Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-10
2001-09-18
Picard, Leo P. (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S689000, C361S689000, C361S725000, C312S333000, C360S098010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06292359
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is relates generally to the field of computer manufacturing and more particularly to a mount for computer components.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computers have become a commodity, computer manufacturers have been faced with increasing competition. One result of this competition is that computer manufacturers have sought to decrease the time required to assemble a computer. Many computer components, such as floppy and hard disk drives, are supplied with threaded bores at standard locations and standard sizes so that the components may be secured into a computer mount with threaded machine screws during assembly. For example, the disk drive
10
of
FIG. 1
, shown upside-down, includes four threaded bores
15
at standard positions along its bottom surface
16
. Also shown in
FIG. 1
for the sake of completeness are power connectors
11
,
12
and a data connector
13
on the rear vertical surface
14
of the drive
10
.
Installing computer components with threaded machine screws in the bores
15
is time consuming, and therefore costly, because the computer components must be carefully handled during assembly and because care must be taken to ensure that the machine screws are installed correctly (e.g. not cross-threaded or over-tightened). Computer manufacturers have therefore sought to find alternatives to threaded machine screws for securing components to a computer chassis.
One alternative to using machine screws to secure a component such as a disk drive to a computer mount is to include special mounting tabs on the disk drive for securing the disk drive to a computer frame. However, there is no industry-recognized standard except for the threaded holes discussed above. Therefore, a computer manufacturer must make special provisions with a disk drive manufacturer in order to have special mounting tabs supplied with the drive. Unfortunately, such a special requirement will increase the cost of the drive, which makes this option unacceptable to many computer manufacturers. Additionally, purchasers of the computer may not be able to obtain replacements for failed components with such special tabs, which may make computers with such special tabs less desirable.
FIG. 2
illustrates one prior art solution to this problem in the form of a disk drive mount
100
. The mount
100
, which is sized to fit a standard 5¼″ disk drive bay of a personal computer, is designed to accept a standard 5¼″ floppy disk drive
10
(shown in phantom in
FIG. 2
) and secure it to a computer frame without the need for machine screws or special tabs. As used herein, 5¼″ and 3½″ refer not to the actual width of the disk drive, but rather refer to standard widths and heights of floppy disk drives that accept 5¼″ and 3½″ floppy disks, respectively. The mount
100
may be used with both hard and floppy 3½″ disk drives. The mount
100
is itself secured to a computer frame, or chassis (not shown in FIG.
2
), in any manner known in the art, such as with sheet metal screws.
The mount
100
has two substantially parallel vertical walls
110
which are spaced approximately 3½″ apart to accept the disk drive
10
. Each vertical wall
110
has two horizontal platforms
112
protruding therefrom toward the center of the mount
100
. The horizontal platforms
112
are at the same height on the wall
110
and are positioned at a horizontal distance along the wall
110
to coincide with the location of standard threaded bores
15
. An upstanding stud
114
protrudes from the upper surface of each horizontal platform
112
. The maximum thickness of the upstanding stud
114
is slightly less than the inner diameter of the threaded bore
15
so that the upstanding stud
114
may be inserted easily into the threaded
15
bore.
When the disk drive
10
is placed into the mount
100
as shown in
FIG. 2
, each of the threaded bores
15
are aligned with an upstanding stud
114
and the upstanding studs
15
protrude into the threaded bores
15
. The disk drive bottom surface
16
is in contact with and provides support to the horizontal platforms
112
of the mount
100
. In this manner, the horizontal platforms
112
provide vertical support for the disk drive
10
and the upstanding studs
114
prevent horizontal translation of the drive
10
.
The upstanding studs
114
do not fixedly engage with the threaded bores
15
, but are merely inserted therein. Accordingly, it is necessary to vertically secure the drive
10
in the mount
100
. This is accomplished by the two spring clips
120
. The spring clips
120
exert a downward force on the drive
10
and urge the drive
10
into contact with the horizontal platforms
112
. The spring clips
120
are deformable such that they may be moved upward and outward into an “open” position when the drive
10
is being installed in or removed from the mount
100
.
The mount
100
is effective in securing a drive
10
to a computer chassis without the use of machine screws or special tabs on the drive
10
. However, some problems with the mount
100
have been encountered. Chief among these is the amount of force that is required to move the spring clips
120
into an open position. Factory personnel have complained that the required force is too great and that fatigue results when many drives are installed. Another concern is that purchasers of computers with a mount
100
may damage a drive or be unable to remove a drive because of the amount of force required to move the spring clips
120
into an open position.
What is needed is a mount into which a standard disk drive may be easily and reliably installed without repeatability fatigue and without the use of machine screws.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a component mount with horizontal platforms having upstanding studs and a strap. The strap is movable between an open position in which a component may be removed from or installed into the mount and a closed position in which the strap prevents the component in place with the studs inserted in bores provided in the component so that the component is secure. Each end of the strap travels in a vertical channel formed along a corresponding vertical wall of the mount. A detent is provided at each end of the strap. Each vertical channel includes a detent receptacle sized to engage the detent when the strap is in a closed position. A second detent receptacle may also be provided to engage the detent to hold the strap in an open position. The detent reliably secures the strap while allowing the strap to be moved easily between the open and closed positions. In a preferred embodiment, the mount and strap are formed of sheet metal which is folded and punched. Preferably, the mount fits into a standard 5¼″ drive bay and accepts 3½″ drives. However, other embodiments, including a mount for a 5¼″ device such as a CD-ROM drive, are also possible.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4941841 (1990-07-01), Darden et al.
patent: 4964017 (1990-10-01), Jindrick et al.
patent: 5041924 (1991-08-01), Blackborow et al.
patent: 5211459 (1993-05-01), Wu
patent: 5340340 (1994-08-01), Hastings et al.
patent: 5886869 (1999-03-01), Fussell et al.
patent: 5975735 (1999-11-01), Schmitt
patent: 6025987 (2000-02-01), Allirot et al.
patent: 6088222 (2000-07-01), Schmitt et al.
Micron Electronics Inc.
Perkins Coie LLP
Picard Leo P.
Vortman Anatoly
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