BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to sliding mechanisms, particularly to sliding mechanisms used in servers.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical sliding mechanism of a server generally includes an inner rail, a middle rail, and an outer rail. The inner rail is mounted on the server, the outer rail is mounted to a support frame of the server, and the middle rail is mounted between the inner rail and the outer rail to extend the sliding distance of the sliding mechanism. However, in the conventional product configurations, the sliding mechanisms can be complicated and they tend to take up a lot of space.
Therefore, there is a room for improvement in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary sliding mechanism for server. Moreover, in the drawings like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements of an embodiment.
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of a sliding mechanism.
FIG. 2 is partially enlarged view of the sliding mechanism shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 3 is an assembled view of the sliding mechanism shown in FIG. 1.
FIGS. 4-8 show the sliding mechanism shown in FIG. 3 in different states.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An exemplary embodiment of a sliding mechanism is shown in FIGS. 1-3. The sliding mechanism includes an inner rail 10, a middle rail 30, an outer rail 50, and a latching assembly 60. The middle rail 30 is mounted between the inner rail 10 and the outer rail 50. The latching assembly 60 includes a first protrusion 61, a second protrusion 62, a first position member such as a roller 63, an elastic element 64, a sliding groove 65, a resisting portion 655, and a third protrusion 66. The first protrusion 61 and the second protrusion 62 are both positioned on the inner rail 10. The sliding groove 65 and the resisting portion 655 are positioned on the middle rail 30. The third protrusion 66 is positioned on the outer rail 50.
The inner rail 10 includes two sliding plates 14 respectively located at opposite sides thereof. The first protrusion 61 is substantially arcuate, including a first protrusion valley 611 and a first protrusion peak 613. The first protrusion 61, in this exemplary embodiment, is positioned at one side of the inner rail 10 facing the middle rail 30 and near one end of the inner rail 10. The second protrusion 62 has substantially the same shape as, but is larger than the first protrusion 61, and the second protrusion 62 is situated at the same side as the first protrusion 61. The second protrusion 62 is located at another end of the inner rail 10 and includes a second protrusion valley 621 and a second protrusion peak 623.
The middle rail 30 includes two sliding blocks 34 respectively positioned at opposite sides thereof. The sliding blocks 34 are for slidably engaging with the outer rail 50 so the outer rail 50 can slide relative to the middle rail 30. Each sliding block 34 defines a sliding groove 342 facing the other sliding block 34. Each sliding groove 342 slidably engages one of the sliding plates 14 to enable the middle rail 30 to slide relative to the inner rail 10. The middle rail 30 further includes a hook 323 for latching the elastic element 64 to the middle rail 30. An opening 322 is defined through the middle rail 30 and is used for allowing the elastic element 64 to pass through the middle rail 30.
Referring to FIG. 2, the guiding groove 65 is transversely defined through the middle rail 30. The guiding groove 65 is for guiding the roller 63 to slide relative to the middle rail 30 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sliding direction (an arrow shown in FIG. 5) of the inner rail 10. The guiding groove 65 includes a guiding groove valley 651 and a guiding groove peak 652 that is larger than the guiding groove valley 651.
The resisting portion 655 protrudes from the middle rail 30 toward the outer rail 50. The resisting portion 655 is for resisting the outer rail 50 so the middle rail 30 and the outer rail 50 can slide together relative to the inner rail 10.
The outer rail 50 has two sliding slots 52 respectively defined at opposite sides thereof. Each sliding slot 52 slidably engages with one of the sliding blocks 34 so the outer rail 50 can slide relative to the middle rail 30.
Referring also to FIG. 2, the third protrusion 66 is substantially arcuate, and includes a third protrusion valley 661 and a third protrusion peak 663 communicating with the third protrusion valley 661. The third protrusion 66, in this exemplary embodiment, is positioned at one side of the outer rail 50 opposing the middle rail 30 near one end of the outer rail 50. The outer rail 50 further defines a latching slot 662 between the second protrusion valley 661 and the third protrusion peak 663, which latches with the roller 63. The outer rail 50 further includes a stopping surface 664 located near the third protrusion peak 663. The stopping surface 664 is for resisting against the resisting portion 655 so the outer rail 50 slides together with the middle rail 30.
