GB2334151A

GB2334151A - Circuit board injector/ejector device

Info

Publication number: GB2334151A
Application number: GB9802514A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham George Quarrell
Original assignee: APW Electronics Ltd
Current assignee: APW Electronics Ltd
Priority date: 1998-02-05
Filing date: 1998-02-05
Publication date: 1999-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2018-02-05
Also published as: GB9802514D0; GB2334151B

Abstract

An injector/ejector device 1 is provided to insert a printed circuit board to which it is attached into a sub rack or card frame. The injector/ejector device 1 includes a first member 5 having a back plate 6 which is secured to a front panel of the circuit board (not shown) and a forwardly projecting web 8 having a transverse groove 9 therein in which a latch 10 is pivotally engaged. A lever member 14 is pivoted on the first member 5 by means of an axle 15 and a torsion spring 13 biasses the latch member 10 so that when the board has been inserted and pressed fully rearwardly by clockwise movement of the lever member 14 a latch projection 10a of the latch member 10 engages in front of a latch projection 14a of the lever member 14 to maintain the fully rearward position of the latch member 14 and thus the fully inserted position of the board.

Description

INJECTOR/EJECTOR DEVICE The invention relates to an injector/ejector device.

Such injector/ejector devices are widely used for engaging and disengaging front panels or printed circuit boards from sub racks.

It is previously known to have a member pivotably coupled to a front panel of a circuit board with the member having, spaced from the pivot, a jaw which engages a front tie bar member of a sub rack or card frame for circuit cards or modules. By pivoting the member about the pivot, the jaw can be caused to engage the front tie bar member so that, depending upon the direction of rotation of the member, the circuit board can either be pressed inwardly towards the sub rack or ejected therefrom. Normally the board has electrical connections at its rear end and the inward motion makes electrical contacts and the outward motion breaks such electrical contacts. Some previously proposed arrangements of this kind have included screws or bolts which, once the card has been inserted, are tightened to retain the card against subsequent removal without prior loosening of the screwed clamping means.

According to the invention an injector/ejector device comprises a first member to be secured to a front panel to which a circuit board to be inserted and removed from a sub rack or card frame is secured, a lever member pivotally mounted on the first member and including, at a position spaced from the pivot, a jaw to cooperate with a front tie bar member of a sub rack or card frame, and a latch member pivotal with respect to the first member and spring biassed into a position to retain the lever member in a position which it attains upon complete injection of the circuit board into the sub rack or card frame.

When it is required to remove the circuit board, the latch member is operated to release it from the lever member and allow the lever member to pivot with respect to the first member to eject the board from the sub rack or card frame.

Upon insertion of the board into the card rack or sub frame and rotation of the lever member to the fully-in position, the latch member will automatically engage the lever member to retain that position.

Advantageously the first member, the lever member and the latch member are all mouldings of plastics materials or die cast metal components and the pivot arrangement between the first member and the latch member comprises a transverse groove in the first member with an internal dimension greater than the mouth of the groove and with a curved profile, the latch member being engaged in the groove in the first member by relative transverse movement thereof before insertion of the first member and the latch member together into a recess in the lever member and insertion of a transverse axle thereby pivotally to mount the lever member on the first member.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an injector/ejector device according to the invention in a position to hold a circuit board in position on a tie bar of a sub rack; Figure 2 is a sectional view through the injector/ejector device of Figure 1 when in an opposite position, that is to say when tripped for ejection of .e circuit board from the sub rack; and Figure 3 is a schematic view of a first member of the injector/ejector device.

Referring to the drawings, an injector/ejector device 1 is provided to insert a printed circuit board by means of a front panel 2 to which it is attached into a sub rack or card frame only a bottom rail 3 of which is shown in Figure 1. The bottom rail 3 has an upstanding front tie bar member 4 with which the injector/ejector device 1 engages to press the printed circuit board rearwardly fte rightwardly as viewed in Figure 1, to engage it or to move it forwardly ie leftwardly as viewed in Figure 1, to remove it.

