Abstract:
A server casing includes a frame having first and second plates and a plate connecting structure including first and second side boards extending from the first and second plates respectively and having first and second opening structures and first and second riveting structures respectively. A first outer periphery of the first opening structure is larger than a first inner periphery, and a first limiting surface extends therebetween. A second outer periphery of the second opening structure is less than a second inner periphery, and a second limiting surface extends therebetween. The first and second riveting structures have third and fourth limiting surfaces respectively. When the second riveting structure is engaged with the second opening structure and the second and fourth limiting surfaces abuts against each other, the first riveting structure is pressed to engage with the first opening structure and the first and third limiting surfaces abuts against each other.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a server casing and a plate connecting structure thereof, and more specifically, to a server casing for riveting a riveting structure of a second side board to an opening structure of a first side board to fix the first side board to the second side board and a plate connecting structure thereof. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In general, a server casing usually utilizes side boards of an upper plate and a lower plate to form side board structures located at two sides of the server casing. A conventional plate connecting design is to rivet a board edge of one side board to a board edge of another side board stacked on the board edge of the one side board for fixing the two side boards. However, in this design, since the stacked board edges riveted to each other additionally occupies partial internal containing space of the server casing, it would influence efficiency of the server casing in use of the internal containing space, so as to decrease the allowed amount of the disk drive which the server casing could contain and cause waste of space. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a server casing including a frame and at least one plate connecting structure. The frame has a first plate and a second plate. The at least one plate connecting structure includes a first side board and a second side board. The first side board extends from the first plate and has a first opening structure and a second opening structure extending toward the second plate. The first opening structure has a first outer periphery located on an outer surface of the first side board and a first inner periphery located on an inner surface of the first side board. The first outer periphery is larger than the first inner periphery. At least one first limiting surface extends from the first outer periphery to the first inner periphery. The second opening structure has a second outer periphery located on the outer surface of the first side board and a second inner periphery located on the inner surface of the first side board. The second outer periphery is less than the second inner periphery. At least one second limiting surface extends from the second outer periphery to the second inner periphery. The second side board extends from the second plate and has a first riveting structure and a second riveting structure extending toward the first plate. The first riveting structure has a third limiting surface corresponding to the at least one first limiting surface. The second riveting structure has a fourth limiting surface corresponding to the at least one second limiting surface. When the second riveting structure is engaged with the second opening structure and the at least one second limiting surface abuts against the fourth limiting surface, the first riveting structure is pressed to engage with the first opening structure and the at least one first limiting surface abuts against the third limiting surface for connecting the first side board to the second side board. 
     The present invention further provides a plate connecting structure for forming a side board structure of a server casing. The plate connecting structure includes a first side board and a second side board. The first side board has a first opening structure and a second opening structure. The first opening structure has a first outer periphery located on an outer surface of the first side board and a first inner periphery located on an inner surface of the first side board. The first outer periphery is larger than the first inner periphery. At least one first limiting surface extends from the first outer periphery to the first inner periphery. The second opening structure has a second outer periphery located on the outer surface of the first side board and a second inner periphery located on the inner surface of the first side board. The second outer periphery is less than the second inner periphery. At least one second limiting surface extends from the second outer periphery to the second inner periphery. The second side board has a first riveting structure and a second riveting structure. The first riveting structure has a third limiting surface corresponding to the at least one first limiting surface. The second riveting structure has a fourth limiting surface corresponding to the at least one second limiting surface. When the second riveting structure is engaged with the second opening structure and the at least one second limiting surface abuts against the fourth limiting surface, the first riveting structure is pressed to engage with the first opening structure and the at least one first limiting surface abuts against the third limiting surface for connecting the first side board to the second side board to form the side board structure. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a partial diagram of a server casing according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a partial enlarged diagram of a first side board in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial enlarged diagram of a second side board in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a partial cross sectional diagram of a second riveting structure and a third riveting structure in  FIG. 3  being engaged with a second opening structure and a third opening structure respectively. 
         FIG. 5  is a partial cross sectional diagram of a first riveting structure in  FIG. 4  being engaged with a first opening structure. 
