Abstract:
A storage apparatus comprising: a casing forming a housing chamber; a disk drive housed in, at a spacing from, the housing chamber, such that unit outer walls of the disk drive are separated by a clearance from inner walls of the casing; and a buffer member interposed in the clearance between the disk drive and the casing, for absorbing an impact stress. The buffer member is formed of a material having flexibility, and is provided with: a support part fitted to a wall surface of one of either the disk drive or the casing; a hemispherically shaped dome part, formed on the support part; and an abutment part, formed along a top portion of the dome part, abutting on a wall surface of the other of either the disk drive or the casing. The dome part and the support part form, together with the wall surface of the one of either the disk drive or the casing, a sealing chamber sealing in air, whereby the dome part is lent elasticity.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-174373, filed on Aug. 3, 2010, is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to storage apparatuses furnished with buffer members for protecting the disk drive from external shock. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Background Art 
         [0005]    Among storage apparatuses to date, known examples of hard disk drive apparatuses include the hard disk drives that Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-272367 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-55013, for example, disclose. These hard disk drive apparatuses are furnished with a hard-disk drive unit housed inside a casing, and buffer members, interposed between the hard-disk drive unit and the inner walls of the casing, that by undergoing distortion on receiving stressing force absorb shocks/stresses. The buffer members absorb shock during a fall or the like, cushioning the hard disk drive apparatuses from the shock of the impact. Chips of sheet rubber are generally used as such buffer members, and cushion the impact of a shock by absorbing the energy through their elastic compression. 
         [0006]    However, an issue with conventional buffer members has been that if the maximum amount that they compress is exceeded due to an external impact, the impact force abruptly increases. In addition, buffer members of a thickness corresponding to the clearance in between the inner wall of the casing and the hard-disk drive unit must be employed, and consequently in situations where the dimension tolerance is large, or in situations where it is desired to adapt the buffer members to hard-disk drive units having different outer dimensions, the thickness of the buffer members must be varied accordingly. The buffer members have thus lacked general versatility. In addition, in situations where the clearance between the inner wall of the casing and the hard-disk drive is large, the buffer material quantity increases, resulting in increase in cost. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    An object of the present invention is to provide, at low cost, a storage apparatus that has excellent shock resistance even if disk drive units to be housed have a large dimension tolerance or are different in their outer dimensions, so that the above problems will be solved. 
       SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS 
       [0008]    The present invention has been made to solve at least a part of the above problems, and can be realized as the following aspects or application examples. 
         [0009]    A storage apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a casing forming a housing chamber; a disk drive housed in, at a spacing from, the housing chamber, such that unit outer walls of the disk drive are separated by a clearance from inner walls of the casing; and a buffer member interposed in the clearance between the disk drive and the casing, for absorbing an impact stress. The buffer member is formed of a material having flexibility, and is provided with: a support part fitted to a wall surface of one of either the disk drive or the casing; a hemispherically shaped dome part, formed on the support part, and; an abutment part, formed along a top portion of the dome part, abutting on a wall surface of the other of either the disk drive or the casing. The dome part and the support part form, together with the wall surface of the one of either the disk drive or the casing, a sealing chamber sealing in air, whereby the dome part is lent elasticity. 
         [0010]    Preferably, the storage apparatus may further comprise an adhesive sheet, fastened to the support part, for enhancing airtightness of the sealing chamber. 
         [0011]    Preferably, in the storage apparatus, against a direction in which the dome part flexes, the abutment part is of stiffness that is greater than that of the dome part. 
         [0012]    Preferably, in the storage apparatus, the support part on a peripheral portion thereof includes a projecting rail. 
         [0013]    Preferably, in the storage apparatus, at least one sub-dome part whose height is lower than that of the dome part is formed on a peripheral portion of the support part that is along an outer side of the dome part; and the at least one sub-dome part forms, with the wall surface of the one of either the disk drive or the casing, a sealing chamber for sealing in air, whereby the at least one sub-dome part is lent elasticity. 
         [0014]    According to the present invention, even if disk drive units to be housed have a large dimension tolerance or are different in their outer dimensions, a storage apparatus having an excellent impact resistance can be provided with a low cost. 
         [0015]    The present invention can be used for storage apparatuses and the like, and particularly, is useful for improving the impact resistance of storage apparatuses. These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a hard disk drive apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the buffer member according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the buffer member according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view for explaining the effect of the buffer member according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view for explaining the effect of the buffer member according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a buffer member according to a modification of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a buffer member according to another modification of the present invention; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a buffer member according to another modification of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. 
         [0025]    (The Schematic Configuration of a Hard Disk Drive Apparatus  10 ) 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a hard disk drive apparatus  10  (storage apparatus) according to the present embodiment. The hard disk drive apparatus  10  includes a hard-disk drive unit  12  (disk drive), a casing  20  for housing the hard-disk drive unit  12 , buffer members  30  provided between the hard-disk drive unit  12  and the inner wall of the casing  20 , and is connectable to a computer via a USB cable. 
