JPH11126465A - Disk drive unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high density mounting type disk drive unit able to be inserted to/detached from an assembled type magnetic disk device, made to have such a structure that the unit is easy to be miniaturized while having required rigidity and excellent safety and good appearance after mounting, even if it is used in an office room or on the desk side. SOLUTION: A front panel 20 also serving as a dressing member is attached to the front part of a unit 10, and a hand holding part as a handhold for a recessed part or an opening is provided in a panel main body. The front panel 20 is supported on the front part of a base 11' by a supporting part including a rivet 22 or the like to as to be rotated for opening/closing the base front part. In both ends of the upper side of the panel main body which are higher than the supporting part, a pair of opposing inserting and detaching hook parts 24 and 23 are provided to be engaged with and disengaged from the edge of the inserting port of a magnetic disk device, and both of these hooks are engaged with and disengaged from the edge of the inserting port by an elastic clicking feeling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk drive unit (hereinafter, simply referred to as a unit) which can mount a plurality of units in a collective magnetic disk device at high density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a magnetic disk device used for an external storage device of a computer, a collective type in which a plurality of units can be mounted at high density has been developed. The unit is composed of a hard disk, a circuit for operating the hard disk, and the like.

The prior art relating to a so-called ejector structure for inserting and removing individual units in such a collective type magnetic disk drive includes, for example, each of the devices described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-103384 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-45061. is there. These include facilitating unit insertion and removal operations,
It is described that the reliability in the mechanism is improved. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-636,
In the device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 35, it is described that, in addition to the techniques of the above two publications, a disk drive is downsized and a plurality of units can be mounted at a high density.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional unit structure. It has a base 1 serving as a main body base, on which a hard disk 2 and an operation circuit unit 3 are arranged. The operation circuit section 3 is provided with a connector 4 connected to an external peripheral device. The outer cover 5 has a function of covering and protecting the hard disk 2 and the operation circuit unit 3 and shielding noise from radiating outside the unit. Also, in consideration of the appearance after mounting the unit in a magnetic disk device and mounting, a front panel 6 is attached to the front of the unit, and an ejector 7 having a handle function for insertion / extraction operation is attached here.

[0005]

As a general rule, a collective magnetic disk drive has been installed in a dedicated computer room. As a trend in recent years, such a collective magnetic disk device has been installed in a normal office room or a work desk. Therefore, further improvements are required in terms of ensuring safety through indoor use, reliability and maintainability of equipment.

By the way, in terms of safety and equipment reliability usually associated with use in an office room, in the case of a conventional collective magnetic disk drive, a mounting opening structure for inserting and removing units is large. As a result, the entire magnetic disk drive has become larger, and this has been a bottleneck in promoting downsizing.

In particular, in the case of the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-63635, no protection means such as a cover for protecting the hard disk and the operating circuit is provided, and the noise emitted from the hard disk and the operating circuit is cut off. Can not do. If the sound emission noise cutoff function is added, the configuration of the magnetic disk device becomes complicated, so that the productivity at the time of manufacture is reduced and there is a problem that maintenance management becomes difficult in use.

Further, in the case of the unit shown as a specific example in FIG. 5, since the shape of the ejector 7 for the handle replacement is U-shaped, the unit is inferior in rigidity, and there is a disadvantage that the ejector 7 is easily damaged when the unit is transported. .

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a high-density mounting type that can be inserted into and removed from a collective magnetic disk drive, has the required rigidity, is easy to be miniaturized, and is safe even when used in an office room or a deskside. An object of the present invention is to provide a disk drive unit which is excellent in performance and takes into consideration the appearance after mounting.

[0010]

A disk drive unit according to the present invention has a hard disk and an operation circuit unit held on a base of a unit main body, and can be inserted into and removed from an insertion port of a collective type magnetic disk device. A front panel of the base in the insertion / removal direction is provided with a front panel also serving as a decorative member, and a plug-in type connector is provided at the rear of the base to be electrically connected to or disconnected from a connector in the magnetic disk device. In this disk drive unit, a handle portion is provided in a concave or open shape on a panel main body of the front panel, and the panel main body is rotatably supported on a front portion of the base.

In this case, both ends of the panel main body are rotatably supported at the upper portion of the front portion in the vertical direction so as to open or close the front surface of the base. On both upper ends, a pair of opposing pairs of insertion hooks and removal hooks are provided to be engaged and disengaged from the edge of the insertion opening of the magnetic disk drive. Both of these hooks can be formed of an elastic material such as a synthetic resin which engages and disengages with the edge of the insertion opening with an elastic click feeling.

Further, when mounting the unit into which the unit body is inserted, the insertion hook is engaged with the inner side surface of the edge of the insertion opening by the operation of rotating the panel body in the closing direction. The lever is pivotally urged in the closing direction at a lever fulcrum.

