Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-09
2001-11-20
Gandhi, Jayprakash N. (Department: 2841)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S799000, C361S800000, C174S034000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06320762
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed, in general, to electronics packaging and, more specifically, to a fixed, electrically conductive pin for an electronics case that also serves as a printed wiring substrate and a method of manufacturing the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Electronic devices for power supplies and similar applications are conventionally provided in a protective, heat-dissipation package. These board mounted power conversion modules are widely used in telecommunications or computer-related electronic data processing environments.
Similar to other consumer electronic products (for example, notebook computers), these board mounted power conversion modules are being packaged with more functions and more output power in smaller size, lighter weight, lower profile, and higher efficiency modules. The power density (total output power divided by the volume of the power module) of today's board mounted power modules is increasing as new products are introduced. However any improvements in power, density and profile cannot be at the expense of the electrical characteristics of the components and the overall power supply. A significant improvement in types of board mountable electronic devices was made in the encapsulated board mountable power supply of the type described in Stevens U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,350, entitled “Encapsulated, Board-Mountable Power Supply and Method of Manufacture Therefor.” Such a device represents a significant manufacturing advance and convenience from both a time and monetary perspective.
While the invention described in Stevens provided a significant advance in the manufacture of electronic equipment, it shares a limitation with other new generation, small-sized, board mountable electronic circuits. That limitation is the fact that it lacks a convenient method of providing a case grounding connection between the substrate of the device housed in the case and the supporting substrate upon which the device is mounted.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a device or method to provide a case grounding connection between a substrate of a circuit contained in a board mountable case and the substrate that supports the cased circuit as a part or component of a larger circuit. Such a case grounding device or method must provide a reliable case ground while preserving the convenience of permitting an assembly process that only requires the cased circuit to be plugged into a supporting substrate. Preferably, the technique should be cost-effective and suitable for mass production.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides an electronics case, a method of manufacturing the same and a power module incorporating the case. In one embodiment, the case includes: (1) an enclosure including a metal substrate that forms walls of the enclosure and a dielectric material located on inner surfaces of the walls that insulate the substrate from electronics components located within the enclosure and (2) an electrically conductive pin, affixed to a sidewall of the substrate enclosure and extending to without the enclosure, that allows the substrate to be electrically coupled to a structure supporting the case.
The present invention therefore introduces the broad concept of providing a pin (most advantageously a case ground pin) that is directly affixed to a sidewall of an electronics enclosure/component substrate. In an embodiment to be illustrated and described, the pin is affixed by forming an aperture in the sidewall and riveting the pin to within the aperture.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the case further includes a plurality of electrically conductive traces located on the material and insulated from the substrate. In the embodiment to be illustrated and described, the pin passes through the material, and through an interior of the enclosure before extending to without the enclosure. Of course, the pin may protrude from the enclosure, never passing through its interior.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the components are components of a power converter. In the embodiment to be illustrated and described, the power converter components and case cooperate to form a power module, which may itself be board-mounted as a single unit. Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention, the structure is a printed circuit board having electrically conductive traces located thereon.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the case further includes an encapsulant at least partially occupying the enclosure. The encapsulant, while not necessary to the present invention, nonetheless provides support for electronic components within the enclosure and rigidity to the case as a whole.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4325103 (1982-04-01), Ito et al.
patent: 5075821 (1991-12-01), McDonnal
patent: 5081434 (1992-01-01), Sakamoto et al.
patent: 5508889 (1996-04-01), Ii
patent: 5835350 (1998-11-01), Stevens
patent: 5907478 (1999-05-01), Watanabe
patent: 1-196200 (1989-08-01), None
patent: 4-111397 (1992-04-01), None
patent: 10-41669 (1998-02-01), None
Chen Shiaw-Jong S.
Hooey Roger J.
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