Drive bay cover and eject bracket

Details Drive bay cover and eject bracket Drive bay cover and eject bracket

2001-11-01

2004-12-28

Hansen, James O. (Department: 3637)

Supports: cabinet structure

For particular electrical device or component

Housing for computer or computer related equipment

Reexamination Certificate

active

06834919

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to access doors in electronic components, and more particularly to covers for openings in computer housings through which removable media type devices are accessed. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a cover for an access opening to an optical disk drive unit in a computer.
2. Description of the Background Art
Electronic components (e.g., computers, audio compact disk players, etc.) now typically include covers for access openings in the components. For example, computer housings typically include doors to cover openings through which trays of optical disk drives slide in and out.
For both functional and aesthetic reasons, such doors should fit into the associated openings as closely as possible. A close fit between the opening and the cover reduces the amount of dust and dirt that can enter the drive component when the cover is closed, and also provides a more pleasing appearance. Additionally, minimizing the amount that a cover protrudes from the front of a housing minimizes the risk of accidental damage (e.g., snagging the cover on clothing) to the cover.
FIGS.
1
(A-D) illustrate a few of the problems encountered in trying to minimize the clearance gap between a cover and an associated opening in a housing.
FIG. 1A
is a cross-sectional view of a typical prior art rectangular door
102
disposed in an opening
104
of a housing
106
. Door
102
is mounted on a hinge pin
108
that traverses opening
104
near the bottom of opening
104
. A gap
110
between door
102
and housing
106
provides clearance for door
102
to swing between open and closed positions.
As shown in
FIG. 1B
, clearance gap
110
must be large enough to allow door
102
to pivot about hinge pin
108
. As long as door
102
pivots about an axis passing through opening
104
, opening
104
must be at least as wide as the diagonal dimension (D) of door
102
. Thus, the limiting minimum value of gap
10
is equal to one-half of the difference between the diagonal of door
102
and the width of door
102
, assuming the top and bottom gaps are equal. Further, the distance from the center of hinge pin
108
to the edge of opening
104
must be slightly larger than the distance from the center of hinge pin
108
to the bottom front corner of door
102
, otherwise the corner of door
102
will jam.
FIG. 1C
shows an example of an over-size cover
112
that completely covers opening
104
. Although cover
112
completely hides opening
104
, it is unnecessarily large, and requires a hinge pin
114
mounted forward of the front plane of housing
106
. Further, at least a portion
116
of cover
112
must be disposed forward of the front plane of housing
106
, thus increasing the chance of accidental damage to cover
112
.
FIG. 1D
is a cross-sectional view of yet another door mechanism including a beveled cover
118
disposed in a beveled opening
120
in a housing
122
. This design also requires that the hinge
124
be mounted forward of the front plane of housing
122
. Otherwise, if door
118
is hinged at a location
126
within opening
120
, beveled edge
128
of door
118
will jam against the beveled edge of opening
120
. Further, it is difficult to mount and/or conceal a hinge at the thin beveled edge of cover
118
.
Providing a close fit between a cover and an opening also creates significant alignment problems. For example, if a rectangular cover becomes slightly misaligned, it may jam in the opening, or fail to close. Similarly, if a beveled cover becomes misaligned, it will not seat properly in the beveled opening.
In addition to minimizing the gap between a cover and an opening, and minimizing the forward protrusion of the cover, it is also desirable for covers to operate with any device that may travel through the opening. Known covers typically include rearwardly projecting structures that serve retaining and/or retraction functions. Such structures operate through the opening, and may, therefore, interfere with the operation of some devices.
What is needed is a cover for an opening in a housing with a minimal clearance gap between the cover and the opening. What is also needed is a cover that minimizes any forward protrusion of the cover with respect to the front plane of the housing. What is also need is a cover whose hinge and/or retraction mechanism is hidden from view when the cover is in the closed position. What is also needed is a cover that is easy to align and maintain alignment with the opening in the housing.
SUMMARY
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art by providing a door for access openings in electronic component housings. The invention facilitates a very close fit between the door and the housing, and optionally provides a self-alignment feature.
The door includes a bracket pivotally connected to the housing, and a cover elastically mounted to the bracket. In a particular embodiment, a biasing member is disposed to urge the cover against the bracket. In a more particular embodiment, the biasing member is a flat spring, and the cover includes a channel for receiving the flat spring. In an even more particular embodiment, the biasing member is a wing spring that includes a central support structure extending upwardly from the bracket, and a pair of flat, slightly curved wing springs extending laterally from the support structure. Other means for elastically mounting the cover to the bracket may be substituted for the wing spring/channel assembly disclosed, including but not limited to coil springs, elastic bands, flexible adhesive compounds, forming the bracket and the cover from a single piece of flexible material, an so on.
Optionally, the cover and the bracket include an alignment feature and a complementary alignment feature, respectively. In the disclosed embodiment, the alignment feature includes a pair of posts mounted on the back of the cover, and the complementary alignment feature includes a pair of apertures in the bracket for receiving the posts. The alignment feature moveably engages the complementary alignment feature to facilitate relative movement between the cover and the bracket.
The door is pivotally connected to the housing to rotate about an axis adjacent the opening in the housing. The bracket includes at least one (two are disclosed) hinge member that extends downward and forward to the pivotal connection point. In the particular embodiment shown, the hinge members are L-shaped.
In the particular disclosed embodiment, the bracket and the cover mount together to form the door assembly, and the assembly includes a smooth rear surface for slidably abutting devices (e.g., optical disk trays, etc.) moving through the opening. One portion of the rear surface is flat, and another portion of the rear surface is arcuate. The door assembly is substantially free of any members projecting rearward of the smooth rear surface. Thus, the opening in the housing is essentially clear of any components (e.g., retracting mechanisms, retaining structures, etc.) that might interfere with the travel of a device through the opening.
The cover includes a beveled edge that mates with a beveled seat in the housing surrounding the opening in the housing. The alignment feature and the complementary alignment feature of the cover and the bracket loosely engage one another to allow the beveled edge of the cover to self align within the beveled seat of the opening in the housing.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3800328 (1974-03-01), Harlan et al.
patent: 4533165 (1985-08-01), Edelman
patent: 5116261 (1992-05-01), Lan et al.
patent: 5199888 (1993-04-01), Condra et al.
patent: 5574625 (1996-11-01), Ohgami et al.
patent: 5683030 (1997-11-01), Moore et al.
patent: 5926916 (1999-07-01), Lee et al.
patent: 6411583 (2002-06-01), Yamamoto et al.
patent: 4315427 (1994-11-01), None

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