US20060143877A1

US20060143877A1 - Resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device

Info

Publication number: US20060143877A1
Application number: US11/254,818
Authority: US
Inventors: Pi-Yun Lee
Original assignee: Tatung Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tatung Co Ltd
Priority date: 2004-12-31
Filing date: 2005-10-21
Publication date: 2006-07-06
Also published as: TW200623980A

Abstract

The present invention is related to a resilient contact including a lower clamp and an upper spring arm reversely bent in opposite directions. The lower clamp can be clamped onto the upper plate of the front panel of a hard disk rack. The upper resilient arm withstands a front panel of a hard disk rack. Thus, the present invention is suitable for different size gaps to achieve the goals of electromagnetic conduction, heat conduction, support, etc.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device and more particularly, to such a resilient contact, which is applied on structural arrangement of a main server.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology progresses, computers are utilized more frequently than ever; as a result, stable operation and convenient facilitation of assembling computer hardware has been developed into an important skill nowadays, particularly in dealing with the gaps among multipler emovable hard disk racks and the gaps between racks and their associated outer case. Any potential improvement on the resilient contact thus takes into account how to achieve a stabilizing support that is at the same time able to prevent any electromagnetic waves, and efficiently dissipate heat to assure a consistent performance of the computer.
Nonetheless, conventional resilient contacts are more than often incapable of providing flexibility in adjusting the height of the spring arm or the elastic strength thereof to achieve an elastic contact at a proper level, and are constrained to the confined gap between racks or the gap between racks and the outer case. Removable hard disk racks that utilize convention resilient contacts, therefore, are rather difficult to insert into the slots or it is difficult to observe whether the spring arms of the resilient contacts have effectively made contact. Also, the width of those plate structures observed on conventional spring contacts are, most of the time, either too wide or too narrow for the size of the surface of the hard disk racks' front panels intended to be located on, causing unnecessary interference with other peripheral parts during assembling and resulting in failure to stabilize the front panel.
The present invention, on the other hand, is proposed to provide a resolution which allows easier assembly such that the plate structures of the spring contact can stably be attached onto the front panel of the hard disk rack without hindering other parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. A resilient contact in accordance with the present invention comprises a plate structure, in which a lower clamp is mounted respectively on and extended from two front ends of the said plate structure. Each of the lower clamps is bent reversely adjacent to the plate structure to construct a small clamp opening, wherein said small clamp opening is received in between said lower clamp and said plate structure. An upper spring arm is also mounted on and extended from the central segment of the front end of the plate structure, in which the upper spring arm comprises a first bend, a reverse bow, and a second bend. The first bend is connected to the front end of the plate structure, curving upward to form a first height; the reverse bow is connected between the first bend and the second bend, shaping the second bend curving upward to form a second height, wherein the altitude of the first height is less than that of the said second height, and the tail end of the said second bend is downwardly and reversely arched.
Therefore, the resilient contact of the present invention can utilize the lower clamps and upper spring arms that are reversely bent in opposite directions to attach to removable hard disk racks in order to achieve electromagnetic conduction, heat conduction, and stabilization purposes. In addition, given that the upper spring arm of the present invention includes the first and second bend that provide different elevations, the present invention can be applied on a variety of gap sizes in between removable hard disk racks.
The plate structure of the present invention further comprises a sag piece, which can extend within the dimension of the small clamp opening thereof. The purpose of the sag piece is to insert into the corresponding slot on the upper plate of the removable hard disk device such that they are properly positioned and securely fastened. The plate structure can further comprise a cut-through slot, on the margin of which at least one of the abovementioned sag pieces is mounted, extending downward and preferably forward to construct a hook for an even more secure lock against the upper plate of the removable hard disk device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the preferred embodiment of the assembly within a mainframe server according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the preferred embodiment of the assembly on a removable hard disk rack according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a removable hard disk rack for illustrating the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a resilient contact of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of a resilient contact of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a resilient contact 2 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is first assembled on a removable hard disk rack 4, and multiple removable hard disk racks 4 are then individually inserted into a mainframe server A, forming an array of hard disk drives. A gap H is defined between the removable hard disk racks as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 further reveal the resilient contact 2 of the present invention is clamped onto an upper plate 44 of a front panel 43 of the hard disk rack 4.
