WO2010046737A1

WO2010046737A1 - Printed circuit board packaging system

Info

Publication number: WO2010046737A1
Application number: PCT/IB2009/005992
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin Lewis Cousineau
Original assignee: Clipper Windpower, Inc.
Priority date: 2008-10-24
Filing date: 2009-06-18
Publication date: 2010-04-29

Abstract

The invention relates to a control system package, which allows for easy I/O installation and increased I/O device accommodation to facilitate maintenance, trouble-shooting, repair and upgrading of complex wind power installations. The control system package comprises a processor PCB (100; 200) including at least one board-to-board connector (102, 104; 201, 202, 203, 204); at least one PCB I/O extension board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) including I/O devices and at least one board-to-board connector (110, 112; 209, 210, 211, 212); and a processor board I/O bus connected to said processor PCB (100; 200) for transmitting signals to and from said board-to-board connector (110, 112), said processor board I/O bus being connectable to said PCB I/O extension board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) in such a way that each PCB I/O extension board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) is held in a horizontal plane.

Description

Printed circuit board packaging system

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of computer systems and particularly to an apparatus of packaging computer system printed circuit boards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A motherboard is a printed circuit board (PCB) central to a modern personal computer and to industrial computer systems as well. A motherboard, like an earlier backplane design, provides the electrical connections by which the components of a computer system communicate. It also contains the central processing unit (CPU) and other components, such as a clock, and peripheral interfaces.

A desktop computer usually has a microprocessor, main memory, and basic components on the motherboard. Other components, such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices are typically attached to the motherboard via edge connectors, cables and expansion cards or extension boards. A standard ATX motherboard typically has standard slots for expansion cards. Industrial and control system computers are largely designed in a different fashion. One method is shown in Figure 1, the rack and panel design or rack and card cage assembly.

Another popular design, the PC-104 bus, employs board stacking as shown in Figure 2. United States Patent 5,644,760, to Polzin, et al . granted July 1, 1997, discloses a printed circuit board (PCB) processor card for upgrading a processor-based system. The processor card includes a processor, its associated processor card system bus, a clock generator, and its associated processor card system clock bus. The processor card is designed to include the elements that are most likely to be upgraded, i.e. the processor and the clock. The processor card is employed for system upgrades.

As described by Polzin, the processor card need only meet the interface specification required to communicate with a motherboard. As a result, the need for changes to the card is kept to a minimum. In contrast, a typical motherboard holds and interconnects many more devices than a processor card of the Polzin invention. Consequently, it takes more time to design and trouble-shoot a new motherboard than to redesign a processor card of Polzin. Polzin does not disclose the details of the motherboard, so it is safe to assume that the motherboard is one of the conventional types described above. What is needed is means of packaging computer system printed circuit boards for systems, such as wind power installations, wherein very large numbers of I/O sensors and the like can be accommodated.

What is also needed is means of packaging computer system printed circuit boards, which eliminates the need for a motherboard and card cage or stacked boards and all of the connectors associated with that approach.

What is also needed is means of packaging computer system printed circuit boards, which allows for easy I/O installation and increased I/O device accommodation to facilitate maintenance, trouble-shooting, repair and upgrading of complex wind power installations.

Additionally what is needed is the ability to accommodate a very large number of I/O connections and easily upgrade the I/O of a control system, without having to change out the motherboard or the main processing board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The motivation for the present invention is to provide a control system package which satisfies the above-mentioned needs.

The control system package according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a processor printed circuit board including at least one board-to-board connector, at least one printed circuit board input/output extension board including input/output devices and at least one board- to-board connector, and a processor board input/output bus connected to the processor printed circuit board for transmitting signals to and from the board-to-board connector, wherein the processor board input/output bus being connectable to the input/output extension board in such a way that each printed circuit board input/output extension board is held in a horizontal plane.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the processor printed circuit board further comprises a clock, a processor and input/output devices, said clock coupling a processor clock signal to said processor.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the board- to-board connectors are right angle 96 pin DIN connectors with a male board-to-board connector on one printed circuit board and a female board-to-board connector on another mating printed circuit board. Other connector systems may be used as required for the type of input/output (I/O) or the number of I/O needed. Standard "off the shelf" connectors system such as those used for Rack and Panel processor construction as shown in Figure 1 or even pin/header assemblies used in PC-104 style board stacking system may be used also. In any case the connector facilitates the removal of the I/O board for repair, replacement or upgrade without having to remove the main processing board itself. Alternatively, the board-to-board connectors may be edge connectors . In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the control system package includes an enclosure back panel, wherein each printed circuit board is held in place in a horizontal plane by standoffs attached to the enclosure back panel . According to another aspect of the present invention, the enclosure back panel thermally conducts heat generated by the control system package and is attached to an inner wall of a wind turbine tower in such a way that the heat is dissipated by the wind turbine tower.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, an external power supply is coupled to the processor printed circuit board.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to the input/output extension printed circuit board which may be supplied with power from the processor printed circuit board and/or directly with power from the external power supply. According to a further aspect, the external power supply may be a dual, redundant, super capacitor back-up supply system that keeps at least the processor printed circuit board powered up for 15 to 30 seconds during a utility grid fault or outage . Optionally, the processor printed circuit board may be cooled by the processor printed circuit board itself using at least one heat sink.

