TWI876886B - Tray assembly with cable management design - Google Patents

Abstract

A tray assembly with cable management design comprises a tray, a cable management housing and a tray-housing-connected cable management bracket set. The tray is used to carry an electronic device with a cable. The tray-housing-connected cable management bracket set includes a tray-connected cable management bracket, a housing-connected cable management bracket and a middle cable management bracket subset having a plurality of middle cable management brackets. The tray-connected cable management bracket is used to connect with the tray and the housing-connected cable management bracket is used to connect with the cable management housing. The tray-connected cable management bracket, the middle cable management bracket subset and the housing-connected cable management bracket are pivotably connected with each other in serial and used to carry the cable, wherein when the tray and the cable management housing are in a closed state, those cable management brackets will carry the cable for storage.

Description

Tray assembly with cable management design

The present invention relates to a tray assembly with a cable management design, and more particularly to a tray assembly with a cable management design that can drive cables for storage.

Generally speaking, in the existing technology, with the continuous development of the Internet, the storage demand of servers is increasing. This requires that the nodes be powered on when maintaining the servers, and the hard disks also need to be hot-swappable, which requires saving time. The cable inside the point can be stretched or retracted as the hard disk tray moves. When the tray is pulled out, it is in an open state, and when the tray is retracted, it is in a closed state. And because the cable cannot be removed, the associated cable needs to be extended to accommodate the movement of the tray. Usually, the length of the cable may reach about one meter.

As mentioned above, since the length of the cable is very long, in order to be able to solve the corresponding problems, a reasonable cable management design is needed to avoid the movement of the cable when the tray moves and retracts, which will cause the user to feel that the cable is very messy. Therefore, designing a design that can facilitate cable management operations has become a very important topic.

In view of the problem that the cables may be stored in a mess due to the movement of the tray in the prior art, the present invention adopts a necessary technical means to solve the problem of the prior art, which is to provide a tray assembly with a cable management design, which includes: a tray for carrying an electronic device, the electronic device including a cable; a cable management shell; and a tray shell connection The cable management bracket assembly comprises: a tray cable management bracket, having a tray end and a distal tray end opposite to the tray end, the tray end and the tray are connected in a pivoting manner; a shell cable management bracket, having a shell end and a distal shell end opposite to the shell end, the shell end and the cable management shell are connected in a pivoting manner; and an intermediate cable management bracket assembly, having a first end and a distal shell end opposite to the first end. The first end is connected to the remote tray end in a pivoting manner, and the second end is connected to the remote shell end in a pivoting manner; wherein the intermediate cable support assembly includes a plurality of intermediate cable support brackets, and the intermediate cable support brackets include a first intermediate cable support bracket and a second intermediate cable support bracket, the first intermediate cable support bracket has a first end, the second intermediate cable support bracket has a second end, and the intermediate cable support brackets are connected in series with each other in a pivoting manner; wherein the tray cable support bracket, the intermediate cable support bracket assembly and the shell cable support bracket are connected in series with each other in a pivoting manner, and are all used to carry cables; wherein, when the tray and the cable management shell are in a closed state, the tray cable support bracket, the intermediate cable support bracket assembly and the shell cable support bracket will drive the cables for storage.

In an additional technical means derived from the above necessary technical means, the intermediate cable management brackets are of completely the same size and have an intermediate cable management length. Preferably, the number of the intermediate cable management brackets is two. And preferably, the length of the shell cable management bracket is greater than the intermediate cable management length, and the intermediate cable management length is greater than the length of the tray cable management bracket.

In an auxiliary technical means derived from the above necessary technical means, when the tray and the cable management housing are in an open state, the tray cable management bracket, the middle cable management brackets and the housing cable management bracket are connected in series at an angle of substantially 150 degrees.

In an auxiliary technical means derived from the above necessary technical means, the cable management housing further includes at least one housing boss, and the tray further includes at least one tray boss, so as to prevent the cable management brackets from rubbing against the cable management housing and the tray respectively when the cable management brackets are stretched and contracted.

In an additional technical means derived from the above necessary technical means, the cable management housing further includes at least one limiting column, which is used to maintain the position of the cable management bracket when the tray and the cable management housing are retracted.

