Claims
- 1. A solderless connector having a flexible printed circuit for connecting printed circuit boards comprising:
- a connector housing adapted for attachment to a daughter board and having a mating end adapted for securing the connector to a mother board;
- a compression plate disposed in the mating end of the housing with a contact portion of the flexible printed circuit underlying a surface of the compression plate at the mating end of the connector;
- a spring between an inside surface of the housing and the compression plate for pressing the contact portion of the flexible printed circuit against the mother board;
- the flexible printed circuit having an end portion provided with an array of gold dot contacts for providing electrical contact of the flexible printed circuit with the daughter board;
- a compression assembly for attaching the end portion of the flexible printed circuit to the daughter board;
- the compression assembly including a compression block having a central cavity aligned with the array of gold dot contacts and a spring loaded plunger disposed in the central cavity pressing the gold dot contacts of the end portion of the printed circuit against the daughter board to make electrical contact.
- 2. The electrical connector as defined in claim 1 further including a heat frame that is attached to the connector housing for holding the daughter board and wherein the compression block is bolted to the heat frame.
- 3. The electrical connector as defined in claim 2 wherein the flexible printed circuit passes through a slot in the top of the connector housing and compression block is located near the top of the connector housing and covers the end portion of the flexible printed circuit.
- 4. A solderless electrical connector having a flexible printed circuit for connecting printed circuit boards comprising:
- a heat frame having a first daughter board attached to a front surface of the heat frame and a second daughter board attached to a rear surface of the heat frame,
- a connector housing attached to the heat frame adjacent a lower end of the first and second daughter boards, the connector housing having a mating end adopted for securing the connector to a mother board;
- a compression plate disposed in a cavity in the mating end of the housing with a spring disposed between an inside surface of the housing and the compression plate for pressing the compression plate toward the mother board;
- the flexible printed circuit being looped around the compression plate and having opposite end portions attached to the respective daughter boards on opposite surfaces of the heat frame for making electrical connections between the flexible printed circuit and the daughter boards;
- the end portions of the flexible printed circuit each having an array of gold dot contacts for providing electrical contact of the respective end portions of the flexible printed circuit with the respective daughters boards;
- a compression assembly on each side of the frame for pressing the gold dot contacts disposed on the respective end portions of the flexible printed circuit against conductive pads on the respective daughter boards to make electrical contact; and
- the compression assemblies each including a compression block having a central cavity aligned with the gold dot contacts and a spring loaded plunger disposed in the central cavity pressing one of the end portions of the flexible printed circuit against one of the daughter boards.
- 5. The electrical connector as defined in claim 4 wherein the compression blocks are secured to each other by fasteners that extend through the heat frame and the daughter boards.
- 6. The electrical connector as defined in claim 5 wherein the compression blocks are fastened to each other above and below the central cavities.
- 7. The electrical connector as defined in claim 5 wherein the compression blocks cover the respective end portions of the flexible printed circuit and wherein the compressing blocks are located near an upper end of the connector housing so that essentially all of the flexible printed circuit is protected by the connector housing and the compression blocks.
- 8. The electrical connector as defined in claim 4 wherein the connector housing has a plurality of longitudinally spaced ears having precision slots that receive the lower end of the heat frame and the connector housing is attached to the heat frame by fasteners that extend through the lower end of the heat frame and at least part way through the ears on each side of the slots.
- 9. The electrical connector as defined in claim 4 wherein the connector housing includes a socket that carries a fiber optic contact and an electric contact for making electric and fiber optic cable connections to the mother board.
- 10. A solderless electrical connector having a flexible printed circuit for connecting printed circuit boards comprising:
- a heat frame having a first daughter board attached to a front surface of the heat frame and a second daughter board attached to a rear surface of the heat frame,
- a connector housing attached to the heat frame adjacent a lower end of the first and second daughter boards by a plurality of longitudinally spaced ears with precision slots engaging the front and rear surfaces of the heat frame, the connector housing having a mating end adopted for securing the connector to a mother board;
- a compression plate disposed in a cavity in the mating end of the housing with a spring disposed between an inside surface of the housing and the compression plate for pressing the compression plate toward the mother board;
- the flexible printed circuit being looped around the compression plate and having opposite end portions outside the cavity for making electrical connections between the flexible printed circuit and the respective daughter boards;
- the end portions of the flexible printed circuit each having an array of gold dot contacts for providing electrical contact of the respective end portions of the flexible printed circuit with the respective daughter boards;
- a compression assembly on each side of the frame for attaching the end portions to the heat frame and pressing the gold dot contacts disposed on the respective end portions of the flexible printed circuit against conductive pads on the respective daughter boards to make electrical contact;
- the compression assemblies each including a compression block having a central cavity aligned with the gold dot contacts and a spring loaded plunger disposed in the central cavity pressing one of the end portions of the flexible printed circuit against one of the daughter boards;
- the compression blocks being fastened to each other by fasteners above and below the central cavities that extend through the heat frame and the daughter boards; and
- the compression blocks covering the respective end portions of the flexible printed circuit and being located near an upper end of the connector housing so that essentially all of the flexible printed circuit is protected by the connector housing and the compression blocks.
- 11. The solderless electrical connector as defined in claim 10 wherein the end portions of the flexible printed circuit have pilot holes and the compression assemblies include pilot pins that are carried by the compression blocks and that extend through the pilot holes and aligned holes in the daughter boards and the frame to locate the arrays of gold dot contacts accurately with respect to the daughter boards.
- 12. The solderless electrical connector as defined in claim 10 wherein each spring loaded plunger has a plurality of pilot stems disposed in pilot holes of the compression block and Belleville springs encircling the pilot stems.
- 13. The solderless electrical connector as defined in claim 12 wherein each spring loaded plunger includes a cushion that engages the flexible printed circuit behind the gold dot contacts.
- 14. The solderless electrical connector as defined in claim 12 wherein each plunger is retained in a cavity of one of the compression blocks by cross pins that are attached to the plunger with the ends of the cross pins projecting into oversize holes in one of the compression blocks.
Government Interests
The U.S. Government may have rights in this invention.
US Referenced Citations (7)