CN218122580U - Expansion bracket assembly, computer system and expansion bracket for computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses an expand bracket assembly, computer system and be used for computer system's expansion bracket. The expansion bracket includes a bracket housing having two opposing side walls, a front open end, and a bottom plate. A front tab and a rear tab extend from an interior of one of the opposing sidewalls. The tray supporting the expansion member has a guide block with a screw hole. The tray is positionable between an open position and a closed position. A rotatable fastener mechanism moves the tray into and out of the tray housing. The rod is inserted through the holes of the first and second tabs, allowing free rotation of the rod. The rod includes a threaded outer section to rotatably engage the threaded bore of the guide block. A knob is attached to one end of the lever to allow a user to rotate the lever and move the tray.

Description

Expansion bracket assembly, computer system and expansion bracket for computer system

Technical Field

The present invention generally relates to a housing for a computing device. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to a rotatable fastener mechanism that allows simplified and quick positioning of a tray holding an expansion device for a computer system.

Background

Computer systems (e.g., desktop computers, blade servers, rack servers, etc.) are used in large numbers in a variety of applications. High demand applications, such as network-based systems, data centers, or high-density finite element simulations of hardware that can drive computing systems, require servers with specific functionality. Modern servers are typically designed to provide flexibility in terms of functionality and components. One approach is to design the expansion bracket so that components such as expansion cards, storage devices, processor boards, etc. are easily installed to enhance the basic functionality of the server. The expansion bracket typically includes a tray that can support the components. To facilitate maintenance and component replacement, many trays can be accessed without moving the actual server chassis. For example, some pallets may slip out of the chassis, allowing components to be installed or removed. Once installed, the tray may be pushed back into the chassis.

Currently, pallets require a series of mechanical mechanisms to ensure that the pallet is locked in place. For example, some trays have rotatable levers that allow an operator to move the levers to an open position to allow the tray to slide out of the chassis and access the tray. When the tray loading is complete, it is pushed into the chassis and the lever is rotated to the closed position. Such rams are effective, however, they are relatively complex and require a certain amount of space. How to achieve easy maintenance in the limited available space without the need for an ejector lever design on the input/output tray. This mechanism can therefore simplify the design of the tray, while maintaining the same maintainability required for operation.

Accordingly, there is a need for a tray that can be easily moved between an open position and a closed position. There is a further need for a simple tray mechanism that allows the tray to be securely held in the carrier. There is a further need for a compact tray positioning mechanism.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

One disclosed example is an expansion bracket assembly that includes a bracket housing having two opposing sidewalls, a front open end, and a base plate. A first tab having an aperture extends from an interior of one of the opposing sidewalls. The tray has guide blocks with screw holes installed between the facing sidewalls for supporting the expansion member. The tray is configured to move between an open position and a closed position. A rotatable fastener mechanism moves the tray between an open position and a closed position. The rotatable fastener mechanism includes a rod that is inserted through the aperture of the first tab and rotatably engages the threaded aperture of the guide block of the tray.

Another embodiment of the example cradle assembly is an embodiment that includes a second tab extending from an interior of one of the opposing sidewalls. The second tab includes an aperture, and the rod is inserted through the aperture of the second tab. Another embodiment is where the first tab is located near the front open end of the holder and the second tab is located near the closed end of the holder, opposite the open end. Another embodiment is where the fastener mechanism includes a knob having a handle on one end of the rod. Another embodiment is a tray that includes alignment features that mate with the expansion components. Another embodiment is where the expansion component is a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) compatibility device. Another embodiment is where the expansion element includes an edge connector that is mateable with a receptacle extending from an end wall of the cradle.

Another example disclosed is a computer system including a chassis having two sidewalls and a front and a motherboard positioned between the two sidewalls of the chassis. And a bracket shell for fixing the expansion part installed at the front end of the case. The tray housing includes two opposing sidewalls, a front open end, and a bottom panel connecting the two opposing sidewalls. The bracket housing includes a first tab having an aperture extending from an interior of one of the opposing sidewalls. A tray having guide blocks with screw holes is mounted between the facing sidewalls for supporting the expansion member. The tray is movable between an open position and a closed position. A rotatable fastener mechanism moves the tray between an open position and a closed position. The rotatable fastener mechanism includes a rod inserted through the aperture of the first tab and rotatably engaging the threaded aperture of the guide block of the tray.

