Patent Publication Number: US-8982550-B2

Title: Information processing apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Division of application Ser. No. 12/701,736 filed on Feb. 8, 2010; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     This application claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-030250 filed on Feb. 12, 2009, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Conventionally, there is a commodity-sales-data processing apparatus (an information processing apparatus) such as an electronic cash register (ECR) or a point of sales (POS) terminal including a hard disk drive (HDD). 
     The HDD is susceptible vibration because of the structure thereof. When strong vibration is applied from the outside during data reading and writing operation, in some cases, abnormality occurs in data reading and writing. Therefore, there is a commodity-sales-data processing apparatus that adopts an anti-vibration structure to attach the HDD (see, JP-A-2006-092703). 
     In recent years, to improve maintainability of a POS terminal, there is a demand for a HDD attachment structure that can attach the HDD with one touch of a finger instead of fixing by a screw or the like. In this case, it is necessary to take into account not only the HDD anti-vibration structure but also earthing performance. 
     However, the commodity-sales-data processing apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2006-092703 has a structure in which each HDD frame is floated by anti-vibration rubber. Therefore, it is necessary to separately screw an earth line. The earth line is screwed at the sacrifice of the maintainability. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention has been devised in view of the above and it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus that can realize both anti-vibration performance for a hard disk drive and earthing performance without spoiling maintainability in terms of one-touch replacement of a hard disk drive unit. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus including: a hard disk drive unit including a hard disk drive configured to read various data from and write various data in a magnetic disk incorporated therein; a housing of an apparatus main body configured to hold the hard disk drive on a substrate to be freely attached and detached; a hard-disk-drive holding member provided in the hard disk drive unit, configured to include a first anti-vibration member having vibration damping properties disposed on a predetermined surface parallel to a disk width direction of the magnetic disk and fix and hold the hard disk drive in a state in which the first anti-vibration member is sandwiched between the hard disk drive and the predetermined member, and formed of a metal member; a member to be guided provided in the hard disk drive unit and provided on a surface parallel to the disk width direction of the magnetic disk different from the predetermined surface of the hard-disk-drive holding member; and a base member provided in the housing of the apparatus main body, configured to have a guide section for guiding the member to be guided in attaching and detaching directions of the hard disk drive unit and come into contact with the hard-disk-drive holding member of the hard disk drive unit attached to the substrate according to the guide by the guide section, and formed of a metal member. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an external perspective view of a POS terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an external perspective view of the POS terminal with a front cover opened; 
         FIG. 3  is an external perspective view of a control unit with a HDD cover and a HDD unit detached therefrom; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged external perspective view of a part of the control unit; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged external perspective view of the part of the control unit viewed from another direction; 
         FIG. 6  is a disassembled perspective view of the configuration of the HDD unit; and 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional view in which the HDD unit is mainly shown. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An embodiment of the present invention is explained below with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 7 . This embodiment is an example in which a point of sales (POS) terminal, which is a commodity-sales-data processing apparatus, is applied as an information processing apparatus. 
       FIG. 1  is an external perspective view of a POS terminal  1  according to this embodiment.  FIG. 2  is an external perspective view of the POS terminal  1  with a front cover  20  opened. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in the POS terminal  1 , a keyboard  3 , a display for customer  4 , a display for cashier  5 , a barcode scanner  6 , a thermal printer  7 , and the like are connected to a control unit  2 , which is an apparatus main body. 
     The control unit  2  incorporates a main substrate  90  (see  FIG. 7 ) as a control section configured to control to drive the respective units and a hard disk drive (HDD) unit  50  (see  FIG. 3 ) configured to read various data from and write various data in a magnetic disk incorporated therein. The control section mainly includes a central processing unit (CPU) configured to centrally control the respective units. The keyboard  3 , the display for customer  4 , the display for cashier  5 , the barcode scanner  6 , the thermal printer  7 , and the HDD unit  50  are connected to the control section via a not-shown I/O. 
