WO1989005087A1

WO1989005087A1 - Printed circuit board label holder

Info

Publication number: WO1989005087A1
Application number: PCT/US1988/004026
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carol Crosby Wright
Original assignee: Carol Crosby Wright
Priority date: 1987-11-23
Filing date: 1988-11-09
Publication date: 1989-06-01

Abstract

A printed circuit card label holder (30) mounted at the edge of the card (18, 20, 22) when viewed in the plane of the card and supported on the card by fingers (32) which clip onto the card where permitted by electrical components (24, 26) on the card.

Description

PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD LABEL HOLDER

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of application Serial Number 121,874 filed November 23, 1987.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION A wide variety of electronic devices are made with printed circuit cards mounted in card positions where different cards may be mounted in any particular card position depending on how someone has decided to configure the particular device. One common example of such devices are the so-called personal computers which have several expansion card slots where the owner may install a variety of optional cards such as memory expansion cards, card mounted disc drives, communication interface cards, and the like. A problem may be encountered, particularly by service personnel, in recognizing particular cards installed in such devices when it is necessary to identify a particular card or to understand the manner in which the device has been configured. The components of the card are generally so obscured by adjacent cards that it is difficult to recognize a card from the edge, and service personnel who see many similar devices and who did not configure the particular device cannot identify a card without removing it.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION In accordance with this invention, I have developed an identification system for printed circuit cards in which a label identifying the printed circuit card is mounted along the edge of the card' in a plane perpendicular to the card where it is visible without removing the card from an array of parallel cards. The label extends laterally from the card a distance which does not exceed the maximum projection of components from the card, that is, the maximum width allocated for an individual card in the card array, so that each card can carry its own identifying label. The preferred mounting means for mounting the label on the printed circuit card is a pair of gripping fingers which are integrally formed with the label holder and which clip onto the edge of the substrate of the printed circuit card at any location permitted by the locations of components on the card with the label holder body extending along the length of the edge of the card from the gripping fingers. It is extremely important to the invention that the gripping fingers do not penetrate into or through the printed circuit card so that there is no chance of damaging the electrical components or conductors on the card. It is also important to the invention that the gripping fingers are much smaller than the length of the label holder body so that a location can be found for the gripping fingers along the edge of crowded cards without interfering with components projecting from the cards.

A search of the prior art in Class 428, subclasses 901,192 and 209, Class 174, subclass 112, Class 361, subclass 412, and Class 40, subclass 316 uncovered the following U. S. Patents: 2,818,168; 4,244,125; 4,418,467; 4,450,024; 4,542,441; 4,569,001, and 4,656,767, none of which disclosed the concepts of this invention. Additionally, Schmall 3,919,738 and Southcott et al 3,212,123 slow handles for printed circuit cards, which may contain a label, but which penetrate the surface of the card (Schmall) or the entire card (Southcott et al) , and the following patents may be considered also: US# 4,652,769; US# 4,107,760; US# 3,631,299; US# 4,542,441; US# 4,574,332; US# 1,154,556; European # 144, 675; France # 1,156,444, Switzerland # 364,539, and Germany # 883,005. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Fig. 1 is a perspective view of three printed circuit cards mounted on a single mother board with each card carrying a label holder of this invention, one of which is shown in exploded view,

Fig. 2 is an end view of the label holder shown in exploded view in Fig. 1.

The typical printed circuit board arrangement shown in the drawing includes a mother board 10 carrying a plurality of printed circuit card connectors 12, 14, and 16 which carry printed circuit cards 18, 20, and 22. Each printed circuit card contains a substrate carrying electrical components such as 24 and 26 and conductors 28, and each printed circuit card is designed to fit within a standard volume with the components projecting from one side of the card toward the adjacent card by a maximum distance which is here the distance between the connectors 12 and 14. In this way each of the cards 18, 20, and 22 can be mounted in any of the connectors 12,

14, and 16.

The label holder illustrated in the drawing includes a body 30 and a pair of gripping fingers 32 clipped onto the substrate of the printed circuit card. The body 30 and fingers 32 are preferably made integral with each other molded of a resilient, non-electrically conductive plastic material such as polycarbonate plastic. The fingers are inserted onto the edge of the printed circuit card at locations permitted by the components on the card. The label holder is provided with a label identifying the printed circuit card either by writing on the label holder or by mounting an adhesive label on the label holder.

Obviously, many modifications of the details of the design can be made without departing from the following claims.

Claims

1. In a printed circuit card having a substrate extending along a plane and a plurality of electrical components mounted on the substrate and extending . laterally from the plane to a predetermined maximum distance permitting a plurality of such printed circuit cards to be mounted adjacent to each other without ^' interfering with each other, the improvement comprising: a label holder identifying the printed circuit card; and mounting means connecting the label holder to the substrate and supporting the label holder in a position perpendicular to the plane along one edge of the substrate and extending from the plane by a distance not exceeding said predetermined maximum distance and means for gripping the opposite faces of the printed circuit card without penetrating the surface of the card or extending through the card with said gripping means having a dimension measured along said edge which is substantially smaller than the length of the label holder measured along said edge.

2. The label holder of claim 1 in which said mounting means consists of a pair of fingers integrally formed with the label holder.