As described above, since the tray assembly with cable management design of the present invention utilizes the tray cable management bracket, the middle cable management bracket set and the shell cable management bracket to be connected in series in a pivoting manner to connect the tray and the cable management shell, the present invention can effectively achieve the purpose of neatly storing cables through these cable management brackets.

The specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described by the following embodiments and drawings.

Please refer to the contents shown in Figure 1A, Figure 1B to Figure 3. Figure 1A is a schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by a better embodiment of the present invention in a closed state; Figure 1B is a schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by a better embodiment of the present invention in an open state; Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by a better embodiment of the present invention in an open state; and Figure 3 is a structural schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by a better embodiment of the present invention in a closed state.

As shown in the figure, the present invention provides a tray assembly with a cable management design, which includes: a tray 1, a cable management housing 2 and a tray housing connected to a cable management bracket set 4.

The tray 1 is used to carry an electronic device 3 , such as a hard disk located in a server as mentioned above, and the electronic device 3 includes a cable 31 .

The cable management housing 2 will eventually carry the cable 31, and the cable 31 will be directly connected to a connector located on a backplane (not shown) or on other devices (not shown). Since the cable 31 located at the cable management housing 2 is already very close to the desired destination, the cable 31 can be directly connected to the connector on the backplane or on other devices without going through any other extension cords or devices.

In addition, the cable management housing 2 may also further include a cable management hole (not provided in this embodiment, so not shown in the figure), and the cable 31 may pass through the cable management hole and then be connected to the backplane or the connector on other devices.

As for the tray-shell connecting cable management bracket set 4 (also called cable management arm, CMA for short) connected between the tray 1 and the cable management shell 2, it includes: a tray cable management bracket 41, a shell cable management bracket 42, and a middle cable management bracket set 43.

The tray cable management bracket 41 has a tray end 411 and a tray end 412 opposite to the tray end 411. The tray end 411 and the tray 1 are connected in a pivoting manner.

The housing cable management bracket 42 has a housing end 421 and a housing end 422 opposite to the housing end 421 . The housing end 421 and the cable management housing 2 are connected in a pivoting manner.

The intermediate cable support assembly 43 has a first end 4311 and a second end 4321 opposite to the first end 4311. The first end 4311 is connected to the remote end 412 in a pivoting manner, and the second end 4321 is connected to the remote housing end 422 in a pivoting manner. The intermediate cable support assembly 43 may include a plurality of intermediate cable support brackets, including a first intermediate cable support bracket 431 and a second intermediate cable support bracket 432. The first intermediate cable support bracket 431 has the aforementioned first end 4311, and the second intermediate cable support bracket 432 has the aforementioned second end 4321. The intermediate cable support brackets, such as the first intermediate cable support bracket 431 and the second intermediate cable support bracket 432, are connected in series with each other in a pivoting manner. In addition, the tray cable management bracket 41, the middle cable management bracket set 43 and the shell cable management bracket 42 are connected in series with each other in a pivoting manner and are all used to carry the cable 31.

When the tray 1 is pulled outward or stretched relative to the cable management housing 2, it is in an open state (as shown in the first B figure and the second figure), and when the tray 1 is retracted or retracted relative to the cable management housing 2, it is in a closed state (as shown in the first A figure and the third figure). Therefore, when the tray 1 and the cable management housing 2 are in the closed state, the tray cable management bracket 41, the middle cable management bracket set 43 and the housing cable management bracket 42 will drive the cable 31 to be stored, so that the purpose of neatly storing the cable 31 can be effectively achieved.

In this embodiment, the intermediate cable brackets, such as the first intermediate cable bracket 431 and the second intermediate cable bracket 432, are of exactly the same size and have an intermediate cable length L2. It should be particularly noted that the number of the intermediate cable brackets can be set to two as in this embodiment, namely the first intermediate cable bracket 431 and the second intermediate cable bracket 432, but the number can also be set to more, an even number, or even an odd number to achieve the same purpose of the present invention, as long as the design is carried out according to the actual space state, size and demand.

