Fastening structure, electronic assembly and operating method of fastening structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10172251-B2
Application number	US-201715632400-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2017
Priority date	Feb 15, 2017
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

A fastening structure including a base pillar, a pair of elastic arms, and a top pillar is provided. The base pillar is assembled to an object, the elastic arms are connected between the top and the base pillars, and a gap is provided between the elastic arms. The top pillar is adapted to stretch or compress the elastic arms when an external force is exerted to reduce or expand the gap. The top pillar and the elastic arms pass through a through hole of a connector when the elastic arms are stretched to reduce the gap to make the connector contact the base pillar. After the force is removed, the gap between the elastic arms is restored to fasten the fastening structure between the elastic arms and the base pillar in a floating state. An electronic assembly and an operating method of the fastening structure are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fastening structure, configured to detachably assemble a connector to an object, wherein the fastening structure comprises:
a base pillar, assembled to the object;
a top pillar; and
a pair of elastic arms, respectively connected between the base pillar and the top pillar, wherein a gap is provided between the pair of elastic arms, the top pillar is adapted to stretch or to compress the pair of elastic arms when an external force is exerted, so as to reduce or to expand the gap, when the pair of elastic arms are stretched and the gap is reduced, the top pillar and the pair of elastic arms are adapted to pass through a through hole of the connector to make the connector contact the base pillar, and after the external force is removed, the gap between the pair of elastic arms is restored to fasten the connector between the pair of elastic arms and the base pillar in a floating state.

2. The fastening structure as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pair of elastic arms are in arc-shaped profiles with recessed parts opposite to each other, and the gap is a longest distance between the arc-shaped profiles.

3. The fastening structure as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a fixing pillar, embedded in the top pillar and extending to a space between the pair of elastic arms, wherein the base pillar has an engagement hole corresponding to the fixing pillar, and when the pair of elastic arms are compressed and the gap is expanded, the fixing pillar is engaged to the engagement hole, and the gap of the elastic arms is maintained in an expanded state.

4. The fastening structure as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the fixing pillar is disposed in the top pillar by in-mold injection.

5. The fastening structure as claimed in claim 3 , wherein an interfering force between the fixing pillar and the engagement hole is greater than an elastic force of the pair of elastic alias.

6. The fastening structure as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a fixing base, riveted to the object and passing through the object to assemble to the base pillar, so as to locate the object between the fixing base and the base pillar.

7. An electric assembly, comprising:
a carrier plate;
a storage device, assembled onto the carrier plate and having a first connector;
a fastening structure, having a base pillar, a pair of elastic arms, and a top pillar, wherein the base pillar is assembled onto the carrier plate, the pair of elastic arms are respectively connected between the base pillar and the top pillar, and a gap is provided between the pair of elastic arms;
a second connector, fastened to the carrier plate in a floating state by the fastening structure, wherein the top pillar is adapted to compress the pair of elastic arms by an external force and expand the gap, and when the gap is expanded, the second connector abuts between the pair of elastic arms and the base pillar in a fixed state to assemble the first connector to the second connector in the fixed state; and
a fixing pillar, embedded in the top pillar and extending to a space between the pair of elastic arms, wherein the base pillar has an engagement hole corresponding to the fixing pillar, and when the pair of elastic arms are compressed and the gap is expanded, the fixing pillar is engaged to the engagement hole to form the fixed state.

8. The electronic assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein an interfering force between the fixing pillar and the engagement hole is greater than an elastic force of the pair of elastic arms, and when the external force is released and the fixing pillar is removed from the engagement hole by another external force, the pair of elastic arms are restored to the floating state by the elastic force.

9. The electronic assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein a friction force between the fixing pillar and the engagement hole is smaller than an elastic force of the pair of elastic arms, and when the external force is released, the elastic force of the pair of elastic arms drives the fixing pillar to be detached from the engagement hole, and the pair of elastic arms are restored to the floating state by the elastic force.

10. The electronic assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the fixing pillar is disposed in the top pillar by in-mold injection.

11. The electronic assembly as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising:
a fixing base, riveted to the object and passing through the carrier plate to assemble to the base pillar, so as to locate the carrier plate between the fixing base and the base pillar.

12. The electronic assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the pair of elastic arms is in arc-shaped profiles with recessed parts opposite to each other, and the gap is a longest distance between the arc-shaped profiles.

13. An operating method of fastening structures, configured to connect a first connector of a storage device and a second connector disposed on a carrier plate, wherein the fastening structure comprises a base pillar, a top pillar, and a pair of elastic arms respectively connected between the base pillar and the top pillar, and a gap is provided between the pair of elastic arms, the operating method comprising:
assembling the fastening structure to the carrier plate to arrange the base pillar, the pair of elastic arms and the top pillar to stand on the carrier plate in a direction away from the carrier plate;
assembling the second connector to the fastening structure to form a floating state between the second connector and the fastening structure;
providing an external force to the top pillar to compress the pair of elastic arms and expand the gap, so as to convert the fastening structure from the floating state to a fixed state;
connecting the first connector and the second connector in the fixed state; and
canceling the fixed state to restore the floating state of the fastening structure by an elastic force of the pair of elastic arms.

14. The operating method of the fastening structures as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the fastening structure further comprises a fixing pillar embedded in the top pillar and extending to a space between the pair of elastic arms, the base pillar has an engagement hole corresponding to the fixing pillar, the external force is exerted to the top pillar to compress the pair of elastic arms and engage the fixing pillar to the engagement hole, so as to form the fixed state.

15. The operating method of the fastening structures as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the fixing pillar, the pair of elastic arms and the base pillar are formed together by in-mold injection.

16. The operating method of the fastening structures as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising:
providing another external force to the top pillar to remove the fixing pillar from the engagement hole and cancel the fixed state.

17. The operating method of the fastening structures as claimed in claim 14 , wherein an elastic force between the pair of elastic arms is greater than an interfering force of the fixing pillar and the engagement hole, and the method further comprises:
removing the external force to drive the fixing pillar to be detached from the fixing hole and to cancel the fixed state by the elastic force of the pair of elastic arms.

18. The operating method of the fastening structures as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the fastening structure further comprises a fixing base, and assembling the fastening structure to the carrier plate comprises:
riveting the fixing base to the carrier plate and assembling the fixing base to the fastening structure, so as t

Assignees

• Wistron Corp

Inventors

• Lee Tung-Ping
• Kuo Yu-Ling

Classifications

• G11B33/00

  Constructional parts, details or accessories not provided for in the other groups of this subclass · CPC title

• G06F1/183 Primary

  Internal mounting support structures, e.g. for supporting printed circuit boards · CPC title

• F16B2/22

  of resilient material, e.g. rubbery material {(F16B2/205 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G11B33/124

  of the single recording/reproducing device, e.g. disk drive, onto a chassis · CPC title

• G11B33/122

  Arrangements for providing electrical connections, e.g. connectors, cables, switches · CPC title