Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-14
2002-04-02
Gandhi, Jayprakash N. (Department: 2841)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S759000, C361S801000, C361S804000, C220S004020, C211S041170
Reexamination Certificate
active
06366465
ABSTRACT:
PRIORITY CLAIM
This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Patent Application 199 01 534.1, filed on Jan. 16, 1999 the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a securing arrangement in a housing, including holding means that fix the position and securely hold a circuit board or similar board, plate, card or panel in a housing.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
It is typical in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry, that numerous electromechanical and/or electronic components, as well as circuit boards or similar supporting plates on which such components may be mounted, are arranged in housings so as to protect the several components from damage, dirt contamination, moisture, and the like. Especially in view of the shocks that will be applied to the housing and the components therein during operation of the motor vehicle, it is necessary that the various components and/or the boards arranged in the housing must be secured in a manner that is stable and resistant to such shocks.
A securing arrangement of the above described general type for securing circuit boards in a housing is disclosed in German Utility Model DE 93 21 190 U1. The conventional securing arrangement disclosed therein provides contact pins for holding the various components such as circuit boards and the like in a housing, and further provides spring clips for securing the contact pins and the components. On the one hand, the spring clips must be embodied in such a manner so that they securely grasp around and hold the contact pins and the circuit board, and on the other hand, the spring clips must ensure that they cannot be displaced from the proper positions on the respective contact pins. For these reasons, the spring clips must exert a large spring clamping force both onto the contact pin and onto the circuit board itself. Such a complicated arrangement and the required high clamping force that must be exerted by the spring clips increases the difficulty of assembling the arrangement in the housing, increases the cost of the various parts, and therefore increases the overall manufacturing cost of the arrangement.
It is also known from German Utility Model DE G 88 10 192.4, to secure a circuit board in a housing by passing a male pin through a cut-out in the circuit board and then into a cavity in a female pin, such that the circuit board is held between a protruding shoulder of the male pin and the end face of the female pin. Such an arrangement suffers the disadvantage that the position of the two pins relative to each other must be set with extreme precision. If the male pin is inserted slightly too far into the female pin, then the space between the protruding shoulder of the male pin and the end face of the female pin becomes too small to accommodate the thickness of the circuit board, and the board can easily be cracked by the application of an excessive clamping force in a direction parallel to the axis of the pins. On the other hand, if the male pin is inserted slightly not far enough into the female pin, then the space between the protruding shoulder of the male pin and the end face of the female pin becomes too large to properly constrain the circuit board therebetween, and the circuit board will not be held securely and durably in a fixed position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above it is an object of the invention to provide a securing arrangement for securing a circuit board or the like in a housing, that may be manufactured in a cost-economical manner, and that may be assembled fully automatically with a high process reliability while also achieving high reliability of the permanent, secure holding of the board in the housing. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to achieve additional advantages, as are apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved in a securing arrangement according to the invention, comprising a housing that includes a housing wall and at least one formed housing part such as a protrusion or positioning and securing stud (also generally called a mounting stud herein), as well as at least one securing pin. The circuit board that is to be secured in the housing has a through-hole therein, which is aligned with a hollow space of the formed housing part. Throughout this specification, the term “circuit board” will be used as an example of a board that can be secured according to the invention, but such a board may be any type of supporting board, substrate, panel, card, or plate that is to be secured in a housing.
The securing pin is inserted or pushed through the through-hole of the board and into the hollow space in the formed housing part. Thereby, the securing pin directly or indirectly secures the board relative to the formed housing part in a force-locking frictional manner so that the board cannot be displaced in the housing. For example, the securing pin exerts a substantially radially outwardly directed wedging, spreading, or pressing force directly onto the board, or indirectly through the end portion of the formed housing part onto the board. More particularly, the securing arrangement may be configured according to either of two embodiments. In a first embodiment, an end of the formed housing part is arranged flush with the board, i.e. the board rests on a free end of the formed housing part, and the securing pin directly contacts and applies a wedging force to the inner surfaces of the through-hole of the board. In a second embodiment, an end portion of the formed housing part protrudes through the through-hole of the board, and the securing pin applies a wedging force to the end portion of the formed housing part so that the end portion applies a pressing force to the inner surfaces of the through-hole.
The inventive securing arrangement provides the significant advantage that the circuit board or other plate or panel can be securely, permanently, reliably, and easily positioned, held, and fixed in the housing without requiring any additional clamping elements such as screws, rivets, spring clips, clamps, or the like, and instead the entire securing is carried out by the securing pin or pins. The securing pin extends through the through-hole in the board that is to be secured, and thereby wedgingly or pressingly holds the board in a permanent and non-displaceable manner in the housing, in that the pin is pressed into the hollow space of the formed housing part to a greater or lesser extent, and thereby achieves an adjustable or controllable wedging, spreading, or pressing effect between the securing pin and the formed housing part, and directly or indirectly also with the board that is to be secured. In this manner, a reliable securing connection is achieved in a force-locking or frictional manner, with a very simple construction, using the same materials from which the housing and particularly the formed housing part is fabricated.
The invention avoids the need of a form-locking connection, for example a connection in which the board is clampingly held in a positive form-locked configuration between two clamping shoulders or the like. The inventive arrangement especially omits the use of any sort of rim, shoulder or protrusion of the securing pin that would press against the upper surface of the board so as to hold the board between such a rim or the like and a counter surface of the formed housing part or mounting stud. No clamping forces are applied to the board in a direction parallel to the axis of the securing pin and the mounting stud, but instead only substantially radial wedging forces are applied to the inner surface of the through-hole of the board to achieve the present frictional force-locking.
As a result, it is not necessary to position the securing pin with high precision to an exact position relative to the mounting stud, but instead the securing pin may simply be inserted into the stud until the required degree of wedging force is achieved. A gradual co
Baur Richard
Fendt Guenter
Woehrl Alfons
Woerle Engelbert
Daimler-Chrysler AG
Fasse W. F.
Fasse W. G.
Gandhi Jayprakash N.
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