TWM627751U - Power supply assembly and electronic assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A power supply assembly includes a power supply unit disposed within a housing and an adjustable plate module movably disposed on a floor thereof. The adjustable plate module includes a plate, a shaft, a stopper panel, and a compressible device. The plate has two planar surfaces positioned at different heights with respect to the floor. The shaft is fixedly coupled to and extends outwardly from the plate. The shaft is configured to move between a first position and a second position to transition a connector between the planar surfaces. The stopper panel is disposed adjacent to a distal end of the shaft and has an opening therein for accommodating the shaft. The compressible device is disposed around the shaft such that a displacement of the plate causes the compressible device to compress against the stopper panel and facilitate movement of the shaft from the first position to the second position.

Description

Power Supply Components and Electronic Components

The present invention relates generally to connecting electronic and mechanical components, and more particularly to a power supply assembly having an adjustable board module for aligning mating portions of different connectors.

A server is a specialized computer system that includes many electronic and mechanical components integrated into a single unit within an electronic housing. Motherboards are commonly found in all servers. A motherboard includes one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) and panels with electrical and mechanical components, such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) or a Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory device sockets (eg, double data rate third generation [DDR3], double data rate fourth generation [DDR4], dynamic random access memory [DRAM]) , Express Peripheral Component Interconnect [PCIe] slot), hard drive, a power supply, and peripheral devices (such as universal serial bus (USB) ports, local area network , LAN] and other input-output [input-output, I/O] ports). Printed circuit boards and panels are assembled on a wide variety of component boards. It would be desirable to have an adjustable board module to enable alignment between mating portions of connectors of different electrical and mechanical components.

The phraseology of example and similar phraseology (eg, implementations, configurations, features, examples, and options) is intended to refer broadly to all of the subject matter of the present disclosure and the scope of the claims that follow. Several statements containing these terms should be understood not to limit the meaning or scope of the subject matter described herein or to limit the scope of the claims below. The embodiments of the present disclosure covered herein are defined by the following claims, not the present disclosure. This novel content is a high-level overview of the various features of the present disclosure, and introduces some concepts that are more described in the implementation paragraphs below. This new content is not intended to identify the key or essential features of the subject matter of the claimed scope, nor is it intended to be used independently to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. This subject matter should be understood by reference to the appropriate portions of the complete specification of this disclosure, any or all drawings, and the scope of each application.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, a power supply assembly is disclosed that is configured to connect to a connector. The power supply assembly includes a shell, a power supply unit disposed in the shell, and an adjustable board module, the adjustable board module is movably disposed on a bottom plate of the shell, adjacent to the power supply unit. underside. The adjustable plate module includes a plate, a shaft, a stop panel and a compressible device. The plate is movably mounted on a base plate and has two planes at different heights relative to this base plate. The shaft is fixedly coupled to the plate and extends outwardly from the plate. The shaft is configured to move between a first position and a second position to displace the connector between the two planes for mating the power supply unit. The stop panel is disposed adjacent to one end of the shaft and has an opening therein for accommodating the shaft. The compressible means are disposed about the shaft such that displacement of the plate causes the compressible means to compress against the stop panel and facilitates movement of the shaft from the first position to the second position.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the two planes are substantially horizontal.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the board includes a first horizontal plane and a second horizontal plane, wherein the first horizontal plane and the second horizontal plane are located at different heights relative to the bottom plate and are joined by an inclined plane.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the second horizontal plane is located a predetermined height above the first horizontal plane.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the plate further includes one or more slots extending through one or both of the two planes, wherein the one or more slots are each configured to accommodate displacement of a screw in In this slot, the displacement of the screw corresponds to the displacement of the plate.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the plate is formed of a plastic material.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the stop panel is formed from a metal sheet.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the compressible device is a mechanical spring.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the shaft is integrally formed on the plate.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the plate further includes a vertically oriented collar portion for exerting a force on the collar portion to enable displacement of the plate.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the height difference between the two planes depends on the height difference between a mating portion of a connector and a corresponding mating portion of the power supply unit.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, an electronic assembly includes a power supply unit and an adjustable board module. The power supply unit is arranged in a housing and has a first connector. The adjustable board module is movably disposed on the bottom plate of the housing adjacent to the bottom surface of the power supply unit. The adjustable plate module includes a plate, a shaft, a stop panel and a compressible device. The plate is movably mounted on the base plate and has two planes at different heights relative to the base plate. The shaft is fixedly coupled to the plate and extends outwardly from the plate. The shaft is configured to move between a first position and a second position to displace the connector between the two planes for mating the power supply unit. The stop panel is disposed adjacent to one end of the shaft and has an opening therein for accommodating the shaft. The compressible means are disposed about the shaft such that displacement of the plate causes the compressible means to compress against the stop panel and facilitates movement of the shaft from the first position to the second position.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the electronic assembly further includes a printed circuit board having a second connector configured to mate with the first connector.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the printed circuit board further includes one or more oval apertures through which the printed circuit board is fastened to a bracket. The one or more oval apertures are configured to enable the printed circuit board to move vertically up and down to adjust the mating positioning of the second connector with the first connector.