In this embodiment, the length L3 of the housing cable support 42 is greater than the middle cable support length L2, and the middle cable support length L2 is greater than the length L1 of the tray cable support 41, that is, the length L3 of the housing cable support 42 is also greater than the length L1 of the tray cable support 41. It should be noted that the length L3 of the cable management bracket 42, the middle cable management length L2, and the length L1 of the cable management bracket 41 do not necessarily need to be designed such that the length L3 of the cable management bracket 42 is greater than the middle cable management length L2 and greater than the length L1 of the cable management bracket 41. Instead, the lengths can be designed according to actual space conditions, dimensions, and requirements. For example, the same lengths L3, L2, and L1 can be designed to be the same to achieve the same purpose of the present invention.

In addition, it should be particularly noted that in the tray assembly with cable management design of the present invention, when only the tray cable management bracket 41 and the shell cable management bracket 42 are used to connect between the tray 1 and the cable management shell 2, the same purpose of neatly storing the cables 31 of the present invention can be achieved.

In addition, when the tray 1 and the cable management housing 2 are in the open state, the tray cable management bracket 41, the intermediate cable management brackets such as the first intermediate cable management bracket 431 and the second intermediate cable management bracket 432, and the housing cable management bracket 42 are connected to each other at an angle S of substantially 150 degrees (see the third figure). This is to prevent the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 from being straightened during the pulling process, resulting in the phenomenon of being stuck or stuck. Therefore, the rotation angle S of the shaft 44 connected between the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 is designed to be a maximum of 150 degrees to prevent this drawback. The rotating shaft 44 can be designed using conventional techniques to achieve the desired purpose. For example, as long as a dead point is set on the rotating shaft 44 , the purpose of limiting the rotation angle S of the rotating shaft 44 can be achieved.

The installation method of the tray assembly with cable management design of the present invention is as follows: all the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 are connected in series by a rotating shaft 44 to ensure that the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 are flexible and will not get stuck when they are extended and retracted, while reducing the stretching of gravity. In addition, the tray end 411 of the tray cable management bracket 41 is connected to the tray 1 in a pivoting manner through the rotating shaft 11, and the shell end 421 of the shell cable management bracket 42 is connected to the cable management shell 2 in a pivoting manner through the rotating shaft 21.

In addition, in order to prevent the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 from falling down and getting stuck in any gap on the plane due to lack of support when in a closed state, the present invention is designed with a boss having a slope shape to ensure that the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 will move upward along the slope shape of the boss during the retraction process, and is also designed to add a stud for blocking, ensuring that the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 will not exceed the specified position and be stored in a final storage state, please refer to the following description.

As shown in the third figure, it can be seen that there are at least three bosses in total in this embodiment: two housing bosses 22 and one tray boss 12. The cable management housing 2 further includes at least one housing boss 22, which is used to avoid friction between the housing cable management bracket 42 and the cable management housing 2 when the tray 1 and the cable management housing 2 and the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 are stretched and contracted.

Similarly, the tray 1 further includes at least one tray boss 12, which is used to avoid friction between the tray cable management bracket 41 and the tray 1 when the tray 1, the cable management housing 2 and the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 are stretched and contracted.

As shown in the third figure, the cable management housing 2 further includes at least one limiting column 23. When the tray 1 and the cable management housing 2 are retracted, the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 are also retracted. The limiting column 23 can be used to maintain the position of the cable management bracket 42 and will not exceed the specified position.

In addition, similarly, at least one limiting column (not shown) may be provided on the tray 1. When the tray 1 and the cable management housing 2 are retracted, the aforementioned cable management brackets 41, 431, 432, 42 are also retracted. Then, the limiting column can be used to maintain the position of the tray cable management bracket 41 so that it will not exceed the specified position.

The advantages of the tray assembly with cable management design of the present invention are as follows: (1) It is convenient for assemblers to operate, and only screws are needed for fixing, which is simple and convenient; (2) The entire assembly of the present invention can have multiple shared designs, such as the shaft 44 as a shared part, which can reduce the number of molds required, simplify the design, and reduce costs; (3) The overall raised design, such as the tray boss 12 and the shell boss 22 mentioned above, can be used to reduce the chance of friction between the tray cable management bracket 41 and the shell cable management bracket 42 and the tray 1 and the cable management shell 2 respectively; and (4) It can accommodate all the cables 31 inside the node, is flexible and retractable, and can realize the function of maintaining any hard disk without powering off the node.

