Patent ID: 6950311

Claim:
A telecommunication switch comprising a passive section including a housing having a bottom wall, a pair of upstanding side walls, an up-standing rear wall and an open front, a multiplicity of signal ports mounted in said rear wall, an I/O circuit board supported on the bottom wall, said I/O board having a front edge, a first electrical connector mounted to said I/O board adjacent to the front edge thereof, said first connector having a multiplicity of contacts, said I/O board carrying only non-active components of the switch and defining a multiplicity of signal spans between said ports and the contacts of said first connector, and a tray slidably received in said housing through the open front thereof, said tray including a pan having a bottom wall, a pair of upstanding side walls and an up-standing front wall, a printed circuit motherboard supported on the bottom wall of the pan, said motherboard having a rear edge and carrying all of the active components of the switch, and a second connector mounted to the motherboard adjacent to the rear edge thereof, said second connector having a multiplicity of contacts that are mateable with the contacts of the first connector, said motherboard defining signal paths between the active components thereon and the contacts of the second connector, said first and second connectors being arranged and adapted so that when said tray is slid into said housing to a home position, the corresponding contacts of the first and second connectors are coupled together so as to establish all of the electrical connections between said ports and said active components that are needed for normal operation of the switch.