JP3335964B2 - Hot-swappable connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hot-swap connector and, more particularly, to a hot-swap connector which is miniaturized and measures electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general hot-swappable connector is capable of inserting and removing a circuit board having a load circuit mounted on a connector of a motherboard (also referred to as a backboard) in a state where power is supplied (that is, in a live state). In addition, a precharge circuit, which is a parallel circuit of a coil and a diode, is connected in series to the load circuit, and the precharge circuit is connected to the motherboard prior to the signal line of the circuit board to limit the limited current. The load is supplied gradually to the load circuit to prevent the load circuit from being damaged by an inrush current. Less than,
As an example of this hot-swap connector, a hot-swap connector according to the prior art will be described with reference to the circuit diagram of FIG. 5 and the side view of FIG.

In the hot-swappable connector shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the end of a product board 2A as a circuit board and the end of a connector 1C as a female connector are abutted with each other. The main power supply terminal 11A that supplies the main power supply P1a to the precharge circuit 3A, the signal line terminal 13 and the ground (GND) terminal 14 through which the signal Sn flows in and out, and the wiring on the product substrate 2A are soldered using the substrate side terminal 311 or the like. Connected with. The other end of the connector 1C is inserted into the connector of the motherboard, and is connected to a corresponding terminal of the motherboard by the terminal.

The connecting portions 15 provided at both ends of the connector 1C on the side of the product board 2A are fixed to the product board 2A by pressing the product board 2A therebetween. Here, the terminals of the connector 1C are molded with plastic. The product substrate 2A is, for example, provided with printed wiring on both surfaces or one surface of an epoxy resin substrate to form a coil 31A.
And a precharge circuit 3A including a diode 38 and
Load circuit A 221 including active elements such as LSI and load circuit B 212 including passive elements such as chip resistors and capacitors
Is mounted on both sides or one side of the circuit board. The capacitor C1 connected in parallel to the load circuit 21 is a circuit element to be included in the load circuit 21, but is separately shown to emphasize the effect of reducing the inrush current of the precharge circuit 3A.

Here, the coil 3 of the precharge circuit 3A
1A is necessarily mounted near the connector 1C. Also, the coil 31A that is optimal for the precharge circuit 3A has a structure in which a coated copper wire is wound around a ferrite core, but the mounting height is lower than that of the peripherally mounted components for the load circuit 21. There is a drawback that the strength is lower than that of other components because the strength is dominated by the strength of the ferrite material or the adhesive strength between the core and the mounting base (product substrate 2A).

In addition, it is necessary for the hot-swappable connector to take an electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) measure for preventing mutual signal interference between terminals and between the terminal and the motherboard. Not been.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-54967 discloses an example of a hot-swappable connector similar to that described above. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-12315 discloses a connector which takes measures against EMC. However, it cannot be said that measures to reduce the component mounting height on the product board 2A are sufficient.

[0008]

In a hot-swappable connector, it is important to prevent a shock when the connector is inserted into the motherboard or a drop in the coil for the precharge circuit due to human or mechanical contact during handling. It is one of the elements. In order to prevent the coil from falling off, a method is generally employed in which a guard component is added around the coil to avoid human and mechanical contact.

However, since it is difficult to quantify the degree of impact at the time of connector insertion or the degree of human / mechanical contact at the time of handling, it is not clear how much measures need to be taken in this method. For this reason, it has been difficult to say that necessary and sufficient measures have been taken to prevent the coil from dropping off due to the impact at the time of inserting the connector or the human or mechanical contact at the time of handling.

Further, for example, it is possible to reduce the mounting height of the coil to a level similar to that of other parts to avoid human / mechanical contact as much as possible. In order to obtain this, it is necessary to increase the mounting area, and the proportion of the precharge circuit in the product substrate increases, which causes a problem that other components cannot be mounted on the product substrate having the same area. In addition, since the precharge circuit is arranged near the connector, there is a problem that the input / output wiring of signals important as a function inherent in the product must be bypassed due to an increase in the component area.

Therefore, one of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a hot-swappable connector which can easily handle a product having a precharge circuit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hot-swappable connector which is provided with EMC measures.

[0013]

A hot-swappable connector according to the present invention is connected to a circuit board on which a load circuit is mounted, and the live circuit between the circuit board and the motherboard is performed by precharging the load circuit. In a hot-swappable connector for performing insertion / extraction, a molded part obtained by molding another connector and a terminal connected to the circuit board with a plastic material mixed with ferrite powder connects at least a coil of the precharge circuit to the terminal. It is characterized by being built-in.

[0014] One of the hot-swappable connectors can be configured such that the coil incorporated in the molded part is filled with the plastic material mixed with the ferrite powder around the wire of the air-core solenoid.

In the hot-swappable connector, the coil may include a normal mode coil or a common mode coil for signal lines, a ferrite bead inductor, or a signal line in addition to the coil of the precharge circuit. it can.

