Floating Bus Bar Connector Misalignment Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rack-mounted computing systems face damage due to misalignment of bus bar clips with bus bars during insertion, leading to potential damage of clips, bus bars, chassis, or printed circuit boards.
Innovation Solution
A floating bus bar connector is designed to move relative to the chassis, allowing for misalignment correction by securely mounting a connecting clip and conducting terminal to a carrier plate that can move perpendicular to the bus bars, featuring curved ends for engagement and optional wire spring clips for secure connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bus bar clips are rigidly mounted to the chassis or PCB, then the connection structure is simple and stable, but damage occurs easily when misalignment happens during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar connector is transformed from a rigid fixed structure to a dynamic floating structure that can move relative to the chassis. The connector is mounted on a carrier plate that is movably coupled to the chassis, allowing the connector to dynamically adjust its position to accommodate misalignment during insertion, thereby preventing damage while maintaining connection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating mounting structure provides a cushioning mechanism that absorbs misalignment shocks before they can cause damage to the bus bar clips, bus bars, chassis, or PCB. The movable carrier plate acts as a buffer that compensates for positioning errors in advance, preventing harmful forces from being transmitted to the rigid components.
2Ease of manufacture
If bus bar clips are rigidly mounted, then manufacturing and assembly are straightforward, but misalignment during insertion causes damage to clips, bus bars, chassis, or PCB
Solution Approach 1:
The connector assembly incorporates a movable carrier plate that simplifies the manufacturing process by eliminating the need for high-precision alignment features on the chassis. The floating mounting structure allows for easier assembly while protecting components from damage during the insertion process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the bus bar connector is fixed to the chassis, then the structure is stable and simple, but it cannot compensate for misalignment during rack insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The connector structure incorporates a movable carrier plate that provides misalignment compensation through controlled movement. This dynamic element allows the connector to adapt to positioning variations during rack insertion while maintaining overall structural simplicity and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector assembly is segmented into distinct functional components: the bus bar clips, the conducting terminals, and the movable carrier plate. This segmentation allows the carrier plate to independently handle misalignment compensation while the other components maintain their respective functions, achieving adaptability without excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A floating bus bar connector connects a computing asset to bus bars using a connecting clip and a conducting terminal that is coupled to the connecting clip and to an electronic component inside the computing asset. To simplify connection to the bus bars, the floating bus bar connector is mounted to a chassis of the computing asset so that the entire connector is movable, relative to the chassis, in a direction perpendicular to the bus bar. Thus, if the floating bus bar connector and bus bars become misaligned when the computing asset is being connected to the bus bars, the floating bus bar connector may move to realign with the bus bars.