CN111221388A

CN111221388A - Expansion card clamping mechanism

Info

Publication number: CN111221388A
Application number: CN201811423294.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈世伟
Original assignee: Inventec Pudong Technology Corp; Inventec Corp
Current assignee: Inventec Pudong Technology Corp; Inventec Corp
Priority date: 2018-11-23
Filing date: 2018-11-23
Publication date: 2020-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-23
Also published as: CN111221388B

Abstract

The invention provides an expansion card clamping mechanism which is suitable for an electronic device. The expansion card clamping mechanism comprises a structural member, a connecting member and a rotating member. The connecting piece is fixed on the structural piece and comprises a shaft lever and a limiting piece. The shaft extends in an engagement direction. The rotating piece comprises a rod body and a plurality of clamping pieces. The rod body comprises a shaft hole and a limiting groove, and the shaft hole extends in the connecting direction. The plurality of card clamping pieces are fixedly arranged on the rod body in the connecting direction, and each card clamping piece comprises a clamping groove which extends perpendicular to the connecting direction and is used for clamping a card edge of an expansion card. The rotating piece is rotationally sleeved on the shaft rod through the shaft hole. The limiting piece is located in the limiting groove to limit the rotating angle range of the rod body relative to the shaft rod around the connecting direction.

Description

Expansion card clamping mechanism

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an expansion card clamping mechanism, and more particularly, to an expansion card clamping mechanism suitable for use in an electronic device.

Background

To expand the functions of computer systems, more and more expansion cards (e.g., PCIe display cards) are used in computer systems, and the length of the expansion cards is longer and longer, and the structural support of the expansion cards only by slots is insufficient. At present, although there is a design for auxiliary fixing of the expansion card, for example, a fixed chute is arranged in the device for the card edge to slide in, so as to achieve the effect of supporting; however, this also limits the mounting direction of the expansion card, which must be parallel to the sliding slot, making this design unsuitable for a computer system with a compact device configuration. Or the rotary pressing mechanism is used to press the card edge of the expansion card to achieve the fixing effect; however, this method can only be implemented for a single expansion card, and when a plurality of expansion cards are arranged in a row, it is difficult to support or fix all the expansion cards by the rotary holding mechanism. Or the sliding block with the sliding groove is used for clamping or separating the clamping edge of the expansion card in a sliding mode, although the sliding block can not interfere the installation and the removal operation of the expansion card after the sliding groove is separated from the expansion card, the action (namely the sliding) of the sliding block needs a considerable space, so the design is not beneficial to a computer system with compact element configuration. Moreover, when the sliding block is provided with a plurality of sliding grooves, the sliding block is easy to be inclined only by pushing one end side of the sliding block, so that the sliding block is not smooth in movement and even cannot be effectively slid to be positioned, and operation failure is generated; if the middle part of the sliding block is pushed, more operation space is needed, which is not favorable for a computer system with compact element configuration. In addition, if the aforementioned structure design for auxiliary fixing occupies a considerable space, it is not favorable for the flexibility of the configuration of each component of the computer system, and also may be unfavorable for the planning design of the heat dissipation airflow (including the flow guiding structure).

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an expansion card clamping mechanism, which is suitable for an electronic device and is capable of clamping or releasing the edge of an expansion card by a rotation operation.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides an expansion card clamping mechanism, which is suitable for an electronic device, the expansion card clamping mechanism comprising:

a structural member;

the connecting piece is fixed on the structural piece and comprises a shaft rod and a limiting piece, and the shaft rod extends in a connecting direction; and

a rotating member, contains a body of rod and a plurality of card holder, the body of rod contains a shaft hole and a spacing groove, the shaft hole with the linking direction extends, a plurality of card holders with linking direction fixed set up in on the body of rod, each the card holder contains a centre gripping groove, the centre gripping groove perpendicular to linking direction extends, the rotating member with the shaft hole rotationally overlaps in on the axostylus axostyle, the locating part is located the spacing inslot is in order to restrict the body of rod for the axostylus axostyle round the rotation angle scope of linking direction.

Optionally, the limiting groove is a slot, and is communicated with the shaft hole and extends along the joining direction, and the limiting part is a plate and extends along the joining direction.

Optionally, the limiting member connects the shaft rod and the structural member in a direction perpendicular to the joining direction, and one end of the shaft rod is fixed to the structural member.

Optionally, the shaft hole includes an opening, and the slot extends to the opening.

Optionally, the shaft rod includes a hook, the rod body further includes a slot, and the hook is clamped into the slot.