In summary, since the tray assembly with a cable management design of the present invention utilizes the tray cable management bracket 41, the middle cable management bracket set 43 and the shell cable management bracket 42 to be connected in series in a pivoting manner to connect the tray 1 and the cable management shell 2, the present invention can effectively achieve the purpose of neatly storing the cables 31 through these cable management brackets 41, 43, 42.

The above detailed description of the preferred specific embodiments is intended to more clearly describe the features and spirit of the present invention, but is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention by the preferred specific embodiments disclosed above. On the contrary, the purpose is to cover various changes and arrangements with equivalents within the scope of the patent application for the present invention.

1: tray 11: shaft 12: tray boss 2: cable management housing 21: shaft 22: housing boss 23: limit column 3: electronic device 31: cable 4: tray housing connection cable management bracket set 41: tray cable management bracket 411: tray end 412: remote tray end 42: housing cable management bracket 421: housing end 422: remote housing end 43: intermediate cable management bracket set 431: first intermediate cable management bracket 4311: first end 432: second intermediate cable management bracket 4321: second end 44: shaft L1: Length of cable management bracket on the tray L2: Length of middle cable management bracket L3: Length of cable management bracket on the case S: Angle

Figure 1A is a schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention in a closed state; Figure 1B is a schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention in an open state; Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention in an open state; and Figure 3 is a structural schematic diagram showing the tray assembly with a wire management design provided by the preferred embodiment of the present invention in a closed state.

1:Tray

2: Cable management housing

3: Electronic devices

31: Cables

4: Disk case connection cable management bracket set

41: Cable management bracket for connection tray

42: Case cable management bracket

43: Middle cable management bracket set

431: First middle cable management bracket

432: Second middle cable management bracket

Claims (7)

A tray assembly with a cable management design includes: A tray for carrying an electronic device, the electronic device includes a cable, and the tray includes at least one tray boss; A cable management housing includes at least one limit column; and A tray-shell connection cable management bracket assembly includes: A tray cable management bracket, having a tray end and a distal tray end opposite to the tray end, the tray end and the tray are connected in a pivoting manner; A shell cable management bracket, having a shell end and a distal shell end opposite to the shell end, the shell end and the cable management housing are connected in a pivoting manner; and A middle cable bracket set has a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, the first end is connected to the remote tray end in a pivoting manner, and the second end is connected to the remote shell end in a pivoting manner; Wherein, the middle cable bracket set includes a plurality of middle cable brackets, and the middle cable brackets include a first middle cable bracket and a second middle cable bracket, the first middle cable bracket has the first end, the second middle cable bracket has the second end, and the middle cable brackets are connected in series with each other in a pivoting manner; Wherein, the tray cable bracket, the middle cable bracket set and the shell cable bracket are connected in series with each other in a pivoting manner, and are all used to carry the cable; Wherein, when the tray and the cable management housing are in a closed state, the tray cable management bracket, the middle cable management bracket set and the housing cable management bracket will drive the cable to be stored; wherein, when the tray and the cable management housing are stretched and contracted, the tray boss is used to prevent the tray cable management bracket from rubbing against the tray; wherein, when the tray and the cable management housing are contracted, the limit column is used to maintain the position of the housing cable management bracket. A tray assembly with a cable management design as described in claim 1, wherein the intermediate cable management brackets are of exactly the same size and have an intermediate cable management length. A tray assembly with a cable management design as described in claim 2, wherein the number of the intermediate cable management brackets is two. A tray assembly with a cable management design as described in claim 2, wherein the length of the shell cable management bracket is greater than the middle cable management length, and the middle cable management length is greater than the length of the tray cable management bracket. A tray assembly with a cable management design as described in claim 1, wherein the length of the shell cable management bracket is greater than the length of the tray cable management bracket. A tray assembly with a cable management design as described in claim 1, wherein when the tray and the cable management housing are in an open state, the tray cable management bracket, the middle cable management brackets and the housing cable management bracket are connected in series at an angle of substantially 150 degrees. As described in claim 1, the tray assembly with a cable management design further includes at least one shell boss to prevent the shell cable management bracket from rubbing against the cable management shell when the tray and the cable management shell are stretched and contracted.

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