Field of Invention

This invention generally relates to provide a support to Printed Circuit Board (PCB) on front panel of a chassis pertaining to telecommunication equipments and more particularly to a method and process of mounting a PCB.

Back ground of the Invention

Telecommunication circuit networks essentially consist of electronic gadgets arranged in a system. This system provides for a front panel consisting of a face plate, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), card cage and a lever locking mechanism on either side of the face plate to fasten the front panel with the chassis. The front panel with the PCB is guided by a card cage to attach the PCB with the back plane of the system. The face plate area through the openings provides the access point to the services offered by the PCB. The face plate is designed to have cut-outs and a protrusion in between the cut-outs wherein the protrusion is bent backwards at right angle to hold the PCB. The bent portion of the protrusion acts like a clamp and provides the necessary support to the PCB. The disadvantage in the existing prior art is that whenever the front panel is removed or re-inserted (Jack-in and Jack-out) the lever at either ends of the face plate on its action of attaching and releasing, exerts pressure entirely on the face plate area adjoining the cut-out and more particularly on the edges near the clamp holding the PCB. This repeated exertion of pressure subjects to cracking and wearing out of the edges near the cut-outs on the face plate area and in a few repeated operations of this type, it is damaged or renders it unfit for further use. Other possibility to overcome this disadvantage is to use a threaded stand-off on the bottom bend to secure the PCB, but the concern here would be on the diameter of the relief that has to be provided on the bottom bend to rivet the stand-off. The minimum diameter to rivet a standoff would be 4.2mm and this would not be an off the shelf part and needs to be custom designed leading to cost. Further the standoff could not be riveted on the faceplate due to lack of space. Further possibility would be to use an insert on the face plate (as used in some of the ATCA Front panels/Face plate) to secure the PCB, but here we again face the issue of lack of space on the face plate; hence this solution was not useful.

Further the difficulty compounds whenever a new feature is added to the PCB so that the face plate on the front panel should be altered to suit plurality of needs.

Summary of the Invention

An aspect of the present invention it to address at least the above mentioned problems or disadvantages and to provide the advantages as below:

Accordingly an aspect of the present invention is to provide a support of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) mounting or mounting of any foreign body on the front panel by replacing the support provided to the PCB by the conventional clamp with a support provided by the joggled bottom bend on the non- face plate. This feature provides more land around the cut-out and makes it possible to adapt the front panel to the different usages of the face plate.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention

Brief description of the drawings

The features, advantages and other aspects of the embodiments of the present invention will be obvious to any person skilled in the art to appreciate the invention when read with the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG 1 depicts a type of front panel known in the prior art;

FIG 2 depicts the lateral rear view of the existing prior art; and

FIG 3 and 4 depicts the support provided to the PCB, or to a foreign body, embodying the principles of the present invention.

The figures are not drawn to scale and are illustrated for simplicity and clarity to help understand the various embodiments of the present invention. Throughout the drawings it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features and structures.

Detail description of the Invention

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Figs. 3 and 4, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way that would limit the scope of the disclosure.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system. The terms used to describe various embodiments are exemplary. It should be understood that these are provided to merely aid the understanding of the description, and that their use and definitions in no way limit the scope of the invention.

By the term "substantially" it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide

The conventional mounting of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB's) known in the prior art are those shown in FIGS 1 through 2. The prior art device as shown in figure 1, comprises of a face plate 10 with openings 20_ for accommodating connectors, ports with the PCB and it is the point through which the services of the PCB is accessed. The front panel is fixed to the chassis by a lever latching mechanism 80 held through a clamp on the face plate.

Between the cut-outs 60 and 70 a protrusion is bent backwards at right angle to form a clamp 30 (as shown in figure 2) upon which the PCB is mounted and fastened to the front panel by a threaded standoff facilitated through the hole 90 on the clamp 30 and a hole 10c on the non-face plate area 10a. The bottom most area 10b beneath the connector ports 20 is bent backwards at right angles so as to strengthen the faceplate. The slots 10f provided on the non-face plate area 10a establishes connectivity between different layers of the chassis through front panels. The slot 40 provided on either side of the face plate facilitates fixing of the front panel with the card guides. In addition to the lever locking feature this provides for additional support for securing the front panel with the chassis.