Optionally, the card slot is located between two adjacent card holders.

Optionally, each of the clamping members further includes two parallel plates and a first connecting plate, the two parallel plates are fixed to the rod body relatively and extend perpendicular to the engaging direction, and the first connecting plate is fixed to the rod body and connected between the two parallel plates.

Optionally, the rotating member further includes a second connecting plate fixed on the rod and connected between two adjacent clamping members.

Optionally, the structural member includes a protruding portion, the protruding portion includes a first side and a second side that are opposite to each other, the rotating member further includes an operating portion fixed to one end of the rod, the rotating member rotates relative to the connecting member to be selectively located at a clamping position and a releasing position, when the rotating member is located at the clamping position, one of the card clamping members clamps a card edge of an expansion card disposed in the electronic device, and an abutting side of the operating portion abuts against the first side of the protruding portion, and when the rotating member is located at the releasing position, one of the card clamping members is separated from the card edge, and the abutting side of the operating portion abuts against the second side of the protruding portion.

Optionally, the protruding portion further includes a first blocking surface located on the first side, a second blocking surface located on the second side, and a guiding surface connecting the first blocking surface and the second blocking surface, the first blocking surface and one side of the guiding surface cooperate to define a first clamping point, the second blocking surface and the other side of the guiding surface cooperate to define a second clamping point, when the rotating member is located at the clamping position, the abutting side of the operating portion is limited to be located at the first clamping point, and when the rotating member is located at the releasing position, the abutting side of the operating portion is limited to be located at the second clamping point.

The expansion card clamping mechanism is suitable for an electronic device and comprises a structural member, a connecting member and a rotating member. The connecting piece is fixed on the structural piece and comprises a shaft rod and a limiting piece, and the shaft rod extends in a connecting direction. The rotating piece comprises a rod body and a plurality of clamping and clamping pieces, and the clamping and clamping pieces are fixedly arranged on the rod body in the connection direction. The rod body comprises a shaft hole and a limiting groove, and the shaft hole extends in the connecting direction. Each card clamping piece comprises a clamping groove, and the clamping groove extends perpendicular to the engagement direction. The rotating piece is rotatably sleeved on the shaft rod through the shaft hole, and the limiting piece is positioned in the limiting groove to limit the rotating angle range of the rod body relative to the shaft rod around the connecting direction. Therefore, the card clamping member can be positioned at different positions through the rotating operation of the rotating member, and the effect of clamping and separating the edge of the expansion card is further realized.

Compared with the prior art, the expansion card holding mechanism of the invention occupies less space and can still hold (or support and fix) a plurality of expansion cards. In addition, the expansion card clamping mechanism of the invention utilizes rotation to drive the card clamping piece to move between different positions, so that the problem that the sliding block is easy to be inclined and move unevenly as the sliding block is pushed only one end side in the prior art is solved.

Drawings

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the drawings are provided for a better understanding of the invention and do not constitute any limitation to the scope of the invention. Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an internal portion of an electronic device according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the expansion card retaining mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the rotating member of FIG. 2 from another perspective;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the expansion card retaining mechanism of FIG. 1 taken along line X-X;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the rotary member of FIG. 1 in a release position;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a connector according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the cantilever of FIG. 6 taken along line Y-Y;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the rotating member of the expansion card retaining mechanism in a retaining position;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the rotating member of the expansion card retaining mechanism in a release position;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a connector according to one embodiment.

In the drawings:

1 electronic device

100 system mainboard

102 flow guiding structure

1022 air vent

104 expansion card

1042 card edge

106. 107 expansion card clamping mechanism

1062 structural component

1062a projection

1062b first side

1062c second side

1062d first stop surface

1062e second stop surface

1062f guide surface

1062g first stuck point

1062h second stuck point

1064 connecting piece

1064a shaft rod

1064b stopper

1064c side edge

1064d hook

1064d' cantilever

1064e rib

1064f end

10641 escape groove

10642. 10643 end

10644 inclined plane

1066 rotating element

1066a rod body

1066b card holder

1066c axle hole

1066d limiting groove

1066e clamping groove

1066f opening

1066g closed end

1066h parallel plate

1066k first connecting plate

1066m second connecting plate

1066n card slot

1066p operation part

1066q terminal

1066r butting side

1068 joining direction

1070 Angle of rotation

Detailed Description

To further clarify the objects, advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted that the drawings are in greatly simplified form and are not to scale, but are merely intended to facilitate and clarify the explanation of the embodiments of the present invention. Further, the structures illustrated in the drawings are often part of actual structures. In particular, the drawings may have different emphasis points and may sometimes be scaled differently.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term "or" is generally employed in its sense including "and/or" unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

