TWI855852B - Electronic module and server - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic module includes a motherboard, a guide seat and an expansion assembly. The motherboard has an electrical connector. The guide seat includes a seat body and at least one guide structure. The seat body is disposed around the electrical connector, and the guide structure protrudes from the seat body. The expansion assembly includes a holder, a circuit board and at least one electronic device. The circuit board is disposed on the holder. The electronic device is disposed on the circuit board. The holder includes at least one guide portion, each of the guide structure and the guide portion has a guide surface. The guide portion of the holder is guided by the guide surface of the guide structure of the guide seat, and the guide surface of the guide portion of the holder is in contact with the seat body so as to guide the circuit board towards the electrical connector for installing the circuit board on the electrical connector.

Description

Electronic modules and servers

The present invention relates to an electronic module and a server.

Currently, electronic devices can be equipped with expansion components (such as hard drive components) according to needs to enhance the performance of electronic devices. Expansion components are electrically connected to the motherboard by plugging an adapter card into the motherboard's electrical connector.

However, when inserting the adapter card into the electrical connector of the motherboard, it is not easy to accurately align the adapter card with the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the adapter card often deviates from the electrical connector of the motherboard, causing the expansion component to easily collide with the electrical connector of the motherboard or the electronic components near the electrical connector, causing damage to the motherboard and requiring repair or replacement. Therefore, researchers in this field are currently working to solve the aforementioned problem.

The present invention provides an electronic module and a server that can prevent the motherboard from being damaged during the process of inserting an adapter card of an expansion component.

An electronic module disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention includes a motherboard, a guide seat and an expansion assembly. The motherboard has an electrical connector. The guide seat includes a seat body and at least one guide structure. The seat body is arranged around the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the guide structure protrudes from the seat body. The expansion assembly includes a circuit board seat, a circuit board and at least one electronic device. The circuit board is arranged on the circuit board seat, and the electronic device is arranged on the circuit board. The circuit board seat includes at least one guide part, and the guide structure and the guide part each have a guide slope. The guide part of the circuit board seat is guided by the guide slope of the guide structure of the guide seat, and the guide slope of the guide part of the circuit board seat is abutted by the seat body, so that the circuit board is guided to the electrical connector, so that the circuit board is assembled on the electrical connector.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a server, comprising a casing and an electronic module. The casing has a storage space. The electronic module is located in the storage space, and comprises a motherboard, a guide seat, and an expansion assembly. The motherboard has an electrical connector. The guide seat comprises a seat body and at least one guide structure. The seat body is arranged around the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the guide structure protrudes from the seat body. The expansion assembly comprises a circuit board seat, a circuit board, and at least one electronic device. The circuit board is arranged on the circuit board seat, and the electronic device is arranged on the circuit board. The circuit board seat includes at least one guiding part, the guiding structure and the guiding part each have a guiding slope, the guiding part of the circuit board seat is guided by the guiding slope of the guiding structure of the guide seat, and the guiding slope of the guiding part of the circuit board seat is abutted by the seat body, so as to guide the circuit board to the electrical connector, so that the circuit board can be assembled in the electrical connector.

According to the electronic module and server disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiment, the guide seat body is arranged around the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the guide seat has a guide structure protruding from the seat body, and the circuit board seat includes a guide portion. In the process of plugging the circuit board of the expansion assembly into the electrical connector of the motherboard, the guide portion of the circuit board seat of the expansion assembly is guided by the guide slope of the guide structure of the guide seat, and the guide slope of the guide portion of the circuit board seat is abutted by the seat body, so that the circuit board is guided to the electrical connector, so that the circuit board can be assembled in the electrical connector in the correct path. In this way, the chance of the expansion assembly colliding with the electrical connector and the electronic components around it can be reduced, so that the motherboard can be prevented from being damaged during the process of plugging the circuit board of the expansion assembly.

The above description of the content of the present invention and the following description of the implementation method are used to demonstrate and explain the principle of the present invention, and provide a further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

1: Server

10: Chassis

11: Storage space

20: Electronic module

21: Motherboard

211: Loading surface

212:Electrical connector

213: Electronic components

22: Guide seat

221: Seat

2211: Opening

2212: Give way hole

2213: Cable management structure

2214:Card slot

222: Guidance structure

2221: Guide bevel

23: Expansion components

231: Circuit board holder

2311: Carrier Department

23111: Operation hole

2312: Guidance Department

23121: Bevel guide surface

2313: Hook section

23131:Gun arm

23131a: First end

23131b: Second end

23132:Card block

23133:Operation handle

23133a:First end

23133b: Second end

2314:Separator

23141: Hook structure

23142:Separator slot

2315: junction

232: Circuit board

2321: Plug-in unit

2322: Slot

2323: Luminous parts

233: Electronic devices

H1,H2:Height

L: Long axis

L1, L2: length

S: short axis

A,B,C,D: Direction

FIG1 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of a server disclosed according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of Figure 1 from another viewing angle.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the expansion component of Figure 2 being separated from the motherboard.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the guide seat of Figure 3 being separated from the motherboard.

Figure 5 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the circuit board seat and circuit board of the expansion assembly of Figure 1.

