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:
Jul. 20, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 30, 1997
James G Ammon, San Jose, CA (US);
Bradley Melmon, San Francisco, CA (US);
Brian Boyce, Madison, WI (US);
Simon Gatrall, San Francisco, CA (US);
Gregor Berkowitz, San Francisco, CA (US);
Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
A door assembly which includes a door that slides open and closed to alternatively expose and cover components of a computer system. The door assembly includes a rack and pinion system that prevents racking of the door. The non-racking feature allows for the door to be wider than prior art doors such that more components may be easily accessed by a computer user. The door assembly also includes a spring assembly for automatically closing the door, a dampener for moderating the movement of the door, and a latching mechanism that holds the door open. In one embodiment the latch mechanism is a push-push latch and the spring of the spring assembly is a constant force spring.