Light pipe guide and carrier for hard disk drive

• US 6,231,224 B1
• Filed: 09/22/1999
• Issued: 05/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McNulty, Edward J., Gamble, Eric T.
• Primary Examiner(s): CARIASO, ALAN B
• Application Number:
  US09/401,210
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• Field of Search: 362/551, 362/559, 362/560, 362/85, 362/89, 362/132, 362/133, 362/234, 362/253, 361/685, 361/727, 361/735, 116/202
• US Class Current: 362/551
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/184 Mounting of motherboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/187 Mounting of fixed and removable disk drives
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/122 Arrangements for providing electrical connections, e.g. connectors, cables, switches
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/124 of the single recording/reproducing device, e.g. disk drive, onto a chassis

Abstract

A carrier for a hot-pluggable hard disk drive has a frame with a pair of side walls, a front bezel, and a rear connector assembly. The hard disk drive mounts to the frame within its confines. One of the side walls has a pair of channels in its outer surface. The carrier also has a visible light pipe mounted in each of its channels. The light pipes extend along the side wall from the front bezel to the rear connector assembly. The carrier is installed in the hard disk drive docking bay of a computer system. The rear end of the docking bay has a docking connector for interconnecting with the drive, and a pair of activity lights. When the carrier is seated in the docking bay, the rear ends of the light pipes are precisely aligned with the activity lights and separated from them by a small clearance. The light emitted by the activity lights is transmitted through the light pipes and displayed at the front bezel for viewing by the user.

Claims

1. A carrier for a computer system hard disk drive, the computer system having an enclosure, a docking bay located within the enclosure for receiving the carrier, and at least one activity light associated with the docking bay and located at a rearward end of the docking bay, the carrier comprising:

a frame having a front end, a rear end, and a side wall extending therebetween, the frame being adapted to support a hot-pluggable hard disk drive between the front end, rear end, and side wall;

a bezel mounted adjacent to the front end of the frame;

a retainer mounted adjacent to the rear end of the frame;

at least one light conduit mounted adjacent to an outer surface of the side wall of the frame such that a front end of the conduit is mounted to the bezel, and a rear end of the conduit is mounted to the retainer; and

wherein

the retainer is adapted to align the rear end of the conduit with and in close proximity to said at least one activity light in the docking bay so that light emitted by the activity light is transmitted to the front end of the conduit and is visible from a position in front of the bezel.

2. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the light conduit is mounted within a longitudinal slot in the outer surface of the side wall.

3. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the bezel has an aperture that the front end of the light conduit is mounted in.

4. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the light conduit is a solid pipe formed from clear acrylic.

5. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said at least one conduit comprises a pair of conduits, and wherein the frame has a vertical axis, a horizontal axis, the rear ends of the conduits are vertically oriented relative to each other, and the front ends of the conduits are horizontally oriented relative to each other.

6. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the frame further comprises a connector assembly mounted adjacent to the rear end of the frame, the connector assembly having a connector that is adapted to electrically couple the hard disk drive to the computer system, and wherein the retainer is integrally formed with the connector assembly.

7. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the retainer comprises a shroud with an opening for capturing the rear end of the light conduit.

8. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the front and rear ends of the conduit are substantially flush with the bezel and the retainer, respectively.

9. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the light conduit is nonlinear along its length and has a rectangular cross-sectional shape.

10. The carrier of claim 9 wherein the light conduit is mounted within a longitudinal channel in the outer surface of the side wall, the channel having first and second spaced-apart flanges for locating the light conduit within the channel so that outer surfaces of the conduit abut the flanges and the side wall.

11. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the light conduit has a front portion, a central portion, and a rear portion, wherein the central portion is substantially linear and the front and rear portions are angled relative to and offset from the central portion.

12. The carrier of claim 1 wherein the front end of the light conduit is tapered to maximize viewability of the light emitted by the activity light.