FIG6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the circuit board seat and circuit board of the expansion assembly of FIG5.

Figures 7 to 10 show the process of assembling the expansion component in Figure 3 onto the motherboard.

Please refer to Figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of a server disclosed according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a partial three-dimensional schematic diagram of Figure 1 from another viewing angle. Figure 3 is a disassembled schematic diagram of the expansion component of Figure 2 separated from the motherboard.

In this embodiment, the server 1 includes a housing 10 and an electronic module 20. The housing 10 has a storage space 11, and the electronic module 20 is located in the storage space 11 of the housing 10. The electronic module 20 includes a motherboard 21, a guide seat 22 and an expansion component 23.

Next, please refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4. Figure 4 is a disassembled diagram of the guide seat in Figure 3 separated from the motherboard.

The motherboard 21 has a bearing surface 211 and an electrical connector 212. In addition, the motherboard 21 may also have a plurality of electronic components 213, such as but not limited to capacitors, resistors, and another electrical connector smaller than the electrical connector 212. The electrical connector 212 and these electronic components 213 are both located on the bearing surface 211 of the motherboard 21, and these electronic components 213 are located around the electrical connector 212.

The guide base 22 includes a base body 221 and a plurality of guide structures 222. The base body 221 is fixed to the bearing surface 211 of the motherboard 21 by screws or clamping, for example, and is located around the electrical connector 212 and surrounds the electrical connector 212. The base body 221 has an opening 2211, a plurality of clearance holes 2212, a wire management structure 2213 and two card slots 2214. The opening 2211 reveals the electrical connector 212, and these clearance holes 2212 respectively accommodate these electronic components 213 of the motherboard 21. The wire management structure 2213 is located next to the opening 2211 and is used to organize the cables (not shown). The purpose of the card slot 2214 will be described in detail in the following paragraphs. These guide structures 222 protrude from the base 221 and are farther from the bearing surface 211 of the motherboard 21 than the electrical connector 212. In other words, the height H1 of these guide structures 222 relative to the bearing surface 211 of the motherboard 21 is greater than the height H2 of the electrical connector 212 relative to the bearing surface 211 of the motherboard 21 (please refer to Figure 7 first). Two of the guide structures 222 are located on one side of the long axis L of the electrical connector 212 and face each other, while the other two guide structures 222 are located on the other side of the long axis L of the electrical connector 212 and face each other. Each of these guide structures 222 has a guide slope 2221, and the purpose of the guide slope 2221 will be described in detail later.

It should be noted that the clearance hole 2212 and the cable management structure 2213 are optional structures. If there are no electronic components or cables where the base is placed, the clearance hole and the cable management structure can be omitted.

Next, please refer to Figures 3, 5, and 6. Figure 5 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the circuit board seat and circuit board of the expansion assembly of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the circuit board seat and circuit board of the expansion assembly of Figure 5.

The expansion assembly 23 is, for example but not limited to, a hard drive assembly. The expansion assembly 23 includes a circuit board seat 231, a circuit board 232, and at least one electronic device 233 (as shown in FIG. 1 ). The circuit board seat 231 includes a supporting portion 2311, two guide portions 2312, two hook portions 2313, a partition portion 2314, and a coupling portion 2315.

The supporting portion 2311 has an operating hole 23111. Two guide portions 2312 protrude from one side of the supporting portion 2311 and are separated from each other, and each of the two guide portions 2312 has a guide slope 23121. Two hook portions 2313 are connected to the supporting portion 2311 and are separated from each other. The two hook portions 2313 have the same structure, so the structure of only one of the hook portions 2313 is described in detail below. The hook portion 2313 includes a spring arm 23131, a clamping block 23132 and an operating handle 23133. The spring arm 23131 has a first end 23131a and a second end 23131b opposite to each other. The first end 23131a of the spring arm 23131 is connected to the supporting portion 2311. The operating handle 23133 has a first end 23133a and a second end 23133b opposite to each other. The block 23132 and the first end 23133a of the operating handle 23133 are respectively connected to the opposite sides of the second end 23131b of the elastic arm 23131. The second end 23133b of the operating handle 23133 is farther from the block 23132 than the first end 23131a of the elastic arm 23131. One end of the partition 2314 is detachably mounted on the carrier 2311 through the coupling portion 2315. The partition part 2314 has a hook structure 23141 and a plurality of partition grooves 23142. The hook structure 23141 is located at one end of the partition part 2314 away from the coupling part 2315 and corresponds to the operation hole 23111 of the supporting part 2311, and the partition grooves 23142 are located between two opposite ends of the partition part 2314.

In this embodiment, the circuit board seat 231 is made by double injection molding, for example, the supporting portion 2311, the guiding portion 2312, the hook portion 2313 and the partition portion 2314 of the circuit board seat 231 are made of plastic material, and the coupling portion 2315 of the circuit board seat 231 is made of rubber material. In this way, the assembly process and the number of parts of the circuit board seat 231 can be reduced. It should be noted that the manufacturing method and material of the circuit board seat 231 are not used to limit the present invention, but can be adjusted according to needs.

