Interface seat for a personal computer

A structure of an interface seat for quickly engaging and disengaging with a back plate, an I/O port retaining plate, and a disk drive bracket on a computer base casing having a back plate, comprises an upper flange, an lower flange, and two side flanges. The back plate comprises a cut-out recess for disposing the interface seat. The upper flange of the interface seat is provided with an upper stop strip extended outward therefrom for abutting against the disk drive bracket. The lower flange is provided with a plurality of recesses for engaging with outward-inclined tabs provided on the top edge of the I/O retaining plate. Each of the side flanges is provided with a side stop strip extended outward therefrom for abutting against the back plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to an interface seat serving as a 
connecting panel for a PC system unit, in particular, the interface seat 
is capable of engaging and disengaging quickly with the back plate, I/O 
port retaining plate, and disk drive bracket on the base casing of a 
personal computer. 
In general, the conventional interface panel is installed on the rear side 
of the base casing. Not only is the rear part of the base casing enclosed 
by the interface panel, but the interface panel also has space for 
ventilation, spare expansion slots, and rooms for connectors. In most 
cases, the interface panel and associated components are connected by 
screws. By this tedious way, not only the manufacturing process is time 
consuming, but also maintenance becomes very inconvenient. Many tiny 
screws have to be removed and reinstalled during frequent maintenance, 
expansion, and replacement. In the event that few screws are lost, the 
whole assembly might get stuck. Moreover, the interface panel containing 
the I/O port retaining plate is integrally formed and thus has to be 
replaced in whole when the capacity, model, or specification of the 
interface panel can not fulfill the expansion requirements. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a structure of an 
interface seat for engaging and disengaging with a back plate, an I/O port 
retaining plate, and a disk drive bracket on a base casing of a personal 
computer without causing the above drawbacks. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a screw-free interface seat, 
which increases productivity of assembling PC units and minimizes the 
assembly time and labor cost. Thus, high efficiency for both manufacturing 
and marketability is obtained. 
A further object of this invention is to provide a rapid and easy 
assembling/disassembling interface seat, which can be secured on the base 
casing of a computer in a fast and simple way and free from the meticulous 
care to the screws. 
These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention 
will be more fully understood and appreciated by reference to the written 
specification and appended drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With reference to FIG. 1, an interface seat 1, in accordance with the 
present invention, is capable of being engaged with a base casing 2, an 
I/O port retaining plate 3 and a disk drive bracket 4 of a PC system unit. 
FIGS. 2 through 4 show the interface seat 1 which is substantially a 
rectangular basin-like structure comprising an upper flange 10, an lower 
flange 14, and side flanges 17. There is an upper stop strip 11 and a 
first side stop strip 12 extended outward from the upper flange 10 and one 
of the side flanges 17, respectively, wherein the first side stop strip 12 
has a perpendicular flange 18 formed thereon. A narrower second side stop 
strip 13 having an extending end extends outward from the other side 
flange 17. Outward-inclined tabs 121 and 131 are formed on the first side 
stop strip 12 and the second side stop strip 13, respectively. A pair of 
lugs 171 are respectively formed on the side flanges 17 and extend toward 
each other. A plurality of recesses 141 are formed on the lower flange 14. 
A pair of gaps 142 are formed between the lower flange 14 and the side 
flanges 17. At least two holes 15 are offsetted on the upper flange 10 to 
secure and support the disk drive bracket 4, which is to be described in 
detail hereinafter. A plurality of required expansion slots 16 are located 
in the body between the upper flange 10 and lower flange 14. 
Referring particularly to FIG. 1, a back plate 20 of the base casing 2 is 
used for receiving the interface seat 1. The right part of the back plate 
20 is the power supply plate 21 for installing a power supply unit (not 
shown). A strip 26 is formed on the inside surface of the power supply 
plate 21 and a constraint rib 261 is formed on one side of the strip 26. 
The left part of the back plate 20 is a side stop plate 28 with a 
perpendicular side extension 29 formed thereon, and a constraint rib 291 
is formed on the side extension 29. The major area of the back plate 20 is 
occupied by a large cut-out recess 22 with stepped bottom flange 23 
between the power supply plate 21 and the side stop plate 28. On each of 
the opposite sides of the cut-out recess 22, a guiding plate 27 with a 
notch 271 formed on the top thereof is formed for guiding and maintaining 
the interface seat 1 inbetween. A passage 25 is defined by the enclosure 
of the guiding plate 27, power supply plate 21, strip 26 and constraint 
rib 261 to allow the extension portion 13 to be inserted and thus secured 
therein. To match the outward-inclined tabs 121 and 131 of the interface 
seat 1, both the power supply plate 21 and side stop plate 28 are punched 
with a square opening 24, respectively. 
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, the I/O port retaining plate 3 is 
substantially an elongated U-shaped member made by sheet metal. The I/O 
port retaining plate 3 is in connection with a mother board (not shown), 
wherein a plurality of outward-inclined tabs 31 corresponding to the 
recesses 141 of the interface seat 1 are formed on the top edge, and a 
plurality of outward-inclined tabs 32 formed on the bottom edge thereof. 
It should be noted that the base casing 2 is provided with a plurality of 
recesses 201 corresponding to the outward-inclined tabs 32 for engaging 
the I/O port retaining plate 3. 
As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of cruciform posts 40, each of which depends 
from the disk drive bracket 4 and has a conical end portion, penetrate 
into holes 15 of the interface seat 1 and thus partially securing and 
supporting the disk drive bracket 4 by the interface seat 1. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, in installation, the I/O port retaining 
plate 3 is adapted to the base casing 2 by engaging the outward-inclined 
tabs 32 of the former with the corresponding recesses 201 of the latter. 
The interface seat 1 is disposed in the cut-out recess 22 with gaps 142 
penetrated by the guiding plates 27 and then the outward-inclined tabs 31 
on the top edge of the I/O port retaining plate 3 are engaged by the 
recesses 141 of the interface seat 1, wherein the lower flange 14 of the 
interface seat 1 fits into the stepped bottom flange 23 of the cut-out 
recess 22, the lugs 171 of the interface seat 1 are engaged with the 
notches 271 of the guiding plates 27, the first side stop strip 12 comes 
into contact with the inner side of the side stop plate 28 and the lower 
edge thereof abuts against the side extension 29 and the constraint rib 
291, the second side stop strip 13 comes into contact with the inner side 
of the power supply plate 21 and the extending end of the second side stop 
strip 13 penetrates into the passage 25 to be clamped by the strip 26 and 
the constraint rib 261, and the outward-inclined tabs 121 and 131 of the 
interface seat 1 are engaged with the square openings 24 of the back plate 
20 to provide a better securing effect. Consequently, the posts 40 of the 
disk drive bracket 4 are inserted into the holes 15 of the interface seat 
1 with the rear edge of the disk drive bracket 4 abutting against the 
upper stop strip 11 of the interface seat 1. 
Of course it is understood that the above is merely a preferred embodiment 
of the invention and that various changes and alterations can be made 
without departing from the spirit and broader aspects thereof as set forth 
in the appended claims.