13. A carrier for a computer system hard disk drive, the computer system having an enclosure, a docking bay located within the enclosure for receiving the carrier, and a pair of activity lights associated with the docking bay and located at a rearward end of the docking bay, the carrier comprising:

a frame having a front end, a rear end, and a side wall extending therebetween, the side wall having an outer surface with a longitudinal slot extending between the ends, and the frame being adapted to support a hot-pluggable hard disk drive;

a a bezel mounted adjacent to the front end of the frame and having an aperture;

a retainer mounted adjacent to the rear end of the frame;

a pair of light conduits formed from solid pipes of acrylic, wherein the conduits are mounted in the slot in the outer surface of the side wall, and wherein the front ends of the conduits are mounted in the aperture of the bezel, and the rear ends of the conduits are mounted to the retainer; and

wherein

the retainer is adapted to align each of the rear ends of the conduits with and in close proximity to a respective one of the activity lights in the docking bay so that light emitted by the activity lights is transmitted to the front ends of the conduits and is visible from a position in front of the bezel; and

wherein

each of the light conduits has a front portion, a central portion, and a rear portion, the central portions being substantially linear and the front and rear portions being angled relative to and offset from their respective central portions.

14. The carrier of claim 13 wherein the frame has a vertical axis, a horizontal axis, the rear ends of the conduits are vertically oriented relative to each other, and the front ends of the conduits are horizontally oriented relative to each other.

15. The carrier of claim 13 wherein the frame further comprises a connector assembly mounted adjacent to the rear end of the frame, the connector assembly having a connector that is adapted to electrically couple the hard disk drive to the computer system, and wherein the retainer is integrally formed with the connector assembly.

16. The carrier of claim 13 wherein the retainer comprises a shroud with an opening for capturing the rear ends of the light conduits.

17. The carrier of claim 13 wherein the front and rear ends of the conduits are substantially flush with the bezel and the retainer, respectively.

18. The carrier of claim 13 wherein the light conduits are rectangular in cross-section.

19. The carrier of claim 18 wherein the slot in the side wall comprises a pair of channels, each having first and second spaced-apart flanges, and wherein one of the light conduits locate within each of the channels such that outer surfaces of the conduits abut the flanges and the side wall.

20. The carrier of claim 13 wherein each of the front ends of the light conduits has a pair of tapers to maximize viewability of the light emitted by the activity lights, and the rear ends of the light conduits are substantially orthogonal to axes of the light conduits.

21. A carrier for a computer system hard disk drive, the computer system having an enclosure, a docking bay located within the enclosure for receiving the carrier, and a pair of activity lights associated with the docking bay and located at a rearward end of the docking bay, the carrier comprising:

a frame having a front end, a rear end, and a side wall extending therebetween, the side wall having an outer surface with a pair of slots and the frame being adapted to support a hot-pluggable hard disk drive;

a connector mounted to the rear end of the frame and adapted to electrically couple the hard disk drive to the computer system;

a solid acrylic light pipe having a rectangular cross-section mounted in each of the slots in the side wall, each of the pipes having a front portion with a front end, a rear portion with a rear end, and a substantially linear central portion therebetween, the front and rear portions being angled relative to and offset from the central portion, and wherein the front ends of the light pipes are tapered to maximize viewability of the light emitted by the activity lights, and the rear ends of the pipes are substantially orthogonal to axes of the pipes;

a bezel mounted to the front end of the frame and having a pair of apertures for supporting the front ends of the pipes; and

a retainer extending from the connector and having a pair of openings for supporting the rear ends of the pipes, the retainer also being adapted to align each of the rear ends of the pipes with and in close proximity to a respective one of the activity lights in the docking bay so that light emitted by the activity lights is transmitted to the front ends of the pipes and is visible from a position in front of the bezel.

22. The carrier of claim 21 wherein the frame has a vertical axis, a horizontal axis, the rear ends of the pipes are vertically oriented relative to each other, and the front ends of the pipes are horizontally oriented relative to each other.

23. The carrier of claim 21 wherein the front and rear ends of the pipes are substantially flush with the bezel and the retainer, respectively.

24. The carrier of claim 21 wherein each of the slots in the side wall have first and second spaced-apart flanges that abut outer surfaces of the pipes.