Abstract:
Disclosed is a mounting bracket for a device comprising a resiliently-deformable surface, having a deforming element disposed therein, and a pair of attachment members disposed on opposite sides of and attached to the surface. The attachment members of the mounting bracket are adapted to interface with the device upon deformation of the deforming element.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    The present application is related to commonly-assigned, concurrently-filed U.S. Patent Application Attorney Docket No. 10017981-1 entitled “SYSTEM AND MEANS FOR THE SECURE MOUNTING OF A DEVICE BRACKET” the disclosures of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a deformable mounting bracket.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0003]    In designing systems many factors must be considered. One factor which must be considered in many systems is the dissipation of heat from heat-sensitive components. Although certain components may generate their own heat, great consideration is given in designing a system configured to keep as much heat as possible away from heat-sensitive components. Examples of heat-sensitive components may be found in automobile engines, aircraft engines, computer systems, (including, e.g., mainframe systems, and personal computers), telecom applications, hand-held phones, global-positioning systems and similar devices and systems. An exemplary system that would benefit from use of the present invention is a computer system. While the following paragraphs discuss computer systems, the present invention can be advantageously applied to a variety of situations in a variety of applications.  
           [0004]    Traditionally, there are various methods for attaching devices to other devices or to other sub-assemblies of a system. One method involves the use of ordinary screws or other material fasteners. With mechanical screws, for example, the device may be provided with a threaded hole for receiving a screw. A sub-assembly, to which the device is to be coupled, may be provided with a corresponding hole that a screw fits through. Accordingly when the device and sub-assembly are properly aligned, a screw may be passed through the hole in a subassembly and threaded into the device, thereby mounting the device to that sub-assembly. Of course, similar coupling techniques may be used with other mechanical fasteners, such as brads, rivets, pins, clips, snaps, and the like.  
           [0005]    Other artisans make use of an intermediate part between the device and subassembly to facilitate mounting. A bracket is an example of such an intermediate part. Sometimes brackets are simply sheet metal that are folded into a tray shape or other suitable configuration and mechanically attached to the device via mechanical fasteners.  
           [0006]    For example, consider the disk-mounting brackets in common use in certain computer workstation products today. Basically, these products use the aforementioned folded metal brackets, in various configurations to correspond to the system chassis or disk drive bay configuration, for disk mounting. Some such brackets are made of a somewhat insubstantial, 1 mm thick, steel sheet that is folded into various predetermined shapes such that various devices, in particular, disk drives, may be fastened into the brackets using standard screws. Similarly, such disk-mounting brackets have been formed of plastics. Once the device, in this case a disk drive, is mounted to the bracket, the bracket itself may be mounted to the chassis using, for example, a spring snap-type of assembly or, alternatively, using screws. A disadvantage of these types of brackets is that they fail to provide appreciable thermal conduction of heat away from the device. Steel is typically a poor thermal conductor and brackets comprised of cobalt steel may suffer from an inability to adequately dissipate heat from the device; the plastics of other embodiments of such disk-mounting brackets provide even poorer thermal conductivity.  
           [0007]    There have been brackets designed to facilitate mounting of a device into a sub-assembly and to conduct heat away from that device. These brackets take on a different shape and a different form from traditional sheet metal or plastic mounting brackets. This is due, in part, to the fact that these brackets must be constructed out of a highly thermally-conductive material such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper or gold. The material of construction and cost of such material may affect the construction of a bracket. Accordingly, such mounting brackets have not generally been available for widespread use, such as in the typical desktop computer system.  
           [0008]    Although heat dissipating methods exist for use in high-end applications, these methods have not been broadly accepted because of their complexity and cost. For example, such methods typically make use of two rails that transverse opposite sides of the hard drive which rails are difficult to install. The rail system typically includes a pair of rails made out of die-cast aluminum and a piece of injection-molded plastic that attaches the two rails and helps keep all of the parts together as a sub-assembly In practice, the rails are actually rotated out of the way of the device (so that the device can be partially lowered in) and then brought back into intimate contact with the device so the device can be mounted. Accordingly, the rail method suffers from the drawback that installation is often extremely difficult. Another disadvantage is that this method requires multiple separate parts, and each of these parts require separate toolings to fabricate them, thereby greatly increasing manufacturing costs.  
