Printed circuit board connection system

Claim 1

A printed circuit board connection assembly comprising: a planar backplane; a plurality of edge connector means disposed generally parallel to each other upon one major surface of said backplane for providing electrical connection to a plurality of printed circuit boards; power connection means disposed upon said backplane for connecting a plurality of sources of electrical power at distinct voltage levels to individual circuits of each of said plurality of printed circuit boards; said power connection means comprising a plurality of sets of electrically conductive power connection pins extending through said backplane and projecting from the major surface of said backplane opposite said first major surface; each said set of power connection pins being arranged in a plurality of arrays for supplying electrical power at said distinct voltage levels to a respective one of said edge connector means; logic connection means disposed upon said backplane for connecting logic circuits at a plurality of distinct voltage levels to individual circuits of each of said plurality of printed circuit boards; said logic connection means comprising a plurality of sets of electrically conductive logic connection pins extending through said backplane and projecting from said one major surface of said backplane; each said set of logic connection pins being arranged in a plurality of arrays for supplying logic signals at said distinct voltage levels to a respective one of said edge connector means; each set of said power connection pins being disposed upon said opposite major surface of said backplane in close proximity to a set of said logic connection pins; electrical isolation means for dividing said opposite major surface into a plurality of distinct, electrically isolated sections surrounding said proximate sets of power connection pins and logic connection pins; a plurality of electrical terminals disposed adjacent one of said sets of power connection pins; a plurality of power conductors for supplying power from an external power source at a predetermined voltage to said terminals; electrical conductor means for connecting said terminals to the respective ones of the pins of said set of power connection pins; a plurality of means for supplying logic signals to respective ones of each said array of logic connection pins, each said means including a plurality of arrays of input pins disposed adjacent one of said sets of logic connection pins; and electrical conductor means for connecting respective ones of said array of input pins to respective pins of one of said arrays of logic connection pins.