US20070228905A1

US20070228905A1 - Drawable housing structure

Info

Publication number: US20070228905A1
Application number: US11/395,970
Authority: US
Inventors: Jui-Lin Chen; Wei-Chuan Hsu
Original assignee: Inventec Corp
Current assignee: Inventec Corp
Priority date: 2006-03-30
Filing date: 2006-03-30
Publication date: 2007-10-04

Abstract

A drawable housing structure is applicable to an electronic device for supporting a plurality of electronic components of the electronic device. The housing structure includes a main body for supporting the electronic components. The main body includes a front surface having an opening, and a top surface connected to the front surface and having a first opening. The housing structure further includes a handler. The handler includes a cantilever engaged with the first opening, and a rotatable fixing member engaged with the cantilever for buckling the opening. By drawing the rotatable fixing member the cantilever moves accordingly, and the housing structure can be took out from the electronic.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to drawable housing structures, and more particularly, to a drawable housing structure applicable to an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of information technologies, computers are allowed to operate at a very fast speed but have low cost. A computer has wide application. For example, a computer server having a plurality of complicated functions can be applied to an enterprise, while a personal computer is designed for individuals. A computer server comprises a main board, a hard drive and a plurality of electronic components, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a chip set and a memory, all of which are installed on the main board. The server computer operates individually and is replaceable. The server computer can be integrated on a rack, and becomes one of a plurality of serially connected and stacked disposed server computers of a server system. Such the server computer is called a blade server.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a rack server 1 having a plurality of blade servers 13 according to the prior art. In addition to the blade servers 13, the rack server 1 further comprises a rack 11 for all of the blade servers 13 to be installed on. Each of the blade servers 13 comprises a housing 15 and a plurality of electronic components 17 accommodated in the housing 15.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the housing 15 comprises a main body 151 and a pull rod 153 connected to the main body 151. The main body 151 comprises a front surface 1511, a first side 1513, an opening 1515, a plurality of engaging openings 1517, and a pressing member 1519 accommodating on a side in the opening 1515. The first side 1513, the opening 1515 and the engaging openings 1517 are all installed on the front surface 1511. The pull rod 153 comprises a propping portion 1531, a holding portion 1533, a spring (not shown), a second side 1535 engaged with the first side 1513 of the main body 151, and a hooking portion 1537 accommodated in the opening 1515. Through the fixing of the pressing member 1519 to the hooking portion 1537, the pull rod 153 can be positioned on the main body 151. If the blade server 13 is to be took out from the rack server 1, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B, first press the pressing member 1519 disposed on the main body 151, the pull rod 153 then enabling the hooking portion 1537 to be separated from the opening 1515 of the main body 151 due to elastic force. Then hold the holding portion 1533 of the pull rod 153 with one hand, and draw the holding portion 1533 to move toward a direction indicated by arrow A, the propping portion 1531 of the pull rod 153 then propping against the bottom side 111 of the rack 11, so as to take the housing 15 out from the rack 11.
However, because the pull rod 153 makes the use of the second side 1535 to engage with the first side 1513 of the main body 151, and the hooking portion 1537 is accommodated in the opening 1515 on another side of the main body 151 and fixed to the pressing member 1519, the pull rod 153 occupies a majority of space of the front surface 1511 of the main body 151, and only a few engaging openings 1517 can be installed on the front surface 1511 for connection of external connection devices (not shown). Moreover, if the blade server 13 is to be took out from the rack server 1, the pressing member 1519 has to be pressed with hands first to pop the pull rod 153, and the holding portion 1533 has to be held by hands to take the blade server 13 out from the rack server 1. If the blade server 13 is to be installed in the rack 11, the pressing member 1519 has to be pressed first to enable the hooking portion 1537 of the pull rod 153 to be accommodated in the opening 1515 of the main body 151, so as to push the blade server 13 into the rack 11. Such the assembly/detachment processes of the prior art are complicated and inconvenient. Moreover, the suddenly popping of the pull rod 153 likely hurts users.
Therefore, how to overcome the above drawbacks of the prior art is becoming one of the most important issues in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In views of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a drawable housing structure of less space consumption.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a drawable housing structure easily to be assembled to and detached from a rack of the electronic device.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a labor-saving drawable housing structure.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a drawable housing structure which is safe in use.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an orderly and beautiful drawable housing structure after assembly.
To achieve the above-mentioned and other objectives, a drawable housing structure is provided according to the present invention. The drawable housing structure is applicable to an electronic device for supporting a plurality of electronic components of the electronic device. The housing structure includes a main body for supporting the electronic components. The main body includes a front surface having an opening, and a top surface connected to the front surface and having a first opening. The housing structure further includes a handler. The handler includes a cantilever engaged with the first opening, and a rotatable fixing member engaged with the cantilever for buckling the opening. By drawing the rotatable fixing member the cantilever moves accordingly, and the housing structure can be took out from the electronic.
The front surface further includes a plurality of engaging openings. The opening is in the shape of a rectangle.
The rotatable fixing member further includes an elastic member. The elastic member is one selected from a group consisting of winding leaf spring, a metal spring, a leaf steel, a spring slice and a spring. The cantilever includes a second opening, a third opening and a propping portion. The rotatable fixing member includes a top cover and a bottom cover. The top cover includes a hooking portion, a ring-shaped body and a first engaging portion. The bottom cover includes a second engaging portion for engaging with the first engaging portion correspondingly.
In contrast to the prior art, the handler of the housing structure of the present invention is designed to engage with the cantilever and the rotatable fixing member, to enlarge a space for connection of external connection devices, and to overcome the drawback of the prior art that the pull rod and the pressing member, which are installed separately, occupy too much space of the main body. Therefore, the application of the handler of the present invention can achieve the effective of reducing space.
Moreover, the handler of the present invention is designed to engage with the cantilever and the rotatable fixing member. Assembly/detachment processes of the present invention can be realized by buckling a pull ring of the rotatable fixing member, so as to overcome the drawback of the prior art that assembly/detachment processes of the prior art is not finished unless the pressing member is pressed first, the pull rod in popped, and the pull rod is pulled with a finger. Therefore, the application of the present invention simplifies the assembly/detachment processes and saves labors.
