TWI698167B - Expansion card holding mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

An expansion card holding mechanism is disposed on a flow guiding structure in a device casing. The expansion card holding mechanism includes a sliding slot structure and a sliding part. The sliding slot structure is disposed on the flow guiding structure and includes two opposite side walls. The sliding part includes a sliding body and a positioning portion. The sliding body is slidably disposed between the two side walls along a direction. The positioning portion protrudes from the sliding body and is slidably engaged with one of the two slide walls. The sliding body has a flow guiding through hole and an expansion card holding slot. The flow guiding through hole is aligned with a vent of the flow guiding structure in the direction, so that air flow can pass through the flow guiding structure and the sliding part for dissipating heat from an expansion card.

Description

Expansion card clamping mechanism

The invention relates to an expansion card clamping mechanism, in particular to an expansion card clamping mechanism suitable for the inside of electronic equipment.

The development of the computer information industry has brought about a vast range of applications for computers. In order to provide more functions, different external hardware with specific functions, such as expansion cards, are generally added inside computers. General computer systems are usually equipped with expansion cards with different functions, such as graphics accelerated graphics cards, video cards, network cards, sound effects cards, graphics cards, disk array control cards, etc., and there are multiple on the motherboard of the computer system Expansion slots. In the prior art, when the expansion card is installed in the expansion slot on the motherboard, the head of the expansion card (the side that is exposed outside the computer case, and some expansion cards can provide ports) is locked to the computer The back plate of the housing to fix the expansion card.

However, for special computer systems such as industrial computers or servers, some longer expansion cards are installed. At this time, if only the head end of the fixed expansion card is fixed, the other end (tail end) is often suspended. With this structure, and when the server host is in operation, the computer system’s cooling fan will vibrate when it is running, and the excessive length of the expansion card causes the cantilever effect at the end of the expansion card, which is likely to cause expansion after long-term operation. Damage to the card.

The current practice is to have a top-down buckle cover on the air deflector near the end of the expansion card to cover the end of the expansion card to fix the end of the expansion card. However, at present, this method can only fix one expansion card. If a second expansion card is located above the original expansion card, this fixing method will not be applicable, which means that such a fixing structure cannot install the second expansion card. .

In view of the problems in the prior art, one objective of the present invention is to provide an expansion card clamping mechanism, which is arranged on a flow guiding structure in a device casing. The expansion card clamping mechanism utilizes a sliding member with an expansion card clamping slot to hold the expansion card and avoid blocking the heat dissipation airflow.

The expansion card clamping mechanism according to the present invention is arranged on a diversion structure in a device housing, and the diversion structure has a vent. The expansion card clamping mechanism includes a sliding slot structure and a sliding member. The chute structure is arranged on the diversion structure and includes two opposite side walls. The sliding member includes a sliding body and a limiting portion. The sliding body is slidably disposed between the two side walls in a direction, and the limiting portion protrudes from the sliding body and slides with one of the two side walls In connection, the sliding body has a flow-through hole and an expansion card clamping slot, and the flow-through hole is aligned with the air vent in the direction. The expansion card clamping slot can be clamped and installed to the board body of an expansion card in the device casing. Thereby, when an expansion card is installed in the device casing, the sliding member can be slid to a supporting position relative to the sliding groove structure, so that the board body of the expansion card can be inserted into the expansion card holding slot, and the guide The circulation hole can guide the airflow, so that the airflow can pass through the guiding structure and the sliding part to dissipate heat for the expansion card. In addition, the sliding member can be slid to a disengagement position relative to the sliding groove structure, so that the board body of the expansion card is separated from the expansion card holding slot, and the user can disassemble the expansion card.

