Many computer systems permit electronic components to be installed by a user of the system. Examples of such electronic components include memory modules, add-in circuit boards, etc. It is possible that a user only partially, not fully, seats the electronic component in place in the system. It is also possible that the user believes he or she has fully seated the electronic component in place, and thus not realize that the component is only partially seated. A component that is only partially seated will likely not work properly or at all.
For a detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:
a and 3b illustrate partially and fully seated electronic components in accordance with various embodiments;
Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, computer companies may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . .” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect, direct, optical or wireless electrical connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections, through an optical electrical connection, or through a wireless electrical connection.
The following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the invention. Although one or more of these embodiments may be preferred, the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted, or otherwise used, as limiting the scope of the disclosure, including the claims. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application, and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment.
The system 10 of
The arms 22, 24 are deflectable meaning that outward force on an arm will cause that arm to be bent outward to a degree without breaking or otherwise separating from connector body 26. The degree to which each arm can be deflected outward without breaking is at least just enough to permit the electronic component 18 to be mated to the connector assembly. The flexible nature of arms 22, 24 to accommodate insertion of electronic component 18 is illustrated in
b illustrates that the electronic component 18 is fully seated in connector assembly 20 thereby establishing electrical connectivity between the electronic component 18 and connector assembly 20. Upon establishing electrical connectivity between electronic component 18 and connector assembly 20, protruding members 30, 32 fit into the corresponding recessed areas 38, 39, thereby permitting the arms to revert back to their natural resting state.
As illustrated by
Another electrical contact 56 is coupled to the circuit board 14. In some embodiments, the contact 56 is mounted directly onto the board 14, but in other embodiments, the contact 56 is mounted elsewhere but electrically coupled to circuitry on the board 14. This contact is referred to as a “board contact” (regardless of whether or not the contact is mounted directly on board 14). The board contact has a generally double-curved shape as shown. Each board contact 56 comprises a base portion 58 and spring portion 60. Portions 58 and 60 may be formed as a unitary structure or separate structures attached together (e.g., glued, welded, etc.). When the electronic component is fully seated in connector assembly 20, the arms 22, 24 revert back to their natural resting state which thereby causes the electrically-conductive arm contact 50 (specifically extension portion 54) to contact the electrically conductive board contact 56. If the electronic component 18 is not fully seated, then one or both of the arms 22, 24 remain in the outwardly deflected state (best shown in
If, however, the electronic component 18 is not fully seated, then board contact 56a will not be grounded as one or both of the pairs of arm and board contacts 50, 56 will not be in electrical contact with each other. In this case (board contact 56a not being grounded by way of board contact 56b), resistor R1 will not be connected to ground and no current will flow through resistor R1. As no current flows through resistor R1, the VCC voltage is not provided across resistor R1. The connector interface 72 detects this state of resistor R1 as a logic low.
The connector interface 72 informs the host logic 70 as to whether the electronic component 18 is fully seated. If the host logic 70 is informed by the connector 72 that the electronic component 18 is not fully seated, the host logic 70 takes appropriate action. The action could be to prevent power from being provided to the connector assembly 20, to prevent data communications with the electronic component, to generate an alert (e.g., audible or visual), or other suitable actions.
The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2008/052485 | 1/30/2008 | WO | 00 | 7/13/2010 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2009/096962 | 8/6/2009 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3216580 | Fricker, Jr. | Nov 1965 | A |
4952758 | Dara et al. | Aug 1990 | A |
5260852 | Ma | Nov 1993 | A |
5530376 | Lim et al. | Jun 1996 | A |
5627416 | Kantner | May 1997 | A |
5695354 | Noda | Dec 1997 | A |
5779494 | Ito et al. | Jul 1998 | A |
5791925 | Yu | Aug 1998 | A |
5820391 | Delprete et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
5847932 | Kantner | Dec 1998 | A |
6162069 | Choy | Dec 2000 | A |
6164998 | Poi et al. | Dec 2000 | A |
6244881 | Hara | Jun 2001 | B1 |
6270369 | Kato et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6452114 | Schweitzer et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6464514 | Tsai et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6826638 | Jaggers et al. | Nov 2004 | B1 |
6943739 | Rousu et al. | Sep 2005 | B1 |
7074067 | Yang et al. | Jul 2006 | B2 |
20040186688 | Nejedlo | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20040217651 | Brown et al. | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20040227637 | Barr et al. | Nov 2004 | A1 |
20110171846 | Bauer et al. | Jul 2011 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
08083631 | Mar 1996 | JP |
09097540 | Apr 1997 | JP |
2000200641 | Jul 2000 | JP |
10199910248 | Feb 1999 | KR |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report and Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Sep. 17, 2008, pp. 10. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20100291778 A1 | Nov 2010 | US |