inch diskette carriers in having resilient tabs to secure the diskette within carrier cavities, wherein the tabs are positioned adjacent opposed side edges of the data transfer port or slide gate. Consequently, the peripheral regions of cavities or diskette sleeves of the known information carriers for diskettes invariably have an exposed region, wherein the slide gate or information transfer port is not protected by the carrier against contamination or impact damage.
Recently, a new form of information or memory storage and transfer device has been introduced into the consumer electronic field in particular. This new memory transfer device is generally referred to as a "flash memory card", a "memory card", an "SD memory card" or a "MultiMedia card". These cards are characterized as non-volatile, solid state memory devices for digital storage. For convenience, the cards will hereinafter be referred to as "memory cards". Known memory cards have a capacity of up to 64 megabytes, and it is anticipated that 256 megabyte memory cards will be available in the near future.
The memory cards are generally rectangular, being about 32 millimeters ("mm") long, by about 24 mm wide. Each memory card includes a front or label surface, and a back or data transfer surface. Each memory card also includes a top or insertion end which is the end of the card to be inserted into a card receiving electronic device, such as the now available "MP3 Player" for audio reproduction sold by PONTIS, Inc. of Schwarzenfeld, Germany.
Adjacent the insertion end of the memory card on the back side of the card are a plurality of data transfer ports that may be isolated metal contacts. To make sure that a user does not insert the memory card into the electronic device upside down, or backwards, one corner of the insertion end of the memory card is a non-right angle, or asymmetrical corner. If a memory card was aligned so that the data transfer or back surface was hidden from a user, and the insertion edge was the top edge, then a top right corner would be the asymmetrical corner. The top left corner is symmetrical to the bottom left corner, and the two bottom corners are symmetrical to each other. By industry standards, however, the top right corner of known memory cards is asymmetrical, which may mean that the corner is formed of two angles totaling ninety degrees. For purposes herein however, the phrase "asymmetrical corner" is meant to include any corner in a memory storage and/or transfer device that is distinct from the remaining corners of the memory device for the purposes of correct alignment of the memory device within an electronic apparatus that receives the memory device.
Known carriers for rigid case memory storage devices, however, are limited to carriers for three and one-half inch types of diskettes, and those carriers do not provide adequate protection for exposed data transfer ports. If the data transfer ports on new memory cards are contaminated by liquids, salt deposits or abrasive particles, retrieval of information stored on the cards may be jeopardized, and the memory cards may actually damage the electronic devices into which the cards are inserted. Additionally, static discharge onto the data transfer ports of memory cards may destroy data stored within the cards. Accordingly there is a need for a memory card carrier device that both facilitates ease of access to and carrying of the cards and that also protects data transfer ports of the cards while the cards are stored within the carrier.