Patent Publication Number: US-2013238827-A1

Title: Motherboard having an attached expansion card with both PCI slot and PCIe slot

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to computer motherboard and more particularly to a motherboard having two expansion slots adapted to hold an inserted expansion card in place, the expansion card having both PCI slot and PCIe slot adapted to hold inserted PCI card and PCIe card in place respectively. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     The primary purpose of an expansion card is to provide or expand on features not offered by a computer motherboard. For example, original IBM PC did not provide graphics capability. In that case, a graphics card provided graphics capability can be attached to the motherboard. 
     Edge connectors are commonly used in personal computers for connecting expansion cards and computer memory to the system bus. Example expansion peripheral technologies which use edge connectors include PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and PCI Express (abbreviated as PCIe). 
     However, a motherboard is required to have both a PCI slot and a PCIe slot so that a PCI card may fit into the PCI slot and a PCIe card may fit into the PCIe slot respectively. This inevitably can reduce available area of the motherboard and in turn it can reduce the expansibility of the motherboard. This is not desired because features including lightweight and compactness are always sought by the computer industry. Thus, the need for improvement still exists. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a computer motherboard comprising a plurality of expansion slots; an expansion card including a PCB (printed circuit board), a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot disposed on the PCB, two connectors disposed on an edge of the PCB, each connector including a plurality of contacts, and a PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) slot disposed on the PCB wherein both the PCI slot and the PCIe slot are electrically connected to the contacts; a PCI card fitted into the PCI slot; and a PCIe card fitted into the PCIe slot. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a computer motherboard having an attached expansion card according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the expansion card having both a PCI slot and a PCIe slot; and 
         FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 1  showing the expansion card of  FIG. 2  being attached to the computer motherboard. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a computer motherboard  1  in accordance with the invention comprises the following components as discussed in detail below. 
     Two expansion slots  31  are provided on the motherboard  1 . An expansion card  2  comprises a printed circuit board (PCB)  21 , a PCI slot  22  provided along one edge of the PCB  21 , two connectors  24  provided on the opposite other edge of the PCB  21 , each connector  24  having a plurality of contacts (i.e., pins)  241  shaped as an L, and a PCIe slot  23  provided between the PCI slot  22  and the connectors  24 . Both the PCI slot  22  and the PCIe slot  23  are electrically connected to the pins  241 . 
     The computer motherboard  1  comprises two expansion slots  31  provided adjacent to one edge. A PCI card  422  and a PCIe card  423  are fitted into the PCI slot  22  and the PCIe slot  23  respectively. The pins  241  of both connectors  24  are inserted into the expansion slots  31  respectively. 
     It is envisaged by the invention that a compact computer motherboard having such attached expansion card with both PCI slot and PCIe slot can be carried out. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.