Compared with the prior art, the expansion card clamping mechanism according to the present invention requires less operating space than the rotating operation in the prior art, and can clamp (or support, and fix) multiple expansion cards. In addition, the sliding operation of the sliding member of the expansion card clamping mechanism according to the present invention is substantially parallel to the direction of the airflow guide of the airflow guide structure, which can be matched with the guide hole to avoid or reduce the influence of airflow on the heat dissipation of the expansion card.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

1: electronic equipment

10: Device housing

12: System motherboard

14: Diversion structure

142: diversion channel

144: Vent

16, 17: expansion card

18.19: Expansion card clamping mechanism

182: Chute structure

1822a, 1822b: side wall

18221, 18221': limit slot

18222: side

18223: groove bottom

1824: Support

1826: support plate

18262: Chute

18264, 18266: positioning structure

184: Slider

1842: Sliding body

1842a: Conduit through hole

1842b, 1842c: Expansion card holding slot

1844a, 1844b: limit part

18440: elastic arm

18441: sliding hook

18442: protrusion

1846: Extension

18462: L-shaped sliding hook

18464: rib

1848: Operation Department

1850: Positioning Department

D1, D2: direction

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an internal part of an electronic device according to an embodiment.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the expansion card clamping mechanism in Figure 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of FIG. 2 from another perspective.

4 is a schematic diagram of the sliding member in FIG. 2 from another perspective.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion card clamping mechanism in FIG. 1 along the line X-X.

6 is a schematic diagram of FIG. 5 when the sliding member of the expansion card clamping mechanism is in a disengaged position.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion card clamping mechanism in FIG. 1, and the cross-sectional position is equivalent to the line Y-Y in FIG. 3.

8 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion card clamping mechanism in FIG. 1, and the cross-sectional position is equivalent to the line Z-Z in FIG. 3.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of Fig. 8 when the sliding member is in the disengaged position.

10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a sliding hook and a limiting groove according to an embodiment.

Please refer to Figure 1. According to an embodiment, an electronic device 1 (such as but not limited to a server) includes a device housing 10 and a system motherboard 12 disposed in the device housing, a diversion structure 14, an expansion card 16, and an expansion Card clamping mechanism 18. The expansion card 16 is electrically connected to the system main board 12, for example, directly inserted into an expansion card slot on the system main board 12 or indirectly electrically connected to the system main board 12 via a riser card. The expansion card clamping mechanism 18 can be operated to clamp one side of the expansion card 16 to assist in fixing the expansion card 16; the expansion card clamping mechanism 18 can also be operated to disengage the expansion card 16 to facilitate disassembly and assembly of the expansion card 16. The air guiding structure 14 can guide the air flow through the expansion card clamping mechanism 18 to dissipate the expansion card 16.

Please also refer to Figures 2 to 8. The diversion structure 14 has a diversion channel 142 and a plurality of vents 144. The expansion card clamping mechanism 18 includes a sliding slot structure 182 and a sliding member 184. The chute structure 182 is disposed on the diversion structure 14 and includes two opposite side walls 1822 a and 1822 b and a supporting portion 1824. An accommodating space is formed between the side walls 1822a and 1822b for the sliding member 184 to slide. The sliding member 184 includes a sliding body 1842 and two limiting portions 1844a and 1844b. The sliding body 1842 is slidably disposed between the two side walls 1822a and 1822b along a direction D1 (shown by a double arrow in the figure). The two limit parts 1844a, 1844b self-sliding body 1842 The two opposite sides protrude and slidably engage with the two side walls 1822a and 1822b. The sliding body 1842 has a plurality of circulation holes 1842a and an expansion card holding slot 1842b. The circulation holes 1842a are arranged adjacent to the expansion card holding slot 1842b and extend parallel to the direction D1. The expansion card holding slot 1842b is used to hold the board of the expansion card 16 (such as its circuit board). The circulation hole 1842a is aligned with the vent 144 in the direction D1 (as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6), so that the airflow can smoothly circulate the circulation hole 1842a and the vent 144. In practice, the guide hole 1842a and the air vent 144 are not limited to being completely aligned. In principle, only the projections of the guide hole 1842a and the air vent 144 in the direction D1 are overlapped to produce the aforementioned alignment effect, so that the air flow The flow-through hole 1842a and the air vent 144 can flow smoothly, and the expansion card 16 can be further dissipated. In addition, in this embodiment, the direction of the air flow guided by the flow guiding structure 14 through the vent 144 is substantially parallel to the direction D1. In addition, in this embodiment, the chute structure 182 and the guide structure 14 are integrally formed (for example, but not limited to, through injection molding), but in practice, the chute structure 182 can also be a separate piece and assembled to the guide Flow structure 14 on. For example, a groove structure, a U-shaped structure, or even a plurality of loose parts are used to implement the chute structure 182 and then fix it to the flow guiding structure 14.

