Abstract:
A cable card having increased cable connector density is provided. The cable card has a non-planar surface and, therefore, more surface area than a planar cable card having the same outside dimensions. The increased surface area of the non-planar surface permits more connectors of a given size to be located on the cable card.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is generally related to the field of equipment connection. More particularly, the present invention is related to increasing connector density in equipment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the highly competitive area of electronic equipment, there is ever present pressure to provide more equipment in a smaller space. The problem is compounded by the high cost of electronic equipment and the associated reluctance on the part of the equipment owner to frequently replace this expensive equipment. When equipment changes are unavoidable, the cost of such changes can be greatly reduced if the cables and connectors used with the existing equipment can be reused. However, the physical size of connectors is often a limiting factor in condensing more equipment into a limited space. 
     FIGS. 1 and 2 are a front view and a top view, respectively, of an example of equipment in the related art. The example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a piece of computer network equipment having a frame  105  connected to a backpanel  110 . Network cards  130  are removably attached to the backpanel  110  and cables  140  are removably attached to backpanel  110  by connectors  120 . Cables  140  lead to various other pieces of equipment on the network. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, the above problems are solved by increasing the density of cable connectors attachable to a piece of equipment of a given size. Increasing the number of cable connectors attachable to a piece of equipment of a given size, while maintaining the size of the connectors, increases the capacity of the equipment without increasing the space required by the equipment or requiring expensive and time consuming recabling. 
     In accordance with the present invention, cable connector density is increased by providing a non-planar cable card to which the cable connectors are attached. A non-planar cable card having, for example, a zig-zag profile provides more surface area than a planar cable card having the same length and width. The increased surface area of the non-planar cable card provides more area for the placement of cable connectors. Therefore, for a given cable connector size, a non-planar cable card can accommodate more connectors than a planar cable card having the same length and width. 
     The invention permits a new cable card to be fabricated to fit existing equipment and provide an increased number of cable connectors of the same size as the existing equipment. As a result, the connectors on the existing cables need not be changed, avoiding expensive cable modifications and testing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     The invention will be more fully understood from the following Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments and the following drawing figures, which should not be construed as limiting, but are intended to be exemplary only, and of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of an example of related equipment; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the equipment shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is top view of equipment using a planar cable card; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of a cable card of a first embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a front view of the cable card shown in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a top view of an example of a support frame for the cable card shown in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 is a front view of the support frame shown in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of an embodiment of the invention incorporating the cable card of FIGS. 4 and 5 and the support frame of FIGS. 6 and 7; 
     FIG. 9 is a top view of a second embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a top view of third embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIG. 11 is a top view of a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The invention is not limited to the particular structures disclosed herein. Rather, as a natural consequence of reading this specification, other connector device executions within the purview of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art of connector devices. 
     FIG. 3 shows a piece of network equipment having a frame  205  to which a backpanel  210  is attached. A plurality of network cards  230  are removably attached to backpanel  210 . Network cards  230  are, for example, printed circuit boards containing electronic devices used to provide functionality of the network. Attached to backpanel  210  are two cable cards  270 . Although two cable cards  270  are shown in this example, a single cable card or more than two cable cards could be used. Cable cards  270  are electrically connected to network cards  230  by connector fields  250 . Electromagnetic Control (EMC) devices  260  surround connector fields  250  to contain any electromagnetic field produced by connector field  250 . Cable cards  270  have a plurality of connectors  220  by which cables  240  are connected to cable cards  270 . 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are a top view and a front view, respectively, of a cable card  370  in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, cable card  370  is made of a flexible layer  372  which is preferably a flexible printed circuit board material such as, for example, Kapton by Dupont. Certain portions of cable card  370  are made rigid by sandwiching flexible layer  372  between an upper rigid layer  374  and a lower rigid layer  376 . As shown in FIG. 4, by selectively locating upper rigid layer  374  and lower rigid layer  376 , alternating flexible sections such as flexible section  380  and rigid sections such as rigid section  390  are formed. As a result, cable card  370  can be bent as shown in FIG. 4 such that it has a zig-zag profile. Connectors  320  are located on particular portions of upper rigid layer  374  for connection to cables leading to, in this example, other components of a network. While connectors  320  are shown only on upper rigid layer  374  in this example, it is noted that connectors  320  can also be located on flexible layer  372 . In addition, the locations of connectors  320  shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are only one example of possible connector locations. It is noted that a maximum number of connectors  320  is preferable. Connector fields  352  are provided for connection to connector fields such as connector fields  250  on backpanel  210  shown in FIG.  3 . Electrical connection between connectors  320  and connector fields  352  are made through the printed circuits of flexible layer  372 . 
