Is there a shortcut to making edge connectors on PC boards? Or do I
have to just bite the bullet and draw the parts freehand? If so how do
I add the lands/pads/copper to both sides? This is for a board to be
pugged into a 15 pin edge connector. See attachment.
Thanks,
Jim.
 |
"Jim Lynch" <jim@fayettedigital.com> wrote in message
news:hf0sv8$qgr$4@cheetah.cadsoft.de...
Is there a shortcut to making edge connectors on PC boards? Or do I
have to just bite the bullet and draw the parts freehand? If so how do
I add the lands/pads/copper to both sides? This is for a board to be
pugged into a 15 pin edge connector. See attachment.
Thanks,
Jim.
Hi!
Learning by doing. That's the only way. 
(The first one is the hardest,
but it's done realy easy in eagle.
You have to place SMD pads along the edge of the PCB, matching the contacts
of your connector. The PCB has to be milled to fit into the connector. Next
steps have to be discussed with the board house: How to draw the chamfering
of the PCB edge. And if connector gold plating is required, how the
additional traces to short all connector pins must look like.
Carsten
Carsten wrote:
Snip
Hi!
Learning by doing. That's the only way.
(The first one is the hardest,
but it's done realy easy in eagle.
You have to place SMD pads along the edge of the PCB, matching the contacts
of your connector. The PCB has to be milled to fit into the connector. Next
steps have to be discussed with the board house: How to draw the chamfering
of the PCB edge. And if connector gold plating is required, ".
Carsten
OK so use SMD pads. I guess I could build a component consisting of 15
SMD pads so I could use it on more than one board. I'm not sure I
understand what you mean by "how the
> additional traces to short all connector pins must look like".
Can you explain it a little better? I didn't think shorts were
desirable. 
Thanks,
Jim.
Jim Lynch wrote:
Carsten wrote:
Snip
Hi!
Learning by doing. That's the only way.
(The first one is the
hardest, but it's done realy easy in eagle.
You have to place SMD pads along the edge of the PCB, matching the
contacts of your connector. The PCB has to be milled to fit into the
connector. Next steps have to be discussed with the board house: How
to draw the chamfering of the PCB edge. And if connector gold plating
is required, ".
Carsten
OK so use SMD pads. I guess I could build a component consisting of 15
SMD pads so I could use it on more than one board. I'm not sure I
understand what you mean by "how the
> additional traces to short all connector pins must look like".
Can you explain it a little better? I didn't think shorts were
desirable.
Thanks,
Jim.
If you are putting plating on the fingers depending on the process and
material it may require the pins to be shorted together. This short will
be removed when the bevel cut is done. ie Check with board house as to
requirements.
If you are going to be using a standard size card for future work it may
be good to add the board outline and if required mounting holes to the part.
Paul R.
Paul Romanyszyn wrote:
Jim Lynch wrote:
Carsten wrote:
Snip
Hi!
Learning by doing. That's the only way.
(The first one is the
hardest, but it's done realy easy in eagle.
You have to place SMD pads along the edge of the PCB, matching the
contacts of your connector. The PCB has to be milled to fit into the
connector. Next steps have to be discussed with the board house: How
to draw the chamfering of the PCB edge. And if connector gold plating
is required, ".
Carsten
OK so use SMD pads. I guess I could build a component consisting of
15 SMD pads so I could use it on more than one board. I'm not sure I
understand what you mean by "how the
> additional traces to short all connector pins must look like".
Can you explain it a little better? I didn't think shorts were
desirable.
Thanks,
Jim.
If you are putting plating on the fingers depending on the process and
material it may require the pins to be shorted together. This short will
be removed when the bevel cut is done. ie Check with board house as to
requirements.
Ah, I understand. Thanks.
If you are going to be using a standard size card for future work it may
be good to add the board outline and if required mounting holes to the
part.
I had toyed with that idea, do you save it in the library just like a
component?
Paul R.
Jim.
"Jim Lynch" <jim@fayettedigital.com> wrote in message
news:hf141e$osm$1@cheetah.cadsoft.de...
Paul Romanyszyn wrote:
Jim Lynch wrote:
Carsten wrote:
Snip
Hi!
Learning by doing. That's the only way.
(The first one is the
hardest, but it's done realy easy in eagle.
You have to place SMD pads along the edge of the PCB, matching the
contacts of your connector. The PCB has to be milled to fit into the
connector. Next steps have to be discussed with the board house: How to
draw the chamfering of the PCB edge. And if connector gold plating is
required, ".
Carsten
OK so use SMD pads. I guess I could build a component consisting of 15
SMD pads so I could use it on more than one board. I'm not sure I
understand what you mean by "how the
> additional traces to short all connector pins must look like".
Can you explain it a little better? I didn't think shorts were
desirable.
Thanks,
Jim.
If you are putting plating on the fingers depending on the process and
material it may require the pins to be shorted together. This short will
be removed when the bevel cut is done. ie Check with board house as to
requirements.
Ah, I understand. Thanks.
If you are going to be using a standard size card for future work it may
be good to add the board outline and if required mounting holes to the
part.
I had toyed with that idea, do you save it in the library just like a
component?
Paul R.
Jim.
To save all board outlines in a library is a very good idea! It prevents
you from accidently altering the outline when moving components on the
board. It also eases things up when it comes to reuse. And you can move the
entire board outline with one mouse click to see whether thing might better
fit in one way or another.
I for myself half already ~4 dozen in a lib.
Gold plating is a galvanic process where all fingers of a connector form one
electrode in the galvanic fluid. Therefore they all have to be connected
during the process to ensure same deposit of gold on each finger. There is
chemical NiAu or connector gold which is much thicker and therefore more
resilient (and more expensive).
Carsten
Greg wrote:
If you want to compare or find some tips, on how to make the card connector
you can check con-pc.lbr, for instance the ISA slots...
I saw those, but the free version of Eagle won't let me use them. I'm
waiting for approval from my customer of my proposal to purchase a
licensed version. I've just been toying with the program to see if I
can do what needs to be done and how difficult it will be. I haven't
had to do any serious hardware work for a while now. Thought I'd at
least give it a try before I gave up and contracted the board design out
to someone else. I'm fine with circuit design and breadboard
prototyping, but haven't had to actually build a production board
before. Always was able to get someone else to do it. 
Now that I'm
working for myself, that's not as easy.
Thanks,
Jim.