The injector/ejector device 1 includes a first member 5, shown on its own in Figure 3, having a back plate 6 which is secured to the circuit board front panel 2 by a screw (not shown) which passes through the circuit board front panel 2 and engages in a bore in a metal insert which is moulded into a bore 7 in the first member 5, although the screw insert is not shown in Figure 3.

The member 5 also has a forwardly projecting web 8 having a transverse groove 9 therein which is of curved profile and has a greater inner dimension than a mouth thereof such that a latch member 10, shown in Figure 2, can be pivotally engaged therein. The latch member has a head 11 of matching profile to the groove 9 so that after relative transverse movement of the first member 5 and the latch member 10 to engage the head 11 in the groove 9, the latch member 10 is capable of limited angular pivoting movement with respect to the first member 5.

The forwardly projecting web 8 at a lower position is bifurcated to form members 12 between which a torsion spring 13 can be mounted.

A lever member 14 is pivotally mounted with respect to the first member 5 by means of an axle 15 which passes through bores 16 in the bifurcated members 12, through the bore in the torsion spring 13 and through bores in side members of the lever member 14. Thus the lever 14 has a front to rear through passage 17, the rear end of which receives the web 8 of the first member 5 and the front end of which houses the projecting front end of the latch 10.

At its upper end the lever member is formed a handle 18 and at its lower end it has a transverse groove 19 forming a forward jaw 20 and a rearward jaw 21. The jaws 20 and 21 cooperate with the tie bar member 4 of the sub rack 3 upon pivotable movement of the lever arm 14 about the axle 15 to pull the board front panel 2 forwardly or to press it rearwardly respectively.

When the board front panel 2 has been inserted and pressed fully rearwardly by clockwise movement of the lever member 14 as viewed in Figure 2 causing the jaw 21 to engage the tie bar member 4, the lever member moves to an upright position and the latch member 10, biassed by the spring 13, moves clockwise to engage a latch projection 10a of the latch member 10 in front of a latch projection 14a of the lever member 14. Such engagement maintains the fully rearward position of the latch member 14 and thus the fully inserted position of the board front panel 2.

To remove the board by anticlockwise pull applied to the lever member 14, it is first necessary to depress the front end of the latch member 10 to disengage the latch projections 10a 14a from one another and free the lever member for rotation about the axle 15.

The injector/ejector device 1 is thus self locking in the "board inserted" position and no other fixing arrangement is required allowing an operator to move in, eject the board and move out with the board in hand without the use of tools and without lingering.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An injector/ejector device comprising a first member to be secured to a front panel to which a circuit board to be inserted and removed from a sub rack or card frame is secured, a lever member pivotally mounted on the first member and including, at a position spaced from the pivot, a jaw to cooperate with a front tie bar member of a sub rack or card frame, and a latch member pivotal with respect to the first member and spring biassed into a position to retain the lever member in a position which it attains upon complete injection of the card circuit board into the sub rack or card frame.
2. An injector/ejector device according to claim 1, wherein the latch member can be operated to release it from the lever member and allow the lever member to pivot with respect to the first member to eject the board from the sub rack or card frame.
3. An injector/ejector device according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which, upon insertion of the board into the card rack or sub frame and rotation of the lever member to the fully-in position, the latch member automatically engages the lever member to retain that position.
4. An injector/ejector device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first member, the lever member and the latch member are all mouldings of plastics materials or die cast metal components.
5. An injector/ejector device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pivot arrangement between the first member and the latch member comprises a transverse groove in the first member with an internal dimension greater than the mouth of the groove and with a curved profile, and the latch member is engageable in the first member by relative transverse movement thereof before insertion of the first member and the latch member together into a recess in the lever member and insertion of a transverse axle pivotally to mount the lever member on the first member.
6. An injector/ejector device substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.