JP4902593B2 - Fixing mechanism - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fixing mechanism for hot-swapping an expansion card such as a PCI card or an I / O card of another card from an electronic device casing.

  In recent years, in large systems represented by blade servers and the like, units such as power supply units, logical units, or packages such as expansion cards such as I / O cards can be removed even when the apparatus is in operation. That is, hot-swapping is becoming mainstream.

  Conventionally, in order to avoid short-circuiting due to dropping of a screw into a current-carrying part, hot-line insertion / extraction has been performed by adopting a mechanism for pressing and fixing the upper surface of the PCI bracket with a resin molded part or the like.

  For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-318575 (Patent Document 1) proposes a PCI bracket fixing mechanism in which three resin molded parts are combined without using screws.

Similarly, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-84868 (Patent Document 2) proposes fixing of a PCI bracket by a mechanism using resin parts or the like without using screws.
JP 2003-318575 A JP 2003-84868 A

  However, the conventional technique has a problem that a sufficient pressing force as in screw tightening cannot be obtained, so that a gap is easily formed between the housing and the PCI bracket, and electromagnetic shielding is difficult.

  In addition, it is difficult to manufacture because it tends to be a complicated mechanism, and it is difficult to apply it when there are restrictions on mounting in the height direction because the height of the mechanism tends to be high and it is difficult to make the height low. There was a problem that there was.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for fixing an expansion card such as an I / O card in a thin hot-line insertion / extraction, which can reinforce an electromagnetic shield by using a screw, can be easily manufactured with a simple mechanism. is there.

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  Of the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  That is, the outline of a typical one is that the rotating shaft fixed to the housing side, one end of the rotating shaft is attached, the rotating movable portion rotating around the rotating shaft, and the other end of the rotating movable portion do not come off. And a screw attached to.

  Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, effects obtained by typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  That is, the effect obtained by a typical one is that a sufficient pressing force is obtained because the PCI bracket is fixed to the casing with screws, and it is difficult to form a gap between the PCI bracket and the casing, thereby reducing radio wave leakage.

  In addition, since it is a simple mechanism, it is relatively easy to manufacture, and since it is a mechanism with a low mounting height, it can be applied even when there is a mounting constraint in height.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the configuration of a fixing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a fixing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where a PCI card is fixed to a casing by the fixing mechanism.

  In FIG. 1, the fixing mechanism is a fixing part 4 of the housing 1, a pin 7 that is a rotating shaft embedded and fixed in the fixing part 4 of the housing 1, and a rotationally movable part of the fixing mechanism. The arm portion 5 is configured to move, the stepped screw 6 fitted in the arm portion 5, and the pin cover 8 serving as a cover for preventing the arm portion 5 from being detached from the housing 1.

  The PCI card is fixed by fixing the PCI bracket 3 attached to the PCI card substrate 2 to the fixing portion 4 of the housing 1.

  The arm portion 5 is made of a thin resin material having a thickness of about 0.5 mm and has circular holes at both ends thereof.

  A stepped screw 6 is fitted into one of the holes, and the other hole (pin hole 13) is passed through a pin 7 serving as a rotation shaft embedded in the fixed portion 4 of the housing 1, and the pin 7 is pivoted. As you can rotate freely.

  Further, a pin cover 8 is provided so that the arm portion 5 does not come off the housing 1. The arm portion 5 can freely move up and down between the fixed portion 4 and the pin cover 8 along the rotation axis (pin 7).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a state in which one of a plurality of PCI cards is released from the fixing mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a state in which one of a plurality of PCI cards is released from the fixing mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, the fixing is released by removing the stepped screw 6 from the screw hole 9 and rotating the arm portion 5 until a space above the PCI bracket 3 is secured so as not to obstruct the insertion / extraction of the PCI card connector. Done in

  In the state shown in FIG. 2, by hot-plugging the PCI card, it is possible to work safely without dropping the stepped screw 6.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the shape, production, and assembly of the parts used in the fixing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing a configuration of a stepped screw and an arm portion of a fixing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a state before screwing and FIG. 3B shows a state after screwing. Yes. FIG. 4 is a view showing the positional relationship between the stepped screw of the fixing mechanism and the arm portion according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the state where the stepped screw 6 is fitted into the arm portion 5 is viewed from the screw portion 12 side. FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining the assembly of the fixing mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the arm portion 5 has a pin hole 13 and holes having shapes of an inner circle 14 and an outer circle 15 for fitting the stepped screw 6 on the opposite side of the pin hole 13.

