National Instruments Corporation

Richard G Baldwin, Jr

Michael H Singerman

Dennis Vance Toth

Jared S Harlan

D Vance Toth

Various types of electronic devices may be mounted in a chassis in order to facilitate interfacing with the devices, containing the devices, provide cooling systems which may remove heat from the electronic devices, etc. Delivering adequate cooling air flow to each electronic device in a chassis may be an important issue for the proper functioning, lifetime, or other characteristics of electronic devices contained in a chassis. Some electronic devices may be particularly challenging to cool due to various design characteristics. Other electronic devices may have other requirements that are not well served by existing chassis designs. For example, some electronic devices may benefit from additional electrical and/or thermal connections. Embodiments presented herein describe a novel design for a modular card cage accessory that may be configured to modify air flow and/or to meet particular requirements of an electronic device in a chassis, among various possibilities.

Modular card cage accessories

A connector gap between a module connector mating surface and the backplane connector of a chassis may be eliminated through a mechanism that forcefully pushes (or pulls) the module towards the backplane and/or forcefully pushes (or pulls) the backplane toward the module. A spring-loaded or resilient element may be used to fasten the module in a way that effectively fills any designed-in and tolerance-induced gap in the connector interface, allowing the connector to fully seat. In addition, a gasket or other compressible member may be included at the connector mating interface. The gap in the connector interface may be reduced by introducing adjustable card cage members that are capable of being set during the assembly or manufacturing process using special alignment fixtures. The gap in the connector interface may also be reduced by introducing a higher tolerance capable manufacturing process, such as machining, to the card cage sub-assembly.

High-speed performance electrical connector for modular electronics systems

Various types of electronic devices may be mounted in a chassis in order to facilitate interfacing with the devices, containing the devices, provide cooling systems which may remove heat from the electronic devices, etc. Delivering adequate cooling air flow to each electronic device in a chassis may be an important issue for the proper functioning, lifetime, or other characteristics of electronic devices contained in a chassis. Embodiments presented herein describe a novel design for an air flow straightener that is configured for insertion within the chassis to straighten the airflow. In some embodiments, the grating is comprised of long dividers and shorter dividers that are predominantly oriented perpendicularly to each other, resulting in a rectangular grating. Including such a grating in a chassis may improve the uniformity and performance of the cooling system.

Airflow straightener in an electronics chassis

A chassis for plug-in modules may be provided with a vented and ducted sub-rack support member. The vented and ducted sub-rack support member may deflect a portion of the air flowing within the chassis through vents in the top surface of the vented and ducted sub-rack support member in order to increase the air flow to heat producing components mounted on the backplane above the support member. The increased air flow may increase air flow velocity and decrease the ambient temperature of the air around these components and improve the dissipation of heat from each component into the air. Air flow above the vented and ducted sub-rack support member may also be redirected by upper deflectors mounted on the support member to portions of plug-in cards adjacent to the upper deflectors and may provide additional cooling to components on the plug-in cards near the backplane.

Vented and ducted sub-rack support member

A structure may be coupled to an adapter coupling two or more modules together. In some embodiments, the structure may direct air and/or dissipate heat from the modules into the air. The structures may direct air to components on a module that might receive less airflow without the structures. In some embodiments, the structure may be coupled to the adapter through a fastener (e.g., multiple structures may be manufactured with a plate, and the plate may be coupled to the adapter). In some embodiments, thermally conductive pathways may be used on the modules to conduct heat from components on the modules to a heat dissipating structure on the adapter.

Cooling mechanisms associated with card adapter

In some embodiments, a module may have a slot for an input/output card. While cables may be connected to the card in the module, external forces acting on the cable and/or module may result in the cable pulling the card out of the module, damaging the connector or card. In some embodiments, a strain-relieving device may be used to counter these forces on the cable. In some embodiments, a positioning strip may be coupled to a base placed over the card in the module. In some embodiments, a cable grip may be coupled to the positioning strip through a bracket. In some embodiments, the cable grip may include two plates that are coupled to the bracket through fasteners. As the fasteners are tightened, a distance between the two plates may decrease, and a cable between the plates may be at least partially secured between the plates.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Richard G Baldwin, Jr