Patents by Inventor Christopher Heard

Christopher Heard has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7978476
    Abstract: An electronic assembly for housing circuit cards of different types, which communicate with one another at high speed. Circuit cards of a first type plug into a backplane side-by-side. Circuit cards of a second type are arranged perpendicularly to the circuit cards of the first type. The arrangement allows cards of the first type to communicate with cards of the second type over short distances, thus improving system throughput. It also allows cards of different types to be cooled differently, thus promoting efficient cooling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Amphenol Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher Heard, Andreas C. Pfahnl
  • Patent number: 7280356
    Abstract: An electronic system is disclosed that uses air for cooling first and second orthogonally oriented arrays of parallel circuit boards. Air is drawn into the front of the system, passes alongside the circuit boards in the first array, takes a 90-degree turn, continues over the circuit boards in the second array, and takes another 90-degree turn to exhaust through the rear of the system. The circuit boards in the first array are cooled through a separate airflow path, which preferably also runs front-to-rear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: Amphenol Corporation
    Inventors: Andreas C. Pfahnl, Christopher Heard
  • Publication number: 20060126292
    Abstract: An electronic system is disclosed that uses air for cooling first and second orthogonally oriented arrays of parallel circuit boards. Air is drawn into the front of the system, passes alongside the circuit boards in the first array, takes a 90-degree turn, continues over the circuit boards in the second array, and takes another 90-degree turn to exhaust through the rear of the system. The circuit boards in the first array are cooled through a separate airflow path, which preferably also runs front-to-rear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2004
    Publication date: June 15, 2006
    Inventors: Andreas Pfahnl, Christopher Heard
  • Publication number: 20060067069
    Abstract: An electronic assembly for housing circuit cards of different types, which communicate with one another at high speed. Circuit cards of a first type plug into a backplane side-by-side. Circuit cards of a second type are arranged perpendicularly to the circuit cards of the first type. The arrangement allows cards of the first type to communicate with cards of the second type over short distances, thus improving system throughput. It also allows cards of different types to be cooled differently, thus promoting efficient cooling.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2004
    Publication date: March 30, 2006
    Inventors: Christopher Heard, Andreas Pfahnl
  • Publication number: 20060067067
    Abstract: An electronic system having a backplane designed for efficient routing of signal traces. The system includes two or more daughter cards that are connected to multiple other daughter cards in the system. These daughter cards are mounted centrally to the backplane in the system. Connections between those two daughter cards and the backplane are made through electrical connectors that are distributed in columns along the length of the daughter cards. The connectors are positioned with space between the connectors. The space forms routing channels such that signals that must be connected to the central cards from a daughter cards on either side may be routed through the routing channels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2004
    Publication date: March 30, 2006
    Applicant: Teradyne, Inc.
    Inventor: Christopher Heard