Patent Publication Number: US-2022217854-A1

Title: Sealed and unsealed electronic assemblies using common design

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This utility application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/134,654 filed Jan. 7, 2021. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates generally to electronic assemblies. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to sealed and unsealed electronic assemblies using a common design. 
     BACKGROUND 
     This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. 
     Electronic assemblies used on vehicles may be installed or packaged in various locations of the vehicle. Some locations, such as the exterior of the vehicle, may require that the electronic assemblies are sealed to prevent intrusion of moisture and or contaminants. In contrast, the electronic assemblies packaged in interior locations do not require a sealed arrangement. In fact, for interior locations, it may even be preferable that the electronic assembly is not sealed in order to provide better ventilation and/or cooling. Furthermore, different wiring connectors (e.g., sealed vs. unsealed) may be needed depending on the packaging location. As a result, the prior art electronic assemblies are designed for their intended use—one design for use in an exterior environment and a separate design for use in an interior environment. However, the requirement to manufacture and store multiple assembly designs results in increased cost and complexity. Accordingly, there remains a continuing need for an electronic assembly with more universal parts and which can be used in both exterior and interior applications. 
     SUMMARY 
     This section provides a general summary of the present disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features, aspects and objectives. 
     It is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide an electronic assembly including a housing and an electrical connector that is one of an unsealed connector and a sealed connector. The electronic assembly also includes a printed circuit board disposed at least partially in the housing. The printed circuit board is configured to accept either one of the unsealed connector and the sealed connector. Consequently, the electronic assembly can be used in both exterior and interior applications. 
     It is another aspect of the present disclosure to provide an electronic assembly including a housing having a top portion. The housing also includes a bottom portion configured to attach to the top portion and define a compartment therebetween. A printed circuit board is disposed at least partially in the housing. An electrical connector is attached to the printed circuit board and is one of an unsealed connector and a sealed connector. At least one of the top portion and the bottom portion is configured to receive either the unsealed connector in an unsealed fashion or the sealed connector in a sealed fashion. As a result, the electronic assembly can be used in both exterior and interior applications. 
     Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of an electronic assembly including a unsealed connector according to aspects of the disclosure; and 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the electronic assembly including a sealed connector and additional components for sealing the electronic assembly according to aspects of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. In some instances, certain circuits, structures and techniques have not been described or shown in detail in order not to obscure the disclosure. 
     In general, example embodiments of electronic assemblies constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure will now be disclosed. The example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are described in detail. 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ is provided. The electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ includes a housing  22 . The electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ also includes an electrical connector  24 ,  24 ′ that is one of an unsealed connector  24  ( FIG. 1 ) or a sealed connector  24 ′ ( FIG. 2 ). In addition, the electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ includes a printed circuit board  26  disposed at least partially in the housing  22 . The printed circuit board  26  is configured to accept the one of the unsealed connector  24  and the sealed connector  24 ′. 
     The housing  22  includes a top portion  28  and a bottom portion  30  configured to attach to the top portion  28  over the printed circuit board  26 . The top portion  28  and the bottom portion  30  define a compartment  32  therebetween. In addition, at least one of the top portion  28  and the bottom portion  30  is configured to receive (i.e., house and secure) the one of the unsealed connector  24  in an unsealed fashion and the sealed connector  24 ′ in a sealed fashion. So, the same housing  22  may be used regardless of which electrical connector  24 ,  24 ′ is used, as either is accommodated. 
     The compartment  32  is divided into a board portion  34  and a connector portion  36  by a partition  38  formed in the top portion  28  of the housing  22 . According to an aspect, the top portion  28  includes or acts as a heatsink  40  configured to be adjacent the printed circuit board  26  (e.g., in the board portion  34  of the compartment  32 ) and remove heat from the printed circuit board  26 . A plurality of board fasteners  41  secure the printed circuit board  26  to the top portion  28  of the housing  22 . A plurality of housing fasteners  42  (e.g., screws) attach the top portion  28  to the bottom portion  30 . Nevertheless, it should be understood that such fasteners  41 ,  42  may be omitted if, for example, the top portion  28  and the bottom portion  30  are configured to snap together while securing the printed circuit board  26 . 
     The unsealed connector  24  includes a plurality of unsealed terminals  44  ( FIG. 1 ) and the sealed connector  24 ′ includes a plurality of sealed terminals  46  ( FIG. 2 ). In order for the printed circuit board  26  to accept the one of the unsealed connector  24  and the sealed connector  24 ′, the printed circuit board  26  includes electrical traces  48  (e.g., electrically conductive or copper or metal traces) disposed thereon for conducting electrical signals and/or power (e.g., electrical power for powering the electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′) to and from the electrical connector  24 ,  24 ′. The electrical traces  48  are configured to connect to one of the plurality of unsealed terminals  44  and the plurality of sealed terminals  46  depending on whether the electrical connector  24 ,  24 ′ is the unsealed connector  24  or the sealed connector  24 ′. In other words, the tracing  48  of the printed circuit board  26  is laid out to accept either (i.e., both, one at a time) the sealed connector  24 ′ or the unsealed connector  24 . The housing  22  also defines a breather opening  50  (e.g., in the bottom portion  30 ) for equalizing pressure within the housing  22 . 
     Referring specifically to  FIG. 2 , the electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ further includes a breather valve  52  disposed in the breather opening  50  for equalizing the pressure within the housing  22 , while preventing the intrusion of moisture or contaminants. The top portion  28  of the housing  22  defines a gasket notch  54  around at least a portion of a periphery  56  of the top portion  28 . The top portion  28  of the housing  22  also defines a cover plate recess  58  extending into the top portion  28  (e.g., open to the connector portion  36  of the compartment  32 ). The electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ includes a gasket  60  (e.g., a form-in-place (FIP) gasket) disposed in the gasket notch  54  for sealing the top portion  28  of the housing  22  to the bottom portion  30  of the housing  22 . 
     The electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ also includes a connector cover plate  62  disposed in the cover plate recess  58  and defining a connector recess  64  extending into the connector cover plate  62 . The connector recess  64  is configured to receive the sealed connector  24 ′. More specifically, the sealed connector  24 ′ includes a connector channel  66  extending around the sealed connector  24 ′, the connector channel  66  engages a plate rim  68  of the connector cover plate  62  when the sealed connector  24 ′ is disposed in the connector recess  64  of the connector cover plate  62 . The electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ additionally includes a plurality of connector cover plate fasteners  70  for attaching the connector cover plate  62  to the top portion  28  of the housing  22 . 
     To achieve economies of scale, the electronic assembly  20 ,  20 ′ may be used across vehicle lines, for example. More specifically, when no sealing is required, electronic assembly  20  may be used; however, if sealing is required, electronic assembly  20 ′ may be used. Because the traces  48  of the printed circuit board  26  are laid out to accept either the sealed connector  24 ′ or the unsealed connector  24 , the printed circuit board  26 , top portion  28  and bottom portion  30  of the housing  22 , board fasteners  41 , housing fasteners  42 , can advantageously be common between the electronic assemblies  20 ,  20 ′. Additionally, the cover plate recess  58  extending into the top portion  28  is large enough for either the sealed connector  24 ′ or the unsealed connector  24  and, thus, when sealing is required, the connector cover plate  62  may be utilized in addition to the sealed connector  24 ′ and breather valve  52  (i.e., these parts are added to the common or universal design of the electronic assembly  20  to result in electronic assembly  20 ′). 
     Clearly, changes may be made to what is described and illustrated herein without, however, departing from the scope defined in the accompanying claims. The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed 
     When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments. 
     Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “bottom,” “above,” “upper,” “top,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature&#39;s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.