Attachment assembly for mounting electronic devices

[0001] The invention relates to a connection kit for mounting electronic devices, in particular for mounting hard drives.

[0002] The increasing level of complexity of home electronic devices, for example television set-top boxes, video recorders, media servers, DVD players or personal computers, requires the appropriate design of these devices, taking into account the many factors required for their proper operation.

[0003] An important issue is the installation of disk drives, such as optical disk drives or hard disk drives, so as to provide them with the required operating conditions. There are several aspects to consider, for example vibration isolation, shock protection and efficient cooling. Designs of assembly elements should be inexpensive at both the production and assembly stages.

[0004] Modern hard drives operate at high speeds that cause disk vibration. Vibration, without proper insulation, can spread to the device housing, which may result in disturbing noise, highly undesirable by the user. In addition, home appliances are often moved, for example during cleaning. If the device is moved while the disk drive is running, the device is exposed to shocks that may result in malfunction or damage to the disk. In addition, modern disks emit a lot of heat, which should be effectively removed at a safe distance from the disk. Cooler disk drives run quieter and last longer than disk drives operating without overheat protection.

[0005] A solution known from the publication of US Patent No.

4,713,714, depicts a peripheral shock mount mounting kit for reducing the errors associated with carrying the device. As described, the mounting cradle rests on the mounting plate, which has a lower bottom support surface

EP 2 134 148 T3 the surface of the mounting cradle, a vertical wall on each side of the bottom surface, and a collar extending outwardly from each of the walls. To dampen mechanical shocks and vibrations reaching the disk drive, elastic elements are provided, connecting the mounting cradle to the mounting plate, having the form of rubber or plastic insulators, which in the preferred embodiment have the shape of a rotating ellipsoid. The elastic elements can be formed of any suitable material and can take any shape that allows shock absorption between the mounting cradle and the mounting plate. According to this state of the art, two mounting cradles are required, which makes the solution inefficient also due to costs. The disk is mounted only with the help of the lower fastening elements and the two mounting cradles form a kind of suspension for an electronic device mounted in such a mounting system.

[0006] In addition, according to US Pat. No. 4,713,714, to prevent undesirable movement of the mounting cradle, relative to the mounting plate, in the up-down direction and in the front-back direction, along the line of mounting the disk drive, from front to back, movement limiters have been introduced. The disadvantage of the solution is the lack of protection against left-right movements.

[0007] Another prior art document US2005 / 088778 discloses a mounting kit for mounting a data storage device, comprising a first bracket comprising a bottom panel, a side panel extending upward from the bottom panel, and a second bracket comprising a first plane and a second plane perpendicular to the first plane, the first plane is attached to the bottom panel of the first bracket.

[0008] Another publication US 2001/008480 defines a hard disk holder, comprising a handle adapted to hold hard disks, said holder having a plurality of ventilation channels in a bottom panel and a plurality of attachment holes symmetrically located on both sides of the ventilation channels. The holder also includes a plurality of exhaust fans, suitably installed in said ventilation channels, said exhaust fans being equipped with a plurality of hooks appropriately hooked in the attachment holes of said handle.

EP 2 134 148 T3 [0009] Furthermore, according to WO 2006/108294 a casing for connecting a hard disk, a thermoelectric module, known to the casing and a hard disk for heat transfer between the hard disk and the casing in response to the connected voltage in order to maintain voltage is known disk temperature within the recommended range.

[0010] Document US2006 / 0045616A1 discloses attaching a fan housing to a data processing device housing by means of damping elements that contain elastomeric material.

[0011] The disadvantages of the prior art solutions presented are the lack of required cooling of the closed electronic equipment, costliness and insufficient damping of left-right vibration or shock.

[0012] In view of the above, there is a need to create a cheap connection set for electronic devices that will provide isolation from vibration in all directions, protection against mechanical shocks that may occur during transport and which at the same time will not significantly limit housing designers in thus giving the opportunity to design effective cooling.

[0013] The main purpose of the solution according to the present invention is to create a connection set for electronic devices and a cooling system complementing this set, in order to suppress vibrations, reaching from all sides of the housing to the surface where the device is mounted, and shock, coming from every direction to the housing, Yes, that the electronic device is protected from hitting the housing and effective cooling and noise reduction occurring during the operation of the electronic device.