Finally, the above-mentioned needs are satisfied by a wind turbine control unit comprising a control system package according to one embodiment of the control system package, wherein the processor printed circuit board and the at least one input/output extension printed circuit board include relay outputs, digital inputs and analog signal processing.

The invention has the advantage of eliminating the need for a motherboard and card cage or the problems associated with stacking boards and all of the connectors associated with that approach.

The invention provides for horizontal and flat packaging of control system PCB' s to allow for easy I/O connections and increased I/O without the use of a card cage or board stacking arrangement .

The invention has the advantage that control system package arrangement allows for much easier connections to inputs and outputs. It provides plug-able type terminal strips for interface to external signals along with other connectors to allow a large number of I/O signals and their associated wiring easy termination at a board level without elevation cable harnesses. This wiring can then be directly placed into bundles or into wiring troughs for termination in a standard control assembly fashion.

The value of invention for wind power turbine control units (TCU) is that it will allow for easy installation and repair for the large number of input/output (I/O) devices characteristic of modern wind power installations, upwards of 200 I/O devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates a prior art motherboard configuration having a conventional rack and panel or rack and card cage assembly;

Figure 2 illustrates a prior art board stacking assembly (PC-104 bus) ;

Figure 3 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of a processor board assembly of the present invention;

Figure 4 is an exploded view of a second embodiment of a processor board assembly of the present invention; and Figure 5 is cross-sectional view along the view lines 5-5 of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prior Art

Refer to Figure 1, which illustrates a prior art motherboard configuration having a conventional rack and panel or rack and card cage assembly. A processor printed circuit board (PCB) 10 (motherboard) includes a clock, a processor, input/output (I/O) devices and board-to-board female connectors 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22. In other versions, the motherboard is for interconnection of the I/O boards only and the actual processor board becomes one of the I/O plug-in boards. This is a common method of construction which allows for total upgrade without changing the card cage, or motherboard itself. Printed circuit board (PCB) input/output (I/O) extension boards 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 include I/O devices and board-to-board male connectors 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, which mate with corresponding female connectors 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 on the motherboard 10. A processor board (I/O) bus connected to the processor transmits signals to and from the board-to-board connectors .

There is a wealth of board-to-board connectors available for this type of assembly. Standard types are 32, 64 and 96 pin DIN style, but other types are common including card edge connectors. Each manufacturer has the ability to pick connectors that fit their application. Each of these connectors is designed to mate with a connector mounted on the motherboard. Normally male connectors are used on the I/O board and female connectors are used on the motherboard, but even this is not standard. Finally, another version of this arrangement is popular where the motherboard is a simple connection system and the processor board is one of the plug-in boards itself. This allows complete upgrading and system re-configuration without changing the motherboard or the card cage assembly itself. This versatility is a measure of the popularity of this approach to computer packaging.

The motherboard and PCB I/O extension boards are held in place by a rack and panel or rack and card gage structure (not shown) so that each PCB I/O extension board is held vertically.

Not shown are the "real world" interface connections usually placed on the opposite edge of the I/O cards from their motherboard connectors (36 through 46) . All switches, contacts, analog signals and sensors, all of which constitute the interface to the outside world/real world, would connect here at these individual boards. Plug-able type terminal strips are popular but many other types of connectors can be used including DIN, header types, BNC, and others. Nearly any type of PCB connector system can be used for interface to these types of signals.

A second method is to take the signals off of the motherboard and although this is used on some designs, it requires two connectors or an increase in the number of pins for the motherboard to I/O board termination. This type of connection usually causes the system size to increase if a large number of real-world signals must be connected to the I/O boards.

