JPH06110581A - Extension board - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To mount more than one extension board at one extension slot on the main body of a computer by inserting the edge connector of the second extension board in the same shape as the edge connector of the first extension board for the connector socket of this extension board. CONSTITUTION:Respective connector sockets 15, 15' and 15'' of extension boards 8, 8' and 8'' can be made correspondent to respective connecting terminals 12, 12' and 12'' of edge connectors 13, 13' and 13''. Further, these sockets 15, 15' and 15'' can insert edge connectors 13, 13' and 13'' in the same shape as the respective edge connectors 13, 13' and 13''. Extension circuits 11, 11' and 11'' can be connected to the respective connecting terminals 12, 12' and 12'' of the edge connectors 13, 13' and 13''. Thus, more than one extension board 8, 8' and 8'' provided with various functions can be connected to a slot connector 6 in the main body of one computer on the same plane. Therefore, more than one extension board 8, 8' and 8'' can be connected to one extension slot 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an expansion board connected to a connector socket of a computer main body, and provides a new expansion board capable of connecting two or more expansion boards even if the computer main body has one connector socket. Is what you are trying to do.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Most of today's computers are provided with a circuit board provided with an expansion circuit such as a memory circuit and an interface circuit in addition to a memory and various interfaces which the computer body has in advance.
A different function can be added by detachably connecting the expansion board, and a plurality of types of such expansion boards are usually prepared.

For this reason, a computer body of this type is provided with a space for detachably loading an expansion board, a so-called expansion slot, and a rail for supporting the expansion board or an expansion board is provided in the expansion slot. A connector socket or the like to which the edge connector is detachably connected is arranged.

[0004]

By the way, in recent computers, the outer shape of the main body is very small and thin in response to the demand for miniaturization and thinning, as seen in, for example, so-called notebook personal computers. It has become a thing.

With the miniaturization and thinning of the computer, there is little room to provide an expansion slot inside the computer,
In particular, there is no space for arranging the expansion boards so as to be stacked in the plate thickness direction, and it is the best practice to provide an expansion slot having a size of one expansion board.

For this reason, when connecting an expansion board to such a computer main body, it is necessary to replace the expansion board required each time, or it is necessary to connect the expansion board to the computer main body via an external device. However, the convenience of the expansion board has been increased, but the handling of the expansion board has become a problem.

[0007]

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the expansion board of the present invention has an expansion circuit having a predetermined function, an edge connector, and a connection terminal corresponding to each connection terminal of the edge connector. The extension circuit includes a connector socket having another contact terminal into which an edge connector having the same shape as the edge connector is inserted, and a connection circuit for separately connecting the connection terminal of the edge connector and the contact terminal of the connector socket. Is connected to each predetermined connection terminal of the edge connector, and when two or more expansion boards are connected to the computer main body, one expansion board is connected to the connector socket of the computer main body, and the other expansion board is connected to the above-mentioned one expansion board. It is designed to be connected to the connector socket of and to be connected to the computer main body through the connection circuit on the expansion board. That.

[0008]

Therefore, according to the expansion board of the present invention, it is possible to connect two or more expansion boards having different predetermined functions to one connector of the computer main body in the same plane. Two or more expansion boards can be connected to the slot.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the expansion board of the present invention will be described below with reference to the respective embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of an expansion board according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a computer main body (only part of which is shown), 2 denotes an outer casing thereof, and the outer casing 2 has a thin box shape.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an expansion slot provided inside the outer casing 2, and 4 denotes a rear surface wall of the outer casing 2 (the direction toward the lower right in FIG. 1 is the rear side, and the direction toward the upper left is the front side). ,
The left downward direction in the figure is the left side, and the right upward direction is the right side. In the following description, when indicating the direction, it is based on this direction. ), Which has a rectangular shape elongated in the left-right direction. The insertion port 4 is provided at a position corresponding to the expansion slot 3 and is covered by a detachable lid not shown.