The hot-swappable connector may be provided with a magnetic coupling shield between coils or signal lines except between the common mode coils to reduce magnetic coupling between these components.

One of the hot-swappable connectors can be configured such that the magnetic coupling shield is a dummy terminal connected to a ground potential.

Another one of the hot-swappable connectors can be configured such that the magnetic coupling shield is a slit provided in the mold between the coil or the signal line.

Another one of the hot-swappable connectors is as follows.
When connecting the circuit board and the motherboard,
The power supply connection to the ground (GND) terminal and the diode of the precharge circuit may be set as the first order.

Still another one of the hot-swappable connectors can be configured so that the periphery of the molded portion is wound with a magnetic tape in a direction parallel to a direction of the terminal.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the configuration of FIG.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a connector (connector) 1 according to the present invention and a product board 2 connected to and connected to the connector 1. FIG. The method of coupling and connection is almost the same as the method shown in FIGS. In terms of circuit, the coil 31A of the precharge unit 3A (the precharge unit 3 of FIG. 1) mounted on the product substrate 2A of FIG. 5 (the product substrate 2 of FIG. 1) is moved and arranged as the coil 31 on the connector 1. ing. Also, the precharge circuit 3
The coil 31 receives the main power P1 from the main power terminal 11, while the diode 38 of the precharge unit 3 obtains the power P2 from the precharge terminal 12. The exchange generally uses -48 V as the voltage of the main power supply P1 and the precharge power supply. The other parts of the circuit of FIG. 1 are substantially the same in circuit as the circuit of FIG. However, the main part of the invention according to the present embodiment lies in the structure of the connector 1.

The connector 1 is formed by molding another connector, for example, a terminal (or pin) connected (inserted) to the motherboard and a terminal (or pin) connected to the product board 2 with a plastic material mixed with ferrite powder. are doing. Precharge circuit 3 connected between these terminals
The coil 31 is also molded with a ferrite powder-mixed plastic material. In this mold material,
As described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-12315, a soft magnetic powder of an iron-aluminum-silicon alloy and an organic binder (ABS resin) obtained by heating and kneading can be used.

The above-mentioned coil 31 can be considered as a metal lead wire between the above-mentioned terminals processed into an air-core coil shape, and this coil is filled with a plastic material mixed with ferrite powder. Therefore, the coil 31 has an effect of increasing the inductance due to the magnetic permeability of the molding material as compared with the case of the air core. In this way, the coil 31 can be mounted on the small connector 1 with sufficient performance by being molded with a plastic material mixed with ferrite powder. Also,
This coil 31 can increase the cutoff of frequency components other than DC between the product board 2 and another connector connected to the product board 2 due to the electromagnetic wave loss effect due to the imaginary magnetic permeability of the ferrite powder.

The connector 1 is connected to a ground (GND)
The terminal 14 and the precharge terminal 12 are longer than the main power supply terminal 11 and the signal line terminal 13, and when connecting to another connector, for example, a motherboard, the GND terminal 14 and the precharge terminal 12 are connected to the motherboard. They are connected in one order. To be precise, GND
It is desirable to connect the terminal 14 first. Therefore, when the connector 1 to which the product board 2 is connected is inserted into the motherboard, first, the precharge voltage P1 gradually charges the capacitor C1 via the diode 38, and the potential of the load circuit 21 gradually increases to the minus side. . Next, the main power supply terminal 11
And the signal line terminal 13 are connected to the motherboard,
At this time, the potential of the load circuit 21 is considerably increased, and the power supply P1 is delayed by the coil 31, so that abrupt voltage application to the load circuit 21 can be avoided. In this way, by using this connector 1, a time-lag connection of power supply to the load circuit 21 is performed, and damage to the load circuit 21 can be avoided.

As described above, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the coil 31A (31) can be built in the connector 1, there is no need to mount the coil (31A) having a high component height on the product board 2, and It is possible to prevent a drop-off accident due to human / mechanical contact caused by a high component height of the coil. Therefore, a product designed on the premise of hot-swap can be easily handled by anyone, and the effect that the reliability of the product can be improved is brought about. Further, the effect of improving the high-density mounting degree by reducing the height of the components is also great.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 also shows a hot-swappable connector (connector) 1A according to the present invention and a product board 2 connected and connected to the connector 1A.
In the connector 1A, a signal line terminal for passing a signal Sn through a plurality of coils having the same structure as the coil 31, that is, a normal mode coil 32, a common mode coil 33, and a ferrite bead inductor 34, in addition to the coil 31 in the ferrite powder-mixed mold portion. 13. The normal mode coil 32 has a self-inductance and mainly operates as a choke coil that blocks low frequency components. The common mode coil 33 is two coils having the same polarity of the input terminal and the same number of turns, and has an effect of blocking common-mode noise. The ferrite bead inductor 34
This is a shape in which ferrite beads are passed through a signal line, and serves as a noise filter. As described above, each of these coils is used (as an EMC countermeasure component) to increase the cutoff of frequency components other than direct current between the product board 2 and another connector connected thereto. In the molding material of the present invention, the characteristics of the coil 31 can be optimized by changing the amount and material of the ferrite powder to be mixed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 also shows a hot-swappable connector (connector) 1B according to the present invention and a product board 2 coupled and connected to the connector 1B.
The connector 1B shown in FIG.
In addition to A, the signal lines Sn such as the coil 31, the normal mode coil 32, and the ferrite bead inductor 34 other than between the common mode coils 32 and 33 are magnetically isolated from other connector terminals, and are connected between these components. Magnetic coupling shielding (shield) portions 35, 36, and 37 for reducing magnetic coupling are provided. The magnetic coupling shields 35 to 37 are formed by the influence of magnetic coupling when the pitch between connector terminals is small.
Helps reduce signal coupling between connector terminals.