Moreover, when the handler of the housing structure of the present invention is in use, the opening of the rotatable fixing member fixed to the main body and the rotation of the handler are performed simultaneously to detach the housing structure from the rack, so as to overcome the drawback of the prior art that the popping of the pull rod due to the pressing of the pressing member might hurt users, and to improve the safety in use.
Moreover, when a plurality of the housing structures of the present invention are installed in the rack, because a rack server composed of the rack and the housing structures comprises a plurality of orderly disposed handlers, the application of the present invention overcome the drawback of the prior art that the pull rods are disposed obliquely due to too large a distance between a pull rod and a pressing member of the prior art.
In summary, the present invention have the advantages of labor-saving, less space consumption, simplified assembly and detachment processes. Moreover, the present invention is safe in use, and solve the drawbacks of the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a rack server having a plurality of blade servers according to the prior;
FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a housing of one of the blade servers shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 2B is an operating state of the housing shown in FIG. 2A;
FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a drawable housing structure of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C are two operating states of the housing structure shown in FIG. 3A; and
FIG. 4 is an explosive view of a handler of the housing structure shown in FIG. 3A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following illustrative embodiments are provided to illustrate the disclosure of the present invention, these and other advantages and effects can be apparently understood by those in the art after reading the disclosure of this specification. The present invention can also be performed or applied by other different embodiments. The details of the specification may be on the basis of different points and applications, and numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
Please refer to FIG. 3A to FIG. 4. FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a drawable housing structure 2 of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C are two operating states of the housing structure 2. FIG. 4 is an explosive view of a handler 23 of the housing structure 2. The housing structure 2 can be installed in an electronic device for supporting a plurality of electronic components of the electronic device. As shown in FIG. 3A, the housing structure 2 comprises a main body 21 and the handler 23.
Note that in the following embodiments the housing structure 2 can be applied to housings adopted by varieties of electronic devices, such as desktop computers, notebook computers and servers. Although the following embodiment takes a rack adopted by an electronic device such as a server as an example, the present invention is not limited to be this. Moreover, since the present invention is applicable to a desktop computer, a notebook computer or any other electronic device having a drawable box, only structures directly related to the present invention are shown in the figures for clarity and simplicity.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the main body 21 further comprises a front surface 211 and a top surface 213 connected to the front surface 211. The front surface 211 comprises an opening 2111 in the shape of a rectangle. The top surface 213 comprises a first opening 2131. The front surface 211 further comprises a plurality of engaging openings 2113 for connecting to external connection devices (not shown), such as a universal serial bus (USB) electronic device or a multimedia displayer. Note that the opening 2111 can be in other shapes changed in accordance with practical demands. For example, the opening 2111 can be in the shape of a circle or an ellipse.
As shown in FIG. 4, the handler 23 comprises a cantilever 231 for engaging with the first opening 2131, and a rotatable fixing member 233 engaged with the cantilever 231 for fixing to the opening 2111. Therefore, any space consumption of the rotatable fixing member 233 if installed on the main body 21 is unneeded. The rotatable fixing member 233 comprises an installation pins 2335 for installation of an elastic member 235, which is a winding leaf spring for propping against a propping region between the rotatable fixing member 233 and the cantilever 231 to strengthen the tightness of the rotatable fixing member 233 and the opening 2111. According to the preferred embodiment, the elastic member 235 is a linear spring, a metal spring, a leaf steel, a spring slice or any other equivalent structure. The cantilever 231 of the handler 23 comprises a second opening 2311, a third opening 2313 and a propping portion 2319. The cantilever 231 fixes the handler 23 to the main body 21 by passing a screw bolt (not shown) through the second opening 2311 and the first opening 2131 of the top surface 213 of the main body 21. The rotatable fixing member 233 comprises a top cover 2331 and a bottom cover 2333. The top cover 2331 comprises a hooking portion 2331 a, a ring-shaped body 2331 b and a first engaging portion 2331 c. The bottom cover 2333 comprises a second engaging portion 2333 a for engaging with the first engaging portion 2331 c. The ring-shaped body 2331 b is mounted in the third opening 2313 of the cantilever 231 correspondingly, so as to fix the rotatable fixing member 233 on the cantilever 231. Therefore, by drawing the rotatable fixing member 233, the cantilever 231 moves accordingly, and the housing structure 2 can be took out from the electronic device.
If the housing structure 2 is to be detached from the rack server (not shown), as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3C, first buckle the rotatable fixing member 233 of the handler 23 with a finger, and draw rotatable fixing member 233 to move toward a direction indicated by arrow B, the hooking portion 233 la of the rotatable fixing member 233 then being detached from the opening 2111 of the main body 21. Moreover, because the rotatable fixing member 233 is propping against the propping region between the rotatable fixing member 233 and the cantilever 231, the elastic member 235 generates an elastic force. Then pull and draw the rotatable fixing member 233 to move toward another direction indicated by arrow C continuously, the propping portion 2319 of the cantilever 231 will prop against a bottom side (not shown) of the rack so that the housing structure 2 can be detached from the rack. In order that the propping portion 2319 of the cantilever 231 will prop against the bottom side of the rack when the rotatable fixing member 233 is pulled to move toward the another direction indicated by arrow C, the cantilever 231 is designed that a distance between the propping portion 2319 and second opening 2311 is larger than another distance between the first opening 2131 and a side surface of the housing structure 2 corresponding to the bottom side of the rack.
By buckling the rotatable fixing member 233 into the opening 21 11 of the main body 21, and then pushing the housing structure 2 into the rack, the housing structure 2 can be installed on the rack. Therefore, the housing structure 2 of the present invention is easy to be installed in and detached from the rack.
In summary, the present invention have the advantages of labor-saving, less space consumption, simplified assembly and detachment processes. Moreover, the present invention is safe in use, and solve the drawbacks of the prior art.
The foregoing descriptions of the detailed embodiments are only illustrated to disclose the features and functions of the present invention and not restrictive of the scope of the present invention. It should be understood to those in the art that all modifications and variations according to the spirit and principle in the disclosure of the present invention should fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A drawable housing structure applicable to an electronic device for supporting a plurality of electronic components of the electronic device, the housing structure comprising:

