1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to techniques for improving the alignment between electrical contacts on a printed circuit board and an associated socket connector to thereby reduce shorts when the board is plugged into the socket.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical computer is highly modular. During a computer's useful life, one or more components are replaced either due to maintenance or system upgrades. To this end, most computer components are now designed to be "field replaceable" and are supported on a "pluggable" printed circuit board. The board typically includes a so-called "edge connector" having metallic "tabs" that mate with spring contacts located within a connector socket, which in turn is supported on a motherboard. Each tab should mate with a specific spring contact when the printed circuit board is inserted into the connector socket. Because of the dense spacing between tabs, however, when the board is inserted into the connector, it is quite common for a tab to "short circuit" by mating with the wrong connector contact. This causes an undesirable electrical connection.
In the past, this problem has been addressed through the use of so-called "card guides" that reduce the amount of play between the pluggable card and the connector socket. While the use of a card guide helps to position the board at a precise position in the connector, this approach does not always prevent shorts. Moreover, in many applications it is not practical to build a card guide that can maintain the tight tolerances required to properly mate the edge connector and socket.