On the other hand, when the unit is removed from the unit body, the panel body is rotated in the opening direction so that the removal hook engages with the outer side surface of the edge of the insertion slot, and thus the shaft is removed. The insertion hook part is detached from the inner side surface of the edge of the insertion opening with the support part as a lever fulcrum.

Further, when the unit is inserted or withdrawn, the plug-in type connector at the rear of the base is electrically connected to or connected to the connector in the magnetic disk drive by engaging and disengaging the hook for insertion or the hook for removal. It is configured to be intermittent.

[0015] With the above configuration, a conventional U-shaped handle ejector is not required as a front panel that also serves as a decorative material for enhancing the appearance of the front portion of the unit body.
The required rigidity can be secured, and the safety at the time of transportation accompanying attachment / detachment to / from the magnetic disk device can be enhanced. Further, the entire unit including the front panel can be made compact.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a disk drive unit according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the unit 10 has a base 11 of a unit body formed by molding a treated steel sheet having a thickness of, for example, about 1 mm. On the base 11, a hard disk 12, which also forms a unit main body, and an operation circuit section 13 for operating the hard disk 12 are arranged. The operation circuit section 13 is provided with a plug-in type connector 14 for connecting to an external peripheral device. ing. Although not shown, the hard disk 12 and the operation circuit unit 13 are covered and protected by a protective case similar to the exterior cover 5 having the conventional structure shown in FIG.

A front panel 20, which is also a member for adjusting the appearance after mounting, is attached to a front portion in the longitudinal direction of the base 11 in a direction in which the unit 10 is inserted and removed from a magnetic disk device (not shown). Both ends of the panel main body of the front panel 20 are brackets provided on both left and right sides of the base width, as shown in FIG. 2 showing only the upper part of a cross section when the front part is viewed from the front, and FIGS. 15 is rotatably supported by a spacer 21 and a rivet 22. On the bracket 15 on the base 11 side,
A fitting hole 16 that penetrates the spacer 21 is provided.

As is apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4,
On both upper sides of the panel main body of the front panel 20, a pair of insertion hooks 23 and a pair of removal hooks 24 are provided to face each other.

As will be described later, the insertion hook portion 23 and the removal hook portion 24 are provided at the edge 30 of a unit insertion / extraction opening provided on the magnetic disk device side (see FIGS. 3 and 4).
It is integrally formed on the upper end of the front panel 20 with an elastic material such as a synthetic resin so that it can be disengaged with an elastic click feeling.

Also, as shown in FIG. 1, a handle 25 is formed in the center of the panel main body of the front panel 20 in a concave or open shape and replaces the handle ejector 7 of the conventional example shown in FIG. It is. As a material of the panel body, a resin molded product is used in order to enhance aesthetics and to improve productivity. In terms of aesthetics and productivity, the above spacer 2
A resin molded product can be used for the rivet 1 and the rivet 22. By using the handle portion 25, when compared with the conventional U-shaped ejector 7 in terms of strength, a marked improvement in rigidity can be expected. Therefore, since the unit 10 can be prevented from being damaged by the U-shaped ejector 7, the operation of transporting the unit 10 and inserting / removing the unit 10 into / from the magnetic disk device can be performed safely.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the pivotal support portion of the front panel 20 formed by the spacers 21 and the rivets 22. The thickness T of the spacer 21 is larger than the panel thickness S of the front panel 20 and T> S, and the diameter P is larger than the head diameter N of the rivet 22 and P> N. Therefore, the lateral load Y is applied to the front panel 20 in both left and right directions.
Does not transmit the lateral load Y to the rivet 22. As a result, the rivet 22 does not come off from the pivot. Therefore, as the rivet 22, a fitting-type resin molded product can sufficiently cope.

FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (c) and FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (a) to 4 (a) to 4 (c) show a configuration in which the unit 10 according to the embodiment having the above-described configuration is inserted into and removed from a collective magnetic disk drive and mounted.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In both drawings, only the operation of the front panel 20 is shown, and the illustration of the unit body composed of the base 11 and the like is omitted.

First, referring to FIG.
Are respectively inserted into the edges (reference numeral 30 in the figure) of the plurality of insertion ports provided in the collective magnetic disk device and mounted. At this time, the front panel 20 is first inserted from the connector 14 at the rear of the base 11 with the front panel 20 raised with respect to the base 11 of the unit main body. When the connector 14 reaches a position facing the connector inside the magnetic disk device by insertion, the insertion hook 23 at the upper end of the front portion of the front panel 20 is inserted into the insertion edge 3 on the magnetic disk device side.
It becomes a position and posture that can be engaged with zero.