           [0009]    The problem of difficult installation in many prior art systems is due, in part, to the fact that they used a die-cast aluminum material (which is a much poorer thermal conductor than a regular aluminum alloy). Die-cast aluminum brackets also require the use of an additional intermediate piece between the bracket and the device. The intermediate piece, called a thermal interface material, is typically a very thin, i.e. 0.020 inch thick, spongy material. The purpose of this intermediate piece of spongy material is to conduct heat from the device to the device bracket if necessary. One drawback of using a thermal interface material is that the thermal interface material makes installation extremely difficult because it tends to peel away from and off of the underlying disk bracket and to gather or bunch below the disk drive as it is installed. Accordingly, the actual installation of the disk is extremely difficult.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    According to a preferred embodiment of the invention a mounting bracket for a device comprises a resiliently-deformable surface having a deforming element disposed therein, and a pair of attachment members disposed on opposite sides of and attached to the surface. The attachment members are adapted to interface with the device upon deformation of the deforming element.  
           [0011]    According to another embodiment of the invention a mounting bracket for a device comprises a resiliently-deformable body including a portion comprising a flat spring, and a pair of members disposed on opposite sides of and attached to the body. The bracket receives and retains the device and the members movable under a deforming force applied to the flat spring to interface the members with the device.  
           [0012]    Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of mounting a device in a housing, comprising forming a base portion of a bracket to include a resiliently-deformable section, inserting the device into the bracket, and applying a force to members of the bracket to cause the members to move inwardly while simultaneously deforming the base portion so as to bring said members into contact with the device.  
           [0013]    Another embodiment of the invention provides a mounting bracket for a device comprising means for disposing members of the bracket at opposite sides of said device, means for applying a force to the members of the bracket to cause the members to move inwardly while deforming a deformable portion of a base of the bracket so as to bring the members into contact with the device without deforming other portions of the base of said bracket. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a conduction bracket according to the invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is a top view of the conduction bracket of FIG. 1;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is a perspective view a disk drive mounted in the conduction bracket of FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is a side view of a disk in the conduction bracket of FIG. 1 prior to tightening of the connection screws;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a sideview of a disk in the conduction bracket of FIG. 1 after tightening of the connection screws;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 is a side view of a disk in the conduction bracket of FIG. 1 prior to tightening of the connection screws and having a thermal interface material disposed in a gap between the disk and conduction bracket; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 is a side view of a disk in the conduction bracket of FIG. 1 after tightening of the connection screws and having a thermal interface material disposed in a gap between the disk and the conduction bracket.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0021]    The present invention encompasses systems and methods for dissipating heat from heat-sensitive components and devices. According to preferred embodiments of the invention, the use of a deformable, heat conducting, bracket enables for easy installation of components and allows for dissipation of heat from heat-sensitive components.  
         [0022]    As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, a presently preferred embodiment of the invention comprises conduction bracket  100 . Preferably, conduction bracket  100  is made of an aluminum alloy, as are well-known in the art for providing desirable levels of thermo-conductivity, rather than cast aluminum or steel, thereby providing superior thermal conductivity performance. According to this embodiment of the invention, conduction bracket  100  may be a solitary piece of an aluminum alloy that is formed using a traditional sheet metal stamping-and-folding operation or die press.  
         [0023]    Conduction bracket  100  may comprise two sidewalls, or members,  101  on opposite sides of a bottom, or body, portion  103 . Sidewalls  101  may be folded at approximately a 90° angle to provide for the insertion of a floppy disk drive, or disk drive  301  (shown in FIG. 3). Sidewalls  101  may serve to ensure disk drive  301  is held in the proper location and orientation in conduction bracket  100 .  
