Patent Publication Number: US-8992241-B2

Title: Flex circuit blind attachment apparatus and system

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a flex circuit blind attachment apparatus and system. 
     In computing devices, certain modules are insertible and removable from other computer hardware. In some cases, this hardware includes an enclosure and a bulkhead at the rear of the enclosure that includes a mating connector facing the interior of the enclosure. The modules, meanwhile include flex circuits that connect to the mating connectors behind the modules. Thus, when the modules are inserted into the computing devices, it is often necessary that the connection of the flex circuit and the mating connector be completed blindly. 
     Since it is necessary for the connection of the flex circuit and the mating connector to maintain a constant pressure in order for the modules to operate reliably, the blindness of the connection procedure can result in non-uniform pressures and other similar connection faults. These issues can lead to malfunctions in the performance of the modules or at least may require time consuming effort at the installation stage. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a flex circuit blind attachment apparatus is provided and includes a plate, a fastening member affixable to the plate and configured to draw the plate toward and away from a circuit board and jaws supportively disposed on the plate. The jaws are configured to be opened with the plate being drawn toward the circuit board such that a pin of a flex connector to be connected to the circuit board is released by the jaws following disconnection of the flex connector and the circuit board. The jaws are also configured to capture the pin with the plate being drawn away from the circuit board prior to connection of the flex connector and the circuit board. 
     According to another embodiment, an apparatus for use with a flex circuit including a connector and a pin and a circuit board including a kicker shaft and a connector is provided. The apparatus includes a plate, a fastening member including a head affixable to the plate and a threaded shaft coupled to the head, the threaded shaft being configured to rotatably register with a threaded through-hole of the circuit board to draw the plate toward and away from the circuit board such that the connectors connect and disconnect and jaws supportively disposed on the plate and configured to be opened by the kicker shaft with the plate being drawn toward the circuit board such that the pin is released by the jaws following disconnection of the connectors and to capture the pin with the plate being drawn away from the circuit board prior to connection of the connectors. 
     According to yet another embodiment, a flex circuit blind attachment system is provided and includes a flex circuit including a connector and a pin, a circuit board including kicker shaft and a connector and an attachment apparatus comprising a plate, a fastening member affixable to the plate and configured to draw the plate toward and away from a circuit board and jaws supportively disposed on the plate. The jaws are configured to be opened by the kicker shaft with the plate being drawn toward the circuit board such that the pin of the flex circuit is released by the jaws following disconnection of the flex circuit and circuit board connectors. The jaws are also configured to capture the pin with the plate being drawn away from the circuit board prior to connection of the flex circuit and circuit board connectors. 
     Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. For a better understanding of the invention with the advantages and the features, refer to the description and to the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a computing device; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of a flex circuit of a module of the computing device; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of normally hidden components of the computing device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged perspective exploded view of a flex circuit blind attachment apparatus; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged perspective view of the flex circuit blind attachment apparatus of  FIG. 4  at an initial stage of operation; 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of the flex circuit blind attachment apparatus of  FIG. 4  at a late stage of operation; and 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic plan view of jaws of the flex circuit blind attachment apparatus of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The description provided below relates to a flex circuit blind attachment apparatus and system. The apparatus includes a plate  90 , a fastening member  100  that is affixable to the plate  90  and configured to draw the plate  90  toward and away from a circuit board  70  and jaws  110  that are supportively disposed on the plate  90 . The jaws  110  are configured to be opened with the plate  90  being drawn toward the circuit board  70  such that a push/pull pin  53  of a first connector  50  of a flex circuit  40  that is to be connected to a second connector  74  of the circuit board  70  is released by the jaws  110  following disconnection of the first connector  50  and the second connector  74 . The jaws  110  are further configured to capture the push/pull pin  53  with the plate  90  being drawn away from the circuit board  70  prior to connection of the first connector  50  and the second connector  74 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a flex circuit blind attachment system  10  is provided for a computing device  11 . The computing device  11  includes wall elements  12  and  13  that are opposed to one another and define an interior  14  of the computing device  11 , a front portion  15  and a rear portion  16 . The front portion  15  is normally accessible by a user whereas the rear portion  16  would face away from the user. Guide rails  17  are provided on interior facing surfaces of the wall elements  12  and  13  and a bulkhead  18  extends between the interior facing surfaces of the wall elements  12  and  13 . The bulkhead  18  includes a first portion  180  and a second portion  181  that is recessed from a plane of the first portion  180 . The guide rails  17  permit a module  20 , such as a hard disk drive, to be installed into the interior  14  such that a rear portion  21  of the module  20  abuts against the first portion  180  of the bulkhead  18 . A space  22  is thus defined between the rear portion  21  of the module  20  and the second portion  181  of the bulkhead  18 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the one of the guide rails  17  that is adjacent to the space  22  includes a support frame  30  disposed in or just below the space  22 . The support frame  30  includes an upward facing surface  31  on which a bracket  32  is affixed. The bracket  32  is formed of an elastic material, such as sheet metal, and includes an elastic claw portion  33 . 