In this embodiment, the two limiting portions 1844a and 1844b have the same structure and are symmetrical. To simplify the description, in principle, the limiting portion 1844a and the corresponding side wall 1822a are used as an example for illustration, which can be directly applied to the limiting portion. 1844b and the corresponding side wall 1822b will not be repeated. Moreover, in the drawings, the structures of the two limiting portions 1844a, 1844b and the corresponding side walls 1822a, 1822b can be directly referred to each other, and for the sake of simplifying the description, it is not specifically specified. The limiting portion 1844a includes an elastic arm 18440 and a sliding hook 18441. The elastic arm 18440 has elasticity to slidably and elastically abut on the surface of the corresponding side wall 1822a, which helps the sliding body 1842 to slide smoothly between the two side walls 1822a, 1822b, and can allow the sliding body 1842 and the The larger fit tolerance between the two side walls 1822a and 1822b can reduce the manufacturing cost. In this embodiment, the elastic arm 18440 is a cantilever and extends from the sliding body 1842 parallel to the direction D1. The elastic arm 18440 can generate elastic effects through the structural characteristics of the cantilever. The end of the cantilever slides against the surface of the corresponding side wall 1822a. In addition, the elastic arm 18440 has at least one protrusion 18442, and the elastic arm 18440 slides and elastically abuts against the corresponding protrusion 18442 via the protrusion 18442. On the surface of the side wall 1822a (as shown in FIG. 7), this can reduce the contact area between the elastic arm 18440 and the side wall 1822a. In practice, the elastic arm 18440 can also be implemented by an elastic piece bent into an arc. The elastic piece arches toward the corresponding side wall 1822a and elastically abuts against the side wall 1822a; for example, one end of the elastic piece is fixed to the sliding body 1842, and the other One end can slide at least on the surface of the sliding body 1842. In addition, the elastic piece may protrude outward (that is, protrude toward the side wall 1822a) at the part contacting the side wall 1822a to form a protrusion (for example, but not limited to stamping and forming of an elastic metal sheet) to serve as the protrusion 18442 for abutting Side wall 1822a.

In addition, in this embodiment, the side wall 1822a corresponding to the limiting portion 1844a has a limiting slot 18221, the limiting slot 18221 extends parallel to the direction D1, and the sliding hook 18441 is slidably disposed in the limiting slot 18221. When the sliding member 184 is at a supporting position, the sliding hook 18441 hooks one end of the limit slot 18221 (as shown in FIG. 8), and the board body of the expansion card 16 (the outline of which is shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 5 and 6) Insert the expansion card holding slot 1842b, so that the expansion card holding slot 1842b can provide support for the expansion card 16 (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5). Please also refer to Figure 9. When the sliding member 184 slides to a disengaged position relative to the sliding groove structure 182, the sliding hook 18441 also slides in the limiting groove 18221 and leaves the end (as shown in FIG. 9), and the expansion card holding slot 1842b is separated from the expansion card 16 The board (as shown in FIG. 6) allows the user to disassemble the expansion card 16. In addition, in this embodiment, when the sliding member 184 is at the supporting position (as shown in FIG. 5), the supporting portion 1824 of the sliding groove structure 182 and the sliding body 1842 of the sliding member 184 form another expansion card holding slot 1842c , Which can be used to clamp and support the board body of another expansion card 17 (the outline of which is shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 5 and 6). Similarly, when the sliding member 184 is in the disengaged position, the expansion card holding slot 1842c is collapsed or insufficient to hold and support the board of the expansion card 17, so that the user can disassemble the expansion card 17. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the flow guide hole 1842a is located between the two expansion card holding slots 1842b and 1842c, so the airflow flowing through the flow guide hole 1842a can simultaneously heat the expansion cards 16 and 17.

