U.S. patent application number 12/539809 was filed with the patent office on 2011-02-17 for guideway device for server casings.
Invention is credited to Li-Fu Chiang, Yu-Hsu Sun.
Application Number | 20110037357 12/539809 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43588173 |
Filed Date | 2011-02-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110037357 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chiang; Li-Fu ; et
al. |
February 17, 2011 |
GUIDEWAY DEVICE FOR SERVER CASINGS
Abstract
A guideway device for server casings includes a fixing board
having a first, a second, a third and a fourth casing connecting
end faces, and two guiding grooves. The first and second casing
connecting end faces locate on two opposite sides of the fixing
board; the third and fourth casing connecting end faces locate on
the other two opposite sides thereof. The first and second casing
connecting end faces respectively have a first combining hole and a
second combining hole. The fixing board further has a plurality of
through-holes extending therethrough each of which has two ends
respectively located on the third and fourth casing connecting end
faces. The guiding grooves are concavely formed in the third and
fourth casing connecting end faces. Therefore, manufacturers
needn't manufacture two kinds of guideway devices for server
casings of the ATCA and the MTCA specifications, respectively,
thereby reducing manufacture costs greatly.
Inventors: |
Chiang; Li-Fu; (Yonghe City,
TW) ; Sun; Yu-Hsu; (Taipei City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NIKOLAI & MERSEREAU, P.A.
900 SECOND AVENUE SOUTH, SUITE 820
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55402
US
|
Family ID: |
43588173 |
Appl. No.: |
12/539809 |
Filed: |
August 12, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/223.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 7/1418 20130101;
H05K 7/1489 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/223.2 |
International
Class: |
A47B 81/00 20060101
A47B081/00 |
Claims
1. A guideway device for server casings, comprising: a fixing
board, including a first casing connecting end face, a second
casing connecting end face, a third casing connecting end face and
a fourth casing connecting end face, the first casing connecting
end face and the second casing connecting end face located on two
opposite sides of the fixing board and the third casing connecting
end face and the fourth casing connecting end face located on the
other two opposite sides of the fixing board, wherein the first
casing connecting end face and the second casing connecting end
face respectively have at least one first combining hole and at
least one second combining hole, -the fixing board further having a
plurality of through-holes extending therethrough each of which has
two ends respectively located on the third casing connecting end
face and the fourth casing connecting end face; and a pair of
guiding grooves, concavely formed in the third casing connecting
end face and the fourth casing connecting end face.
2. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the first casing connecting end face has a plurality of
concave portions, and the first combining holes are formed in the
concave portions.
3. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising a plurality of first positioning poles
protruding from the first casing connecting end face and at least
one second positioning pole protruding from the second casing
connecting end face.
4. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising a plurality of third positioning poles
protruding from the third casing connecting end face and a
plurality of fourth positioning poles protruding from the fourth
casing connecting end face.
5. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the first casing connecting end face has an elastic piece
receiving groove concavely formed therein, adjacent to the pair of
guiding grooves; and an elastic piece fixing portion, which is a
rectangular board, is connected between two opposite inner side
walls of the elastic piece receiving groove.
6. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 5,
further comprising a metal elastic piece of which one end covers a
surface of the elastic piece fixing portion and the other end
extends into the guiding grooves.
7. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 6,
wherein the metal elastic piece includes a first fixed portion, a
pair of second fixed portions, a pair of fixed reverse hooks, a
contacting portion and a bent portion; and, the pair of second
fixed portions is connected to two opposite sides of the first
fixed portion; the pair of fixed reverse hooks is connected with
ends of the pair of second fixed portions, which are far away from
the first fixed portion; the contacting portion is slantways
connected to one side of the second fixed portions; the bent
portion is connected with an end of the contacting portion, which
is far away from the second fixed portions; the first fixing
portion and the pair of fixed reverse hooks respectively abut
against two opposite end faces of the elastic piece fixing portion;
and the contacting portion and the bent portion extend into the
guiding grooves.
8. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising another pair of guiding grooves formed in the
third casing connecting end face and the fourth casing connecting
end face.
9. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 8,
wherein the first casing connecting end face and the third casing
connecting end face each have an elastic piece receiving groove
concavely formed therein, adjacent to the guiding grooves; and an
elastic piece fixing portion, which is a rectangular board, is
connected between two opposite inner side walls of each elastic
piece receiving groove.
