Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Spring actuated or resilient securing part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-26
2001-07-31
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Spring actuated or resilient securing part
C174S034000, C361S818000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267629
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to shields used in the protection of electrical components from electromagnetic and radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI). More particularly, the invention relates to shield clips and methods of providing EMI/RFI shielding in communication devices.
II. Description of the Related Art
Electrical components, such as resistors, capacitors, and semiconductor components, are often subjected to undesirable emissions, such as EMI/RFI, from neighboring emitting components. These emissions interfere with the operation of such components by temporarily altering or distorting their essential characteristics and, consequently, performance. Several methods are used to protect and shield components such as these from EMI/RFI occurring in proximity to a printed circuit board (PCB). A first method involves directly soldering an RF shield to a ground plane of a PCB around RF emitting components. A second method involves the use of shield clips coupled to the ground plane of a PCB to which an RF shield is permanently attached. A third method involves the use of removable RF shields attached to shield clips coupled to the ground plane of a PCB.
FIGS. 1 and 2
illustrate a front elevation view of two such conventional RF shield clips.
Several problems are associated with the applicability of these shielding devices and methods. For example, in the first method, it is often time consuming to solder RF shields to the ground plane of the PCB, thereby making the manufacturing process costly and inefficient. More importantly, by soldering RF shields to the PCB, it is highly cumbersome and often impossible to troubleshoot, repair, or replace components that are covered by the RF shield. In the second method, the permanent attachment of the RF shield to the shield clips subjects this method to problems similar to those associated with the first method.
In the third method, the shield clips often lose their spring tension that makes them unable to maintain a shield cover in place. As illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, two shield clips
100
and
200
are shown, each comprising a pair of side walls
107
,
109
and
207
,
209
. Each pair of side walls is spring biased inwardly toward the other, and bends outwardly in response to introduction of a shield cover between the walls, thus permitting insertion of the shield cover wall, e.g., a shield wall
115
. The spring tension of each pair of side walls attempts to keep the shield wall
115
in place over time. However, these shield clips tend to lose their spring tension and, hence, lack a sufficient grip to keep the shield wall
115
in place. To minimize the effects of lost tension, the shield clip
100
includes a locking latch
113
that locks the shield wall
115
in place. The shield wall
115
includes one or more grooves, each groove suitable for receiving the tip of the locking latch
113
. The lock latch
113
inserts into one of the grooves and, by virtue of its tension, locks the shield wall
115
in place. The use of the latch
113
, however, makes the shield cover more cumbersome and difficult to remove. Thus, having such a locking mechanism may defeat the purpose of maintaining removability of the shield cover.
Additionally, the soldering reflow may come in contact with the lower edge
111
of the shield wall
115
thereby making the shield cover difficult to remove from or become stuck in the shield clip. Consequently, troubleshooting, repairing, or replacing one or more components covered by the soldered RF shield is impaired. For further details on removable RF shields, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,268 issued to Ho et al., which is incorporated by reference.
Another problem associated with RF shielding involves the use of a large number (e.g., 10-50) of small RF shields. Typically, these RF shields are rectangular in shape with a width in the range of 1-5 millimeters (mm) and a length in the range of 1-5 mm. Mounting such a large number of small RF shields on the PCB increases the manufacturing time of the PCB and, consequently, implicates manufacturing costs.
Therefore, there is a need in the RF shielding technology to provide a removable shield that may be placed on PCBs using reliable shield clips, despite repetitive removal of the RF shield. Additionally, the RF shield should be designed to ensure separation from the solder reflow to ensure ease of removal from the PCB.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To overcome the above-mentioned limitations, the invention provides a clip configured to attach a cover onto a circuit board. In a first embodiment, the clip comprises a base plate that is constructed to be fixed to the circuit board. The clip further comprises at least one right wall connected to the base plate, the right wall having a right upper portion. The clip further comprises at least one left wall connected to the base plate, the left wall having a left upper portion, wherein the upper portions are configured to overlap in their resting position. In a second embodiment, the invention provides a clip configured to retain a cover onto a circuit board. The clip comprises a base plate having right and left sides, the base plate being configured to be fixed to the circuit board. The clip further comprises at least two right walls connected to and extending upwardly away from the right side of the base, each of the right walls having a right upper portion. The clip further comprises at least two left walls connected to and extending upwardly away from the left side of the base. Each of the left walls has a left upper portion, wherein the right and left walls are spring biased inwardly so that at least a portion of the right and left upper portions overlap.
In a third embodiment, the clip comprises means for supporting the clip, the support means being constructed to be fixed to the circuit board. The clip further comprises at least one right means for retaining the cover connected to the support means, the right retaining means having a right upper portion. The clip further comprises at least one left means for retaining the cover connected to the support means, the left retaining means having a left upper portion, wherein the upper portions are configured to overlap in their resting position. In a fourth embodiment, the clip comprises a base plate that is configured to be fixed to the circuit board. The clip further comprises a right wall connected to the base plate, the right wall having at least one opening. The clip further comprises a left wall connected to the base plate. The left wall has at least one middle segment that extends towards the right wall and away from the left wall. At least a portion of the middle segment is substantially aligned with the opening. In a fifth embodiment, the clip comprises means for supporting the clip, the supporting means being configured to be fixed to the circuit board. The clip further comprises right means for retaining the cover connected to the supporting means, the right retaining means having at least one opening. The clip further comprises left means for retaining the cover connected to the supporting means. The left retaining means has at least one middle segment that extends towards the right retaining means and away from the left retaining means. At least a portion of the middle segment is substantially aligned with the opening.
The invention further provides a method of securing a cover to a circuit board. The method comprises the step of fixing a base plate onto the circuit board, the base plate having at least one right wall and at least one left wall connected to the base plate. Each right wall has a right upper portion and each left wall has a left upper portion, wherein at least a portion of the upper portions are spring biased to overlap in their resting position. The method further comprises the step of sliding at least a portion of the cover between the right and left walls, so that each of the right and left walls presses against at least a portion of the cover.
In another embodiment,
Marthens Darrin J.
Matthews Michael G.
Nguyen Cam T.
Saltzman David J.
Brown Charles
Greenhaus Bruce W.
Qualcomm Incorporated
Sircus Brian
Wadsworth Philip
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