Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-29
2004-10-05
Thai, Luan (Department: 2827)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S790000, C257S686000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06801440
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for mounting module substrates having an electronic circuit, such as a DC-DC converter power-supply circuit, on a motherboard.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 12
is a schematic side view showing an example of a module substrate mounting structure. A module substrate
49
includes a circuit board
45
with a circuit pattern (not shown) thereon, and circuit components
46
(for example, a transformer and an IC) mounted on the circuit pattern.
A circuit pattern (not shown) is formed on a motherboard
50
, and circuit components (not shown) are mounted thereon. The circuit patterns of the module substrate
49
and the motherboard
50
are electrically connected to each other via connecting members
48
.
An example of the module substrate is a DC-DC converter device. The DC-DC converter device converts input DC voltage and current into output DC voltage and current that satisfies specified requirements. A plurality of such DC-DC converter devices
49
are sometimes used in response to requests for output voltage and current conforming to the specified requirements. In this case, for example, a plurality of DC-DC converter devices
49
are arranged side by side with a space D therebetween on the motherboard
50
in consideration of heat radiation efficiency, as shown in FIG.
11
. These DC-DC converter devices
49
are connected in parallel or in series by a wiring pattern
51
provided on the motherboard
50
according to the specifications.
However, in order to arrange a plurality of DC-DC converter devices
49
side by side such that the space D is provided therebetween, the motherboard
50
must have a large mounting area that is at least equal to the sum of the area corresponding to the number of the DC-DC converter devices and the area corresponding to the space D. For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the size of the motherboard
50
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a module substrate mounting structure which allows a plurality of module substrates to be mounted on a motherboard with very high density.
According to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a module substrate mounting structure includes a motherboard having connecting pads disposed on the surface thereof, and a plurality of module substrates each having connecting terminals provided on the surface thereof, wherein the module substrates are stacked with a space therebetween on the motherboard, the connecting terminals of the module substrates are electrically connected to the connecting pads on the motherboard via connecting members, a plurality of connecting terminals are arranged along an edge portion of each of the module substrates, the module substrates are stacked such that the connecting terminals aligned with each other, a plurality of connecting pads are arranged on the surface of the motherboard in the direction of arrangement of the connecting terminals, a plurality of rows of the connecting pads are arranged to be sequentially offset from one another from the inside of a region on the motherboard where the module substrates are mounted toward the outside thereof, the connecting terminals of an upper module substrate of the module substrates are electrically connected to the row of connecting pads on the outer side of the row of connecting pads connected to the connecting terminals of a lower module substrate via the connecting members, the length of the connecting members increases as the position of the module substrate connected thereto is higher, and the connecting members connected to the upper module substrate project further than the connecting members connected to the lower module substrate.
In this case, since a plurality of module substrates are stacked on the motherboard, the component mounting density on the motherboard is greatly increased, compared with the case in which a plurality of module substrates are placed side by side on the motherboard.
By making the lengths of the connecting members to be connected to a plurality of module substrates different, the module substrates can be stacked without using a substrate supporting member having a special shape. For this reason, it is possible to mount a plurality of module substrates on the motherboard with very high density and at low manufacturing cost without increasing the number of components and the number of manufacturing processes.
Furthermore, since the connecting members connected to the upper module substrate project further than the connecting members connected to the lower module substrate, it is possible to prevent the connecting members of a plurality of module substrates from touching one another even when the module substrates are stacked.
According to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, a module substrate mounting structure includes a motherboard having connecting pads disposed on the surface thereof, and a plurality of module substrates each having connecting terminals provided on the surface thereof, wherein the module substrates are stacked with a space therebetween on the motherboard, the connecting terminals of the module substrates are electrically connected to the connecting pads on the motherboard via connecting members, a plurality of connecting terminals are arranged along an edge portion of each of the module substrates, the module substrates are stacked on the motherboard and are sequentially offset from one another in the direction of arrangement of the connecting terminals so that the edge portions with the connecting terminals disposed thereon are aligned with one another, and the connecting pads to be electrically connected to the connecting terminals of the module substrates via the connecting members are located in the same row.
In this case, since the module substrates are stacked while being offset from each other in the direction of arrangement of the connecting terminals, it is possible to prevent the connecting members of a plurality of module substrates from touching one another even when the module substrates are stacked. Moreover, since the connecting members of the upper module substrate and the connecting members of the lower module substrate are arranged in the same row, it is possible to equally and easily check the connecting state between the connecting members of the upper module substrate and the connecting pads and the connecting state between the connecting members of the lower module substrate and the connecting pads.
According to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention, a module substrate mounting structure includes a motherboard having connecting pads disposed on the surface thereof, and a plurality of module substrates each having connecting terminals disposed on the surface thereof, wherein the module substrates are stacked with a space therebetween on the motherboard, the connecting terminals of the module substrates are electrically connected to the connecting pads on the motherboard via connecting members, a plurality of connecting terminals are arranged along an edge portion of each of the module substrates, the module substrates are stacked on the motherboard and are sequentially offset from one another in the direction of arrangement of the connecting terminals so that the edge portions with the connecting terminals disposed thereon are aligned with one another, a plurality of connecting pads are arranged on the surface of the motherboard in the direction of arrangement of the connecting terminals, a plurality of rows of the connecting pads are arranged to be sequentially offset from one another from the inside of a region on the motherboard, where the module substrates are mounted, toward the outside thereof, the connecting terminals of an upper module substrate of the module substrates are electrically connected to a row of connecting pads on the outer side of a row of connecting pads connected to the connecting termina
Inoue Keiji
Ohashi Yasuo
Yoshikawa Toru
Dinh Tuan
Keating & Bennett LLP
Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Thai Luan
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