A further embodiment of the exemplary computer system is an embodiment in which the computer system is one of a storage server or an application server. Another embodiment is where the bracket includes a second tab extending from an interior of one of the opposing sidewalls. The second tab includes an aperture and the rod is inserted through the aperture of the second tab. Another embodiment is where the first tab is located near the forward open end of the holder and the second tab is located near the closed end of the holder, opposite the forward open end. Another embodiment is a fastener mechanism including a knob having a handle on one end of a rod. Another embodiment is a tray that includes alignment features that mate with the expansion components. Another embodiment is where the expansion component is a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) compatibility device. Another embodiment is where the expansion member includes an edge connector that is matable with a receptacle extending from an end wall of the bracket.

Another example disclosed is an expansion bracket for a computer system. The expansion bracket includes a bracket housing having two opposing sidewalls, a front open end, a rear end, and a floor. A first front tab having a hole extends from an interior near the front open end of one of the opposing sidewalls. A second rear tab having a hole extends from an interior near the rear end of one of the opposing side walls. A tray having a guide block with a screw hole is installed between the sidewalls for supporting the expansion member. The tray is configured to move between an open position and a closed position. The fastener mechanism is operable to move the tray between the open position and the closed position by rotation of the fastener mechanism. The fastener mechanism includes a stem inserted through the apertures of the first and second tabs, allowing the stem to rotate freely. The lever includes a threaded outer section between the first and second tabs to rotatably engage the threaded holes of the guide blocks of the tray. The fastener mechanism includes a knob attached to one end of a rod extending from the front open end of the carrier housing.

The above summary is not intended to represent each embodiment or every aspect of the present disclosure. Rather, the foregoing novel disclosure provides only examples of some of the novel aspects and features set forth herein. The above features and advantages and other features and advantages of the present disclosure are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the representative embodiments and modes for carrying out the disclosure when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and claims.

Drawings

The present disclosure is better understood from the following description of embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a computer system having an exemplary tray structure for holding expansion devices;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a computer system with an open exemplary tray structure for securing expansion devices;

FIG. 2 is an isolated perspective view of an example rotatable fastener mechanism and tray partially inserted into a bracket of the computer system of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary rotatable fastener mechanism and tray partially inserted into a bracket of the computer system of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is a close-up perspective view of an example rotatable fastener mechanism;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an example tray and rotatable fastener mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an example rotatable fastener mechanism and a tray fully extended from a bracket; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an example tray in a fully closed position.

While the present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, certain representative embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in further detail herein. However, it should be understood that the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Description of the reference numerals

100 storage server

110 case

112,114 side wall

116 bottom plate

120 main board

122 front panel

124 rear panel

130 fan module

140 hard disk

150 bracket assembly

160 expansion part

200 bracket

202, pallet

210 bracket shell

212,214 opposite side walls

216 roof plate

218 bottom plate

220 open end

222 back end

224 front beam

226: socket

230 rotatable fastener mechanism

240,242 tabs

244,246 guide hole

250: rod

252 section

254 cap

260 screw fastener assembly

262 cylindrical support

264 knob Components

270 bottom plate

272 alignment features

274 side panel

276 guide block

278 hole

280 circuit board

282 shell

284 front block

286 edge connector

Detailed Description

The present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms. Representative embodiments are shown in the drawings and will be described in further detail herein. The present disclosure is an exemplification or illustration of the principles of the disclosure and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the disclosure to the embodiments illustrated. To the extent that, for example, elements and limitations are disclosed in the abstract, novel content, and description section, but not explicitly recited in the claims, they are not to be incorporated into the claims by implication, inference, or otherwise, either individually or collectively. For the purposes of this specification, the singular encompasses the plural and vice versa unless specifically stated otherwise. The term "including" means "including but not limited to". Moreover, approximating words such as "about (about)," almost (almost), "" substantially (substantally), "" approximately (approximately), ", and the like may be used herein to represent, for example," at, "" near, "" almost at, "" within 3-5% (within 3-5 of), "" or "within acceptable manufacturing tolerances" (within acceptable manufacturing tolerances), or any logical combination thereof.

