FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus for holding a printed circuit board (PCB) and in particular to an apparatus for holding a printed circuit board to facilitate the soldering of components onto the PCB.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When attaching components to a printed circuit board, after inserting the pins of the components through holes in the board and locating the components in place on the board, it is necessary to invert the board to provide access to the pins of the components on the underside of the board for soldering to the electrically conductive tracks of the board. During such operation it is necessary to support the components on the upper side of the board so that they do not move or fall out of the board before the pins have been soldered. However, due to the different dimensions of the components the topography of the components on the upper side of the board varies and therefore the support surface must typically be exchanged or altered for each PCB arrangement to be assembled.

It is known to provide a support surface defined by a plurality of spring loaded pins, whereby the pins can be individually displaced against a spring biasing force so that the support surface conforms to the topography of the PCB and the components mounted thereon. Such arrangement is disclosed in US 5,984,293. However, the provision of individually spring loaded pins exert a variable force on the components and board dependent upon how far the pins are displaced. Such variable force may damage or dislodge the components from their desired position. Also, the force applied to the PCB by the spring loaded pins may distort the board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for holding a printed circuit board when mounting components thereon as claimed in claim 1 . In one embodiment said at least one flexible member may extend around a plurality of said support pins in convolute manner, wherein said at least one flexible member grips said plurality of support pins to lock the position of said support pins when in its tensioned configuration.

In a preferred embodiment said plurality of support pins are arranged in an array of rows and columns, a respective flexible member being arranged to extend around each row of support pins in convolute manner to grip the pins in a respective row when tension is applied to the respective flexible member by the tensioning means.

Preferably a plurality of said elongate flexible members are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows corresponding to said rows of said array of support pins, said tensioning means comprising a pair of opposed anchor members between which the elongate flexible members extend, at least one of said anchor members being displaceable away from the other of said anchor members by an actuating means to define said tensioning means, whereby operation of said actuating means displaces at least one anchor member away from the other to apply tension to the elongate flexible members, thereby locking the support pins in position within their apertures.

Said actuating means may comprise a cam having a cam surface arranged to act upon the at least one anchor member to displace said at least one anchor member away from the other when moved to an operative configuration, thus applying tension to said elongate flexible members, and to release tension on said elongate flexible members when the cam is moved to an inoperative configuration. Said cam may include an actuating lever for moving said cam between its operative and inoperative configurations. Alternatively the actuating means may comprise a nut or knob threadedly engaged on a cooperating portion of at least one of the anchor member, whereby the nut or knob can be screwed onto said cooperating portion of the anchor member to displace the anchor members away from each other, thus applying tension to the elongate flexible members.

In one embodiment each elongate flexible member may be attached to and extends between a pair of transversely extending anchor members extending parallel to the ends of the base plate, each anchor member being associated with a respective actuating means, whereby operation of the actuating means displaces said anchor members away from one another to apply tension to the flexible members extending therebetween. Each actuating means may comprise a lever operated cam having a cam surface arranged to act upon the respective anchor member to displace said anchor members away from one another when the cams are moved to an operative configuration, thus applying tension to said elongate flexible members, and to release tension on said elongate flexible members when the cams are moved to an inoperative configuration.

Said mounting means may comprise a pair of opposed clamp members spaced from and extending parallel to said base plate, whereby said clamp members are adapted to engage opposite sides of a PCB to hold the PCB spaced from and parallel to said base plate at a position whereby a first end of said support pins can act against the PCB and any components mounted thereon. Said clamp members may be mounted on the base plate via respective carriers, each carrier being slideably mounted on the base plate for movement in a direction parallel to the base plate to permit the clamp members to be moved towards and away from one another. In one embodiment said carriers may be slideably mounted on parallel guide rails or tracks arranged on either side of said base plate. Said carriers may be provided with biasing means biasing said clamp members towards one another. Said biasing means may comprise springs mounted on said guide rails or tracks acting between a respective end of the guide rail or track and a mounting portion of the respective carrier.

The clamp members may be mounted on said carriers via respective slides whereby each clamp member can be slid laterally with respect to the base plate between a loading position located to one side of the base plate and an operative position facing said base plate.

