Patent ID: 7154761

Claim:
A data communications device, comprising: a chassis having a front and a back; a backplane assembly disposed at the back of the chassis, the backplane assembly including: a main backplane having a first power conductor; a backplane strip having a second power conductor; and a set of connecting members disposed between the main backplane and the backplane strip to (i) hold the backplane strip in a fixed position relative to the main backplane and (ii) electrically connect the first power conductor and the second power conductor; and modules which are configured to insert through the front of the chassis and connect to the backplane assembly, the modules being further configured to perform data communications operations on data elements entering and exiting the data communications device in response to power provided through the first and second power conductors; wherein the set of connecting members of the backplane assembly includes: source standoffs which extend from a source area of the main backplane to the backplane strip; and target standoffs which extend from a target area of the main backplane to the backplane strip, the source and target standoffs and the second power conductor providing a current path which increases current carrying capacity from the source area to the target area above that provided by the first power conductor alone.