The magnetic coupling shields 35 to 37 in FIG. 4 are ferrite beads between the precharge terminal 12 and the normal mode coil 32 which is one of the signal lines Sn and the same as the common mode coil 33 which is the signal line Sn. Inductor 34
And dummy terminals respectively arranged between them. The dummy terminal is desirably a magnetic metal plate such as an iron plate capable of electromagnetically isolating the connector terminals. This dummy terminal is GND terminal 1
4 or the ground potential of the product substrate 2. Note that when a metal plate such as a copper plate having no magnetism is used as the dummy terminal, radio waves can be shielded, so that it can play a certain role in reducing signal interference between connector terminals.

It is also effective to provide a slit (gap) in the mold section between the connector terminals as the magnetic coupling shield section. The presence of the slit increases the magnetic resistance of that portion, so that signal interference due to magnetic coupling between connector terminals can be reduced. Note that it is necessary to avoid forming a slit at the end so that the molded portion of the connector 1C does not separate.

In the hot-swappable connector according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the periphery of the molded part forming the main body is divided into the connector terminals (terminals 11, 12, and 13).
When the magnetic tape is wound in a direction parallel to the directions of 13 and 14), the inductance of the coils 31 to 34 can be increased. Therefore, if the coil has the same inductance, the height of the hot-swappable connector can be reduced, and the effect of further improving the high-density mounting of the entire circuit including the product board 2 can be obtained.

[0035]

As described above, the present invention relates to a live wire connected to a circuit board on which a load circuit is mounted, and hot-plugged between the circuit board and the motherboard by precharging the load circuit. In the insertion / extraction connector, since a molded part in which a terminal connected to another connector and the circuit board is molded with a plastic material mixed with ferrite powder, at least a coil of the precharge circuit is connected to the terminal and is built in, Since the coil of the precharge circuit is downsized and moved to the hot-swap connector, the mounting height of the circuit board and the hot-swap connector can be reduced, and the hot-swap connector can be provided with EMC measures. There is an effect that a function can be provided. Further, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent an accidental drop of the coil due to human or mechanical contact, which occurs due to a high mounting height of the circuit board, particularly a high component of the coil.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one of the embodiments according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of a conventional hot-swappable connector.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the circuit of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1A, 1B connector 2 product board 3 precharge circuit 11 main power supply terminal 12 precharge terminal 13 signal line terminal 14 ground (GND) terminal 15 coupling section 21 load circuit 31 coil 32 normal mode coil 33 common mode coil 34 ferrite bead Inductors 35 to 37 Magnetic coupling shield part 38 Diode 211 Load circuit A 212 Load circuit B 311 Board side terminal C1 Capacitor

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] A hot-swap connector that is connected to a circuit board on which a load circuit is mounted and pre-charges the load circuit to perform hot-swap between the circuit board and a motherboard. A hot-swappable connector, wherein a molded part in which a terminal connected to the circuit board is molded with a plastic material mixed with ferrite powder has at least a coil of the precharge circuit connected to the terminal and incorporated therein. 2. The coil built in the mold part is formed by filling the plastic material containing the ferrite powder around the wire of the air-core solenoid.
The hot-swappable connector described. 3. The active circuit according to claim 2, wherein the coil includes a normal mode coil, a common mode coil, a ferrite bead inductor, or a signal line for a signal line, in addition to the coil of the precharge circuit. Connector for wire insertion / extraction. 4. A hot-swappable connector according to claim 3, further comprising a magnetic coupling shielding portion between coils or signal lines except between the common mode coils to reduce magnetic coupling between these components. . 5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic coupling shield is a dummy terminal connected to a ground potential. 6. The hot-swappable connector according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic coupling shield is a slit provided in the mold between the coil or the signal line. 7. The power supply connection to a ground (GND) terminal and a diode of the precharging circuit in a first order when connecting the circuit board and the motherboard. Hot-swappable connector. 8. The hot-swappable connector according to claim 1, wherein the periphery of the mold portion is wound with a magnetic tape in a direction parallel to a direction of the terminal.