Support means may be provided on the base plate extending from the base plate to allow the apparatus to rest upon a surface upon said support means in a first configuration with said mounting means beneath said base plate and a second configuration with said mounting means above the base plate, the apparatus being moveable between said first and second configurations by inverting the apparatus, said pins are adapted to fall under gravity into contact with a populated side of a printed circuit board assembly when the PCB is mounted is said mounting means with the apparatus in its first configuration and when said locking mechanism is operated to release said pins to slide freely within the apertures in the base plate, the underside of the PCB being exposed to facilitate soldering of the pins when the apparatus is in its second configuration, with the locking mechanism operated to lock the support pins in their apertures such that the pins provide a support surface for the populated side of the PCB.

Preferably said support pins are provided with enlarged ends to prevent the support pins from falling out of the apertures.

Preferably the pins are formed from a rigid metallic or plastic material. The pins may be coated with an electrically and/or thermally insulating coating to provide protection to components in contact therewith from electrostatic discharge and/or to prevent heat transfer to the pins from the components during soldering.

In an alternative embodiment said at least one flexible member may be formed from an elastic material, and wherein said at least one flexible member is located between adjacent rows of support pins, wherein said at least one flexible member, when in its relaxed configuration, is dimensioned to engage and grip the sides of the support pins in said adjacent rows to lock the position of said pins with respect to the base plate, and wherein, when the at least one flexible member is elastically stretched when in its tensioned configuration such that the width of the at least one flexible member is reduced to the extent that the at least one flexible member no longer grips the sides of the support pins in said adjacent rows, allowing the pins to move freely with respect to the base plate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for holding a printer circuit board in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the apparatus of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a further perspective view of the apparatus of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus of Figure 1 in use;

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the apparatus of Figure 1 showing the pin locking mechanism in its released configuration;

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the apparatus of Figure 1 showing the pin locking mechanism in its locked configuration; and

Figure 7 is a detailed perspective view showing the passage of the elongate members around the pins;

Figure 8 is a side view of a modified embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 9 and 10 are plan views of opposite sides of an apparatus in accordance with a modified embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 1 1 is perspective view of the apparatus of Figure 1 showing the addition of additional components;

Figure 12 is a plan view of an apparatus for holding a printed circuit board in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention showing the pin locking mechanism in its locked configuration; and

Figure 13 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figure 12 showing the pin locking mechanism in its released configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS As illustrated in Figures 1 to 1 1 , an apparatus for holding a printed circuit board (PCB) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises a planar base plate 2 having a pair of vertical end plates 4,6 extending perpendicularly from either end of the base plate 2 defining legs upon which the apparatus may rest, as shown in Figure 1 . The end plates 4,6 may be provided with fittings and apertures for enable the attachment of additional components, as will be described below in more detail. The end plates 4,6 may also be provided with angled side faces upon which the apparatus may be placed to arrange the apparatus in different positions/orientations to facilitate operations on a PCB 100 mounted thereon. The base plate 2 has a plurality of apertures 8 formed therein within which are mounted a rectangular array of rigid support pins 10, formed from a metal or suitable plastic material, arranged in a plurality of rows and columns. Each support pin 10 extends transversely from the base plate 2 and is slideable within the respective aperture to be displaceable with respect to the base plate 2 along the axis of the pin 10. Each support pin 10 has a first end 12, the first ends 12 of the array of support pins 10 defining a reconfigurable support surface for supporting components mounted on a PCB 100, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3. Each pin 10 may have a flattened and enlarged second end 14, opposite said first end 12, peened over or otherwise formed to prevent the pin 10 from falling out of its aperture 8 in the base plate 2. Each pin may be coated with an electrically and/or thermally insulating material, such as polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) or polyetheretherketone (PEEK) to reduce the risk of electrical discharge between the pins 10 and any electrical components in contact therewith and to reduce thermal conduction between the pins and the components in contact therewith, for example during soldering.

The support pins 10 are independently positionable with respect to the base plate 2 to adjust the height at which each pin extends from the base plate 2, such that the first ends 12 of the array of pins 10 define a reconfigurable support surface for supporting components 102 mounted on the PCB 100 during soldering, wherein the height of the first end 12 of each pin 10 from the base plate 2 can be adjusted such that the support surface defined by the first ends 12 of the support pins 10 can correspond to the topography of the PCB 100 and the components 102 mounted thereon.

