GB2448946A

GB2448946A - A deformable buffer structure for providing an elastic deformation to absorb external vibrations

Info

Publication number: GB2448946A
Application number: GB0715645A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ching Ling Shen
Original assignee: Twinhead International Corp
Current assignee: Twinhead International Corp
Priority date: 2007-04-30
Filing date: 2007-08-10
Publication date: 2008-11-05
Also published as: TWM328649U; GB0715645D0; CN201094122Y

Abstract

A buffer structure comprises a base 41, a frame 42, a plurality of retaining elements 43, a plurality of buffer elements 44, and a plurality of positioning elements 45. The base 41 is provided with a plurality of positioning cavities 411, and the frame 42 is provided with a plurality of through-holes 421 corresponding to the positioning cavities 411. Each of the retaining elements 43 is respectively received in the corresponding positioning cavity 411. Each of the buffer elements 44 is a hollow sleeve respectively sleeved on the corresponding retaining element 43, and the buffer element 44 has a height greater than that of the retaining element 43. Each of the positioning elements 45 is respectively passed through the corresponding through-hole 421 of the frame 42, and the positioning element 45 presses against and deforms the buffer element 44 via the frame 42, so as to position the positioning element 45 in the pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43.

Description

BUFFER STRUCTURE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a buffer structure, and more particularly to a deformable buffer structure for providing an elastic deformation to absorb external vibrations, so as to protect an electronic device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, a conventional hard disk drive (HDD) is liable to be damaged by any shock or vibration. As vibration happening in the peripheral environment of a business computer may be relatively slighter, the problem rendered by the vibration is not serious. However, vibration happening in the peripheral environment of an industrial computer or a military computer may be relatively stronger, a hard disk drive thereof is liable to be damaged. Therefore, if a hard disk drive is applied to an industrial computer, a military computer, an automobile computer, a ship computer, or a computer operated under a peripheral environment with high vibrations, it is necessary to enhance the shockproof property of the hard disk drive to protect it from getting shocked.

Referring now to Figs. I and 2, a conventional shockproof holder and a shock absorber thereof are respectively illustrated. As shown, the shockproof holder comprises a hard disk drive 11, an inner frame 12, an outer frame 13, and four shock absorbers 14, wherein the inner frame 12 is provided with a plurality of holes (not shown) on a lower surface and side surfaces thereof for being selectively connected to the hard disk drive II of various specifications by a plurality of screws (not shown).

Meanwhile, the inner frame 12 is provided with a plurality of holes (unlabeled) on corner portions thereof for being respectively connected to a threaded connector 141 of the shock absorbers 14 by a plurality of screws (unlabeled). Furthermore, the outer frame 13 is provided with four projected holes (unlabeled) on corner portions thereof for being respectively connected to a threaded connector 142 of the shock absorbers 14 by a plurality of screws 15. The shock absorbers 14 is provided with a cylindrical rubber sleeve 21 and the two threaded connectors 1 41, 142 respectively connected to two ends of the cylindrical rubber sleeve 21, so that the shock absorbers 14 can be connected to the inner frame 12 and the outer frame 13 by the screws for providing a shock-absorbing function.

However, the conventional shockproof holder and the shock absorber thereof comprise a multiplicity of components, resulting in increases of the assembling complexity and the manufacture cost thereof.

It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a buffer structure to solve the problems existing in the conventional shockproof holder and the shock absorber thereof, as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a buffer structure, which is a deformable buffer element for providing an elastic deformation to absorb external vibrations, so as to protect an electronic device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

To achieve the above object, the buffer structure of a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a base, a frame, a plurality of retaining elements, a plurality of buffer elements, and a plurality of positioning elements, wherein the base is provided with a plurality of positioning cavities, and the frame is provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the positioning cavities. Each of the retaining elements is provided with a flange and a post having a lower end connected to the flange and an upper end formed with a pivotal hole. The flange has an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding positioning cavity of the base, while the post has an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the flange. Thus, each of the retaining elements is respectively received in the corresponding positioning cavity. Each of the buffer elements is a hollow sleeve respectively sleeved on the corresponding post, and the buffer element has a height greater than that of the post. Each of the positioning elements is respectively passed through the corresponding through hole of the frame, and the positioning element presses against the buffer element via the frame, so as to position the positioning element in the pivotal hole of the retaining element. As a result, the buffer element is deformed and engaged in the corresponding positioning cavity of the base for positioning the frame in the base with a buffer allowance in all directions.

