Guide Assembly for Blind Mating Circuit Boards
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in achieving consistent and reliable blind mate interconnections between circuit boards in server and telecommunications equipment is exacerbated by increasing numbers of circuits and decreasing connector pitch, often requiring expensive specialized hardware and tight manufacturing tolerances.
Innovation Solution
A guide assembly with mechanical features that constrain five out of six degrees of freedom, providing X-axis and Y-axis alignment through guide members on the module housing and clamp, ensuring proper connector mating without the need for specialized hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If blind mate interconnections are achieved using conventional methods, then electrical connection between circuit boards is established, but very tight manufacturing tolerances and expensive specialized hardware are required
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment function is segmented into two independent sets of guide members: one set attached to the movable module housing and another set attached to the stationary clamp. This segmentation allows each set to perform a specific alignment function (X-axis and Y-axis respectively) independently, reducing the overall complexity compared to a single complex alignment mechanism while ensuring reliable connector mating.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide members act as intermediary elements between the module housing and the clamp, facilitating alignment without requiring direct complex interaction between the connectors themselves. These intermediary guide members translate the insertion motion into proper alignment, reducing the manufacturing tolerances needed for the connectors while maintaining reliable electrical connection.
2Reliability
If blind mate interconnections are achieved using conventional methods, then electrical connection between circuit boards is established, but expensive specialized hardware is required
Solution Approach 1:
The guide members are designed as simple, inexpensive mechanical features that can be easily manufactured and integrated into the module housing and clamp. Rather than using expensive specialized alignment hardware, the patent employs simple guide surfaces and contact features that achieve the same alignment function at lower cost, making the solution economically viable for mass production.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide members serve multiple functions: they provide alignment in both X and Y axes, guide the insertion motion, and ensure proper connector mating. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate specialized alignment components, reducing overall hardware cost while maintaining reliable blind mate interconnection.
3Quantity of substance
If connector pitch is decreased to accommodate more circuits, then circuit density increases, but alignment precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses alignment precision by introducing a two-dimensional alignment system using guide members that constrain motion in both X and Y axes. This dimensional approach to alignment compensates for the decreased connector pitch, ensuring that even with higher circuit density and smaller connector spacing, the alignment precision required for reliable mating is achieved through the guide members rather than relying solely on connector manufacturing tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide members serve as intermediary alignment features that bridge the gap between the module housing and the clamp, ensuring precise connector alignment even when pitch is decreased. These intermediaries provide the necessary mechanical guidance to maintain alignment precision despite the increased difficulty of aligning smaller, more densely packed connectors.
Data Source
AI summary
A guide assembly an enclosure-based device such as a computer provided in a rack-mountable chassis. The guide assembly is configured to facilitate blind connector mating such as electrical interconnection between a receiving connector on a previously-mounted board and an edge connector on a circuit board supported in a housing of a module that is slid or inserted into the interior space of the enclosure or chassis. The guide assembly (and devices that include a guide assembly) address the two design challenges discussed above of increasing numbers of circuits in devices that need to be connected and of decreasing pitch between the connectors. The guide assembly is configured, with its mechanical features, to decouple the degrees of freedom (DOFs) between the module being inserted into the chassis and the receiving/mating connector on the previously-mounted board. The guide assembly constrains five out of the six DOFs, which effectively ensures proper connector mating.