U.S. patent application number 11/308040 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-28 for rotating machanism of drive bracket.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to YUN-LUNG CHEN, Xian-Huang Gao, Jian Hu.
Application Number | 20060290246 11/308040 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37136152 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060290246 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; YUN-LUNG ; et
al. |
December 28, 2006 |
ROTATING MACHANISM OF DRIVE BRACKET
Abstract
A rotating mechanism for a drive bracket includes a chassis
having a front panel with an opening defined therein and a drive
bracket pivotally mounted in the chassis corresponding to the
opening. A positioning member is secured to the drive bracket. An
elastic member is mounted in the chassis. The elastic member
comprises a plurality of grooves for positioning the drive bracket
at different angles with respect to the chassis. Wherein when the
drive bracket is rotated, the positioning member is moved and
received by one of grooves of the elastic member for positioning
the drive bracket.
Inventors: |
CHEN; YUN-LUNG; (TU-CHENG,
TW) ; Gao; Xian-Huang; (Shenzhen, CN) ; Hu;
Jian; (Shenzhen, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PCE INDUSTRY, INC.;ATT. CHENG-JU CHIANG JEFFREY T. KNAPP
458 E. LAMBERT ROAD
FULLERTON
CA
92835
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO.,
LTD.
66, Chung Shan Road
Tu-Cheng
TW
|
Family ID: |
37136152 |
Appl. No.: |
11/308040 |
Filed: |
March 3, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/223.2 ;
G9B/33.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 33/124 20130101;
G06F 1/187 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/223.2 |
International
Class: |
A47B 97/00 20060101
A47B097/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 28, 2005 |
CN |
200520060820.6 |
Claims
1. A rotating mechanism for a drive bracket comprising: a chassis
having a front panel with an opening defined therein; a drive
bracket pivotally mounted in the chassis corresponding to the
opening; a positioning member attached to the drive bracket; and an
elastic member mounted in the chassis, the elastic member
comprising a plurality of grooves for receiving the positioning
member, thereby positioning the drive bracket at different angles
with respect to the chassis.
2. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the
elastic member is D-shaped, and the grooves are defined along an
arcuate face of the elastic member.
3. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the
positioning member comprises a base and a positioning portion
protruding from the base.
4. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein a pair
of pivotal shafts protrudes from the drive bracket, and a pair of
pivotal holes for the pivotal shafts passing through are defined in
the front panel of the chassis adjacent to the opening.
5. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein the
chassis comprises a supporting flange defining a securing slot, and
a securing tab for inserting into the securing slot extends from
the drive bracket.
6. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 1, further
comprising a receiving bracket having a supporting flange with a
securing slot defined therein, and a securing tab extending down
from the drive bracket for inserting into the securing slot.
7. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 6, wherein a pair
of supporting members adjacent to the securing tab are bent for
resting on the supporting flange of the receiving bracket.
8. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 6, wherein the
chassis comprises a pair of opposite side walls, the receiving
bracket comprises a side wall, the bottom wall of the drive bracket
supported by one of the side walls of the receiving bracket, and
one side wall of the drive bracket abuts the side wall of the
chassis.
9. The rotating mechanism as described in claim 1, wherein a
blocking piece extends out from one side wall of the drive bracket
for preventing the drive bracket from over-rotating.
10. A mounting mechanism for a drive bracket comprising: a chassis
comprising a front wall and a side wall perpendicular to the front
wall, the front wall defining an opening therein; a receiving
bracket comprising a side wall with a supporting flange; and a
drive bracket pivotally mounted in the chassis corresponding to the
opening, the drive bracket comprising a bottom wall and a pair of
opposite side walls, one of the side walls supported by the side
wall of the chassis, and the bottom wall of the drive bracket
contacting on the supporting flange of the receiving bracket.
11. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 10, further
comprising an elastic member for positioning the drive bracket at
different angles with respect to the chassis.
12. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 11, wherein the
elastic member is D-shaped and defines a plurality of grooves along
an outer arcuate surface thereof.
13. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 12, wherein the
drive bracket further comprises a positioning member corresponding
to the grooves of the elastic member.
14. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 10, wherein a pair
of pivot holes is defined in the front panel of the chassis, and a
pair of pivot shafts for rotating in the pivot holes protrudes from
the drive bracket.
15. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 10, wherein the
chassis comprises a supporting flange with a securing slot defined
therein, and a securing tab extends from one of the side walls of
the drive bracket for inserting in the securing slot.
16. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 10, wherein the
supporting flange of the receiving bracket defines a securing slot,
and a securing tab extends from the bottom wall of the drive
bracket for inserting in the securing slot.
17. The mounting mechanism as described in claim 10, wherein a
blocking piece extends out from one of the side walls of the drive
bracket for preventing the drive bracket from over-rotating.
18. An electronic device comprising: a chassis enclosing said
electronic device and defining a receiving space therein; a drive
assembly including a functional drive component removably
receivable in said space of said chassis, and movable relative to
said chassis between a first position thereof to retainably stay in
said space and a second position thereof to substantially move out
of said space, said drive assembly continuously engagable with said
chassis when said drive assembly moves relative to said chassis
between said first and second positions thereof so as to be capable
of retainably staying in at least one position located between said
first and second positions thereof by means of engagement of said
drive assembly and said chassis.
19. The electronic device as described in claim 18, wherein said
space is defined in a receiving bracket installable in said
chassis.
20. The electronic device as described in claim 18, wherein said
drive assembly comprises a positioning member extending from a side
thereof toward said chassis, and an elastic member is reachably
formed in said chassis corresponding to said positioning member,
said engagement between said drive assembly and said chassis is
performed by continuously elastic contact between said positioning
member and said elastic member.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to rotating mechanisms of
drive brackets, and more particularly to a rotating mechanism for
adjustably positioning a drive bracket at different angles with
respect to a chassis.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[0002] Typically, drive brackets are simply screwed into a
conventional personal computer enclosure with screws, for
accommodating data storage devices. The data storage devices are,
for example, hard disk drives (HDDs), floppy disk drives (FDDs),
compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) drives, and so on. However,
such securing means is cumbersome and time consuming. Furthermore,
the screws may loosen over time and possibly drop into other
components of the computer, which may cause damage. Moreover, due
to the limited amount of space in the conventional computer
enclosure, the mounting or removing of the data storage devices is
difficult and may also result in damage to the computer.
[0003] What is needed, therefore, is a rotating mechanism
adjustably positioning a drive bracket in the computer, thereby
allowing convenient installing or removing of data storage
devices.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0004] A rotating mechanism for a drive bracket includes a chassis
having a front panel with an opening defined therein and a drive
bracket pivotally mounted in the chassis corresponding to the
opening. A positioning member is secured to the drive bracket. An
elastic member is mounted in the chassis. The elastic member
comprises a plurality of grooves for positioning the drive bracket
at different angles with respect to the chassis. When the drive
bracket is rotated, the positioning member is moved and received by
one of the grooves of the elastic member for positioning the drive
bracket.
[0005] Other advantages and novel features of the present invention
will be drawn from the following detailed description of preferred
embodiment with attached drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is an exploded, isometric view of a preferred
embodiment of a rotating mechanism of a drive bracket;
[0007] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the drive bracket in FIG. 1,
but viewed from another aspect;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a partially assembled view of the rotating
mechanism of FIG. 1, but viewed from another aspect;
[0009] FIG. 4 is an assembled view of the rotating mechanism of
FIG. 3 with a cover exploded; and
[0010] FIG. 5 is an assembled view of the rotating mechanism when
the drive bracket is rotated and positioned in an open state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a rotating mechanism of drive
bracket for an electronic device like a computer includes a chassis
10 and a drive bracket 30 pivotally connected to the chassis 10.
The drive bracket 30 is used for receiving a drive component like a
date storage device 70 so as to form a drive assembly
therewith.
