Electricity: conductors and insulators – Anti-inductive structures – Conductor transposition
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-05
2003-12-09
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Anti-inductive structures
Conductor transposition
C361S692000, C361S800000, C361S816000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06660932
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally directed to pluggable cartridges for inserting printed circuit cards into and for removing them from printed circuit boards. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a removable exhausting EMC sealing system incorporated with the cartridge which provides a level of EMC shielding and thermal protection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The past twenty-five or so years have seen the development of ever smaller electrical circuit components at the chip level. However, to take fullest advantage of achievements in electrical circuit miniaturization, one must package the resultant printed circuit cards containing these chips in an efficient manner. Clearly, the packaging of printed circuit cards in tight spaces is a direct logical extension of increasing chip level circuit densities. It should also be noted that the tight packaging of integrated circuit chips on printed circuit cards and the correspondingly dense packaging of the printed circuit cards is a design goal that is carried out for more than just the convenience of compactness. Compactness provides shorter distances between circuit components which, in turn, serves the very desirable goal of being able to operate the circuits effectively at higher frequencies, thus increasing the speed of numerous different forms of electrical systems, including but not limited to data processing systems.
Moreover, mainly for reasons associated with long-term system operation and reliability, it is likewise very desirable to be able to easily insert and remove these printed circuit cards even when they are disposed in very tight spaces. The insertion and removal operations are also provided as an important part of a “hot-pluggability” function which is very desirable for “on the fly” repairs, replacements, maintenance and upgrades.
With increased circuit density there has also been an additional constraint on packaging design. It should be appreciated that increased circuit density is more susceptible to damage and performance disruptions due to thermal effects. As components and circuits become smaller, their packaging becomes smaller thus allowing manufacturers and designers to more densely populate boards and systems. However, the smaller packaging means that there is less opportunity to dissipate heat generated by the component. As a result, any externally radiated heat from PCB's or components surrounding the smaller packaging is less likely to be dissipated, thus producing thermal damage and/or noise within the circuit and component with increased circuit density, there is also a concomitant increase in power density and heat dissipation. Accordingly, packaging designs should be fully compatible with those aspects of system design associated with cooling functions. Also, to whatever extent possible, packaging designs should be: economical to produce; function smoothly; require little or no maintenance; be producible from inexpensive, readily available materials; and be reliably operable over a large number of insertion and removal operation cycles.
Yet one other concern arises in electrical systems as circuit feature size shrinks, operating frequencies increase and packaging densities grow larger, namely, the generation of electromagnetic interference (EMI). Electronic circuit packaging designs should thus also be compatible with structures and configurations that are employed to prevent the leakage of electromagnetic interference. To whatever extent possible, packaging designs should also include structures which actually contribute positively to the containment of electromagnetic interference. There is an ever increasing problem of electromagnetic interference caused by such devices. Virtually every electronic device, intentionally or not, emits some form of electromagnetic radiation. While this condition could be tolerated when few devices existed, the increasing number of electronic devices has made the problem more acute. The problem has been exacerbated by the “improvement” in semiconductor devices which allows them to operate at higher speeds, generally causing emission in the higher frequency bands where interference is more likely to occur. Successful minimization of the interference problem, sometimes referred to as “electromagnetic compatibility” or “EMC”, generally requires that emissions from a given device be reduced by shielding and other means, and shielding be employed to reduce the sensitivity of a device to fields from other devices. Since shielding helps to reduce sensitivity to external fields as well as reduce emissions from the device, it is a common approach to a solution of the problem.
It is also noted that the present discussion refers to printed circuit boards and printed circuit cards. As contemplated herein, the printed circuit board is the larger component into which at least one printed circuit card is inserted for purposes of electrical connection. The present disclosure places no specific limits on either the size of a printed circuit board or the size of a printed circuit card. In the most general situation, a circuit board will be populated with a plurality of printed circuit cards. That is, the printed board will have a number of printed circuit cards inserted therein. Accordingly, as used herein, the terms “printed circuit board” and “printed circuit card” are considered to be relative terms.
Accordingly, the present inventors are presented with the following sometimes competing packaging problems: dense and close packaging, cooling, electromagnetic interference shielding, hot pluggability, the desire to provide an easy-to-load cartridge for carrying printed circuit cards, the removal of fully populated printed circuit boards and the insertion thereof, and means to provide a removable cooperative EMI shielding arrangement in a system which also provides circuit board thermal protection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A docking apparatus for printed circuit boards including a cassette housing, having a housing base, a housing cover and a housing wall, wherein the housing base and the housing wall are disposed relative to each other so as to define a housing cavity for containing a printed circuit card and wherein the housing wall includes a cable opening disposed so as to be communicated with the housing cavity, a housing bezel, disposed relative to the cassette housing so as to be associated with the cable opening, the housing bezel includes an outer bezel having a first plurality of openings and an inner bezel having a second plurality of apertures, the inner bezel in electrical communication with the printed circuit card, wherein said housing bezel is removable, and an EMC gasket disposed between the outer and inner bezels of said housing bezel, the EMC gasket configured to provide a removable EMC seal proximate the cable opening while still allowing airflow through the first and second plurality of apertures having the EMC gasket therebetween.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4821145 (1989-04-01), Corfits et al.
patent: 4821146 (1989-04-01), Behrens et al.
patent: 4872212 (1989-10-01), Roos et al.
patent: 5289347 (1994-02-01), McCarthy et al.
patent: 5398822 (1995-03-01), McCarthy et al.
patent: 5504657 (1996-04-01), Stocco
patent: 5943219 (1999-08-01), Bellino et al.
patent: 6449150 (2002-09-01), Boone
patent: 6478170 (2002-11-01), Zeidan et al.
patent: 2272796 (1990-11-01), None
“Sheet Metal Logic Cage”, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 37, No. 7, Jul. 1994, pp. 571-572.
Barringer Dennis R.
Seminaro Edward J.
Toffler Harold M.
Cantor & Colburn LLP
Gonzales Floyd A.
Oliva Carmelo
Reichard Dean A.
LandOfFree
Dynamically moveable exhausting EMC sealing system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Dynamically moveable exhausting EMC sealing system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dynamically moveable exhausting EMC sealing system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3150440