According to certain features of the present disclosure, the height difference between the two planes depends on the height difference between the first connector and the second connector.

The above novelty is not intended to represent each embodiment or every feature of the present disclosure. Rather, the foregoing novel disclosures provide only examples of some of the novel features and features set forth herein. The above features and advantages and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of representative embodiments and modes for carrying out the invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. Additional features of the present disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of the various embodiments briefly illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings, the symbols provided below.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a power supply assembly having an adjustable board module for aligning mating portions of different connectors. Each adjustable plate module includes a plate, a shaft, a stop panel and a compressible device. The plate has two planes at different heights. The shaft is fixedly coupled to the plate and extends outwardly from the plate. The stop panel accommodates the shaft when the shaft is displaced forward. The compressible device is disposed about the shaft. A collar portion of the adjustable board module can be compressed by a connector against an opposing connector such that displacement of the board toward the opposing connector enables compression of the compressible device and subsequent vertical displacement of the opposing connector.

The various embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters are used to designate similar or equivalent elements throughout. The drawings are not drawn to scale and are provided only to illustrate the features and characteristics of the present invention. It should be understood that numerous specific details, relationships, and methods are set forth to provide a thorough understanding. However, it will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details or in other ways. In some instances, well-known structures or operations have not been shown in detail for illustrative purposes. The various embodiments are not limited by the order in which actions or events are displayed, eg, some actions may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other actions or events. Furthermore, not all acts or events shown are required to implement some of the features and characteristics of the present invention.

For the purposes of this embodiment, unless expressly stated otherwise, the singular includes the plural and vice versa. The term "including" means "including but not limited to". In addition, approximate words such as "about, almost, substantially, approximately" and similar words may here mean, for example, "at", "near, nearly at", "at 3%" "within 3-5% of", "within acceptable manufacturing tolerances", or any logical combination thereof. Similarly, the terms "vertical" or "horizontal" are intended to additionally include "within 3-5%" of the vertical or horizontal direction, respectively. In addition, directional words such as "top," "bottom," "left," "right," "above," and "below" are intended to relate to the equivalent directions depicted in the reference drawings; understood in context, such as from the common location of an object or element; or other descriptions as such.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1A shows a rear perspective view of a power supply assembly 100 having an adjustable board module 150 . The power supply assembly 100 includes a housing 110 and a power supply unit (eg, the power supply unit 420 in FIGS. 4A-4B ) disposed within the housing 110 . In the non-limiting embodiment of FIG. 1A, the housing 110 has a top plate 112, a left side wall 114a, a right side wall 114b, a bottom plate 116, a front wall 118a and a rear wall 118b. The adjustable plate module 150 is disposed on the bottom plate 116 of the housing 110 . The adjustable board module 150 can be positioned anywhere on the base plate 116 as desired to align the mating portions of the connectors on or outside the housing 110 . In the non-limiting embodiment of FIG. 1A, the adjustable board module 150 is disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of a power supply unit configured to connect to a printed circuit board (eg, FIGS. 2A-2C ). printed circuit board 230 in the figure).

FIGS. 1B to 1C show top views of the adjustable plate module 150 . The adjustable plate module moves on the bottom plate 116 of the housing 110 between an initial position and a final position. The adjustable plate module 150 includes a plate 160 , a shaft 170 coupled to the plate 160 , a stop panel 180 , and a compressible device 190 disposed around the shaft 170 .

