WO2003052222A1

WO2003052222A1 - Fastening device for computer equipment and equipment in general

Info

Publication number: WO2003052222A1
Application number: PCT/MX2002/000114
Authority: WO
Inventors: Manuel Enrique Reinosa Servin
Original assignee: Manuel Enrique Reinosa Servin
Priority date: 2001-12-19
Filing date: 2002-12-16
Publication date: 2003-06-26
Also published as: AU2002359089A1; MXPA01013322A

Abstract

The invention relates to a fastening device which can be fixed to general pieces of equipment, such as switches, network servers, photocopiers, sound equipment, televisions, microwave ovens, etc., and, in particular, to computer equipment. The inventive device provides an attachment point on the aforementioned pieces of equipment which can be used primarily to add anchoring elements, among others, thereby protecting the equipment against theft and unauthorised relocation and securing the internal components of the CPU by locking the cover thereof. In terms of said specific application, the device can also be used to secure peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, webcam, etc.). The small, easy-to-install device secures all of the components of the equipment at a single point. Said device comprises a fastener which is fixed to the equipment preferably using one of the locking screws. Optionally, when the device is used with a connectable element, it is attached to a secure point of a piece of furniture or the building, which prevents the equipment from being removed from the location where it was originally installed. The device can be de-installed and re-installed as many times as necessary for maintenance or relocation purposes.

Description

HOLDING DEVICE FOR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND EQUIPMENT IN GENERAL

BACKGROUND TES

The computer equipment and the equipment in general, such as electrical and electronic equipment, is designed based on tai-sized cabinets that facilitate its transfer and installation, allowing for centrality. Given this characteristic, it is very exposed to theft and unauthorized relocations.

Speaking of electrical equipment we can mention microwave ovens, ref Igerators and washing machines, while within electronic equipment we state switches, televisions, photocopiers, and sound and communications equipment, among others. Currently there is no safety accessory to help prevent the problem mentioned for all these devices.

As for the computer equipment, the problem is serious, given the highly modular design that allows its easy transportation, connection and disconnection, being something so simple that the same user can carry it out, or worse, unauthorized people who have to do it . In this document we will focus more on this type of equipment, but without forgetting the approach made at the beginning. For laptops, understood as notebook or some equivalent denomination, there are some accessories that lasan the equipment to the furniture where it is being used, as long as the equipment in question has a specific security slot for this purpose. This group of teams will be excluded from our present development.

In the matter of desktop computers, theft is given to its external components such as the CPU itself, monitor, keyboard, mouse and other peripherals, as well as internal components, among which electronic cards, memory modules, memory units can be mentioned. fixed disk, floppy disk, compact disk and DVD. A few PCs are equipped with a lock that prevents the removal of the CPU cover; few others have washers that allow the installation of a padlock that fulfills the same purpose, although these are punched on the sheet of the chassis, which makes them fragile and unreliable. Thus, for most equipment, anyone can access the interior by simply removing the screws that secure the cover. Even when it can be secured, external peripherals are always unprotected and subject to theft. As of today, there are very few products that allow you to secure PC equipment. The few accessories that are in the Mexican market are imported, resulting that they are not always in existence; they also offer limited protection only to one of the parts of the equipment, so that one of them blocks only the CPU cover preventing its free opening, another protects a few peripherals by holding its cables in isolation and whose safety is completed by using a Extra cable belonging to another accessory. Two other devices that promise to be the most efficient, chain the CPU with the monitor and / or the printer and / or the work furniture, linking them via a steel cable that is inserted into fittings that stick to each of the components with an adhesive, which offers a poor level of security, in addition to the 'hardware' of one of these products are plastic. In the international market there are some more complete devices, but they always protect the parts separately, and they mostly use the adherent hardware.

The critical part to consider to make an anchor of the equipment, that is to say to place an external element that greatly limits its relocation and transfer, resides in the fact of not having a point of attachment on it, in order to link it to a safe structure . In order to offer the market a product that provides comprehensive security to the computer equipment, and that also allows its use in other equipment, among which are those initially mentioned, the development of this clamping device, whose protection, was considered It is intended by this request, being a novel accessory that acts as a solid extension of the chassis of the equipment, thus allowing to mount other elements that complete the insurance action.