The present disclosure relates to a rotatable fastener mechanism that allows a tray for an expansion component to be easily positioned between an open position and a closed position in a tray. One of the opposing side walls of the bracket has two mounting tabs for suspending a rotatable bar. One end of the rod is located outside the bracket housing and is attached to a knob-shaped screw fastener. The screw fastener may be rotated by a user to rotate the rod. The tray includes a linear traverse block that engages the threaded section of the rod. Thus, as the lever rotates, the traversing block can traverse between the open and closed positions relative to the lever. Thus, the attached tray is guided between the open position and the closed position by the rotational movement of the lever.

Fig. 1A is a perspective view of a computer system or a computer device (e.g., storage server 100). The storage server 100 includes a chassis 110 having two sidewalls 112 and 114. The side walls 112 and 114 are connected by a bottom plate 116. The main board 120 is mounted between the sidewalls 112 and 114. The motherboard 120 is secured between a front panel 122 and a rear panel 124 of the chassis 110. The motherboard 120 includes one or more components such as a power supply, a processor (e.g., a central processing unit), a network interface card, a memory device, and the like. A set of fan modules 130 is located near the rear of the chassis 110. The fan module 130 creates an airflow between the sidewalls 112 and 114 to help cool the components of the storage server 100. The fan module 130 is configured to establish the direction of the inlet and outlet air flows such that both the inlet and outlet air flows flow in the same direction.

In this example, the chassis 110 holds several Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 140 arrays arranged in a row. In this example, there are two parallel independent sets of hard disks connected to the motherboard 120. Each group has six rows of six individual hard disks 140 for a total of 72 hard disk drives. In this example, the hard disk drive may be replaced by a Solid State Drive (SSD). The storage control board is contained in a housing between two sets of independent hard disks 140.

The front panel 122 includes two bracket assemblies 150 that allow insertion of an expansion component specification. In this example, two bracket assemblies 150 are provided, but any number of bracket assemblies 150 may be supported by different structures of the front panel 122. Each of the carriage assemblies 150 allows access to expansion components, such as those of an input/output (I/O) module, including an input/output board having a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) specification, for docking with a connector receptacle 226 (as shown in fig. 2). For example, there may be power button/reset button/debug Universal Serial Bus (USB) components on the front of an i/o board of this specification. Other types of computer devices (e.g., application servers) may have fewer storage devices and more tray assemblies 150 for more expansion cards. The example bracket assembly using the rotatable fastener mechanism may be used with any suitable computer device, for example, a storage device such as a just a Bunch of disks (JBOD), a switch, or the like.

FIG. 1B illustrates the storage server 100 with one of the tray assemblies 150 in an open state. The open state allows insertion of the expansion unit 160 on the expansion tray. The expansion component 160 is designed to conform to a particular expansion card specification, such as a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) specification conforming to the PCIe standard. As will be explained, the tray assembly 150 includes a tray that can be moved to an open position by a rotatable fastener mechanism. Once the tray is in the open state, expansion units having compatible expansion card specifications, such as expansion unit 160, may be inserted for installation in storage server 100. The tray may then be moved to the closed position by the rotatable fastener mechanism. When the tray is in the closed position, the expansion unit 160 may be connected to the main board 120 and provide additional functionality to the storage server 100.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of one of the tray assemblies 150 of FIGS. 1A-1B installed in a computer system, such as the storage server 100. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the bracket assemblies 150 in fig. 1A-1B.

Fig. 4 is a close-up perspective view of the example fastening and tray positioning mechanism of fig. 1A-1B. Fig. 5 is a separate exploded perspective view of an example fastening and tray positioning mechanism of the carriage assembly 150.

