JPH09102335A - Connecting mechanism between electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To connect electronic apparatuses mounted above and below without using a connecting cable. SOLUTION: This connecting mechanism between electronic apparatuses is used for exchanging signals between them and controlling them via a bus while multiple electronic apparatuse cabinets 18, 19 are stacked. A male type bus connector 22 is protruded at the end section of the stack face of the cabinet 18, and a female type bus connector 32 fittable to the male type bus connector 22 is protruded on the other cabinet 19 to face the male type bus connector 22. When the cabinets 18, 19 are stacked and integrated, the male type and female type bus connectors 22, 32 are directly connected to each other. The upper and lower cabinets 18, 19 are bus-connected while no connecting cable is used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection mechanism between electronic devices suitable for application to a disk array device or the like. Specifically, by attaching the bus connectors themselves to the stacking surfaces of the housings that face each other, the buses can be connected to each other by the bus connectors themselves without connecting cables, and the bus connection work can be simplified. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A disk device capable of increasing the capacity is used as a storage means for storing data being processed by a computer and various image data used in the medical field. Recently, in order to further increase the capacity, we are promoting the arraying of disks. FIG. 13 shows an example of such a disk array device.

This is composed of a host computer 11 and a disk array device 10 for data storage. In the disk array device 10, several drive units 13 (13A, 13B, ...) Are connected to a base unit 12 in multiple stages. The configuration diagram shows a two-stage configuration. A cover unit 14 is attached to the uppermost drive unit 13.

Base unit 12 and drive unit 1
A pair of disk drive devices (HD
D) 15 and 16 are built in, and the manner of connection to them differs depending on whether the host computer 11 and the base unit 12 are connected by one SCSI bus or two SCSI buses.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, a bridge cover unit is used as the cover unit 14 placed on the uppermost stage when connected by one SCSI bus. Then, the terminator 17 provided in the base unit 12 is used to
Disk drive devices 15 and 16 are connected in series.

On the other hand, when the SCSI buses are connected to the two ports as shown in FIG. 15, a dam cover unit is used as the cover unit 14. The dam cover unit has two terminators 17,
In this case, the disk drive devices 15 and 16 arranged in the vertical direction are connected in series, and two SCSI buses are used to transfer signals. become.

Since it is necessary to perform maintenance and inspection on various built-in devices such as hard disk devices built in each unit 12, 13, 14, the front cabinet 1 of each unit 12, 13, 14 as shown in FIG. Is configured to be opened and closed with respect to the main body cabinet 2.

[0008]

By the way, in the case where a plurality of units are laminated on each other as shown in FIG. 13 so as to be upgraded, signals are exchanged between the units, so that it is usually flexible. A connecting cable with various lead wires is used.

For example, as shown in FIG.
Connector mounting means 21 are provided on the back side of each housing (cabinet) of 13, and a connection cable 21 ′ is inserted into them to electrically connect the upper and lower units 12, 13 to each other.

In the upper and lower units 12 and 13, in addition to a connection cable for a signal bus for exchanging signals, a connection cable for a control bus for controlling at least the units, and a connection cable for a power supply bus are also provided. You will need it. Therefore, when a large number of units are used, the wiring work becomes troublesome, and the rear surface of the unit has a very messy feeling because the connection cable 21 'is exposed. I often experience that this makes maintenance and inspection work troublesome. Connection cable 2
It would be very convenient if signals could be exchanged between the upper and lower units without the 1 ', and the cause of failure would be reduced accordingly.
Maintenance and inspection work is also easy.

Therefore, the present invention solves such a conventional problem, and the bus connector attached to the connection cable is attached to the cabinets of the upper and lower units to be stacked without connecting cables. It proposes a connection mechanism between electronic devices that can exchange signals.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the connection mechanism between electronic devices according to the present invention described in claim 1, a plurality of electronic device housings are used in a state of being laminated with each other, and Is a connection mechanism between electronic devices adapted to exchange signals and control via a bus, and a first bus connector is provided so as to project on an upper surface of an electronic device housing located below. A second bus connector attachable to this bus connector is provided on the lower surface side of the other housing located on the upper side so as to face the first bus connector, and by stacking the electronic device housings, It is characterized in that the first and second bus connectors are directly connected.

In the connection mechanism between electronic devices according to claim 1, a hard disk device is built in the housing,
The hard disk devices between the housings are connected to each other by the first and second bus connectors.