The plate 160 may be formed of plastic or metal material. The plate 160 has a first horizontal plane 162 and a second horizontal plane 166 at different heights relative to the bottom plate 116 . The height difference between the first level 162 and the second level 166 depends on the height difference between the mating parts of the corresponding connectors that are connected using the adjustable board module 150 . The first horizontal plane 162 and the second horizontal plane 166 are joined by an inclined plane 164 .

In some non-limiting embodiments, such as shown in FIGS. 1B to 1C , the second horizontal plane 166 is located in front of the first horizontal plane 162 and above the first horizontal plane 162 by a predetermined height. The predetermined height may be equal to the height difference between a connector of the power supply unit and a mating portion of a corresponding connector. The corresponding connector is to use the adjustable board module 150 for connecting to the power supply unit.

In some non-limiting embodiments, such as shown in FIGS. 1B-1C, the plate 160 includes one or more slots 152 in which a set screw 154 is removably disposed. The slot 152 may be positioned through the first level 162, as shown in FIGS. 1B-1C, or the second level 166, or both. When the adjustable plate module 150 is moved by applying a force F, the length of each slot 152 is sufficient to accommodate the displacement of the fixing screw 154 in the slot 152 , which corresponds to the displacement of the plate 160 .

In some non-limiting embodiments, such as shown in FIGS. 1B-1C , the plate 160 includes a vertically oriented collar portion 156 . The collar portion 156 is used to apply a force F that enables the plate 160 to displace.

The shaft 170 extends outward from the plate 160 . Shaft 170 has a proximal end 172 and an end 174 . The proximal end 172 is adjacent to the second horizontal plane 166 . In some embodiments, shaft 170 is coupled to plate 160 at proximal end 172 . In other embodiments, the shaft 170 is integrally formed on the plate 160 .

Stop panel 180 is generally disposed adjacent end 174 of shaft 170 . In some embodiments, the stop panel 180 may be formed from sheet metal or free-cutting steel, such as, but not limited to, stainless steel, carbon steel, and the like. The stop panel 180 has an opening 185 for receiving the shaft 170 . In some embodiments, the opening 185 has a diameter or thickness just sufficient to allow the shaft 170 to be inserted through the opening 185 .

The compressible device 190 is disposed about the shaft 170 . In some embodiments, such as shown in FIGS. 1B-1C, the compressible device 190 is a mechanical spring. The compressible device 190 is configured to compress the walls of the stop panel 180 against the stop panel 180 around the opening 185 when the plate 160 is displaced forward to the final position (FIG. 1C). Accordingly, when the plate 160 is returned to the initial position, the compressible device 190 is decompressed (FIG. 1B).

During operation, a force F is exerted on the collar portion 156 and the plate 160 and shaft 170 are pressed forward from the initial position to the final position. The shaft 170 moves into the opening 185 of the stop panel 180 and the compressible device 190 surrounding the shaft 170 compresses against the walls of the stop panel 180 around the opening 185 . As a result of this, movement of plate 160 also moves slot 152 forward along set screw 154 a distance equal to the distance that plate 160 and shaft 170 move forward. Movement of plate 160 and shaft 170 enables height alignment between a connector of the power supply unit and a mating portion of a corresponding connector for connection to the power supply unit, as explained further below.

FIG. 2A shows a rear perspective view of the power supply assembly 100 connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) 230 to form the electronic assembly 200 . As described above, the power supply assembly 100 includes the housing 110 in which a power supply unit (eg, the power supply unit 420 in FIGS. 4A-4B ) is disposed. The connection between the power supply assembly 100 and the printed circuit board 230 transfers power to the components of the printed circuit board 230 for operating the electronic assembly 200 .

FIG. 2B shows a front perspective view of the printed circuit board 230 . The printed circuit board 230 includes a connector 235 for connecting to a connector (eg, connector 425) of a power supply unit in the power supply assembly 100. The printed circuit board 230 is coupled to the printed circuit board bracket 240 using one or more fasteners 250 secured to a printed circuit board bracket 240 . Each fastener 250 passes through one or more oval apertures 232 in the printed circuit board 230 . Each oval aperture 232 enables the fastener 250 to slide along its length, thereby allowing the printed circuit board 230 to move vertically up and down to adjust the mating position of the connector 235.

