Power module adapter

Details Power module adapter Power module adapter

2001-09-25

2004-08-17

Vigushin, John B. (Department: 2827)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S772000, C361S782000, C361S783000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06778405

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an adapter board, and specifically to an adapter board that can be used to allow the pin-out of a replacement power supply to match the pin placement of an end user circuit card. The adapter board can also include circuitry to improve the quality of the signal transferred between the power module and the end user circuit card.
2. Description of Related Art
Distributed power architecture anticipates the use of multiple power supply modules that are connected to the specific circuit cards requiring the power. The card requiring the power can have a plurality of specifically placed contact pads. A power supply is mounted to the pads as using a solder paste. The assembly is then subjected to heat that melts the solder paste. Upon cooling the solder paste hardens thus coupling the power supply to the circuit card.
As with most electrical components and electrical subassemblies, end users of power supplies may purchase commodity power supplies from multiple vendors. For example, several companies may sell a 48 Vdc to 3 Vdc power converter. However, the pin placement for the various power converters may not adequately match those on the end user's card. In other words, the input, output and control signal pins may not be physically located in the same positions as their corresponding contact pads on the end user's circuit card. Thus, these non-conforming power supplies cannot be coupled directly to the end user's circuit card. A need exists for an adapter board that allows an end user to purchase a non-conforming power supply and effectively couple it to his circuit card. It should allow for effective current transition paths from the power modules pins to the card's contact pads. One attempt at creating an adapter card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,952 entitled “Adapter for Surface Mounted Devices.”
FIG. 1
provides an exploded view of the adapter disclosed in the '952 patent. In general, the adapter is directed to a surface mount device that includes a plurality of matched impedance input/output lines for connecting the surface mount device to a plurality of through hole pins. The adapter may be connected to a motherboard or other prototyping board for testing or prototyping the surface mount device. The adapter includes a printed circuit board having a top layer and bottom layer, and a footprint formed on the top layer of the printed circuit board for receiving the surface mount device. Impedance matching input/output lines are connected between a plurality of electrical pins of the surface mount device and a plurality of through hole pins attached to the printed circuit board.
FIG. 1
is an exploded view of an adapter
10
in a first embodiment. The adapter
10
includes a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB)
14
. The PCB
14
includes a top layer
12
, a power layer
24
, a ground layer
22
, and a bottom layer
16
. The power layer
24
is optional. Layers
12
,
16
,
22
, and
24
may be secured in a conventional manner. The power layer
24
may be formed onto the layer
12
or on the bottom layer
16
. Further, individual ground layers can be formed on the top layer
12
or the bottom layer
16
. The PCB
14
may be molded from non-conductive high impedance material. For example, the PCB
14
may be formed from plastics, polymer, or resins. The top layer
12
includes a footprint for receiving an electrical component
50
, such as a surface mount device. The electrical component
50
may be a gigahertz surface mount device. The footprint includes a plurality contact areas
20
for receiving a plurality of electrical leads or pins
55
extending from the bottom of electrical component
50
. The electrical leads
55
and the electrical component
50
are secured to the contact areas
20
and footprint, respectively, by soldering or other suitable means.
FIG. 1
illustrates that each of the electrical contacts
20
is electrically connected to a corresponding pad by through hole pin assembly
70
via an input/output line
26
. Each input/output line
26
is used to control the impedance of each component pin
55
to match the impedance of the electrical component
50
. The input/output line
26
may be a 50 ohm transmission line or other suitable transmission line. This means that high frequency signals can be used to operate the electric component without excessive noise.
The through hole pin assembly
70
includes a through hole pin
75
and a clamp
78
. The clamp
78
includes a top portion
78
a
and bottom portion
78
b
. The adapter
10
may include any number of pins
75
to secure the adapter
10
to a motherboard or prototyping board. The adapter
10
may have pins
75
dedicated to power and ground connections. Accordingly, these pins may be connected directly to planes
22
and
24
. This means that no long wire traces need to be employed to connect the component to the power and/or ground connections on the motherboard as in known systems. The ground plane
22
and the power plane
24
may be connected to selected pins corresponding to power and ground pins on the electrical component
50
. The ground and power planes
22
and
24
may be connected to the pins
55
or
75
using short electrical traces.
While
FIG. 1
shows a simple adapter, this adapter does not provide any signal enhancement elements that could be used to improve the overall performance of the devices or to compensate for any noise introduced by the adapter. Therefore, a need exists for an improved adapter that can carry the higher current load associated with power modules and also one that has circuitry to reduce noise or otherwise enhance the signal from the power module to the end user's circuit card.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an adapter for coupling a power module with a first pin configuration to an end user's circuit card having a second pin configuration. The power module can be a DC-to-DC converter or an AC-to-DC converter or any other sort of power module. Additional components may be added to the adapter to improve performance, add features and result in a better match for existing equipment. The adapter can have a first surface and a second surface. The first surface can be populated with a first set of interconnects, while the second surface can be populated with a second set of interconnects.
The power module has a first pin configuration that engages the first set of interconnects. Further, the end user circuit board has a second pin configuration that engages the second set of interconnects of the adapter. Between the first and second set of interconnects are circuit paths that provide the appropriate connectivity between the power module and the circuit board.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3719860 (1973-03-01), Lawrence
patent: 5075821 (1991-12-01), McDonnal
patent: 5694297 (1997-12-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5923176 (1999-07-01), Porter et al.
patent: 6265952 (2001-07-01), Kan
patent: 6366467 (2002-04-01), Patel et al.
patent: 6384492 (2002-05-01), Iversen et al.
patent: 6525944 (2003-02-01), Li

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