Referring to fig. 2 to 5, the bracket assembly 150 has a bracket 200, a tray 202, and an expansion member 160. In this example, the expansion component 160 is a PCIe device, but any device having a specification of a size in which the bracket 200 can be fitted may be used. The dimensions and associated components of the bracket 200 may be adjusted to accommodate other specifications. The cradle 200 has a cradle housing 210, the cradle housing 210 having two opposing side walls 212 and 214. The opposing sidewalls 212 and 214 are connected to a top plate 216 and a bottom plate 218. The carrier housing 210 has an open end 220 defined by opposing sidewalls 212 and 214, and a top plate 216 and a bottom plate 218. A front cross member 224 connects the opposing side walls 212 and 214 and defines the open end 220 of the tray housing 210. The opposite closed end 222 has a connector receptacle 226 extending therethrough that is connected with the expansion member 160. In this example, the connector receptacle 226 is a PCIe-type receptacle attached to the bottom surface of the host board 120.

The tray 202 is movable between a closed position that allows the tray housing 210 to completely enclose the tray 202 and an open position that allows the expansion member 160 to be removed from the tray 202. The tray 202 may extend so that substantially the entire tray 202 is accessible outside of the tray housing 210. When the tray 202 is extended, the expansion member 160 is accessible to the user. In this example, a rotatable fastener mechanism 230 is provided for guiding the tray 202 between the open and closed positions.

In this example, the rotatable fastener mechanism 230 is engaged with a front tab 240 and a rear tab 242, where the front tab 240 and the rear tab 242 are attached to the interior surface of the opposing sidewall 212 facing the opposing sidewall 214. Two tabs 240 and 242 extend from the interior surface of the opposing sidewall 212. As shown in fig. 2-4, the front tab 240 is located near the open end 220 of the tray housing 210, while the rear tab 242 is located near the closed end 222 of the tray housing 210. The tabs 240 and 242 each have a guide hole 244 and 246, respectively, extending therethrough. The rotatable fastener mechanism 230 includes a rod 250 that is inserted through the guide holes 244 and 246 and is thus fixed in a position parallel to the opposing side wall 212 by the tabs 240 and 242.

The rod 250 has an external intermediate threaded section 252 between end sections having smooth exterior surfaces. Thus, when the lever 250 is properly positioned, the lever 250 is free to rotate in the guide holes 244,246 of the tabs 240 and 242 by having sections of smooth outer surfaces positioned in the guide holes 244, 246. An end of the rod 250 located near the closed end 222 includes a cap 254, the cap 254 having a larger diameter than the guide hole 246 of the rear tab 242 to prevent the rod 250 from being pulled out of the guide hole 246. The opposite end of rod 250, located near open end 220, includes a screw fastener assembly 260.

The screw fastener assembly 260 includes a cylindrical support 262 having an open end. Cylindrical supports 262 may be slid over opposite ends of rod 250. The cylindrical support 262 has a larger diameter than the guide hole 244 of the front tab 240 and, when attached to the end of the rod 250, prevents the rod 250 from being pulled out of the guide hole 244. The cylindrical support 262 has a closed end that is attached to a winged knob member 264, which knob member 264 can be grasped and rotated by a user to move the tray 202 between the open and closed positions.

The tray 202 has a substantially planar bottom plate 270, and the bottom plate 270 has alignment features 272, such as pins, for engaging the expansion components 160. The base plate 270 has a leading edge and an opposite trailing edge. In this example, the expansion component 160 will have mounting pins 272 to position the slot of the expansion component 160 relative to the backplane 270. Although two pins are used in this example, any number of pins or other mechanisms may be used to engage and align the position of the expansion component 160 on the backplane 270. In addition, the backplane 270 may have slots as alignment features, and the expansion component 160 may have pins that fit within the slots.