FIG. 3A shows a front view of the printed circuit board 230 illustrating the connectors 235 and the oval apertures 232 on the printed circuit board 230 more clearly and in detail. FIGS. 3B-3C individually show front and side views of the printed circuit board 230 coupled to the printed circuit board holder 240 . As described above, the printed circuit board 230 is coupled to the printed circuit board bracket 240 through the oval aperture 232 using the fasteners 250 . When the elliptical aperture 232 enables the printed circuit board 230 to move vertically up and down, the fastener 250 is fixed to the printed circuit board bracket 240 by a nut 242 .

FIGS. 4A-4B respectively show perspective and front views of the power supply unit 420 configured to be positioned within the power supply assembly 100 . The power supply unit 420 includes a connector 425 configured to connect to an opposing connector, such as the connector 235 of the printed circuit board 230 . Connector 425 has a top surface 426 and a bottom surface 427 . As described above, in order to vertically align the connector 425 with one of the mating portions of the opposing connector, namely the mating portion of the connector 235 of the printed circuit board 230, the bottom surface 427 of the connector 425 is configured to be pressed against the mating portion of Figs. 1C on the collar portion 156 of the adjustable plate module 150.

FIG. 5A shows a side view of the power supply assembly 100 before being connected to the printed circuit board 230 to form the electronic assembly 200 . The power supply assembly 100 includes a power supply unit 420 . The power supply unit 420 has a connector 425 having a top surface 426 and a bottom surface 427 . As described above, printed circuit board 230 is coupled to printed circuit board bracket 240 by fasteners 250 . Connector 425 is configured to mate with connector 235 of printed circuit board 230 , but the two connectors are located at different heights relative to backplane 116 . The adjustable board module 150 enables the connector 235 to be aligned in height with the connector 425 to connect the connector 425 .

FIG. 5B shows a side view of the initial position of the power supply assembly 100 when connected to the printed circuit board 230 . The power supply assembly 100 is connected to the printed circuit board 230 by applying the force F exerted by the bottom surface 427 on the collar portion 156 of the adjustable board module 150 . The force F presses the plate 160 and the shaft 170 of the adjustable plate module 150 forward. At the same time, the slot 152 moves forward along the set screw 154 a distance equal to the distance the plate 160 and the shaft 170 move forward.

FIG. 5C shows a side view of the final position of the power supply assembly 100 after connection with the printed circuit board 230 . In this position, the shaft 170 is inserted into the opening 185 and the compressible device 190 is compressed against the wall of the stop panel 180 surrounding the opening 185 . This causes the printed circuit board 230 to move from the second horizontal plane 166 of the board 160 to the first horizontal plane 162 of the board 160 along the inclined plane 164 of the board 160 . Accordingly, with the help of the adjustable board module 150 , the connector 235 of the printed circuit board 230 becomes aligned with the connector 425 of the power supply unit 420 to mate with the connector 425 .

Embodiments of the adjustable board modules described herein can be advantageously used to align mating portions of connectors of different heights. In particular, a power supply unit of a server can be easily connected and fastened to a printed circuit board or other panel using an adjustable board module if the mating portions of the corresponding connectors are at different heights. Accordingly, the adjustable board module can support a variety of power supply units for matching connectors at different heights.

While embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described with respect to one or more embodiments, equivalents and modifications will come to mind to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the accompanying drawings. Additionally, although a particular feature of the present invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of the several embodiments, for any given or particular application, such feature may be combined with one or more of the other embodiments as may be required and advantageous Other feature combinations.

While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Various changes may be made in accordance with the embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments. Instead, the scope of the present disclosure should be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

100: Power Supply Components 110: Shell 112: Top plate 114a: Left side wall 114b: Right side wall 116: Bottom plate 118a: Front Wall 118b: rear wall 150: Adjustable board module 152: Slot 154: Set screw 156: Collar part 160: Board 162: The first level 164: Bevel 166: Second level 170: Shaft 172: Proximal 174: End 180: Stop Panel 185: Opening 190: Compressible device 200: Electronic Components 230: Printed Circuit Board 232: Oval Pore 235: Connector 240: PCB Bracket 242: Nut 250: Fasteners 420: Power Supply Unit 425: Connector 426: top surface 427: Underside

