Smartconnect universal flash media card adapters
A multi-memory media adapter comprised of a first planar element having an upper surface and a lower surface, a second planar element having an upper surface and a lower surface, and formed from a single material. The two planar elements form at least one port, each port capable of receiving one or more types of a memory media card. The adapter has at least one set of contact pins protruding from the lower surface of the first planar element or the upper surface of the second planar element such that the at least one set of contact pins are disposed within the port. The at least one set of contact pins are capable of contacting the contacts of a memory media card inserted into the port. For one embodiment a controller chip is embedded within the single material forming the multi-memory media adapter.
1. A multi-memory media adaptor comprising:
a single piece of molded plastic forming a first planar element having an upper surface and a lower surface and a second planar element having an upper surface and a lower surface, the first planar element and the second planar element disposed such that a port is formed between the lower surface of the first planar element and the upper surface of the second planar element, the port capable of receiving a memory media card, wherein the pod contains multiple registrations, each registration corresponding to a memory media card type;
at least one set of contact pins protruding from the lower surface of the first planar element or the upper surface of the second planar element such that the at least one set of contact pins are disposed within the port, the at least one set of contact pins capable of contacting a set of memory media card contacts, wherein the contact pins are integrated within the molded plastic; and
a controller chip, embedded within the single piece of molded plastic, wherein the controller chip is operable to differentiate a pin configuration based on an inserted memory media card, the memory media card being one of the following types: xD, standard MMC/SD, standard Memory Stick, SmartMedia, miniSD, RSMMC, and MMC/SD, Duo, or a type of flash memory card having a form factor similar thereto.
2. The multi-memory media adapter of claim 1 having a standard system connector surface-mounted thereon, the standard system connector electrically connected to the at least one contact pin set.
3. The multi-memory media adapter of claim 1 wherein the standard system connector is selected from the group consisting of PCMCIA, USB, WiFi, Firewire, IDE, serial ATA connector, an IDE, and a CompactFlash connector.
4. The multi-memory media adapter of claim 1 wherein the contact pins are formed such that the contact pin resiliency is retained.
5. The multi-memory media adapter of claim 1 wherein the contact pins are formed such that the terminal end of the contact pin is pushed away from the memory media card contact thereby helping to prevent the contact pin from being damaged during removal of the memory media card.
6. The multi-memory media adapter of claim 1 having 18 contact pins configured to accommodate an xD, standard MMC/SD, standard Memory Stick, SmartMedia, miniSD, RSMMC, and MMC/SD, Duo, and a flash memory card having a form factor similar thereto.
7. The multi-memory media adapter of claim 1 wherein the controller chip is embedded in the single piece of molded plastic forming the multi-media adapter.
8. A system comprising:
a multi-memory media adapter capable of reading data from each of a plurality of memory media, the multi-memory media adapter formed from a single piece of molded plastic such that at least one port is formed between an upper portion and a lower portion of the multi-memory media adapter, the port capable of receiving a memory media card, wherein the port contains multiple registrations, each registration corresponding to a memory media card type;
at least one set of contact pins protruding from the upper portion or the lower portion, the at least one set of contact pins capable of contacting a set of memory media card contacts, wherein the contact pins are integrated within the molded plastic; and a controller chip embedded into the multi-memory media adapter, wherein the controller chip is operable to differentiate a pin configuration for each of the plurality of memory media, based on an inserted memory media type.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the plurality of memory media include xD, standard MMC/SD, standard Memory Stick, SmartMedia, miniSD, RSMMC, and MMC/SD, Duo, and a memory media having a form factor similar thereto.
10. The system of claim 8 further comprising:
a standard system connector, the standard system connector electronically connected to the at least one contact pin set.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the standard system connector is selected from the group consisting of a PCMCIA, USB, WiFi, Firewire, IDE, serial ATA connector, an IDE, and a CompactFlash connector.
12. The system of claim 8 wherein the contact pins are integrated within the molded plastic and formed such that the contact pin resiliency is retained.
13. The system of claim 8 having 18 contact pins configured to accommodate an xD, standard MMC/SD, standard Memory Stick, SmartMedia, miniSD, RSMMC, and MMC/SD, Duo, and a flash memory card having a form factor similar thereto.