The bottom panel 270 is connected to side panels 274, the side panels 274 being generally parallel to the opposing side walls 214 of the tray housing 210 and extending between the front and rear edges of the bottom panel 270. The side panels 274 are also used to position the expansion member 160 relative to the tray 202. A linear traverse guide 276 is mounted on the open side of the base plate 270 opposite the side panel 274. Guide blocks 276 are located near the rear edge of tray 202. The guide block 276 has a bore 278 therethrough, and is generally cylindrical. The bore 278 has a threaded interior surface that engages the threaded section 252 of the rod 250.

In this example, the expansion component 160 has a circuit board 280 mounted on a housing 282 having a front block 284. One edge of the circuit board 280 is secured adjacent the front block 284. An opposite edge of the circuit board 280 includes an edge connector 286 that is insertable into a corresponding socket 226 attached to the bottom surface of the host board 120. The circuit board 280 has electronic components such as a controller, memory devices, interfaces, and circuits.

The lever 250 may be rotated by a user grasping the knob member 264 and rotating the knob member 264. As the lever 250 is rotated in one direction (e.g., clockwise), the threaded section 252 engages the internal threads of the aperture 278 of the linear traverse guide 276. Thus, the linear traverse guide 276 moves relative to the rod 250. Thus, the attached tray 202 is moved into the bracket 200 by the movement of the guide block 276.

When the lever 250 is rotated in the opposite direction (counterclockwise), the threaded section 252 of the lever 250 engages the internal threads of the aperture 278. The linear traverse guide 276 thus moves relative to the rod 250 and the tray 202 moves away from the carriage 200. Thus, the linear traverse guide 276 can move between a fully closed position where the linear traverse guide 276 abuts against the trailing tab 242 and a fully open position. In the closed position, the rear tab 242 thus stops further movement of the linear traverse guide 276 and the attached tray 202 toward the rear end 222 of the carriage 200. In the open position, the front tab 240 stops the movement of the linear traverse guide 276 toward the open end 220 of the carriage 200.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the example tray 202 of fig. 2-5 in a fully open extended position. In this example, the linear traverse guide 276 abuts a front tab 240 extending from the opposing side wall 212 of the carriage housing 210. With the tray 202 fully extended, the expansion component 160 may be inserted onto the tray 202 by aligning the slots with the guide pins 272 on the backplane 270. Alternatively, the expansion member 160 may be removed from the tray 202 in the open position. Once the expansion member 160 is positioned on the tray 202 through the slot that mates with the alignment feature 272 in fig. 5, the tray 202 may be moved to the closed position by the rotation rod 250 via the knob member 264.

The user may grasp the knob member 264 and rotate the rod 250 in a clockwise direction. The threaded section 252 engages the internal threads of the bore 278 of the guide block 276 and translates into linear movement of the guide block 276. The tray 202 is thus moved into the cradle 200. Lever 250 may be rotated clockwise until guide block 276 contacts rear tab 242. When the guide blocks 276 contact the rear tabs 242, the edge connectors 286 are fully inserted into the receptacles 226 and allow electrical signal transmission between the expansion components 160 and the components on the host board 120.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the example tray 202 in a fully closed position, wherein the linear traverse guide block 276 is in contact with the rear tab 242. In this position, the edge connector 286 of the expansion member 160 is inserted into the receptacle 226 extending through the closed end 222. The tray 202 is completely contained within the cradle 200 and the expansion components 160 are electrically coupled to components of the host board 120. As explained above, to open the tray 202, the user rotates the knob member 264 causing the lever 250 to rotate and move the linear traverse guide 276 and attached tray 202 and expansion card 160 out of the bracket 200. The edge connector 286 is pulled out of the receptacle 226 during movement of the tray 202.

