JP4035512B2 - Protective case for hard disk drive - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a protective case for a hard disk drive 1 having a connector 4 on a front surface 3 of a disk drive body 2.

  In recent years, a form called a removable hard disk drive (HDD) has been developed as a small, light and large capacity hard disk drive 1 which can be detachably mounted on an AV device or a computer, and which can be removed from the device side and carried.

  The hard disk drive 1 there is a rectangular disk drive main body 2, a connector 4 provided on the front surface 3 of the disk drive main body 2, and left and right side surfaces 5 and 5 of the disk drive main body 2 so that the front end is open. It includes a loading guide groove 6, 6 extending in the front-rear direction and a positioning recess 8 formed across the upper surface 7 and the left and right side surfaces 5, 5 at a portion near the front end of the disc drive body 2. .

  When the hard disk drive 1 is carried, the connector 4 is in an exposed state, so it is necessary to protect it from coming into contact with other objects. The problem lies in the form of the protective case for that purpose. In this regard, no stylized protective case has been found yet.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a protective case for organizing and storing several volumes together in a state where the magneto-optical disk is housed in a dedicated case.

  Patent Documents 2 and 3 propose a protective case that covers a cassette case within a necessary minimum range in order to prevent loosening of a built-in table for an audio tape cassette.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-211983 (paragraph number 0008, FIG. 1) Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-118390 (paragraph 0010, FIG. 1) Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-42195 (paragraph number 0013, FIG. 9)

  The present invention is directed to a hard disk drive having a specific form. On the other hand, the protection cases of Patent Documents 1 to 3 are too different from those of the present invention in the protection target, and are not comparable.

  As a protective case for the hard disk drive, it is easy to completely envelop the entire circumference of the hard disk drive. However, in this case, the protective case itself is bulky and increases in weight, making it unsuitable for carrying. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a protective case for a hard disk drive that can be mass-produced at low cost while achieving good detachability of the hard disk drive from the viewpoint that only the connector needs to be protected when carrying the hard disk drive. It is in.

The present invention includes a disk drive main body 2, a connector 4 provided on the front surface 3 thereof, and guide grooves 6 and 6 provided on the left and right side surfaces 5 and 5 of the disk drive main body 2 and extending in the front-rear direction with the front end open. If, met plastic protective case 10 intended for the hard disk drive 1 includes a recess 8, 8 for positioning is formed across each side 5.5 of the right and left and the upper surface 7 of the disk drive unit 2 The case body 11 is composed of only the upper surface plate 12, the left and right side plates 13 and 13, and the rear surface plate 15. The front and lower surfaces are open. Projecting portions 16 and 17 that are slidably engaged with the guide grooves 6 and 6 are integrally provided at front and rear positions of the left and right side plates 13 and 13 of the case body 11 or the left and right sides of the upper surface plate 12, respectively. In the state in which the hard disk drive 1 is completely inserted into the case body 11, the locking projections 19, 19 that fall and engage with the recesses 8, 8 are located between the front and rear projections 16, 17 and are integrated. It is characterized in that it is projected.

  According to the protective case 10 of the present invention, when the case main body 11 is mounted on the disk drive main body 2, the lower surface and the front surface of the case main body 11 are open. The connector 4 can be securely protected by the rear plate 15 of the case body 11. Since the bottom plate of the case body 11 is omitted, the thickness of the upper and lower sides of the protective case 10 is reduced correspondingly, and the case body 11 is not bulky when carried and can be mass-produced at low cost.

  The drawings show an embodiment of a protective case of a removable hard disk drive (HDD) according to the present invention. The hard disk drive 1 is as described above.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the protective case 10 of the present invention is a transparent plastic molded product, and the case main body 11 has a rectangular upper surface plate 12 and the left and right side edges and the rear edge of the three-sided peripheral edges downward. It consists only of the left and right side plates 13 and 13 and the rear plate 15 that are continuously provided, and adopts a simple basic form in which the front and lower surfaces are opened.

  A pair of protrusions 16 and 17 are formed on the inner surfaces of the left and right side plates 13 in front and rear positions close to the rear so as to face each other inwardly. Among these, the front-side first protrusion 16 is located at the center portion in the front-rear direction of the side plate 13, and the rear-side second protrusion 17 is located near the rear end of the side plate 13.

  On the inner surface of the case body 11, a locking protrusion 19 is integrally projected at an inner corner where the upper surface plate 12 and the left and right side plates 13 intersect. The locking protrusion 19 is located between the front and rear first and second protrusions 16 and 17.

  At the front edge of the upper surface plate 12, a notch 20 for finger hanging is formed. On the outer surface of each of the left and right side plates 13, a non-slip 21 made of a vertically-oriented uneven strip is integrally formed at the rear end portion.

  When the protective case 10 is attached to the hard disk drive 1, the disk drive main body 2 is inserted into the case main body 11 from the front side 3 from the front side. At this time, the upper surface 7 and the left and right side surfaces 5 and 5 of the disk drive main body 2 are in sliding contact with the upper surface plate 12 of the case main body 11 and the inner surfaces of the left and right side surface plates 13 and 13.

  When the disk drive body 2 is inserted into the case body 11, the first protrusion 16 on the front side of the case body 11 slides into each guide groove 6 on the disk drive body 2 side from the front end side of the opening. The second protrusion 17 on the rear side also slides into each guide groove 6 with a delay.

