Housing structure for electronic boards

Abstract

Housing structure for PCI Express expansion electronic boards able to mechanically stabilize said PCI Express expansion electronic boards so as to guarantee the correct functioning, performance and integrity of the electric interconnection between them and the basic electronic board to which they are connected if there are mechanical stresses such as knocks or vibrations, in order to be able to use PCI Express expansion electronic boards in the automotive field, or in scenarios characterized by perturbations of the important mechanical type. The present invention also concerns an assembly method of the housing structure.

Claims

1. A housing structure for PCI Express expansion electronic boards provided with at least a connection portion at a board edge, comprising: a base on which at least a basic electronic board is attached, provided with a plurality of electric housing connectors each connectable to said connection portion at the board edge in order to connect one of said PCI Express expansion electronic boards to said basic electronic board, at least two lateral supports, opposite each other, attached to said base and oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of said electric housing connectors of said basic electronic board, at least a rod removably connected between said lateral supports and located above said basic electronic board, and at least a holding element connected to said rod and solidly coupled with at least one of said PCI Express expansion electronic boards at least in proximity to said connection portion at the board edge of the latter, said holding element being configured to rigidly hold in position said PCI Express expansion electronic board, defining a single body with at least said base, said lateral supports and said rod, said PCI Express expansion electronic board being coupled with one of the electric housing connectors of said basic electronic board, wherein each of said holding elements comprises at least a connection portion provided with at least a through aperture in which said rod is inserted.

2. The housing structure as in claim 1, wherein at least one of either said PCI Express expansion electronic boards or auxiliary electronic boards is attached to one of said lateral supports.

3. The housing structure as in claim 2, wherein at least one of said auxiliary electronic boards is provided with electric housing connectors and/or at least one connection portion at the board edge connected to said electric housing connectors present on said basic electronic board by means of PCI Express extension cables, wherein said PCI Express extension cable is attached to said base and/or said lateral support and/or said rod and/or said auxiliary electronic board by means of at least one mechanical support body to stabilize the reciprocal connection.

4. The housing structure as in claim 1, wherein said holding element is put in contact with said PCI Express expansion electronic board and is also configured to take active part in the dissipation of the heat generated by the latter during use, promoting the transfer thereof to a cooling device.

5. The housing structure as in claim 1, further comprising a distributor of cooling liquid, connectable to a cooling liquid feed circuit and provided with a plurality of nozzles rotatably connected to said distributor and fluidically connected to respective cooling devices by means of flexible connection pipes, wherein each of said cooling devices is coupled with one of said PCI Express expansion electronic boards and/or auxiliary electronic boards and/or said basic electronic board in order to cool them.

6. The housing structure as in claim 1, wherein at least one of said holding elements comprises an extension portion configured to extend the connection between said rod and said PCI Express expansion electronic board.

7. The housing structure as in claim 1, further comprising at least a spacer connected to said rod and located between two holding elements, or one holding element and one of said lateral supports.

8. A method to assemble the housing structure as in claim 1, comprising: making available the base on which the basic electronic board is attached, provided with the plurality of electric housing connectors each able to connect one of said PCI Express expansion electronic boards to said basic electronic board, attaching said at least two lateral supports to said base, disposing them opposite each other and orienting them parallel to the longitudinal axis of said electric housing connectors of said basic electronic board, solidly coupling the at least one of said PCI Express expansion electronic boards to the holding element and connect the latter to at least the rod, connecting said PCI Express expansion electronic board to one of said electric housing connectors of said basic electronic board attached to said base, attaching said rod between said lateral supports and above said basic electronic board.

9. The method as in claim 8, further comprising: connecting at least one auxiliary electronic board to at least one of said lateral supports and to interconnect it in one of said housing connectors of said basic electronic board attached to said base.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some embodiments, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a housing structure according to a possible embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a front view of a schematic detail of a housing structure according to a possible embodiment of the invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a holding element coupled with a PCIe add-in card according to a possible embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a housing structure according to a possible embodiment of the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a housing structure according to a possible embodiment of the present invention;

(7) FIGS. 6 and 7 show a housing structure in two steps of an assembly sequence.

(8) To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings. It is understood that elements and characteristics of one embodiment can conveniently be incorporated into other embodiments without further clarifications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

(9) With reference to FIGS. 1-7, which represent non-restrictive examples of the invention, we will now describe some embodiments of a housing structure 10 for PCIe add-in cards 11.