The rotatable fastener mechanism 230 described above allows for easy servicing of the expansion cards (e.g., the expansion card 160 in the tray 202). The bracket 200 and rotatable fastener mechanism 230 may be mounted in the limited space available on the side walls of the bracket 200. The rotatable fastener mechanism 230 allows for a simplified tray design that requires only alignment features such as pins to engage and disengage mating features of the expansion member 160. The rotatable fastener mechanism 230 also does not require any special tools to secure the tray 202 and the expansion member 160 in place in the carriage assembly 150, or to expand the tray 202 and access the expansion member 160.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system" and the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware (e.g., circuitry), a combination of hardware and software, or an entity associated with a computing machine having one or more specified functions. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor (e.g., a digital signal processor), a processor, an object, an executable, an execution thread, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a controller and the controller can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or execution line and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, a device (device) may be embodied in specially designed hardware, for example, general purpose hardware specialized in software (e.g., software executed on hardware to enable the hardware to perform a particular function), software stored on a computer-readable medium, or a combination thereof.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes" and "includes" or "having" or variants thereof are used in the specification and/or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising".

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Although the disclosure has been illustrated and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments. Rather, the scope of the present disclosure should be defined in accordance with the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (10)

1. An expansion bracket assembly, comprising:

a bracket shell with two opposite side walls, a front opening end and a bottom plate;

a first tab having a first aperture, the first tab extending from an interior of one of the two opposing sidewalls;

a tray having a guide block with a screw hole, the guide block being mounted between the two opposing sidewalls for supporting an expansion member, the tray being configured to move between an open position and a closed position; and

a rotating fastener mechanism configured to move the tray between the open position and the closed position, the rotating fastener mechanism including a rod inserted through the first aperture of the first tab and rotatably engaging the threaded aperture of the guide block.

2. The cradle assembly of claim 1, further comprising a second tab extending from an interior of one of the two opposing sidewalls, wherein the second tab includes a second aperture, and wherein the rod is inserted through the second aperture of the second tab.

3. The expansion bracket assembly of claim 1 wherein the tray includes a registration feature that mates with the expansion member.

4. The cradle assembly of claim 1, wherein the expansion member comprises an edge connector that is mateable with a receptacle extending from an end wall of the cradle housing.

5. A computer system, comprising:

a case having two sidewalls and a front end;

a main board located between the two side walls in the case; and

a cradle housing for fixedly mounting an expansion member on the front end of the chassis, the cradle housing comprising:

two opposite side walls;

a front open end;

a bottom plate connected to the two opposite side walls;

a first tab having a first aperture, the first tab extending from an interior of one of the two opposing sidewalls;

a tray having a guide block with a screw hole, the guide block being mounted between the two opposing sidewalls for supporting the expansion member, the tray being movable between an open position and a closed position; and

a rotating fastener mechanism configured to move the tray between the open position and the closed position, the rotating fastener mechanism including a rod inserted through the first aperture of the first tab and rotatably engaging the threaded aperture of the guide block.

6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the bracket comprises a second tab on an interior of one of the two opposing sidewalls, wherein the second tab comprises a second hole, and wherein the rod is inserted through the second hole.

7. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the tray includes an alignment feature that mates with the expansion component.

8. The computer system of claim 5 wherein the expansion component comprises an edge connector that mates with a socket extending from an end wall of the tray housing.

9. An expansion bracket for a computer system, comprising:

a bracket shell having two opposite side walls, a front opening end, a rear end and a bottom plate;

a first front tab having a first aperture, the first front tab extending from an interior of one of the two opposing sidewalls proximate the front open end;

a second rear tab having a second aperture, the second rear tab extending from an interior of one of the two opposing sidewalls proximate the rear end;

a tray having a guide block with a screw hole, the guide block being mounted between the two opposing sidewalls for supporting an expansion member, the tray being configured to move between an open position and a closed position; and

a fastener mechanism operable to move the tray between the open position and the closed position in response to rotation of the fastener mechanism, the fastener mechanism comprising a rod inserted through the first aperture of the first front tab and the second aperture of the second rear tab allowing free rotation of the rod, wherein the rod comprises a threaded outer section located between the first front tab and the second rear tab to rotatably engage the threaded aperture of the guide block, and the rod further comprises a knob attached to an end of the rod extending from the front open end of the tray housing.

10. The expansion bracket for a computer system of claim 9, further comprising a socket extending from the rear end of the bracket housing, wherein the expansion member comprises a circuit board having an edge connector that mates with the socket when the tray is in the closed position.

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