         [0024]    Sidewalls  101  may be provided with screw holes  102  for enabling the mechanical attachment and retention of disk drive  301  to conduction bracket  100 . Of course, alternative embodiments of conduction brackets of the present invention may utilize additional or alternative structure for mounting corresponding devices. For example, brad receivers, spring clips, and/or the like may be utilized in addition to or in the alternative to the screw holes of the illustrated embodiment.  
         [0025]    Preferably, screw holes  102  may be a through-hole for the screw itself, and preferably, also includes a countersink to accommodate a flathead screw. As shown in FIG. 3, flathead screws  302  may pass through these holes and fit into the corresponding countersinks to provide for mechanical attachment of disk drive  301  to bracket  100 . Preferably, the exact positioning of screw holes  102  or other device mounting structure is pre-determined or dictated by the positioning of standard mounting holes in hard drives or other devices to be mounted. Thus, screw holes  102  of the preferred embodiment are positioned to align with the corresponding screw-receiving holes of disk drive  301 .  
         [0026]    The bottom portion  103  of conduction bracket  100  preferably provides a surface for disk drive  301  to reside when installed. Bottom portion  103  is preferably configured to comprise compression elements  104 . For example, the illustrated embodiment comprises a compressible lateral midline portion connecting opposing outer lateral portions of bottom portion  103 .  
         [0027]    Compression elements  104  allow bottom portion  103  to be deformed under mechanical pressure preferably providing for an overall maximum decrease in lateral dimension of bottom portion  103  of between approximately 1 and 10 percent. A particularly advantageous configuration of compression elements  104  is a serpentine configuration where slits provide a deformable or compression area. Other suitable configurations of compression elements  104  are contemplated by the invention, such as an arcuate spring, a torsion spring, an articulated spring, bias spring, and/or the like. Preferred embodiment configurations of the present invention implement such elements as a flat spring in order to facilitate simplified manufacturing, such as the aforementioned stamping-and-folding operation. However, other configurations of compression elements may be utilized, if desired. It should be appreciated that, although 2 compression elements are shown in the illustrated embodiment, any number of such elements may be utilized according to embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, embodiments of the present invention may provide an expansion element, providing a deformable expansion area, configuration of bottom portion  103 , if desired.  
         [0028]    In practice, disk drive  301  is lowered into disk bracket  100  (which is nominally oversized) and rests on bottom portion  103  (see FIG. 3). As screws  302  are tightened through screw holes  102  of sidewalls  101  of conduction bracket  100  into disk drive  301  itself, compression elements  104  enable bottom portion  103  of conduction bracket  100  to be deformed. Effectively, compression elements  104  act similar to a spring and enable bracket  100  to be nominally oversized but deformable such that sidewalls  101  come into intimate thermal contact with disk drive  301  when installed by bringing sidewalls  101  into contact with the sidewalls of disk drive  301 . This compression of bottom portion  103  increases the contact area available for the transfer of heat from the drive to the bracket as the angle of attachment of sidewalls to the bottom is not substantially distorted, but rather the distance between the sidewalls is reduced. Moreover, where the sides of the device to be mounted are not completely normal to the bottom portion of the bracket, the compression elements provide freedom for the bracket sidewalls to be positioned for increased area contact with the device sides.  
