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US 8,947,888 B2Granted
Substantially rigid interconnection structure for devices
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsEric C. Peterson, David T. Harper
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A substantially cable-free board connection assembly may include a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) forming an interconnect plane for a plurality of electronic devices respectively attached to a plurality of plane boards included in the interconnect plane. An insertion direction for substantially all connectors is substantially perpendicular to a face of the interconnect plane. At least a portion of the board connection assembly is mounted to a support structure via a flexible connection.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a board connection assembly that includes:
- a plurality of substantially cable-free interconnection modules, each respective interconnection module including a printed circuit board (PCB) plane board that is substantially rigidly connected to at least one respective electronic device;
- and
- a plurality of connecting PCBs configured to provide substantially all network communication connectivity to the interconnection modules in lieu of flexible cabling, at least a portion of the board connection assembly mounted to a support structure via a flexible connection, wherein:
- connections in a first direction among the interconnection modules are provided by a plurality of horizontal ties and horizontal loopback boards, and
- connections in a second direction among the interconnection modules are provided by a plurality of vertical ties and vertical loopback boards, the second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction,
- with substantially all connectors among the PCBs included in the system secured in a direction that is perpendicular to respective faces of the interconnection module PCB plane boards, wherein:
- the flexible connection allows movement in the first direction and the second direction.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- interconnecting a system of printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are interconnected to form a single assembly that is substantially cable-free for interconnecting a plurality of electronic devices, based on:
- obtaining a plurality of substantially cable-free interconnection modules, each respective interconnection module including a plane board that is substantially rigidly connected to at least one respective electronic device,
- substantially in a first direction, connecting the plurality of interconnection modules via substantially rigid pairwise connections of pairs of the plane boards via a plurality of respective horizontal ties and horizontal loopback boards, and
- substantially in a second direction, connecting the plurality of interconnection modules via substantially rigid pairwise connections of pairs of the plane boards via a plurality of respective vertical ties and vertical loopback boards, the second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction;
- and
- flexibly mounting at least a portion of the single assembly to a support structure.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a substantially cable-free board connection assembly that includes:
- a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) forming an interconnect plane for a plurality of electronic devices respectively attached to a plurality of plane boards included in the interconnect plane, with an insertion direction for substantially all connectors being substantially perpendicular to a face of the interconnect plane, at least a portion of the board connection assembly being mounted to a support structure via a flexible connection, wherein:
- horizontal connections among the PCBs are provided by horizontal ties and horizontal loopback boards, and vertical connections among the PCBs are provided by vertical ties and vertical loopback boards.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.