PCBA mounting assembly for tool-less attachment and release
First Claim
1. A mounting assembly for retention and extraction of a printed circuit board to a support surface, the printed circuit board having at least two holes for facilitating mounting, comprising:
- a plurality of standoff elements extending from a support surface toward an interior space of a computer enclosure, each of the standoff elements comprising an elongated body, a neck extending from the body with a smaller diameter than the body, and a head extending from the neck; and
a plurality of retention assemblies mounted to a surface of the printed circuit board, each of the retention assemblies comprising a spring-force retention member with a passageway with an at rest diameter smaller than at least a portion of the head, wherein the spring-force retention member is expandable to allow the head to pass through the passageway during mounting of the printed circuit board onto the plurality of standoff elements;
wherein the spring-force retention member comprises a single coil of a ring spring with an inner diameter smaller than about a diameter of the head of the standoff element as measured proximate to the neck;
wherein the head of each of the standoff elements comprises a shoulder adjacent to the neck and a tip distal to the shoulder, the shoulder having a diameter greater than a diameter of the tip to define an outward sloping contact surface on the head; and
wherein the neck of each of the standoff elements has a height greater than about a combined thickness of the printed circuit board and the spring-force retention member and the neck of each of the standoff elements has a circular cross section when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the standoff elements having a diameter greater than about the at rest diameter of the passageway through the spring-force retention member.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mounting assembly is provided for use in mounting a printed circuit board to a computer chassis. The mounting assembly includes standoffs attached to the chassis wall to extend outward into the chassis. Each standoff includes an elongated body and a neck extending from the body and having a smaller diameter than outer dimensions of the body. Each standoff includes a head extending from the neck. The mounting assembly includes retention assemblies that are mounted to the printed circuit board. Each retention assembly includes a spring-force retention member (such as a single coil of a ring spring) with an inner passageway with an at rest diameter smaller than the head. The printed circuit board is mounted to the chassis wall by pressing the printed circuit board onto the standoff elements, which are clasped by a spring force applied by each of the spring-force retention members on the standoff necks.
25 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A mounting assembly for retention and extraction of a printed circuit board to a support surface, the printed circuit board having at least two holes for facilitating mounting, comprising:
- a plurality of standoff elements extending from a support surface toward an interior space of a computer enclosure, each of the standoff elements comprising an elongated body, a neck extending from the body with a smaller diameter than the body, and a head extending from the neck; and
a plurality of retention assemblies mounted to a surface of the printed circuit board, each of the retention assemblies comprising a spring-force retention member with a passageway with an at rest diameter smaller than at least a portion of the head, wherein the spring-force retention member is expandable to allow the head to pass through the passageway during mounting of the printed circuit board onto the plurality of standoff elements;
wherein the spring-force retention member comprises a single coil of a ring spring with an inner diameter smaller than about a diameter of the head of the standoff element as measured proximate to the neck;
wherein the head of each of the standoff elements comprises a shoulder adjacent to the neck and a tip distal to the shoulder, the shoulder having a diameter greater than a diameter of the tip to define an outward sloping contact surface on the head; and
wherein the neck of each of the standoff elements has a height greater than about a combined thickness of the printed circuit board and the spring-force retention member and the neck of each of the standoff elements has a circular cross section when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the standoff elements having a diameter greater than about the at rest diameter of the passageway through the spring-force retention member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
- a plurality of standoff elements extending from a support surface toward an interior space of a computer enclosure, each of the standoff elements comprising an elongated body, a neck extending from the body with a smaller diameter than the body, and a head extending from the neck; and
-
5. A tool-less mounting mechanism for use with a board used in a computing device, the mechanism comprising:
- a plurality of retention assemblies each comprising a spring holder attached to a surface of a board and including a passageway aligned with a hole in the board, wherein each of the retention assemblies includes a ring-shaped retention member with a first diameter; and
a plurality of standoff elements extending outward from a surface of the computing device, each of the standoff elements comprising an elongated body, a neck extending from the body with a smaller diameter than the body, and a head extending from the neck;
wherein the head of each of the standoff elements comprises a shoulder adjacent to the neck and a tip distal to the shoulder, the shoulder having a diameter greater than a diameter of the tip to define an outward sloping contact surface on the head;
wherein the tip and shoulder diameters of the head of each of the standoff elements is less than about a diameter of the hole with the shoulder diameter being greater than the first diameter, whereby the board is retained on the plurality of standoff elements by the ring-shaped retention members that each expand to a second diameter equal to about the shoulder diameter to allow the heads to each pass through the passageway of the corresponding one of the retention assemblies and spring back toward the first diameter to apply a retention force; and
wherein the neck of each of the standoff elements has a height greater than about a combined thickness of the board and the ring-shaped retention member and the neck of each of the standoff elements has a circular cross section when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the standoff elements having a diameter greater than about the first diameter of the ring-shaped retention member. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- a plurality of retention assemblies each comprising a spring holder attached to a surface of a board and including a passageway aligned with a hole in the board, wherein each of the retention assemblies includes a ring-shaped retention member with a first diameter; and
-
11. A computer device with a board mounted for tool-less installation and removal, comprising:
- a computer chassis with a mounting surface;
a plurality of standoffs extending from the mounting surface toward an interior space of the computer chassis, each of the standoffs comprising an elongated body, a neck extending from the body with a smaller diameter than the body, and a head extending from the neck;
wherein the head of each of the standoffs comprises a shoulder adjacent to the neck and a tip distal to the shoulder, the shoulder having a diameter greater than a diameter of the tip to define an outward sloping contact surface on the head;
a printed circuit board comprising a plurality of mounting holes;
a plurality of retainers each attached to a surface of the printed circuit board adjacent one of the mounting holes; and
within each of the retainers, a retention member with an expandable passageway extending therethrough, wherein the printed circuit board is attached to the standoffs by pressing the sloping contact surface of each of the standoffs through one of the expandable passageways causing the expandable passageway to expand from a first diameter to a second diameter and to spring back toward the first diameter and abut the neck;
wherein the retention members each comprises a ring spring defining a loop with an at rest inner diameter equal to the first diameter; and
wherein the neck of each of the standoffs has a height greater than about a combined thickness of the printed circuit board and the retention member and the neck of each of the standoffs has a circular cross section when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the standoffs having a diameter greater than about the first diameter of the retention member. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
- a computer chassis with a mounting surface;
Specification