Enclosure assembly with protection against electromagnetic interference

Abstract

The present invention relates to a housing assembly (10) comprising side walls (14, 16, 18, 20) and at least one transverse wall (24), said walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 24) being configured to delimit a housing (28) suitable for receiving at least one electronic card (30) equipped with electronic components (36), characterized in that it comprises at least one series (S1, S2) of metal pins (38) arranged in the thickness of at least one of the walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 24) so ​​as to protect at least one zone (Z1, Z4) of the electronic card (30) or at least one component (36) of the electronic card (30) against electromagnetic interference. Figure for the abstract: Figure 1

Description

Title of the invention: Enclosure assembly providing protection against electromagnetic interference. Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a housing assembly.

[0002] The invention relates more particularly to a housing assembly intended to contain an electronic board equipped with electronic components. Technical background

[0003] It is known, particularly in the field of automotive electronics, to place electronic boards in plastic housings. However, the electronic components placed on these boards may be subject to electromagnetic interference or generate electromagnetic fields that may interfere with other electronic components.

[0004] The present patent application aims to propose a solution for protection against electromagnetic interference. Summary of the invention

[0005] The invention proposes a housing assembly comprising side walls and at least one transverse wall, said walls being configured to delimit a housing suitable for receiving at least one electronic card equipped with electronic components, characterized in that it comprises at least one series of metal pins which are arranged in the thickness of at least one of the walls so as to protect at least one area of ​​the electronic card or at least one component of the electronic card against electromagnetic interference.

[0006] The proposed technical solution provides protection against electromagnetic waves produced by the electronic components. The metal pins form a screen or shield against the magnetic field. This protects both the electronic components inside the enclosure from electromagnetic waves originating outside the enclosure and the environment surrounding the enclosure from electromagnetic waves emitted by said electronic components.

[0007] According to other characteristics of the housing assembly:

[0008] - the metal pins of each series are arranged parallel to each other by relationship to others;

[0009] - the housing assembly comprises at least a first series of metal pins arranged within the thickness of a first side wall, along said first side wall, and a second series of metal pins arranged in the thickness of the transverse wall;

[0010] - the metal pins of the first series are substantially parallel to the metal pins of the second series;

[0011] - each metal pin has a substantially flush axial end with an associated wall surface;

[0012] - at least one of the electronic components of the electronic board is arranged in vis-à-vis a series of metal pins;

[0013] - at least part of the metal pins protrudes from the wall transversely towards the inside of the housing so as to form a protective grid on at least one side of an electronic component.

[0014] A method for manufacturing a housing assembly according to any one of the preceding characteristics is also proposed, comprising the following steps: - fabrication of a plastic material casing comprising side walls and at least one transverse wall, said walls being configured to delimit a housing suitable for receiving at least one electronic board equipped with electronic components, - construction of at least one series of vertical housings within the thickness of at least one of the walls, said vertical housings being designed to forcefully receive a series of associated metal pins, - forced insertion of at least one series of metal pins into the vertical housings, - positioning of the electronic board in the housing so that at least one area of ​​the electronic board or at least one component of the electronic board is protected against electromagnetic interference by the series of metal pins.

[0015] According to other features of the process:

[0016] - during the insertion step, a first and a second series of pins metallic elements are inserted by force, the first series being inserted into the thickness of a lateral wall and the second series being inserted into the thickness of the transverse wall;

[0017] - the first and second series are inserted from the same side of the housing. Brief description of the figures

[0018] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the detailed description that follows, for an understanding of which reference should be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0019] [Fig.1] is an axial cross-sectional view along plane II of [Fig.2] which represents a housing assembly made in accordance with the teachings of the invention and comprising a plate supporting an electronic board equipped with electronic components placed in a housing defined by the housing;

[0020] [Fig.2] is a bottom view which represents the housing of the housing assembly of the [Fig.l], without the circuit board and the electronic board;

[0021] [Fig.3] is a cross-sectional view similar to that of [Fig.1] which illustrates a step of the manufacturing process of the entire housing assembly according to the invention, before the insertion of the metal pins that equip it;

[0022] [Fig.4] is a view similar to that of [Fig.1] which represents a variant of made with elongated metal pins. Detailed description of the invention

[0023] For the description of the invention and the understanding of the claims, the vertical, longitudinal and transverse orientations according to the V, L, T coordinate system shown in the figures shall be adopted, without limitation and without limiting reference to Earth's gravity, in which the longitudinal axis L and transverse axis T extend in a horizontal plane. By convention, the longitudinal axis L is oriented from back to front.

