Assembly mechanism for external box

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an external box, and particularly relates to an assembly mechanism for an external box.

2. Description of the Related Art

An external box of the prior art is used to receive a hard disk and has a built-in USB port for supporting low-speed data transmission such as that transmitted by a mouse, a keyboard, or a joystick, etc., and for supporting high-speed digital compression images, too. Moreover, the external box has a hard disk switch and supports a number of types of operating systems.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the prior external box has a bottom casing body 101 and a top casing body 102 . The bottom casing body 101 has a receiving space for receiving a hard disk (not shown). The bottom casing body 101 has a plurality of function ports 1011 and a hard disk switch 1012 . The top casing body 102 is fixed on the bottom casing body 101 via a plurality of screws.

However, when a user wants to assemble the external box, the user needs to use screws 104 to screw the top casing body 102 onto the bottom casing body. Hence, the screws 104 increase costs and are not convenient for the user who needs to assemble or detach the external box.

The present invention provides an assembly mechanism for an external box. The present invention has a retaining body that can be used for sliding the cover body to approach the opening in order to retain the cover body and the casing body together or for sliding the cover body out from the opening in order to separate the cover body from the casing body. Hence, it is easy for users to assemble or detach the external box of the present invention and the cost of the present invention is less than that of the prior art. Therefore, the present invention can solve the problem of needing to use a number of screws to assemble the external box of the prior art.

Moreover, the casing body has two first tracks disposed on two external walls thereof. The cover body has two second tracks disposed on two external walls thereof. The two second tracks mate with the two first tracks for assembling the cover body on the casing body.

A first aspect of the present invention is an assembly mechanism for an external box. The assembly mechanism includes a casing body, a cover body, and a retaining body. The casing body has an opening formed on one side thereof. The cover body is assembled on the casing body. The retaining body is used for sliding the cover body to approach the opening in order to retain the cover body and the casing body together or for sliding the cover body out from the opening in order to separate the cover body from the casing body.

A second aspect of the present invention is an assembly mechanism for an external box. The assembly mechanism includes a casing body, a cover body, and a retaining body. The casing body has an opening formed on one side thereof. The retaining body has a first retaining element slidably retained in a retaining groove of the casing body. The retaining body has a push block. When the push block pushes the first retaining element, the first retaining element separates from the retaining groove in order to slide the cover body out from the casing body.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description, drawings and claims.

The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, exploded view of an assembly mechanism for an external box of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, exploded view of an assembly mechanism for an external box of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is another perspective, exploded view of an assembly mechanism for an external box of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective, assembled view of an assembly mechanism for an external box of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the retaining body being used to retain the cover body and the casing body together according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the first retaining element separated from the retaining groove according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the retaining body separated from the opening of the casing body according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 , the present invention provides an assembly mechanism for an external box including a casing body 1 , a cover body 2 , and a retaining body 3 . The casing body 1 has an opening 18 formed on one side thereof. The cover body 2 is assembled on the casing body 1 . The retaining body 3 is used for sliding the cover body 2 to approach the opening 18 in order to retain the cover body 2 and the casing body 1 together or for sliding the cover body 2 out from the opening 18 in order to separate the cover body 2 from the casing body 1 . The casing body 1 is a metallic casing body. The casing body 1 has a heat-dissipating net structure 11 disposed on a bottom side thereof for dissipating heat from a hard disk (not shown). The casing body 1 has a plurality of fixed portions 12 disposed on a bottom side thereof for preventing the box body from sliding out, so that the casing body 1 can be placed stably. The casing body 1 has two first tracks 13 disposed on two external walls thereof. The cover body 2 has two second tracks 21 disposed on two external walls thereof. The two second tracks 21 mate with the two first tracks 13 in order to assemble the cover body 2 on the casing body 1 . The cover body 2 has at least one heat-dissipating pad 22 disposed on an inner surface thereof in order to dissipate heat from a hard disk (not shown).

The casing body 1 has a retaining groove 14 . The retaining body 3 has a first retaining element 31 that is retained in the retaining groove 14 . The retaining body 3 has a push block 32 . When a user presses the push block 32 to push the first retaining element 31 , the first retaining element 31 can be separated from the retaining groove 14 in order to separate the cover body 2 from the casing body 1 . The casing body 1 has a plurality of restricting grooves 15 . The retaining body 3 has a plurality of second retaining elements 33 respectively retained in the restricting grooves 15 . The casing body 1 has a plurality of positioning portions 16 for positioning the retaining body 3 . The casing body 1 has two first fixed portions 17 disposed on two lateral sides thereof in order to fix the cover body 2 on the casing body 1 . The retaining body 3 has two second fixed portions 34 disposed on two lateral sides thereof in order to fix the cover body 2 on the casing body 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 5 to 7 , when the first retaining element 31 is retained in the retaining groove 14 in order to retain the casing body 1 , the first fixed portions 17 and the second fixed portions are used to fix the cover body 2 on the casing body 1 . Each second retaining element 33 is retained in one side of the corresponding restricting groove 15 (as shown in FIG. 5 ). When a user presses the push block 32 to push the first retaining element 31 , the first retaining element 31 can be moved upwardly and separated from the retaining groove 14 (as shown in FIG. 6 ). Because the first retaining element 31 separates from the retaining groove 14 , the retaining body 3 is slid out from the opening 18 in order to separate the cover body 2 from the casing body 1 . At the same time, each second retaining element 33 is retained in the other side of the corresponding restricting groove 15 (as shown in FIG. 7 ). The sliding distance of the retaining body 3 is determined according to the length of the restricting groove 15 .

In conclusion, the assembly mechanism of the external box of the present invention has the following advantages:

(1) The casing body 1 has a heat-dissipating net structure 11 disposed on the bottom side thereof and the cover body 2 has at least one heat-dissipating pad 22 disposed on the inner surface thereof in order to dissipate heat from a hard disk (not shown).

(2) The two second tracks 21 mate with the two first tracks 13 in order to assemble the cover body 2 on the casing body 1 .

(3) The retaining body 3 is used for sliding the cover body 2 to approach the opening 18 in order to retain the cover body 2 and the casing body 1 together or for sliding the cover body 2 out from the opening 18 in order to separate the cover body 2 from the casing body 1 . Hence, it is easy for users to assemble or detach the external box of the present invention and the cost of the present invention is less than that of the prior art.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred best molds thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.