The Prior art required four steps of bending operations of which the bending of the PCB support clamp required extra care to maintain the tolerance. The disadvantage in this method is that the clamp 30 holding the PCB between the cut-outs 60 and 70 leaves a narrow space between the connector ports 20 and cut-out 60. The lever latching mechanism 80, provided on either side of the face plate is used as an ejector to remove the front panel from the chassis and is also used to fix the front panel with the chassis.

While fixing the front panel with the chassis additional force is exerted on the lever so that the front panel with the PCB is connected well with the back plane of the system. The system requirements and its usage necessitate the repeated removal and fixing of the front panel with the chassis. This repeated operation of the lever 80b used in jacking-in and jacking-out of the front panel exerts pressure entirely on the area between the edges of the connector ports 20 and the cut-out 60 by the adjoining portion 80a of the lever 80.

This pressure greatly exerted whenever the front panel is removed or re-inserted (Jack-in and Jack-out) subjects to cracking and wearing out the edges and in a few repeated operations of this type, damages the faceplate and renders it unfit for further use. Further the cut-outs 20 provided on the face plate 10 for connecting different ports were too close to the PCB fixing clamp 30 and particularly accommodating two numbers of 128 Pin Euro connector on the faceplate would make the cut-outs 60 and 70 too close thereby making the face plate weak at that end leading to cracking and damaging.

FIG 3 and 4 depict the design of the front panel embodying the principles of the present invention that removes the disadvantages of the above prior art and provides for other advantages.

FIG 3 depicts the rear lateral view of the device of front panel consisting of a face plate 10 embodying the principles of the invention. The face plate area 10 is provided with openings 20 to access the services offered by the PCB. The face plate area 10 and non-faceplate area 10a and 10b are identified. The identified non-face plate area 10b is bent backwards at right angle and the extreme edges on either side of the non-face plate area 10b is cut along at the right angled bend to a required distance and the cut portion 10d is bent upwards at an angle; 10e is further angularly bent away from 10d so as to form a joggle at either ends. The upper surface of the joggled part 10e provides the platform upon which the PCB or a foreign body is fastened to the front panel by a threaded standoff facilitated through the hole 9J) on the upper surface of the joggled part 10and a hole 10c on the non-face plate area 10a.

FIG 4 depicts the front lateral view of the device embodying the principles of the invention. The face plate area 10 provides for a cut-out 70 at either ends. The non-face plate area 10b is identified by bending it backwards. The cut-out 60 provided in the prior art (as shown in figure 1 and 2) is dispensed with and so the area of the face plate 10 is increased to the extent of the area occupied by the clamp 30 in the prior art. This feature improves the port density on the face plate.

According to one feature of the invention the support to the PCB 10e or any foreign body can also be provided by bending the non-face plate area 10b at an angle backwards and the extremes of the bend cut along at the angled part to a required distance and the cut portion is joggled upwards (as shown in figure 3) at any angle or an arc angle depending upon the usage and requirement enabling to hold the PCB or any foreign body so as to have sufficient space beneath, avoiding intervention of the parts of the circuit board with the base thereby preventing any short circuiting. The new Joggled part has only 2 bending sequence. The joggle can also be produced on CNC press during the time of punching the cut-outs.

In accordance with an advantageous feature of the invention the clamping pressure exerted by the lever 80b along 80a on the face plate 10 is distributed to the entire face plate area reducing the stress on the critical section adjoining the connector ports 20 of the face plate and the support stress is minimised on the face plate area as the entire support to the PCB or of any foreign body is held by the non-face plate area 10b supported by the joggled parts 10d and 10e as seen in FIG 3. According to one aspect of the invention the support provided by the upper surface of the joggled part 10e provide the means for accommodating a plurality of equipments including telecom circuit boards, PCB, tray, metallic tray etc.,

In accordance with the illustrative features of the invention the area below the connector ports 20 could be bent backwards differentiating face plate area 10 and non-face plate area 10b and the area above the connector ports 20 could be bent backwards differentiating the face plate area 10 and non-face plate area 10a. The identification of face plate area 10 can be accomplished by marking the area for the face plate by marking cut-outs for the face plate, marking the portion for the bend and bending, cutting, boring holes, wherein bending involves angular bend or arc bend, creating separation between the bent area (non face plate area) and the face plate area, the separation may also be caused by cutting, splitting, slitting or by removal of material.