The difficulty is getting large numbers of signals into these cards in a clear and easy to wire fashion. Wires must be transferred from the edge of the board and down into a wiring trough or bundle. Refer to Figure 2, which illustrates a prior art board stacking assembly (PC-104 bus) . A processor printed circuit board (PCB) 50 (motherboard) includes a clock, a processor, input/output (I/O) devices and board-to-board female connectors 52, 54. A number of printed circuit board (PCB) input/output (I/O) extension boards 56, 58 and 60, which include I/O devices and board-to-board male/female connectors, are stacked together and connect to the motherboard 50.

The PCB I/O extension board 56 has on its lower side board-to-board male connectors 62, 64, which mate with corresponding female connectors 52, 54 on the motherboard 50, and on its upper side female connectors 66, 68.

The additional PCB I/O extension board 58 has on its lower side board-to-board male connectors 70, 72, which mate with the corresponding female connectors 66, 68 on the PCB I/O extension board 56, and on its upper side female connectors 78, 80.

The final PCB I/O extension board 60 includes I/O devices and board-to-board male connectors 74, 76, which mate with corresponding female connectors 78, 80 on the PCB I/O extension board 58.

Real world I/O signals terminate on these boards on a wealth of different connectors including board terminal strips, plug-able terminal strips, BNC connectors, and others. Nearly any style of PCB connector can be used for real world I/O connections.

Although the foot-print of the PC-104 computer system is generally smaller then the motherboard/daughter board arrangement discussed above, connection to real world signals is just as difficult and usually requires a large number of headers with wire to other circuit boards where these terminations take place, due to the lack of space on the small PCB' s for these type of connections.

First Embodiment of the Invention

A control system package arrangement is shown in Figure 3 that allows for much easier connections to "real-world" inputs and outputs. It provides plug-able type terminal strips for interface to real world signals along with other connectors such as DB-25 and DB9 style to allow a large number of I/O signals and their associated wiring easy termination at a board level without elevation cable harnesses. This wiring can then be directly placed into bundles or into wiring troughs for termination in a standard control assembly fashion.

A processor printed circuit board (PCB) 100 includes a microprocessor, microcontroller or digital signal processor, associated memory blocks, peripheral I/O devices, power supplies, real time clocks and other items required for operation of the main processor board. Including in the design are interface connectors including those to the I/O devices and one or more board-to-board connectors 102, 104. Printed circuit board (PCB) input/output (I/O) extension boards 106, 108 include I/O devices and board-to-board connectors 110, 112 that mate with the connectors 102, 104 on the processor board 100. A processor board I/O bus connected to the processor is provided for transmitting signals to and from the board-to- board connectors 102, 104, and from thence to the PCB I/O extension boards 106, 108.

The processor board I/O bus is connectable to the PCB I/O extension PCBs 106, 108, in such a way that each PCB is held in a horizontal plane. In particular, the PCBs 100, 106, 108 are held linearly to each other in the same horizontal plane. The board-to-board connectors for example may be right angle 96 pin DIN connectors with a male connector on one PCB and a female connector on the other mating PCB. There is a wealth of board to board connectors that are available for this type of connections and the design of the board including the number of I/O on this board will dictate what is used.

An enclosure back panel 114 is provided to contain and/or hold the PCBs. Each PCB 100, 106, 108 is held in place in the same horizontal plane by ten standoffs and bolts (for example 116, 118) attached to the enclosure back panel 114. A cover (not shown) may be provided to protect the exposed portions of the PCBs. Real world signal connections to the I/O board and other I/O on the motherboard is simple and straight forward. Plug- able connectors are normally used on the I/O boards (106 and 108) although these are just an example. There is a wealth of PCB type connectors that can be used along with standard PCB terminal strips. With these boards mounted horizontally above the control back-panel surface, connection wiring can be run up both sides allowing for easy transfer of these wires into wiring ducts or into cable bundles and harnesses. This is easier to apply than either the PC-104 stacked board arrangement or the traditional card-cage approach discussed above .

Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view along the view lines 5-5 of Figure 3. The enclosure back panel 114 is provided to contain the PCBs. The back panel 114 may be attached to an inner wall of a wind turbine tower in such a way as to provide cooling air flow. In this respect, the enclosure back panel 114 thermally conducts heat generated by electrical elements of the control system package, wherein the heat is dissipated by the wind turbine tower to the outside of the tower. Each PCB 100, 106, 108 is held in place in the same horizontal plane by standoffs 118 and bolts 116 attached to the enclosure back panel 114 (for example four bolts 116 and four standoffs 118 for each board) .