DESCKIFC]

The characteristic details of this novel clamping device are presented in the following description, of which the accompanying drawings are part, which have an illustrative and non-limiting nature.

Fig. I shows in perspective the device, being a mounting piece or fastener (1), firmly installed on the surface of a device (4), acting as a solid extension thereof, in order to generate a fastening point for securing a closing or blocking element (2), thus preventing the former from being removed from said surface in an unauthorized manner.

A side view of the fastener is shown in Fig. 2. Said piece basically consists of a tubular body, which has a preferably circular shape, seen from its ends, but which can be different in square-hexagonal, star, or any other- and / or to the extent, in its entirety or in certain sections, without affecting the essence of the invention. One of its ends is partially limited by a wall (8) of both flat faces, which has a perforation, which is described in an enunciative and non-limiting way, since it can have a greater number of perforations: said perforation communicates up to the main cavity (7), to allow the passage of the rod of a screw for its fixation to the equipment (4), and whose head sits on said wall. The same tubular body is optionally surrounded by one or more bodies that increase its thickness -co or that indicated in (9) -, being located at any distance from the ends, being the same or different from each other, both in shape and in measures, and that they have the function, among others, of providing stability and resistance to the foot; Utility -Λ-

specific to the body or crown shown in (9) will be analyzed in the practical development presented below. The tubular body has one or more perforations (10) perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, serving as a point of attachment for the optional locking element (2), which, when mounted, prevents access of any tool to the fixing screw - as clearly seen in Fig. 1-. An arm (12) optionally comes out from the side of the piece, which then turns to point in the opposite direction to the crown end (9), ending beyond the main body; its presence is justified in the following practical development.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION (OR BEST METHOD KNOWN TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION)

In view of Fig. 2, which shows the fastener laterally, consider the characteristics of the piece for this particular development. The tubular body we consider is cylindrical; The limiting wall of the first end has only one hole (11) for the passage of a fixing screw. That same end is surrounded by a body that in this case has been given a certain conical shape to support the entire piece, its base coinciding with the end in question. At the opposite end, which is fully open, a crown (9) also surrounds it. The tubular body has two perforations (10) iametrically opposite and perpendicular to the cylindrical axis. Finally, it has the arm (12) that comes out on its side. To preferentially mount the fastener, one of the original screws that fix the cover is removed from the equipment, which by the way are located near the edge - as shown in (6) -. A substitute screw (13) having the same thread, provided with a set of washers (14), is inserted with the tip in front in the cavity (7) of the fastener, passing it through the perforation (11) of the end . The screw, whose head sits on the wall (8) at end of the cavity, it is fixed in the perforation of the original screw in the equipment, for which the arm (12) of the fastener must be positioned outside the nearest edge of the equipment - for better appreciation see detail in Fig. 1 -. Given the orientation of the end end of the arm and that its length exceeds the plane of the mounting surface, which is very obvious in Fig. 2, this limits the free rotation of the piece in volume to the clamping point (screw) , never completing a lap since it bumps into the shore. In the set of washers (14) mentioned, some metal, pressure and plastic planes are included, which provides uniform pressure on the seat wall (8) and prevents the screw from loosening at the possible rotation of the fastener at its angle of freedom, which was described some lines arrives.

Consider also an alternative form of installation, by screwing a locknut on the screw, on the opposite side of the mounting panel, for when you want to increase the level of security, or on equipment that does not have closing screws, due to Perform a perforation in the latter case.

On some computers, the cover protrudes from the back panel back for ¹ so that the arm bra designed with a bridge (15) allowing fight this nubbin.

The fastener is preferably made of brass, its production also being possible with any other hard metal or some alloy, with any plastic or resin, with some type of stone or mineral in its natural or cast state, or with two or more of the above .