     Due to the flexible nature of cable card  370  and the mechanical stresses it is subjected to due to the weight of cables and connectors connected it, it is preferable to provide some sort of mechanical support for cable card  370 . FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of a support frame  395  that can be used to support cable card  370 . Support frame  395  is shown with a passage way  397  to enable connector field  352  to mate with a connector field on the equipment and slots  399  to accommodate connector pins which are soldered onto the cable card  370  by through hole technology. Support frame  395  can be made of cast iron, zinc die cast, structural plastic or any other sufficiently strong and rigid material. Although support frame  395  is shown as continuous from top to bottom in FIG. 7 such that it would support essentially the entire area of cable card  370 , a support frame could be provided that supports only the perimeter or any other portion of cable card  370  as long as cable card  370  is sufficiently supported. 
     FIG. 8 shows a piece of network equipment similar to that shown in FIG. 3 but equipped with cable card  370  and support frame  395 . In the interest of clarity, upper rigid layer  374 , lower rigid layer  376  and connector fields  352  are not shown in FIG.  8 . 
     The angle at which cable card  370  is bent at flexible sections  380  determines the increase in surface area obtained by the invention. For example, if cable card  370  is bent at 45° relative to horizontal, an increase of approximately 40% in board area is realized (2 Sin 45°=1.4). Other angles can also be used depending on connector size and shape. 
     FIGS. 9-11 show other embodiments of the invention. The embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 have alternating flexible sections and rigid sections similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-8. FIG. 9 shows a cable card  470  having a square, or notch, profile and an appropriate support frame  495 . FIG. 10 shows a cable card  570  having a dove tail profile and an appropriate support frame  595 . The embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 provide even more surface area on the cable card than does the embodiment shown in FIG.  8 . However, the embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 may be limited to use with connectors of only certain sizes and shapes due to the relatively small recesses created by their shapes. 
     FIGS. 8-10 are merely 3 examples of embodiments of the invention having angular surfaces. It is noted that any combination of the shapes of these embodiments is also contemplated as part of the invention. For example, the 90° inside corners or the 90° outside corners of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 could be replaced with surfaces that are 45° to the horizontal. Similar modifications could be made to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, if desirable. 
     FIG. 11 shows a cable card  670  and a support frame  695  having a wave profile. In this embodiment, cable card  670  may not include a rigid layer or it may include a rigid layer preformed to the wave profile. 
     While the invention has been described in detail, with reference to FIG. 4, as having upper rigid layer  374  and lower rigid layer  375  sandwiching flexible layer  372 , it is noted that this is just one example of the possible configurations. As alternatives, the cable card can use no rigid layers, a single or multiple rigid layers within the flexible layer, single or multiple rigid layers either above and/or below the flexible layer, multiple flexible layers or any combination thereof. 
     Depending on the configuration of the cable card, the cables connected to the cable card may be connected before or after the cable card is connected to the support frame. Due to the configuration of the cable card, it may be necessary to connect the cables to the cable card prior to the cable card being bent into its final shape and connected to the support frame. In other embodiments, the cable card will be mounted to the support frame and attached to the equipment prior to the cables being connected to the cable card. 
     The invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments. These embodiments are intended to be illustrative only. Variations, modifications and different applications of the invention taught in the Detailed Description and drawings will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it should be understood that other embodiments of the invention might be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.