In the connection mechanism between electronic devices according to the first aspect, the first and second bus connectors are a connector for a control bus and a connector for a power supply bus in addition to a connector for a signal bus. It is characterized by

For example, a male bus connector (first bus connector) is slightly projectingly attached and fixed to the upper surface of the housing (cabinet) of the base unit on the rear end side thereof, and is attached to the lower surface of the cabinet of the drive unit facing this. Is a female bus connector (second bus connector)
Is projected and slightly fixed. When the drive unit is placed on the upper surface of the base unit, the female connector is inserted into the male bus connector and the two are connected to each other for electrical connection.

As a result, the buses of the upper and lower units are directly connected by the bus connector without using a connection cable. The bus connector is used not only for the signal bus but also for the control bus and the power supply bus.

When the drive unit is removed, the connection state of the bus connector is released. The female bus connector is provided on the lower surface of the cabinet and the male bus connector is provided on the upper surface of the drive unit in consideration of the stacked use mode. Then, when another drive unit or the like is mounted on the upper surface of this drive unit, the bus connector can be connected between the drive units.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a connection mechanism between electronic devices according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. As the electronic equipment to be applied, the above-mentioned multi-stage disk array device is exemplified.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of a connecting mechanism to which the present invention is applied. Three units 12, 13A and 13B are vertically stacked and connected to each other. The base unit 12 located at the bottom will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, a bus connector 22 is provided on the upper surface 18b of the cabinet 18 constituting the base unit 12 and on the rear end side thereof so as to slightly project upward.

As the bus connector, at least four types of bus connectors including a signal bus, a control bus, a power supply bus, and the like can be considered. This example shows the case where three dedicated bus connectors are used. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the bus connectors 2 are arranged in a line at substantially equal intervals.
2, 23, 24 are arranged. These bus connectors 2
As shown in FIG. 5, 2 to 4 are male connectors. Of these, the bus connector 22 is for the signal bus, the bus connector 23 is for the control bus, and the bus connector 24.
Is for the power bus.

On the bottom surface of the base unit 12, a mat 25 for slip prevention and height adjustment is attached. Lock release mechanisms 27 and 28 for releasing the locked state of the cabinets are provided near the upper left and right ends of the rear surface 18a of the cabinet 18.

Since the base unit 12 has a plurality of units arranged only on the upper surface side thereof, no special laminating means is provided on the bottom surface side of the base unit 12, but Bus connectors are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the mounted drive unit 13.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the base unit 12 is provided on the upper surface 19b side of the drive unit 13A.
Similarly, a plurality of male bus connectors 22, 23, 24 are provided with the same positional relationship. On the other hand, male bus connectors 22, 23, 24 provided on the bottom surface 19d of the housing and on the rear end side, that is, the base unit 12
As shown in FIG. 6, female bus connectors 32, 33, 34 that can be inserted into the male bus connectors 22, 23, 24 are provided at positions facing each other so as to slightly project.

The cover unit mounted on the upper surface of the drive unit 13B is also provided with a female bus connector (not shown) formed on the bottom side of the drive unit 13B.

In the connection mechanism thus constructed, the first drive unit 13A is placed on the base unit 12, and the second drive unit 13B is further mounted thereon.
Is installed, male bus connectors 22, 23, 24
And female-type bus connectors 32, 33, 3 facing this
The units are connected to each other in a state in which 4 and 4 are inserted into each other.

In this way, the base unit 12 and the first drive unit 13 can be used without using a connecting cable.
The buses A (signal buses, control buses, and power supply buses) can be connected to each other.

Similarly, the first and second drive units 1
Since the buses of 3A and 13B can be connected to each other, the second
By attaching the cover unit 14 to the drive unit 13B of FIG. 14, the buses from the base unit 12 to the cover unit 14 can be connected to each other.

When the units are connected in multiple stages as described above, relative positioning and mutual connection are required at the time of connection. To achieve this, as shown in FIG. 3, the positioning means 4 having a lock function is provided between the cabinets facing each other.
1 is provided.

The positioning means 41 is a hook type locking piece 4.
2 and a corresponding locking recess 43, and in the example shown in FIG.
As described above, the hook-shaped locking piece 42 having an inverted L-shaped cross section and protruding by a predetermined length is provided. Inside the upper surface of the unit cabinet on the mounting side facing the locking piece 42, a cross section with an inverted L
A V-shaped locking recess 43 is formed.

