Face panel anchoring apparatus

Abstract

A face panel anchoring apparatus includes a chassis, two coupling elements and a face panel. The chassis has a base plate and two side plates, to form a loading area, and an opening on one side. The two coupling elements are located on two sides of the opening and have respectively a sliding groove parallel with the base plate. The face panel has two guiding struts corresponding to the two sliding grooves to be slid and pivotally coupled thereon. Hence the face panel may be moved horizontally or swiveled relative to the base seat, to open or close the opening of the chassis.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus to anchor a face panel to a computer chassis, and particularly to a face panel anchoring apparatus that is simply structured and easy to mount a face panel to a chassis or to remove the face panel from the chassis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional computer chassis is usually coupled with a removable face panel on the front side. When data storage device requires maintenance, the face panel may be removed to unload the data storage device such as a floppy disk drive, hard disk drive and tape drive from the front side of the chassis without removing the chassis from the server cabinet.

To further simplify the removing operation of the face panel, the general practice is to adopt latches on the front side of the computer chassis. FIG. 1 illustrates a face panel 1 mounted to a chassis 2 with latches. The face panel 1 has a plurality of first latch elements 3 on two sides, mating second latch elements 4 located on two sides of a chassis 2, to allow the face panel 1 to be mounted on the front side of the chassis 2. While such a design makes a removing operation simpler, the face panel 1 has to be totally separated from the chassis 2 while the electronic components within the chassis are removed and replaced. The face panel being removed and disposed separately is easily damaged or even lost. Moreover, coupling of the latches is not reliable and the face panel tends to drop when subject to impact of external forces, so that the protection effect diminishes.

To remedy the aforesaid problems, improved mounting assembly has been proposed. Reference can be found in R.O.C. patent Nos. M246949 and M248201. Both of them aim to improve the latch structure to provide a stronger coupling to enable the face panel to be mounted to the computer chassis more firmly. However, they still have to remove the face panel completely to do maintenance of the electronic component located in the chassis. To overcome this disadvantage, U.S. patent publication No. 20040228083 discloses a sliding mechanism and a sliding element located respectively on the chassis and the face panel, so that the face panel may be turned relative to the chassis after having slid. The front side of the chassis may be opened. But the structure of U.S. patent publication No. 20040228083 includes complicated elements, and many elements have to be set up on the chassis. Assembly and installation are difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid problems, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a face panel anchoring apparatus that has a simplified structure and makes repairs and maintenance of the host more convenient The face panel may be swiveled relatively to the computer chassis to open or close the front side of the host case. Hence there is no need to completely remove the face panel from the computer chassis. During maintenance of the computer, the possibility of loss or damage to the face panel decreases significantly.

In order to achieve the foregoing object, the face panel anchoring apparatus according to the invention includes a chassis which has a base plate and two side plates vertically located on opposite sides of the base plate. The chassis has an opening on one side. Various electronic components are set within the chassis, and the chassis is loaded into a cabinet to form the server computer. There are two coupling elements facing each other fastened to the side plates respectively close to the opening. The facing side of each coupling element has a sliding groove parallel with the base plate. A face panel is provided, which is cap shaped and is formed at a dimension mating the opening. The face panel has two side surfaces corresponding to the two side plates. Each side surface has a sliding element extended outwards from the edge of the side surface. A guiding pillar is provided on each of the sliding element, which is extended outwards to be such that coupled with the sliding groove of the coupling element in a sliding and pivotal manner, so that the face panel is pivotably mounted to the chassis. The face panel may be slid horizontally or swiveled relative to the chassis. Therefore, the face panel may be selectively moved to cover the opening of the chassis, or be swiveled and moved away from the chassis to open the opening.

The face panel of the invention is coupled with the chassis in a sliding and pivotal manner. Hence by moving the face panel horizontally and swiveling the face panel, the opening of the chassis may be exposed to facilitate repairs and maintenance operations without completely removing the face panel from the chassis. The repairs and maintenance of the invention are more convenient.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional face panel anchoring apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the invention.

FIGS. 3 through 6 are fragmentary enlarged views of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the invention showing the relationship between the sliding element, guiding strut, sliding groove and through holes.

FIGS. 8 through 10 are perspective views of an embodiment of the invention in various use conditions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 2 through 7, the face panel anchoring apparatus according to the invention includes a chassis 10, a pair of coupling elements 20 and a face panel 30.

The chassis 10 is to contain various electronic components of a server computer, such as a motherboard, interface cards and data storage devices (not shown in the drawings). The chassis 10 is loaded into a cabinet (not shown in the drawings) to form the server computer.

The chassis 10 has a base plate 11 and two side plates 12 that are vertically located on two opposite sides of the base plate 11 to form a containing area (not labeled). The chassis 10 has an opening 13 on the front side that may be divided by a plurality of partitions to form housing troughs to hold the data storage devices such as hard disk drives through the opening 13. The internal structure of the chassis 10 is known in the art, thus details are omitted hereinafter.

The pair of coupling elements 20 have a plate shaped fastening section 21 and a coupling section 22 respectively, and coupling section 22 is located on one side of the fastening section 21. The fastening section 21 has a plurality of flanges 211 on one side connecting to the coupling section 22 to increase the strength of the coupling elements 20.

The fastening section 21 has a plurality of apertures 212 to receive screws 213, to fasten the coupling element 20 to one side of the two side walls 12 outside the containing area, such that the two coupling sections 22 are located on two sides of the opening 13 and extended slightly from the front side of the chassis 10.

