JP2007188371A - Power source unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power source unit for an information processor, the power source unit which adopts length-adjustable power source cables, and hence can share a power source even with an apparatus having different casing structure connecting power source cables of different lengths of a connector having a large number of cables and of connectors for connecting each device and also can eliminating excess lengths of cables. <P>SOLUTION: The power source unit is composed of: a power source unit main body which supplies power to the main substrate and drive of the information processor through the power source cable; and a cable unit composed of a fixed-length power source cable connected to the power source unit main body detachably and connected to at least the main substrate and a variable-length power source cable of which the cable length can be varied by a cable housing unit from which the cables can be pulled out and in which the cables are housed according to a connection destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a power supply device for an information processing apparatus, and a cable length adjustment mechanism in a power supply unit, wherein the cable length of a power cable for supplying power to a package substrate such as a removable device and a motherboard is adjusted.

  Conventionally, the power supply unit and power supply DC cable used in information processing devices are integrated, and the required cable length varies depending on the structure of the chassis, so the model changes and the motherboard and chassis change. It was necessary to examine the cable length of the power supply every time and to change the cable length of the power supply as necessary. In addition, the removable device may be removed and replaced from the front of the system apparatus during maintenance work, and it has been necessary to provide extra length for the power supply DC cable and interface cable on the back of the drive. However, if the power supply DC cable has an extra length, extra length processing occurs on the back of the CD-ROM drive, MO drive, and various removable devices, and the extra length processing becomes difficult depending on the structure of the casing. Further, there is a problem that the extra length of the cable is easily damaged by surrounding obstacles during maintenance work.

  For this reason, it is necessary to change the cable length of the DC cable for power supply. As a conventional technique for changing the cable length of the power supply cable in this way, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1, for example. The main feature of Patent Document 1 is that a power cable storage space is provided in the AC adapter main body, and a power cable storage mechanism capable of being pulled out and stored in the power cable is provided.

JP 2000-159445 A

  However, there are the following problems when the technique described in the above-mentioned patent document is applied to the power supply unit of the information processing apparatus. The power supply unit is provided with a reel for storing the power cable, whereby the power cable is wound and stored. In this way, providing the reel inside the power supply unit has a problem of how to realize the interface between the power cable and the reel, unlike the case where the storage device is provided in the conventional AC adapter. In addition, there is a problem that a cable having a large number of wires such as ATX24Pin connected to the motherboard is difficult to be accommodated in a reel and the cable length cannot be adjusted.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art and provide a power supply unit capable of adjusting the length of a power cable in the power supply unit of the information processing apparatus.

  The power supply unit of the present invention includes a power supply unit main body that supplies power to a main board and a drive of an information processing apparatus via a power cable, and a fixed length that is detachably connected to the power supply unit main body and connected to at least the main board. And a cable unit comprising a variable-length power cable whose cable length can be varied by a cable storage unit that can be pulled out and stored according to the connection destination.

  According to the present invention, in the power supply unit of the information processing apparatus, it is possible to adjust the cable length of the connector having a large number of wires and the connector for connecting each device, and the power supply can be shared by apparatuses having different housing structures. It is possible to eliminate the extra cable length. For example, when a removable device is taken out from the front of the system apparatus and replaced during maintenance work such as replacement of the removable device, the DC cable is pulled out together with the removable device, so that the device can be easily replaced.

  In the prior art, the DC cable connected to the printed circuit board such as the motherboard of the information processing apparatus has a large number of wires, and it is difficult to adjust the cable storage unit and the cable length. Although the length is fixed, it is possible to realize a mechanism capable of connecting a DC cable having an arbitrary length according to the distance to the connection destination.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example in which a mechanism for adjusting a power cable length in a power supply unit of an information processing apparatus is constructed. As shown in FIG. 1, the basic configuration of the power cable length adjusting mechanism in the power supply unit of this embodiment is such that the power supply unit 1 eliminates the DC cable connected to each device and is cable-less. A DC connector 2, a DC connector 3, an ATX 24 Pin connector 4, an ATX 12 Pin connector 5, and an ATX 4 Pin connector 6 provided on the power supply unit 1 as an interface for supplying power from the power supply unit 1 are installed. The unit 9 and the cable storage unit 13 are connected by a cable storage unit-attached connector 7 and a cable storage unit-attached connector 8.

