TWI711236B - PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector, which is used to be installed on a motherboard in a computer mainframe. The mainframe of the computer has a plurality of panel openings penetrating through it, and it includes: a first expansion Card, which is electrically connected to the main board and is provided with a first board connector; a second expansion card, which is provided with a second board connector, the second board connector is connected to the first board connector; at least one M12 connector body , It is arranged on the second expansion card and the M12 connector body does not have a metal shell; a connecting seat is arranged on the first expansion card and penetrates at least one connecting hole, the center of the connecting hole is aligned with one of the panel openings The vertical centerline of each M12 connector body penetrates each of the connecting holes; a fixing frame, one end of which is fixed to the connecting seat and the other end to the computer mainframe; by aligning the center point of the M12 connector body to the computer The panel opening of the main casing is perpendicular to the center line, so that when the first expansion card is installed on the main board, an external M12 connection line can be used to connect to the M12 connector body to achieve reliable locking and basic dustproof effects.

Description

PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector

The present invention relates to an expansion card assembly, in particular to a PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with an M12 connector.

In the prior art, PCIe or PCI expansion cards used in computer hosts are mostly connected to external devices by connectors of various standard specifications. Among them, there is an M12 connector, which is a standard circular connector with a lockable M12 (12mm inner diameter) thread, and can achieve waterproof and dustproof functions through the o-ring inside. For the purpose of high-reliability connection, it is widely used in various applications that require high-reliability signal connection. However, due to its size being wider than the standard PCIe/PCI mechanism limitation, it cannot be used for standard PCIe or PCI expansion cards. Therefore, the standard PCIe or PCI expansion cards currently on the market cannot use the M12 connector for signal connection.

The following takes the PCIe expansion card as an example. Please refer to Figure 7. There is a standard M12 connector 90 that can be locked and is waterproof and dustproof. It includes a body 91 and a metal shell 92. One end of the body 91 It has a connecting portion 911, the connecting portion 911 includes a plurality of jacks 912 and two opposite connecting pieces 913, the other end of the body has a fixing portion 914, the fixing portion 914 is arranged on the PCIe expansion card to be electrically connected to the PCIe expansion card; metal The housing 92 is a hollow cylindrical body combined with a waterproof gasket 93. One end is formed with an internal thread and the other end is formed with an external thread. The end of the metal housing 92 with an external thread is sleeved on the connecting portion 911 of the body 91 and utilizes the connecting portion The two connecting pieces 913 on the 911 are engaged with the external thread of the metal shell 92 to fix it, and the end of the metal shell 92 with internal threads is connected with the external threaded M12 terminal connector. The metal shell 92 and the M12 terminal The thread setting can also be reversed, and the outer diameter of the metal shell 92 of the standard specification M12 connector 90 is at least about 13 mm.

However, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the panel opening 71 of the PCIe expansion card of the computer mainframe 70 of the prior art is a rectangular opening, and the rectangular opening has a long side 711 and a wide side 712. According to the PCIe expansion card specification (PCI Express Card Electromechanical Specification Revision 2.0), the wide side 712 size specification of the panel opening 71 of the PCIe expansion card is 12.06mm, and most computer mainframes 70 on the market have PCIe expansion card panels. The size of the wide side 712 of the opening 71 is about 13mm, but the outer diameter of the metal shell 92 of the standard M12 connector 90 is at least about 13mm, which exceeds the width of the panel opening 71 of the PCIe expansion card of the standard computer mainframe 70 The size of the side 712 is 12.06mm, which causes the metal shell 92 to be unable to extend outside the panel opening 71 of the PCIe expansion card of the computer mainframe 70. Even if the panel opening 71 is 13mm, it is probably due to mechanical tolerances or M12 connector 90 Due to the tolerances generated by two different processing methods, the surface part adhesion process (SMT) or the traditional part plug-in process (DIP), the metal shell 92 cannot smoothly pass through the panel opening 71 and connect with the external M12 connection line.