Please refer to Figure 8 and Figure 9. In this embodiment, the limiting slot 18221 has opposite sides 18222 parallel to the direction D1, and the sliding hook 18441 slides against the two sides 18222; thereby, when the sliding hook 18441 slides relative to the limiting slot 18221, the limiting The groove 18221 can structure the sliding hook 18441, which also helps the sliding The body 1842 slides smoothly between the two side walls 1822a and 1822b, and the limiting groove 18221 provides the positioning of the sliding hook 18441 in the direction D2 (shown by a double arrow in the figure, which is perpendicular to the direction D1). In addition, in this embodiment, the contact between the two sides 18222 and the sliding hook 18441 is surface contact, which can improve the aforementioned structural restraint effect. In addition, in this embodiment, the sliding hook 18441 is implemented in a cantilever structure, so it is also flexible. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the limiting groove 18221 ′ is a groove structure and has a groove bottom surface 18223, the groove bottom surface 18223 extends parallel to the direction D1, and the sliding hook 18441 elastically slidably abuts the groove bottom surface 18223. At this time, the sliding hook 18441 also has the same function as the aforementioned elastic arm 18440; in other words, the elastic arm 18440 can be omitted here.

Please refer to Figure 2 to Figure 5. The chute structure 182 includes a supporting plate 1826 extending parallel to the direction D1 between the two side walls 1822a and 1822b. The sliding member 184 includes an extension 1846 that extends from the sliding body 1842 parallel to the direction D1 and includes two opposite L-shaped sliding hooks 18462, and the L-shaped sliding hooks 18462 are slidably connected to the supporting plate 1826. In this embodiment, the L-shaped sliding hook 18462 is slidably disposed in the sliding groove 18262 of the supporting plate 1826; however, it is not limited to this in practice. For example, the support plate 1826 is a cantilever plate, and the L-shaped sliding hooks 18462 slide and hook the two sides of the cantilever plate. In addition, in this embodiment, the extension portion 1846 has a plurality of protruding ribs 18464, which slidingly contact the support plate 1826, which helps the extension portion 1846 to slide smoothly relative to the support plate 1826.

In addition, in this embodiment, the sliding member 184 further includes an operating portion 1848 fixedly connected to the sliding body 1842, and the user can slide the sliding member 184 through the operating portion 1848. The sliding member 184 further includes a positioning portion 1850, and the sliding groove structure 182 correspondingly includes two positioning structures 18264 and 18266. The positioning portion 1850 is selectively engaged with the positioning structures 18264 and 18266 to provide positioning of the sliding member 184 relative to the sliding groove structure 182. In this embodiment, the positioning portion 1850 is implemented as a protrusion, and the positioning structures 18264 and 18266 are implemented as a hole. As shown in FIG. 5, when the sliding member 184 is located at the supporting position, the positioning portion 1850 is locked into the positioning structure 18264; as shown in FIG. 6, when the sliding member 184 is located at the disengaged position, the positioning portion 1850 is locked into the positioning structure 18266. In addition, in this embodiment, the positioning portion 1850 is provided on the operating portion 1848, the positioning structures 18264 and 18266 are formed on the support plate 1826, and the operating portion 18448 is a cantilever structure, so the positioning portion 1850 can be provided with a resilient The sexual displacement can be engaged with the positioning structure 18264 or 18266; however, it is not limited to this in practice. For example, the positioning portion 1850 can be implemented by a protrusion (such as a round protrusion) directly protruding from the side wall surface of the sliding body 1842, and the positioning structure 18264, 18266 can be replaced by a corresponding hole formed on the corresponding side wall 1822a or 1822b. (Or groove) is implemented, the protrusion can also be selectively inserted into the hole (or groove) to provide positioning of the sliding member 184 relative to the sliding groove structure 182.

