PCB interconnect scheme for PSU
View Patent ↗An ATX compatible power supply unit having a main printed circuit board and at least one connector printed circuit board that includes at least one outlet connector for use with a DC modular cable, the at least one connector printed circuit board is connected to the main printed circuit board with connectors other than bare or insulated wires to allow high currents to be transferred between the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops is disclosed.
1. An ATX compatible power supply unit for use with a computer, the ATX compatible power supply unit comprising:
a chassis;
a main printed circuit board that includes at least a subset of the power supply's output electronics;
wherein the main printed circuit board has an extended portion through a cutout in the chassis, wherein the extended portion includes a row of outlet connectors for use with DC modular cables and N+1 connector printed circuit boards arranged substantially parallel to the row of outlet connectors, each of the N+1 connector printed circuit boards includes one or more outlet connectors for use with DC modular cables, wherein N is an integer and is equal to or greater than 1 and wherein the N+1 connector printed circuit boards are connected to the main printed circuit board with connectors other than bare or insulated wires to allow high currents to be transferred between the N+1 printed circuit boards and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops.
2. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein at least one connector printed circuit board is configured with an array of pins, wherein the array of pins is capable of carrying high currents and the array of pins is attached to the main printed circuit board to allow high currents to be transferred between the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops.
3. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 2 wherein the array of pins is attached to the main printed circuit board by soldering the array of pins to the main printed circuit board.
4. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 2 wherein the array of pins is attached to the main printed circuit board by mating the array of pins with a complementary set of mating connectors on the main printed circuit board.
5. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein at least one connector printed circuit board is configured with an array of connector fingers, wherein the array of connector fingers is attached to the main printed circuit board to allow high currents to be transferred between the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops.
6. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 5 , wherein the array of connector fingers is attached to the main printed circuit board by mating the array of connector fingers with a complementary set of mating high pin count connectors on the main printed circuit board.
7. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein at least one connector printed circuit board is configured with a plurality of wide fingers separated by routed gaps, wherein the plurality of wide fingers separated by routed gaps is attached to the main printed circuit board to allow high currents to be transferred between the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops.
8. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of wide fingers separated by routed gaps is attached to the main printed circuit board by inserting the plurality of wide fingers into a complementary set of slits on the main printed circuit board.
9. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 8 , further comprising soldering the plurality of wide fingers separated by routed gaps to the complementary set of slits after inserting the plurality of wide fingers into the complementary set of slits.
10. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein at least one connector printed circuit board is configured with angled metal brackets, wherein the angled metal brackets are attached to the main printed circuit board to allow high currents to be transferred between the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops.
11. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 10 , wherein the angled metal brackets are screwed onto the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board.
12. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein at least one connector printed circuit board is configured with straight metal brackets, wherein the straight metal brackets are attached to the main printed circuit board to allow high currents to be transferred between the at least one connector printed circuit board and the main printed circuit board at low voltage drops.
13. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 12 , wherein the straight metal brackets are attached to the main printed circuit board by inserting the straight metal brackets into a complementary set of slits on the main printed circuit board.
14. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 13 , further comprising soldering the straight metal brackets to the complementary set of slits after inserting the straight metal brackets into the complementary set of slits.
15. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein the extended portion is routed into a plurality of sub-portions, the sub-portions being plated with conductive material.
16. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 15 , wherein DC modular cables with metal bracket terminations are connected to the plated sub-portions by any one of: soldering, clamps, or bolts.
17. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 15 , wherein DC modular cables with lug terminations are connected to the plated sub-portions by bolts.
18. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein the extended portion includes two or more rows of outlet connectors for use with DC modular cables.
19. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 18 , wherein the two or more rows of outlet connectors are oriented vertically.
20. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 18 , wherein the outermost array of outlet connectors is oriented horizontally and the remainder of the two or more rows of outlet connectors are oriented vertically.
21. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , wherein the N+1th connector printed board has a height greater than the Nth connector printed board, the Nth connector printed board being closer than the N+1th connector printed board to an opening in the chassis for accessibility to the one or more outlet connectors for use with DC modular cables.
22. The ATX compatible power supply unit of claim 1 , further including metallic standoffs for connecting the N+1 connector printed circuit boards to the main printed circuit board.