Referring also to FIG. 2, the roller 63 includes a main body 631, a first pin 633 protruding from one side of the main body 631, a second pin 635 protruding from another side of the main body 631. A retaining slot 637 defined around the first pin 633 near the main body 631 and a securing slot 639 defined around the second pin 635 near the main body 631. The first pin 633 slides along the first protrusion 61 when the middle rail 30 slides relative to the inner rail 10. The second pin 635 slides along the third protrusion 66 when the middle rail 30 slides relative to the outer rail 50. The retaining slot 637 is for retaining the elastic element 64 on the roller 63. The securing slot 639 is for slidably securing with the portions of the middle rail 30 surrounding the guiding groove valley 651 so the roller 63 is slidably secured to the middle rail 30. In this exemplary embodiment, the second pin 635 is smaller than the guiding groove peak 652 so the second pin 635 can pass through the guiding groove peak 652. The second pin 635 is larger than the guiding groove valley 651 to prevent the second pin 635 and the middle rail 30 from separating when the second pin 635 is located in the guiding groove valley 651.
The elastic element 64 is V-shaped and includes a latching portion 641 formed at the center thereof, an inserting portion 642 is formed at one end thereof and a retaining ring 645 is formed at another end thereof. The latching portion 641 latches with the hook 323 to hold the elastic element 64 to the middle rail 30. The inserting portion 642 is inserted in the opening 322 to assist the elastic element 64 to hold the middle rail 30. The retaining ring 645 wraps in the retaining slot 637 to latch the elastic element 64 to the roller 63.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, in assembly, the inserting portion 642 passes through the opening 322 until the inserting portion 642 is located between the guiding groove peak 652 and the guiding groove valley 651. The latching portion 641 latches with the hook 323 so the elastic element 64 is latched to the middle rail 30. The retaining ring 645 wraps in the retaining slot 637 to retain the roller 63 to the elastic element 64. The second pin 635 passes through the guiding groove peak 652 until the securing slot 639 is located in the guiding groove peak 652. Then the second pin 635 slides to the guiding groove valley 651 so the securing slot 639 slidably latches with the portion of the middle rail 30 surrounding the guiding groove valley 651.
Each sliding plate 14 is slidably accommodated in one of the sliding grooves 342 so the inner rail 10 is slidably mounted to the middle rail 30. Referring to FIG. 4, at this time, the second pin 635 is located near the guiding groove peak 652 and the first pin 633 is located at the first protrusion peak 613 so the elastic element 64 is compressed. Finally, each sliding block 34 is slidably accommodated in one of the sliding slots 52 so the middle rail 30 is slidably mounted to the outer rail 50. At this stage, the second protrusion peak 623 is leveled with the third protrusion peak 663 along a sliding direction of the sliding mechanism.
Referring to FIG. 5, in use, the inner rail 10 is dragged and slides a first predetermined distance in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 5, until the first pin 633 slides from the first protrusion peak 613 to the first protrusion valley 611 and the first pin 633 is latched by the first protrusion 61. In this state, the inner rail 10 and the middle rail 30 are latched together such that the inner rail 10 can slide together with the middle rail 30; and the second pin 635 slides to the guiding valley 651 to expand the elastic element 64.
Referring to FIG. 6, continuing to drag the inner rail 10, because the first pin 633 is latched by the first protrusion 61, the inner rail 10, together with the middle rail 30, slides relative to the outer rail 50. As the inner rail 10 and the middle rail 30 slide relative to the outer rail 50, the second pin 635 slides to the third protrusion valley 661.
Referring to FIGS. 7-8, the inner rail is continued to be pulled and slides together with the middle rail 20 a second predetermined distance until the second pin 635 slides to the third protrusion 66. At this moment, the second pin 635 slides from the third protrusion valley 661 to the third protrusion peak 663 to drive the second pin 635 to slide from the guiding groove valley 651 toward the guiding groove peak 652. The first pin 633 can then pass through the first protrusion peak 613 making the first pin 633 release with the first protrusion 61. That is, the inner rail 10 may slide relative to the middle rail 30 again. Simultaneously, the resisting portion 655 resists the stopping surface 664 to prevent the middle rail 30 from continuing to slide relative to the outer rail 50. Continuing to pull the inner rail 10 makes the inner rail 10 slide relative to the middle rail 30, the first pin 633 slides to the first protrusion valley 611 so the inner rail 10 can further extend relative to the middle rail 30. Thus, the inner rail 10 is extended relative to the middle rail 30 and the outer rail 50. The movement of pushing the inner rail 10 to its original state is opposite to the movement of extending the rail relative to the middle rail 30 and the outer rail 50.
It is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the exemplary embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of structures and functions of various embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the exemplary invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Patent Application
20110262060
