Patent Application
20090101388
The present invention relates to a flat cable assembly, and more particularly to a flat cable assembly for use in a power supply apparatus.
Power supply apparatuses are essential for many electronic appliances such as personal computers, industrial computers, servers, communication products or network products. Usually, the user may simply plug a power supply apparatus into an AC wall outlet commonly found in most homes or offices so as to receive an AC voltage. The power supply apparatus will convert the AC voltage into a regulated DC output voltage for powering the electronic device such as a computer host.
Referring to
The conventional power supply apparatus 10, however, still has some drawbacks. Since a great number of power cables 13 are penetrated through the outlet 12 of the casing 11 of the power supply apparatus 10, these power cables 13 are separated from each other in a mess and thus easily entangled. The entangled power cables 13 may fully occupy the inner space of the host computer's housing. Under this circumstance, the efficacy of air convection inside the computer host's housing is impaired and the heat dissipating efficiency is reduced.
For solving the above drawbacks, a ribbon or a flexible mesh is used to hold the power cables 13 connected to individual connector 14 in a bundle. As known, the ribbon is readily lost or loosened. In addition, the flexible mesh is not cost-effective.
Moreover, each power cable 13 is connected to a corresponding position of the connector 14. If a mismatch of the power cable 13 and the connector 14 occurs, the regulated DC output voltage fails to be transmitted to the required component of the computer host. Since the plentiful power cables 13 are separated from each other in a mess, it is difficult to assure whether these power cables 13 are accurately connected to the right positions of corresponding connectors 14. As a consequence, the possibility of erroneously inserting the power cables 13 into respective connectors 14 is increased and the assembling process is troublesome.
In views of the above-described disadvantages resulted from the prior art, the applicant keeps on carving unflaggingly to develop a flat cable assembly for use in a power supply apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flat cable assembly for use in a power supply apparatus. Since no ribbon or flexible mesh is used, the drawbacks resulted from the prior art are alleviated.
Another object of the present invention provides a flat cable assembly for use in a power supply apparatus so as to avoid erroneously inserting the power cables into respective connectors.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat cable assembly for use in a power supply apparatus. The flat cable assembly includes a plurality of power cables and a bonding medium. The plurality of power cables are parallel with each other, wherein every two adjacent power cables are separated from each other. The bonding medium is used for boding every two adjacent power cables together, thereby cooperatively forming the flat cable assembly having a first surface and a second surface. A first gap is formed between the first surface and the bonding medium and a second gap is formed between the second surface and the bonding medium.
In an embodiment, the bonding medium is an adhesive.
Preferably, the adhesive is a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) adhesive.
In an embodiment, each of the power cables includes a conductive core and an insulating cover. The insulating cover is sheathed around the conductive core for insulating the conductive core. The conductive cores of the power cables are aligned in one or more rows.
In an embodiment, the conductive cores of the power cables are aligned in a single row.
In an embodiment, the conductive cores of the power cables are aligned in two rows.
In an embodiment, the power cables have the same dimension.
In an embodiment, the power cables include at least two different dimensions.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power supply apparatus. The power supply apparatus includes a casing, a flat cable assembly and at least one first connector. The flat cable assembly has a terminal electrically connected to a circuit board inside the casing. The flat cable assembly includes a plurality of power cables parallel with each other and a bonding medium for boding every two adjacent power cables together, thereby cooperatively forming the flat cable assembly having a first surface and a second surface. A first gap is formed between the first surface and the bonding medium and a second gap is formed between the second surface and the bonding medium. The first connector is coupled with a second terminal of the flat cable assembly.
In an embodiment, the power cables are connected to the circuit board through an outlet of the casing.
In an embodiment, the power supply apparatus further includes a power socket mounted on an external surface of the casing and electrically connected to the circuit board.
In an embodiment, a second connector is arranged on the first terminal of the flat cable assembly and inserted into the power socket.
The above contents of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
In the embodiment of
For complying with different specifications of the specified components of the computer host, the configurations of the connectors of the power supply apparatus are varied so that the flat cable assembly coupled to the respective connector are also varied. For example, as shown in
Alternatively, the flat cable assembly 32 may be divided into several flat cable sub-assemblies 323, 324 and 325. The number of the sub-assemblies may be varied as required. These flat cable sub-assemblies 323, 324 and 325 are coupled to corresponding connectors 34 according to the designed specifications.
In some embodiments, at least one confining member 33 is disposed in the middle portion of the flat cable assembly 32 for confining the flat cable assembly 32 and preventing separation of the power cables 321.
Since the plurality of power cables 321 are bonded together via the bonding medium 322 to form as the flat cable assembly 32, the possibility of erroneously inserting the power cables 321 into respective connectors 34 is minimized. In addition, it is easy to insert the power cables 321 into respective connectors 34. In some embodiments, the insulating covers of the power cables 321 are coated with different colors, thereby facilitating insertion of the power cables 321 into respective connectors 34.
From the above description, the flat cable assembly of the present invention is formed by bonding every two adjacent power cables together with the bonding medium. Since the conductive cores of these power cables are substantially parallel with each other and aligned in one or more rows, the power cables are inserted into respective connectors without difficulty and error.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 096139343 | Oct 2007 | TW | national |