     The HDD unit  50  has stored therein a commodity master file, a journal file, and the like besides a computer program for causing the control section to operate. The commodity master file is a file configured to store commodity names, unit prices, and the like in association with commodity codes. The journal file is a file configured to store journal data such as a sales statement and an amount of sales as sales data in association with transaction numbers. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the control unit  2  has a housing  11  of a rectangular parallelepiped apparatus main body. The housing  11  is mounted with the keyboard  3 , the display for casher  5 , the display for customer  4 , and the thermal printer  7 . The housing  11  includes the main substrate  90 , the HDD unit  50  and the like. The housing  11  includes, in front thereof, the front cover  20  attached with an iron magnet bearing (not shown) configured to receive a magnet  13  explained later. The front cover  20  is a cover that opens and closes when maintenance of the HDD unit  50  and the like incorporated in the control unit  2  is performed. In the housing  11  of the control unit  2 , a surface on which the keyboard  3  and the like are mounted is referred to as mounting surface. A surface placed on a not-shown drawer or the like is referred to as placing surface. 
     In the control unit  2 , the front cover  20  located on an operator side of the housing  11  is pivotally provided to freely rotate with respect to a front panel  12  on the placing surface side of the housing  11 . In the control unit  2 , the magnet  13  is disposed on the mounting surface side of the housing  11  in the front panel  12 . With such a configuration, when the mounting surface side of the housing  11  in the front cover  20  is pulled, the magnet bearing of the front cover  20  is detached from the magnet  13  of the front panel  12  and opens and closes around a shaft on the placing surface side of the housing  11  in the front cover  20 . Therefore, the front cover  20  pivots between an open position and a closed position to freely open and close with respect to the front panel  12  of the housing  11 . 
     An attaching and detaching structure for the HDD unit  50 , which is a characteristic of the POS terminal  1  according to this embodiment, is explained. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the front panel  12  of the housing  11  detachably includes a HDD cover  30 . During maintenance of the HDD unit  50 , a user can access the HDD unit  50  by opening the front cover  20  and removing the HDD cover  30  in the inside. 
       FIG. 3  is an external perspective view of the control unit  2  with the HDD cover  30  and the HDD unit  50  detached therefrom.  FIG. 4  is an enlarged external perspective view of apart of the control unit  2 .  FIG. 5  is an enlarged external perspective view of the part of the control unit  2  viewed from another direction. In an example shown in  FIGS. 3 to 5 , two HDD units  50  are arranged side by side. As shown in  FIGS. 3 to 5 , the front panel  12  has an opening  31 . The opening  31  is exposed when the front cover  20  is opened and the HDD cover  30  is detached from the front panel  12 . The POS terminal  1  includes the HDD units  50  on the inner side of the opening  31  in the housing  11 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the POS terminal  1  includes a HDD base  60 , which is a base member, in the housing  11 . The HDD base  60  includes a guide section  61  configured to guide a member to be guided explained later of the HDD unit  50  in attaching and detaching directions of the HDD unit  50  and is formed of a metal member. 
     In addition, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the POS terminal  1  includes, in the inside of the housing  11 , an elastic member  95  configured to press a housing  50   b  of the mounted HDD unit  50  against the HDD base  60  from above. The elastic member  95  is, for example, a leaf spring. 
     The configuration of the HDD unit  50  is explained in detail.  FIG. 6  is a disassembled perspective view of the configuration of the HDD unit  50 .  FIG. 7  is a sectional view in which the HDD unit  50  is mainly shown. As shown in  FIG. 6  or  7 , the HDD unit  50  schematically includes a HDD  50   a  and the housing  50   b,  which is a hard-disk-drive holding member, configured to hold the HDD  50   a  and formed of a metal member. In the HDD unit  50 , the HDD  50   a  is screwed to the housing  50   b  by a screw  81 . The housing  50   b  has plural substantially elliptical holes  71  in a bottom  70 , which is a predetermined surface, parallel to a disk width direction of a magnetic disk. In the HDD unit  50 , anti-vibration rubbers  80  having vibration damping properties are fit in the holes  71 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the anti-vibration rubbers  80  fit in the holes  71  are exposed to both sides of the bottom  70  of the housing  50   b.    
     The&#39;HDD  50   a  and the bottom  70  of the housing  50   b  sandwich the anti-vibration rubbers  80  exposed to the side of the housing  50   b  on which the HDD  50   a  is held. In other words, the anti-vibration rubbers  80  function as a first anti-vibration member. On the other hand, the anti-vibration rubbers  80  exposed to the outside of the housing  50   b  function as a second anti-vibration member. The anti-vibration rubbers  80  exposed to the outside of the housing  50   b  also function as a member to be guided that is guided by the guide section  61  of the HDD base  60 . In other words, in this embodiment, the anti-vibration rubbers  80  alone are integrally formed as the first anti-vibration member and the second anti-vibration member. 
