Low resistance, low-inductance power connectors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9871310-B2
Application number	US-201514964046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 9, 2015
Priority date	Dec 9, 2015
Publication date	Jan 16, 2018
Grant date	Jan 16, 2018

Abstract

An electrical connector includes an anode assembly for conducting an electrical supply current from a source to a destination, the anode assembly includes an anode formed into a first shape from sheet metal or other sheet-like conducting material. A cathode assembly conducts an electrical return current from the destination to the source, the cathode assembly includes a cathode formed into a second shape from sheet metal or other sheet-like conducting material. An insulator prevents electrical conduction between the anode and the cathode. The first and second shapes are such as to provide a conformity of one to the other, with the insulator therebetween having a predetermined relatively thin thickness. A predetermined low-resistance path for the supply current is provided by the anode, a predetermined low-resistance path for the return current is provided by the cathode, and the proximity of the anode to the cathode along these paths provides a predetermined low self-inductance of the connector, where the proximity is afforded by the conformity of the first and second shapes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector, comprising:
an anode assembly for conducting an electrical supply current from a source to a destination, the anode assembly comprising an anode formed into a first shape from sheet metal or other sheet-like conducting material;
a cathode assembly for conducting an electrical return current from the destination to the source, the cathode assembly comprising a cathode formed into a second shape from sheet metal or other sheet-like conducting material; and
an insulator that prevents electrical conduction between the anode and the cathode,
wherein the first and second shapes are such as to provide a conformity of one to the other, with the insulator therebetween having a predetermined relatively thin thickness whereby a predetermined low-resistance path for the supply current is provided by the anode, a predetermined low-resistance path for the return current is provided by the cathode, and a proximity of the anode to the cathode along these paths provides a predetermined low self-inductance of the connector, said proximity being afforded by the conformity of the first and second shapes, wherein the first shape and the second shape comprise a sigma-shaped or sigmoid-shaped curve when viewed cross-sectionally.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1 in which the insulator comprises a coating that is applied to at least one of the anode and the cathode on a set of surfaces where the first and second shapes conform.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the anode and the cathode comprise copper or an alloy of copper.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein:
the anode assembly further comprises an anode-to-source attachment means and an anode-to-destination attachment means, and
the cathode assembly further comprises a cathode-to-source attachment means and a cathode-to-destination attachment means,
such that the connector can be selectively attached to the source using both the anode-to-source attachment means and the cathode-to-source attachment means, and the connector can be selectively attached to the destination using both the anode-to-destination attachment means and the cathode-to-destination attachment means.

5. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein the anode-to-source attachment means, the cathode-to-source attachment means, the anode-to-destination attachment means, and the cathode-to-destination attachment means comprise one of solder and threaded connectors, in any predetermined combination.

6. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the anode-to-source attachment means, the anode-to-destination attachment means, the cathode-to-source attachment means, and the cathode-to-destination attachment means comprises a plurality of instances of attachment fixtures.

7. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein:
the anode comprises a first anode flange and a second anode flange, with the anode-to-source attachment means being affixed to the first anode flange and the anode-to-destination attachment means being affixed to the second anode flange, and
the cathode comprises a first cathode flange and a second cathode flange, these flanges being conformal to the anode flanges, with the cathode-to-source attachment means being affixed to the first cathode flange and the cathode-to-destination attachment means being affixed to the second cathode flange, and
wherein the first and second anode flanges are disposed at an angle with respect to each other to accommodate a predetermined geometry of the source and the destination.

8. The electrical connector of claim 7 , wherein the source comprises a substantially planar source area to which the connector is attached, and the destination comprises a substantially planar destination area to which the connector is attached, in which context the low self-inductance of the connector is enhanced by providing:
a. in the first anode flange, at least one source protrusion that protrudes from a surface of the first anode flange by an amount that is substantially equal to a combined thickness of the cathode and the insulator,
b. in the second anode flange, at least one destination protrusion that protrudes from a surface of the second anode flange by an amount that is substantially equal to the combined thickness of the cathode and the insulator,
c. in the first cathode flange, a cutout corresponding to each source protrusion that is large enough to allow the source protrusion to nest therein without causing electrical contact between the anode and the cathode, and
d. in the second cathode flange, a cutout corresponding to each destination protrusion that is large enough to allow the destination protrusion to nest therein without causing electrical contact between the anode and the cathode,
whereby a surface of the first cathode flange is substantially coplanar with the at least one source protrusion, thereby defining a first set of coplanar surfaces, and a surface of the second cathode flange is substantially coplanar with the at least one destination protrusion, thereby defining a second set of coplanar surfaces, such that an anode-to-source attachment and a cathode-to-source attachment occur by mating the substantially planar source area to the first set of coplanar surfaces using the anode-to-source attachment means and the cathode-to-source attachment means, respectively; and moreover, an anode-to-destination attachment and a cathode-to-destination attachment occur by mating the substantially planar destination area to the second set of coplanar surfaces using the anode-to-destination attachment means and the cathode-to-destination attachment means, respectively.

9. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein:
the anode comprises a first anode flange, a second anode flange, and a third anode flange, with the anode-to-source attachment means being affixed to the first anode flange and the anode-to-destination attachment means being affixed to the third anode flange, and the cathode comprises a first cathode flange, a second cathode flange, and a third cathode flange, these flanges being conformal to the anode flanges, with the cathode-to-source attachment means being affixed to the first cathode flange and the cathode-to-destination attachment means being affixed to the third cathode flange, and
wherein the first, second, and third anode flanges are disposed at angles with respect to each other to accommodate a predetermined geometry of the source and the destination.

10. The electrical connector of claim 9 , wherein the source comprises a substantially planar source area to which the connector is attached, and the destination comprises a substantially planar destination area to which the connector is attached, in which context the low self-inductance of the connector is enhanced by providing:
a. in the first anode flange, at least one source protrusion that protrudes from a surface of the first anode flange by an amount that is substantially equal to a combined thickness of the cathode and the insulator,
b. in the third anode flange, at least one destination protrusion that protrudes from a surface of the third anode flange by an amount that is substantially equal to the combined thickness of the cathode and the insulator,
c. in the first cathode flange, a cutout corresponding to each source protrusion that is large enough to allow the source protrusion to nest therein without causing electrical contact between the anode and the cathode, and
d. in the third cathode flange, a cutout corresponding to each destination protrusion that is large enough to allow the destination protrusion to nest therein without causing electrical contact between the anode and the cathode,
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Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Coteus Paul W
• Ferencz Andrew
• Hall Shawn Anthony
• Takken Todd Edward

Classifications

• H01R4/70

  Insulation of connections (end caps H01R4/22) · CPC title

• H01R43/16

  for manufacturing contact members, e.g. by punching and by bending · CPC title

• H01R12/52 Primary

  connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures · CPC title

• H01R12/62

  connecting to rigid printed circuits or like structures · CPC title

• G06F1/26

  Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof (for memories G11C) · CPC title