The expansion slot 3 has a certain length in the depth direction, that is, the front-back direction, but the size in the left-right direction is substantially the same as or slightly larger than that of the insertion port 4. Therefore, the expansion slot 3 is a relatively thin space.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a circuit board disposed inside the outer casing 2, which is provided at the rear end of the expansion slot 3 in a posture in which it faces in the vertical direction, and will be described later at a position facing the insertion port 4 on the rear surface thereof. A connector socket 6 (hereinafter referred to as “slot connector”) to which an edge connector of an expansion board is detachably coupled is arranged, and a large number of terminals (not shown) of the slot connector 6 are provided on a circuit board 5. Each is connected to a predetermined circuit pattern.

Another circuit board (not shown) is arranged above and below the expansion slot 3.

Numerals 7 and 7 are rails for supporting an expansion board, which will be described later, and are arranged so as to extend in parallel to each other in the expansion slot 3 at positions corresponding to both ends of the insertion slot 4 respectively. And is provided with support grooves 7a, 7a opened on the surfaces facing each other.

Reference numerals 8, 8'and 8 "denote expansion boards for the computer main body 1, which include an expansion circuit having a predetermined function.
An edge connector for connecting to the slot connector 6, a connector socket for connecting another expansion board to itself, and a connection circuit for connecting the connection terminal of the edge connector and the contact terminal of the connector socket are provided. There is.

Of the expansion boards 8, 8 ', 8 ", the expansion board connected to the slot connector 6 of the computer main body 1 is the first expansion board 8 and is connected to the connector socket of the first expansion board 8. The expansion board to be used is the second expansion board 8 ', and the expansion board connected to the connector socket of the second expansion board 8'is the third expansion board 8 ".

The expansion boards 8, 8 ', 8 "are different in that they have different electronic components mounted on them, and have different expansion circuits having different expansion functions. Since they have substantially the same size and shape, only the first expansion board 8 will be described in detail below, and the other expansion boards 8'and 8 "will not be described with respect to the first part.
The description of the same symbols on the extension board 8 will be omitted by adding "'" or "".

Reference numeral 9 denotes a circuit board which serves as a base of the expansion board 8. The circuit board 9 has a left-right width which is substantially the same as the width of the expansion slot 3 and which is approximately 3/3 of the depth of the expansion slot 3. It has a substantially rectangular shape with a front-back width of 1, and its front end is cut out into a rectangular shape at its left and right ends.
The other portion serves as the coupling portion 9a.

Various electronic components 10, 10, ... Are arranged on the mount surface 9b, which is one surface of the circuit board 9, and these electronic components 10, 10 ,. Connected to the expansion circuit 11 on the expansion board 8,
For example, a memory circuit, an interface circuit, etc. are configured.

Connecting portion 9a of mounting surface 9b of circuit board 9
A large number of connection terminals 12, 12, ... Arranged in the left-right direction of the coupling portion 9a are provided in the upper region, and this portion serves as an edge connector 13.

.. are edge connectors 13.
, Which are through-holes formed at the rear ends of the connection terminals 12, 12 ,.
Is formed by penetrating the mount surface 9b and the pattern surface 9c of the circuit board 9 and plating the inner peripheral surface thereof.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a rear end edge of the circuit board 9, which is a connector socket fixed to the mount surface 9b side thereof,
Another edge connector having the same shape as the above-mentioned edge connector 13 is inserted, and a recess for coupling the same is provided so as to face rearward.

.. are contact terminals of the connector socket 15, and the contact terminals 16, 16, ...
-Is laterally L-shaped when viewed from the side, and its contact part 1
6a, 16a, ... are arranged substantially parallel to the circuit board 9 in a direction facing rearward, and their bases 16b, 16b ,.
.. penetrates the circuit board 9 and is projected on the pattern surface 9c.

The contact terminals 16, 16, ... Are the connection terminals 12, 12, ... Of the edge connector 13.
To each of these connection terminals 12, 1
, And the contact terminals 16, 16, ... Corresponding to each other are connected by connection circuits 17, 17 ,.

That is, the connection circuits 17, 17, ... Extend in the front-back direction on the pattern surface 9c of the circuit board 9, and the connection terminals 12, 12 ,.
Are formed at positions respectively corresponding to 6, ..., And the front end portion is formed up to the position where the through holes 14, 14 ,.
... are connected to the respective connection terminals 12, 12, ... Via a plating layer (not shown) provided on the inner peripheral surface of the contact terminals, and the rear ends thereof are contact terminals 16, 16 ,. .., the base portions 16b, 16b protruding toward the pattern surface 9c side, ..
· Soldered to.

