Patent Publication Number: US-2011064536-A1

Title: Electronic component fixing device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electronic component fixing device for a computer case, and more particularly to an electronic component fixing device that is used to fixedly secure an electronic component in a horizontal and vertical direction, thereby reducing noise when the electronic component is operating. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     In general, the majority of electronic components assembled to a computer case, including power supplies, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) drives, hard disk drives, and the like, are fixed to retaining walls, partitions or supporting frames of the computer case using fixing screws. Because design of the supporting frames adopts a bilateral fixing method, thus, the electronic component can be completely secured, and thereby reduce noise and shaking. However, taking the power supply as an example, and referring to  FIG. 1 , which shows a schematic view depicting an installation of a power supply of the prior art, and, as depicted in the drawing, when securing the power supply, a plurality of fixing screws  10  are used to penetrate a retaining wall  201  of a rear side of a computer case  20  to fix one side of the power supply to the retaining wall  201 , and the power supply  30  is fixed within the computer case  20  by suspension means. However, because of the heavy weight of the power supply  30 , and because of the configuration of cooling fans, thus, the power supply  30  is caused to vibrate or even shake when operating, and harassing noise is produced by the portions of the computer case  20  in contact with the power supply  30  because of local friction or impact. Moreover, long-term vibration or shaking can cause damage to the computer case  20  or the power supply  30 . Hence, there is a need for improvement. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In light of the problem of noise being produced from friction or impact between the electronic component and the computer case caused by vibration of the electronic component when operating, the inventor of the present invention, having accumulated years of experience in related arts, has meticulously carried out extensive study and exploration to ultimately design a new improved electronic component fixing device. 
     A primary objective of the present invention is to provide the electronic component fixing device that is able to suppress vibration of the electronic component, and thereby achieve reducing noise produced resulting from the vibration. 
     In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, the electronic component fixing device of the present invention primarily comprises: the restraining piece positioned in a horizontal direction to an electronic component, and at least one antiskid screw positioned in a vertical direction to the electronic component. When installing the electronic component, a side of the electronic component is fixedly secured to a retaining wall of the computer case, and the restraining piece is assembled to the adjacent retaining wall of the computer case, and a locking or restraining method is used to fixedly secure the electronic component between the restraining piece and the retaining walls, thereby suppressing horizontal vibration of the electronic component when operating. Moreover, a plurality of partitions are formed within the computer case, and one of the partitions is mutually parallel with the aforementioned retaining wall used to assemble the restraining piece, and the antiskid screws movably penetrate the partition. Each of the antiskid screws comprises a screw head portion, a threaded portion and an antiskid sleeve. After tightening the antiskid screw, the antiskid sleeve at one end of the antiskid screw is able to vertically restrain the electronic component and thereby suppress vertical vibration of the electronic component when operating. Accordingly, because the horizontal direction and vertical direction of the electronic component has been completely restrained, thus, vibration or shaking of the electronic component is substantially reduced, thereby lowering noise produced by friction or impact with the computer case. 
     To enable a further understanding of said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, a brief description of the drawings is provided below followed by a detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a schematic view depicting installation of a power supply of the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic view depicting installation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows an exploded elevational view depicting the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows an assembled cutaway view of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  shows an elevational structural view depicting the restraining piece in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  shows an elevational structural view depicting an antiskid screw in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , which shows a schematic view depicting installation of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, and, as depicted in the drawing, an electronic component fixing device  40  of the present invention is used to fixedly secure relative positions of an electronic component within a computer case  60 , wherein the electronic component fixing device  40  primarily comprises: the restraining piece  401  positioned in a horizontal direction to the electronic component, and at least one antiskid screw  402  positioned in a vertical direction to the electronic component, wherein the antiskid screws  402  enable reducing shaking or vibration of an electronic component when operating, thereby lowering noise produced therefrom. Taking a common power supply  50  of a general computer as an example, because a plurality of cooling fans are assembled within the power supply  50 , thus, vibration or shaking is produced when operating. Moreover, when installing the power supply  50 , a side of the power supply  50  is fixedly secured to a retaining wall  601  of the computer case  60 , and the restraining piece  401  of the electronic component fixing device  40  of the present invention is assembled to the adjacent retaining wall  601  of the computer case  60  and is locked or restrained to a corresponding surface of the power supply  50 , thereby enabling the power supply  50  to be stably secured between the restraining piece  401  and the retaining walls  601  so as to suppress horizontal vibration of the power supply  50  when operating. A plurality of partitions  602  are formed within the computer case  60 , and one of the partitions  602  is mutually parallel with the aforementioned retaining wall  601  used to assemble the restraining piece  401 , and the antiskid screws  402  of the electronic component fixing device  40  of the present invention are caused to movably penetrate the partition  602 . After the antiskid screws  402  are locked tight to the partition  602 , an antiskid sleeve  4023  of one end of each of the antiskid screws  402  vertically tightly abuts against the top surface of the power supply  50  so as to suppress vertical vibration when the power supply  50  is operating. After separately pressing and restraining the horizontal