Fastening mechanism for electronic devices

Abstract

A fastening mechanism for fastening a circuit board to an electronic device is proposed, including: a carrier used for carrying the circuit board; at least one fastening member having a first retaining portion that is connected to said carrier for coupling to at least one side of said circuit board; at least one guiding member disposed on said carrier that extends away from the direction of said fastening member; an active member disposed on said at least one guiding member that consists of a second retaining portion for coupling to an opposite side of said circuit board; and a sheathing member used for correspondingly coupling with said guiding member, thereby allowing said active member to move along said guiding member by means of the sheathing member to jointly fasten a variety of circuit boards of different sizes with said fastening member.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to technologies for fastening circuit units of electronic devices, and more particularly, to a fastening mechanism for fastening a circuit board to an electronic device. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] A wide range of PCs and servers have been designed to meet industrial requirements. It is desirable and advantageous to use a standard machine cabinet that can accommodate different models of computer motherboards so that when a motherboard is replaced the cabinet can continue to be used. [0005] The base panel in a conventional server / PC cabinet typically has a plurality of screw holes prepared on its front, back and bottom surfaces for installing therein a variety of motherboards of different models. Similarly, the motherboards are formed with a plurality of corresponding holes for receiving screws serving as fastening mechanisms to thereby fasten motherboards to server / PC ca...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] The present invention aims to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks, and, as such, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fastening mechanism that enables a user to conveniently and rapidly install motherboards of different models and sizes in an electronic device.

[0012] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a fastening mechanism that can simplify the steps of installing a circuit board into an electronic device and reduce costs as a result.

[0016] Compared to the complex methods in which screws / rivets are used to fasten a circuit board to an electronic device, the circuit board fastening mechanism proposed by the present invention is designed to eliminate the need of using a fastening tool and thus is easy and quick to operate. Further, when attempting to locate the corresponding screw holes in prior methods, it often takes longer and is difficult to install, especially for circuit boards in larger sizes (such as servers and PCs), and in the case that screw holes are not fastened accurately with precision, there is a tendency to generate inner stress in the circuit board that can result in structural damage due to the mal-positioning or misplacement of screw. On the contrary, the fastening mechanism of the present invention engages and fastens the side edges of a circuit board without the drawback of potentially applying inappropriate or unbalanced forces to the circuit board and thus has the lasting benefit of helping to protect the circuit board from stress after installation.

[0017] Summarizing the above, the fastening mechanism according to the invention not only can fasten a circuit board to an electronic device securely, but also is convenient and quick to operate. Accordingly, the present invention offers advantages over the prior art techniques due to its easy-positioning and installation without the potential for damage to circuit boards due to inappropriate forces being exerted by misused prior-art fasteners.

Problems solved by technology

While the screw / hole method can fasten different models of motherboards to servers / PC cabinets, when fastening a relatively large motherboard, it is often cumbersome to find the matching holes and this, in turn, can result in mal-positioning.

Larger motherboards necessitate more screw holes for fastening and also more elevated structures to prevent short circuits, adversely wasting time and cost for installing motherboards.

Such problems related to drilling holes for fastening are not limited to screw fasteners but are also present with regard to fastening mechanisms of many sorts, such as screws or rivets.

Similar problems also apply to portable electronic devices such as notebook computers (NB), and personal digital assistants (PDA) using such a fastening means as screw or rivets.

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