  Further, the stepped screw 6 has a screw head 10 and a step 11, and a screw portion 12 below the step 11. The diameter between the head 10 and the step 11 is made slightly larger than the screw portion 12, and the height direction gap is, for example, about 1.5 mm.

  Further, the diameter of the inner circle 14 of the arm portion 5 is about 1 mm smaller than the diameter of the step 11, and four circular notches are diagonally formed on the outer side of the inner circle 14.

  The diameter of the outer circle 15 shown by the broken line in FIG. 3 is about 2 mm larger than the diameter of the step 11, and the four diagonal cutouts play a role of escape when the stepped screw 6 is fitted. Yes.

  The positional dimensional relationship between the screw step 11, the inner circle 14, and the outer circle 15 is as shown in FIG.

  The arm portion 5 can be fitted into the stepped screw 6 relatively easily by pushing the fitting hole of the arm portion 5 into the step 11 of the stepped screw 6 and getting over.

  When the resin of the arm portion 5 passes through the step, the portion between the inner circle 14 and the outer circle 15 is elastically bent and returns to its original shape when it is placed between the head 10 and the step 11. That is, the resin between the inner circle 14 and the outer circle 15 mainly serves as a stopper that holds the stepped screw 6. If the material of the arm portion 5 is made of a nylon-based resin rich in elasticity, workability is good.

  Further, in order to make the rotation of the arm portion 5 smooth and improve workability, the diameter of the pin hole 13 is not so large as the diameter of the pin 7 but is kept at a clearance of about 0.2 mm.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing mechanism is assembled by first passing the pin hole 13 of the arm portion 5 in which the stepped screw 6 is inserted into the pin 7 embedded in the fixing portion 4 of the housing 1.

  Then, the pin cover 8 is put on the tip portion of the pin 7 and is fastened together with the housing 1 with the pin cover fixing screw 16 at the position of the screw hole 9 to complete the assembly of the fixing mechanism. This fixing mechanism is 9 mm from the fixing portion 4 to the tip of the pin 7 which is the uppermost part in the height direction, and can be sufficiently applied even when there is no allowance in the height direction on mounting.

  As described above, in this embodiment, a sufficient pressing force is obtained because the PCI bracket 3 is fixed to the housing 1 with screws, and it is difficult to form a gap between the PCI bracket 3 and the housing 1, thereby reducing radio wave leakage. it can.

  In addition, since it is a simple mechanism in which one end of the arm portion 5 in which the stepped screw 6 is fitted is passed through the pin 7, it is relatively easy to manufacture, and since it is a mechanism with a low mounting height, there is a high mounting constraint. Applicable even if there is.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

  For example, in the present embodiment, a PCI card has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to a PCI card, and any card can be used as long as it is an I / O card or an expansion card. Good.

  The present invention is widely applicable to systems and devices for hot-swapping I / O cards and expansion cards from an electronic device housing.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the fixing mechanism which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a state in which one card among a plurality of PCI cards is released in the fixing mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the stepped screw and arm part of a fixing mechanism in one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the stepped screw and arm part of a fixing mechanism in one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the assembly of a fixing mechanism in one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing | casing 2 ... PCI card board, 3 ... PCI bracket, 4 ... Fixed part (housing | casing), 5 ... Arm part, 6 ... Stepped screw, 7 ... Pin (rotating shaft), 8 ... Pin cover, 9 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS: Screw hole, 10 ... Head, 11 ... Step, 12 ... Screw part, 13 ... Pin hole, 14 ... Inner circle, 15 ... Outer circle, 16 ... Pin cover fixing screw.

Claims (5)

A fixing mechanism for fixing an expansion card mounted on an electronic device to a screwing portion of a housing of the electronic device by a bracket of the expansion card,
A rotating shaft fixed to the housing side;
One end is attached to the rotating shaft, and a rotationally movable portion that rotates around the rotating shaft;
A screw attached so as not to come off at the other end of the rotating movable part,
A fixing mechanism characterized in that in a state where the bracket is disposed at a screwing portion of the housing, the rotary movable portion is rotated and fixed with screws. The fixing mechanism according to claim 1,
The screw has a step between the head portion and the screw portion, and the fixing mechanism. The fixing mechanism according to claim 2,
The rotationally movable portion has a circular hole into which the screw having the step is fitted at the other end,
The shape of the hole has a circular hole smaller than the step, and has a plurality of notches diagonally outward to a position larger than the diameter of the step. The fixing mechanism according to claim 3,
A fixing mechanism comprising: a cover fixed to the housing, disposed so that the rotationally movable portion does not come off at a tip portion of the rotating shaft. The fixing mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A fixing mechanism, wherein the rotationally movable portion is a thin nylon resin having elasticity.

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