[0014] In order to achieve the above purpose, a connection kit has been created for mounting at least one electronic device, preferably a hard disk, the connection kit allowing isolation from vibration in all axes and allowing effective cooling, where the electronic device has side fastening elements and bottom fastening elements, where the connection set contains a mounting cradle having space forming a fan recess, the space being formed by a first extension element, a lower part and a second extension element, wherein

EP 2 134 148 T3 the first arm is directed sideways from the lower part through the first extension element and the second arm is directed upwards from the lower part through the second extension element, where the first arm is parallel to the lower and upper part of the electronic device which will be mounted in the mounting cradle, and the other arm is parallel to the left and right sides of the electronic device that will be mounted in the mounting cradle, wherein the electronic device can be attached to the first arm using the lower fasteners of the electronic device and to the second arm using the lateral fasteners of the electronic device, wherein the fan is mounted under the electronic device inside the mounting cradle in the space between the first arm and the second arm of the mounting cradle Yes, that the air is directed to an electronic device mounted in the mounting cradle, the mounting cradle having an opening in the bottom to allow air flow from under the mounting cradle to the fan. In addition, the connection kit includes four damping elements attached to the arms by attaching the damping elements, the electronic device being attached to the mounting cradle by means of damping means and attaching means of the damping elements and the connection set includes means of fastening the fan, which are made of flexible material and they will dampen the vibration caused by the fan.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the rocking space is located adjacent to the fan. The mounting cradle has a first set of notches in the first side part and a second set of notches in the second side part adapted to receive damping elements.

[0016] A special advantage of the solution is that the damping elements are made of a material whose hardness is in the range from 3 to 20, measured in Shore A units and has a through hole for receiving fastening means.

[0017] Preferably, the damping elements received are positioned such that when connected by imaginary lines, a quadrangle shape with two parallel walls is formed.

[0018] In a further embodiment, the fan is attached to the outer casing and inserted through an opening formed at the bottom of the mounting cradle.

[0019] Other objects, advantages and new features of the invention will be more apparent through the presentation in the detailed description of the embodiments in connection with the drawing, the individual figures of which show:

Fig. 1 a perspective view of the connection set;

Fig. 2 a perspective view of the connection set of Fig. 1 with the damping elements removed;

Fig. 3 a perspective view of the damping element and the fastening means of the damping elements joined together;

Fig. 4 a perspective view of the damping element of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 a perspective view of a connection set with a hard disk mounted;

Fig. 6 a side view of a connection set with a hard disk mounted;

Fig. 7 a front view of the connection set with a hard disk mounted;

Fig. 8 a side view of a connection set with a hard disk mounted;

Fig. 9 a top view of the connection set with a hard disk mounted; and

Fig. 10 bottom view of the connection set with the hard disk mounted.

[0020] In the description below, the terms used to define the relative position and orientation, such as horizontal, vertical, left, right side, under, above, front, back, up and down are used. It is understood that these terms refer to the relative direction and location in a two-dimensional system, taking into account the given orientation of the system. In a different orientation of the system, other terms of relative orientation and position may be used to describe the same objects or operations.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1, the connection kit, according to the present technical concept, comprises a mounting cradle 101, preferably made of

EP 2 134 148 T3 solid, hard material, for example from sheet metal 1mm thick. The mounting cradle 101 must ultimately form one element with the mounting base (not shown) of the device comprising the connector set of Fig. 1 when the connector set is attached to the mounting base by at least two fasteners, for example screws 102. The mounting cradle 101 includes holes adapted to be secured to the mounting base by means of screws 102, being the attachment means. The first arm 105 of the mounting cradle 101 forms a space 115 forming a cavity 115 for a fan 107. The cavity 115 can be formed by the first extension element 110, the bottom part 109 and the second arm 108 or the second extension element 111. The surfaces of the first extension element 110 and the surface 162 of the second arm 108 may be located substantially perpendicular to the surface 161 of the first arm 105. In another embodiment, the surfaces and surface 162 of the second arm may be inclined relative to the surface of the first arm.

[0022] The mounting cradle 101 shown in Fig. 1 further includes notches adapted to receive attachment means 106, such as for mounting a fan 107 mounted on the bottom part 109 of the mounting cradle 101, inside the mounting cradle 101, in a cavity 115. In another embodiment, the fan 107 can be mounted on the bottom of the housing and placed in the mounting cradle so that it is positioned between the first arm 105 and the second arm 108.

[0023] In the example shown, four attachment means 106 are used. It is clear that there may be more or less fan attachment means 106 and that they can perform the damping function. The fan mounting means 106 are preferably made of flexible material that will damp the vibration generated by the fan 107. The flexibility of the fan mounting means 106 must be selected so that the vibrated fan 107 does not contact the mounting cradle 101. In one embodiment, the fan 107 is suspended on soft plastic spacers.