[0012] The chassis 10 includes a bottom wall 11, a side wall 14, a
front wall 12, and a receiving bracket 20. The side wall 14 and the
front wall 12 are perpendicular to the bottom wall 11. An opening
13 is defined in the front wall 12. A pair of tabs 18 each with a
pivot hole 181 defined therein protrudes out from opposite edges of
the opening 13. A supporting flange 15 and a supporting flange 16
extend in from an upper edge of the front wall 12 and a lower edge
of the opening 13 respectively. Adjacent to the opening 13, a pair
of securing holes 123 is defined in the front wall 12. A supporting
flange 19 defining a securing slot 191 extends in from a top edge
of the side wall 14. The receiving bracket 20 includes a side wall
21. A supporting flange 23 defining a securing slot 25 extends out
from a top edge of the side wall 21. A generally D-shaped elastic
member 50 mounted on the chassis 10 defines a plurality of grooves
53 in an outer arcuate surface and a pair of securing holes 51 in a
vertical face. The elastic member 50 is mounted in the chassis by a
pair of fasteners 40 respectively passing through the securing
holes 123 of the front panel 12 and the securing holes 51 of the
elastic member 30.
[0013] The drive bracket 30 includes a bottom wall 31, and a pair
of side walls 33 vertically extending from opposite sides of the
bottom wall 31. A flange 35 extends out from a top edge of each
side wall 33. A securing tab 36 corresponding to the securing slot
191 in the flange 19 protrudes down from one of the flanges 35. A
tab 39 with a pair of securing holes 391 defined therein extends
from a bottom edge of one side wall 33 of the drive bracket 30. A
blocking piece 38 is formed out from the other side wall 33 by
stamping, for preventing the drive bracket 30 from over-rotating. A
pair of pivot tabs 37 extends from two sides of the drive bracket
30. A pivot shaft 371 for rotating in the pivot hole 181 protrudes
from a center of the pivot tab 37. A securing tab 32 for inserting
in the securing slot 25 of the receiving bracket 20 is stamped
downwardly from the bottom wall 31 of the drive bracket 30, and a
pair of supporting members 321 to be supported on the supporting
flange 23 of the receiving bracket 20 are respectively bent out
from the two sides of the securing tab 32. The drive bracket 30
further includes a positioning member 60 mounted thereon. The
positioning member 60 includes a base 61 defining a pair of
securing holes 611 and a wedge-shaped positioning portion 63
protruding from a surface of the base 61 (referring to FIG. 3). The
positioning member 60 is mounted on the drive bracket 30 by a pair
of fasteners 40 respectively passing through the securing holes 611
and 391.
[0014] Referring also to FIGS. 3 and 4, in assembly, the data
storage device 70 is secured to the drive bracket 30. The pivot
shafts 371 of the drive bracket 30 pass through the pivot holes 181
of the chassis 10 to pivotally connect the drive bracket 30 to the
chassis 10. The flanges 35 of the drive bracket 30 are respectively
supported on the supporting flanges 15 and 19 of the chassis 10.
The securing tabs 36 and 32 of the drive bracket 30 respectively
insert into the securing slots 191 and 25. The support members 321
adjacent to the securing tab 32 are supported by the supporting
flange 23. The top end of the positioning portion 63 is received
into the bottom groove 53 of the elastic member 50 to position the
drive bracket 30 in a closed position. A cover 80 is mounted on the
chassis 10 to sandwich the flanges 35 of the drive bracket 30
between the cover 80 and the chassis 10.
[0015] Referring also to FIG. 5, to utilize the adjustable feature
of the drive bracket 30, the cover 80 is removed from the chassis
10. The drive bracket 30 is rotated out about the pivot shaft 371.
The securing tabs 32 and 36 disengage from the securing slots 25
and 191, and the positioning portion 63 of the positioning member
60 presses against the groove 53 to deform the elastic member 50 in
and slide into an adjacent groove 53, thereby locking the
positioning portion 63 in the groove 53. The drive bracket 30 is
rotated into the desired position. When the drive bracket 30 is
rotated, the blocking piece 38 of the drive bracket 30 is stopped
by the front panel 12 to prevent the drive bracket 30 from
over-rotating.
[0016] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages have been set forth in the foregoing
description of preferred embodiments, together with details of the
structure and function, the disclosure is illustrative only, and
changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape,
size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the
invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning
of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
* * * * *