The processor printed circuit board (PCB) 100 includes board-to-board connectors 102, 104. The board-to-board connectors 110, 112 of the extension boards 106, 108 mate with the connectors 102, 104 of the processor board 100. The PCBs 100, 106, 108 are held in place in a horizontal plane by standoffs 118 and bolts 116 (shown in Figure 5) attached to the enclosure back panel 114.

The extension board 108 is removable by unscrewing the four bolts 116 and pulling the extension board 108 free of the connectors 104, 112.

Second Embodiment of the Invention A control system package in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 4. A processor printed circuit board (PCB) 200 includes a microprocessor, microcontroller or digital signal processor, associated memory blocks, peripheral I/O devices, power supplies, real time clocks and other items required for operation of the main processor board. Including in the design are interface connectors including those to one or more board-to-board connectors 201, 202, 203, 204. Printed circuit board (PCB) input/output (I/O) extension boards 205, 206, 207, 208 include I/O devices and board-to-board connectors 209, 210, 211, 212 that mate with the connectors 201, 202, 203, 204 on the processor board 200. A processor board I/O bus connected to the processor is provided for transmitting signals to and from the board-to-board connectors 201, 202, 203, 204 and from thence to the I/O extension boards 205, 206, 207, 208. The processor board I/O bus is connectable to the I/O extension PCBs 205, 206, 207 and 208 in such a way that each PCB is held in a horizontal plane. In particular, the PCBs 200, 205, 206, 207, 208 are held linearly to each other in the same horizontal plane. The board-to-board connectors for example may be right angle 96 pin DIN connectors with a male connector on one PCB and a female connector on the other mating or adjacent PCB.

An enclosure back panel similar to that shown in Figure 3 may be provided large enough to contain the additional PCBs. Each PCB 205, 206, 207, 208 is held in place in a horizontal plane by standoffs and bolts (not shown) attached to the enclosure back panel. A cover may be provided to protect the exposed portions of the PCBs.

The connection systems described herein can be used with boards that employ either surface mount components, through- hole components or a combination of both. The types of components used do not change the invention or the interconnection method.

It should be understood that while edge connectors are not illustrated, they could be used instead of the male/female connectors shown in the drawings. The drawings illustrate an off-the-shelf right angle 96 pin DIN style connector with a male on one side and a female connector on the other side. Determination of which side is which is not fixed. For example, digital outputs on the main board may use a male connector and the extension board connectors are female.

As previously described, each board is held in place using standoffs to an enclosure back panel. In addition each board should have its own sheet metal cover. All one has to do to remove an extension board is unscrew the standoffs and pull the board. Usually the connections from the boards to external sensors must also be removed. These are usually the types that remove in one pull, leaving the wires and a male connector on the wire. The female half of the connector remains with the extension board. In a typical wind power turbine control unit the host processor board is in the middle or center of the drawing figures. It contains all of the processing and memory and some of the I/O. The expansion cards or extension boards expand the I/O much the same as a PLC would do within its card cage. The processor board and expansion cards/extension boards contain I/O such as relay outputs and digital inputs and analog signal processing, etc. There is no need to send data bus or address bus signals across the connectors, only high-level analog and digital device signals from an external environment. Since some of these devices are optically isolated there are some that do not require power from the host processor board. The power for the extension boards is provided through their own board connectors to the external devices. In a turbine control unit a stacked-terminal strip type connector system is used to interface with external device sensors.

The extension boards/expansion cards surround the host processor board or control processor board (the central board) with their I/O lines connected through the board-to-board connectors and their external sensor interface connected through their own board-to-board connectors.

Power Supply

An external power supply 101 is shown in Figure 3 coupled to the processor PCB 100. In this case, voltages from the processor PCB 100 are coupled to the PCB I/O extension boards 106, 108. Alternatively the external power supply may be independently connected to both the processor PCB 100 and the PCB I/O extension boards 106, 108. In this case no supply voltage connection between the processor PCB 100 and the PCB I/O extension boards 106, 108 is needed.

