Electronic Assembly

Abstract

A circuit board controls power to the expansion card based on detection of the sensing assembly, providing an electronic assembly in which hot swapping of the expansion card assembly is supported. The electronic assembly (10) includes a circuit board (100), a sensing assembly (200), and an expansion card assembly (300). The circuit board is electrically connected to a power source. The sensing assembly is disposed on the circuit board. The expansion card assembly includes a mounting box (310) and an expansion card (320). The mounting box includes a box body and a handheld body (312). The handheld body has first and second assembly sides opposed to each other. The expansion card is disposed within the mounting box. When the handheld body is in a closed position, the second assembly side portion engages with the box body, and when the handheld body is in an open position, the circuit board stops supplying power to the expansion card.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to electronic assemblies, and more particularly, to electronic assemblies that include at least one expansion card. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, as the demand for high-speed data transmission increases, solid-state drives (SSDs), which have the advantage of high-speed transmission, are gradually replacing hard disk drives (HDDs). In addition, the M.2 specification has been developed to realize the miniaturization of electronic devices. Currently, most SSDs are designed based on the M.2 specification.

[0003] However, conventional SSDs that comply with the M.2 specification do not support hot-swap functionality, which means that when replacing or maintaining an SSD, the electronic device containing the SSD must be powered off, the case must be opened, and the SSD must be removed, which is inconvenient for replacing or maintaining the SSD. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present disclosure provides an electronic assembly in which a circuit board controls the supply of power based on detection by a sensing assembly, thereby supporting hot swapping of expansion card assemblies.

[0005] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic assembly including a circuit board configured to electrically connect to a power source, a sensing assembly, and at least one expansion card assembly. The circuit board is configured to electrically connect to the power source. The sensing assembly is disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board. The mounting box includes a box body and a handheld body. The handheld body has a first assembly side and a second assembly side opposed to each other. The first assembly side is pivotally connected to a side of the box body to enable the handheld body to assume a closed position and an open position. The expansion card is disposed within the mounting box and electrically connected to the circuit board. When the handheld body is in the closed position, the second assembly side engages the box body, and the circuit board is configured to provide power from the power source to the expansion card based on detection of the sensing assembly. When the handheld body is in the open position, the second assembly side disengages from the box body, and the circuit board is configured to stop providing power from the power source to the expansion card based on detection of the sensing assembly. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the electronic assembly disclosed in the above embodiment, when the handheld body is in a closed position, the circuit board supplies power from the power source to the expansion card based on the detection of the sensing assembly. Also, when the handheld body is in an open position, the circuit board stops supplying power from the power source to the expansion card based on the detection of the sensing assembly. That is, the sensing assembly enables the circuit board to power on the expansion card when the installation of the expansion card is completed, and to power off the expansion card when the expansion card needs to be replaced or maintained. Therefore, hot swapping of the expansion card is supported, and replacement and maintenance of the expansion card are facilitated. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] The present disclosure will be better understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, which are provided for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the disclosure. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic assembly according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the electronic assembly in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an expansion card assembly of the electronic assembly of FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 2 is a partially enlarged top view of the expansion card assembly of the electronic assembly of FIG. 1 showing the handheld body in a closed position. [Diagram 5] 2 is a partially enlarged top view of the expansion card assembly of the electronic assembly of FIG. 1 showing the handheld body in an open position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, it will be apparent that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are diagrammatically shown in order to simplify the drawings.

[0009] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an electronic assembly 10 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the electronic assembly 10 of Figure 1. Figure 3 shows an exploded perspective view of an expansion card assembly 300 of the electronic assembly 10 of Figure 2. Figure 4 shows a partially enlarged top view of the expansion card assembly 300 of the electronic assembly 10 of Figure 1 in a closed position.

[0010] In this embodiment, the electronic assembly 10 is configured to be electrically connected to a power source (not shown). The electronic assembly 10 includes, for example, a circuit board 100, two slide rail assemblies 150, two connectors 160, two sensing assemblies 200, two expansion card assemblies 300, a fan 400, and a heat sink 450.

[0011] The circuit board 100 is configured to be electrically connected to a power source and has a through hole 101. The I / O shield 102 may be fixed to a side of the circuit board 100. In order to clearly show the technical features of the present disclosure, the I / O shield 102 is omitted from FIG. 2. In the following, since the two slide rail assemblies 150, the two connectors 160, the two sensing assemblies 200, and the two expansion card assemblies 300 are similar in structure, one slide rail assembly 150, one connector 160, one sensing assembly 200, and one expansion card assembly 300 corresponding to each other will be exemplarily described in detail below. In this embodiment, the slide rail assembly 150 includes two slide rails 151 fixed to the circuit board 100. The connector 160 is disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board 100. In addition, one of the two slide rails 151 has a first engagement structure 152. In addition, the connector 160 complies with, for example, the M.2 specification. The two slide rail assemblies 150 may be connected by a plate 155 .

