BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a conventional drawable tray assembly;
FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of another conventional drawable tray assembly;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a drawable tray assembly according to the present invention, which is insertable into a storage casing;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a handle is disposed at a non-stacked position relative to a tray body of the preferred embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment to illustrate a state where the handle is disposed at the non-stacked position and where a face cover is disposed at a first position;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment to illustrate another state where the handle is disposed at the non-stacked position and where the face cover is disposed at a second position;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment to illustrate yet another state where the handle is disposed at a stacked position and where the face cover is disposed at the second position; and
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment to illustrate still another state where the handle is disposed at the stacked position and where the front cover is disposed at the first position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred embodiment of a drawable tray assembly according to the present invention is shown to support a data storage device 8 thereon. The drawable tray assembly is insertable into an accommodating slot 41 of a storage casing 4, and comprises: a tray body 5 having a front end plate 51 that is formed with a first engaging member 53, the tray body 5 being adapted to support the data storage device 8 thereon; a pivot joint 7; a handle 6 including an elongated metal plate 61 that has a front side and that is pivoted to the front end plate 51 of the tray body 5 through the pivot joint 7 so as to permit the handle 6 to be rotatable relative to the tray body 5, the handle 6 further including a face cover 62 that covers and that is mounted slidably on the front side of the metal plate 61, that is co-rotatable with the metal plate 61, and that is formed with a second engaging member 622 which is releasably engageable with the first engaging member 53, the face cover 62 being slidable relative to the metal plate 61 along the length of the metal plate 61 between a first position (see FIGS. 7 and 10), where the second engaging member 622 engages the first engaging member 53, thereby preventing rotation of the handle 6 relative to the tray body 5, and a second position (see FIGS. 8 and 9), where the second engaging member 622 is disengaged from the first engaging member 53, thereby permitting rotation of the handle 6 relative to the tray body 5; and an urging member 63 interconnecting the metal plate and the face cover 62 for restoring the face cover 62 from the second position to the first position.
In this embodiment, the metal plate 61 has a base portion 611 and two opposite wing portions 612 extending transversely from the base portion 611. The handle 6 is rotatable relative to the tray body 5 between a stacked position (see FIG. 5), in which the base portion 611 of the metal plate 61 overlaps and is substantially parallel to the front end plate 51 of the tray body 5, and a non-stacked position (see FIG. 6), in which the base portion 611 of the metal plate 61 is inclined relative to the front end plate 51 of the tray body 5.
Referring again to FIG. 4, each of the wing portions 612 of the metal plate 61 is formed with a pair of elongated guiding holes 613, and the wing portions 612 of the metal plate 61 cooperatively define an elongated guiding trough 60 therebetween. The face cover 62 has a front face plate 624 and a pair of wing plates 625 that extend transversely from the front face plate 624 into the guiding trough 60. Each of the wing plates 625 is formed with a pair of guiding protrusions 621 that extend respectively through the guiding holes 613 in a respective one of the wing portions 612 of the metal plate 61 so as to permit sliding movement of the face cover 62 on the metal plate 61.
The front end plate 51 of the tray body 5 has a vertical plate portion 511 and a brim portion 512 that extends transversely from and that cooperates with the vertical plate portion 511 to define an accommodating recess 510 therebetween. The base portion 611 of the metal plate 61 is received in the accommodating recess 510, and is substantially parallel to the vertical plate portion 511 when the handle 6 is disposed at the stacked position.
The pivot joint 7 includes a U-shaped plate 71 that is secured to the vertical plate portion 511 of the front end plate 51 through fasteners 73 and that has upper and lower arm portions 713 extending into the guiding trough 60. The pivot joint 7 further includes a pivot pin 72 having a head portion 721 and a shank portion 722 extending from the head portion 721 through the upper and lower arm portions 713 of the U-shaped plate 71 and the wing portions 612 of the metal plate 61. The brim portion 512 of the front end plate 51 of the tray body 5 is disposed over and adjacent to the head portion 721 of the pivot pin 72 so as to prevent undesired removal of the pivot pin 72 from occurring.
The first and second engaging members 53, 622 engage each other in a tongue-and-groove engaging manner. In this embodiment, the front end plate 51 is formed with a through-hole that defines the first engaging member 53. The face cover 62 has a curved end that is formed with a protrusion which defines the second engaging member 622.
The metal plate 61 has an end protrusion 614 that is adapted to engage a retaining hole 421 in a vertical partition plate 42 of the storage casing 4 when the drawable tray assembly is inserted into the accommodating slot 41 of the storage casing 4, as best shown in FIG. 3.
Referring to FIG. 3, during insertion of the drawable tray assembly into the accommodating slot 41 of the storage casing 4, the handle 6 is first moved to the non-stacked position (see FIG. 6). When the drawable tray assembly is fully received in the accommodating slot 41, the handle 6 is moved from the non-stacked position toward the stacked position and the face cover 62 is subsequently moved by the user's hand from the first position to the second position (see FIGS. 7 and 8) so as to permit further movement of the handle 6 to the stacked position (see FIG. 9). After the handle 6 is positioned at the stacked position, the face cover 62 is released, and is subsequently restored from the second position (see FIG. 9) to the first position (see FIG. 10) by the urging action of the urging member 63, thereby resulting in engagement between the first and second engaging members 53, 622. When the drawable tray assembly is to be taken out of the storage casing 4, the face cover 62 is first moved to the second position (see FIG. 9) so as to result in disengagement between the first and second engaging members 53, 622, followed by moving the handle 6 to the non-stacked position (see FIG. 8) so as to disengage the end protrusion 614 of the metal plate 61 from the retaining hole 421 in the vertical partition plate 42 and so as to facilitate withdrawal of the drawable tray assembly from the storage casing 4.
During assembly of the handle 6 to the front end plate 51 of the tray body 5, the U-shaped plate 71 is first secured to the front end plate 51, and the face cover 62 is mounted to the metal plate 61 by extending the guiding protrusions 621 into the guiding holes 613, followed by mounting the handle 6 to the U-shaped plate 71 through the pivot pin 72. As such, assembly of the drawable tray assembly of this invention is easier and less expensive than that of the aforesaid conventional drawable tray assemblies.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Patent Application
20080030946
