Dell Computer Corporation

Steve L Sands

Jerry D Gandre

R Steven Mills

Gita P Khadem

A printed circuit board ground clip is provided having upwardly extending retainers and downwardly extending legs. The legs are designed to insert within plated-through holes of a variable thickness printed circuit board. The upwardly extending retainers terminate as a spaced pair of flanges which frictionally receive and electrically couple with a hook. The hook extends from the chassis of an electronic device, through a slot within the printed circuit board and between the spaced flanges. Accordingly, the hook and ground clip form an electrical conduit between a ground supply connected to the electronic device chassis and a ground conductor formed within the printed circuit board. Chassis-to-ground conductor attachment is performed during assembly of the board to the chassis backplane. Attachment can be quickly and easily reversed to allow board re-work, without requiring placement of heat upon the board. The present attachment mechanism further avoids user-inserted fasteners and the reliability problems they present.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Steve L Sands