10. The guideway device for server casings as claimed in claim 9,
further comprising two metal elastic pieces of which each has one
end covering a surface of the corresponding elastic piece fixing
portion and the other end extending into the corresponding guiding
groove.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a guideway device, and
particularly to a guideway device for server casings.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Generally, server casings include the server casing of the
MTCA (micro telecom computing architecture) specification and the
server casing of the ATCA (advanced telecom computing architecture)
specification. The server casing of the MTCA specification has the
height corresponding to that of electronic cards, so a plurality of
guideway devices lies flat on upper inner side walls and lower
inner side walls of the server casing of the MTCA specification to
be locked thereon and users can respectively connect electronic
cards slidably between guideway devices opposite to each other up
and down so that each electronic card is inserted in a
corresponding electrical connector in the server casings of the
MTCA specification.
[0005] For the server casing of the ATCA specification, since the
server casing of the ATCA specification are much higher than
electronic cards, electronic cards are connected with electrical
connectors disposed in the server casing of the ATCA specification
by an adapter interface for electronic cards. The adapter interface
for electronic cards includes an upper board, a circuit substrate
and a plurality of guideway devices of another kind of
specification which is locked between the upper board and the
circuit substrate. A plurality of electronic card connectors and an
adapter connector are disposed on one side face of the circuit
substrate, facing the upper board. Each electronic card is slidably
connected between adjacent guideway devices and inserted in a
corresponding electronic card connector. After users turn the
adapter interface for electronic cards 90 degrees, the height of
the adapter interface just corresponds to that of the server casing
of the ATCA specification. And then, the adapter interface for
electronic cards is inserted into the server casing of the ATCA
specification and the adapter connector located on the adapter
interface for electronic cards is electrically connected with an
electrical connector disposed in the server casing of the ATCA
specification.
[0006] The above mentioned guideway devices for server casings of
the two kinds of specifications all have combining holes and
guiding grooves for being passed through by screws. For the
guideway devices fixed in the server casing of the MTCA
specification, their combing holes and guiding grooves are located
in the same side face; for the guideway devices fixed in the
adapter interfaces for electronic cards, their combing holes and
guiding grooves are located in different side faces. Since the
guideway devices for server casings of the two kinds of
specifications have different structures, manufacturers must
develop two sets of molds, which brings cost burden.
[0007] Hence, the inventors of the present invention believe that
the shortcomings described above are able to be improved and
finally suggest the present invention which is of a reasonable
design and is an effective improvement based on deep research and
thought.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] A main object of the present invention is to provide a
guideway device for server casings which can reduce manufacture
costs greatly.
[0009] To achieve the above-mentioned object, a guideway device for
server casings in accordance with the present invention is
provided. The guideway device for server casings includes: a fixing
board which includes a first casing connecting end face, a second
casing connecting end face, a third casing connecting end face and
a fourth casing connecting end face, the first casing connecting
end face and the second casing connecting end face located on two
opposite sides of the fixing board and the third casing connecting
end face and the fourth casing connecting end face located on the
other two opposite sides of the fixing board, wherein the first
casing connecting end face and the second casing connecting end
face respectively have at least one first combining hole and at
least one second combining hole, the fixing board further has a
plurality of through-holes extending therethrough each of which has
two ends respectively located on the third casing connecting end
face and the fourth casing connecting end face; and a pair of
guiding grooves concavely formed in the third casing connecting end
face and the fourth casing connecting end face.
[0010] The efficacy of the present invention is as follows: the
guideway device for server casings of the present invention can be
adapted for the server casing of the ATCA (advanced telecom
computing architecture) specification and the server casing of the
MTCA (micro telecom computing architecture) specification, thereby
manufacturers needn't manufacture two kinds of guideway devices for
server casings of the two kinds of specifications, respectively.
Accordingly, manufacture costs can be reduced greatly and market
competition capability is intensified.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a guideway device
for server casings of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of part A in FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the guideway
device for server casings of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the guideway
device for server casings of the present invention, from another
angle;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the
guideway device for server casings of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the
guideway device for server casings of the present invention, from
another angle;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an adapter interface for an
electronic card of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the guideway device for
server casings of the present invention mounted in a first server
casing;
[0019] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the guideway device for
server casings of the present invention mounted in a second server
casing; and
[0020] FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the guideway device for
server casings of the present invention, in a used state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, a guideway device for server
casings 10 according to the present invention is provided. The
guideway device includes a fixing board 1 and a pair of guiding
grooves 2. The fixing board 1 includes a first casing connecting
end face 11, a second casing connecting end face 12, a third casing
connecting end face 13 and a fourth casing connecting end face 14.