The extension circuit 11 is connected to predetermined connection terminals 12, 12, ... Of an edge connector 13 required to connect the extension circuit 11 to the computer main body 1.

Incidentally, the connection terminals 12, 12 of the extension circuit 11,
.. may be connected via the connection circuits 17, 17, ... Connected to the connection terminals 12, 12 ,.

Since the expansion boards 8, 8'and 8 "are constructed as described above, any one of them can be connected to the slot connector 6 alone, or two or three. It is also possible to connect the plurality of expansion boards 8, 8 ', 8 "together at once.

That is, when any one of the expansion boards 8, 8'and 8 "is selected and used, the connecting portion 9a of the expansion board 8 is directly connected to the slot connector 6 (see FIG. 5).
reference).

In this connection, the expansion board 8 is inserted into the insertion port 4
While inserting the circuit board 9 into the expansion slot 3 from the side, the left and right edges of the circuit board 9 are engaged with the support grooves 7a, 7a of the rails 7, 7, and the edge connector 13 is inserted into the coupling recess of the slot connector 6. By pushing in.

When the first expansion board 8 is loaded into the expansion slot 3 by itself, the expansion circuit 11 is connected to the computer via the predetermined connection terminals 12, 12, ... Of the edge connector 13 and the slot connector 6. Similarly, when the second expansion board 8'and the third expansion board 8 "are individually loaded into the expansion slot 3 connected to the main body 1, the respective expansion circuits 11 'and 11" are connected to the edge connector. 13 ', 13 "connection terminals 12', 12 ', ...
12 ″, 12 ″, ... And the slot connector 6 are connected to the computer main body 1.

Further, when two expansion boards are loaded into the expansion slot 3 at a time, the two expansion boards are arbitrarily selected by connecting the edge connector of the other expansion board to the connector socket of the other expansion board. After connecting the two expansion boards, the edge connector of the one expansion board is connected to the slot connector 6.

For example, when the first expansion board 8 and the second expansion board 8'are used simultaneously, the connector socket 15 of the first expansion board 8 is provided with the edge connector 13 'of the second expansion board 8'. Insert the two expansion boards 8 and 8'to join them.

As a result, the expansion circuit 11 'of the second expansion board 8'will have the predetermined connection terminal 1 of the edge connector 13'.
2 ', 12', ... Are connected to predetermined contact terminals 16, 16, ... Of the connector socket 15 of the first expansion board 8 and via the predetermined contact circuits 17, 17 ,. , And corresponding predetermined connection terminals 12, 12 ,.

The second expansion board 8 is provided with a second
Two expansion boards 8 and 8'combining the expansion boards 8'of
Is connected to the slot connector 6 of the computer main body 1, the expansion circuit 11 of the first expansion board 8 has predetermined connection terminals 12 and 1 of the edge connector 13 to which the expansion circuit 11 is connected.
, And the slot connector 6, and the expansion circuit 11 'of the second expansion board 8'is connected to the predetermined connection terminal 12 of the edge connector 13' of the second expansion board 8 '.
′, 12 ′, ...- Predetermined contact terminals 16, 16, ... of the connector socket 15 of the first extension board 8-Connecting circuits 17, 17, ...- Predetermined connecting terminals of the edge connector 13 , And the slot connector 6 are connected to required circuits of the computer main body 1, respectively.

The case of loading the three expansion boards 8, 8'and 8 "into the expansion slot 3 at once is basically the same as the case of using the above two expansion boards.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the second expansion board 8'is attached to the connector socket 15 of the first expansion board 8.
Edge connector 13 'of the second expansion board 8
The edge connectors 13 "of the third expansion board 8" are inserted into the connector sockets 15 'of "', and these three expansion boards 8, 8 ', 8" are joined together.