         [0029]    Conduction bracket  100  may also have embossments  105  located on the inside of the sidewalls  101  at all mounting screw hole  102  locations. Embossments  105  may be formed through traditional stamping operations for sheet metal and function to provide a permanent positive stop for disk drive  301  relative to sidewalls  101  of conduction bracket  100 . When drive disk drive  301  is installed into conduction bracket  100  in its final position, embossments  105  preferably maintain a small gap, e.g., about 0.010 of an inch, between drive disk drive  301  and the metallic structure of conduction bracket sidewalls  101  themselves. The gap is of appropriate dimension to enable the use of an intermediate thermal interface material (shown in FIGS. 6 and 7) if desired. Embossments  105  may act as a positive stop to make sure that any thermal interface material which may be used is compressed to the proper distance when disk drive  301  is installed. Exemplary thermal interface materials available for use with embodiments of the present invention may include thermally-conductive elastomer sheet material such as those manufactured by Shin-Etsu MicroSI, ArcticSilver, Power Device, Chomelics, Bergquist and/or AOS Thermal Compound.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4 shows a close-up view of disk drive  301  in its installation position within conduction bracket  100  before screws  302  are tightened, i.e., before the final installation occurs. As shown, disk drive  301  is seated in its proper location within conduction bracket  100  but backed away from sidewalls  101  leaving gap  401 . As previously described, embossments  105  help establish the final resting position of disk drive  301  with respect to sidewall  101 .  
         [0031]    In the uncompressed position, as depicted in FIG. 4, there is an appreciable gap  401  between disk drive  301  and sidewall  101  of conduction bracket  100 . Screw  302  is shown in its starting position, meaning it has just been threaded into contact with disk drive  301 , but is still significantly out away from sidewall  101  of conduction bracket  100 . Thus, the subassembly starts out with gap  401  between disk drive  301  and conduction bracket  100  which enables disk drive  301  to be easily installed in the proper location without being impeded by conduction bracket  100  or having to pull bracket  100  away from the device. Mounting screws  302  are then further threaded into disk drive  301  and tightened to compress sidewall  101  of bracket  100  into disk drive  301  until it reaches the final position of the sub-assembly.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 5 depicts the compressed position of the conduction bracket subassembly after screws  302  are finally tightened. As depicted, disk drive  301  is now much closer to sidewall  101  of the conduction bracket  100  such that disk drive  301  is preferably flush against mounting embossments  105 . Mounting screw  302  may no longer be visible in the side view because it has threaded all the way in the device; the head of the flathead screw is now flush with the outside wall of sidewall  101  and may fully rest within a countersink. Even though disk drive  301  is now flush against embossments  105 , there may still be a small gap  501  between disk drive  301  and sidewall  101  of conduction bracket  100 . Gap  501  is preferably the proper compressed thickness that would be used if a thermal interface material were used. A thermal interference material about 0.020 of an inch thick may be applied to sidewalls  101  of conduction bracket  100  on an inside surface or to an outside surface of disk drive  301 . As screws  302  are threaded and conduction bracket  100  is compressed, a small, 0.010 inch, gap  501  between bracket  100  and sidewall  101  is created which is a sufficient compressed gap  501  for the thermal interface material.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 6 shows a close-up view of disk drive device  301  in its installation position within conduction bracket  100  before screws  302  are tightened, as shown in FIG. 4. However, FIG. 6 shows thermal interface material  601  disposed in gap  401  between disk drive  301  and sidewall  101 . It should be appreciated that gap  401  preferably enables thermal interface material  601  to be disposed as illustrated without substantial interference from disk drive  301  as disk drive  301  is installed into conduction bracket  100 . Moreover, it should be appreciated that embossments  105  preferably extend into, but not through, thermal interface material  601  in its uncompressed state. Directing attention to FIG. 7, however, it can be seen that the compressed position of the conduction bracket sub-assembly after screws  302  are finally tightened results in compression of thermal interface material  601  such that disk drive  301  is preferably flush against mounting embossments  105 . As such, embossments  105  act to prevent compression of thermal interface material  601  further than that associated with gap  501 .  
         [0034]    It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described above. For example, the size of one or more of the gaps described above may be greater or less than set forth in the examples above. Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of the present invention may not include the use of the aforementioned thermal interface material. Alternatively, embodiments of the present invention may utilize a thermal interface material of a greater or lesser thickness than that of the embodiment described above. Moreover, the thermal interface material may be comprised of any material or combination of materials determined to provide attributes as described herein.