Patents Examined by Gerald P. Tolin
  • Patent number: 5424916
    Abstract: A combination conductive and convective heatsink for use in an electronic module including a heatsink member having first and second major planar surfaces; each surface adapted for thermally engaging with an adjacent electronic circuit element. The heatsink member also includes a plurality of flow-through channels disposed between the first and second major planar surfaces. The flow-through channels engage with flow-through passages in an electronic module mounting rack, for allowing the flow of a fluid medium through the passages and the channels for convectively cooling the electronic module. The heatsink also includes a plurality of thermally conductive members disposed between the first and second major planar surfaces of the heatsink member, for thermally conductively engaging the heatsink member with the electronic module mounting rack for conducting heat from the electronic module to the mounting rack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1989
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1995
    Assignee: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Martin
  • Patent number: 5424918
    Abstract: A universal system for mounting hybrid circuits to printed circuit boards is presented. This universal hybrid mounting system comprises a bottom plate, a frame, a top plate, a heat sink and mounting hardware including a spring. A hybrid circuit package is securely attached to one side of the frame using the top and bottom plates and mounting hardware. The other side of the frame is brought into contact with a printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB comprises a plurality of landing pads which may be gold-plated. The frame comprises a plurality of compliant pins that electrically connect the hybrid to the landing pads of the PCB. The heat sink, in conjunction with the spring, are provided to accommodate high power hybrid packages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1995
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company
    Inventors: Jimmie D. Felps, Frank P. Leri, Donald E. Schott, Timothy A. Figge
  • Patent number: 5424502
    Abstract: A safety switch assembly for de-activating a motor vehicle if a user is not positioned on a vehicle seat. The assembly includes a base for mounting a switch, a cover that moves in response to the presence of a vehicle operator on the seat, and an actuator that moves with the cover to open and close switch contacts inside a switch housing. The base is constructed to pass through a cutout in a vehicle seat pan and includes extensions that also pass through the cutout. The projections are inhibited from movement back through the cutout after the base is rotated from an orientation that allows the projections to be inserted through the cutout to an orientation in which the projections overlie the seat pan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1995
    Assignee: Delta Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas D. Williams
  • Patent number: 5424702
    Abstract: A beam member which is installed at diametral portion in a ring shape superconducting coil container for supporting hoop stress of the coil, or a portion of radiant heat shield covering the beam member, is partly or entirely composed of electrical insulators or high resistivity materials. In accordance with the above composition, eddy current which is generated in the coil container when the superconducting coil container crosses magnetic field caused by eddy current which is generated in the radiant heat shield when the radiant heat shield crosses strong magnetic field caused by the superconducting coils with relative vibration of the radiant heat shield to the superconducting coil by a dynamic cause can be suppressed. Accordingly, heat generation in the superconducting coil container can be reduced, and consequently, generation of quenching can be prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1995
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoko Kameoka, Hideshi Fukumoto, Ken Yoshioka, Teruhiro Takizawa, Tadasi Sonobe, Fumio Suzuki
  • Patent number: 5422789
    Abstract: A sheet metal device for mounting a component on a circuit board is formed by stamping to defining a head portion and a base portion. The head portion is formed for insertion into a slot in a component such as a heat sink and the base portion is formed for insertion into a printed circuit board. The head portion has spade-form members which engage the walls of the slot and retain the head portion in the slot. The component is mounted on a printed circuit board by inserting the base portion into an aperture in the printed circuit board and soldering the base portion to the reverse surface of the board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1995
    Assignee: Redpoint Thermalloy Limited
    Inventors: Francis E. Fisher, Robin D. Johnson, William D. Jordan
  • Patent number: 5422436
    Abstract: A control cabinet with an open bottom, which is enclosed by legs of a frame and can be closed off by individual bottom plates which can be placed side-by-side. The individual bottom plates rest with their short sides on a support shoulder of the facing frame legs and are connected with these frame legs. The bottom plates have an edge that is twice bent along at least one long side, wherein sealing strips seal the abutting long sides of adjacent bottom plates and where cables are introduced through cutouts in the bottom. Individual insertion and assured sealing of the individual cables, together with extensive adaptation and expansion possibilities is achieved with at least a portion of the bottom plates having cutouts spaced along the long side with the edge. Cable bushings which have stepped, offset bushing pieces with different interior diameters are insertable into the cutouts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1995
    Assignee: Rittal-Werk Rudolf Loh GmbH & Co.