A locking mechanism is provided for selectively locking the position of each support pin 10 with respect to the base plate 2. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, as best illustrated in Figure 5 and 6, the locking mechanism comprises parallel rows of parallel flexible elongate members 16 extending across the base plate 2, each flexible elongate member 16 being arranged to extend around the pins 10 in a respective row thereof in convolute manner. A tensioning means is associated with the flexible members 16, whereby the tensioning means is adapted to selectively apply tension the flexible members 16, such that each flexible member 16 grips the row of pins 10 around which it extends to lock the position of said pins 10 with respect to the base plate 2.

The flexible members 16 may comprise elongate webs, tapes, threads, wires or cords and may be formed from a plastic web, polymeric or natural fibre or metal wire. The flexible members 16 may extend around the pins 10 in a respective row in zig zag fashion. Preferably each flexible member 16 is wrapped around each support pin 10 in the respective row, as illustrated in Figure 7.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, each flexible member is attached to and extends between a pair of transversely extending anchor members 18,20, extending parallel to the ends of the base plate 2. Each anchor member 18,20 is coupled to a respective lever operated means, such as a cam 22,24, whereby the anchor members 18,20 can be displaced away from one another to apply tension to the flexible members 16 extending therebetween by displacing the cams 22,24 to respective release positions (shown in Figure 5) and locking positions (shown in Figure 6). It is envisaged that a first anchor member may be fixed with respect to the base plate while a second anchor member may be displaceable away from the first anchor member by means of a cam or similar operating means.

Parallel spaced apart clamp members 26,28 are mounted on the base plate 2 via carriers 30,32, whereby said clamp members 26,28 can hold a PCB 100 therebetween such that the PCB 100 is spaced from and parallel to the base plate. The clamp member carriers 26,28 are slideably mounted on guide rails 34,36 located or defined on either side of the base plate 2. The clamp members 26,28 may be provided with opposed "V" shaped slots for receiving opposite sides of the PCB 100 therein.

Handle portions 33 may be provided on each carrier 30,32 to enable the carriers 30,32 to be moved towards and away from one another, to facilitate placement and removal of a PCB 100 therebetween. The handle portions 33 may have angled outer sides, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, upon which the apparatus may be placed to facilitate placement of the PCB 100 for soldering.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, screw locking members 35 may be provided for locking the carriers 30,32 in position on the guide rails 34,36. Such locking members may not be required wherein the clamp members 26,28 are spring biased towards on another, as shown in Figures 9 and 10, although may be preferred to prevent excessive force being applied to the PCB via the springs or to more securely hold the PCB.

A best shown in Figure 3, the clamp members 26,28 may be mounted on the carriers 30,32 via slides 42,44 to enable the clamp members 26,28 to be transversely slid outwards, in a direction parallel to the base plate 2, to a loading position to one side of the base plate 2, as shown in Figure 2, and returned to an operative position adjacent the base plate 2, to facilitate loading of a PCB between the clamp members 26,28.

The end plates 4,6 preferably have a height extending from the base plate 2 greater than the distance between the clamp members 26,28 and the base plate 2 such that the apparatus can rest upon the end plates 4,6, and optionally on the lower faces of the clamp members 26,28, when loading a PCB into the clamp members 26,28, as shown in Figure 1 .

A support plate 46 may be mounted on the base plate 2 to extend parallel to the base plate 2 via a plurality of support legs 48 extending transverse to the base plate 2 on an opposite side of the base plate 2 to the clamp members 26,28. The apparatus may be arranged to rest on the support plate 46, or on the ends of the support legs 48, when the apparatus is arranged with the clamp members 26,28 uppermost, as shown in Figure 3. The support plate 46 may also serve to retain the pins 10 within the apertures 8 in the base plate 2 by limiting the distance that the pins 10 can move out of the base plate 2, as shown in Figure 1 .

In an alternative embodiment, as illustrated in Figure 8, the first ends 12 of the pins 10 may be enlarged to provide a greater contact area between the pins 10 and the PCB 100 and any components 102 mounted thereon. The enlarged end of each pin 10, or possible the entire pin, may be formed from a rigid plastic material, such as a Vespel (RTM), a polyimide engineering plastic manufactured by Dupont (RTM). In use, firstly the apparatus is placed in a loading configuration, with the support plate 46 uppermost, resting on the end plates 4,6, with the cams 22,24 in their locking positions to retain the support pins 10 in a fully retracted position with respect to the base plate 2, abutting the support plate 46, as shown in Figure 1 . The clamp members 26,28 may be slid out to their loading position to facilitate insertion of the PCB 100. The carriers 30,32 are pushed away from one another using the handle portions 33, and a PCB 100 having components 102 mounted thereon is located between the clamp members 26,28.