The first casing connecting end face 11 and the second casing
connecting end face 12 are located on two opposite sides of the
fixing board 1, and the third casing connecting end face 13 and the
fourth casing connecting end face 14 are located on the other two
opposite sides of the fixing board 1. As shown in FIG. 4, a
plurality of concave portions 111 is formed at intervals in the
first casing connecting end face 11, and each concave portion 111
has a first wall 1 111 of which two opposite ends are respectively
extended slantways to form two second walls 1112.
[0022] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, each of the first walls 1111
has a first combining hole 112 formed therein, the second casing
connecting end face 12 has a second combining hole 121 formed
therein, and the first combining holes 112 and the second combining
hole 121 are threaded holes. The fixing board 1 has a plurality of
through-holes 15 extending therethrough, and two ends of each
through-hole 15 are respectively located on the third casing
connecting end face 13 and the fourth casing connecting end face
14. The pair of guiding grooves 2 is respectively concavely formed
in the third casing connecting end face 13 and the fourth casing
connecting end face 14 of which the areas are greater than those of
the first casing connecting end face 11 and the second casing
connecting end face 12.
[0023] Further, the first casing connecting end face 11, the second
casing connecting end face 12, the third casing connecting end face
13 and the fourth casing connecting end face 14 respectively have a
plurality of first positioning poles 113, a second positioning pole
122, a plurality of third positioning poles 131 and a plurality of
fourth positioning poles 141 protruding therefrom. There is one
concave portion 111 between each two positioning poles 113. Some
third positioning poles 131 and fourth positioning poles 141 are
adjacent to the through-holes 15, other third positioning poles 131
and fourth positioning poles 141 are adjacent to the guiding
grooves 2.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the first casing connecting
end face 11 further has an elastic piece receiving groove 16
concavely formed therein, adjacent to the pair of guiding grooves
2. An elastic piece fixing portion 17, which is a rectangular
board, is connected between two opposite inner side walls of the
elastic piece receiving groove 16. A gap 18 is concavely formed in
the third casing connecting end face 13, adjacent to the pair of
guiding grooves 2.
[0025] The guideway device 10 further includes an integral metal
elastic piece 3. The metal elastic piece 3 includes a first fixed
portion 31, two second fixed portions 32, a pair of fixed reverse
hooks 33, a contacting portion 34 and a bent portion 35. The two
second fixed portions 32 are connected to two opposite sides of the
first fixed portion 31. The pair of fixed reverse hooks 33 is
connected with the ends of the pair of second fixed portions 32,
which are far away from the first fixed portion 31. The contacting
portion 34 is slantways connected to one side of the second fixed
portions 32. The bent portion 35 is connected with the end of the
contacting portion 34, which is far away from the second fixed
portions 32.
[0026] As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the metal elastic piece 3
covers the surface of the elastic piece fixing portion 17. The
first fixed portion 31 and the pair of fixed reverse hooks 33
respectively abut against two opposite end faces of the elastic
piece fixing portion 17 to produce a force for holding the elastic
piece fixing portion 17, and the contacting portion 34 and the bent
portion 35 extend into the guiding grooves 2.
[0027] As shown FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, each of the third casing
connecting end face 13 and the fourth casing connecting end face 14
of the guideway device 10 has two parallel guiding grooves 2. The
number of the metal elastic pieces 3 is two. The number of the
elastic piece receiving grooves 16 is also two, wherein one elastic
piece receiving groove 16 is concavely formed in the first casing
connecting end face 11 and the other elastic piece receiving groove
16 is concavely formed in the third casing connecting end face 13.
The two elastic piece receiving grooves 16 are adjacent to the
guiding grooves 2. There is one elastic piece fixing portion 17
disposed in each elastic piece receiving groove 16. The metal
elastic pieces 3 cover the surfaces of the elastic piece fixing
portions 17, wherein the first fixed portions 31 and the fixed
reverse hooks 33 respectively abut against opposite end faces of
the elastic piece fixing portions 17, and the contacting portions
34 and the bent portions 35 extend into the guiding grooves 2.
