Dual purpose card edge connector

Abstract: A dual purpose card edge connector (10) can accept a printed circuit card (12) having conductive pads (14) on one center-line spacing or another printed circuit card (16) having conductive pads (18) on a different center-line spacing. More particularly, contact portions (48,66) on contact elements (24,26) disposed in an insulating housing (20) are alternatively located at two different levels to cooperate with positioning members (34) in the card receiving slot (22) so that a circuit card (16) not having edge notches are positioned on the positioning members (34) and the conductive pads (18) are engaged by the contact portions (48) at the upper level while a circuit card (12) having edge notches slides past the positioning members (34) and the conductive pads (14) thereon are engaged by the contact portions (48,66) at both levels.

Description: The invention disclosed herein relates to card edge connectors for electrically connecting circuits on a printed circuit card to circuits on a printed circuit board or back plane. Known edge card connectors; e.g., US-A-4,636,021, are constructed to receive circuit cards having conductive traces or pads on a given center-line spacing; e.g., 1.27 mm (0.050 inches) between adjacent pads. Thus, a card having a different spacing could not be accepted therein. This means that if a user wanted to use a new circuit card having a different pad spacing, he would have to remove the first card edge connector (a difficult, time consuming task) and install a second connector which would accept the new card. Therefore, it is now proposed to provide a card edge connector which will accept one or another card each having a different conductive pad spacing. To this end, the present invention consists in a dual-purpose card edge connector for use with either of two printed circuit cards having conductive pads disposed thereon in two different spatial patterns, respectively, said connector comprising an elongated dielectric housing having an outwardly open card edge receiving slot extending longitudinally thereof, conductive contact elements disposed within the housing and extending alongside the slot and having contact portions thereon projecting into the slot at higher and lower levels, keying means in the slot for engaging with cooperating keying means on each card so that the card is inserted into the slot in a predetermined orientation foe engagement with contact portions of the contact elements, and one or more card positioning means within the slot for engaging with cooperating positioning means on each card subsequent to interengagement of the keying means, whereby the card positioning means controls the depth of insertion into the slot of each circuit card and, hence, the engagement of the conductive pads on the card with the contact portions of the contact elements. The invention also consists in a dual-purpose card edge connector assembly comprising a connector including an elongated dielectric housing having an outwardly open card edge receiving slot extending longitudinally thereof, and conductive contact elements disposed within the housing and extending alongside the slot and having contact portions thereon projecting into the slot at different levels, and a printed circuit card having conductive pads engageable with contact portions of the conductive contact elements, said printed circuit card having said conductive pads arranged thereon in a predetermined spatial pattern, and contact portions of predetermined contact elements of the connector having a corresponding spatial pattern for engaging the contact pads of the card when the card is disposed in the slot at a selected level, the contact portions of the remaining contact elements thereupon being isolated from the conductive pads on the card, and said connector having one or more card positioning means in the slot engaged with cooperating positioning means of the card and positioning the card at the selected level. The invention further consists in the use of one embodiment of the card edge connector with either of two printed circuit cards having conductive pads or traces of different centerline spacing. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention and also of two printed circuit cards which may be inserted into the connector for electrical engagement notwithstanding the fact that the conductive pads thereon are on different center-line spacing; Figure 2 is a cut-away view of the connector to show the details with regard to the contact elements contained therein; Figures 3 and 4 are end cross-sectional views of the connector showing details of the cavities and contact elements positioned therein; Figure 5 is a side view of the connector with portions cut away and one of the two circuit cards which may be inserted therein; Figure 6 is an end view of the connector with one of the two circuit cards inserted therein; Figure 7 is the side view of the connector shown in Figure 5 and with the other of the two circuit cards which may be inserted