Abstract: A sleeve for holding a hard disk drive in portable removable engagement with a PC or laptop computer includes a base and a cover attachable to the base by means of threaded fasteners. The base includes plural holder arms, and when the cover is removed from the base and the hard disk drive advanced into the base, the holder arms move outwardly as the hard drive rides on the arms. When the hard disk drive clears the arms, the arms, which are biased to a hold configuration, move back inwardly to hold the hard disk drive in the base, with the cover then attached to the base. The edge of the cover cooperates with the base to hold the holder arms in the hold configuration and thereby securely hold the hard disk drive in the sleeve.

Abstract: An apparatus for holding a portable hard disk drive in a desk-top personal computer (PC) has a bay that fits into the 3.5" form-factor cavity which is formed in most IBM.RTM.-compatible PCs. The portable hard disk drive is disposed in a protective sleeve. A motor-driven carriage is reciprocably positioned within the bay, and the sleeve is advanced part way into the bay, until the carriage engages the sleeve. Then, the carriage automatically pulls the sleeve the rest of the way into the bay until the disk drive is operably engaged with the computer. When it is desired to eject the sleeve with disk drive, a button is pushed to cause the carriage to push the sleeve out of the bay, perhaps after a short delay time period to allow the disk drive to spin down prior to ejection. An external docking station and laptop computer adaptor are also disclosed.