In this case, the expansion circuit 11 'of the second expansion board 8'is connected to the connection circuit 1 of the first expansion board 8 in the same manner as described in the case of connecting the two expansion boards.
Are connected to predetermined connection terminals 12, 12, ... Of the edge connector 13 via 7, 17, ... And the extension circuit 11 ″ of the third extension board 8 ″ is the extension board 8 ″.
Predetermined connection terminal 12 ″ of edge connector 13 ″, 1
2 ″, ...- Connector socket 15 'of second expansion board 8' (contact terminals 16 ', 16', ...)-Connecting circuit 17 ', 17', ...- Second expansion board Predetermined connection terminals 12 ', 12' of the edge connector 13 'of 8',
...- Connector socket 15 of the first expansion board 8
(Contact terminals 16, 16, ...)-Connecting circuit 17, 1
7, ...- The edge connector 13 of the first expansion board 8
Are connected to the predetermined connection terminals 12, 12 ,.

Therefore, the expansion boards 8, 8'and 8 "thus combined are inserted into the expansion slot 3 and the edge connector 13 of the first expansion board 8 is inserted into the slot connector 6.
, The extension circuits 11, 11 ′, 11 ″ of the extension boards 8, 8 ′, 8 ″ are separately connected to the circuits of the computer main body 1.

Reference numeral 18 is a dummy board (see FIG. 5),
The front and rear width thereof is approximately twice that of the expansion board 8, and
The left-right width is the same as the left-right width of the expansion board 8, and the front end portion 18a thereof has the expansion board 8
The circuit board 9 has the same shape as the coupling portion 9a.

Such a dummy board 18 is, for example,
When loading only one expansion board 8 into the expansion slot 3,
The front end portion 18a of the dummy board 18 is inserted into the connector socket 15 of the extension board 8 and coupled to the extension board 8. That is, by connecting the dummy board 18, the front-back width of the expansion board 8 can be increased, and the work for loading the expansion board 8 into the expansion slot 3 becomes easy.

In addition, for connecting the expansion boards 8, 8 ', 8 "and the expansion board 8 and the dummy board 18 described above, appropriate means, for example, engaging means, is provided so that the connection is not easily disengaged. Etc., these expansion boards 8, 8 ', ... Or the expansion board 8 and the dummy board 1
When the one combined with 8 is removed from the slot connector 6 of the computer main body 1, only the dummy board 18 is removed from the expansion board 8 first, and only the expansion board 8 does not remain in the expansion slot 3.

Of course, the outer casing wall of the computer main body 1,
In particular, since the upper surface wall is usually designed to be relatively easily removable, if the depth of the expansion slot 3 cannot be reached, remove the upper surface wall to expand the expansion board 8
May be attached or removed.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show a second embodiment 19 of the expansion board of the present invention.

The expansion board 19 shown in the second embodiment is the expansion boards 8, 8'and 8 "shown in the first embodiment.
The difference is that the expansion circuit and the connection circuit, which is a circuit dedicated to connection, are separately formed on two circuit boards, and the two circuit boards are connected in a hierarchical manner.

Reference numerals 20 and 21 denote circuit boards.
The lower one 20 of the circuit boards 20 and 21 (hereinafter,
It is called "bypass circuit board". ) Is the expansion board 8,
Have substantially the same shape as the 8'and 8 "circuit boards 9, 9, ... And a large number of connection terminals 22, 22, .. Are arranged in
As a result, this portion becomes the edge connector 23.

24, 24, ... Bypass circuit board 2
0 is a connection circuit formed on the upper surface of 0, and the front end portions thereof are the connection terminals 22, 22, ... Of the edge connector 23.
・ Connected separately to each other, and their rear ends are fixed to the rear end of the bypass circuit board 20.
5 are individually connected to the contact terminals 26, 26, ....

Reference numeral 27 denotes an upper surface of the bypass circuit board 20, which is an intermediate connector socket arranged at a position slightly behind the edge connector 23, and is opened rearward.

Contact terminal 2 of intermediate connector socket 27
, Are connected to predetermined connection terminals 22, 22, ... Of the edge connector 23 to which an expansion circuit to be described later on the upper circuit board 21 is connected.

On the upper circuit board 21 (hereinafter referred to as "extended circuit board"), various electronic components 29, 29, ...
The expansion circuit 3 having a required control function by being provided with
0 is formed.

The extension circuit board 21 has a left-right width which is substantially the same as the left-right width of the bypass circuit board 20 and a front-rear width which is about three-fourths of the bypass circuit board 20.
Further, the front end portion has the same shape as the front end portion of the bypass circuit board 20, and a portion excluding both left and right end portions thereof is a coupling portion 21a, and the coupling portion 21a has a large number of portions on its upper surface. The connection terminals 31, 31, ... Are arranged in the left-right direction and function as the edge connector 32. The connection terminals 31, 3 of the edge connector 32 are arranged.
The extension circuit 30 is connected to 1, ...

