The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 19, 2003
Filed:
Feb. 06, 2001
Lars Lindberg, Stockholm, SE;
Mikael Wickstrom, Jüfälla, SE;
Bertil Kronlund, Sollentuna, SE;
Optillion AB, Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for hot-pluggable electronic component connection. In one embodiment of the present invention, ground and power line couplings with a system are formed by moving the component in one direction while signal line couplings with the system are formed by moving the component in another direction. In one embodiment, a guide rail system causes a hot-pluggable component to move in a direction which couples, first, the ground line and, then, the power lines to the system. After the ground and power lines are connected, the guide rail system causes the component to move in another direction which couples the signal lines to the system. In another embodiment, a latching mechanism holds the component in place once the signal lines are coupled to the system. In this embodiment, an ejection system releases the latching mechanism and allows removal of the component. In one embodiment of the present invention, signal lines are coupled to the system in the same plane as a PCB. In this embodiment, the area used for signal line couplings is increased when more signal lines are present. Thus, signal lines are added without increasing space requirement of the component or decreasing the fault tolerance of signal line couplings. In one embodiment of the present invention, the component is an optical transceiver. In one embodiment, connections are made using an anisotropic conductive elastomer. In one embodiment, a ground pattern is etched into the component and the PCB circumscribing the signal line connections.