As described above, according to the buffer structure of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning element presses against the buffer element via the frame, so as to position the positioning element in the pivotal hole of the retaining element. Thus, the flange of the retaining element and the frame respectively press two ends of the buffer element, and the buffer element will be deformed and engaged in the positioning cavity of the base, so as to position the frame in the base and absorb external vibrations with a buffer allowance in all directions, in order to protect an electronic device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. I is a side view of a conventional shockproof holder; Fig. 2 includes a side view, an upper view, a bottom view, and a cross-sectional view of a conventional shock absorber; Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an electronic apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a buffer structure according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; is Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a positioning element before being positioned in a pivotal hole of a retaining element according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the positioning element after being positioned in the pivotal hole of the retaining element according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to Fig. 3, an exploded perspective view of an electronic apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. As shown, the electronic apparatus comprises a housing 31, a hard disk drive (HDD) 32 (i.e. an electronic device) disposed in the housing 31, and a cover 33 covering the hard disk drive 32.

Referring now to Fig. 4, an exploded perspective view of a buffer structure according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the buffer structure comprises a base 41, a frame 42, a plurality of retaining elements 43, a plurality of buffer elements 44, and a plurality of positioning elements 45, wherein the base 41 is provided with a plurality of positioning cavities 411, and the frame 42 is provided with a plurality of through holes 421 corresponding to the positioning cavities 411. Each of the retaining elements 43 is provided with a flange 431 and a post 432 having a lower end 433 connected to the flange 431 and an upper end 434 formed with a pivotal hole 435. The flange 431 has an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding positioning cavity 411 of the base 41, while the post 432 has an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the flange 431. Thus, each of the retaining elements 43 is respectively received in the corresponding positioning cavity 411. Each of the buffer elements 44 is a hollow sleeve respectively sleeved on the corresponding post 432, and the buffer element 44 has a height greater than that of the post 432. Each of the positioning elements 45 is respectively passed through the corresponding through hole 421 of the frame 42, and the positioning element 45 presses against the buffer element 44 via the frame 42, so as to position the positioning element 45 in the pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43.

As a result, the buffer element 44 is deformed and engaged in the corresponding positioning cavity 411 of the base 41 for positioning the frame 42 in the base 41 with a buffer allowance in all directions.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, two cross-sectional views of the positioning element 45 before/after being positioned in the pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention are illustrated. As shown in Fig. 5, the positioning element 45 is still not positioned in the pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43, while the frame 42 is only in loosely contact with the buffer element 44. As shown in Fig. 6, the positioning element 45 is inserted into the pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43, so that the frame 42 presses against the buffer element 44 for positioning the positioning element 45 in the pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43. Thus, the flange 431 of the retaining element 43 and the frame 42 respectively 1 o press two ends of the buffer element 44, and the buffer element 44 will be deformed and engaged in the positioning cavity 411 of the base 41, so as to position the frame 42 in the base 41 and absorb external vibrations with a buffer allowance in all directions, in order to protect an electronic device (such as the hard disk drive 32, a mother board, or an optical disk drive) fixedly mounted in the frame 42.

As described above, the base 43 is mounted in the electronic apparatus 31 which may be a portable computer. The flange 431 of the retaining element 43 can be shaped in various configurations, while the post 432 thereof also can be shaped in various configurations. According 2 0 to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the flange 43 1 and the post 432 are preferably shaped in a cylindrical configuration without limitation. The pivotal hole 435 of the retaining element 43 is provided with an inner thread therein. The positioning element 45 is preferably a screw for being screw-connected to the pivotal hole 435, in order to press against the buffer element 44 (such as a rubber element) to provide an elastic deformation.

The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications to the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is: I. A buffer structure, comprising: a base provided

with a plurality of positioning cavities; a frame provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to s the positioning cavities; a plurality of retaining elements respectively received in the corresponding positioning cavities, and respectively provided with a flange and a post having a lower end connected to the flange and an upper end formed with a pivotal hole, wherein the flange has an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the corresponding positioning cavity of the base, while the post has an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the flange; a plurality of buffer elements respectively being a hollow sleeve sleeved on the corresponding post of the retaining element, wherein 1 5 the buffer element has a height greater than that of the post; and a plurality of positioning elements respectively passed through the corresponding through hole of the frame, and pressing against the buffer element via the frame, so as to position the positioning element in the pivotal hole of the retaining element; wherein the buffer element is deformed and engaged in the corresponding positioning cavity of the base for providing for positioning the frame in the base with a buffer allowance in all directions.
2. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the base is mounted in an electronic apparatus.
3. The buffer structure of claim 2, wherein the electronic apparatus is a

portable computer.
4. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the frame receives an electronic device.
5. The buffer structure of claim 4, wherein the electronic device is a hard disk drive, a mother board, or an optical disk drive.
6. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the flange of the retaining element is shaped in various configurations.
7. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the post of the retaining element is shaped in various configurations.
8. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the pivotal hole of the retaining element is provided with an inner thread therein.
9. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the positioning element is a screw.
10. The buffer structure of claim 1, wherein the buffer element is a rubber element.