Abstract:
An adaptive connector assembly may include two or more conductors and at least one compliance member configured to allow for three dimensional movement of the two or more conductors with respect to a frame assembly. The frame assembly may be configured to be mounted within an information technology (IT) cabinet.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates to power connectors and, more particularly, to displaceable power connectors. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In today&#39;s IT infrastructure, high availability is of paramount importance. Specifically, critical (and sometimes non-critical) components within an IT infrastructure are often layered in redundancy. For example, primary servers may be supported by backup servers; primary switches may be supported by backup switches; primary power supplies may be supported by backup power supplies; and primary storage systems may be supported by backup storage systems. 
     Oftentimes, various IT components are configured to be quickly inserted into and removed from various rack enclosures. Accordingly, hard drive modules, power supply modules, and computing modules may be configured to be quickly placed into and removed from frame assemblies. Accordingly, these frame assemblies (and the modules that mate with them) must include the appropriate electrical connections so that when the modules are installed into the frame assemblies, all of the required electrical connections are made for the device to function properly. 
     SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE 
     In a first implementation, an adaptive connector assembly includes two or more conductors and at least one compliance member configured to allow for three dimensional movement of the two or more conductors with respect to a frame assembly. 
     One or more of the following features may be included. The frame assembly may be configured to be mounted within an IT cabinet. The frame assembly may be configured to removeably couple a module assembly. The module assembly may be an IT module assembly. The two or more conductors may include pin connectors. The pin connectors may include at least one tapered end. The at least one compliance may include a fastener assembly and a spring assembly. The two or more conductors may be attached to a backplane. The fastener assembly may be configured to pass through the backplane assembly. One or more energy absorption assemblies may be attached to the frame assembly and configured to contact a module assembly when the module assembly is removeably coupled to the frame assembly. 
     In another implementation, an adaptive connector assembly includes two or more conductors attached to a backplane and at least one compliance member configured to allow for three dimensional movement of the two or more conductors with respect to a frame assembly. The two or more conductors include pin connectors. 
     One or more of the following features may be included. The frame assembly may be configured to removeably couple a module assembly. The module assembly may be an IT module assembly. The pin connectors may include at least one tapered end. The at least one compliance may include a fastener assembly and a spring assembly. The fastener assembly may be configured to pass through the backplane assembly. 
     In another implementation, an adaptive connector assembly includes two or more conductors attached to a backplane, wherein the two or more conductors include pin connectors. Two or more compliance members are configured to allow for three dimensional movement of the backplane with respect to a frame assembly. The two or more compliance include a fastener assembly and a spring assembly. 
     One or more of the following features may be included. The pin connectors may include at least one tapered end. The fastener assembly may be configured to pass through the backplane assembly. One or more energy absorption assemblies may be attached to the frame assembly and configured to contact a module assembly when the module assembly is removeably coupled to the frame assembly. 
     The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1-2  are diagrammatic views of a module assembly inserted into a frame assembly; 
         FIGS. 3-4  are diagrammatic views of an adaptive connector assembly; and 
         FIGS. 5-7  are detail views of the adaptive connector assembly of  FIGS. 3-4 . 
     
    
    
     Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , there is shown module assembly  10  and frame assembly  12 , wherein module assembly  10  is removably positionable within frame assembly  12 . Examples of frame assembly  12  may include but are not limited to frame assemblies that are capable of being mounted into IT cabinetry (e.g. racks, cabinets, enclosures). Examples of module assembly  10  may include but are not limited to various IT componentry that would be removably positionable within frame assembly  12 , such as hard disk drive module assemblies, processing module assemblies, power supply module assemblies, and controller module assemblies. 
     Accordingly, frame assembly  12  may be configured as a power supply and module assembly  10  may include a battery assembly and be configured to be removably coupleable to frame assembly  12 . Alternatively, frame assembly  12  may be a storage subsystem and module assembly  10  may include a hard disk drive and be configured to be removably coupleable to frame assembly  12 . 
     As module assembly  10  is configured to be repeatedly inserted into and removed from frame assembly  12 , frame assembly  12  may include a robust electrical connector assembly that may allow for automated alignment of the electrical connectors that couple frame assembly  12  and module assembly  10 . 