         [0027]    The hard-disk drive unit  12  is a general-purpose hard disk drive of 3.5-inch type housed in a unit case made of metal. The casing  20  is a housing made of a plastic resin, and forms a housing chamber  20   a.  The casing  20  includes a casing main body  21  and a lid body  22 . The casing main body  21  and the lid body  22  are integrated by an engagement mechanism such as a nail. In addition to a positioning protrusion, the buffer members  30  are attached to the inner walls of the casing main body  21  and the lid body  22 . The buffer members  30  are elastic members which are positioned between the wall surfaces of the casing  20  and the hard-disk drive unit  12  when the hard-disk drive unit  12  is set in the casing  20 , thereby providing an impact resistance. The buffer members  30  are arranged at the corners of the outer walls of the hard-disk drive unit  12 . 
         [0028]    (Configuration of Buffer Member  30 ) 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the buffer member  30  of the present embodiment, and  FIG. 3  is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the buffer member  30  attached in a clearance GP between the hard-disk drive unit  12  and the inner wall of the casing  20 . The buffer member  30  includes: a supporting section  31  attached to the hard-disk drive unit  12  via an adhesive sheet  40 ; a dome section  34  formed on the supporting section  31 ; and an abutment part  36 , formed on the dome section  34 , that is in contact with the casing main body  21  or the lid body  22  which forms the casing  20 . These components are formed in an integrated manner. 
         [0030]    The supporting section  31  is a section for attaching the buffer member  30  to the hard-disk drive unit  12 , and its appearance is squared-shaped. A projecting rail  31   a  is formed at a peripheral portion of the supporting section  31 , and mechanically reinforces the peripheral portion of the supporting section  31 . The dome section  34  has a thin body, an almost hemispherical shape, and a flexibility. The abutment part  36  includes a tube section  36   a  protruding from the top portion of the dome section  34 , and a bridge section  36   b  bridging the tube section  36   a  and having a cross shape that crosses at the center of the tube section  36   a.  The other part, of the abutment part  36 , than the tube section  36   a  and the bridge section  36   b  is hollowed. The end surfaces of the tube section  36   a  and the bridge section  36   b  are included in an identical plane, and are configured such that the end surfaces are both in contact with and almost perpendicular to the casing main body  21  or the lid body  22  which forms the casing  20 . The inner space surrounded by the dome section  34  and the abutment part  36  forms a sealing chamber  34 S. The stiffness of the abutment part  36  in the direction in which the dome section  34  flexes is larger than that of the dome section  34 . As a result, a displacement occurring in the casing  20  when the casing  20  has received an impact is conducted to the dome section  34  via the abutment part  36 . At this time, since the sealing chamber S 34  is compressed, the dome section  34  has elasticity, thereby making an impact absorbability. That is, when the buffer member  30  has received an impact stress, the abutment part  36  almost keeps its shape, and mainly the dome section  34  is subjected to elastic deformation. 
         [0031]    The adhesive sheet  40  is formed by a so-called double-faced tape, an adhesive agent being applied to its both surfaces. One of the adhesive surfaces of the adhesive sheet  40  is adhered to the supporting surface  31   b  of the supporting section  31 , thereby enhancing the airtightness of the sealing chamber  34 S. In addition, the other one of the adhesive surfaces of the adhesive sheet  40  is adhered to the wall surface of the hard-disk drive unit  12 , whereby the buffer member  30  is attached to the wall surface of the hard-disk drive unit  12 . 
         [0032]    Here, a flexible material such as silicon rubber, polyurethane, silicon gel, or an elastomer may be used as a material of the buffer member  30 . In addition, in light of the property of the materials, the impact resistance, and the like described above, the thickness of the buffer member  30  may be 0.3 to 0.6 mm at the supporting section  31 , 0.3 to 0.6 mm at the dome section  34 , and 0.5 to 1.0 mm at the tube section  36   a  and the bridge section  36   b  of the abutment part  36 . In addition, the height of the buffer member  30  may be set at 2 to 5 mm. The buffer members  30  configured as described above may be created, for example, through the process that a plurality of models in a matrix state are formed at the same time by using unvulcanized rubber, the resultant members are vulcanized, sheets as the adhesive sheets  40  are attached thereto, and then the resultant members are cut into individual pieces. 
         [0033]    (Effects) 
         [0034]    The buffer members  30  according to the present embodiment provide the following effect. 
         [0035]    (1)  FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the buffer member  30  in the case where an impact is given to the casing  20  when the hard disk drive apparatus  10  has dropped or fallen over, for example. A displacement occurring in the casing  20  owing to the impact given to the casing  20  is conducted to the buffer member  30 . The buffer member  30  is compressed with the dome section  34  being flexed between the supporting section  31  and the abutment part  36 . At this time, since the sealing chamber S 34 , which has airtightness, functions as an air damper, the impact can be cushioned. 