  The DC cable 10 and the DC cable 14 drawn from the cable storage unit 9 and the cable storage unit 13 are mainly connected to a removable device of the information processing apparatus. An ATX24Pin cable 21 is connected to the ATX24Pin connector 4 via an ATX24Pin connector 18, and an ATX4Pin cable 23 is connected to the ATX4Pin connector 6 via an ATX4Pin connector 20. An ATX12Pin cable 22 is connected to the ATX12Pin connector 5 by an ATX12Pin connector 19 to supply DC power to the SCSI backplane board 31.

  Next, referring to FIG. 2, a state in which the power supply unit of the present embodiment is carefully mounted for information processing will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the power supply unit according to claim 1 is mounted on the information processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the cable storage unit 9 and the cable storage unit 13 connected to the power supply unit 1 are cable storage units for changing the cable length, and the power cable can be pulled out and adjusted to an arbitrary length. It has a reel (not shown) having a mechanism capable of winding and storing a cable.

  The DC connector 11 and the DC connector 12 attached to the variable length DC cable 10 drawn from the cable storage unit 9 are connected to a DAT changer 27 of the removable device. The DC connector 15 attached to the variable length DC cable 14 drawn from the cable storage unit 13 is an MO drive 28, the DC connector 16 is a CD-ROM drive 29, and the floppy disk drive DC connector 17 is a floppy. When the removable device is connected to the disk drive 30 and the removable device is taken out from the front surface of the system apparatus at the time of maintenance work such as replacement of the removable device, the DC cable is pulled out together with the removable device so that the device can be easily replaced. I can do it.

  In the prior art, the DC cable connected to the printed circuit board such as the motherboard of the information processing apparatus has a large number of wires, and it is difficult to adjust the cable storage unit and the cable length. Although the length is fixed, it is possible to realize a mechanism capable of connecting a DC cable having an arbitrary length according to the distance to the connection destination. As shown in FIG. 3, the ATX24Pin cable 21 is connected to the ATX24Pin connector 4 connected to the power supply unit 1 by the ATX24Pin connector 18, the ATX24Pin connector 24 is connected to the ATX24Pin connector 34 of the motherboard 32, and the ATX4Pin connector 6 Are connected by the ATX4Pin connector 20 and the ATX4Pin connector 26 is connected to the ATX4Pin connector 35 of the motherboard 32. An ATX12Pin cable 22 is connected to the ATX12Pin connector 5 by an ATX12Pin connector 19, and the ATX12Pin connector 25 is connected to an ATX12Pin connector 33 of the SCSI backplane board 31.

  With the above mechanism, it is possible to adjust the length of the connector with many wires and the cable length for connecting each removable device according to the mounting position of the removable device and the motherboard. It is possible to share the power source for devices having different structures, and to eliminate the extra cable length. In the present embodiment, the number, position, shape and the like of the constituent members described are not limited to the above embodiment.

It is the figure which showed the adjustment mechanism of a power cable. It is a figure explaining the mechanism which can change cable length with a cable storage unit. It is a figure explaining the mechanism in which DC cable of arbitrary length is connectable according to the distance with a connecting point.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Power supply unit, 2 ... DC connector (4Pin), 3 ... DC connector (4Pin),
4 ... ATX24Pin connector, 5 ... ATX12Pin connector,
6 ... ATX4Pin connector,
7 ... DC connector (4Pin) attached to the cable storage unit,
8 ... DC connector (4Pin) attached to cable storage unit,
9 ... Cable storage unit, 10 ... DC cable (4Pin),
11 ... DC connector (4Pin), 12 ... DC connector (4Pin),
13 ... Cable storage unit, 14 ... DC cable (4Pin),
15 ... DC connector (4Pin), 16 ... DC connector (4Pin),
17 ... DC connector for floppy disk drive (4Pin),
18 ... ATX24Pin connector, 19 ... ATX12Pin connector,
20 ... ATX4Pin connector, 21 ... ATX24Pin cable,
22 ... ATX12Pin cave, 23 ... ATX4Pin cave,
24 ... ATX24Pin connector, 25 ... ATX12Pin connector,
26 ... ATX4Pin connector, 27 ... DAT changer, 28 ... MO drive,
29 ... CD-ROM drive, 30 ... floppy disk drive,
31 ... SCSI backplane board, 32 ... Motherboard,
33 ... ATX12Pin connector, 34 ... ATX24Pin connector,
35 ... ATX4Pin connector, 36 ... Hard disk

Claims (1)

A power supply unit main body for supplying power via a power cable to the main board and drive of the information processing apparatus;
A variable-length power supply that can be connected to the main body of the power supply unit in a detachable manner, and can be changed in length by a fixed-length power supply cable that is connected to at least the main board and a cable storage unit that can be pulled out and stored according to the connection destination. A power supply unit comprising a cable unit including a cable.

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