(10) The housing structure 10 has been optimized to be able to use PCIe add-in cards 11 provided with at least one connection portion at the board edge 11a (edge-board connector or edge-finger), typically used in desktop, server, or other supercomputing applications, in fields characterized by multiple mechanical stresses, for example, in the automotive field.

(11) The housing structure 10 is configured to prevent malfunctions or damage induced by the mechanical stresses between the individual PCIe add-in cards 11 and the host base circuit board 13.

(12) In particular, the housing structure 10 allows to make the PCIe add-in cards 11 integral with it, so that, if the housing structure 10 is subjected to mechanical vibrations, the PCIe add-in cards 11 are brought under stress together with the housing structure 10 itself.

(13) This allows to keep stable the electric connection between the connection portions at the board edge 11a (edge-board connector or edge-finger) of the PCIe add-in cards 11 with the corresponding electric housing connectors 14.

(14) According to the present invention, the housing structure 10 comprises: a base 12 on which at least one basic electronic board 13 is attached, provided with a plurality of electric housing connectors 14 each connectable to the connection portion at the board edge 11a to connect one of the PCIe add-in cards 11 to the basic electronic board 13, at least two lateral supports 15 opposite one another, attached to the base 12 and oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the electric housing connectors 14 of the basic electronic board 13, at least one rod 16 removably connected between the lateral supports 15 and located above the basic electronic board 13, and at least one holding element 17 connected to the rod 16 and integrally coupled with at least one of the PCIe add-in cards 11 at least for the portion of the latter near which there is the connection portion at the board edge 11a (edge-board connector or edge-finger), said holding element 17 being configured to hold rigidly in position the PCIe add-in card 11 defining a single body with at least the base 12, the lateral supports 15 and the rod 16, said PCIe add-in card 11 being coupled with an electric housing connector 14 of the basic electronic board 13 or of another auxiliary electronic board 23a-23b attached to the base 12.

(15) As required, a PCIe add-in card can also be attached to one of the lateral supports 15 and/or the base 12 instead of being inserted into the electric housing connectors 14 of the basic electronic board 13. In this case, the electronic expansion board is defined as auxiliary electronic board 23b.

(16) If necessary, one of the auxiliary boards might not be an electronic PCI Express expansion board and can have a different function, here defined as auxiliary electronic board 23a, although it is in any case attached to the lateral supports 15 and/or the base 12.

(17) According to possible embodiments, the basic electronic board 13 or the auxiliary electronic board 23a-23b can be attached to the base 12 and/or at least a lateral support 15 by suitable attachment elements 35, such as for example screws, pegs, or other attachment means.

(18) The lateral supports 15 can also be attached to the base by suitable attachment elements 35.

(19) The basic electronic board 13 can be a motherboard provided with a PCI Express slot 14, a midplane board carrying a PCI Express switch expanding various PCI Express slots 14, or another similar electronic board intended to perform one or more functions, housing, interconnecting and coordinating the PCIe add-in cards 11 connected to it.

(20) According to possible embodiments, the two lateral supports 15 can comprise two lateral elements 33, attached or not attached to the base 12 and disposed outside the holding elements 17.

(21) The lateral elements 33 can be configured substantially like the holding elements 17.

(22) According to possible embodiments, at least one of the lateral supports 15 can consist of a lateral support body 34 disposed on the side of the electronic base board 13 and attached to the base 12.

(23) The lateral support bodies 34 can have a plurality of apertures to lighten their weight.

(24) According to possible embodiments, at least one of the lateral supports 15 can consist of only one lateral element 33 attached to the base 12 and disposed outside the holding elements 17.

(25) If both lateral supports 15 consist of two lateral elements 33, the latter can be disposed opposite each other on the side of the holding elements 17.

(26) According to possible embodiments, the lateral supports 15 can consist of a combination of one lateral element 33 and one lateral support body 34, both attached to the base 12, or only one of the two attached to the base 12, the two elements 33 and 34 in any case being integral with each other.

(27) According to possible embodiments, at least one of either the PCIe add-in cards 11 or the auxiliary electronic boards 23a, 23b is attached to one of the lateral supports 15.

(28) According to possible embodiments, the lateral supports 15, whether they are the lateral support bodies 34 attached to the base 12 and/or the lateral elements 33 attached to the base 12, develop along planes parallel to each other and orthogonal to the base 12.

(29) According to possible solutions, the planes in which the lateral support bodies 34 develop are disposed on opposite sides to the basic electronic board 13, parallel to the orientation of the main axis of the electric housing connectors 14.

