Straddle Mount Connector for PCB Heat Sink Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional connectors for printed circuit boards and heat sinks in military electronics face issues with alignment during soldering, leading to potential open circuits, and their long tails cause electromagnetic interference, limiting data transfer speeds and increasing susceptibility to jamming.
Innovation Solution
A straddle mount connector with rigid press-fit connector portions that maintain electrical and physical contact with the circuit boards, eliminating the need for soldering and minimizing tail exposure, thereby reducing interference and ensuring consistent data transfer speeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional U-shape connectors are used with long tails to accommodate various board sizes, then adaptability is improved, but electromagnetic interference increases and data transfer speed is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the problematic long tails from the connector structure. The connector portions are designed to terminate at or near the board edges without extending beyond them, eliminating the antenna effect while maintaining adaptability through the press-fit design that accommodates various board thicknesses.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of extending tails beyond the board to provide adaptability, the invention inverts the approach by using a press-fit structure that adapts to different board thicknesses through controlled insertion force and fixed gap positioning, eliminating the need for long extending tails.
2Reliability
If soldering process is used to attach connectors to boards, then reliable electrical contact is achieved, but alignment precision requirements increase and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the soldering mechanical/thermal process with a press-fit mechanical system. The connector portions are inserted into recesses in the boards and retained by friction and geometric interference, eliminating the need for soldering while maintaining reliable electrical contact through direct metal-to-metal contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The press-fit connector portions self-align and self-retain through the friction fit and geometric constraints of the recesses. The design inherently guides alignment during insertion without requiring external alignment fixtures or complex soldering procedures, making the assembly process self-correcting within tolerance ranges.
3Ease of operation
If connector tails extend beyond board edges, then ease of connection is improved, but susceptibility to electromagnetic jamming increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the extending tails beyond board edges, eliminating the antenna effect that causes susceptibility to electromagnetic jamming. The connector portions terminate at or near the board edges, maintaining ease of connection through the press-fit mechanism without the harmful radiation properties of long tails.
Data Source
AI summary
A straddle mount connector for use with a computer card having multiple circuit boards on opposing sides of a heat sink is disclosed. The straddle mount connector includes a pair of connector portions on opposing sides of the computer card. A first surface of the first connector portion is in electrical and physical contact with a board on one side of the heat sink while a first surface of the second connector portion is in electrical and physical contact with the board on the other side of the surface. The first surface of the first connector portion and the first surface of the second connector portion are separated by a fixed, predetermined distance.