[0012] The sensing assembly 200 is disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board 100. In particular, in this embodiment, the sensing assembly 200 includes a Hall sensor 210 and a plurality of optical sensors 221, 222, 223. The Hall sensor 210 and the optical sensors 221, 222, 223 are disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board 100.

[0013] In this embodiment, the expansion card assembly 300 includes a mounting box 310 and an expansion card 320. The mounting box 310 includes, for example, a box body 311, a handheld body 312, a magnet 313, and a positioning part 314. The box body 311 includes, for example, a base 3110 and a cover 3111. The cover 3111 is disposed on a side of the base 3110. The handheld body 312 has a first assembly side 315 and a second assembly side 316 facing each other. The first assembly side 315 is pivotally connected to a side of the base 3110 and includes a second engagement structure 317. The first engagement structure 152 and the second engagement structure 317 form a snap fit by engaging a recess and a protrusion with each other. The second assembly side 316 is configured to removably engage with the base 3110. The magnet 313 is disposed on the handheld body 312 and is disposed adjacent to the Hall sensor 210. The positioning part 314 is disposed in the box body 311. In detail, the positioning part 314 is disposed in the limiting recess 3113 of the cover 3111 and has a positioning protrusion 3140. The positioning part 314 may house a magnet 3141. The magnet 3141 is configured to attract a plurality of magnets 3116 disposed on the cover 3111 to position the positioning part 314 on the cover 3111. The magnets 3116 are, for example, disposed in pairs on the cover 3111 to position the positioning part 314 at different positions on the cover 3111, thereby allowing the positioning part 314 to position the expansion cards 320 of different lengths. Each pair of magnets 3116 may include two magnets 3116 disposed at a distance from each other.

[0014] The box body 311 is slidably disposed on two slide rails 151. Two optical sensors 221 and 222 are disposed adjacent to the first assembly side 315 and the second assembly side 316, respectively, and another optical sensor 223 is disposed adjacent to the first engagement structure 152 and the second engagement structure 317.

[0015] The expansion card 320 is disposed in the box body 311 of the mounting box 310. In particular, the expansion card 320 is disposed in the limiting recess 3113 of the cover 3111. In addition, a side of the expansion card 320 is electrically connected to the connector 160 so as to be electrically connected to the circuit board 100 via the connector 160. In addition, a side of the expansion card 320 located away from the connector 160 is positioned by a positioning protrusion 3140 of the positioning part 314. In addition, a limiting plate 3115 may be fixed to a side of the cover 3111. The expansion card 320 is sandwiched between the positioning part 314 and the limiting plate 3115.

[0016] The fan 400 covers the through hole 101 and is electrically connected to the circuit board 100. The heat sink 450 is located on the side of the fan 400 and is in thermal contact with the box body 311. In this embodiment, the heat sink 450 includes a plurality of fins 451 arranged along the arrangement direction A and has a plurality of grooves 452. The grooves 452 are located on the fins 451, and the extension direction E of the grooves 452 is parallel to the arrangement direction A. That is, the heat sink 450 of this embodiment is designed to include a plurality of sections. In this embodiment, the fan 400 is provided to cover the through hole 101, so that the cold air blown out by the fan 400 flows intensively to the heat sink 450.

[0017] See Figures 2, 4, and 5. Figure 5 is a partially enlarged top view of the handheld body 312 of the expansion card assembly 300 of the electronic assembly 10 of Figure 1 in an open position. In this embodiment, the first assembly side 315 is pivotally connected to a side of the box body 311 such that the handheld body 312 includes a closed position (shown in Figure 4) and an open position (shown in Figure 5).

[0018] 2 and 4 , when the handheld body 312 is in the closed position, the second assembly side 316 engages with the box body 311, and the circuit board 100 is configured to supply power provided by the power source to the expansion card 320 based on the detection of the sensing assembly 200. Furthermore, the first engagement structure 152 and the second engagement structure 317 engage with each other to achieve a mistake-proofing effect or a mistake-proofing effect.

[0019] As shown in Figures 2 and 5, when the handheld body 312 is moved along the rotation direction P from the closed position to the open position, the second assembly side 316 is configured to detach from the box body 311 and stop supplying power from the power source to the expansion card 320 based on detection by the sensing assembly 200.