[0024] Preferably, the swing space for the fan 107 is provided in the mounting cradle 101, between the arms 105 and 108. The swing space

EP 2 134 148 T3 is provided adjacent to the fan 107, and its size depends on the flexibility of the fan mounting means 106 and the amount of vibration that the fan 107 can generate. Thanks to this design, no vibration generated by the fan 107 will be transmitted to the mounting cradle

101 or further to the disk drive or chassis.

[0025] The fan 107 is positioned on the bottom of the mounting cradle 101 so as to allow cooler air to be drawn from under the mounting cradle 101. The mounting base can be specially adapted to the mounting kit shown by allowing the fan 107 to access cool air from outside the mounting base. To this end, the mounting base may have an opening under the mounting cradle 101 in alignment with the opening 185 shown in Fig. 10.

[0026] Preferably, the fan 107 directs the air directly to the mounted electronic device, in the case of a hard disk drive, exactly to the hard disk drive.

[0027] The lower mounting of the fan 107 further serves to reduce the noise generated by the fan 107. The propagation direction of the sound wave is perpendicular to the user using the device comprising the connection set according to the invention. Reflections of the sound wave outside the device will not absorb your attention or disturb you. The fan 107 is covered by a hard disk and sound waves generated by the fan 107 are reflected from the bottom of the hard disk. The soft fitting of fan 107 further improves the sound level created by the vibrations of fan 107.

[0028] The mounting cradle 101 further includes two arms 105 and 108 arranged such that one arm 105 is positioned substantially parallel to the bottom and top of the electronic device that will be mounted in the mounting cradle 101, while the other arm 108 is substantially parallel to the left and right sides of the electronic device that will be mounted in the mounting cradle 101. In a typical embodiment, the arm 105 will be horizontal and the arm 108 will be vertical with respect to the bottom part 109. Depending on the size of the fan 107, the arm 105 may protrude sideways directly from the bottom part 109 of the mounting cradle 101 or through the extension element 110.

EP 2 134 148 T3

In addition, depending on the size of the fan 107, the arm 108 may protrude upward directly from the lower portion 109 of the mounting cradle 101 or through an extension element 111 which acts as a flange.

[0029] In a typical operating configuration, the connection set according to the invention, comprising a disk drive, will be arranged parallel to the side of the device housing, for example the housing of a digital video recorder. The damping elements 103 are not positioned in a square or rectangle to position the vibration vector outside the X, Y or Z axis.

[0030] The mounting cradle 101 has a first arm 105, designed so that the electronic device 150, shown in Fig. 5, is attached to the first arm 105 using the lower fastening means of the electronic device 150. In addition, the mounting cradle 101 has a second arm 108 designed so that the electronic device 150 is attached to the second arm 108 using side fastening means of the electronic device 150.

[0031] The mounting kit of Fig. 1 further comprises four damping elements 103 attached to the arms 105 and 108 by means of fastening means for damping elements, for example by means of screws 104. Preferably, the means for fastening the damping elements may be any suitable fastening means ensuring a fixed connection . In one embodiment, the hard disk is attached to the mounting cradle 101 by means of screws and sealing rings that act as damping elements 103, the mounting cradle also comprising a fan 107 with its attachment means 106.

[0032] The disk attached by means of the damping elements 103 and the means for attaching the damping elements 106 to the mounting cradle 101 is positioned so that the means for attaching the damping elements 106 attach the disk to the side and bottom, which typically includes an exposed printed circuit board. An unprotected printed circuit board includes a disk controller that usually occupies an area of ​​about 2/3 of the bottom of the disk.

[0033] The lower part of the disk is also often referred to as the main casting, whose name comes from the production process used to form a single

EP 2 134 148 T3 of the aluminum fragment from which such elements are typically created.

[0034] The damping elements 103 may be formed of a material soft enough to absorb shock and vibration during disk operation. The damping elements 103 prevent damage to the disc if the device is dropped. The damping elements 103 may be made of a soft, flexible material such as elastomer, silicone, polyurethane or polyurethane-based polyurethane.

[0035] The most important parameter of such a material is its hardness. For example, according to the ASTM D 2240 scale in Shore A units, the preferred hardness should be between 3 and 20.

[0036] Other parameters such as density in g / cm3 at about 1.3 (measured according to ASTM D 729 standard), compressibility in% at about 25% at 23 degrees Celsius (measured according to ASTM D 395) may be an additional advantage. Another parameter is the loss angle tangent, or tan δ, which measures the ratio of energy lost, G ", to energy saved, G ', in the polymer composition during cyclic deformation, and which in one embodiment can be set around 0.3. However, the most important parameter is hardness.