    Inventor: Jurgen Zachrai
  • Patent number: 5422790
    Abstract: A computer chip mounting hardware includes a mother board having two electrical connectors at the top; a sub PC board having two electrical connectors at the bottom respectively connected to the electrical connectors on the mother board and a center opening for heat dissipation; a computer chip electrically connected to the sub PC board at the bottom and suspended above the mother board for letting heat be dissipated through the center opening on the sub PC board and the space between the computer chip and the mother board; and a heat conductive clamp bridged over two opposite sides of the sub PC board and clamped on two opposite sides of the computer chip for dissipating heat from the computer chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1995
    Inventor: Pao-Chin Chen
  • Patent number: 5420753
    Abstract: In a structure for cooling an integrated circuit (IC), a hollow cylindrical member is mounted on a cold plate and receives a heat conductor therein. The heat conductor is a cylindrical member which is closed by a flat plate at one end thereof. Silicone gel fills a gap between the hollow cylindrical member and the heat conductor and allows the heat conductor to move due to the elasticity thereof. When the cold plate is fixed in place on the IC which is mounted on a printed circuit board, the heat conductor moves in matching relation to the height and inclination of the IC. As a result, the heat conductor and IC are brought into close contact with each other. A compound intervenes between the heat conductor and the IC to enhance the close contact of the heat conductor and IC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1995
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Shinya Akamatsu, Shinji Mine, Hideki Seguchi
  • Patent number: 5420752
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for fabricating an integrated circuit package, as well the resulting integrated circuit package, which retains a heatsink in close communication with a mold cavity. This precludes any encapsulant from flowing between the heatsink and the inner surface of a mold cavity. As a consequence, the bottom of the heatsink is not encapsulated and is thus exposed. This is accomplished by including posts, attached to the leadframe assembly, which have the function of exerting a downward force on a leadframe assembly and, in turn, on the heatsink. Tie bars, which are nonfunctional parts of a leadframe assembly, can be utilized as posts by bending the posts into an upright position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1995
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventor: Patrick Variot
  • Patent number: 5420749
    Abstract: In an improved panel interior assembly of the type in which elongated bus bars are snap-fit into an insulating support structure a plurality of integrally molded pins are attached to the insulating support structure positioned to extend through holes in a pan to which the insulating support structure is to be attached. These pins are ultrasonically staked to securely hold the insulating support structure and bus bars attached thereto on the pan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1995
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Donald F. Gehrs, Louis L. Runge
  • Patent number: 5420558
    Abstract: A thin film transformer which is fabricated on a substrate includes first and second thin film coils. One of the coils includes either of at least two spiral shaped coil parts that are disposed below an insulation layer and either of at least two spiral shaped coil parts that are disposed above the insulation layer, the coil parts being connected through a connection hole in the insulation layer, with terminals for the coil being located outside the outer loops of the coil parts. The other of the coils includes other coil parts that are connected through a connection hole in the insulation layer, with terminals again being located outside the outer loops of the coil parts. With this configuration, the first and second thin film coils have terminals that are located outside of the outer loops of the coils. Side-by-side transformers whose primaries and secondaries are connected so as to form a single transformer are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1995
    Assignee: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Ito, Tsuneo Watanabe, Yoshiyuki Sugahara, Toshio Komori
  • Patent number: 5418685
    Abstract: In order to provide protection against disruptive radiation and achieve good conduction of heat, a housing for control devices which has multiple parts is provided with a printed circuit board carrying power components and control elements with a peripherally extending lining of electrically and thermally conducting material. The printed circuit board is clamped between the housing halves in the region of the linings. The power components are contacted by the lining so as to be thermally conducting, while control elements which give off intensive disruptive radiation or are sensitive to such radiation are enclosed within connecting pieces projecting from the walls of the housing parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 23, 1995
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Dieter Hussmann, Thomas Jessberger, Dieter Karr, Karl Schupp, Peter Jares, Dieter Neuhaus, Markus Harsch, Bernd Weber
  • Patent number: 5418690
    Abstract: Multiple circuit functions embodied in electrical circuit lines and areas are supported by a multilayered printed circuit board of various lengths and widths (defining "x" and "y" directions) and of various thicknesses (defining a "z" direction) all on a single board. Several ways of achieving such variations in thickness include providing two layer subassemblies arranged in an alternate and intermediate manner, one subassembly being adapted to support electrical circuit lines and areas, and the other subassembly being formed of thin film dielectric material of various precalculated thicknesses. Another way of achieving a variation in thickness is to limit the surface covered by circuit lines with a pre-calculated core thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 23, 1995