[0028] As shown in FIG. 7, an adapter interface for an electronic
card 4 includes an upper fixing frame 41, a circuit substrate 42, a
plurality of upright and juxtaposed guiding devices 10 and a pair
of latches 45 one of which is pivotingly disposed on the guiding
device 10 close to the right side of the circuit substrate 42 and
fastens a right end of a front fixing frame 44. The circuit
substrate 42 is fixed on a rear surface of the front fixing frame
44. The upper fixing frame 41 and the circuit substrate 42 are
opposite to each other up and down. A plurality of card connectors
421 and an adapter connector 422 are disposed on the side face of
the circuit substrate 42, facing the upper fixing frame 41.
[0029] The circuit substrate 42 has a plurality of spaced guideway
fixing holes 423, and the second combing holes 121 formed in the
bottoms of the guiding devices 10 are located corresponding to the
guideway fixing holes 423 of the circuit substrate 42. Screws pass
through the guideway fixing holes 423 of the circuit substrate 42
from bottom to top and are connected with the second combining
holes 121 of the guideway devices 10, so that the bottoms of the
guideway devices 10 are fixed on the circuit substrate 42.
[0030] The upper fixing frame 41 has a plurality of spaced guideway
fixing holes 411, corresponding to the first combining holes 112 of
the guideway devices 10. In the same way, the tops of the guideway
devices 10 are fixed on the upper fixing frame 41 via screws.
[0031] As shown in FIG. 8, users can respectively connect the
electronic cards 7 slidably between two adjacent guideway devices
10 and then insert the electronic cards 7 into the corresponding
card connectors 421. Users can turn the adapter interface for an
electronic card 4 90 degrees and then insert it into a first server
casing 5 of the ATCA specification. The height of the adapter
interface for an electronic card 4 turned 90 degrees corresponds to
that of the first server casing 5, and the adapter connector 422 of
the adapter interface for an electronic card 4 is inserted in an
electrical connector in the first server casing 5.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 9, the guideway devices 10 are mounted in a
second server casing 6 of the MTCA specification. The second server
casing 6 has an upper fixing board 61 and a lower fixing board 62
disposed thereinside. The upper fixing board 61 has a plurality of
upper fixing holes 611 and a plurality of upper positioning holes
612, spacedly and juxtaposedly disposed therein. The lower fixing
board 62 has a plurality of lower fixing holes 621 and a plurality
of lower positioning holes 622, spacedly and juxtaposedly disposed
therein.
[0033] The third casing connecting end faces 13 and the fourth
casing connecting end faces 14 abut against the upper fixing board
61 and the lower fixing board 62. The positions of the
through-holes 15 align with the positions of the upper fixing holes
611 and the lower fixing holes 621. The third positioning poles 131
and the fourth positioning poles 141 are inserted into the upper
positioning holes 612 and the lower positioning holes 622.
Furthermore, a plurality of screws pass through the through-holes
15, the upper fixing holes 611 and the lower fixing holes 612. The
thread pitch of the screws is similar to the thickness of the upper
fixing board 61 and the thickness of the lower fixing board 62.
Accordingly, based on the screws, the guideway devices 10 are fixed
on the upper fixing board 61 and the lower fixing board 62.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 10, when users slide the electronic card 7
into the guiding grooves 2, the contacting portion 34 and the bent
portion 35 move under the effect of the thrust force of the
electronic card 7, and the bent portion 35 moves towards the gap
18. Once the electronic card 7 contacts the metal elastic piece 3,
electrostatic charges on the surface of the electronic card 7 are
taken away by the metal elastic piece 3.
[0035] The guideway device for server casings 10 of the present
invention can be adapted for the first server casing 5 of the ATCA
specification and the second server casing 6 of the MTCA
specification, thereby manufacturers needn't manufacture two kinds
of guideway devices for the server casings of the two kinds of
specifications, respectively. Accordingly, manufacture costs can be
reduced greatly and market competition capability is
intensified.
[0036] What are disclosed above are only the specification and the
drawings of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and
it is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited
to the particular embodiments disclosed. It will be understood by
those skilled in the art that various equivalent variations may be
made depending on the specification and the drawings of the present
invention without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
* * * * *