Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-06
2002-08-27
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
C439S911000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06439917
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a pull-out preventing mechanism for use with an attachment electronic unit housed within a housing of an electronic equipment which is arranged so that the attachment electronic unit can be attached to and detached from the housing. The present invention also relates to the electronic equipment having the pull-out preventing mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Recently, an information-oriented society has been rapidly developed and each member of society is deeply involved in the orientation in terms of its individual use of data terminal equipment or electronic equipment. When the electronic equipment such as a personal computer is utilized in a firm or the like, such electronic equipment tends to be operated in a day-and-night manner in order to provide service to its customer. Thus, if the electronic equipment comes to be uncontrollable due to any trouble or the like, a lot of inconvenience will be imposed on the customer. For this reason, the electronic equipment is requested to be more reliable. So, makers supplying the electronic equipment have responded to the request in such a manner that a main unit of the electronic equipment is arranged to have redundancy. That is, the electronic equipment is designed so that even if one of the attachment electronic units housed within the electronic equipment suffers from trouble, the electronic equipment is free from an uncontrollable state and hence always sustainable in day-and-night operation.
For example, if the electronic equipment is operated in a day-and-night manner as described above and one of the attached electronic unit provided in the electronic equipment suffers from trouble, the electronic equipment will be electrically influenced from noise or the like, with the result that the electronic equipment fails to function normally. In the worst case, the whole arrangement of the electronic equipment can be broken. Thus, when an operator deals with the electronic equipment, closest attention shall be paid. Accordingly, when the attached electronic unit provided in the electronic equipment suffers from trouble, it is necessary for the attachment electronic unit to be detached from the main body of the electronic equipment.
FIG. 1
is a diagram showing one example of a conventional electronic equipment. As shown in
FIG. 1
, electronic equipment
71
has an attachment electronic unit
51
housed therein. Housing
52
constituting electronic equipment
71
has attachment electronic unit
51
, a main unit, not shown, or the like accommodated therein. Attachment electronic unit
51
is formed into a substantial box shape. On front face
51
a
of attachment electronic unit
51
, there are provided handle
60
for detaching attachment electronic unit
51
from housing
52
, switch
58
for turning on or off the attachment electronic unit, inlet
56
to which power supply plug
59
is inserted and electric power is supplied to the attachment electronic unit. On the rear face of attachment electronic unit
51
, there is provided plug-in connector
51
b
through which signal transaction is effected with another unit.
On the other hand, housing
52
is formed to have an accommodating portion at which attachment electronic unit
51
is attached to or detached from. Opening
53
of the accommodating portion is formed on one face of housing
52
. On an inner wall of housing
52
, there is provided a connector corresponding to plug-in connector
51
b
which is disposed on one rear face of attachment electronic unit
51
. When attachment electronic unit
51
is housed within housing
52
, plug-in connector
51
b
is connected to a mating connector provided within housing
52
.
When attachment electronic unit
52
is housed within housing
52
, initially, the rear portion of attachment electronic unit
51
is inserted into opening
53
and then the whole body of attachment electronic unit
51
is inserted into housing
52
by using handle
60
. Thus, substantially the whole body of attachment electronic unit
51
can be accommodated within housing
52
. Housed attachment electronic unit
51
can be fixed in such a manner that plug-in connector
51
b
is matched with the mating connector provided within housing
52
. Thereafter, attachment electronic unit
51
is fastened to housing
52
by using screws
61
.
After attachment electronic unit
51
is fixed to housing
52
, power supply plug
59
connected at one end of a cable is inserted into power receiving inlet
56
. Then, power switch
58
is turned on so that attachment electronic unit
51
is energized. When attachment electronic unit
51
is to be replaced with another attachment electronic unit due to trouble with attachment electronic unit
51
, power switch
58
is turned off and then power supply plug
59
is pulled out from power receiving inlet
56
. Thereafter, screws
61
are removed from housing
52
and attachment electronic unit
51
is pulled out from housing
52
.
However, the structure of the conventional electronic equipment shown in
FIG. 1
encounters the following drawbacks. Initially, when attachment electronic unit
51
of electronic equipment
71
is to be replaced with another attachment electronic unit, an operator tends to leave power supply plug
59
connected to attachment electronic unit
51
. When attachment electronic unit
51
is replaced with another unit, if power switch
58
is turned on and power supply plug
59
is left connected to power receiving inlet
56
, attachment electronic unit
51
is pulled out from housing
52
under condition that attachment electronic unit
51
is energized. In this case, other units or the like within electronic equipment
71
can suffer from excessive current flow or noise can be generated. The excessive current or noise can influence circuits under operation, with the result that the energized circuits can fail to function normally. If the malfunction caused under the above condition is not serious, breakdown of electronic equipment
71
will be avoided. However, if the malfunction caused under the above condition is serious, electronic equipment
71
can break down.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a pull-out preventing mechanism of an attachment electronic unit which can prohibit a user from unintentionally pulling out the attachment electronic unit from a housing when the attachment electronic unit housed within the housing to be detachable is replaced with another electronic unit under condition that the attachment electronic unit is connected with a power supply plug. Also, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic equipment having such a pull-out preventing mechanism.
According to the present invention, if an electronic unit is housed within a housing of an electronic equipment so that the electronic unit can be attached to and detached from the housing, the electronic unit can be prevented from being pulled out from the housing under condition that the electronic unit is connected at its electric connecting part with a plug. More concretely, an engaging arm rotatably mounted on the electronic unit is engaged with an engaging portion provided on the housing, whereby the electronic unit can be prevented from being pulled out from the housing. With this arrangement, for example, if the electronic unit is connected at its electric connecting part with the plug and the electronic unit is energized through the plug, an operator can be prohibited from unintentionally pulling the electronic unit out from the housing of the electronic equipment. When the electronic unit is to be replaced with another electronic unit due to trouble caused in the electronic unit, the operator shall detach the plug from the electric connecting part of the electronic unit which is housed within the housing, and thereafter the operator pulls the attachment electronic unit out from the housing under the condition that the plug is removed from the electronic unit. According to the a
NEC Corporation
Nguyen Khiem
Whitham Curtis & Christofferson, P.C.
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