Circuit board RF shielding

• US 6,239,359 B1
• Filed: 05/11/1999
• Issued: 05/29/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Lilienthal, II, Peter Frederick, Verdi, Fred William
• Primary Examiner(s): Reichard, Dean A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ngo, Hung V
• Application Number:
  US09/309,943
• Time in Patent Office: 749 Days
• Field of Search: 174/35 R, 174/35 MS, 174/35 GC, 361/816, 361/818, 361/752, 361/753
• US Class Current: 174/370
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 9/0028 with retainers or specific soldering features

Abstract

An EMI shield for use on a printed wiring board (PWB) of a circuit pack includes an open-ended box-like structure having a laterally extending flange completely encircling the opening into the box-like structure. The box is of an EMI impervious material, preferably stainless steel. An electrically conductive O-ring gasket is disposed in a groove in the flange. Both the groove and the flange completely encircle the box opening. The shield is secured to a PWB by pegs secured to the flange at positions radially outwardly of the gasket and extending entirely through openings through the PWB. Preferred pegs comprises pairs of side-by-side prongs integral with the shield flange but extending downwardly therefrom. Each prong terminates in an oppositely directed, return-bent detent with the detent pairs functioning as a spring-biased latch for removably mounting the shield to the PWB.

Claims

1. An EMI shield for mounting on a first surface of a printing wiring board, the shield comprising an EMI impervious wall shaped to define a hollow space having an innermost portion spaced along a first direction from an opening into said space, a flange secured to said wall along a line completely encircling said opening and having an outer edge spaced from said line, a groove in a second surface of said flange facing in said first direction, said groove forming a closed, first loop spaced from said line and completely enclosing said opening, an electrically conducting, elastic gasket disposed within and projecting outwardly of said groove in said first direction along the entire length of said groove, and a plurality of fastening members spaced apart along said flange along a second loop encircling said opening and disposed between said flange edge and said first loop, said fastening members extending in said first direction for securing said flange against said first surface of a printed wiring board and for elastically clamping the entire length of said gasket against said first surface.

2. A shield according to claim 1 wherein said fastening members include spring forming members for removably securing said shield in spring-biased, stressed relation with said first surface when the shield is mounted on a printed wiring board.

3. A shield according to claim 2 wherein said fastening members each comprises a peg having a front end for being threaded through a pair of aligned openings through said flange and the printed wiring board on which the shield is mounted and an enlarged rear end for clamping said flange against the printed wiring board.

4. A shield according to claim 1 wherein said shield consists, with the exception of said gasket, entirely of a shaped plate of metal, and said fastening members are integral extensions of said flange.

5. A shield according to claim 4 wherein each of said fastening members comprises a pair of side-by-side elongated prongs terminating in respective oppositely directed detents, said detents, in combination, providing a latch for securing the shield in place when said detents have been forced through an opening in the printing wiring board on which the shield is mounted.

6. A shield according to claim 4 wherein said groove has a rectilinear cross-section having a preselected depth, and said gasket has a circular cross-section having a cross-sectional diameter greater than said groove depth.

7. A shield according to claim 6 wherein said gasket is a pre-formed member forming a continuous loop having a length slightly less than the length of the loop of said groove, and said gasket is self-seating within said groove solely by elastic compressive stress.

8. An EMI shield for mounting on a first surface of a printing wiring board, the shield comprising an EMI impervious wall shaped to define a hollow space having an innermost portion spaced along a first direction from an opening into said space, an EMI impervious flange secured to said wall along a line completely encircling said opening and having an outer edge spaced from said line, a groove in a second surface of said flange facing in said first direction, said groove forming a closed, first loop spaced from said line and completely enclosing said opening, an electrically conducting, elastic gasket disposed within and projecting outwardly of said groove in said first direction along the entire length of said groove and electrically connected to said flange, and a plurality of fastening members spaced apart along said flange along a second loop encircling said opening and said first loop and spaced apart from said groove and said gasket within said groove, said fastening members extending in said first direction for securing said flange against said first surface of a printed wiring board and for elastically clamping the entire length of said gasket against said first surface.

9. An EMI shield according to claim 8 wherein said fastening members consist solely of materials of low electrical conductivity.