  When the disk drive main body 2 is inserted until the front surface 3 of the disk drive comes into contact with the rear plate 15 of the case main body 11, the locking projections 19 of the case main body 11 are inserted into the recesses 8 on the disk drive main body 2 side at the end of the insertion. With a click, it clicks and engages, and the installation is complete.

  In a state where the hard disk drive 1 is inserted and attached to the case main body 11, the upper surface plate 12, the left and right side plates 13 and 13 and the rear surface plate 15 of the case main body 11 are the upper surface 7 and the left and right side surfaces 5 and 5 of the disk drive main body 2. The front 3 is covered and protected. Therefore, the hard disk drive 1 is in a state where the lower surface and the rear surface of the hard disk drive 1 are exposed, but the connector 4 can be carried in a bag without being damaged, and can be stored. Incidentally, the connector 4 faces the outer surface of the main body without protruding outward from the front surface 3 of the disk drive main body 2.

  In a state in which the protective case 10 is mounted on the hard disk drive 1, the second protrusion 17 and particularly the first protrusion 16 fitted in the guide groove 6 restrict the disk drive body 2 from dropping downward from the case body 11. . At the same time, the front surface 3 of the disc drive main body 2 abuts against the rear plate 15 of the case main body 11, thereby restricting the rearward movement limit of the disc drive main body 2 with respect to the case main body 11. As a result, the limit of the forward movement of the disc drive main body 2 with respect to the case main body 11 is regulated. The locking projection 19 is engaged with the recess 18 with some flexibility backlash, and this backlash does not hinder the protection of the connector 4.

  When removing the hard disk drive 1 from the protective case 10, the rear end portions of the left and right side plates 13, 13 of the case body 11 are sandwiched through the slip stoppers 21, 21 with one hand, and the case body 11 is provided with the other hand. The upper and lower surfaces of the rear portion of the disk drive main body 2 are picked through the notches 20 and the disk drive main body 2 is pulled in front of the case main body 11. When the locking projection 19 is removed from the recess 8, the disk drive main body 2 can be extracted from the case main body 11 as it is.

  In the embodiment described above, the lower edges of the left and right side plates 13 and 13 and the rear plate 15 of the protective case 10 are substantially flush with the lower surface of the disk drive body 2 in a state where the hard disk drive 1 is mounted on the protective case 10. In addition, the front edge of the protective case 10 is also substantially flush with the rear surface of the disk drive main body 2, but the lower surface and the rear surface of the disk drive main body 2 may protrude from the case main body 11.

  If the protective case 10 is transparent or translucent, it is advantageous for visually recognizing the label attached to the upper surface 7 of the disk drive main body 2, but it is not necessarily required to be transparent. The locking projections 19 on the case body 11 side may be provided only on the upper surface plate 12 or the left and right side plates 13 and engage with the recesses 8 on the disk drive body 2 side. It is possible to change the design so that the locking projection 19 engages with the groove 8 or other recess 8 existing in two different parts. The locking protrusion 19 may be a ridge (linear protrusion), for example, may be only in contact with the portion of the upper surface 7 of the disk drive main body 2 that does not have the recess 8 under pressure.

  The protrusions 16 and 17 on the case body 11 side may be only the first protrusion 16 on the front side, or may be formed by a single linear protrusion connecting both the protrusions 16 and 17. In a state where the disk drive main body 2 is inserted into the case main body 10, a gap may be formed between the rear plate 15 of the case main body 10 and the front surface 3 of the disk drive main body 2. In the first aspect of the present invention, horizontal receiving pieces are provided on the lower ends of the left and right side plates 13 and 13 of the case main body 11 so as to face each other inwardly, and the right and left end portions of the lower surface of the disk drive main body 2 are formed by the receiving pieces. It is also possible to adopt a form in which the material is received while preventing it from falling off downward.

The perspective view which looked at the protective case from the front side Perspective view showing hard disk drive and protective case Top view with hard disk drive installed in protective case Longitudinal side view for explaining the hard disk drive installation procedure for the protective case

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hard disk drive 2 Disk drive main body 3 Front face of disk drive main body 4 Connector 5 Left and right side surfaces of disk drive main body 6 Guide groove 7 Upper surface 8 of disk drive main body 8 Recess 10 Protective case 11 Case main body 12 Upper surface plate 13 of case main body Left and right side plates 15 Rear plate 16 of the case body First projection 17 Second projection 19 Locking projection

Claims (1)

The disk drive main body (2) , the connector (4) provided on the front surface (3) thereof, and the left and right side surfaces (5, 5) of the disk drive main body (2) are arranged in the front-rear direction with the front end open. It includes a guide groove (6, 6) extending, and a positioning recess (8, 8) formed across the upper surface (7) of the disk drive body (2) and the left and right side surfaces (5, 5). A plastic protective case (10) for the hard disk drive (1) ,
The case body (11) is composed of only the top plate (12), the left and right side plates (13, 13), and the rear plate (15), and the front and bottom surfaces are open.
On the left and right side plates (13) of the case body (11) , protrusions (16, 17) that slidably engage with the guide grooves (6, 6) are integrally projected at front and rear positions near the rear. Has been established,
In the state where the hard disk drive (1) is completely inserted into the case body (11), the dents (8) are formed on the left and right ends of the left and right side plates (13, 13) or the top plate (12) of the case body (11). 8) A protective case for a hard disk drive , characterized in that locking projections (19, 19) that fall into and engage with 8) are located integrally between the front and rear projections (16, 17) .

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