     The module  20  may include a flex circuit  40  and a first connector  50 . The flex circuit  40  and the first connector are both disposable in the space  22 . The flex circuit  40  extends from a module connector  41 , which is disposed in the rear portion  21  of the module  20  and is formed of one or two or more strips of flexible material. The first connector  50  includes a body  51  to which the flex circuit  40  is operably connected, a first connector pin array  52  and push/pull pins  53 . The body  51  is generally rigid and is removably insertible into the claw portion  33  whereby the body  51  is elastically responsive to external forces applied thereto. Grooves  510  may be defined in sidewalls of the body  51  to be receptive of corresponding protrusions  511  in the claw portion  33  to aid in the removable insertion of the body  51  into the claw portion  33 . The first connector pin array  52  protrudes rearwardly from a rear surface of the body  51  and is configured to be electrically coupled with the module connector  41  via the flex circuit  40 . The push/pull pins  53  are provided as a pair of push/pull pins  53  and are disposed on either side of the first connector pin array  52 . 
     Each of the push/pull pins  53  includes a substantially straight tubular element  530  with a tapered distal end  531  and a notch  532  proximate to the distal end  531 . This notch  532  has a reduced diameter as compared to the rest of the tubular element  530 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 3 , when the module  20  is installed in the interior  14  of the computing device  11  and the body  51  of the first connector  50  is removably inserted into the claw portion  33 , the push/pull pins  53  protrude through a through-hole  60  defined in the second portion  181  of the bulkhead  18 . This through-hole  60  has a similar shape as but is slightly larger than the first connector  50 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , two modules  20  may be installed in the interior  14  and arranged in a vertical stack with the bulkhead  18  being formed with sufficient height to account for the installation of the upper module  20 . In this case, the descriptions provided above and below can be applicable to both the upper module  20  and the lower module  20 . However, those descriptions will generally discuss only the lower module  20  for clarity and brevity. 
     With further reference to  FIG. 3 , a circuit board  70  is attachable to a rear face of the second portion  181  of the bulkhead  18 . The circuit board  70  includes a substrate  71  and a backing plate  72  that is configured to be interposed between the second portion  181  and the substrate  71 . Both the substrate  71  and the backing plate  72  are formed to define screw-holes through which fastening elements  73  may be employed to fasten the circuit board  70  to the second portion  181 , which is similarly formed to define corresponding screw-holes. In addition, the substrate  71  includes a second connector  74 , which is operably receptive of the first connector pin array  52 , and the backing plate  72  is formed to define a second through-hole  75 . The second connector  74  is positioned in correspondence with the first connector  50  and the second through-hole  75  is positioned in correspondence with the through-hole  60 . Thus, when the circuit board  70  is fastened to the second portion  181 , the through-hole  60  and the second through-hole  75  align and the first connector  50  and the second connector  74  similarly align for mutual connection. 
     It is often necessary for the connection of the first connector  50  and the second connector  74  to be made with substantially uniform pressures. These substantially uniform pressures are provided by the attachment apparatus  80  (to be described below) and the action of the push/pull pins  53 . To this end, the substrate  71  and the backing plate  72  are further formed to define guide-holes  76  that align with the push/pull pins  53  such that when the circuit board  70  is fastened to the second portion  181 , the push/pull pins  53  extend and protrude through the circuit board  70  via the guide-holes  76 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the substrate  72  further includes kicker shafts  77  and a threaded through-hole  78 . The kicker shafts  77  are disposed on either side of the threaded through-hole  78  and correspond in location to the respective locations of the push/pull pins  53  and the guide-holes  76 . The kicker shafts  77  protrude from a plane of a rear face of the substrate  71 . The kicker shafts  77  may be substantially tubular or slightly tapered and have sufficiently limited length from the plane of the rear face of the substrate  71  such that the distal ends  531 , the notches  532  and a portion of the tubular elements  530  of the push/pull pins  53  extend rearwardly out of the kicker shafts  77 . The threaded through-hole  78  also protrudes from the plane of the rear face of the substrate  71  but has greater length than the kicker shafts  77 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4-6 , the flex circuit blind attachment system  10  includes an attachment apparatus  80 . The attachment apparatus  80  includes a plate  90 , a fastening member  100  that is affixable to the plate  90  and is configured to draw the plate  90  toward and away from the circuit board  70  and a pair of jaws  110  supportively disposed on the plate  90 . As discussed below, the pair of jaws  110  are each configured to be opened by the corresponding one of the kicker shafts  77  with the plate  90  being drawn toward the circuit board  70  such that the push/pull pins  53  are each released by the jaws  110  following disconnection of the first connector  50  from the second connector  74 . In addition, the jaws  110  are each configured to capture the push/pull pins  53  with the plate  90  being drawn away from the circuit board  70  prior to a connection of the first connector  50  with the second connector  74 . 
