Component mounting device for an electrical controller

A device with components arranged on a p.c. board and attached by connector contact pads, fasteners for additionally fixing the components in place, and at least one connector strip positioned above the p.c. board surface and attached to the p.c. board, with the fasteners being structural elements molded on the connector strip, and at least one component being arranged and fixed in place between the structural elements and the p.c. board.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a device, in particular a switching and 
control device for motor vehicles. 
BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
In conventional electrical devices, vibration-sensitive components arranged 
on a p.c. board and soldered on via connector contact pads are 
additionally attached to the p.c. board by cementing with silicon or by 
using separate holders or cable ties. This additional mounting technique 
for the vibration-sensitive components usually requires additional manual 
operations, which entails additional cost and time outlays. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a device to reliably mount 
components without additional structural elements or cementing steps. 
According to the present invention, a connector strip, i.e., either a plug 
connector strip or a socket connector strip, is arranged at least 
partially above the surface of a p.c. board. The connector strip is 
preferably soldered rigidly to the p.c. board via its connector contact 
pads. Fasteners for attaching vibration-sensitive components are provided 
in the form of structural elements arranged on the bottom or the back of 
the connector strip. The components, which are soldered onto the p.c. 
board via their connector contact pads, are fastened in place on the p.c. 
board by the structural elements. To do this, the structural elements may 
merely define the position of the components, or it may be possible to 
clamp the components between the structural elements and the p.c. board. 
One advantage of the object achieved according to the present invention is 
that it reduces costs by reducing the number of parts and eliminating 
non-reproducible manual operations. By attaching the connector strip, the 
components can be easily positioned on the p.c. board when mounting the 
connector strip and can be clamped between the connector strip and the 
p.c. board, depending on the arrangement of the structural elements in 
relation to the component size. 
A further advantage of the object achieved according to the present 
invention is that high components can be fixed in place in the connector 
area, thereby making it possible to reduce the enclosure height in the 
remaining area of the p.c. board. 
The connector strip preferably has a plug connector positioned parallel to 
the p.c. board surface and a socket connector positioned between the p.c. 
board and the plug connector, with the socket connector being provided 
with spacing elements between which a cavity is formed in which the at 
least one component is positioned. The spacing elements, which are 
preferably positioned on the side of the connector strip, form a cavity 
beneath the plug connector and between the spacing elements lying on the 
p.c. board, with the vibration-sensitive component, surrounded by 
connector contact pads of the connector strip, being positioned in this 
cavity. Thus, a free area of the connector strip is used for positioning 
the component. The advantage of this is that the connector strip can be 
easily mounted above the component soldered to the p.c. board and, after 
being correctly positioned, soldered onto the p.c. board. 
In a first exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, at 
least one of the structural elements is a wedge with the tapered end 
facing the p.c. board surface for clamping the component in place. The 
wedge is preferably a component molded onto the socket in the form of a 
rib arranged vertically to the p.c. board surface. The wedge with the 
tapered end facing the p.c. board surface has a clamping surface in 
contact with the component to be clamped in place, the wedge clamping 
surface preferably forming an approximately 45-degree angle with the 
normal to the p.c. board surface. The wedge clamping surface can be used 
to mount the component on the p.c. board and to also press it against a 
further rib positioned vertically to the p.c. board surface so that the 
component can be easily clamped in place in the socket cavity. 
In a second exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, the 
structural elements are angle elements arranged, in particular, parallel 
to the p.c. board surface, between which the components can be fixed in 
place by their edges. At the height of the top edge of a cuboid component 
above the p.c. board surface, at least two angle elements, which grip the 
component by its corners, are positioned on the bottom of the connector. 
The angle elements are preferably formed by two vertical webs arranged at 
an angle to one another and having an inclined surface on their lower 
edges facing the p.c. board so that the connector strip can be easily 
pushed onto the component. 
In a third exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, the 
structural elements can have a fastening surface, in particular a concave 
fastening surface, which matches the outer shape of a component to be 
fastened in place. For example, a structural element for a cylindrical 
electrolytic capacitor can be a web with a circular recess arranged 
perpendicularly to the capacitor's axis. This enables the component to be 
fastened firmly in place between the p.c. board and the structural 
element. 
The connector strip preferably has two plug connectors fastened to a 
bracket, and the structural elements are arranged between both plug 
connectors in a recess in the bracket. The cavity between the two plug 
connectors can thus be advantageously used by positioning large or 
vibration-sensitive components. The structural elements described above 
can be easily formed on the bracket of the two plug connectors positioned 
beneath the connector socket. The angle elements can also grip a side edge 
of the component. 
In an especially advantageous exemplary embodiment according to the present 
invention, the device has a flat p.c. board enclosure with an elevated 
connector mounting area, and large components, in particular capacitors or 
relays, are arranged in the connector strip area. In this manner, the p.c. 
board can be arranged in a flat enclosure part, preferably fitted with 
SMDs, and large components are fixed in place vibration-free in the 
connector strip area by the structural elements. In doing so, the large 
components can be clamped in place by the structural elements only in one 
side edge area beneath the connector strip. 
The structural elements can also be advantageously arranged entirely within 
the connector base area on the p.c. board. As a result, the 
vibration-sensitive components do not project from the sides of the 
connector strip, which means that the components can be fixed in place on 
all sides by the structural elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The device according to the present invention has a connector strip 2 
arranged on a p.c. board 1. The p.c. board 1 is fitted with components, 
with a high component 3 and a vibration-sensitive component 4 being 
positioned in the area of connector strip 2 on p.c. board 1. 
Connector strip 2 has two plug connectors 5 and 6 with plug-in contacts 7, 
arranged parallel to p.c. board 1, which match the socket contacts (not 
shown) of a second connector strip, and a socket connector 8 with which 
the connector strip 2 is attached to p.c. board 1. Plug-in contacts 7 are 
each soldered in an electrically conductive manner onto components 3 and 4 
arranged on p.c. board 1 via connector contact pads 9, which are soldered 
onto p.c. board 1. Socket connector 8 also has positioning pins 11 and 
snap-in pins 11a, which can be used to fasten connector strip 2 to p.c. 
board 1. This can be done either with a snap-in connection or a solder 
connection. Socket connector 8 has spacing elements 12 between which a 
cavity 13 is formed for holding high component 3 and vibration-sensitive 
component 4. 
Vibration-sensitive component 4 has an essentially cylindrical outer shape 
and is attached to p.c. board 1 by its two lead wires 14. Two wedges 16 
projecting from and molded onto spacing elements 12 in cavity 13, with a 
wedge clamping surface 17 inclined at an approximately 45 degree angle to 
the normal to p.c. board 1, are in contact with vibration-sensitive 
component 4 and press vibration-sensitive component 4 in the direction of 
p.c. board 1 and against the other high component 3, which serves as a 
stop. However, an additional wedge can also be used as the stop for 
vibration-sensitive component 4. 
High component 3 is fixed in place on the back of connector strip 2 by two 
angle elements 18 so that part of high component 3 projects over the 
connector strip base. High component 3 is fixed in place by the 
soldered-on connector contacts and the two angle elements 18 to prevent 
vibrations and oscillations. Undersides 19 of angle elements 18 formed by 
two vertical webs are attached to high component 3 to more easily mount 
connector strip 2. 
A seal 23 is provided to seal connector strip 2 against the enclosure, 
which is high in area 21 of connector strip 2 and flat in area 22 of p.c. 
board 1.