         [0036]    (2)  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the buffer member  30  in the case where a larger impact than that in the case shown  FIG. 4  is given to the casing  20 . The abutment part  36  is configured to have a larger stiffness than that of the dome section  34 . Therefore, when the buffer member  30  has been compressed, the abutment part  36  keeps its shape while its lower end comes into contact with the wall surface of the hard-disk drive unit  12 , and the dome section  34  is preferentially distorted into a shape having an M-shaped cross-sectional surface. At this time, the buffer member  30  does not lose the space of the sealing chamber  34 S in the dome section  34  even when the buffer member  30  has received a large compression force. Therefore, so-called bottom hitting in which the hard-disk drive unit  12  and the casing main body  21  directly collide with each other does not occur, and the impact force does not rapidly increase. 
         [0037]    (3) As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , even if the dimension tolerance of the clearance between the hard-disk drive unit  12  and the casing  20  is large or the buffer member  30  is to be applied to hard-disk drive units having different outer dimensions, since the dome section  34  has a flexibility, the buffer member  30  can absorb such differences in dimension, and can be attached in the gap such that the buffer member  30  can exert its buffer effect sufficiently. In addition, by such a configuration, the buffer member  30  can be applied also to a large clearance without greatly increasing the amount of material. Therefore, cost reduction can be realized and the general versatility can be increased. 
         [0038]    (4) The adhesive sheet  40  makes the airtightness of the sealing chamber  34 S higher, thereby enhancing the function of the sealing chamber  34 S as an air damper. 
         [0039]    (5) The projecting rail  31   a  protruding at the outer peripheral portion of the supporting section  31  enhances a mechanical strength of the peripheral portion of the supporting section  31 , thereby preventing the edge portion of the supporting section  31  from peeling, and maintaining the airtightness of the sealing chamber  34 S. 
         [0040]    It is noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention may be implemented in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the following modifications may be conducted. 
         [0041]      FIG. 6  to  FIG. 8  are perspective views of buffer members according to modifications of the present invention. A buffer member  30 B shown in  FIG. 6 , includes sub dome sections  34 Bb. The sub dome sections  34 Bb are arranged around the outer periphery of a dome section  34 Ba and at the corners of a supporting section  31 B. The heights of the sub dome sections  34 Bb are smaller than that of the dome section  34 Ba. In addition, the space in each of the sub dome sections  34 Bb forms a sealing chamber  34 BbS, which is subjected to elastic deformation owing to a stress. The sub dome sections  34 Bb having the above configurations are compressed after the dome section  34 Ba is sufficiently compressed, thereby reducing the impact force. Also, the sub dome sections  34 Bb function as backups when the dome section  34 Ba loses its airtightness owing to damage or the like. In addition, the number of the sub dome sections  34 Bb is not limited to four, and any number of the sub dome sections  34 Bb may be used. 
         [0042]    A buffer member  30 C shown in  FIG. 7  includes a projecting rail  32 C at the outer peripheral portion of a dome section  34 C. That is, the projecting rail  32 C is formed in a cylindrical shape along the whole periphery of the dome section  34 C. The height of the projecting rail  32 C is smaller than that of the dome section  34 . The projecting rail  32 C is subjected to a compression force after the dome section  34 C is compressed, thereby assisting the dome section  34 C and reducing the impact force. Also, the projecting rail  32 C functions as a backup when the dome section  34 C loses its airtightness owing to damage or the like. 
         [0043]    A buffer member  30 D shown in  FIG. 8  includes projecting rails  32 D, having a linear shape, that are lateral to a dome section  34 D and along the both short sides of a supporting section  31 D. The projecting rails  32 D provide the same effect as the projecting rail  32 C of the buffer member  30 C. 
         [0044]    In addition, the buffer member according to the present invention may be configured by a combination of components of the buffer members described above, for example, a combination of the abutment part, the projection rail, the sub dome section, and the like, as appropriate. 
         [0045]    In addition, although in the present embodiment, the buffer members  30  are adhered to the outer wall surface of the hard-disk drive unit  12 , the present invention is not limited thereto, and the buffer members  30  may be adhered to the inner wall surface of the casing  20 . In addition, although the adhesive sheets  40  are used as means for attaching the buffer members  30 , the buffer members  30  only need to be placed, with their position being fixed, between the hard-disk drive unit  12  and the casing  20 . Therefore, instead of using the adhesive sheet  40 , an adhesion agent may be directly applied to the supporting surface  31   b  of the supporting section  31 . 
         [0046]    In addition, although the storage apparatus of the present embodiment is a hard disk drive apparatus having a 3.5-inch disk, the present invention is applicable to various apparatuses such as a portable hard disk drive apparatus, a hard disk drive apparatus stored in a computer, and an optical storage apparatus such as a DVD (registered trademark) drive apparatus or a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk drive apparatus.