Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-18
2001-01-30
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
C439S951000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179664
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a 64-bit PCI-ISA edge connector (64PCI-ISA). More particularly, the present invention describes a 64PCI-ISA edge connector that can plug into a 32-bit PCI-ISA (32PCI-ISA) slot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The increasing complexity of processors has necessitated a corresponding increase in bus complexity. Such progress can be noted by the various bus standards in use today, such as ISA, 32-bit PCI and, most recently, 64-bit PCI. These standards have their corresponding edge connectors and slots.
Please refer to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
depicts an industry standard 64PCI-ISA edge connector
10
and its associated slot
20
. The slot
20
is part of a passive backplane, a device which has only connectors mounted on its surface with a minimal amount of associated circuitry. Backplanes are common in industrial applications as they permit the rapid replacement of entire motherboards, as well as peripheral expansion boards, the backplane itself having a very low likelihood of failure.
The edge connector
10
has two distinct bus lines: an ISA bus edge connector
12
and a 64-bit PCI bus edge connector
14
. The 64-bit PCI edge connector
14
has a 32-bit PCI edge connector
16
and a 64-bit PCI edge connector extension
18
. The 32-bit PCI edge connector
16
provides full 32-bit PCI bus connectivity. The 32-bit PCI edge connector
16
with the 64-bit PCI edge connector extension
18
together provide full 64-bit PCI bus connectivity. A gap
30
with a predetermined width separates the 32-bit PCI edge connector
16
from the 64-bit PCI edge connector extension
18
. Please note that the number of contacts shown in the edge connector
10
are for illustrative purposes only. The actual number of contacts may differ. The full specification for the number of contacts, and their function, is publicly available, for example, from the PCI Special Interest Group, or the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group.
The slot
20
comprises two distinct bus slots set a predetermined distance apart from each other: an ISA bus slot
22
and a 64-bit PCI bus slot
24
. The 64-bit PCI bus slot
24
has a small separator in it (not shown) that corresponds to the gap
30
. Each of the slots
22
,
24
are actually a little bit longer than the lengths of their corresponding edge connectors, as indicated by the dashed lines
32
. This excess length is required for the structural integrity of the slots
22
,
24
, and is a source of trouble when attempting to plug the 64PCI-ISA edge connector
10
into a 32PCI-ISA slot.
Please refer to FIG.
2
.
FIG. 2
depicts the 64PCI-ISA edge connector
10
adjacent to a 32PCI-ISA slot
40
. The 32PCI-ISA
40
slot comprises two bus slots: an ISA bus slot
42
, and a 32-bit PCI bus slot
44
. These bus slots are set a predetermined distance apart, a distance equal to that between the two slots of the 64PCI-ISA slot
20
. Consequently, the ISA edge connector
12
, and the 32-bit PCI edge connector
16
, should be able to plug into their corresponding slots
42
and
44
, respectively. However, the 32-bit PCI slot
44
is a little too long, as indicated by the dotted lines
34
. The extra material required at the ends of the 32-bit PCI slot
44
exceeds the width of the gap
30
, and comes into contact with the 64-bit PCI edge connector extension
18
. This makes it impossible to plug the edge connector
10
into the slot
40
.
The 64PCI-ISA bus is relatively new. Many older systems are not equipped with such slots. Consequently, a manufacturer of computer boards must either make two versions of the board (a 32PCI-ISA version and a 64PCI-ISA version), or suffer a loss of customer base. Making two version of the same board is expensive, inefficient and may be confusing for the customer. Losing potential customers is often simply unacceptable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide a 64PCI-ISA card edge connector that can plug into both a 64PCI-ISA slot and a 32PCI-ISA slot.
The present invention, briefly summarized, calls for an edge connector that comprises an ISA edge connector, a 32-bit PCI edge connector, and a 64-bit PCI edge connector extension. A gap exists between the 64-bit PCI edge connector extension and the 32-bit PCI edge connector. The width of this gap is made sufficiently large so that the 32-bit PCI edge connector can plug into the 32-bit PCI bus slot of a 32PCI-ISA slot.
By enabling a single 64PCI-ISA card, with its associated edge connector, to plug into both a 64PCI-ISA slot and a 32PCI-ISA slot, the present invention ensures the most complete customer base possible for the computer board manufacturer. As a single edge connector of the present invention will fit both types of slots, only a single version of the board must be made, which reduces overhead and simplifies purchasing choices for the customer.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3614714 (1971-10-01), Silverstein
patent: 5277591 (1994-01-01), Felcman et al.
patent: 5387132 (1995-02-01), Saver et al.
patent: 5769668 (1998-06-01), Tondreault
Liu Chun-Chun
Tung Huei-Guo
Duverne J. F.
Hsu Winston
Nexcom International Co. Ltd.
Nguyen Khiem
LandOfFree
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