surface and the perpendicular surface of the power supply  50  by means of the electronic component fixing device  40  of the present invention, then vibration or shaking is completely suppressed when the power supply  50  is operating, thereby reducing noise produced by friction or impact between the power supply  50  and the computer case  60 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , which shows an exploded elevational view depicting the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and, as depicted in the drawing, the aforementioned electronic component fixing device  40  primarily comprises: The restraining piece  401 , which is used to assemble to the retaining wall  601  parallel to the power supply  50  in a horizontal direction; moreover, a plurality of fixing portions  4011  are formed on the restraining piece  401 , and after a plurality of fixing screws  4012  are used to penetrate the fixing portions  4011 , then the restraining piece  401  is respectively fixedly secured to the retaining wall  601  and to the surface of the power supply  50 , thus additionally horizontally fixing the power supply  50 . Furthermore, a plurality of corresponding long through holes  6011  are formed in the retaining wall  601  to enable assembling the restraining piece  401  thereto, thereby enabling fine adjustment to a certain degree to be made in the direction the long through holes  6011  are defined when fixedly securing the restraining piece  401 . Moreover, adjustment of distance can be carried out to accommodate different sizes of electronic components. The electronic component fixing device  40  further comprises the at least one antiskid screw  402 , which is assembled to the partition  602  in a perpendicular direction relative to the power supply  50 , wherein each of the antiskid screws  402  comprises a screw head portion  4021 , a threaded portion  4022  and the antiskid sleeve  4023 . Furthermore, a plurality of corresponding through holes  6021  are formed in the partition  602  to enable the antiskid screws  402  to be assembled to the partition  602 . When adjustably tightening the screw head portion  4021  of the antiskid screw  402 , the threaded portion  4022  is caused to move up and down within the through hole  6021 , thereby enabling adjusting pressing of the antiskid sleeve  4023  on the perpendicular surface of the power supply  50  and tightness thereon at anytime. Furthermore, because the antiskid sleeve  4023  is fabricated from soft rubber material, thus, the antiskid sleeve  4023  is able to stably press down on the power supply  50  without causing damage thereto. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , which shows an assembled cutaway view of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention, and, as depicted in the drawing, the restraining piece  401  of the aforementioned electronic component fixing device  40  Is secured to the opposite side of the fixed surface of the power supply  50  and to the retaining wall  601  parallel to the power supply  50 , thereby completely fixing the power supply  50  in a horizontal direction, and is able to completely suppress horizontal vibration or shaking of the power supply  50  when operating. Furthermore, the upper antiskid screws  402  are adjustably tightened in a perpendicular direction through the partition  602  parallel to the power supply  50 , and the antiskid screws  402  tightly abut against the top surface of the power supply  50 , thereby completely fixing the power supply  50  in a perpendicular direction. Accordingly, vertical vibration or shaking of the power supply  50  when operating is completely suppressed, and noise produced by friction or impact between the power supply  50  and the retaining wall  601  or the partition  602  is reduced. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , which shows an elevational structural view depicting the restraining piece  401  n the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and, as depicted in the drawing, in order to further reduce the weight and lower manufacturing cost of the restraining piece  401 , the restraining piece  401  is sheet metal formed or punch formed, whereby a piece of sheet metal is made to form a squared-off U-shape through successive bending thereof. Moreover, a plurality of locating holes  4013  are formed in one side of the restraining piece  401 , and are used to enable the aforementioned fixing screws  4012  to penetrate the aforementioned long through holes  6011  of the aforementioned retaining wall  601 , thereby enabling appropriate adjustment of the restraining piece  401  to correspond to the position of the electronic component and fixing the restraining piece  401  to the retaining wall  601 , and thus facilitating accommodating various electronic components of different sizes. Furthermore, a plurality of fixing holes  4014  are formed in the center portion of the restraining piece  401  to enable the aforementioned fixing screws  4012  to penetrate therethrough and fix the restraining piece  401  to one side of the electronic component. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , which shows an elevational structural view depicting the antiskid screw  402  in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and, as depicted in the drawing, the antiskid screw  402  is structured to comprise a screw  4024 , a fixing piece  4025  and the antiskid sleeve  4023 . Moreover, the screw  4024  is formed from a screw head portion  40241  and a screw rod  40242 ; the fixing piece  4025  is fixed to the end of the screw rod  40242 , and the antiskid sleeve  4023  covers and is joined to the outer portion of the fixing piece  4025 . When assembling the aforementioned partition  602 , the screw rod  40242  of the screw  4024  is caused to movably penetrate the partition  602 , after which the fixing piece  4025  together with the antiskid sleeve  4023  are fixed to the end of the screw rod  40242 , and reciprocating rotation of the screw head portion  40241  of the screw  4024  causes reciprocating displacement of the fixing piece  4025  and the antiskid sleeve  4023 . 
     According to what has been described above, during implementation of the present invention, when an electronic component is fixed to a retaining wall of a computer case, and the restraining piece  401  is assembled to the adjacent retaining wall  601 , thereby horizontally restraining the electronic component and enabling the electronic component to be fixed between the restraining piece  401  and the retaining walls. Furthermore, the antiskid screws  402  movably penetrate the partition  602  positioned parallel to the aforementioned retaining wall  601  to perpendicularly restrain the electronic component, thereby providing the electronic component fixing device which assuredly achieves effectiveness to enable suppressing horizontal and vertical vibration of an electronic component, and which further achieves the objective of reducing noise produced by the electronic component. 
     In conclusion, the effectiveness of the electronic component fixing device of the present invention to provide industrial practicability, originality and advancement clearly comply with the essential elements as required for a new patent application. Accordingly, a new patent application is proposed herein. 
     It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.