With the locking piece 42 in the locking recess 43, the upper cabinet is positioned with respect to the lower cabinet, whereby the male bus connectors 22 to 24 and the female bus connectors 32 to. 34 and just come to face each other. As a result, in this state, the upper cabinet 19 is pushed to push the female bus connector 32.
If you insert ~ 34 into the male bus connectors 22-24,
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the upper and lower cabinets 18 and 19 can be connected mechanically and electrically.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lock release mechanisms 27, 2
Reference numeral 8 has a lock release lever 60 (FIG. 9) that pivots in a seesaw manner around a fulcrum (first fulcrum) p. By pushing up the bottom surface of the mounted cabinet with this lock release lever 60, the cabinet The back side of the can be lifted slightly. This disconnects the bus connectors from each other, so that the mounting side cabinet can be easily removed.

Next, the configuration of each of the above-mentioned parts will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The base unit 12 and the drive unit 13A are exemplified as the units to be used.

FIG. 7 shows a cross section of both the bus connector and the positioning means 41. A mounting board (printed board or the like) provided at a predetermined position inside the base unit 12
The male bus connector 22 is attached and fixed to 45. Here, 22A is a connector body, and 22B is a connection terminal group thereof. The bus connector 22 is attached such that a part of its tip portion projects from the upper surface 18b of the cabinet 18.

On the other hand, inside the cabinet 19 facing the male bus connector 22, a female bus connector 32 is attached and fixed to an attachment substrate (printed circuit board or the like) 47. In this case, the bus connector 32 is attached so as to penetrate the through hole 46 formed on the bottom surface 19d side of the cabinet 19 and partially project its tip. In the bus connector 32, 32A is a connector body,
2B is a connecting terminal group. The periphery of the through hole 46 is covered by a rectangular sleeve 48.

The positioning means 41 provided on the front side of the upper surface of the cabinet will be described below. A rectangular tubular front cover part 50 formed of a molded body is mounted and fixed to the front surface of the cabinet 19 at the front part of the bottom surface of the cabinet 19 on the mounting side, and the hook-shaped locking piece 4 described above is attached to the outer surface of the bottom part thereof.
2 are integrally molded.

A cabinet recess 49 is formed in the front portion of the upper surface of the cabinet 18 facing the locking piece 42, and the locking recess 43 is attached and fixed in the recess 49. The locking recess 43 is composed of a molded body 52, and a recess surface 43a conforming to the outer surface shape of the locking piece 42 is formed.
The inside of the locking recess 43 is formed to be wide so that it can be smoothly attached and detached.

Therefore, when the upper cabinet 19 is further pushed down from the locked state of FIG. 7, the connected state as shown in FIG. 8 is obtained and the bus connector 32 is inserted into the bus connector 22 so that the two are completely connected. At the same time, the positioning means 41 locks the cabinets 18 and 19.

The lock releasing mechanism 27 (28) for releasing the locked state is constructed as shown in FIG. 9 and thereafter. The details will be described using the lock release mechanism 27.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the base unit 12 and the drive unit 13A which are stacked and connected to each other. The lock release mechanism 27 includes a seesaw-type lock release lever 60 and a lock lever 65 connected thereto. Composed of.

The lock release lever 60 is a plate-shaped body that is extruded, and is provided with a pivot fulcrum p (first fulcrum) slightly to the left of approximately half of its longitudinal direction. A moving shaft 63 is pivotally attached to a pivot shaft 62 provided on the cabinet 18. The position of the pivot 62 and the width of the lever are selected so that the lock release lever 60 does not protrude from the upper surface 18b of the cabinet 18 when the lock release lever 60 is parallel to the cabinet 18.

In the lock release lever 60, the left side tip portion side from the fulcrum p is referred to as a pressing portion 60A, and the right side tip portion side is referred to as an operating portion 60B. The pressing portion 60A is located inside the cabinet 18 and operates. The length relationship between the two parts is selected so that the part 60B projects to the outside. In order to make such a lock release lever 60 rotatable inside and outside the cabinet 18, through holes 61a and 61b are formed on the pressing portion 60A side and the action portion 60B side, respectively.

In addition to this, a second fulcrum q is provided at a substantially central portion (outside of the cabinet) of the action portion 60B, and the lock lever 65 is rotatably pivoted about this. Therefore, the rotary shaft 66 integrally formed at one end of the lock lever 65 is pivotally attached to the shaft hole 67.