[0020] For example, in this embodiment, the position of the handheld body 312 is determined based on two mechanisms: magnetic field detection and optical detection. For the mechanism of magnetic field detection, the Hall sensor 210 is disposed adjacent to the magnet 313 disposed on the handheld body 312, so that the Hall sensor 210 can determine the position of the handheld body 312 by detecting the magnetic field generated by the magnet 313 disposed on the handheld body 312. For the mechanism of optical detection, two optical sensors 221 and 222 are disposed adjacent to the first assembly side 315 and the second assembly side 316, respectively, and another optical sensor 223 is disposed adjacent to the first engagement structure 152 and the second engagement structure 317. Thus, the optical sensors 221, 222, 223 can determine the position of the handheld body 312 by receiving light reflected or refracted by the handheld body 312.

[0021] In this embodiment, the position of the handheld body 312 is determined by three optical sensors 221, 222, 223 to increase the accuracy of detection. However, in other embodiments, the position of the handheld body may be determined specifically by the optical sensor 221.

[0022] It should be noted that in other embodiments, the position of the handheld body may be determined by one mechanism (magnetic field detection or optical detection). That is, in other embodiments, the sensing assembly may not include an optical sensor or a Hall sensor. In embodiments in which the sensing assembly does not include a Hall sensor, the mounting box may not include a magnet. In yet other embodiments, the sensing assembly does not include an optical sensor or a Hall sensor, and the position of the handheld body may be determined by an inching switch connected to the handheld body.

[0023] According to the electronic assembly disclosed by the above embodiment, when the handheld body is in a closed position, the circuit board supplies the power provided by the power source to the expansion card based on the detection of the sensing assembly. Also, when the handheld body is in an open position, the circuit board stops the supply of power from the power source to the expansion card based on the detection of the sensing assembly. That is, the sensing assembly enables the circuit board to power on the expansion card when the installation of the expansion card is completed, and to stop the power of the expansion card when the expansion card needs to be replaced or maintained. Therefore, hot swapping of the expansion card is supported, and replacement or maintenance of the expansion card is facilitated.

[0024] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. 1. An electronic assembly configured to electrically connect to a power source, comprising: a circuit board configured to electrically connect to the power source; a sensing assembly disposed on the circuit board and electrically connected to the circuit board; at least one expansion card assembly; a mounting box comprising a box body and a handheld body, the handheld body having opposing first and second assembly sides, the first assembly side pivotally connected to a side of the box body to enable the handheld body to assume a closed position and an open position; an expansion card disposed within the mounting box and electrically connected to the circuit board; an electronic assembly, wherein when the handheld body is in a closed position, the second assembly side engages with the box body and the circuit board is configured to supply power from the power source to the expansion card based on detection of the sensing assembly, and when the handheld body is in an open position, the second assembly side disengages from the box body and the circuit board is configured to stop supplying power from the power source to the expansion card based on detection of the sensing assembly.

2. 2. The electronic assembly of claim 1, wherein the sensing assembly includes a Hall sensor, the Hall sensor disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board, and the mounting box further includes a magnet, the magnet disposed on the handheld body and positioned adjacent to the Hall sensor.

3. 2. The electronic assembly of claim 1, wherein the sensing assembly includes at least one optical sensor, the at least one optical sensor disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board, the at least one optical sensor disposed adjacent the second assembly side of the handheld body.

4. The electronic assembly of claim 3 , wherein the at least one optical sensor comprises a plurality of optical sensors disposed adjacent the first assembly side and the second assembly side, respectively.

5. 2. The electronic assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one slide rail assembly, the at least one slide rail assembly being composed of two slide rails fixed on the circuit board, and the box body being slidably disposed on the two slide rails.

6. 6. The electronic assembly of claim 5, wherein one of the two slide rails has a first engagement structure and the first assembly side has a second engagement structure, the first engagement structure and the second engagement structure are recesses and protrusions that form a snap fit, and when the handheld body is in a closed position, the first engagement structure and the second engagement structure engage with each other, and when the handheld body is in an open position, the first engagement structure and the second engagement structure are spaced apart from each other.

7. 7. The electronic assembly of claim 6, wherein the sensing assembly includes at least one optical sensor disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board, the at least one optical sensor disposed adjacent the first engagement structure and the second engagement structure.

8. 2. The electronic assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one connector disposed on and electrically connected to the circuit board, a side of the expansion card being electrically connected to the at least one connector, and the mounting box further comprising a positioning component disposed on the box body for positioning a side of the expansion card away from the at least one connector.

9. 2. The electronic assembly of claim 1, further comprising a fan and a heat sink, the circuit board having a through hole, the fan covering the through hole and electrically connected to the circuit board, and the heat sink located on a side of the fan and in thermal contact with the box body.

10. 10. The electronic assembly of claim 9, wherein the heat sink comprises a plurality of fins arranged along an arrangement direction and has a plurality of grooves, the plurality of grooves being provided in the plurality of fins, and the extension direction of the plurality of grooves being parallel to the arrangement direction.

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