With the PCB 100 beneath the base plate 2, the cams 22,24 are moved to their release position, releasing the tension on the elongate members 16, thus allowing the support pins 10 to fall under the action of gravity until the first end 12 of each pin 10 abuts the PCB 100 or components mounted thereon 102 located therebeneath, as shown in Figure 2. The cams 22,24 may then be moved to their locking position, tensioning the elongate members 16 and thereby locking each pin 100 in position.

The apparatus can then rotated or inverted to a working configuration, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, to rest upon the support plate 46 and/or support legs 48 or the handle portions 33, with the PCB located between the clamp members 26,28 and the components 102 mounted thereon supported and retained in position by the support surface defined by the first ends 12 of the support pins 10.

In such configuration, the pins of the components 102 can be soldered to the PCB 100, as illustrated in Figure 4. As shown in Figures 9 and 10, in an alternative embodiment springs 138,140 may be mounted on guide rails 134,136 upon which the carriers 130,132 of the clamp members 126,128 are slideably mounted to bias the carriers 130,132, and thus the clamp members 126,128, towards one another to engage and hold opposite sides of the PCB 100 when located between the clamp members 126,128. In the embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10, the cams 22,24 have been replaced by nuts or control knobs 122,124 threadedly engaged on threaded projections 125 extending from the anchor members through apertures in side walls of the base plate 2, whereby the control knobs 122,124 may be rotated or tightened to pull the anchor members away from one another and apply tension to the flexible members 16 to lock the pins 10 in position.

The apparatus may be adapted to facilitate other operations on the PCB 100. For example, support posts 50,52 may be provided on either side of the base plate 2, extending from the base plate 2 beside each end plate 4,6, whereby additional components may be mounted on the support posts 50,52. In the example shown in Figure 1 1 , a support frame 54 may be mounted on the support posts 50,52, upon which may be mounted other components, as a fan 56, light 58 and clips 60,62 for facilitating placement of the components 102 onto the PCB 100 and/or for testing the assembled circuit. In such case, the PCB 100 may be mounted between the clamp members 26,28 with the components uppermost, if required.

It is envisaged that the apparatus may be mounted in a chassis, whereby the base plate 2 may be rotated about a horizontal axis between the loading configuration and working configurations described above.

The present invention provides an apparatus for holding a PCB to facilitate the assembly and soldering of components onto the PCB whereby the support pins 10 provide a reconfigurable support surface that can readily conform to the topography of the PCB and components, wherein the pins can be readily and reliably locked in position by virtue of the tensioned elongate members to support the components during soldering without placing any stress on the PCB. The apparatus can also facilitate other operations on the PCB, during both assembly and testing, by reliably and stably supporting the PCB while permitting full access to either side of the PCB as required.

A locking mechanism for selectively locking the position of each support pin 210 with respect to the base plate 202 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 12 and 13. The locking mechanism comprises s plurality of parallel elongate flexible members 216 formed from an elastic material extending across the base plate 202, each elongate member 216 being arranged to extend between adjacent rows of support pins 210. The thickness of each flexible member 216 is greater than the distance between the adjacent rows of pins 210 between which it extends, such that, when in a relaxed state, the sides of the flexible member 216 engage and grip the pins to lock the pins 210 in place with respect to the base plate 202, as shown in Figure 12. A tensioning means is associated with the flexible members 216, whereby the tensioning means is adapted to selectively apply tension to the flexible members 216, such that each elastic flexible member 216 stretches, causing a reduction in the thickness of the flexible members such that the pins 210 are free to move with respect to the base plate 2.

Each flexible member 216 is attached to and extends between a pair of transversely extending anchor members 218,220, extending parallel to the ends of the base plate 202. Each anchor member 218,220 is coupled to a respective lever operated means, such as a cam 122,124, whereby the anchor members 218,220 can be displaced away from one another to apply tension to the flexible members 216 extending therebetween by displacing the cams 222,224 from respective release positions (shown in Figure 12) to tensioning positions (shown in Figure 13), to stretch the flexible members 216 and release the pins 210. When it is desired to lock the position of the pins 210 with respect to the base plate 202, the cams 122,124, can be operated to displace the anchor members 218,220 towards one another, releasing or relaxing the tension on the flexible members 216 such that they once again expand to their original thickness and grip the pins 210 therebetween.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.