Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-21
2001-10-23
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305965
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an equipment assembly, and is particularly applicable to such an assembly in which a large number of electrical contacts are made with an electrical backplane when a sub-unit is inserted into the equipment. Each individual electrical contact may be fragile and easily damaged, and although the force needed to make a single electrical contact, e,g., by inserting a conductive pin into a socket is small, the total force needed to make a large number, eg many hundred, of contacts simultaneously will be very large indeed. It is very difficult to apply such a large force to the sub-unit as a whole without serious risk of damage to individual electrical contacts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention seeks to provide an improved equipment assembly in which this difficulty is reduced.
According to this invention, an equipment assembly includes a housing and a sub-unit, the housing and the sub-unit each having a large array of electrical contacts which mate when the sub-unit is inserted into the housing, the sub-unit having a plurality of threaded bolts which extend through the sub-unit to engage with cooperating threaded nuts secured to the housing, the plurality of bolts being linked together mechanically, so that all bolts engage simultaneously with their respective nuts, and draw the sub-unit into engagement with the housing as the bolts are rotated.
Preferably, two bolts are provided for each sub-unit, and preferably again the two bolts are spaced apart so that each is adjacent a side of the sub-unit. Preferably, the thread on each bolt is a single-start thread with the start position of all threads having approximately the same angular orientation with respect to the housing. This ensures that both bolts start to engage with its bolt at approximately the same time so as to minimize twist on the sub-unit which could damage the fragile electrical contacts.
In order to avoid overtightening the bolts, preferably a visual indication is given at the front surface of the housing or the sub-unit when the bolts are almost fully tightened. Preferably, the nuts are spring mounted in the housing to permit a slight amount of movement of the nuts relative to the housing so that the maximum required engagement force can be applied without having to fully or overtighten the bolts.
As a large insertion force is required, preferably a lever is provided which is mechanically linked to both bolts, so that rotation of the lever causes rotation of both bolts. Preferably, the lever has a predetermined rest position, so that the rest position of the start position of the threads is predetermined with respect to the bolts. This ensures that both threaded bolts engage the nuts at the same time. In order to provide a simple mechanical linkage between the two bolts, preferably they are arranged to rotate in mutually opposite senses—this means that one bolt has a right-hand thread, and the other bolt has a left-hand thread.
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Kirschstein et al.
Marconi Communications S.p.A.
Patel Tulsidas
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