Please refer to Figures 7-9. To meet the 12.06mm limit of the wide side 712 size specification of the aforementioned panel opening 71, the body 91 of the M12 connector 90 undergoes a surface part adhesion process (SMT) or a traditional part plug-in process (DIP) After combining with the PCIe expansion card, the distance between the center point A of the metal casing 92 and the PCIe expansion card surface 94 (that is, the imaginary line of the PCIe expansion card surface indicated by the reference number 94 in Figure 9) must be less than 6.5 mm. At present, the distance between the center point A of the metal shell 92 of the M12 connector on the market and the card surface 94 of the PCIe expansion card is at least about 8.425mm, and the outer diameter of the metal shell 92 of the M12 connector 90 has also exceeded the size of the panel opening 71, resulting in The center point A of the metal shell 92 of the M12 connector 90 cannot be aligned with the vertical center line 713 of the panel opening 71 (that is, the imaginary line extending in the vertical direction between the midpoint of the wide side 712 of the panel opening 71), so that the M12 connector 90 The metal shell 92 of the ROM cannot protrude beyond the panel opening 71; therefore, how to apply the M12 connector to the PCIe expansion card to achieve reliable locking and basic dustproof effects is a problem to be overcome in the prior art.

In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention provides a PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with an M12 connector, which aligns the center point of the M12 connector body with the vertical center line of the panel opening of the computer mainframe and connects The inner diameter of the connecting hole of the base is 12mm, so that when the first expansion card is installed on the motherboard, the external M12 cable can be used to connect with the M12 connector body to achieve reliable locking and dustproof purposes.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose of the invention, the technical means adopted by the present invention is to design a PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector, which is used to be installed on a motherboard in a computer mainframe, and the computer mainframe The shell is penetrated with a plurality of panel openings, which include: A first expansion card, which is a circuit board and is electrically connected to the motherboard, and a first board connector is provided on one side of the first expansion card; A second expansion card, which is a circuit board, a side of the second expansion card is provided with a second board connector, the second board connector can be selectively connected to the first board connector, and the first board connector Two expansion cards are parallel to the first expansion card; At least one M12 connector body disposed on the second expansion card and electrically connected to the second expansion card, the at least one M12 connector body is located between the first expansion card and the second expansion card, and the At least one M12 connector body does not have a metal shell; A connecting seat, which is arranged between the first expansion card and the second expansion card, the connecting seat penetrates through at least one connecting hole, and the center of the at least one connecting hole is aligned with the vertical center line of one of the panel openings , Each M12 connector body penetrates each connection hole; A fixing frame, one end of which is fixed to the connecting seat, and the other end of the fixing frame is fixed to the computer mainframe.

Furthermore, in the PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector, the fixing frame is a single piece and has at least one perforation penetrated therethrough, the position of the at least one perforation corresponds to the position of the at least one connection hole, The at least one perforation corresponds to the opening of the panel.

Furthermore, the PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector further includes a plurality of supporting legs, one end of each supporting leg is fixed to the second expansion card, and the other end of each supporting leg is fixed to The first expansion card.

Furthermore, in the PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connectors, the first board connector and the second board connector are board-to-board connectors.

Furthermore, in the PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector, the inner diameter of the at least one connecting hole is 12 mm.

The advantage of the present invention is that the distance between the M12 connector body and the first expansion card after the combination is adjusted by selecting the appropriate first board connector and the second board connector, so as to align the center point of the M12 connector body with The panel opening of the computer mainframe is perpendicular to the center line, and the inner diameter of the connecting hole of the connection base is set to 12mm, which is smaller than the width of the opening of the computer mainframe panel, so that the external M12 connection line can use its external thread to penetrate the computer The opening of the main casing and the internal thread of the connecting hole are combined and fixed to complete the electrical connection, and at the same time achieve the reliable locking and basic dust-proof effect of the contact; because the connecting seat is a rectangular column and is locked to the first expansion card And by fixing the fixing frame to the computer mainframe, the firmness can be strengthened and the first expansion card will not be loosened during the plugging and unplugging of the external M12 cable; the support legs can be set to add the first expansion card The stability of the overall architecture with the second expansion card.

