Hard drive carrier design permitting floating retention of a connector assembly to facilitate blind mating of the connector assembly in a hard drive bay
First Claim
1. A carrier body for supporting a hard drive, comprising:
- a pair of side members located at a first end of said carrier body, said side members having side guide channels formed therein;
said side guide channels having a base portion, and a narrower top portion, and said side members having a shoulder at the top of the side guide channels;
a connector board positioned in said carrier body, with each side of the connector board positioned in said side guide channels, and the upper corners of said connector board positioned below the shoulders on said side members; and
wherein said carrier body is molded as a single piece of plastic.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A one-piece carrier body is disclosed for floatingly supporting a removable hard drive in a hard drive bay of a computer system. A printed wire assembly (PWA) board or card mounts on the carrier to provide an interface connection between the hard drive and internal connectors in the hard drive bay. The carrier body has a connector end for receiving the PWA board, which includes side guide channels that are molded using a reverse draft through core-outs in the carrier base. The side channels have a general trapezoidal shape, with a wide base portion and a narrow top portion. The connector end of the carrier body also includes a front lip and a transverse rib defining a guide channel on the base of the carrier body. The endpoints of the narrow top portion of the side guide channels align in the same plane as the base of the front lip and the rib, respectively, to prevent the PWA board from tilting after it is inserted in the connector end. The side guide channels and the base guide channel are designed with clearance for the board to permit the PWA board to float in the x, y, and z directions to facilitate blind mating of the connectors on the PWA board to the internal connectors in the hard drive bay. In addition, a pair of spring ground contacts are provided to bias the PWA card in the z direction to enable the PWA board to engage the internal connectors regardless of the positioning of the PWA board in the base guide channel.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A carrier body for supporting a hard drive, comprising:
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a pair of side members located at a first end of said carrier body, said side members having side guide channels formed therein; said side guide channels having a base portion, and a narrower top portion, and said side members having a shoulder at the top of the side guide channels; a connector board positioned in said carrier body, with each side of the connector board positioned in said side guide channels, and the upper corners of said connector board positioned below the shoulders on said side members; and wherein said carrier body is molded as a single piece of plastic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A carrier body for supporting a hard drive, comprising:
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a carrier body base; a pair of side members located at a first end of said carrier body, said side members having side guide channels formed therein; said side guide channels having a base portion, and a narrower top potion, and said side members having a shoulder defining a stop at the top of the side guide channels; a connector board positioned in said carrier body, with each side of the connector board positioned in said side guide channels, and the upper corners of said connector board positioned below the shoulders on said side members; a guide channel formed in the carrier body base; and a grounding structure positioned in said carrier body, said grounding structure including a grounding spring that biases said connector board forwardly in said base guide channel. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23)
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22. A carrier body for supporting a hard drive, comprising:
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a carrier body base; a pair of side members located at a first end of said carrier body, said side members having side guide channels formed therein; said side guide channels having a base portion, and a narrower top portion, and said side members having a shoulder defining a stop at the top of the side guide channels; a connector board positioned in said carrier body, with each side of the connector board positioned in said side guide channels, and the upper corners of said connector board positioned below the shoulders on said side members; a guide channel formed in the base of said carrier body between a lip in a front face of said carrier body, and a rib in the base of said carrier body, the rib having a rib base and the lip having a lip base; and wherein the narrower top portion of said side guide channel defines a first and second endpoint, and said first endpoint lies in the same vertical plane as the lip base, and the second endpoint lies in the same vertical plane as the rib base. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A computer system comprising:
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a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; a hard drive coupled to the processor and the memory; and a carrier body for supporting the hard drive, further comprising; a pair of side members located at a first end of the carrier body, the side members having side guide channels formed therein; the side guide channels having a base portion, and a narrower top portion, and the side members having a shoulder at the top of the side guide channels; and a connector board positioned in the carrier body, with each side of the connector board positioned in the side guide channels, and the upper corners of the connector board positioned below the shoulders on the side members; wherein the carrier body is molded as a single piece of plastic and wherein the hard drive is attached to the carrier body, the hard drive being coupled to the connector board, and the connector board being coupled to the processor.
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Specification