The connection terminal 31 of the edge connector 32,
Only those necessary for connecting the extension circuit 30 to the computer main body 1 are formed.

When the edge connector 32 of the extension circuit board 21 is inserted into the intermediate connector socket 27 of the bypass circuit board 20, the extension circuit 30 of the extension circuit board 21 is connected to the connection terminals 31, 31 ,.
-The contact terminals 28, 28 of the intermediate connector socket 27,
Are connected to the respective connection terminals 22, 22, ... Of the edge connector 23 of the bypass circuit board 20.

33, 33, ... are bypass circuit boards 2
0 is a spacer screwed on the upper surface, and the expansion circuit board 21 is fixed by screwing in a state of being arranged so as to be bridged over these spacers 33, 33 ,. The edge connector 32 of the board 21 is inserted into the intermediate connector socket 27 on the bypass circuit board 20.

As a result, the extension circuit 30 is connected to the predetermined connection terminal 22 of the edge connector 23 of the bypass circuit board 20 via the edge connector 32 of the extension circuit board 21 and the intermediate connector 27.

Thus, the expansion board 19 as described above is independently provided like the expansion board 8 in the first embodiment.
Alternatively, a plurality of them can be connected to the slot connector 6 of the computer main body 1.

According to such an expansion board 19, since the expansion circuit 30 and the connection circuits 24, 24, ... Are separately provided on the two circuit boards 20 and 21, the expansion circuit 30 and the connection circuit 24 ,. It is possible to secure a sufficient space for providing 24, ..., Further, the circuit design is facilitated, and different types of expansion boards 19, 19 ,.
However, the bypass circuit boards 20, 20, ... May have the same shape and wiring pattern, and the cost can be reduced.

[0060]

As is apparent from the above description, the expansion board of the present invention has an expansion circuit having a predetermined function, an edge connector, and different contact terminals corresponding to the connection terminals of the edge connector. A connector socket into which an edge connector having the same shape as that of the edge connector is inserted, and a connection circuit for separately connecting the connection terminal of the edge connector and the contact terminal of the connector socket, wherein the extension circuit is an edge connector. It is characterized in that it is connected to each predetermined connection terminal.

Therefore, according to the expansion board of the present invention, it is possible to connect two or more expansion boards having different predetermined functions to one connector of the computer main body in the same plane. Two or more expansion boards can be connected to the slot.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention has been described for the case where the circuit board is a double-sided circuit board or a single-sided circuit board, but the present invention is also applied to an expansion board having a so-called multilayer circuit board structure. be able to.

Further, the concrete shapes or structures shown in the above-mentioned respective embodiments are merely examples for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is limited by these. Should not be interpreted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of an expansion board of the present invention and showing a state before one expansion board is attached to a computer main body.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state where three expansion boards are attached to a computer main body.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first extension board as seen obliquely from below and rearward.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a state where one extension board and a dummy board are mounted on the computer main body.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the expansion board of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the expansion board shown in FIG.

8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 expansion board 8'expansion board 8 "expansion board 11 expansion circuit 11 'expansion circuit 11" expansion circuit 12 connection terminal 12' connection terminal 12 "connection terminal 13 edge connector 13 'edge connector 13" edge connector 15 (of expansion board) Connector socket 15 '(expansion board) connector socket 15 "(expansion board) connector socket 16 contact terminal 16' contact terminal 16" contact terminal 17 connection circuit 17 'connection circuit 17 "connection circuit 19 expansion board 22 connection terminal 23 edge Connector 24 Connection circuit 25 Connector socket 26 Contact terminal 30 Expansion circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───Continued from the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H05K 7/14 T 7301-4E

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A connector into which an extension circuit having a predetermined function, an edge connector, and different contact terminals corresponding to respective connection terminals of the edge connector and having the same shape as the edge connector are inserted. An expansion board comprising a socket and a connection circuit for separately connecting a connection terminal of an edge connector and a contact terminal of a connector socket, wherein the expansion circuit is connected to each predetermined connection terminal of the edge connector.