The following describes the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the intended purpose of the invention in conjunction with the drawings and preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Please refer to Figures 1 and 6, the PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector of the present invention is used to be installed on a motherboard 72 in a computer mainframe 70 of the prior art, and the main computer The casing 70 has a plurality of panel openings 71 passing through. The aforementioned PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector includes a first expansion card 10, a second expansion card 20, at least one M12 connector body 30, and a connecting seat 40. A fixing frame 50 and a plurality of supporting feet 60.

Please refer to Figures 2 and 3, the first expansion card 10 is a circuit board with PCIe or PCI plug specifications and is electrically connected to an external motherboard 72 having a PCIe or PCI bus socket 721 (as shown in Figure 6 (Show), PCIe or PCI is a computer bus specification in the prior art, so it will not be described in detail; a first board connector 11 is provided on one side of the first expansion card 10, and the first board connector 11 and the first expansion card 10 Electrical connection. In this embodiment, the first board connector 11 is a board to board connector (BTB connector).

The second expansion card 20 is a circuit board with PCIe or PCI plug specifications. One side of the second expansion card 20 is provided with a second board connector 21. The second board connector 21 is electrically connected to the second expansion card 20. The second board connector 21 It can be selectively connected to the first board connector 11, and the second expansion card 20 is parallel to the first expansion card 10 and maintains a certain distance from the first expansion card 10. In this embodiment, the second board connector 21 is The board to board connector (Board to Board Connector/BTB connector) has a specification corresponding to the first board connector 11, so that the first expansion card 10 and the second expansion card 20 are selected by the first board connector of different sizes. 11 and the second board connector 21, which can adjust the distance between the first expansion card 10 and the second expansion card 20.

2 to 5, the M12 connector body 30 is disposed on the second expansion card 20 and is electrically connected to the second expansion card 20, and the M12 connector body 30 is located between the first expansion card 10 and the second expansion card 20 In other words, the M12 connector body 30 and the second board connector 21 are arranged on the same side of the second expansion card 20, and the M12 connector body 30 in this embodiment does not use the metal shell in the prior art, and the remaining structure The standard components are the same in the prior art, and their detailed structure will not be described. In this embodiment, the number of M12 connector bodies 30 are four, which are arranged longitudinally at intervals on the second expansion card 20 adjacent to the panel opening of the computer mainframe 70 One end of 71 and the receptacle on the M12 connector body 30 faces the direction of the opening 71 on the panel of the computer mainframe 70.

The connecting seat 40 is located between the first expansion card 10 and the second expansion card 20. In this embodiment, the connecting seat 40 is a rectangular column and is locked to the first expansion card by a locking member (not shown in the figure). On the card 10, a plurality of screw holes 44 are respectively provided on the side of the connecting seat 40 facing the panel opening 71 of the computer main body 70. The first expansion card 10 is provided with a plurality of coupling holes 102 through the relative positions, and the locking member penetrates the coupling holes 102 and The screw hole 44 is combined; a side surface of the connecting seat 40 facing the first expansion card 10 is recessed to form a plurality of grooves 42, the first expansion card 10 facing a side surface of the connecting seat 40 is convexly provided with a plurality of protrusions 12, and each protrusion 12 Is located in each corresponding groove 42; the connecting seat 40 has at least one connecting hole 41 passing through it at intervals. In this embodiment, there are four connecting holes 41, the positions of which correspond to the positions of each M12 connector body 30, and each connecting The inner diameter of the hole 41 is 12 mm and an internal thread is formed.