[0024] In the description that follows, identical, similar or analogous elements will be designated by the same reference numerals.

[0025] Figure 1 illustrates a housing assembly 10 comprising a housing 12 with an overall parallelepiped shape. The housing 12 here has two longitudinal side walls 14, 16 and two transverse side walls 18, 20 which define, in the lower part of the housing 12, an opening 22. The housing 12 is here closed in its upper part by a transverse wall, called the bottom wall 24, which extends transversely and is made in one piece with the side walls 14, 16, 18, 20.

[0026] The opening 22 is here closed by a plate 26 which extends in a transverse plane.

[0027] The housing 12 thus forms a compartment 28 in which an electronic card 30 is arranged.

[0028] According to the embodiment shown, the electronic card 30 is fixed to the inner face of the plate 26 by means of fixing studs 32.

[0029] Of course, according to alternative embodiments, the electronic card 30 could be arranged and fixed in different ways.

[0030] The electronic card 30 is presented here in the form of a printed circuit board 34 equipped with electronic components 36 on at least one of its faces.

[0031] Advantageously, the housing 12 includes a first series SI of metal pins 38 which are arranged in the thickness of one of the transverse side walls 18, 20, on the left in figures 1 and 2.

[0032] These metal pins 38 are, for example, in the form of vertical rods with a square cross-section. They are preferably press-fitted into the transverse side walls 18, 20 which are previously provided with suitable vertical housings 44.

[0033] According to the example shown, the first series SI comprises eight metal pins 38 which are regularly spaced at a determined distance, for example substantially equal to the cross-sectional dimension of a metal pin 38. The first series S1 is arranged here on only a portion of the transverse side wall 18.

[0034] The housing 12 here includes a second series S2 of metal pins 38 which are arranged in the thickness of the bottom wall 24. According to the example shown, this second series S2 comprises sixteen metal pins 38 which are regularly spaced and which form a square pattern.

[0035] According to the embodiment shown, all the pins 38 of the first and second series SI, S2 are oriented vertically, here orthogonally with respect to the electronic board 30. They are therefore parallel to each other.

[0036] The arrangement of these metal pins 38 is chosen to protect at least one protected area Z1, Z2 of the electronic board 30 or at least one electronic component 36 of the electronic board 30 against electromagnetic interference.

[0037] According to the embodiment shown, the first SI series provides protection against electromagnetic interference in a first lateral protected zone Zl located on the left side, considering Figures 1 and 2, as illustrated by the dashed rectangle in Figures 1 and 2. In this example, an electronic component 36 is covered by this first protected zone Zl since it is arranged opposite the alignment of the metal pins 38 of the first SL series

[0038] According to the embodiment shown, the second series S2 provides protection against electromagnetic interference in a second protected zone Z2 located below it, as illustrated by the dashed rectangle in [Fig. 1]. In this example, three electronic components 36 are covered by this second protected zone Z2 because they are positioned opposite the metal pins 38 of the second series S2.

[0039] The metal pins 38 of the first SI series here have a length slightly less than the height of the transverse side walls 14, 16, which makes it possible to cover a protected area Zl extending substantially over the entire height of the housing 12.

[0040] The metal pins 38 of the second series S2 here have a length slightly less than the vertical thickness of the bottom wall 24. They therefore have a length considerably less than the metal pins 38 of the first series SI.

[0041] It should be noted that the cross-section of the metal pins 38 could be round or of another shape. Furthermore, the pattern formed by the metal pins 38 of the second series S2 in the bottom wall 24 could be different, in particular to adapt to the arrangement of the electronic components to be protected.

[0042] One advantage of the proposed solution is that it can be adapted to different electronic card configurations 30, without it being necessary to arrange metal pins 38 on all the walls of the housing 12, or over the entire length of these walls.

[0043] Advantageously, the metal pins 38 are inserted by force into the walls of the housing 12, until an axial end is substantially flush with an associated wall surface.

[0044] As can be seen in [Fig. 2], the lower ends of the metal pins 38 of the first and second series S1, S2 are visible from below. In [Fig. 1], it can be seen that the lower end of the metal pins 38 of the first series S1 is flush with the lower edge 40 of the associated transverse side wall 18, and the lower end of the metal pins 38 of the second series S2 is flush with the inner surface 42 of the bottom wall 24.

