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. 13, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 14, 2000
Eric T. Gamble, Raleigh, NC (US);
Edward J. McNulty, Raleigh, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A carrier for a hot-pluggable disk drive has a frame with a pair of side walls, a front bezel, and a rear connector assembly. The disk drive mounts to the frame within its confines. The carrier also has pipes for transmitting light to the front bezel. The light pipes extend along the side wall from the front bezel to the rear connector assembly. The carrier is installed in the disk drive docking bay of a computer system. The rear end of the docking bay has a docking connector for interconnecting with the rear connector assembly, which also interconnects with the drive. The rear connector assembly is provided with a retainer for supporting the rearward ends of the light pipes. When the carrier is seated in the docking bay, the light pipes precisely align with activity lights at the back of the docking bay. The light emitted by the activity lights is transmitted through the light pipes and displayed at the front bezel for viewing by the user.