a main body for supporting the electronic components, the main body comprising a front surface having an opening, and a top surface connected to the front surface and having a first opening; and

a handler comprising a cantilever engaged with the first opening, and a rotatable fixing member engaged with the cantilever for buckling the opening,

wherein by drawing the rotatable fixing member the cantilever moves accordingly, and the housing structure can be took out from the electronic.

2. The housing structure of claim 1, wherein the front surface further comprises a plurality of engaging openings.

3. The housing structure of claim 1, wherein the opening is in the shape of a rectangle.

4. The housing structure of claim 1, wherein the rotatable fixing member further comprises an elastic member.

5. The housing structure of claim 4, wherein the elastic member comprises a first end and a second end connected to the first end.

6. The housing structure of claim 4, wherein the elastic member is one selected from a group consisting of a winding leaf spring, a metal spring, a leaf steel, a spring slice and a spring.

7. The housing structure of claim 1, wherein the cantilever comprises a second opening, a third opening, an installation pin and a propping portion.

8. The housing structure of claim 1, wherein the rotatable fixing member comprises a top cover and a bottom cover.

9. The housing structure of claim 8, wherein the top cover comprises a hooking portion, a ring-shaped body and a first engaging portion, and the bottom cover comprises a second engaging portion for engaging with the first engaging portion.