Patent Publication Number: US-11661955-B2

Title: Fan engagement structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a fan engagement structure, and more particularly to a fan engagement structure for the fan to quickly and securely plug into or extract out of another structure. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The cooling fan is the most often seen heat dissipation unit with excellent heat dissipation effect. The cooling fan serves to forcedly conduct airflow into a system chassis or personal computer or electronic product to dissipate the heat. However, the cooling fan cannot be directly securely locked on the respective units. In general, latch devices are used or screws are passed through the four corners of the fan to lock and secure the fan. 
     Multiple series fans or parallel fans are disposed in the system chassis. The fan 24-hour continuously operates to provide heat dissipation effect for the system chassis. As a result, the fan often fails to normally work and needs to be replaced. In the case that the fan is secured to the system chassis by means of screwing, it will be more complicated and troublesome and time-consuming to replace the fan. Therefore, those who are skilled in this field have developed a series assembly  6  serially connected with the fan for a user to quickly and conveniently replace the fan. The series assembly  6  has a main body  61  and a handheld latch ring  62  disposed on the main body  61 . A press member  63  is disposed on the handheld latch ring  62 . A hook member  64  is riveted on one side of the main body  61  and can be pressed. One end of the hook member  64  has a hook section  641 . One end of the press member  63  is connected with one end of the hook member  64  free from the hook section  641 . By means of the series assembly  61 , the hook section  641  of the hook member  64  is operated and pressed up and down with a finger to hook or release the fan as a quick release assembly. However, the quick release structure of the series assembly  6  is composed of multiple small metal components (press member  63  and hook member  64 ) and these components must be secured onto the series assembly  6  by means of riveting. Therefore, it is inconvenient to assemble the series assembly  6  and the manufacturing cost of the fan is increased. 
     It is therefore tried by the applicant to provide a fan engagement structure for the fan to solve the problems existing in the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an integrated quick release structure for a series fan or a parallel fan to quickly plug into or extract out of a system chassis or cabinet to replace the fan. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, the fan engagement structure of the present invention is connected with a fan serially or in parallel for the fan to quickly and securely plug into or extract out of another structure. The fan engagement structure includes a frame main body. 
     The frame main body has a first end and a second end. The frame main body has an internal hollow passage. The first end is mated with a fan. The frame main body has a first side and a second side. An engagement elastic plate extends from the first side. The surface of the engagement elastic plate has a latch section. The second side has a finger latch section, whereby the fan can be quickly and securely plugged into or extracted out of the other structure. 
     By means of the integrated structure of the present invention, the manufacturing cost is greatly lowered and the fan connected with the fan engagement structure can be quickly and securely plugged into or extracted out of the other structure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention; 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention; 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention; 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention; 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention; 
         FIG.  6    is a perspective view showing the operation of the fan engagement structure of the present invention; 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of a conventional fan engagement structure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS.  1  and  2   .  FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention.  FIG.  2    is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention. The fan engagement structure of the present invention is for the fan to quickly and securely plug into or extract out of another structure. The fan engagement structure of the present invention includes a frame main body  1 . 
     The frame main body  1  has a first end  11  and a second end  12  respectively positioned at a front end and a rear end of the frame main body  1 . The frame main body  1  has an internal hollow passage  13  in communication with the first and second ends  11 ,  12 . The first end  11  is mated with a fan  2 . (In this embodiment, the fan is, but not limited to, a series fan for illustration purposes.) The outer periphery of the frame main body  1  has a first side  14  and a second side  15 . An engagement elastic plate  141  extends from the first side  14 . The surface of the engagement elastic plate  141  has a latch section  142  raised from the surface of the engagement elastic plate  141 . The second side  15  has a finger latch section  151 . Accordingly, the fan  2  can be quickly and securely plugged into or extracted out of another structure. Each of four corners of the frame main body  1  is formed with a through hole  16 . 
     Only one end of the engagement elastic plate  141  is connected with the first side  14  of the frame main body  1 . The left and right sides of the engagement elastic plate  141  respectively have a first gap  143  and a second gap  144 . 
     The finger latch section  151  extends from the edge of the second side  15  and has a perpendicularly extending section  1511  and a U-shaped extending section  1512 . The perpendicularly extending section  1511  and the U-shaped extending section  1512  are connected with each other. 
     Please now refer to  FIG.  3   , which is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention. The second embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and thus will not be redundantly described hereinafter. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the first end  11  is mated with the wind outlet side of the fan  2  and a mesh body  3  is disposed between the fan  2  and the first end  11 . 
     Please now refer to  FIG.  4   , which is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention. The third embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and thus will not be redundantly described hereinafter. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the third embodiment further has a connection port end  4  mated with one end of the fan  2  opposite to the frame main body  1 . 
     Please now refer to  FIG.  5   , which is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the fan engagement structure of the present invention. The fourth embodiment is partially identical to the first embodiment in structure and thus will not be redundantly described hereinafter. The fourth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the second side  15  also has an engagement elastic plate  152 . The surface of the engagement elastic plate  152  has a latch section  153 . A third gap  154  and a fourth gap  155  are formed between the left and right sides of the engagement elastic plate  152  and the second side  15 . 
     Please now refer to  FIG.  6   , which is a perspective view showing the operation of the fan engagement structure of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the way how the fan engagement structure is connected with the fan  2  and together secured to a server chassis  5  for quick plugging and extraction. First, one end of the fan  2  is mated with the connection port end  4 . The other end of the fan  2  is mated with the frame main body  1 . The connection port end  4  is plugged into a terminal (not shown) on the server chassis  5  to electrically connect therewith. The latch section  142  raised from the surface of the engagement elastic plate  141  of the frame main body  1  is securely engaged with a small dent or a small pit on a sidewall of the server chassis  5  to connect the fan  2  with the server chassis  5 . When detaching the fan  2 , a finger hooks the finger latch section  151  of the second side  15  of the frame main body  1  and another finger pries the movable engagement elastic plate  141 . Accordingly, the latch section  142  of the surface of the engagement elastic plate  141  is separated from the small dent or small pit of the sidewall of the server chassis  5 . Therefore, the fan  2  can be drawn and extracted out of the server chassis  5 . 
     The present invention is mainly for a series fan or a parallel fan to quickly plug into or extract out of a server chassis and replaced. In addition, the components of the frame main body  1  are simplified and integrated to greatly lower the manufacturing cost. 
     The present invention has been described with the above embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in such as the form or layout pattern or practicing step of the above embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.