[0045] A manufacturing process for the housing assembly 10 described previously is now described.

[0046] In a first step, the housing 12 is made of plastic material by plastic injection molding. During this molding step, the transverse side walls 14, 16 and the bottom wall 24 can be provided with vertical recesses 44 suitable for receiving the metal pins 38. According to an alternative embodiment, the vertical recesses 44 can be made after molding, for example by means of a drilling tool.

[0047] In a second step, the metal pins 38 are forcibly inserted into the vertical housings 44.

[0048] In a third step, the electronic card 30 is positioned in the housing 28 so that the electronic components 36 requiring protection against electronic interference are placed opposite the metal pins 38, in the protected areas Z1, Z2.

[0049] Advantageously, the openings of all the vertical housings 44 are placed on the same side, which facilitates the step of inserting the metal pins 38.

[0050] Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment in which the second The S2 series of 38 metal pins includes 38 extended metal pins on the perimeter of the second protected zone Z2. Thus, these metal pins 38 descend to the vicinity of the printed circuit board 34, from the lower surface 42 of the bottom wall 24. They are therefore projecting out of relation to the lower surface 42. They form a protective grid which protects the components 36 by surrounding them against electromagnetic waves emitted transversely.

[0051] LEGEND

[0052] 10: housing assembly 12: case 14, 16: longitudinal lateral wall 18, 20: transverse lateral wall 22: Opening 24: back wall 26: platinum 28: Housing 30: electronic card 32: fixing studs 34: Printed circuit board 36: Electronic components 38: Metal pins 40: lower edge 42: interior surface 44: Vertical housing SI: first series of metal pins S2: second series of metal pins Industrial zone: first protected zone Z2: Second protected zone

Claims

Demands

1. Housing assembly (10) comprising side walls (14, 16, 18, 20) and at least one transverse wall (24), said walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 24) being configured to delimit a housing (28) suitable for receiving at least one electronic card (30) equipped with electronic components (36), characterized in that it comprises at least one series (SI, S2) of metal pins (38) which are arranged in the thickness of at least one of the walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 24) so ​​as to protect at least one area (Z1, Z4) of the electronic card (30) or at least one component (36) of the electronic card (30) against electromagnetic interference.

2. Housing assembly (10) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the metal pins (38) of each series are arranged parallel to each other.

3. Housing assembly (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises at least a first series (S1) of metal pins (38) arranged in the thickness of a first side wall (18), along said first side wall (18), and a second series (S2) of metal pins (38) arranged in the thickness of the transverse wall (24).

4. Housing assembly (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that the metal pins (38) of the first series (SI) are substantially parallel to the metal pins (38) of the second series (S2).

5. Housing assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each metal pin (38) has an axial end substantially flush with an associated wall surface.

6. Housing assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the electronic components (36) of the electronic board (30) is arranged opposite a series (SI, S2) of metal pins (38).

7. Housing assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a portion of the metal pins (38) extends projecting from the transverse wall (24) into the interior of the housing (12) so as to form a grid of protection on at least one side of an electronic component (36) of the electronic board (30).

8. A method for manufacturing a housing assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the following steps: - making a housing (12) out of plastic material having side walls (14, 16, 18, 20) and at least one transverse wall (24), said walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 24) being configured to delimit a housing (28) suitable for receiving at least one electronic card (30) equipped with electronic components (36), - making at least one series of vertical housings (44) in the thickness of at least one of the walls (14, 16, 18, 20, 24), said vertical housings (44) being provided to press-fit a series of associated metal pins (38), - press-fitting at least one series (S1, S2) of metal pins (38) into the vertical housings (44), - positioning of the electronic card (30) in the housing (28) so that at least one zone (Zl,Z2) of the electronic board (30) or at least one component (36) of the electronic board (30) is protected against electromagnetic interference by the series of metal pins (38).

9. A manufacturing method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that, during the insertion step, a first and a second series (SI, S2) of metal pins (38) are inserted by force, the first series (SI) being inserted into the thickness of a lateral wall (18) and the second series (S2) being inserted into the thickness of the transverse wall (24).

10. Manufacturing method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the first and second series (SI, S2) are inserted from the same side of the housing (12).

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