One side of the coupling section 22 facing the opening 13 has at least one horizontal sliding groove 221 in parallel with the base plate 11. The sliding groove 221 has a closed end 221a remote from one end of the chassis 10, and an open end 221b running through the coupling section 22. The coupling section 22 further has through holes 214 running through two sides thereof and in parallel with the sliding groove 221 and having one side communicating to the sliding groove 221. The coupling section 22 also has a longitudinal latch trough 222 on the edge of the opening 13, intercepting the sliding groove 221 in a vertical manner.

The face panel 30 is a cap formed at a dimension mating the opening 13 of the chassis 10. The face panel 30 has two side surfaces corresponding to the two side plates 12. Each side surface has a sliding element 31 extended outwards from one edge. The sliding element 31 has a guiding pillar 311 on the front end extending outwards, and two parallel slots 32 on two side surface where the sliding element 31 is located. The two slots 32 have an opening end to form a suspending elastic reed 33 on each side. The elastic reed 33 has a jutting latch hook 331 on a distal end mating and engages with the latch trough 222 to achieve an anchoring effect.

The face panel 30 is made by a plastic injection process or metal by stamping, so that the two sliding elements 31 are flexible and may be bent and deformed slightly. Hence the guiding pillars 311 at the front end of the sliding element 31 may be coupled with the sliding grooves 221 of the coupling section 22 by bending the sliding element 31 inwards and to slide or swivel, to enable the face panel 30 to be moved and swiveled relative to the chassis 10.

The through hole 214 has a cross section, mating the cross section of the sliding element 31 so that the sliding element 31 may be inserted in the coupling section 22 from one side and extended through another side. Through the open end 221b of the sliding groove 221 and the through hole 214, the sliding element 31 and the guiding strut 311 can run through the coupling section 22, to increase the moving displacement of the face panel 30 towards the chassis 10, to enable the face panel 30 to reach the opening 13 of the chassis 10.

Refer to FIGS. 8 through 10 for a condition in which the face panel 30 is moved in contact with the opening of the chassis 10. The two sliding elements 31 and guiding struts 31 run through the coupling sections 20 through the opening end 221b and the through holes 214 and are extended to another side of the coupling sections 20. The latch hooks 331 of the face panel 30 latch on the latch troughs 222, to anchor the face panel 30 on the front side of the chassis 10 and cover the opening 13. In this condition, the two sliding elements 31 are held in the through holes 214 to be confined, so that the two sliding elements 31 can be moved only horizontally along the axial direction of the sliding groove 221 and through holes 214 and cannot be swiveled. Namely, the face panel 30 can only be moved away horizontally from the chassis 10 without turning relative to the chassis 10. Hence the face panel 30 will not be swiveled to expose the opening 13 of the chassis 10 when subject to impact.

Refer to FIGS. 9 and 10 for another condition in which the face panel 30 is lifted from the opening 13 of the chassis 10, to enable the elements in the server host to be removed and replaced as desired. Pull the face panel 30 so that the two latch hooks 331 escape from the two latch troughs 222, and move the face panel 30 away from the chassis 10. The two guiding struts 311 slide in the two sliding grooves 221 so that the face panel 30 is moved horizontally until the guiding struts 311 hit the closed ends 221a. The sliding element 31 is totally released from the through hole 214, and the face panel 30 may be swiveled downwards about the guiding struts 311 to expose the opening 13 of the chassis 10. After the elements in the server host have been removed and replaced, the face panel 30 is swiveled in reverse and moved forwards horizontally, until reaching the opening 13 again. The two latch hooks 331 may be latched on the latch troughs 222, and the face panel 30 may be mounted on the chassis 10 to cover the opening 13.

Claims

1. A face panel anchoring apparatus, comprising:

a chassis comprising a base plate and two side plates which are vertically located on two sides of the base plate, to form a containing area and an opening on one side;

two coupling elements which are located on two sides of the opening and have respectively a sliding groove parallel with the base plate; and

a face panel which is cap-shaped and is formed at a dimension mating the opening of the chassis and has two side surface corresponding to the two side plates, and a sliding element extended outwards from one edge of each side face, the sliding element having a guiding pillar extending outwards to slide in and pivotally couple with the sliding groove of the coupling elements, such that the face panel is movable horizontally and swivelable relative to the two coupling elements.

2. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coupling elements have respectively a plate-shaped fastening section and a coupling section which is located on one side of the fastening section, the fastening section being located on one side of the two side plate outside the containing area, the sliding groove being located in the coupling section.

3. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 2, wherein the fastening section has at least one flange on one side connecting to the coupling section.

4. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 2, wherein the fastening section is fastened to each of the two side plates through screws.

5. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sliding groove has a closed end remote from the chassis and an open end running through the coupling section.

6. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 5, wherein the coupling section has through holes running through two sides thereof, each of the through holes being parallel with the sliding groove and having one side communicating with the sliding groove to allow the sliding element to pass through from one side of the coupling section and extend from other side thereof.

7. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two coupling sections have respectively a longitudinal latch trough on the edge of the opening vertical to and intersecting the sliding groove, two side surface of the face panel that correspond to the coupling elements having a jutting latch hook to be latched in the latch trough.

8. The face panel anchoring apparatus of claim 7, wherein two side surfaces of the face panel that correspond to the two coupling elements has two parallel slots, the two slots having an open end and forming a suspending elastic reed therebetween, the latch hook being located on a distal end of the elastic reed.