(30) According to possible embodiments, at least one of the auxiliary electronic boards 23a, 23b is provided with electric housing connectors 14 and/or at least one connection portion at the board edge 11a (edge-board connector or edge-finger) that can be connected to the PCIe add-in card 11 or the basic electronic board 13 through PCI Express extension cables 24.

(31) The PCI Express extension cable 24 can be a cable with male and/or female terminals.

(32) Reference number 23a indicates a generic auxiliary electronic board, while reference number 23b indicates an auxiliary electronic board in the format of the PCIe add-in card.

(33) The auxiliary electronic board 23b in the format of the PCIe add-in card shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is connected to the basic electronic board 13 and outside it by means of a PCI Express extension cable 24.

(34) According to possible solutions, the PCI Express extension cables 24 can be advantageously flexible and are used to use the PCIe add-in cards 11 remotely.

(35) The term “use remotely” refers to the possibility of installing a PCIe add-in card 11 in a position different from the PCI Express slot 14 provided on the basic electronic board 13.

(36) This is advantageous if there is not enough space to put the PCIe add-in cards 11 adjacent to each other on the basic electronic board 13.

(37) For example, this situation can arise if a base electronic circuit board 13 is not intended to be re-used for the specific application and therefore, for example, with a pitch between the electric housing connectors 14 insufficient to guarantee the contemporary housing of all the PCIe add-in cards. This allows to reduce both costs and time-to-market.

(38) For example, the PCI Express extension cables 24 can be connected between an auxiliary electronic board 23b containing a PCIe add-in card and an electric housing connector 14 of the basic electronic board 13 not positioned in correspondence with the auxiliary electronic board 23b, that is, distanced from it.

(39) In accordance with possible solutions, the PCI Express extension cable 24 is attached to the base 12 and/or to the lateral support 15 and/or to the rod 16 and/or to the auxiliary electronic board 23a, 23b by at least one mechanical support body 25a-25d to stabilize the reciprocal connection thereof.

(40) In the drawings, reference number 25a indicates a mechanical support body which connects a female terminal of a PCI Express extension cable 24 to a lateral support 15.

(41) In the drawings, reference number 25b indicates a mechanical support body which connects a female terminal of a PCI Express extension cable 24 to the base 12.

(42) In the drawings, reference number 25c indicates a mechanical support body which connects a male terminal of a PCI Express extension cable 24 to the rod 16. In this case the mechanical support body 25c is substantially configured as a holding element 17.

(43) In the drawings, reference number 25d indicates a mechanical support body which connects a female terminal of a PCI Express extension cable 24 to the auxiliary electronic board 23b, connected in turn to the lateral support 15.

(44) Thanks to the presence of the mechanical support bodies 25a-25d, it is possible to integrally connect auxiliary electronic boards 23a-23b and to make the connection of the PCI Express extension cables 24 stable with the corresponding electric housing connectors 14 and/or with possible connectors at the board edge 11a on the auxiliary board 23b.

(45) According to possible embodiments, the holding element 17 is located in contact with the PCIe add-in card 11 and is configured to dissipate the heat generated during use by the latter.

(46) For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the holding element 17 can comprise a contact portion 36 conformed in a manner mating with the surface of the PCIe add-in card 11 at the level of the hot components, during use, which put in contact with the latter, distances the heat generated by directing it toward the dissipating element, which can be, for example, the cooling plate 21.

(47) According to possible embodiments, the housing structure 10 is provided with a distributor 18 of cooling liquid which can be connected to a cooling liquid supply circuit.

(48) According to possible embodiments, the distributor 18 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 19 rotatably connected to the distributor 18 itself and to respective holding elements 17 by means of flexible connection pipes 20 to distribute the cooling liquid to the PCIe add-in cards 11 and/or the auxiliary ones 23a-23b and/or the basic electronic board 13.

(49) Thanks to the presence of rotatably connected nozzles 19 and to the flexible connection pipes 20, it is possible to easily connect the individual flexible connection pipes 20 in the desired position and without possible mechanical stresses being propagated through the same, to which stresses the distributor 18 could be subjected in the case of embodiments in which the distributor 18 is not integral with the housing structure 10.

(50) According to possible embodiments, at least one of the PCIe add-in cards 11 can be associated with at least one cooling device 21 fluidically connected, in the case of cooling with liquid, to the distributor 18, in order to cool the card itself.

(51) For example, the cooling device 21 can comprise a cooling plate associated with a possible thermal interconnection element 28, which acts as a thermal interposer.