The processor board is designed to operate (as are all of the cards) with 24 volts direct current (VDC), so it reguires only that voltage. All internal voltages for operation of the board, for example +5, +3.3, +1.5 etc, are generated on the processor board itself. The extension boards reguire 24 VDC and they are preferably supplied with that voltage independent of the processor board itself. The 24 VDC is generated within the turbine control unit (TCU) enclosure itself by the external power supply, which is, for example, a dual, redundant, super capacitor back-up supply system that keeps the processor card and all 24 volt cards and items powered up for 15 to 30 seconds during a utility grid fault or outage.

These component parts are all low power parts. The processor board draws less then 50 watts and all of its cooling is handled by the board itself using conventional heat sinks and other convection cooling techniques. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention can be used in nearly any kind of embedded system and can be used wherever conventional PLC or PC-104 type systems are used today.

Further embodiments of the present invention are given in the following paragraphs:

According to one further embodiment, a control system package comprises a processor printed circuit board (PCB) including one or more board-to-board connectors, a printed circuit board (PCB) input/output (I/O) extension board which includes I/O devices, and a processor board (I/O) bus connected to said processor for transmitting signals to and from said board-to-board connectors, said processor board being connectable to said I/O extension PCB in such a way that each PCB is held in a horizontal plane. According to another further embodiment, a control system package comprises a processor printed circuit board (PCB) including a clock, a processor input/output (I/O) devices and one or more board-to-board connectors, said clock coupling a processor clock signal to said processor, a printed circuit board (PCB) input/output (I/O) extension board which includes I/O devices, and a processor board (I/O) bus connected to said processor for transmitting signals to and from said board-to- board connectors, said processor board I/O bus being connectable to said I/O extension PCB in such a way that each PCB is held in a horizontal plane.

The board-to-board connectors are right angle 96 pin DIN connectors with a male connector on one PCB and a female connector on another mating PCB.

The control system package can further comprise an enclosure back panel, wherein each PCB is held in place in a horizontal plane by standoffs attached to said enclosure back panel .

Claims

C l a i m s

1. A control system package comprising:

a processor printed circuit board (100; 200) including at least one board-to-board connector (102, 104; 201, 202, 203, 204);

at least one printed circuit board input/output extension board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) including input/output devices and at least one board-to-board connector (110, 112; 209, 210, 211, 212); and

a processor board input/output bus connected to said processor printed circuit board (100; 200) for transmitting signals to and from said board-to-board connector (110, 112), said processor board input/output bus being connectable to said printed circuit board input/output extension board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) in such a way that each printed circuit board input/output extension board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) is held in a horizontal plane.

2. The control system package according to claim 1, wherein the processor printed circuit board (100; 200) further comprises a clock, a processor and input/output devices, said clock coupling a processor clock signal to said processor.

3. The control system package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said board-to-board connectors (102, 104, 201, 202,

203, 204; 106, 108, 205, 206, 207, 208) are right angle 96 pin DIN connectors with a male board-to-board connector on one printed circuit board (100; 200; 106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) and a female board-to-board connector on another mating printed circuit board (100; 200; 106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) .

4. The control system package according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising an enclosure back panel

(114), wherein each printed circuit board (100; 200; 106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) being held in place in a horizontal plane by standoffs (116, 118) attached to said enclosure back panel (114) .

5. The control system package according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the enclosure back panel (114) thermally conducts heat generated by the control system package and is attached to an inner wall of a wind turbine tower in such a way that the heat is dissipated by the wind turbine tower.

6. The control system package according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the board-to-board connectors (102, 104, 201, 202, 203, 204; 106, 108, 205, 206, 207, 208) are edge connectors .

7. The control system package according to one of the preceding claims, wherein an external power supply (101) is coupled to the processor printed circuit board (100; 200) .

8. The control system package according to claim 7, wherein the input/output extension printed circuit board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) is supplied with power from the processor printed circuit board (100; 200) and/or directly with power from the external power supply (101) .

9. The control system package according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the external power supply (101) is a dual, redundant, super capacitor back-up supply system that keeps at least the processor printed circuit board (100; 200) powered up for 15 to 30 seconds during a utility grid fault or outage.

10. The control system package according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the processor printed circuit board

(100; 200) is cooled by the processor printed circuit board (100; 200) itself using at least one heat sink.

11. A wind turbine control unit comprising a control system package according to one of the claims 1 to 10, wherein the processor printed circuit board (100; 200) and the at least one input/output extension printed circuit board (106, 108; 205, 206, 207, 208) include relay outputs, digital inputs and analog signal processing.