Please refer to fig. 1. An electronic apparatus 1 (such as but not limited to a server) according to an embodiment includes a device housing (not shown), a system board 100 disposed in the device housing, a flow guiding structure 102, a plurality of expansion cards 104, and an expansion card holding mechanism 106. The expansion card 104 is electrically connected to the system motherboard 100, for example, directly inserted into an expansion card slot on the system motherboard 100 or indirectly connected to the system motherboard 100 via a riser card (mating rack). The expansion card holding mechanism 106 is operable to hold a side of the expansion card 104 to assist in fixing the expansion card 104; the expansion card clamping mechanism 106 can also be operated to disengage the expansion card 104 to facilitate the removal and installation of the expansion card 104.

Please refer to fig. 2 to fig. 4. The expansion card holding mechanism 106 includes a structure 1062, a connector 1064 and a rotating member 1066 in the electronic apparatus 1. The connecting member 1064 is fixed to the structural member 1062 and includes a shaft 1064a and a stopper 1064b, the shaft 1064a extending in an engaging direction 1068 (shown in fig. 2 with an arrow). The rotating member 1066 includes a rod 1066a and a plurality of clip members 1066 b. The rod 1066a includes a shaft hole 1066c and a limiting groove 1066d, and the shaft hole 1066c extends in the engaging direction 1068. The plurality of card holders 1066b are fixedly disposed on the rod 1066a in the engaging direction 1068, for example, the plurality of card holders 1066b are fixedly disposed on the rod 1066a at intervals in the engaging direction 1068, and the card holder 1066b includes a holding groove 1066e extending perpendicular to the engaging direction 1068. The rotating element 1066 is rotatably sleeved on the shaft 1064a through the shaft hole 1066c, and the limiting element 1064b is located in the limiting groove 1066d to limit the rotation angle 1070 (as indicated in fig. 4) of the rod 1066a relative to the shaft 1064a about the engaging direction 1068.

In this embodiment, the axial hole 1066c includes an opening 1066f at one end of the rod 1066 a. The limiting groove 1066d is a slot, communicates with the shaft hole 1066c and extends to the opening 1066f along the engaging direction 1068; on the other hand, the rod 1066a is logically equivalent to a tube, and has an opening at one end, and the limiting groove 1066d is a slot extending axially from the opening on the tube wall. The position-limiting member 1064b is a plate extending along the engaging direction 1068. The stopper 1064b connects the shaft 1064a and the structural member 1062 in a direction perpendicular to the engaging direction 1068.

When the rotating element 1066 is assembled to the connecting element 1064, the shaft hole 1066c of the rotating element 1066 is aligned with the shaft 1064a, the limiting slot 1066d is aligned with the limiting element 1064b, and the rotating element 1066 is sleeved on the shaft 1064a along the engaging direction 1068. In the present embodiment, the closed end 1066g of the limiting slot 1066d stops one side 1064c of the limiting element 1064b, so as to achieve the assembling and positioning effects. Due to the interaction between the retaining groove 1066d and the retaining member 1064b, the rotation angle 1070 of the rotating member 1066 relative to the rod 1066a is limited, and the actual setting value depends on the actual product. In this embodiment, the rotating element 1066 is operable to rotate relative to the connecting element 1064 to selectively assume a clamping position (as shown in FIG. 1) or a release position (as shown in FIG. 5). When the rotating member 1066 is located at the holding position, the card holding members 1066b hold a card edge 1042 of the corresponding expansion card 104 to assist in fixing the corresponding expansion card 104 (as shown in fig. 1); when the rotating member 1066 is located at the releasing position, the card holders 1066b are disengaged from the card edge 1042 (shown in fig. 5) of the corresponding expansion card 104, so as to facilitate the detachment and installation of the corresponding expansion card 104.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the card holder 1066b includes two parallel plates 1066h and a first connecting plate 1066 k. The two parallel plates 1066h are fixed to the rod 1066a and extend perpendicular to the engaging direction 1068 to form a clamping slot 1066 e. The first connecting plate 1066k is fixed on the rod 1066a and connected between the two parallel plates 1066h, which is beneficial to the structural strength of the card holder 1066 b. The rotating member 1066 further includes a plurality of second connecting plates 1066m fixed on the rod 1066a, and the second connecting plates 1066m are connected between two adjacent card holders 1066b, which is also beneficial to the structural strength of the rod 1066a and the card holders 1066 b.