The use of a locking element on the fastener has the main function of preventing, in a non-permanent way, access to the fixing screw; therefore it must have some type of lock for its closing and release. Additionally, when using the device on computer equipment, this element allows both to ensure the peripherals, so we will conveniently use a simple, fully commercial padlock (2), like any one used for doors or windows, and its description will focus on its functional aspect. Its hook ((5) in Fig. 3) is inserted into the lateral perforations (10) of the fastener, once fixed to the equipment. As said hook crosses the cavity (7) of the fastener just behind the crown (9), once it is closed it prevents access of any tool to remove the fixing screw - see detail in Fig. 1-. To secure peripherals - monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, Webcam, etc. -, the padlock catches the corresponding signal cables between its hook. Once the padlock has been mounted on the fastener, as shown in Fig. 3, and before closing it, the peripheral data cables are inserted into the free space of the hook, so that on one side the peripherals and the other its connectors. Thus, when closing the padlock, the same cable connectors prevent them from coming out, since they cannot pass through the space formed between the free arm of the hook and the crown (9) of the fastener; however, the cables can slide and continue plugging normally into the CPU. Fig. 3 shows the fastener assembly and the padlock already closed, with a peripheral cable crossing as described, for example purposes only. This is where the function of the crown (9) of the fastener is appreciated, which is precisely to limit the space inside the hook, so that it allows the cables to be housed and at the same time prevents the passage of their connectors.

As a complement to the fastener-padlock assembly, the use of a link element allows the equipment in question to be anchored, for which a cable (3) or chain can be applied, among others, with one of its ends attached to the mentioned set, as exemplified in Fig. 3, and the other end fixed to a structure of a piece of furniture or the building, limiting its relocation and transfer. The entire device can be uninstalled and repositioned as many times as required, either by maintenance to the equipment or by relocation.

As you can see, the application of this device has the following advantages:

1. It blocks the cover of the equipment, preventing the extraction of internal components. 2. At a single point on a CPU, it also ensures its peripherals, preventing them from being removed from the place where they have been previously installed.

3. Due to its modular design, it allows its safety features to be used separately, as in the case of omitting the anchorage and / or peripheral securing, without disregarding the blocking of the equipment cover.

4. Given the above, it can also be used to anchor other equipment, such as microwave ovens, TV, photocopier, sound equipment, network servers, switches, etc.

5. It can be uninstalled and reinstalled as necessary.

Claims

CLAIMS Having described my invention, I consider a novelty and claim my property contained in the following clauses:

1. Clamping device for computer equipment and equipment in general, consisting of a fastener of resistant material, characterized in that it is formed by a tubular body, with one of its ends partially limited by a wall of both flat faces, which it has one or more perforations that completely pierce it, these serving to insert screws for assembly, and whose heads settle on said wall; because the same tubular body is optionally surrounded by one or more bodies that increase its thickness, being located at any distance from the ends, being equal or different from each other, both in shape and in measures, fulfilling the function of providing stability and resistance to the piece, as well as limiting the free space within a blocking element that can optionally be mounted on the piece; because the cavity of the tubular body optionally adopts variable shapes and measures throughout its path; because the tubular body ¹ optionally has an arm that exits its coast and then forms an angle to point in the same direction as the limited end, ending beyond the latter, which object is to prevent the free rotation of the piece around its attachment point; because the same tubular body has one or more perforations perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, through which the optional locking element is inserted.

2. Use of the device of claim 1, for securing electronic equipment in general.

3. Use of the device of claim 1, for securing electrical equipment in general.

4. Use according to claim 2, wherein the equipment Electronic is preferably computer equipment.

5. Use according to claim 2, wherein the electronic equipment may be switches, televisions, photocopiers and sound and communications equipment.

6. Use according to claim 3, wherein the electrical equipment can be microwave ovens, refrigerators and washing machines.

7. Device according to claim 1, wherein the material from which it is formed is a hard metal or alloy or plastic or resin or stone or mineral or a combination of the foregoing.

8. Device according to claim 7, wherein the material is preferably brass.