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:
Nov. 18, 2003
Filed:
Feb. 27, 2001
Jon A. Nelson, Bluffdale, UT (US);
Rick Giles, Sandy, UT (US);
David Oliphant, West Jordan, UT (US);
3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A chip component assembly is provided that includes a plurality of chip components each having respective first and second terminal elements, the first terminal elements being joined to corresponding solder pads on a printed circuit board, the solder pads being in communication with electronic circuitry of the printed circuit board, and the second terminal elements being joined together by an array ground plane of a grounding device. The grounding device additionally includes a ground path structure which physically and electrically connects the array ground plane, and thus the chip components, to a ground pad located on the printed circuit board so as to provide a ground path from the chip components. Preferably, the array ground plane additionally includes a plurality of resilient contact elements which provide for substantial and continuous contact between the array ground plane and an ancillary ground plane, such as the top cover of a PC card. The grounding device serves to foreclose electrostatic discharge or EMI by the chip components and in some applications further serves to direct undesirable noise to ground. The relatively small size of the grounding device permits the use of a relatively smaller ground pad on the printed circuit board, thereby conserving valuable printed circuit board surface area. Finally, the ground path structure is configured for automated attachment to the chip components, and the chip component assembly thus formed is well suited for installation on the printed circuit board by pick-and-place manufacturing techniques.