The present disclosure and its advantages will be better understood from the following description of exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings depict only example embodiments, and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the various embodiments or the scope of the claims. 1A shows a rear perspective view of a power supply assembly with an adjustable board module in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. FIG. 1B shows a top view of the adjustable plate module in the initial position of a compressible device in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 1C shows a top view of the adjustable plate module in the final position of the compressible device in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 2A shows a rear perspective view of the power supply assembly of FIG. 1A connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 2B shows a front perspective view of the printed circuit board assembly of FIG. 2A in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. Figure 3A shows a front view of the printed circuit board assembly of Figure 2A in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 3B shows a front view of the printed circuit board assembly of FIG. 2A, coupled to a printed circuit board support, in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. FIG. 3C shows a side view of the printed circuit board assembly of FIG. 2A coupled to a printed circuit board support according to certain features of the present disclosure. 4A shows a perspective view of a power supply unit configured to be positioned within the power supply assembly of FIG. 1A, in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. FIG. 4B shows a front view of the power supply unit of FIG. 4A in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 5A shows a side view of the power supply assembly of FIG. 1A before being connected to the printed circuit board assembly of FIG. 2A to form an electronic assembly in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 5B shows a side view of the power supply assembly of FIG. 1A in an initial position when connected to the printed circuit board assembly of FIG. 2A in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure. 5C is a side view of the power supply assembly of FIG. 1A in a final position after being connected to the printed circuit board assembly of FIG. 2A in accordance with certain features of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. Some representative embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular form disclosed. Rather, this disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the scope of the claims.

100: Power Supply Components

150: Adjustable board module

152: Slot

154: Set screw

156: Collar part

160: Board

170: Shaft

180: Stop Panel

190: Compressible device

230: Printed Circuit Board

235: Connector

240: PCB Bracket

250: Fasteners

420: Power Supply Unit

425: Connector

426: top surface

427: Underside

Claims (10)

A power supply assembly configured to connect to a connector, the power supply assembly comprising: a shell; a power supply unit disposed within the housing; and An adjustable board module is movably disposed on a bottom plate of the casing, adjacent to a bottom surface of the power supply unit, and the adjustable board module includes: a plate movably mounted on the base plate having two planes at different heights relative to the base plate; a shaft fixedly coupled to the board and extending outwardly from the board, the shaft configured to move between a first position and a second position to displace the connector between the two planes , used to cooperate with the power supply unit; a stop panel disposed adjacent to an end of the shaft and having an opening therein for accommodating the shaft; and A compressible device disposed about the shaft such that displacement of the plate causes the compressible device to compress against the stop panel and facilitates movement of the shaft from the first position to the second position. The power supply assembly of claim 1, wherein the two planes are substantially horizontal. The power supply assembly of claim 1, wherein the board includes a first level surface and a second level surface, wherein the first level surface and the second level surface are located at different heights relative to the base plate and are joined by an inclined surface. The power supply assembly of claim 3, wherein the second horizontal plane is located a predetermined height above the first horizontal plane. The power supply assembly of claim 1, wherein the board further includes one or more slots through one or both of the two planes, the one or more slots each configured to receive a screw The displacement of the screw in the slot corresponds to the displacement of the plate. The power supply assembly of claim 1, wherein the plate further includes a vertically oriented collar portion for applying a force on the collar portion to cause displacement of the plate. The power supply assembly of claim 1, wherein the height difference between the two planes depends on the height difference between a mating portion of the connector and a corresponding mating portion of the power supply unit. An electronic assembly comprising: a power supply unit, disposed in a housing, having a first connector; and An adjustable board module is movably disposed on a bottom plate of the casing, adjacent to a bottom surface of the power supply unit, and the adjustable board module includes: a plate movably mounted on the base plate having two planes at different heights relative to the base plate; a shaft fixedly coupled to the plate and extending outwardly from the plate, the shaft configured to move between a first position and a second position to displace a second connection between the two planes a connector for mating with the first connector; a stop panel disposed adjacent to an end of the shaft and having an opening in the stop panel for accommodating the shaft; and A compressible device disposed about the shaft such that displacement of the plate causes the compressible device to compress against the stop panel and facilitates movement of the shaft from the first position to the second position. The electronic assembly according to claim 8, further comprising: A printed circuit board having the second connector configured to mate with the first connector. The electronic assembly of claim 9, wherein the printed circuit board further comprises one or more oval apertures through which the printed circuit board is fastened to a bracket, the one or more oval apertures configured such that The printed circuit board can move vertically up and down to adjust the mating position of the second connector and the first connector.

Images