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Robert B. Conn, Darleen Mayo, Thurston B. Youngs, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5416294
    Abstract: A gas-flow sensor features delayed-action response to physical changes in gases as they flow through the sensor, thus avoiding transient flow-metering displacements in response to such change. The delayed-action response is attributable to blind hole and blind-bore configurations within which cylindrical plunger elements must displace in the course of changing gas flow, and the delayed-action response is controlled by provision of predetermined clearances between parts that telescope in the course of sensor operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 16, 1995
    Assignee: Imo Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Brian J. Glenn
  • Patent number: 5414590
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electrical distribution board and meter socket assembly. The distribution board includes a framework for a meter compartment which is partially defined by a side panels, a bottom electrically insulating barrier and by a bus. The distribution board also includes an opening through each side panel and between each side face of the framework and the bottom barrier. The opening is of sufficient size to allow electrical connections therethrough. An L-shaped insulating barrier connects to the bottom barrier and is disposed in front of the bus. The meter socket assembly includes a socket pan, a socket molding assembly for an electrical meter, a test block assembly, and a plurality of load terminals adapted for electrically connecting to branch lines which overlap one another and extend from the load terminals in a direction generally parallel to the bottom edge. The meter socket assembly also includes a plurality of line terminals adapted for electrically connecting to line bars.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 9, 1995
    Assignee: Square D Company
    Inventor: Gholam R. Tajali
  • Patent number: 5414592
    Abstract: In the present invention, a heat transferring arrangement is disclosed for a printed wiring board assembly. A heat conductive panel is provided to be in close proximity to a component side of a printed wiring board. The heat conductive panel further includes flange members, so that the flange members may be forced against a heat conducting surface of a chassis and provide a thermally conductive contact therewith. With this arrangement, heat transfer by radiation from the circuit components to the heat conductive panel is enhanced and thereby permits heat transfer by conduction from the heat conductive panel to the chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 9, 1995
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventors: Mark E. Stout, Clinton S. Vilks
  • Patent number: 5410112
    Abstract: A safety interlock for an overhead projector utilizes only one electrical switch to provide the functions of both a conventional power switch and a safety interlock switch. In an operational mode, the switch responds to a cam surface for actuation. In a safety interlock mode, the switch is allowed to rotate in response to forces generated by the cam surface rather than being actuated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1995
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: David S. Freeman
  • Patent number: 5410449
    Abstract: A method is provided for improving the integrity of a solder joint between a large surface-mounted integrated circuit component and a circuit board substrate. In particular, the strength of the solder joint is promoted by preventing the formation of voids in the solder joint during a reflow soldering process by which the component is secured to the circuit board. The method relies on the geometry of the conductor pad used to provide electrical contact between the component and the remaining circuitry and thermal contact between the component and the substrate. The conductor pad is composed of a number of platforms which are defined by a network of trenches that provides numerous passages through which the solder and flux gases may flow during the soldering process. The platforms serve as sites on which the solder compound can be selectively deposited in a manner that further enhances the soldering process, such that voids within the solder joint are substantially avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1995
    Assignee: Delco Electronics Corp.
    Inventor: Kevin W. Brunner
  • Patent number: 5410446
    Abstract: An explosion absorbing apparatus for use with circuit breakers mounted in an explosion-proof panelboard enclosure includes force absorbing plates and rods for attaching the plates to the side panels of circuit breakers. The fastener members draw the force absorbing plates together against the side panels of the circuit breakers to absorb the stress generated by an explosion inside the panelboard enclosure. This apparatus ensures the integrity of circuit breakers contained within a panelboard enclosure during an explosion. The force absorbing plates eliminate catastrophic destruction of the circuit breakers and reduce the cumulative explosion pressure in the panelboard enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1995
    Assignee: Cooper Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: William G. Wright, Nelson L. Lansing
  • Patent number: 5406449
    Abstract: A rigid insulating shield has tabs at a lower end inserted in slots in a case and a press-in fastener at an upper end inserted within a hole in a switch base assembly for securing said shield within the case. A handle pullout has a large flange extending over the shield when inserted in the switch base assembly to prevent removal or displacement of the shield while the handle pullout is inserted in an ON position of the switch. The flange is sufficiently large to block direct access to termination means on the switch base assembly when the shield is removed and the handle pullout is inserted in the switch ON position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1995
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Loy A. Hicks, Richard A. Reiner, David M. Tallman, Kurt R. Van Wormer