therein; and Figure 8 is an end view of the connector with the other circuit card inserted therein. With reference to Figure 1, card edge connector 10, constructed in accordance with the present invention, is capable of receiving either printed circuit card 12, having closely-spaced conductive pads 14; e.g., pads 14 being on 1.27 mm (0.050 inch) center-line spacing, or card 16 having pads 18 on a less-dense spacing; e.g., 2.54 mm (0.100 inches). Connector 10, as more clearly shown in Figure 2, includes an elongated, dielectric housing 20 having a card-edge receiving slot 22 and a plurality of conductive contact elements 24, 26. Contact elements 24, 26 are respectively located in cavities 28, 30 which preferably border both sides of slot 22 and which open thereinto. As shown, cavities 28 alternate with cavities 30. Spaced along floor 32 of slot 22 and extending upwardly therefrom are card positioning members 34 (only one is shown in Figure 2). Additionally, transverse keying walls 36 (Figures 1 and 5) are provided in slot 22 to insure that cards 12 and 16 are inserted thereinto in the proper orientation and registration. With reference to Figure 3, cavities 28 include pre-loading bar 38 extending thereacross adjacent the top thereof. Further, passages 40, located near the center of housing 20, extend therethrough, opening into cavities 28 and onto the housing's bottom surface 42. Contacts 24 are positioned in cavities 28 with free ends 44 bearing against bars 38 and leads 46 extending outwardly from surface 42 of housing 20 through passages 40. Further, contact portions 48 on resilient beams 50 project into slot 22 near top surface 52 of housing 20. With reference to Figure 4, cavities 30 open only into the lower half of slot 22 with walls 54 closing off access to the upper half. Passages 56, adjacent side walls 58, extend through housing 20, opening into cavities 30 and onto bottom surface 42. Contacts 26 are positioned in cavities 30 with upper portions 60 on reversely bent resilient beams 62 being preloaded by free ends 64 of walls 54 and contact portions 66 adjacent free ends 68 of beams 62 projecting into the lower half of slot 22; i.e., below walls 54. Leads 70 extend outwardly from surface 42 of housing 20 through passages 56. From the foregoing description and Figures 2-4, it is clear that contact portions 48 on elements 24, alternating with contact portions 66 on elements 26, project into the upper half or upper level of slot 22 while contact portions 66 project into the lower half or lower level of slot 22. Both contact elements 24, 26 are stamped and formed from a suitable conductive material; e.g., beryllium copper or phosphor bronze. Figure 5 shows card 12 positioned above connector 10. Pads 14 include pads 14a which are adjacent card edge 72 and pads 14b which are located interiorly from edge 72. Further spaced notches 74 are provided in edge 72 with the spacing of positioning members 34 in slot 22. Keying notches 76 are provided to cooperate with keying walls 36. As card 12 is inserted into slot 22, notches 74 receive positioning members 34 so that card edge 72 abuts slot floor 32. Accordingly, and as shown in Figure 6, contact portions 48 on elements 24 engage pads 14b and contact portions 66 engage pads 14a adjacent card edge 72; ie., in the lower half of slot 22. Figure 7 shows card 16 positioned above connector 10. Pads 18 are adjacent card edge 78. Keying notches 76 in edge 78 are provided to cooperate with keying walls 36 in slot 22. As card 16 is inserted into slot 22, edge 78 abuts positioning members 34 to position card 16 in the upper half thereof. Accordingly, as shown in Figure 8, only contact portions 48 on contact elements 24 engage pads 18 on card 16. In the illustrated embodiment, positioning members 34 are shown as transverse walls extending upwardly from slot floor 32. However, equivalent positioning members can take other forms; e.g., pins crossing slot 22 at the appropriate height. Further, the profile of slot 22 can be tailored to accept different cards of different thicknesses so that, for example, a thin card would go to the floor while a thicker card would be stopped above the floor. As can be discerned, a card edge connector has been disclosed which can accept, without modification, printed circuit cards having conductive pads on one center-line spacing or other circuit cards having conductive pads on another center-line spacing. The connector includes conductive contact elements positioned along a card edge-receiving slot and having contact portions thereon projecting into the slot at alternatingly high and low levels. Further, positioning members in the slot cooperate with the cards such that cards having notches along the edge thereof are permitted to slide past the positioning members so that the pads thereon are engaged by the contact portions at both levels. Alternatively, a card without notches is prevented by the positioning members from entering the slot too far so that the conductive pads thereon are engaged only to the upper level contact portions.