     Referring also to  FIG. 3-4 , there is shown adaptive connector assembly  14  that is included within (in this embodiment) frame assembly  12 . Alternatively, adaptive connector assembly  14  may be included within module assembly  10 . In this particular embodiment of adaptive connector assembly  14 , adaptive connector assembly  14  is shown to include two electrical connectors, namely pin connectors  16 ,  18 . The ends of pin connectors  16 ,  18  maybe be tapered to aid in aligning pin connectors  16 ,  18  with corresponding female connectors (not shown) on module assembly  10 . A typical embodiment of pin connectors  16 ,  18  would be that of a ground connector and a DC voltage connector. For example, pin connector  16  may be configured to provide a ground connection to module assembly  10  and pin connector  18  may be configured to provide a 12 VDC electrical connection to module assembly  10 . 
     While in this particular example, adaptive connector assembly  14  is shown to include only two electrical connections (namely pin connectors  16 ,  18 ), this is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be a limitation of this disclosure. For example, additional electrical connectors may be included to provide e.g. data coupling functionality between frame assembly  12  and module assembly  10 . 
     In order to allow module assembly  10  to slide into frame assembly  12 , there should be some clearance between frame assembly  12  and module assembly  10 . Accordingly, module assembly  10  should be a little bit smaller than frame assembly  12  or frame assembly  12  should be a little bit bigger than module assembly  10 . Such clearance may be required in order to allow module assembly  10  to easily slide into frame assembly  12 . Unfortunately, while clearance allows for easier insertion of module assembly  10  into frame assembly  12 , such clearance also results in potential connector misalignment issues between the electrical connectors on module assembly  10  and the corresponding electrical connectors on frame assembly  12 . Accordingly, adaptive connector assembly  14  may be configured to be displaceable in three axes. 
     Referring also to  FIGS. 5-7 , there are shown more detailed views of adaptive connector assembly  14 . Adaptive connector assembly  14  may include one or more compliance assemblies (compliance assemblies  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ) that allow for the movement of connector assembly  14  (and therefore pin assemblies  16 ,  18 ) in all three axes (as will be explained). 
     Adaptive connector assembly  14  may be provided with power by (in this embodiment) multi-conductor power cable  28  that (in this embodiment) provides power to pin connectors  16 ,  18 . In this particular environment, pin connectors  16 ,  18  are attached to backplane  30 , which is attached (via compliance assemblies  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ) to frame assembly  12 . As shown in  FIGS. 5-7 , each compliance assembly includes (in this embodiment) screw portion  32 , nut portion  34 , and spring portion  36 . While in this particular embodiment, compliance assembly  20  is shown to include screw portion  32 , nut portion  34  and spring portion  36 , this is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be a limitation of this disclosure, as other configurations are possible and it is the function of the compliance assembly that is more important than the actual components used to make the compliance assembly. In this particular example, the function of the combination of screw portion  32  and nut portion  34  is to capture spring portion  36  and provide a clamping force that biases backplane assembly  30  against frame assembly  12 . Additionally, the hole in backplane assembly  30  through which screw portion  32  passes may be larger than the shank of screw portion  32  (while not as large as the diameter of spring portion  36 ). Accordingly, through the use of an oversized hole in backplane assembly  30  and/or an undersized screw portion  32 , displacement of adaptive connector assembly  14  is achievable in the X axis and the Y-axis, as backplane assembly  30  may be displaced with respect to the screw portions of compliance assemblies  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 . Additionally, as spring portion  36  may be compressible in the Z-axis, adaptive connector assembly  14  may be displaceable in the Z-axis when adaptive connector assembly  14  comes in contact with module assembly  10 . 
     One or more energy absorption assemblies  38 ,  40  may be positioned on frame assembly  12  so that when module assembly  10  is slid into frame assembly  12 , energy absorption assemblies  38 ,  40  (which may be configured as leaf springs) absorb a portion of the impact energy of module assembly  10  striking the back of frame assembly  12 . 
     Having thus described the disclosure of the present application in detail and by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosure defined in the appended claims.