The fixing frame 50 is a piece and one end is fixed to the computer main body 70. The fixing frame 50 penetrates through at least one perforation 51; in this embodiment, the fixing frame 50 is an L-shaped piece with a long section 52 and a short section. 53. There are four perforations 51 and a plurality of joint holes 521 through the long section 52. The position of the perforation 51 corresponds to the position of the connecting hole 41 on the fixing base. The inner diameter of the perforation 51 is about the opening on the upper panel of the main computer casing 70 71 The size of the wide side 712 (please refer to Figure 5) is about 13mm; corresponding to the plurality of engaging holes 521, a plurality of locking members 522 are provided, and the locking members 522 penetrate through the engaging holes 521 to lock the other end of the fixing frame 50 to the connecting seat 40 On the screw hole 43 of the fixing frame 50, a fixing portion 54 is formed on the short segment 53 of the fixing frame 50. One side of the fixing portion 54 is recessed to form a first notch 541. The first notch 541 is an arc-shaped opening. Align with the lock hole 73 of the external computer mainframe 70 (as shown in FIG. 6), the locking member (not shown in the figure) locks the fixing part 54 to the lock hole 73; the other side of the fixing part 54 is concave A second notch 542 is formed. The second notch 542 is a notch with a right-angle shape. The two opposite sides of the second notch 542 respectively have a fixing piece 543, and each fixing piece 543 is bent toward the direction of the through hole 51; When the second board connector 21 is connected to the first board connector 11, each M12 connector body 30 penetrates each of the connecting holes 41, and the center of each connecting hole 41 is aligned with the vertical center line 713 of one of the panel openings 71 .

Please refer to FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 6, the supporting legs 60 are cylindrical, and one end of each supporting leg 60 is fixed to the second expansion card 20, and the other end is fixed to the first expansion card 10. In detail, A plurality of first through holes 101 penetrate through the first expansion card 10, and a plurality of second through holes 201 penetrate through the second expansion card 20. The position of each of the first through holes 101 corresponds to the position of each of the second through holes 201. Correspondingly, one end of the supporting leg 60 is formed with an internal thread, and one end of the supporting leg 60 is locked on the first expansion card 10 by the locking member 61 penetrating through the first through hole 101, and the corresponding second through hole is fixed on the other end. Hole 201, but the fixing method of the support foot 60 is not limited to this, and only needs to achieve the effect of fixing the first expansion card 10 and the second expansion card 20.

Please refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the present invention can be applied to the main board 72 in a main computer casing 70, and the main computer casing 70 has a plurality of panel openings 71. The overall assembly process is as follows First, the user can pre-select the applicable first expansion card 10 and second expansion card 20 to be connected to each other according to the distance between the motherboard 72 in the main computer casing 70 and the vertical centerline 713 of the panel opening 71. Applicable means that after the first board connector 11 on the selected first expansion card 10 and the second board connector 21 on the second expansion card 20 are connected to each other, when the first expansion card 10 is inserted into the motherboard 72 When using the PCIe or PCI bus socket 721, the center point of the M12 connector body 30 can be aligned with the vertical center line 713 of the panel opening 71 of the main computer casing 70, and the supporting foot 60 is further provided during the assembly process to increase the The support stability of the overall structure of an expansion card 10 and a second expansion card 20 allows the overall assembly of the present invention to be stably installed therein.

In the foregoing process, the center point of the M12 connector body 30 is aligned with the vertical centerline 713 of the panel opening 71 of the computer mainframe 70, and the inner diameter of the connecting hole 41 of the connecting seat 40 is 12mm, which is smaller than the panel opening of the computer mainframe 70 The size of the wide side 712 of the hole 71 allows the external M12 connecting line 80 to use its external thread to penetrate through the panel opening 71 of the main computer casing 70 and the internal thread of the connecting hole 41 to be combined and fixed with each other and complete the electrical connection with the M12 connector body 30 The connection also achieves the reliable locking and basic dustproof function of the contact.