In addition, in this embodiment, the two limiting portions 1844a and 1844b have the same structure, but they are not limited in practice. For example, the sliding member 184 only retains the one-sided limiting portion 1844a (or limiting portion 1844b), and this structure can still perform the positioning function of the aforementioned limiting portion 1844a (or limiting portion 1844b) (including the elastic resistance of the elastic arm 18440). The side wall 1822a and the limit slot 18221 restrict the structure of the sliding hook 18441). For another example, the limiting portion 1844a retains one of the elastic arm 18440 and the sliding hook 18441, and the limiting portion 1844b retains the other of the elastic arm 18440 and the sliding hook 18441; at this time, the limiting portions 1844a and 1844b can still perform the aforementioned GPS. For another example, the limiting parts 1844a and 1844b each include a different number of elastic arms 18440 and sliding hooks 18441.

In addition, in this embodiment, another expansion card clamping mechanism 19 of the electronic device 1 has the same structural logic as the expansion card clamping mechanism 18, so the operation of the expansion card clamping mechanism 19 and its relationship with the diversion structure 14 For the structural relationship, please refer to the relevant description of the expansion card clamping mechanism 18, which will not be repeated. As shown in FIG. 1, the expansion card clamping mechanism 19 is adjacently arranged in the direction perpendicular to the directions D1 and D2, and is also used to clamp and support expansion cards (not shown in the figure); thereby, the expansion cards can be used Compact configuration to be installed in the electronic device 1.

The foregoing descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

1: electronic equipment

10: Device housing

12: System motherboard

14: Diversion structure

16, 17: expansion card

18.19: Expansion card clamping mechanism

D1, D2: direction

Claims (13)

An expansion card clamping mechanism is arranged on a diversion structure in a device casing, the diversion structure has a vent, and the expansion card clamping mechanism includes: a chute structure arranged on the diversion structure and includes Two opposite side walls; and a sliding member, the sliding member includes a sliding body and a limiting portion, the sliding body is slidably disposed between the two side walls in one direction, the limiting portion protrudes from the sliding body and In sliding connection with one of the two side walls, the limiting portion includes an elastic arm that slidably and elastically abuts against the surface of the corresponding side wall, and the sliding body has a flow guide hole and an expansion The clamping groove is clamped, and the guide flow hole is aligned with the vent in the direction. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the sliding member includes another limiting portion, and the two limiting portions protrude from opposite sides of the sliding body and respectively slidably engage with the two side walls. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the elastic arm is a cantilever and extends from the sliding body in parallel to the direction, and the end of the cantilever slides against the surface of the corresponding side wall. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the elastic arm has a protrusion, and the elastic arm slides and elastically abuts against the surface of the corresponding side wall via the protrusion. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the limiting portion includes a sliding hook, the corresponding side wall has a limiting slot, the limiting slot extends parallel to the direction, and the sliding hook is slidably arranged In the limit slot. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the limiting slot has two opposite sides parallel to the direction, and the sliding hook slides against the two sides. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the limiting groove has a groove bottom surface, the groove bottom surface extends parallel to the direction, the sliding hook is a cantilever, and the sliding hook slidably and elastically abuts against the groove bottom surface . The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the chute structure includes a supporting plate, Extending parallel to the direction between the two side walls, the sliding member includes an extension portion that extends from the sliding body parallel to the direction and includes an L-shaped sliding hook, the L-shaped sliding hook and the support plate Swipe to connect. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 8, wherein the extension portion has a plurality of protruding ribs, and slidingly contacts the support plate. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the flow-through hole is adjacent to the expansion card clamping slot. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the sliding groove structure has a supporting portion, and the supporting portion and the sliding member form another expansion card clamping slot. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 11, wherein the flow-through hole is located between the two expansion card clamping slots. The expansion card clamping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the sliding member includes a positioning portion, the sliding groove structure includes two positioning structures, and the positioning portion is selectively engaged with one of the positioning structures.

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