PCB blade connector system and method
First Claim
1. A connector system comprising:
- a defibrillator;
an electrode for administering shock energy and for monitoring a heart of a patient;
a housing;
a printed circuit board partially enclosed by the housing, a portion of the printed circuit board extending outside the housing; and
two or more contacts, each contact comprising a planar conductive trace positioned on the printed circuit board for removably coupling to the defibrillator and for coupling the electrode to the defibrillator.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The connector between the patient electrode pads and the base unit of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) system can be formed by capturing a printed circuit board (PCB) within a connector housing. The PCB can have conductive metal traces that serve as the contact points between the wires from the patient electrodes and the electronics within the AED base unit. The PCB in combination with the conductive metal traces can be shaped similar to a conventional two-prong or two-blade connector. Employing such a PCB-based connector may result in AED pads which are less complex and less costly to manufacture. The PCB can also support a configuration circuit that is positioned between the conductive metal traces and that allows the AED to read and store information about the attached pads. For example, the AED can use this data storage feature to check the expiration date of the pads.
129 Citations
14 Claims
-
1. A connector system comprising:
-
a defibrillator; an electrode for administering shock energy and for monitoring a heart of a patient; a housing; a printed circuit board partially enclosed by the housing, a portion of the printed circuit board extending outside the housing; and two or more contacts, each contact comprising a planar conductive trace positioned on the printed circuit board for removably coupling to the defibrillator and for coupling the electrode to the defibrillator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A connector system comprising:
-
a housing; a printed circuit board partially enclosed by the housing, a portion of the printed circuit board extending outside the housing; a first contact comprising a conductive planar trace positioned on a first planar side of the printed circuit board; and a second contact comprising a conductive planar trace positioned on a second planar side of the printed circuit board.
-
-
8. A connector in a connector system having a corresponding mating assembly, the connector and mating assembly making an electrical connection, the connector comprising:
-
a housing; a printed circuit board partially enclosed by the housing; and a first pair of conductive traces on the printed circuit board, wherein the first pair of conductive traces is part of the electrical connection and the conductive traces are separated by a discontinuity in the printed circuit board.
-
-
9. A connector in a connector system having a corresponding mating assembly connected to defibrillation circuitry having defibrillation programming, the connector and mating assembly making an electrical connection, the connector comprising:
-
a housing; a printed circuit board partially enclosed by the housing; a first pair of conductive traces on the printed circuit board, and a non-volatile, electrical programmable memory device electrically connected to the first pair of conductive traces, the memory device having pre-programming thereon; wherein the first pair of conductive traces is part of the electrical connection and the pre-programming on the memory device provides data for the defibrillation programming. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
Specification