(52) The cooling device 21 can be located in contact with at least part of the surface of the PCIe add-in card 11, in particular at the level of the hot components, during use, of the electronic card itself.

(53) The cooling device 21 can be provided with at least one channel 22 in which the cooling liquid flows.

(54) According to possible embodiments, each of the holding elements 17 comprises at least one connection portion 26 provided with at least one through aperture 27 in which the rod 16 is inserted.

(55) Each holding element 17 is conformed in such a way that, once installed, it has its through apertures 27 aligned with the through apertures 27 of the other holding elements 17.

(56) This defines at least one pipe in which a rod 16 can be inserted so as to connect the holding elements 17 to the rod 16 itself and all with each other.

(57) The rod 16 is fixed at its ends by suitable removable attachment means 32, such as for example screws, pegs, or other. For example, the rod 16 can be provided with two threaded holes made in correspondence with its ends, into which two screws can be inserted which are suitable to clamp together all the holding elements 17, creating a single integral body.

(58) Once the holding elements 17 have been attached to each other and the rod 16 attached to the supports 15, in turn attached to the base 12, the assembly thus formed, in the case of mechanical stresses, such as impacts or vibrations, reacts substantially as if it was a single body.

(59) According to possible embodiments, at least one of the holding elements 17 comprises an extension portion 29 configured to extend the connection between the rod 16 and the PCIe add-in card 11, that is, between the connection portion 26 and the PCIe add-in card 11.

(60) This allows to house and make integral with each other even PCIe add-in cards 11 with different sizes: for example, it allows to install PCIe add-in cards 11 having a height smaller than the distance between the rod 16 and the electric housing connector 14 located on the basic electronic board 13.

(61) According to possible embodiments, the housing structure 10 can comprise at least one spacer 30 connected to the rod 16 and located between two holding elements 17, or one holding element 17 and one of the two supports 15.

(62) The spacer 30 can be substantially conformed as the connection portion 26 of the holding element 17, that is, it too can also have a through aperture 26.

(63) Both the spacer 30 and the connection portion 26 can have different widths in relation to the bulk of the PCIe add-in cards 11 to be installed and the specific requirements to guarantee the clamping in position.

(64) This embodiment allows to position, and then clamp together, the PCIe add-in cards 11 at the desired distance, keeping them in an orthogonal position with respect to the basic electronic board 13, without needing to insert unnecessary PCIe add-in cards 11, or required.

(65) According to possible embodiments, the housing structure 10 can comprise a casing 31 located to cover it.

(66) The casing 31 can comprise a front panel and a rear panel each provided with suitable connectors to be able to connect the basic electronic boards 13, the PCIe add-in cards 11, the auxiliary electronic boards 23a-23b, the distributor 18 of cooling liquid, or other additional units outside the casing 31.

(67) According to possible solutions, the present invention also concerns a method to assemble the housing structure 10 for PCIe add-in cards 11 which provides: to make available a base 12 on which a basic electronic board 13 is attached, provided with a plurality of electric housing connectors 14 each able to connect one of the PCIe add-in cards to the basic electronic board 13, to attach at least two lateral supports 15 to the base 12, disposing them opposite each other and oriented parallel to the direction of development of the longitudinal axis of the electric housing connectors 14 present on the basic electronic board 13, to integrally couple at least one of the PCIe add-in cards 11 with a holding element 17, to connect the PCIe add-in card 11 coupled with the respective holding element 17 to one of the electric housing connectors 14 of the basic electronic board 13 or of another auxiliary electronic board 23a, 23b attached to the base 12 and/or to at least one of the lateral supports 15, to connect the rod 16 to the holding element 17 coupled with the PCIe add-in card 11, and attach the rod 16 to the lateral supports 15: for example, the connection of the rod to the holding element can be made by inserting the rod 16 into the through aperture 27 of the holding element 17, if necessary, before the previous step, an auxiliary electronic board 23b can be coupled with at least one lateral support 15 and if the same is a PCIe add-in card it can be connected to one of the electric housing connectors 14 on the basic electronic board 13 by means of a PCI Express extension cable 24.

(68) According to possible embodiments, the assembly process can provide to couple with the PCIe add-in cards 11 at least one cooling device 21 and to connect it to respective nozzles 19, connected rotatably to the distributor 18, by means of flexible connection pipes 20.

(69) It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts can be made to the housing structure 10 and the respective assembly method as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

(70) It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of housing structure 10 and the respective assembly method, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.