In addition, in the embodiment, the shaft 1064a includes a hook 1064d, and the rod 1066a correspondingly includes a slot 1066 n. After the rotating element 1066 is assembled to the connecting element 1064, the hook 1064d is engaged with the slot 1066n, which helps prevent the rotating element 1066 from disengaging from the connecting element 1064. The hook 1064d protrudes out of the circumferential surface of the shaft 1064a, the slot 1066n is a through hole and is communicated with the shaft hole 1066c, and the slot 1066n extends perpendicular to the engaging direction 1068, so that the hook 1064d can be kept locked in the slot 1066n when the rotating element 1066 rotates relative to the shaft 1064 a. In practice, the hook 1064d may be a cantilever 1064d' (as shown in fig. 6). Please refer to fig. 7. In this example, the shaft 1064a includes an escape slot 10641 corresponding to the cantilever 1064d ', one end 10642 of the cantilever 1064d' is fixed to a side of the escape slot 10641, and the other end 10643 of the cantilever 1064d 'is suspended in the escape slot 10641, such that the cantilever 1064d' can elastically deflect in the escape slot 10641. The cantilever 1064d ' includes a slope 10644, which allows the rod 1066a to push against to deflect the cantilever 1064d ' downward (as shown by the dotted line in fig. 7), so that the cantilever 1064d ' is clamped into the slot 1066 n. When the rotating element 1066 is to be disengaged from the connecting element 1064, a user may use a tool to push the hook 1064d (or the cantilever 1064d ') through the slot 1066n to disengage the hook 1064d (or the cantilever 1064d') from the slot 1066n, so as to pull the rotating element 1066 away from the connecting element 1064. In addition, in the present embodiment, the card slot 1066n is located between two adjacent card holders 1066 b; in other words, the slot 1066n is located in the middle of the rod 1066 a.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the shaft 1064a includes a plurality of ribs 1064e extending along the engaging direction 1068 and slidably abutting against an inner wall surface of the shaft hole 1066c (as shown in fig. 2 and 4), which helps to reduce a friction area between the shaft 1064a and the shaft hole 1066c and improve the stability of the rotation of the rod 1066a relative to the shaft 1064 a.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the rotating element 1066 includes an operating portion 1066p fixed at one end 1066q of the rod 1066 a; in practice, the rotating element 1066 may be, but is not limited to, integrally formed (e.g., injection molded). The structure 1062 correspondingly includes a protrusion 1062 a. When the rotating element 1066 rotates relative to the shaft 1064a, the protrusion 1062a and the operating part 1066p may interfere with each other, and the structure of the protrusion 1062a can be elastically deformed to allow the operating part 1066p to slide through; this can be achieved by the selection of the material of the protrusion 1062a, or by the structural design of the protrusion 1062a, such as the protrusion 1062a implemented in a cantilever structure. Please refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. In the present embodiment, the protruded portion 1062a includes a first side 1062b, a second side 1062c, a first blocking surface 1062d located on the first side 1062b, a second blocking surface 1062e located on the second side 1062c, and a guiding surface 1062f connecting the first blocking surface 1062d and the second blocking surface 1062 e. The first stopping surface 1062d cooperates with one side of the guiding surface 1062f to define a first stopping point 1062g (indicated by cross marks), and the second stopping surface 1062e cooperates with the other side of the guiding surface 1062f to define a second stopping point 1062h (indicated by cross marks). The operating portion 1066p includes an abutting side 1066 r. When the rotating member 1066 is located at the clamping position (as shown in fig. 1 and 8), the abutting side 1066r of the operating portion 1066p abuts against the first side 1062b of the protruding portion 1062 a; more precisely, the abutting side 1066r of the operating portion 1066p is limited to the first clipping point 1062 g. When the rotating member 1066 is located at the releasing position (as shown in fig. 5 and 9), the abutting side 1066r of the operating portion 1066p abuts against the second side 1062c of the protrusion 1062 a; more precisely, the abutting side 1066r of the operating portion 1066p is limited to the second clipping point 1062 h. In short, the rotating member 1066 can be stably stopped at the clamping position and the releasing position by the interaction of the operating part 1066p and the protrusion 1062 a.