As shown in FIG. 10, the lock lever 65 is provided with the above-described rotating shaft 66 at one end of the main body 65A, and the lock piece 68 is provided at the other end so as to extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main body 65A. Are integrally formed. The main body 65A has a step as shown in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. This is to make an escape so that the action portion 60B does not get in the way when the lock lever 65 rotates as shown in FIG.

The lock piece 68 locks the cabinets 18 and 19 by entering into the through hole 37 formed in the back surface 19a of the upper cabinet 19. That is, in the state of FIG. 9, the cabinet 19 cannot be lifted even if the lock release lever 60 is operated.

The lock release mechanism 27 configured as described above
Therefore, the base unit 12 and the drive unit 13
When A and A are connected as shown in FIG. 8, the cabinet 19 is locked by the lock lever 65 as shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the lock release lever 60 is operated by mistake, the lock of the cabinet 19 is not released.

On the other hand, if the lock lever 65 is tilted as shown in FIG. 10, the lock is released. Therefore, in this state, if the action portion 60B side is pushed down as shown by the arrow, the lock release lever 60 is centered on the fulcrum p. Rotate clockwise.
As a result, the plate surface of the pressing portion 60A pushes up the bottom surface 19d side of the cabinet 19, so that the force causes the cabinet 19 to rotate slightly around the positioning means 41, and the connection between the bus connectors 22 and 32 is released. .

Since the pressing portion 60A acts particularly on the back side of the cabinet 19, the back side of the cabinet 19 can be lifted without applying a strong force to the lock release lever 60. This is because it is sufficient to apply a force to the lock release lever 60 to release the connection between the bus connectors 22 and 32.

In FIG. 10, the lock lever 65 is almost 180
Although it can be rotated, a slightly projecting projection 69 may be provided on the action portion 60B facing the main body 65A to restrict the rotation. It is also possible to rotate the lock lever 65 over the protrusion 69.

Although the above-mentioned configuration is adopted between the drive unit 13B and the cover unit 14, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, the bus connector is attached to the electronic device housing itself so that the upper and lower bus connections can be made only by mounting the electronic device housing. .

According to this, it is possible to completely eliminate the work of connecting a bus between electronic devices by using a conventional connection cable, and it is possible to largely eliminate the connection cable on the back side of the housing. Even when using a large number, it becomes possible to build a very clean system,
Inspections can be performed smoothly, and the cause of failures such as poor connections can be eliminated.

Therefore, the present invention is extremely suitable when applied to a disk array device or the like capable of multistage connection.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view showing an outline of an embodiment of a connection mechanism between electronic devices according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the connected state.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the connected state.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the unit.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view thereof.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a state immediately before mounting and fixing between units.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a locked state in which mounting and fixing is completed.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a lock mechanism provided on the back side of the housing.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts in an unlocked state.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a lock lever.

FIG. 12 is a partial sectional view thereof.

FIG. 13 is a system diagram showing an outline of a disk array device.

FIG. 14 is a system diagram showing a usage state of a disk array device.

FIG. 15 is a system diagram showing another usage state of the disk array device.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a unit housing.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a conventional connection mechanism between electronic devices.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Disk Array Device 12 Base Unit 13, 13A, 13B Drive Unit 14 Cover Unit 22, 23, 24 Male Bus Connector 32, 33, 34 Female Bus Connector 27, 28 Lock Release Mechanism 41 Positioning Means 42 Hook-like Locking Piece 43 Locking recess 60 Lock release lever 60A Pressing part 60B Working part 65 Lock lever

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connection mechanism between electronic devices, wherein a plurality of electronic device housings are used in a state where they are stacked on each other, and mutual exchange of signals and control are performed via a bus. The first bus connector is provided so as to project on the upper surface of the electronic device housing located at, and the bus connector can be mounted on the lower surface side of the other housing located at the upper side so as to face the first bus connector. A second bus connector is provided so as to project, and the first and second bus connectors are directly connected by stacking the electronic device housings. 2. The hard disk device is built in the housing, and the hard disk devices between the housings are connected to each other by the first and second bus connectors. A connection mechanism between the described electronic devices. 3. The first and second bus connectors are connectors for control buses in addition to connectors for signal buses,
2. A connector for a power supply bus.
A connection mechanism between the described electronic devices.