[0037] The fastening means 106 may have density and compressibility parameters similar to the damping elements 103. However, their hardness should be in the range from about 30 to about 50.

[0038] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the connection set of Fig. 1 with the damping elements removed. In this embodiment, the damping elements 103 are manufactured separately, therefore the mounting cradle includes cutouts 141 in the first arm 105 and 142 in the second arm 108 that are adapted to the damping elements 103. In another example, the mounting cradle 101 may include integrated damping elements 103 and in this case no cutouts are necessary. In another embodiment, the cutouts 141, 142 may have the shape of through holes.

[0039] Fig. 3 shows the damping element and the fastening means of the damping elements joined together. The damping element comprises two outer elements 131, 132 having a first diameter and a connecting element 133 having a second diameter smaller than the diameter of elements 131, 132. Thus, the cutouts 141 and 142 are connected to the damping elements. The damping elements have a hole

EP 2 134 148 T3 straight-through assembly for fastening means for damping elements.

In the embodiment shown, the means for attaching the damping elements are screws having a head 137 and a thread 136. In addition, there is a central element 138 which preferably does not have threading. This allows the set to move better when it is protected by 103 damping elements. In addition, it is recommended to mount the damping elements 103 with the fastening means of the damping elements so that the damping elements 103 are not compressed by the fixing and can retain the damping properties. However, in one embodiment of the fixing kit, the diameter of the connecting member 133 may be smaller than the diameter d of the notches 142, according to Fig. 2, to allow the fastening means to be placed in the notches.

[0041] The damping element 103 may have the shape of a sealing ring at both ends, which will be pressed into the corresponding cutouts 141, 142 of the mounting cradle 101. Then, the damping elements 103 are attached by means of fastening means of the damping elements.

[0042] The outer elements 131, 132 preferably have a cross-section, along the opening for the attaching means of the damping elements, having a quadrangle shape with two parallel sides. The connecting member 133 preferably has a circular shape.

[0043] Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the damping element. The through hole 134 extends through both outer elements 131, 132 and connecting element 133.

[0044] Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the connection set with the hard disk 150 mounted. The hard disk 150 is attached to the mounting cradle 101 by the means of four damping elements 103 and the means for fixing the foam elements 104. The foam elements 103 are located so that the fastening means 104 protruding therefrom can reach the corresponding hard disk mounting means 150. In a typical embodiment, the screws 104 will correspond to the hard disk 150 holes.

[0045] In addition, the hard disk 150 has lateral fastening means 152 made in the side 151 of the hard disk 150 and the lower fastening means 153 in the bottom 154 of the hard disk 150. Similar suitable fastening means are also in the disk

The hard side 150, where the fastening means 152 and 153 are located. Typically, the fastening means 152, 153 of the hard disk 150 are in the form of a threaded hole or latch.

[0046] Fig. 6 is a side view of the connection set with a hard disk 150 mounted and Fig. 7 is a front view of the connection set with a mounted hard disk 150.

[0047] Fig. 8 is a side view of the connection set with the hard disk 150 mounted. As shown, the mounting cradle 101 has perforations that can be used to reduce weight and material consumption, and improve air flow. However, preferably, the perforations cannot, however, negatively affect the rigidity of the mounting cradle 101, which should not be soft in the best embodiment of the invention.

[0048] Fig. 9 is a top view of the connection set with the hard disk 150 mounted.

[0049] Fig. 10 is a bottom view of the connection set with the hard disk 150 mounted. As shown, the axes 181-184 for attenuation of the damping elements are not symmetrical. In the example shown, each of the damping elements is positioned at a different position on the X axis. Preferably, the assembly method is such that the damping elements 103 are positioned so that when connected with imaginary lines, a quadrangle shape with two parallel sides 186 is formed. This can be seen by looking at the mounting cradle from above or below 109. This has the advantage that the vibration vector can be positioned beyond the typical X, Y or Z axes. This embodiment has the further advantage of reducing any vibration transmitted to the mounting plate, if such vibration occur.

[0050] As can be seen, the mounting cradle 101 has an opening 185 in the bottom portion 109 to supply air from under the cradle 101 to the fan 107.

[0051] The illustrated embodiments relate to a hard disk, however the connection kit can be used to mount other electronic devices, for example optical drives.

[0052] It is understood that, despite the many features and advantages of the present invention being presented in the preceding description, together with the details of the structure and function of the invention, the description is for illustration only and changes may be made

EP 2 134 148 T3 details, for example the shape, size or arrangement of the parts, in accordance with the principles of the invention set out by the general definition according to the appended claims.

EP 2 134 148 T3