Referring to FIG. 4, the resilient contact 2 of the present invention is comprised of a plate structure 20, wherein a lower clamp 22 is mounted respectively on and extended from each of two front ends of the plate structure. Each lower clamp 22 is bent reversely adjacent to the bottom surface of the plate structure 20, thus forming a small clamp opening 220 in between the lower clamp 22 and the plate structure 20 for inserting ahead from the rear and clamping onto the abovementioned upper plate 44 margin of the front panel 43 of the hard disk rack 4.
Tail ends of the lower clamps 22 of the present invention are both further bent downwardly to form a small opening 221 for smoothly guiding and clamping onto the upper plate 44 of the front panel 43 of the hard disk rack 4. The plate structure 20 has sag pieces 21 that extend downwardly within the dimension of the small clamp opening 220 from the margin of a U-shaped cut-through slot 24. This embodiment in particular shapes the sag pieces to be extended forward to construct a hook such that the sag pieces can tightly insert into the corresponding slot 41 (FIG. 3) on the upper plate 44 of removable hard disk rack 4 for positioning, thus providing a secure stabilization.
Again referring to FIG. 4 and additionally FIG. 5, an upper spring arm 23 is amounted on and extended from a central segment of a front end 201 of the plate structure 20 according to the present invention, in which the upper spring arm 23 comprises a first bend 231, a reverse bow 233, and a second bend 232. The first bend 231 is directly connected to the front end 201 of the plate structure 20 and curves upward to form a first height h1. The reverse bow 233 is connected between the first bend 231 and the second bend 232, shaping the second bend to curve upward to form a second height h2. This embodiment hereby utilizes the upper spring arm 23 in pressing upward against the hard disk rack 4 located atop, allowing electromagnetic or heat conduction whilst providing a proper force of support to the hard disk rack located above.
Referring to FIG. 5, the altitude of first height h1 of the upper spring arm 23 is less than that of the second height h2 of the same according to this embodiment, implying that the first height h1, which locates underneath, is relatively slimmer and flatter, of which its characteristics will be favorable for clamping the resilient contact 2 onto the hard disk rack 4 and easily slotting in the base of the other hard disk rack 4 altogether. Moreover, given the sum of the first height h1 and the second height h2 is greater than or equal to the gap H, the spring contact 2 can be assured to maintain a close contact within the gap H between two hard disk racks 4. Also a greater second height h2 constructed by an upward curvature of the second bend 232 is able to be utilized between two hard disk racks 4 or between rack 4 and the outer case provided with a greater range of the gap size. Further, given that a tail end 234 of the second bend 232 is downwardly and reversely arched, it allows the hard disk rack 4 located above to be guided accordingly without interfering with the rack 4 located underneath whiling discharging it from the slot.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

1. A resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device comprising a plate structure, to which a lower clamp is mounted respectively on and extended from each of two front ends of said plate structure, each said lower clamp is bent reversely adjacent to said plate structure to form a small clamp opening, wherein said small clamp opening is received in between said lower clamp and said plate structure, an upper spring arm is also mounted on and extended from the central segment of the front end of the plate structure;

wherein said upper spring arm comprising a first bend, a reverse bow, and a second bend; said first bend is connected to said front end of said plate structure, curving upward to form a first height; said reverse bow is connected between said first bend and said second bend, shaping said second bend to curve upward to form a second height, wherein said first height is less than said second height, a tail end of said second bend is downwardly and reversely curved.

2. The resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tail end of each said lower clamp is bent downwardly to form a small opening.

3. The resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plate structure further comprises at least one sag piece, extending within the dimension of said small clamp opening.

4. The resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said plate structure further comprises a cut-through slot, through which said at least one sag piece extends downward from the margin of said cut-through slot.

5. The resilient contact for connecting two parts of a device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said at least one sag piece extends forward.