In the foregoing process, since the connecting seat 40 is a rectangular column and is locked to the first expansion card 10 and is locked to the computer main body 70 by the fixing frame 50, the firmness can be strengthened and the external M12 connection line 80 The function of the first expansion card 10 is not loosened during the plugging process.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of this creation, and does not impose any formal restriction on this creation. Although this creation has been disclosed as above in preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit this creation. Any technical field has Generally knowledgeable persons, without departing from the scope of this creative technical solution, can use the technical content disclosed above to make some changes or modifications as equivalent embodiments of equivalent changes, but any content that does not deviate from this creative technical solution is based on this Any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments by the technical essence of the creation are still within the scope of the technical solution for creation.

10: The first expansion card 101: first through hole 102: Combination hole 11: First board connector 12: bump 20: second expansion card 201: second through hole 21: second board connector 30 M12: Connector body 40: connecting seat 41: connecting hole 42: Groove 43, 44: screw hole 50: fixed frame 51: Piercing 52: Long fragment 521: Joint hole 522: lock firmware 53: short clips 54: fixed part 541: The first gap 542: second gap 543: fixed piece 60: Support feet 61: lock firmware 70: computer mainframe 71: Panel opening 711: long side 712: wide side 713: vertical centerline 72: Motherboard 721: bus socket 73: keyhole 80: M12 cable 90: M12 connector 91: body 911: Connection 912: Jack 913: connector 914: fixed part 92: metal shell 93: Waterproof gasket 94PCIe: Expansion card surface A: Center point

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded view of the main components of the present invention. Figure 3 is an exploded view of the main components of the present invention from another angle. Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the present invention. Figure 5 is a front view of the installation diagram of the present invention. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the top view installation of the present invention. Figure 7 is a side exploded view of the prior art M12 connector. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a hole in a panel of a computer case in the prior art. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the comparison between the M12 connector of the prior art and the opening position of the computer case panel.

10: The first expansion card

101: first through hole

20: second expansion card

201: second through hole

30: M12 connector body

40: connecting seat

41: connecting hole

50: fixed frame

51: Piercing

52: Long fragment

521: Joint hole

522: lock firmware

53: short clips

54: fixed part

541: The first gap

542: second gap

543: fixed piece

60: Support feet

Claims (5)

A PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with an M12 connector, which is used to be installed on a motherboard in a computer mainframe, and the mainframe of the computer has a plurality of panel openings through it, which includes: A first expansion card, which is a circuit board and is electrically connected to the motherboard, and a first board connector is provided on one side of the first expansion card; A second expansion card, which is a circuit board, a side of the second expansion card is provided with a second board connector, the second board connector can be selectively connected to the first board connector, and the first board connector Two expansion cards are parallel to the first expansion card; At least one M12 connector body disposed on the second expansion card and electrically connected to the second expansion card, the at least one M12 connector body is located between the first expansion card and the second expansion card, and the At least one M12 connector body does not have a metal shell; A connecting seat, which is arranged between the first expansion card and the second expansion card, the connecting seat penetrates through at least one connecting hole, and the center of the at least one connecting hole is aligned with the vertical center line of one of the panel openings , Each M12 connector body penetrates each connection hole; A fixing frame, one end of which is fixed to the connecting seat, and the other end of the fixing frame is fixed to the computer mainframe. The PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector according to claim 1, wherein the fixing frame is a single piece and has at least one perforation penetrated therethrough, and the position of the at least one perforation corresponds to the position of the at least one connection hole, The at least one perforation corresponds to the opening of the panel. The PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector as described in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a plurality of supporting legs, one end of each supporting leg is fixed to the second expansion card through, and the other of each supporting leg One end is fixed to the first expansion card. The PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector as described in claim 3, wherein the first board connector and the second board connector are board-to-board connectors. The PCIe or PCI expansion card assembly with M12 connector as described in claim 4, wherein the inner diameter of the at least one connecting hole is 12 mm.

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