Retention mechanism and electronic module mounting system

Details Retention mechanism and electronic module mounting system Retention mechanism and electronic module mounting system

1999-12-30

2001-12-04

Thompson, Gregory (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C174S034000, C174S051000, C361S710000, C361S719000, C361S720000, C361S753000, C361S809000, C361S810000, C361S818000, C439S092000, C439S108000, C439S630000, C439S947000, C439S327000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06327147

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to mounting electronic components to a motherboard, and more particularly to mounting brackets with heat sinks and in particular to grounding a heat sink using an electromagnetic interference (EMI) retention module.
BACKGROUND
For a variety of reasons most electronic systems are modular in design. Different aspects or functions of a system are implemented on different circuit boards, thus allowing systems of varying degrees in functionality to be easily put together by including or excluding certain circuit boards. Modularity also allows systems to be easily upgraded with additional functions by adding or replacing certain circuit boards. Often, one of the circuit boards is considered to be the main circuit board, to which all the other circuit boards are connected. The main circuit board is often referred to as the backplane or the motherboard, whereas the other circuit boards are often referred to as the add-on boards/cards or daughter cards. For example, in the case of personal computers the circuit board where the main components such as the processor and the memory are mounted is often considered the motherboard. The expansion or optional functions, such as serial/parallel interfaces, game adapters, graphics and/or video adapters, network adapters, and modems, are implemented using add-on/daughter cards, which are connected to the expansion slots or connectors of the motherboard. However, in recent years, the role of the expansion slots/connectors is beginning to blur, as manufacturers begin to package processors and memory components on daughter cards, also referred to as processor cards.
A result of the increased heat dissipation and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding requirements of the newer high speed processors, continuous improvement in processor card design has been a goal of computer system designers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a retention mechanism formed of a molded plastic member having a base portion with at least one through-hole and a first through-slot adjacent thereto. The plastic member includes a card receiving structure having an open side, and a second receiving structure having an open side with a second through-slot through a wall of the receiving structure perpendicular to the base portion. Inserted in the plastic member is an elongate metal member having a base portion and a distal end. The metal member extends through the first and second through-slots with the base portion positioned adjacent the base portion and the distal portion positioned within the second receiving structure. The distal portion of the metal member is formed to provide spring action against a member inserted into the second receiving structure.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5574466 (1996-11-01), Reed et al.
patent: 5828960 (1998-10-01), Tang et al.
patent: 6074231 (2000-06-01), Ju
patent: 6115580 (2000-09-01), Chuprun et al.
patent: 6162069 (2000-12-01), Choy
patent: 6174176 (2001-01-01), Hong
Terrain-3D, web pages from Internet site http://206.27.208.202/3dterrain.html, no date provided, Dec. 1999.*
Dec./1999, Sep./2000.

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