Printed circuit board engagement systems and methods

An in-plane printed circuit board translation assembly comprising:

• a fixed support plate having a major plane, the fixed support plate including a longitudinal guide slot and a transverse drive slot;
• a coupling arm substantially parallel to the major plane,
• an out-of-plane guide pin connected to the coupling arm and passing through the longitudinal guide slot, for connecting to a printed circuit board to translate the printed circuit board along a trajectory defined by the longitudinal guide slot;
• a drive arm substantially parallel to the major plane and pivotally connected to the coupling arm;
• and
• an out-of-plane drive pin pivotally connecting the coupling arm to the drive arm and passing through the transverse drive slot, for coupling a motion of the drive arm to the coupling arm to drive the guide pin along the longitudinal guide slot.

An apparatus comprising:

• a support plate having
• a pair of first longitudinal guiding slots extending through the support plate along a major surface of the support plate and spaced apart along a transverse direction, and
• a pair of second longitudinal guiding slots extending through the support plate along the major surface and spaced apart along the transverse direction;
• a first printed circuit board translation assembly for coupling to a first printed circuit board and longitudinally translating the first printed circuit board relative to the support plate, the first translation assembly comprising:
• a pair of first rigid coupling arms substantially parallel to the major surface, each first coupling arm including a first pin substantially normal to the major surface, the first pin extending through a corresponding first slot of the pair of first slots and slidable longitudinally within the corresponding first slot;
• and
• a first transverse rigid linking arm interconnecting the pair of first coupling arms to longitudinally interlock the pair of first coupling arms;
• a second printed circuit board translation assembly for coupling to a second printed circuit board and longitudinally translating the second printed circuit board relative to the support plate to mate with the first printed circuit board, the second translation assembly comprising a pair of second rigid coupling arms substantially parallel to the major surface, each second coupling arm including a second pin substantially normal to the major surface, the second pin extending through a corresponding second slot of the pair of second slots and slidable longitudinally within the corresponding second slot.

A method of electrically connecting a pair of co-planar printed circuit boards, comprising:

• connecting a coupling arm to a first printed circuit board of the pair of printed circuit boards;
• connecting a leveraging arm to the coupling arm and to a fixed support;
• and
• employing the leveraging arm to leverage an external force applied to the leveraging arm to move the coupling arm along a plane of the printed circuit boards to connect a first electrical connector situated along an edge of the first printed circuit board to a second electrical connector situated along an edge of the second printed circuit board.