The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 05, 1997
Filed:
Jan. 29, 1996
Stephen D Smithson, Redwood City, CA (US);
William R Hare, San Jose, CA (US);
Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
A drive sled assembly apparatus and method for readily installing and removing media drives. In one embodiment of the present invention, a drive sled is adapted to attach to a media drive. The sled consists of left and right rails that attach to the drive, and a lever that snaps on the front of the two rails. The attachment between the rails and the drive contain rubber grommets to dampen vibration and shock effects on the drive. The two rails and lever can be used to carry the drive using the lever as a handle. The rails are adapted to enable the drive and sled to slide into left and right guides attached to the computer chassis. In so doing, the drive can be installed or removed from the computer without opening the computer cover or having to unscrew the media drive from the computer chassis. In addition, one embodiment adapts the right rail to accommodate a light pipe. The light pipe is used to transfer LED signals from the back of the media drive to the front of the computer chassis without using loose wires. Also, an embodiment of the sled assembly has an adapter PCB assembly attached to the back, thus making the drive sled compatible with non-SCA drives.