The identified faceplate area 10 in accordance with the principles of the invention provides a slot for fixing connectors, ports, PCB, a power source, broad band access, network management port, and telecom equipments.

According to another aspect of the invention identification of face plate area and non-face plate area can also be accomplished by marking for the cut-outs for connectors, ports, SFP, data ports, power ports etc.,

A method of designing the front panel pursuant to the principles of the invention can be made from any desired material. Indeed, it can be made of steel, mild steel, plastic, fibre, moulded material making it weigh less and more portable. Further it finds its applicability in mounting structures where insulation to the front panel is desired. It could also be made of steel, mild steel, non-conducting alloys depending upon its applications.

Advantages:

1. Increase in the real estate of the face plate is in the range of 1 Sq. Inch. . Increase in the real estate of the face plate increases the connected density or port density on the face plate. With the prior art, space available on the front panel for connector placement was 212.35mm, but, with the new joggled part this has been increased to 229.40mm. This would make a huge difference when it comes to the competitive edge it can provide. E.g., the normal format would allow 10 SFP (Optical ports) on a PCB but, with the new joggled PCB support we can accommodate 11 SFP ports

2. The use of the joggled tab eliminated the need for a tab or additional parts like standoffs to secure the PCB or any foreign body onto the face plate

3. Allowed the use of 2 x 128 pin Euro connector by providing more area for the connector cut-out at the same time providing enough land on the panel to avoid any weak cross sections. This has reduced the cost of the component by reducing the number of Operations required to make the part. The main benefit is, this enables the use of 2x128 pin Euro connectors in telecom equipments.

4. The Prior art required 4 steps of bending operations of which the bending of the PCB support tabs required extra care to maintain the tolerance. The new Joggled part has only 2 bending sequence and the joggle may be produced on CNC press during the time of punching the cut-outs.

5. Can be used in other platforms where complete face panel area is required

It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to device numerous alternative arrangements that, while now shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and thus are within its spirit and scope.

We Claim:

1. A method for the front panel, by the steps comprising of

a. Identifying face plate area and non-face plate area

b. Minimizing the stress on the face plate area

2. Minimizing the stress in claim 1 further comprises moving the stress from the face plate area to the non-face plate area

3. Minimizing the stress in claim 1 further includes providing support for the foreign body on the non-face plate area

4. Support for the foreign body in claim 3 includes joggle on the non-face plate area

5. Identifying face plate area in claim 1 comprises of creating a bend between face plate area and non-face plate area wherein the bend can be a sharp angle or an arc angle.

6. Face plate area in claim 1 further comprises the face plate area with access to the service offered by the system wherein the system includes telecom, power source, broad band access, network management port, connectors, ports, PCB etc.,

7. Identifying face plate area and non-face plate area in claim 1 further includes separating face plate area and non-face plate area, wherein separation includes cutting, splitting, slitting, removal of material etc.,

8. Identifying face plate area in claim 1 includes marking on the face plate area wherein marking includes marking for the cut-outs for connectors, ports, SFP, data ports, power ports etc.,

9. Front Panel in claim 1 includes front panel made of steel, mild steel, plastic, fibre, moulded materials etc.,

10. Minimizing the stress in claim 1 further includes fixing a foreign body with the joggled part, wherein foreign body includes circuit board, PCB, tray, metallic tray etc.,

11. The front panel having

A face plate area and

non-face plate area Non-face plate area comprising of

A bottom bend, the bottom bend

Further comprising of

Joggle on both of its extremes and the joggled surface providing support to a foreign body.

12. The front panel substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.