         FIG. 6  is a partial enlarged diagram of a plate connecting structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a partial enlarged diagram of a plate connecting structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a partial diagram of a server casing  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The server casing  10  could be used for containing a plurality of disk drives  11  (e.g. 2.5″ hard disk drive) to perform data transfer and storage of a server. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the server casing  10  includes a frame  12  and at least one plate connecting structure  14  (one shown in  FIG. 1 , but not limited thereto). The frame  12  has a first plate  16  and a second plate  18 . The frame  12  could adopt a conventional server casing design (e.g. a frame composed of an upper plate, a lower plate, and two side boards), and the related description is omitted herein since it is commonly seen in the prior art. The plate connecting structure  14  is used for connecting the first plate  16  to the second plate  18  to form a side board structure of the server casing  10 . The plate connecting structure  14  includes a first side board  20  and a second side board  22 . 
     More detailed description for the structural design of the plate connecting structure  14  is provided as follows. Please refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 2  is a partial enlarged diagram of the first side board  20  in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is a partial enlarged diagram of the second side board  22  in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 3 , the first side board  20  extends from the first plate  16 . The first side board  20  has a first opening structure  24  and a second opening structure  26  extending toward the second plate  18 , but not limited thereto, meaning that amount of the first opening structure  24  and the second opening structure  26  could vary with the practical application of the plate connecting structure  14 . The first opening structure  24  has a first outer periphery  28  located on an outer surface  19  of the first side board  20  and a first inner periphery  30  located on an inner surface  21  of the first side board  20 . The first outer periphery  28  is larger than the first inner periphery  30 . At least one first limiting surface  29  (two shown in  FIG. 2 , but not limited thereto) extends from the first outer periphery  28  to the first inner periphery  30 . The second opening structure  26  has a second outer periphery  32  located on the outer surface  19  and a second inner periphery  34  located on the inner surface  21 . The second outer periphery  32  is less than the second inner periphery  34 . At least one second limiting surface  33  (two shown in  FIG. 2 , but not limited thereto) extends from the second outer periphery  32  to the second inner periphery  34 . 
     To be more specific, in this embodiment, an area of the first outer periphery  28  is larger than an area of the first inner periphery  30 , and an area of the second outer periphery  32  is larger than an area of the second inner periphery  34 . That is, the first opening structure  24  could preferably be an opening structure which is wider outside and narrower inside, and the second opening structure  26  could preferably be an opening structure which is narrower outside and wider inside. The first limiting surface  29  and the second limiting surface  33  could be preferably an inclined surface, but not limited thereto, meaning that the first limiting surface  29  and the second limiting surface  33  could adopt other guide surface design, such as a curved surface. The second side board  22  extends from the second plate  18 . The second side board  22  has a first riveting structure  36  and a second riveting structure  38 , but not limited thereto. The first riveting structure  36  has a third limiting surface  37  corresponding to the first limiting surface  29 , and the second riveting structure  38  has a fourth limiting surface  39  corresponding to the second limiting surface  33 . In this embodiment, the first opening structure  24  and the second opening structure  26  could be preferably a hollow T-shaped structure, and the first riveting structure  36  and the second riveting structure  38  could be preferably a T-shaped pillar for engaging with the first opening structure  24  and the second opening structure  26  respectively, but not limited thereto. That is, the present invention could adopt other structural engagement design. For example, in another embodiment, the first opening structure  24  and the second opening structure  26  could be a hollow round-head pillar, and the first riveting structure  36  and the second riveting structure  38  could be a round-head pillar for engaging with the first opening structure  24  and the second opening structure  26  respectively. As for other derived embodiments (e.g. the first opening structure  24  and the second opening structure  26  could be a hollow trapezoid-head pillar and the first riveting structure  36  and the second riveting structure  38  could be a trapezoid-head pillar), the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid description and omitted herein. 
     Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the first side board  20  could further have a third opening structure  40  (one shown in  FIG. 2 , but not limited thereto). In this embodiment, the first opening structure  24  is located between the second opening structure  26  and the third opening structure  40 . The third opening structure  40  has a third outer periphery  42  located on the outer surface  19  and a third inner periphery  44  located on the inner surface  21 . The third outer periphery  42  is less than the third inner periphery  44 . At least one fifth limiting surface  43  (two shown in  FIG. 2 , but not limited thereto) extends from the third outer periphery  42  to the third inner periphery  44 . That is, the third opening structure  40  could have the similar structure with the second opening structure  26  (i.e. an opening structure which is narrower outside and wider inside). The fifth limiting surface  43  could be preferably an inclined surface, but not limited thereto, meaning that the fifth limiting surface  43  could adopt other guide surface design, such as a curved surface. The second side board  22  could further have at least one third riveting structure  46  (one shown in  FIG. 2 , but not limited thereto). The third riveting structure  46  has a sixth limiting surface  47  corresponding to the fifth limiting surface  43 . 
     In practical application, for preventing flash of the first riveting structure  36  during the riveting process (it may cause a flash structure with a considerable thickness formed on a position where the first riveting structure  36  is engaged with the first opening structure  24  so as to occupy the internal containing space of the frame  12 ), as shown in  FIG. 3 , at least one flash groove  48  (one shown in  FIG. 3 , but not limited thereto) is formed on the third limiting surface  37 , but not limited thereto. For example, in another embodiment, the flash groove  48  could be formed on the first limiting surface  29 . Accordingly, the flash groove  48  could contain the deformed portion of the first riveting structure  36  during the first side structure  20  is riveted to the second side structure  22 . To be noted, the flash groove  48  could also be formed on the other limiting surfaces, such as the fourth limiting surface  39  and the sixth limiting surface  47  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ), and the related description could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid description and omitted herein. 
     Furthermore, for assembly convenience, in this embodiment, the second riveting structure  38  and the third riveting structure  46  could be coplanar with the second side board  22 , and the first riveting structure  36  could bend outwardly relative to the second side board  22  at a bending angle θ (preferably 45°, but not limited thereto), so that the first riveting structure  36  could be aligned with the first opening structure  24  more quickly and precisely via engagement of the second riveting structure  38  and the second opening structure  26  and engagement of the third riveting structure  46  and the third opening structure  40 . In such a manner, a user could complete the assembly process of the first side structure  20  and the second side structure  22  quickly. 
     Via the aforesaid design, when a user wants to connect the first side board  20  to the second side board  22 , the user just needs to press the second riveting structure  38  and the third riveting structure  46  into the second opening structure  26  and the third opening structure  40  respectively, to make the second riveting structure  38  and the third riveting structure  46  engaged with the second opening structure  26  and the third opening structure  40  respectively, so as to guide the first riveting structure  36  to be aligned with the first opening structure  24 . At this time, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the second limiting surface  33  could abut against the fourth limiting surface  39  to make the second riveting structure  38  coplanar with the first side board  20  (but not limited thereto), and the fifth limiting surface  43  could abut against the sixth limiting surface  47  to make the second riveting structure  46  coplanar with the first side board  20  (but not limited thereto). Subsequently, the user could utilize a conventional riveting process (e.g. utilizing a punching head to perform a riveting process on the first side board  20  and the second side board  22 ) to press the first riveting structure  36  into the first opening structure  24 , so as to make the first riveting structure  36  engaged with the first opening structure  24 . At this time, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the first limiting surface  29  could abut against the third limiting surface  37  to make the second riveting structure  46  coplanar with the first side board  20  (but not limited thereto). 
     Accordingly, engagement of the first riveting structure  36  and the first opening structure  24 , engagement of the second riveting structure  38  and the second opening structure  26 , and engagement of the third riveting structure  46  and the third opening structure  40  could constrain movement of the first side board  20  toward ±Y-axis direction and ±Z-axis direction as shown in  FIG. 5  relative to the second side board  22 , abutting of the first limiting surface  29  against the third limiting surface  37  could constrain movement of the first side board  20  toward +X-axis direction as shown in  FIG. 5 , and abutting of the second limiting surface  33  against the fourth limiting surface  39  and abutting of the fifth limiting surface  43  against the sixth limiting surface  47  could constrain movement of the first side board  20  toward −X-axis direction as shown in  FIG. 5 . That is, via the aforesaid design in which the first side board  20  could be riveted to the second side board  22  through riveting of the first riveting structure  36  and the first opening structure  24 , riveting of the second riveting structure  38  and the second opening structure  26 , and riveting of the third riveting structure  46  and the third opening structure  40 , the first side board  20  could be fixed to the second side board  22  steadily to form a side board structure of the frame  12  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In such a manner, since the plate connecting structure provided by the present invention adopts the aforesaid design that the riveting structure is riveted to the opening structure without additionally occupying the internal containing space of the server casing, the present invention could maximize efficiency of the server casing in use of the internal containing space, so as to increase the allowed amount of the disk drive which the server casing could contain. 
