Card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to electronic equipment housings
First Claim
1. A card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to an electronic equipment housing, said card guide comprising:
- an elongated card guide body having a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the card guide body; and
a card guide mounting structure on an outwardly facing side of the card guide body, the card guide mounting structure including;
a pair of spaced apart mounting feet dimensioned to be inserted through a first pair of spaced apart mating openings in a first wall of the electronic housing; and
an inwardly projecting end provided on at least one of the feet dimensioned to be inserted into a second opening in the wall spaced from and longitudinally adjacent to the first pair of mating openings;
wherein the mounting feet are L-shaped and extend in the same direction, and wherein the mounting feet and inwardly projecting ends are formed to cooperate with the first and second respective openings in the housing so as to positively secure the guide to the housing wall.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A card guide for mounting printed circuit boards, electronic pathway or component carrying cards, or the like, to an electronic equipment housing having a wall with a pair of openings formed to receive mounting feet provided on the card guide. The card guide body includes a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the body and a card mounting structure on the outwardly facing side of the body. The card mounting structure preferably includes L-shaped posts or feet having longitudinally extending portions which enable the card guide to be inserted through an opening in a housing wall to a position in which the L-shaped feet interlock with the housing wall adjacent to the openings. Most preferably the card guide body is resiliently flexible and can be bowed to allow insertion into pairs of mounting openings and will spring back once inserted to secure the card guide to the housing wall. Embodiments suitable for mounting the card guide to a single housing wall or a sandwich of two abutting housing walls are disclosed.
11 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to an electronic equipment housing, said card guide comprising:
-
an elongated card guide body having a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the card guide body; and a card guide mounting structure on an outwardly facing side of the card guide body, the card guide mounting structure including; a pair of spaced apart mounting feet dimensioned to be inserted through a first pair of spaced apart mating openings in a first wall of the electronic housing; and an inwardly projecting end provided on at least one of the feet dimensioned to be inserted into a second opening in the wall spaced from and longitudinally adjacent to the first pair of mating openings; wherein the mounting feet are L-shaped and extend in the same direction, and wherein the mounting feet and inwardly projecting ends are formed to cooperate with the first and second respective openings in the housing so as to positively secure the guide to the housing wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to an electronic equipment housing, said card guide comprising:
-
an elongated card guide body having a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the card guide body; a card guide mounting structure on an outwardly facing side of the card guide body, the card guide mounting structure including a pair of spaced apart mounting feet dimensioned to be inserted through spaced apart mating openings in a wall of the electronic housing; and indexing projections provided on the card guide body intermediate the mounting feet and configured and dimensioned to be inserted into indexing openings spaced from and adjacent to the spaced apart mating openings; wherein the mounting feet are formed to cooperate with the openings in the housing and the indexing projections are formed to cooperate with the indexing openings so as to positively secure the guide to the housing wall, and wherein the mounting feet are L-shaped feet having ends extending substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the card guide body and dimensioned to be inserted through the spaced apart mating openings in the wall of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An electronic equipment chassis for supporting printed circuit boards and the like thereon, said chassis comprising:
-
an inner wall; a pair of spaced apart inner openings in the inner wall; and a card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to the electronic equipment chassis, the card guide including; an elongated card guide body having a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the card guide body; a card guide mounting structure on an outwardly facing side of the card guide body, the card guide mounting structure including a pair of spaced apart mounting feet dimensioned to be inserted through the spaced apart openings in the inner wall of the electronic chassis; an outer wall adjacent to and parallel to the inner wall, the outer wall being longitudinally shiftable to the inner wall; and a pair of spaced apart outer openings in the outer wall, the outer openings having substantially the same dimensions and configuration as the inner opening; wherein the mounting feet are formed to cooperate with the inner openings in the chassis so as to positively secure the guide to the inner wall and wherein the mounting feet are trapped in a sandwich configuration between the inner and outer openings in the inner and outer walls. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
-
-
15. An electronic equipment chassis for supporting printed circuit boards and the like thereon, said chassis comprising:
-
an inner wall including a pair of spaced apart inner openings; an indexing opening on the inner wall spaced from and intermediate the openings in the inner wall and dimensioned and configured to receive an indexing projection; and a card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to the electronic equipment chassis, the card guide including; an elongated card guide body having a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the card guide body; and a card guide mounting structure on an outwardly facing side of the card guide body, the card guide mounting structure including a pair of spaced apart mounting feet dimensioned to be inserted through the spaced apart openings in the inner wall of the electronic chassis; wherein the indexing projection is provided on the card guide body intermediate and spaced from the mounting feet and engages the indexing opening once the mounting feet have been inserted through the inner openings thereby limiting relative movement between the card guide and the inner wall. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. An electronic equipment chassis for supporting printed circuit boards and the like thereon, said chassis comprising:
-
an inner wall; a pair of spaced apart inner openings in the inner wall; a card guide for mounting printed circuit boards and the like to the electronic equipment chassis, the card guide including an elongated card guide body having a card-receiving guideway on an inwardly facing side of the card guide body, an indexing projection on the card guide body formed to be inserted into indexing openings located intermediate to and spaced from the inner openings; and a card guide mounting structure on an outwardly facing side of the card guide body, the card guide mounting structure including a pair of spaced apart mounting feet dimensioned to be inserted through the spaced apart openings in the inner wall of the electronic chassis; an outer wall adjacent and parallel to the inner wall, the outer wall being longitudinally shiftable to the inner wall; and a pair of spaced apart outer openings in the outer wall shifted from the inner openings, the outer openings having substantially the same dimensions and configuration as the inner openings; wherein the mounting feet are trapped between the longitudinally shifted inner and outer openings in the inner and outer walls so that the feet hold the card guide between a sandwich configuration between the inner and outer walls. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
-
Specification