Circuit card adapter

An adapter for transferring the electrical connections of a circuit card of an electrical system from a stationary connector in a congested area on one side of a reference board to a convenient access area on the opposite side of the board, said electrical connections of said circuit card comprising a plurality of discrete electrical contact regions and said stationary connector including a plurality of contacts having a positional relationship with said contact regions for mating with said contact regions to connect said card to said system in a predetermined manner and said reference board having means on both sides for making electrical connection to said system, said adapter comprising:

• (a) a first electrical connector element for making electrical connections to said system at a location on the opposite side of said board in correspondence with said contacts of said stationary connector;
• (b) a second electrical connector element for making electrical connections to said circuit card in correspondence with said electrical contact regions of said circuit card;
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• (c) means for joining said first and second electrical connector elements mechanically and electrically adjacent said opposite side of said reference board, said joining means including means for defining an electrical path between said first and second connector elements for conveying signals between said first and second connector elements in a manner interchanging the connections between said first and second electrical connector elements relative to the positional relationship between said electrical contact regions of said circuit card and said contacts of said stationary connector on the other side of said reference board so that said circuit card is connected electrically to the system on the other side of said reference board in the same manner as it was by said stationary connector on the one side of said reference board;
• (d) whereby said circuit card can be disconnected from said stationary connector and moved to said opposite side of said reference board and connected to said second electrical connector element of said adapter to facilitate working on said circuit card in a manner which does not increase significantly the electrical path length from said reference board to said circuit card and in a manner such that said circuit card functions electrically in the system in the same manner as it did when connected to said stationary connector.

An adapter for transferring the electrical connections of a circuit card of an electrical system from a stationary connector in a congested area on one side of a reference board to a convenient access area on the opposite side of the board, said circuit card having generally coplanar opposite surfaces meeting at an edge, said electrical connections of said circuit card comprising discrete electrical contact regions on said surfaces adjacent said edge, there being a plurality of said contact regions in spaced relation along said edge and said stationary connector including a plurality of contacts having a positional relationship with said contact regions of said card for mating with said contact regions to connect said card to said system in a predetermined manner and said reference board having means on both sides for making electrical connection to said system, the orientation of said circuit card being displaced 180.degree. about an axis perpendicular to the plane of said circuit card when said card is moved from said one side of said board, to said opposite side of said board, said adapter comprising:

• (a) a first electrical connector for making electrical connections to said system at a location on the opposite side of said board in correspondence with said contacts of said stationary connector, said first connector being generally elongated in shape having a length substantially equal to the length of said circuit card measured along said edge and having a dimension measured perpendicular to said length and parallel to the plane of said circuit card significantly smaller than said length thereof, said first connector including means along one side thereof for making electrical connection to terminal means of said stationary connector extending through said reference board and means operatively associated with another side of said first connector for making mechanical and electrical connection to another element, the longitudinal axis of said first connector being disposed generally parallel to the plane of said reference board when said first connector is in place;
• (b) a second electrical connector for making electrical connections to said circuit card in correspondence with said electrical contact regions of said circuit card, said second connector being generally elongated in shape having a length substantially equal to the length of said circuit card measured along said edge and having a dimension measured perpendicular to said length and parallel to the plane of said circuit card significantly smaller than said length thereof, said second connector including means along one side thereof for receiving said edge of said circuit card and making electrical connection to said card and means operatively associated with another side of said second connector element for making mechanical and electrical connection to another element, the longitudinal axis of said second connector being disposed generally parallel to the plane of said reference board when said second connector is in place;
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• (c) means for joining said first and second electrical connectors mechanically and electrically adjacent said opposite side of said reference board, said joining means comprising an elongated planar element disposed in a plane generally parallel to the plane of said reference board when said joining means is in place and having means on one side for making connection to said mechanical and electrical connection means of said first connector of said adapter, means on another side of said elongated element for making connection to said mechanical and electrical connection means of said second connector, and electrical path defining means on said elongated element for electrically connecting said connection means of said joining means, said path defining means being arranged to convey signals between said first and second connectors of said adapter in a manner interchanging the connections between said first and second electrical connectors of said adapter relative to the positional relationship between said electrical contact regions of said circuit card and said contacts of said stationary connector on the other side of said reference board so that said circuit card is connected electrically to the system on the other side of said reference board in the same manner as it was by said stationary connector on the one side of said reference board;
• (d) whereby said circuit card can be disconnected from said stationary connector and moved to said opposite side of said reference board and connected to said second electrical connector of said adapter to facilitate working on said circuit card in a manner which does not increase significantly the electrical path length from said reference board to said circuit card and in a manner such that said circuit card functions electrically in the system in the same manner as it did when connected to said stationary connector.