     It should be mentioned that the third riveting structure  46  and the third opening  40  could be omitted. For example, in another embodiment, the present invention could connect the first side board  20  to the second sideboard  22  only via riveting of the first riveting structure  36  and the first opening structure  24  and riveting of the second riveting structure  38  and the second opening structure  26  without the third riveting structure  46  and the third opening  40 , so as to simplify the structural design of the plate connecting structure of the present invention. Furthermore, the structural designs of the riveting structure and the opening structure could be not limited to the aforesaid embodiment. For example, please refer to  FIG. 6 , which is a partial enlarged diagram of a plate connecting structure  14 ′ according to another embodiment of the present invention. The major difference between this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiment is the structural designs of the second opening structure and the second riveting structure. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiment represent components with similar structures or functions. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the plate connecting structure  14 ′ includes a first side board  20 ′ and a second side board  22 ′. The first side board  20 ′ extends from the first plate  16  and has the first opening structure  24  extending toward the second plate  18 , a second opening structure  26 ′ and the third opening structure  40 . The second side board  22 ′ extends from the second plate  18  and has the first riveting structure  36 , a second riveting structure  38 ′ and the third riveting structure  46 . In this embodiment, the first opening structure  24  and the third opening structure  40  could be a hollow T-shaped structure respectively, the second opening structure  26 ′ could be a hollow vertical bar structure, the first riveting structure  36  and the third riveting structure  46  could be a T-shaped pillar respectively, and the second riveting structure  38 ′ could be a vertical bar structure. Accordingly, the first side board  20 ′ could be fixed to the second side board  22 ′ steadily to form the side board structure of the frame  12  as shown in  FIG. 6  via riveting of the first riveting structure  36  and the first opening structure  24 , riveting of the second riveting structure  38 ′ and the second opening structure  26 ′ and riveting of the third riveting structure  46  and the third opening structure  40 . As for other related description (e.g. the limiting surface design for the second riveting structure  38 ′ and the second opening structure  26 ′ and the related assembly process), it could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiment and omitted herein. 
     Furthermore, configuration of the riveting structures and the opening structures is not limited to the aforesaid embodiments. For example, please refer to  FIG. 7 , which is a partial enlarged diagram of a plate connecting structure  14 ″ according to another embodiment of the present invention. Components both mentioned in this embodiment and the aforesaid embodiments represent components with similar structures or functions. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the plate connecting structure  14 ″ includes a first side board  20 ″ and a second side board  22 ″. The first side board  20 ″ extends from the first plate  16  and has the first opening structure  24 , the second opening structure  26 , and a third opening structure  40 ′. The second side board  22 ″ extends from the second plate  18  and has the first riveting structure  36 , the second riveting structure  38  and a third riveting structure  46 ′. In this embodiment, the second opening structure  26  is located between the first opening structure  24  and the third opening structure  40 ′. The third opening structure  40 ′ could have the similar structure with the first opening structure  24  (i.e. an opening structure which is wider outside and narrower inside). Accordingly, the first side board  20 ″ could be fixed to the second side board  22 ″ steadily to form the side board structure of the frame  12  as shown in  FIG. 7  via riveting of the first riveting structure  36  and the first opening structure  24 , riveting of the second riveting structure  38  and the second opening structure  26 , riveting of the third riveting structure  46 ′ and the third opening structure  40 ′. As for other related description (e.g. the limiting surface design for the third riveting structure  46 ′ and the third opening structure  40 ′ and the related assembly process), it could be reasoned by analogy according to the aforesaid embodiments and omitted herein. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.