Data storage device assembly

Relevant subject matter is disclosed in a pending U.S. patent application (application Ser. No. 13/546,198) filed on Jul. 11, 2012 and entitled “FASTENING DEVICE FOR HARD DISK DRIVE”, which is assigned to the same assignee with this patent application.

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a data storage device assembly.

2. Description of Related Art

An electronic device, such as a server, includes a plurality of hard desk drives (HDDs) to provide capacity of data storage device. However, the traditional arrangement for the HDDs cannot provide increasing data storage capacity.

Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an assembled, isometric view of an embodiment of a data storage device assembly.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, isometric view of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a circled portion III of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are similar to FIG. 1 , but showing two different states of assembly.

The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , an embodiment of a data storage device assembly 100 includes a chassis 10 , two mounting members 20 , four brackets 30 , and four data storage devices 40 received in the brackets 30 . In this embodiment, the data storage devices 40 are hard disk drives.

The chassis 10 includes an end wall 11 , two sidewalls 13 extending rearward from opposite ends of the end wall 11 , a dividing plate 15 connected substantially perpendicularly among middles of the sidewalls 13 and the end wall 11 , and a ring shaped handle 17 formed from a front surface of the end wall 11 opposite to the sidewalls 13 . The dividing plate 15 and the sidewalls 13 together form an upper receiving space 161 and a lower receiving space 162 respectively above and below the dividing plate 15 , each receiving space 161 , 162 for receiving two brackets 30 .

The brackets 30 located above the dividing plate 15 shown in FIG. 2 are described as an example.

Two connectors 151 are set on front and rear ends of a top surface of the dividing plate 15 , and substantially located at a diagonal of the dividing plate 15 . Two L-shaped first locking slots 131 are defined in an inner surface of each sidewall 13 adjacent to the end wall 11 . Each first locking slot 131 includes an upright inlet portion 1311 extending through a top surface of the sidewall 13 , and a horizontal locating portion 1312 extending forward from a bottom end of the inlet portion 1311 toward the end wall 11 . Two L-shaped second locking slots 132 are defined in the inner surface of each sidewall 13 away from the end wall 11 . Each second locking slot 131 includes an upright inlet portion 1321 extending through the top surface of the sidewall 13 , and a horizontal locating portion 1322 extending from a bottom end of the inlet portion 1321 away from the end wall 11 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , a through slot 171 is defined in a first side of the handle 17 and extends through a front surface of the handle 17 and the end wall 11 . A locking hole 137 is defined in one of the sidewalls 13 , adjacent to the first side of the handle 17 , and communicating with the through slot 171 . A latch 19 is received in the through slot 171 . A middle of the latch 19 is pivotably mounted to the handle 17 . The latch 19 includes an operation portion 191 formed at a front end of the latch 19 and exposed out of the handle 17 , and a hook 193 formed at a rear end of the latch 19 and extending through the locking hole 137 . A resilient member 195 , such as a compression spring, is arranged between a portion of the latch 19 adjacent to the operation portion 191 and the handle 17 .

The mounting member 20 includes a first end 21 , and a second end 22 greater than the first end 21 in width. Two compressed first tabs 211 extend from opposite sides of the first end 21 . A V-shaped resilient piece 221 extends from the second end 22 . Two second tabs 222 extend from opposite sides of a cantilevered portion of the resilient piece 221 . An operation piece 223 is formed at a distal end of the cantilevered portion of the resilient piece 221 .

Each bracket 30 is box-shaped, and includes a base plate 311 , a first end plate 31 extending substantially perpendicularly from a first end of the base plate 311 , a second end plate 32 extending substantially perpendicularly from a second end of the base plate 311 , and two side plates 33 extending substantially perpendicularly from opposite sides of the base plate 311 and connected between the first end plate 31 and the second end plate 32 . Two slots 313 are defined in the first end plate 31 and extend through the base plate 311 . Each slot 313 includes an access portion 3131 extending through the base plate 311 and a receiving portion 3133 communicating with an end of the access portion 3131 opposite to the base plate 311 . The second end plate 32 defines a through hole 321 for exposing a socket 42 of the data storage device 40 . Two pins 331 extend out from each side plate 33 .

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , in assembly, two of the brackets 30 are received in the upper receiving space 161 , with the first end plates 31 of the brackets 30 facing each other. The pins 331 of one bracket 30 adjacent to the end wall 11 are inserted in the inlet portions 1311 of the first locking slots 131 . The bracket 30 is then pushed toward the end wall 11 until the data storage device 40 is connected to the corresponding connector 151 . The pins 331 of the bracket 30 are located in the locating portions 1312 . The pins 331 of the bracket 30 away from the end wall 11 are inserted in the inlet portions 1321 of the second locking slots 132 . The bracket 30 is then pushed away from the end wall 11 until the data storage device 40 is connected to the corresponding connector 151 . The pins 331 of the bracket 30 are located in the locating portions 1322 .

The first end 21 of the mounting member 20 is arranged between the brackets 30 , with the first tabs 211 uprightly inserting in the receiving portions 3133 of two opposite slots 313 of the two brackets 30 through the corresponding access portions 3131 . The mounting member 20 is then rotated toward the dividing plate 15 about the first tabs 211 . The second tabs 222 abut against sidewalls bounding the access portions 3131 of another two opposite slots 313 of the two brackets 30 . The resilient piece 221 is deformed, until the second tabs 222 engage in the corresponding receiving portions 3133 . Thus, the first tabs 211 are retained horizontally in the corresponding receiving portions 3133 to prevent the first end 21 from releasing from the receiving portions 3133 . The second end 22 of the mounting member 20 abuts against the first end plates 31 of the brackets 30 to prevent the data storage devices 40 from releasing from the connectors 151 .

Using the same process above, the other two of the brackets 30 are mounted to the chassis 10 and received in the lower receiving space 162 . Thus the four data storage devices 40 are arranged together in the chassis 10 .

When the data storage device assembly 100 is mounted in an enclosure of a server, and the hook 193 extends through the locking hole 137 to latch to the enclosure. When the data storage device assembly 100 is removed from the enclosure, the operation portion 191 is operated to pivot the latch 19 with deforming the resilient member 195 . The hook 193 is released from the enclosure. The data storage device assembly 100 can then be removed from the enclosure by pulling the handle 17 .

In the embodiment, the data storage device assembly 100 includes four data storage devices 40 arranged in the chassis 10 , which can provide a large data storage capacity.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.