In this state, when the front panel 20 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG.
The insertion hook portion 23 wraps around and contacts the inner surface of the edge 30 of the insertion opening. Still further, when the front panel 20 is rotated in the same direction, the insertion hook portion 23 becomes the green end 30 of the insertion slot.
It is dropped into the inner surface of and engaged. This engagement is carried out on the front panel 20 with a pivot support made of a spacer 21 and a rivet 22 as a lever, with an elastic click feeling on the edge 30 of the insertion opening, and the unit body of the unit 10 consisting of the base 11 and the like. In the magnetic disk drive.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the front panel 20 is in a vertical position in the vertical direction, the connector 14 of the unit 10 is electrically connected to the internal connector of the magnetic disk drive at that position. Connect to

On the other hand, FIGS. 4A to 4C show the operation order when the unit 10 being mounted is removed from the magnetic disk drive. The operation is performed in the reverse order of the insertion. In this case, the vertical front panel 2
The user places his / her finger on the zero hand grip 25 and raises it in the clockwise direction of the arrow (a in the figure). Then, the removal hook portion 24 of the front panel 20 comes into contact with the outer surface of the insertion edge 30 of the magnetic disk device. Still further, when the front panel 20 is rotated in the same direction (b in the figure), the withdrawal hook portion 24 presses the outer surface of the edge 30 of the insertion slot, and the pivotal support portion by the spacer 21 and the rivet 22 is moved. With the lever as a fulcrum, the insertion hook 23 is separated from the inner surface of the edge 30 of the insertion opening.
The connector 14 of the unit 10 is separated from the internal connector of the magnetic disk drive to cut off the electrical connection. In this state, when the front panel 20 is pulled out almost horizontally,
The unit 10 can be smoothly removed from the magnetic disk drive (FIG. 3c).

From the above, it can be understood that the unit insertion / extraction operation is accompanied by an elastic click feeling from the edge 30 of the insertion opening to the collective magnetic disk device, and the operation can be performed quickly and safely with almost one touch.

[0029]

As described above, in the disk drive unit of the present invention, a plurality of disk drives can be easily and safely inserted into and removed from the collective magnetic disk drive, and the conventional ejector for insertion and removal can be used as a front panel which also serves as a decorative panel. By integrating the front panel, the rigidity of the front panel is increased and the front panel is strengthened, and the possibility of damage or the like even when the front panel is gripped during unit transportation is eliminated. Furthermore, the use of spacers and rivets in the joint structure at the shaft support between the front panel and the magnetic disk device side allows the structure to be simplified, resulting in safety,
Productivity and maintainability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a disk drive unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an assembled cross-sectional view showing the connection between the substrate and the front panel shown in FIG.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are side sectional views showing the operation order of a front panel when a disk drive unit is inserted into a magnetic disk device.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are side sectional views showing the operation order of the front panel when the disk drive unit is extracted from the magnetic disk device.

FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view showing a conventional disk drive unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Disk drive unit 11 Base of unit body 12 Hard disk 13 Operation circuit unit 14 Plug-in type connector 15 Front panel support bracket 20 Front panel 21 Panel support spacer 22 Panel rivet rivet 23 Insertion hook 24 Removal hook part 25 Handle part instead of ejector

Claims (7)

[Claims] The present invention has a hard disk and an operation circuit unit held on a base of a unit main body, and can be inserted into and removed from an insertion opening of a collective type magnetic disk device, and a decorative member is provided at a front portion of the base in the insertion and extraction direction. In a disk drive unit having a dual-purpose front panel and a plug-in type connector that is electrically connected to or disconnected from a connector in the magnetic disk device at a rear portion of the base, a handle portion is concavely formed on a panel body of the front panel. Alternatively, the disk drive unit is provided in the form of an opening, and the panel body is rotatably supported on the front portion of the base. 2. The disk drive unit according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the panel main body are pivotally supported at the front portion in a direction to open or close the front surface of the base. 3. A position of a pivot portion of the panel body is a vertically upper portion of a front surface of the base, and is located on both upper ends of the panel body above the pivot portion and at an edge of an insertion slot of the magnetic disk drive. 3. The disk drive unit according to claim 2, wherein a pair of insertion hook portions and removal hook portions that respectively engage with and disengage from each other are provided. 4. When mounting the unit to insert the unit main body, the insertion hook portion engages with the inner side surface of the edge of the insertion opening by an operation of rotating the panel main body in the closing direction. The disk drive unit according to claim 3, wherein the panel body is urged to rotate in the closing direction with the pivot portion as a lever. 5. When the unit body is to be removed and the unit is to be removed, the panel body is rotated in the opening direction so that the removal hook engages the outer surface of the edge of the insertion port. 5. The disk drive unit according to claim 3, wherein the insertion hook portion is detached from an inner side surface of an edge of the insertion port with the pivot portion being a lever. 6. A plug-in type connector at the rear of the base is electrically connected to a connector in the magnetic disk drive by engaging and disengaging the insertion hook portion or the removal hook portion when a unit is inserted or removed. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to be connected or disconnected intermittently.
6. The disk drive unit according to any one of items 1 to 5, 7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the insertion hook portion and the removal hook portion are formed of a material which can be disengaged by an elastic click feeling at an edge of the insertion opening. Disk drive unit.