Patent Publication Number: US-5890934-A

Title: Pluggable connector assembly for printed circuit boards

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a pluggable connector assembly for printed circuit boards including a mounting rail of generally U-shaped cross-section having a horizontal base portion connected with one face of the printed circuit board, and a pair of vertical arm portions extending upwardly from the base portion, a terminal block mounted transversely across the upper ends of the rail arm portions, and means electrically connecting a contact on the terminal block with a conductive layer arranged on the remote side of the printed circuit board via a conductive pin and socket arrangement that extends downwardly in spaced relation through a opening contained in the rail base portion, and through a corresponding opening contained in the printed circuit board. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     It is well known in the patented prior art to mount an electrical terminal block on a mounting rail, as disclosed by the U.S. patents to Piperato U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,029, Kordt et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,835, Eggert et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,881, and Schmidt et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,172 among others. The Geisler patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,152 discloses an electrical contact that can be mounted on a printed circuit board. 
     A need has developed in the electrical connector art to provide a connector arrangement for electrically connecting the electrical contacts of various types of terminal blocks in a quick, robust manner with the conductive layer portions of a printed circuit board. The present invention was developed to provide such a connector arrangement that is operable to connect various types of terminal blocks with various types and patterns of printed circuit boards, and with multi-contact connectors mounted thereon. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a pluggable connector assembly including a mounting rail for mounting one or more terminal blocks on a printed circuit board in electrical contact with selective conductive layer portions of a printed circuit pattern provided on the board. 
     A more specific object of the invention is to provide a terminal block having a conductive pin that extends downwardly between the integral resilient mounting foot portions of the terminal block via a slot contained in the bottom portion of the mounting rail for insertion within a corresponding socket contact that extends through an opening contained in the printed circuit board, thereby to afford electrical connection with selected positions of the associated conductive layer pattern that is formed on the bottom surface of the printed circuit board. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a pluggable connector assembly including a plurality of terminal blocks mounted on the upper surface of a printed circuit board in spaced relation to a multi-contact connector that is bolted within an opening contained in the circuit board, the printed circuit board having on its lower surface a conductive layer pattern that defines conductive paths between the contacts of the multi-contact connector and the downwardly extending conductive pins of the terminal blocks, respectively. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line 1--1 of FIG. 2, illustrating a first terminal block embodiment of a pluggable terminal block assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a partly sectioned side elevational view of a second terminal block embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view of another mounting rail embodiment having a single longitudinal through slot; 
     FIG. 8 illustrates a plurality of terminal blocks mounted on the mounting rail of FIG. 7; and 
     FIG. 9 illustrates the assembly of FIG. 8 mounted on a printed circuit board together with a multi-contact connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring first more particularly to FIGS. 1-4, the rail-mounted terminal block assembly of the present invention includes a terminal block 2 that is mounted on a rigid metal mounting rail 4 that is bolted by bolts 6 to a printed circuit board 8. As is customary in the art, the terminal block 2 is provided with input lead contacts 10 and 12 such as screw terminals, for example, for connection with conductors 14 and 16, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the lead-end contacts are connected by a transverse bus bar 18 having an opening for receiving the upper end of a pin connector 20 that is soldered thereto. 
     The mounting rail 4 has a generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration and includes a horizontal base portion 4a that is bolted to the upper surface of the printed circuit board 8, a pair of upwardly extending vertical arm portions 4b and 4c, a pair of outwardly extending flange portions 4d and 4e, an a pair of upwardly extending end portions 4f and 4g, respectively. The terminal block 2, which is formed of synthetic plastic material, includes a pair of resilient foot portions 2a and 2b that are snapped beneath the horizontal flange portions 4d and 4e of the mounting rail 4. 
     The printed circuit board 8 has an upper layer 8a, a base layer 8b formed of a suitable synthetic plastic insulating material, and a conductive bottom layer having a plurality of conductor-defining portions 8c 1 , 8c 2 , 8c 3 , and 8c 4 , as shown in FIG. 2. The printed circuit conductive layers are connected with conductive socket members 24 that extend through corresponding through openings 26 contained in the printed circuit board. The base portion 4a of the mounting rail contains one or more longitudinally extending slots 30 that are oversized relative to the upper outwardly directed flange portion 24a of the socket contact 24. Thus, the socket 24 is an electrical engagement with the corresponding conductive printed circuit portion 8c, but is electrically isolated from the mounting rail 4. The lower extremity of the vertical connecting pin 20 extends within the socket 24 for electrical connection with the associated printed circuit conductive layer portion 8c(2). 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the mounting rail 4 is bolted to the printed circuit board 8 by a plurality of screws 6 that extend upwardly through a corresponding through bore contained in the printed circuit board 8, through the slot 30 contained in the mounting rail 4, and through the central opening of a washer 34, which washer is pressed against the horizontal rail portion 4a by the nut 36 that is threaded upon the free end of the bolt 6. FIG. 4 is a detailed view illustrating the manner in which the connecting pin 2 extends to a corresponding opening contained in the bus bar portion 18. 
     It is obvious that various types of electrical connections may be made by the use of various types of terminal blocks. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the pin 20 contacts the bus bar 18 which electrically connects the conductors 14 and 16, thereby to tap the connection between conductors 14 and 16. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a fuse F is connected between the internal bus bar connections 40 and 42 that in turn are connected with the conductors 44 and 46, respectively. The connecting pin 48 extends at its upper end within an opening contained in the L-shaped bus bar 40 and extends at its other end downwardly for pluggable insertion within a corresponding socket contained in a printed circuit board, in the same manner illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     Referring now to FIG. 7, the mounting rail 104 has a base portion 104a that contains a single slot 130 that extends substantially the length of the mounting rail, the ends of the mounting rail being provided with openings 132 and 134 for receiving the bolts that connect the rail with a printed circuit board. A plurality of terminal blocks 150 are mounted on the mounting rail 104 as shown in FIG. 8, whereupon this mounting rail assembly is then bolted to the user&#39;s printed circuit board 160 by bolt means 162 and 164. The connecting pins of the terminal blocks extend downwardly into corresponding socket contacts contained in the printed circuit board in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1. Also connected with the printed circuit board 160 is a multi-contact connector 168 having a body portion that preferably extends within a corresponding opening contained in the printed circuit board. The various contacts of the multi-contact connector 168 are connected with the associated printed circuit conductive portions 170 provided on the bottom surface of the printed circuit board, respectively, the other ends of the conductive layer portions being connected with the socket terminals associated with the various terminal blocks 150. Input leads 172 and 174 extend to the various terminal block contacts, as shown in FIG. 9. 
     Thus, the connector assembly affords means for connecting a plurality of conductors to various conductive portions of a printed circuit pattern in a rugged and durable manner, and also provides means for electrical connection with a multi-contact connector mounted on the printed circuit board. 
     While in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes, the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.