Importance

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Abstract

A compact long-life smart card reader consisting of a housing with a tapered card opening, a card receiving area, a plurality of contacts located above the card receiving area connected to an integral printed circuit board which is mounted in a carrier on a pivot characterized by an actuating tab on each arm of said pivot that, when contacted by a smart card's leading edge, causes the pivot element to move the contacts through apertures in the bottom housing into the card receiving area, making connection with the smart card's respective contact pads, after which the front edge of the card activates a card seated switch via a switch lever. The compact long-life smart card reader's housing contains either through holes, or threaded inserts that are used for mounting the reader to an enclosure, or terminal housing without the requirement of other compact smart card readers that require an external printed circuit board for electrical connection and mounting of the smart card readers' housing. A preferred embodiment includes the reader's 'contacts' having a long cantilever design that provide a low, consistent contact force, resulting in minimum wear, long contact life, and positions the front row of the contacts to be as close to the card entry slot as possible, which allows for a smaller reader housing depth then found in any compact readers with similar life, integral printed circuit board, and mounting characteristics.

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First Claim