     The plate  90  includes a central portion  91 , at which the fastening member  100  is affixable to the plate  90 , and lateral portions  92  at which the jaws  110  are respectively supportively disposed. The central and lateral portions  91  and  92  are disposed at different planes such that the central portion  91  is recessed from the lateral portions  92  relative to the circuit board  70 . The fastening member  100  includes a head  101 , which is affixable to the central portion  91  of the plate  90  and a threaded shaft  102  that is fixedly coupled to the head  101 . Exterior threading of the threaded shaft  102  registers with corresponding interior threading of the threaded through-hole  78  of the substrate  72 . The threading is configured and timed such that the plate  90  is withdrawn from the circuit board  70  as the threaded shaft  102  is rotated in a first (i.e., clockwise or tightening) direction and such that the plate  90  is drawn toward the circuit board  70  as the threaded shaft  102  is rotated in a second (i.e., counterclockwise or loosening) direction. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4-7 , each of the jaws  110  includes an interior jaw portion  111 , an exterior jaw portion  112  and an elastic element  113 . The elastic element  113  may be provided as a compression spring such that the interior jaw portion  111  and the exterior jaw portion  112  are spring-loaded and biased toward one another to assume a closed position. Each of the respective proximal ends of the interior jaw portion  111  and the exterior jaw portion  112  includes a first inward flange  114 . Each of the respective distal ends of the interior jaw portion  111  and the exterior jaw portion  112  includes a second inward flange  115 . When the jaws  110  are closed as shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  6  and particularly,  7 , the second inward flanges  114  grip onto the notch  532  of the corresponding push/pull pin  53  such that movement of the plate  90  toward and away from the circuit board  70  is accompanied by corresponding movements of the push/pull pins  53  and the first connector  50  as permitted by the bracket  32  and the claw portion  33 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the plate  90  has been fully drawn to the circuit board  70 . In this position, the fastening member  100  is disposed in its fully loosened position, the recess of the central portion  91  of the plate  90  from the lateral portions  92  is occupied by the threaded through-hole  78  of the substrate  71  and the lateral portions  92  abut the rear surface of the substrate  71 . Also, in this position, the kicker shafts  77  penetrate the jaws  110  and interfere with the first inward flanges  114  to thereby force the jaws  110  to remain open in opposition to the bias provided by the elastic element  113 . 
     From the position shown in  FIG. 5 , the plate  90  may be drawn away from the circuit board  70  by rotation of the threaded shaft  102  of the fastening member  100  in the first direction but the jaws  110  will remain open until the first inward flanges  114  clear the kicker shafts  77 . During this time, the push/pull pins  53  and the first connector  50  will not move in a rearward direction along with the plate  90 . 
     As the plate  90  continues to be drawn away from the circuit board  70 , the first inwardly flanges  114  will clear the kicker shafts  77  and close around the notches  532  of the push/pull pins  53 . At this point, further rotation of the threaded shaft  102  in the first direction will result in a drawing of the plate  90  away from the circuit board  70  and a pulling of the push/pull pins  53  and the first connector  50  in the rearward direction. The effect of the further rotation of the threaded shaft  102  is registered by the fact that the threaded through-hole  78  is longer than the kicker shafts  77 , as noted above. The effect leads to the case illustrated by  FIG. 6 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the plate  90  has been fully drawn away from the circuit board  70 . In this position, the fastening member  100  is disposed in its fully tightened position and the first inward flanges  114  have previously cleared the kicker shafts  77  such that the jaws  110  have closed around the notches  532  of the push/pull pins  53 . Thus, the first connector  50  has been drawn toward the second connector  74  and the timing of the apparatus has been provided such that, in this position, the first connector  50  is completely mated with the second connector  74 . Moreover, the combined effect of the jaws  110  at both the lateral portions  92  provides that the pressures applied to the first connector  50  in the rearward direction are substantially uniform. This results in a substantially reliable connection between the first connector  50  and the second connector  74 . 
     From the position shown in  FIG. 6 , the plate  90  may be drawn to the circuit board  70  by rotation of the threaded shaft  102  of the fastening member  100  in the second direction. In this case, the jaws  110  will remain closed until the first inward flanges  114  reach the kicker shafts  77 . During this time, the push/pull pins  53  and the first connector  50  will be pushed along with the movement of the plate  90  in a forward direction as permitted by the bracket  32  and the claw portion  33  to thereby disconnect the first connector  50  from the second connector  74 . 
     As the plate  90  continues to be drawn to the circuit board  70 , the first inward flanges  114  reach the kicker shafts  77  and cause the jaws  110  to open. This action frees the jaws  110  from the notches  532  of the push/pull pins  53  and, at this point, further rotation of the threaded shaft  102  in the second direction will result in continued drawing of the plate  90  to the circuit board  70  but the pushing of the push/pull pins  53  and the first connector  50  in the forward direction will cease. The effect of the further rotation of the threaded shaft  102  leads to the case illustrated by  FIG. 5 . 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one more other features, integers, steps, operations, element components, and/or groups thereof. 
     The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. 
     The operations depicted herein are just one example. There may be many variations described therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the operations may be performed in a differing order or operations may be added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are considered a part of the claimed invention. 
     While the preferred embodiment to the invention has been described, it will be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in the future, may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described.