In addition, in the embodiment, the connecting element 1064 is fixed to the structural element 1062 through the limiting element 1064b, but the implementation is not limited thereto. For example, depending on the actual structure of the structure 1062, it may also be possible to fix an end 1064f of the shaft 1064a to the structure 1062, i.e., the shaft 1064a and the stopper 1064b are connected to each other and to the structure 1062, which is configured to facilitate the connection strength between the connector 1064 and the structure 1062, as shown in fig. 10 (or directly referred to as another expansion card holding mechanism 107 in fig. 1). In this example, on the other hand, the connecting member 1064 extends along the engaging direction 1068 and is connected to the structural member 1062, and the limiting member 1064b extends from the shaft 1064a to the structural member 1062 perpendicular to the engaging direction 1068. For another example, the shaft 1064a is directly connected to the structural component 1062, and the limiting component 1064b is indirectly connected to the structural component 1062 through the shaft 1064a, which can be obtained based on the above description and is not shown. For another example, the shaft 1064a and the limiting element 1064b are respectively connected to the structural element 1062, but are not connected to each other, and the specific structure thereof may be obtained based on the foregoing description, and thus is not illustrated.

As described above, the card clamping mechanism 106 drives the card clamping member 1066b by rotating, so that it occupies less space and does not easily cause the slider to tilt and move unevenly as the prior art only pushes one end of the slider. In addition, in the embodiment, the structure 1062 is a part of the flow guiding structure 102, and the flow guiding structure 102 includes a ventilation opening 1022, and the rotating element 1066 is adjacent to the ventilation opening 1022, but the implementation is not limited to this configuration. In practice, the structure 1062 and the connecting member 1064 may be integrally formed (e.g., injection molded) with each other. Since the expansion card holding mechanism 106 occupies little space, even if the expansion card holding mechanism 106 occupies a portion of the area of the vent 1022, in principle, the influence on the airflow through the vent 1022 is not great. In practice, the structural member 1062 may also be another structural member of the electronic device 1 (e.g., a structural frame for fixing the other structural member). In addition, since the expansion card holding mechanism 106 occupies a small space, it is suitable for installing a plurality of expansion card holding mechanisms 106 in an electronic device including a plurality of expansion cards (or a plurality of expansion card extraction racks); as shown in fig. 1, another expansion card holding mechanism 107 is further disposed in the electronic device 1, and is used for holding another set of expansion cards (or an expansion card rack; indicated by a dashed-line frame).

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the claims of the present invention should be covered by the present invention.

Claims

1. An expansion card holding mechanism, adapted for an electronic device, the expansion card holding mechanism comprising:

a structural member;

2. The expansion card retaining mechanism of claim 1, wherein the retaining groove is a slot communicating with the axial hole and extending along the engaging direction, and the retaining member is a plate extending along the engaging direction.

3. The expansion card holding mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the stopper connects the shaft and the structural member in a direction perpendicular to the engaging direction, and one end of the shaft is fixed to the structural member.

4. The expansion card retaining mechanism of claim 3, wherein the shaft hole includes an opening, and the slot extends to the opening.

5. The expansion card clamping mechanism of claim 1, wherein the shaft comprises a hook, and the rod further comprises a slot, and the hook is engaged with the slot.

6. The expansion card holding mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said card slot is located between adjacent two of said card holding members.

7. The expansion card holding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein each of said card holders further comprises two parallel plates fixed to said bar body and extending perpendicularly to said engaging direction, and a first connecting plate fixed to said bar body and connected between said two parallel plates.

8. The expansion card retaining mechanism of claim 7, wherein the rotating member further comprises a second connecting plate fixed to the rod and connected between two adjacent card retaining members.

9. The expansion card retaining mechanism of claim 1, wherein the structural member comprises a protrusion, the protruding part comprises a first side and a second side which are arranged oppositely, the rotating piece further comprises an operating part fixed at one end of the rod body, the rotating piece rotates relative to the connecting piece to be selectively positioned at a clamping position and a releasing position, when the rotating member is located at the clamping position, one of the card clamping members clamps a card edge of an expansion card arranged in the electronic equipment, and a top side of the operating portion abuts against the first side of the protruding portion, and when the rotating member is located at the releasing position, one of the plurality of card clamping members is separated from the card edge, and the abutting side of the operating part abuts against the second side of the protruding part.

10. The expansion card retaining mechanism of claim 9, wherein the protrusion further comprises a first stop surface on the first side, a second stop surface on the second side, and a guide surface connecting the first stop surface and the second stop surface, the first stop surface and one side of the guide surface cooperatively defining a first engagement point, the second stop surface and the other side of the guide surface cooperatively defining a second engagement point, the abutting side of the operating portion being constrained to the first engagement point when the rotating member is in the retaining position, and the abutting side of the operating portion being constrained to the second engagement point when the rotating member is in the releasing position.