     In a state in which the HDD unit  50  is mounted, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the guide section  61  of the HDD base  60  guides the anti-vibration rubbers  80 , which are exposed to the outside of the housing  50   b,  in the attaching and detaching directions of the HDD unit  50  while bringing the anti-vibration rubbers  80  into contact with end faces X. In this case, the housing  50   b  of the HDD unit  50  slides on the HDD base  60 . As explained above, the main substrate  90  (see  FIG. 7 ) having a connector  91  is provided in the inside of the housing  11 . When the HDD unit  50  is guided, the HDD unit  50  is finally inserted into the connector  91 . In a state in which the HDD unit  50  is finally mounted on the HDD base  60 , the anti-vibration rubbers  80  overlap the end faces X of the guide section  61  of the HDD base  60  by about 1 millimeter. In this state, the HDD  50   a  can prevent its own vibration with respect to the width direction of the disk incorporated in the HDD  50   a.  Further, in this state, the housing  50   b,  which is formed of the metal member, of the HDD unit  50  and the HDD base  60 , which is formed of the metal member, are set in contact with each other. Therefore, an earth can be secured. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5  and the like, the HDD unit  50  includes a lock lever  51  on the detaching direction side of the HDD unit  50 . The lock lever  51  interferes with an interfering member  11   b  formed to be bent in a bottom  11   a  on the placing surface side of the housing  11 . The lock lever  51  has a pull-out seat  52  at an end thereof. The lock lever  51  is molded by bending a sheet metal. 
     In detaching the HDD unit  50  from the housing  11 , the user holds and pulls the pull-out seat  52  attached to the distal end of the lock lever  51  provided in the HDD unit  50 . When the pull-out seat  52  is pulled, the sheet metal as the lock lever  51  interfering with the interfering member  11   b  is stretched. Therefore, the lock lever  51  climbs over the interfering member  11   b , whereby the lock lever  51  is unlocked. In this way, the user can pull out the HDD unit  50  from the opening  31  of the housing  11  while a fitting section  50   c  of the HDD unit  50  is guided by the guide section  61  of the HDD base  60 . 
     On the other hand, in pushing the HDD unit  50  into the housing  11 , the user pushes the HDD unit  50  into the opening  31  of the housing  11 . When the HDD unit  50  is pushed into the opening  31  of the housing  11 , the lock lever  51  climbs over the interfering member  11   b  and deforms the elastic member  95 , whereby the anti-vibration rubbers  80  functioning as the member to be guided of the HDD unit  50  are guided by the guide section  61  of the HDD base  60  and fit in fixed positions. The housing  50   b  of the HDD unit  50  mounted in this way are pressed from above by the elastic member  95 , whereby the HDD unit  50  is brought into press contact with the HDD base  60 . Therefore, an earth can be surely secured. 
     As explained above, according to this embodiment, the hard disk drive unit having the hard disk drive configured to read various data from and write various data in the magnetic disk incorporated therein includes the hard-disk-drive holding member and the member to be guided. The hard-disk-drive holding member is configured to include the first anti-vibration member having vibration damping properties disposed on the predetermined surface parallel to the disk width direction of the magnetic disk and fix and hold the hard disk drive in a state in which the first anti-vibration member is sandwiched between the hard disk drive and the predetermined surface. The hard-disk-drive holding member is formed of the metal member. The member to be guided is provided on the surface parallel to the disk width direction of the magnetic disk different from the predetermined surface of the hard-disk-drive holding member. The housing of the apparatus main body configured to hold the hard disk drive to be freely attached to and detached from the substrate includes the guide section configured to guide the member to be guided in the attaching and detaching directions of the hard disk drive unit. The housing comes into contact with the hard-disk-drive holding member of the hard disk drive unit attached to the substrate according to the guide of the guide section. The housing includes the base member formed of the metal member. Consequently, it is possible to realize, without spoiling maintainability in terms of one-touch replacement of the hard disk drive unit, both anti-vibration performance for the hard disk drive by the first anti-vibration member in the hard-disk-drive holding member and earthing performance achieved by the contact of the hard-disk-drive holding member formed of the metal member and the base member formed of the metal member. 
     In this embodiment, the POS terminal, which is the commodity-sales-data processing apparatus, is applied as the information processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Various information processing apparatuses such as a personal computer can be applied as the information processing apparatus. 
     Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Therefore, a wider aspect of the present invention is not limited by the specific details and the representative embodiment represented and described above. Therefore, various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit or the scope of the general concept of the invention defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.