Electrical connectors – With coupling separator – Including retainer or joiner
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-15
2001-06-19
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling separator
Including retainer or joiner
C439S476100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247944
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the mounting and support of hard disk drives for computers and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to apparatus for removably supporting a plurality of hot plug-connected hard disk drives.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drives for a file server or other type of computer are often mounted, in a vertically or horizontally stacked array, in a rectangular sheet metal “cage” structure which may be disposed within the computer housing or externally thereto. For operational convenience and flexibility, each disk drive is typically “hot plug” connected within the cage. This type of electrical connection permits any of the supported disk drives to be removed and re-installed within the cage without disturbing the operation of the other disk drives.
To effect this desirable hot plug connection of each of the disk drives, each disk drive is typically supported on a carrier structure which is slidably and removably insertable into the cage to mate an electrical connector carried on a rear portion of the drive or its carrier structure with a corresponding electrical connector on a back plane circuit board suitably supported at the rear interior side of the cage. Ejector mechanisms are typically associated with the carrier structures and are used to provide a mechanical advantage for the carrier to facilitate the insertion and removal of the carrier. These ejector mechanisms operate by interacting with the cage structure to provide such mechanical advantage, and have been provided in a wide variety of types and configurations.
Conventional ejector mechanisms tend to have one or more operational or configurational disadvantages including being relatively complex and cumbersome to use, requiring two-handed operation, being undesirably bulky, and having an at least somewhat counter-intuitive mode of operation.
From the foregoing it can be seen that a need exists for an improved pluggable device ejector mechanism that eliminates or at least substantially reduces the above-mentioned problems, limitations and disadvantages typically associated with conventional ejector mechanisms used on hot-pluggable disk drive carrier structures and other pluggable devices. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In carrying out principles of the present invention, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, a computer system is provided which includes a CPU unit having a microprocessor and a data storage section operative to store data retrievable by the microprocessor. The data storage section includes a housing in which a spced series of data storage devices, illustratively hot-pluggable hard disk drives, are removably supported using specially designed carrier structures upon which the individual disk drives are mounted.
Each carrier structure includes a body secured to the hard disk drive and being removably supported in the housing and forwardly withdrawable therefrom. The body has a front end portion which carries a specially designed, manual ejector latch assembly which is operative on the housing to releasably latch the body to the housing and forcibly and releasably couple an electrical connector associated with the disk drive to an electrical connector disposed within a rear portion of the housing. In a preferred embodiment thereof, the ejector latch assembly includes a lever member, a retaining structure, and a spring structure. The lever member is pivotable among three positions—(1) a closed position in which it is closely adjacent the front body portion, (2) an intermediate position in which it is pivoted forwardly beyond its closed position and in a leveraged engagement with the housing, and (3) an open position in which the lever member is pivoted forwardly beyond its intermediate position and out of leveraged engagement with the housing. The retaining structure is operative to releasably retain the lever member in its closed position, and the spring structure is operative to resiliently urge the lever member from its closed position toward its intermediate position.
Preferably, the lever member has a first end operative to engage the housing, and a second end. The retaining structure includes a retainer member secured to a free end of a resilient spring arm that resiliently biases the retainer member to a first position in which blocks the second lever member end in a manner holding it in its closed position. The retainer member may be moved to a second position in which it unblocks the second lever member end and permits the lever member spring structure to swing the lever member out to its intermediate position. The lever spring structure representatively includes a bifurcated spring member pivotable with the lever member and having a first arm engageable with the body when the lever member is in its closed position, and a second arm resiliently deflectable by the lever member when it is in its closed position.
With the body operatively inserted into the housing and the disk drive electrical connector releasably coupled to its associated housing electrical connector, the lever member is in its closed position and releasably retained in such position by the retainer member. To subsequently remove the disk drive/carrier assembly, the retainer is manually moved from its first position to its second position, thereby permitting the lever member spring structure to force the lever member outwardly from its closed position to its intermediate position in which it defines a convenient, easily graspable pull handle for the assembly.
The user then grasps the lever member and forwardly pulls it in a manner pivoting it outwardly to its open position and causing the lever to interact with the housing in a manner forwardly moving the body to uncouple the disk drive connector from its associated housing connector. A further forward pull on the lever member pulls the entire disk drive/carrier assembly out of the housing.
To operatively reinsert the disk drive/carrier assembly into the housing, the body, with the lever member in its open position, is simply inserted rearwardly into the housing to a supported position therein and the lever member is manually pivoted from its open position to its closed position to thereby cause the first lever member end to engage the housing and exert a mechanically advantaged forward force thereon which forcibly drives the body rearwardly and couples the disk drive and housing connectors. As the lever member pivotally reaches its closed position, its second end cams the retainer member outwardly to its second position, and then permits the retainer member to snap back to its first position over the second end of the lever member to releasably retain the lever member in its closed position in which it releasably latches the disk drive/carrier assembly in the housing.
The ejector latch assembly is of a simple and relatively inexpensive design, can be easily operated with one hand, is quite compact when the lever member is in its closed position closely adjacent the body portion of the assembly, and has an intuitive operational procedure and sequence. While the ejector latch assembly is illustrated and described herein as being utilized in conjunction with a hot-pluggable hard disk drive, it can also be advantageously use in conjunction with a variety or other types of pluggable electronic devices including, for example, circuit boards and CD ROM drives.
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Bolognia David F.
Kuehn Keith J.
Compaq Computer Corporation
Sircus Brian
Zarroli Michael C.
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