Claims: A dual-purpose card edge connector (10) for use with either of two printed circuit cards (12,16) having conductive pads (14,18) disposed thereon in two different spatial patterns, respectively, said connector comprising an elongated dielectric housing (20) having an outwardly open card edge receiving slot (22) extending longitudinally thereof, conductive contact elements (24,26) disposed within the housing and extending alongside the slot and having contact portions (48,66) thereon projecting into the slot at higher and lower levels, keying means (36) in the slot for engaging with cooperating keying means (76) on each card (12,16) so that the card is inserted into the slot in a predetermined orientation for engagement with contact portions (48,66) of the contact elements (24,26), and one or more card positioning means (34) within the slot for engaging with cooperating positioning means (74,78) on each card subsequent to interengagement of the keying means, whereby the card positioning means controls the depth of insertion into the slot of each circuit card and, hence, the engagement of the conductive pads (14,18) on the card with the contact portions of the contact elements. The connector according to claim 1 in which the card positioning means comprises at least one card positioning member (34) extending at least partially across the slot (22). The connector according to claim 2, in which the or each card positioning member comprises a transverse wall (34) extending upwardly in the slot (22) for cooperating with a notch (74) in one edge (78) of one (12) of the printed circuit cards to permit the latter to be positioned in the slot at a lower level in which the conductive pads (14a) on the card engage with the contact portions (66) at the lower level. The connector according to claim 3, in which the upper surface of the transverse wall (34) is disposed between the higher and lower levels of the contact portions (48,66) so that the other printed circuit card (16) abuts thereagainst upon being inserted into the slot (22). The connector according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, in which the contact portions (48,66) are alternately disposed at the higher and lower levels. The use of the connector according to claim 2 with either of said two alternative printed circuit cards (16,12), in which one card (12) has at least one notch (74) positioned to receive a respective card positioning member (34), and the other card (16) is configured to abut said at least one card positioning member (34). A dual-purpose card edge connector assembly comprising a connector (10) including an elongated dielectric housing (20) having an outwardly open card edge receiving slot (22) extending longitudinally thereof, and conductive contact elements (24, 26) disposed within the housing and extending alongside the slot and having contact portions (48,66) thereon projecting into the slot at different levels, and a printed circuit card (16) having conductive pads (18) engageable with contact portions of the conductive contact elements (24,26), said printed circuit card (16) having said conductive pads (18) arranged thereon in a predetermined spatial pattern, and contact portions (48) of predetermined contact elements (24) of the connector (10) having a corresponding spatial pattern for engaging the contact pads (18) of the card when the card is disposed in the slot (22) at a selected level, the contact portions (66) of the remaining contact elements (26) thereupon being isolated from the conductive pads on the card, and said connector (10) having one or more card positioning means (34) in the slot (22) engaged with cooperating positioning means (78) of the card and positioning the card at the selected level. The connector assembly according to claim 7, in which the card positioning means comprises at least one card positioning member (34) extending at least partially across the slot (22) and preventing the printed circuit card (16) from entering the slot beyond the selected level. The connector assembly according to claim 8, in which the or each card positioning member comprises a transverse wall (34) extending upwardly in the slot (22) and abutting the inserted edge (78) the printed circuit card (16). The connector assembly according to claim 7, 8 or 9, in which the contact portions (48,66) of the contact elements (24,26) are alternately disposed at higher and lower levels alongside the slot (22). The connector assembly according to claim 7, 8, 9 or 10 and a replacement printed circuit card (12) for the first-mentioned printed circuit card (16), said replacement card (12) have conductive pads (14) arranged thereon in a different predetermined spatial pattern from that of the first card (16) and at least corresponding to the spatial pattern of the contact portions (48) of the remaining contact elements (26), and said replacement card having positioning means (74) which cooperates with the card positioning means (34) in the slot (22) to permit the replacement card to be inserted into the slot to a level at which the contact portions (66) of the remaining contact elements (26) engage conductive pads on the replacement card.

Inventors: ANDREWS HOWARD WALLACE JR, ANDREWS, HOWARD WALLACE, JR.
Applicants: WHITAKER CORP, THE WHITAKER CORPORATION
Application year: 1989
Main classification: H01R23
IPC codes: H01R12