The circuit board 232 is fixed on the supporting part 2311 of the circuit board seat 231, and the hook structure 23141 of the partition part 2314 of the circuit board seat 231 passes through the circuit board 232 and is fixed to the circuit board 232. The operation hole 23111 of the supporting part 2311 allows the user to use a tool or finger to pull the hook structure 23141 to release the hook structure 23141 from the circuit board 232.

The circuit board 232 has a plug-in portion 2321, a plurality of slots 2322 and a plurality of light-emitting elements 2323. The plug-in portion 2321 of the circuit board 232 is, for example, a gold finger. The plug-in portion 2321 of the circuit board 232 and the guide portion 2312 of the circuit board base 231 both protrude from the same side of the support portion 2311, and the length L1 of the plug-in portion 2321 protruding from the support portion 2311 is less than the length L2 of the guide portion 2312 protruding from the support portion 2311 (please refer to FIG. 7 first). These slots 2322 are for plugging in electronic devices 233, wherein the electronic devices 233 are, for example, hard disks. These light-emitting elements 2323 are used, for example, to display the status of the electronic device 233, such as the operating status of the electronic device 233. These light emitting elements 2323 are respectively located in these separation grooves 23142 of the separation portion 2314 of the circuit board seat 231, so that the light emitted by these light emitting elements 2323 does not interfere with each other.

It should be noted that the circuit board 232 is not limited to having a light-emitting element 2323. In other embodiments, the circuit board may not have a light-emitting element. In such a configuration, the separation portion and the joining portion of the circuit board seat may be omitted.

Next, the process of plugging the circuit board 232 of the expansion component 23 into the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21 will be described in detail below. Please refer to Figures 7 to 10, which show the process of assembling the expansion component of Figure 3 onto the motherboard.

As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , when the circuit board 232 of the expansion assembly 23 is plugged into the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, the expansion assembly 23 may be offset along the long axis L (such as direction A) and the short axis S (such as direction B) of the electrical connector 212, so that the expansion assembly 23 is not plugged into the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21 in a manner that is directly opposite.

As shown in FIG9 and FIG10, although the expansion assembly 23 is offset relative to the electrical connector 212, during the process of plugging the circuit board 232 of the expansion assembly 23 into the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, the guide portion 2312 of the circuit board seat 231 is guided by the guide slope 2221 of the guide structure 222 of the guide seat 22 and moves in the opposite direction of direction B (such as direction D), and the guide slope 23121 of the guide portion 2312 of the circuit board seat 231 is abutted by the seat body 221 and moves in the opposite direction of direction A (such as direction C), thereby guiding the circuit board 232 toward the electrical connector 212, so that the plug-in portion 2321 of the circuit board 232 is accurately inserted into the electrical connector 212. At this time, the block 23132 of the hook portion 2313 of the circuit board seat 231 is inserted into the slot 2214 of the seat body 221 of the guide seat 22 to prevent the circuit board 232 from being disconnected from the electrical connector 212 of the main board 21. In this way, the operation of plugging the circuit board 232 of the expansion assembly 23 into the electrical connector 212 of the main board 21 is completed.

When the expansion assembly 23 is to be disassembled, the operating handle 23133 of the hook portion 2313 of the circuit board seat 231 can be pressed to drive the spring arm 23131, so that the block 23132 is separated from the slot 2214 of the seat body 221 of the guide seat 22. In this way, the expansion assembly 23 can be pulled upward from the main board 21.

In this embodiment, the base body 221 of the guide base 22 is disposed around the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, the guide base 22 has a guide structure 222 protruding from the base body 221, and the circuit board base 231 includes a guide portion 2312. When the circuit board 232 of the expansion assembly 23 is plugged into the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, the circuit board base 231 of the expansion assembly 23 can be guided by the guide base 22. The guiding of the guiding bevel 2221 of the guiding structure 222 and the guiding bevel 23121 of the guiding portion 2312 of the circuit board seat 231 are supported by the seat body 221 to correct the deviation of the expansion assembly 23 in multiple directions (such as the deviation on the short axis S and long axis L of the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21) to guide the circuit board 232 to the electrical connector 212 so that the circuit board 232 can be plugged into the electrical connector 212 in the correct path. In this way, the chance of the expansion assembly 23 colliding with the electrical connector 212 and the surrounding electronic components 213 can be reduced, so that the motherboard 21 can be prevented from being damaged during the process of plugging the circuit board 232 of the expansion assembly 23.

It should be noted that the guide structure 222 of the guide seat 22 is not limited to using the guide bevel 2221 to guide the expansion assembly 23 on the short axis S of the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, and the guide portion 2312 of the circuit board seat 231 is not limited to using the guide bevel 23121 to guide the expansion assembly 23 on the long axis L of the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21. In other embodiments, the guide structure of the guide seat and the guide portion of the circuit board can guide the circuit board seat with an arc surface.

On the other hand, by configuring the guide structure 222 of the guide seat 22 to be farther from the supporting surface 211 of the motherboard 21 than the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, and the length L1 of the plug-in portion 2321 of the circuit board 232 protruding from the supporting portion 2311 of the circuit board seat 231 to be less than the length L2 of the guide portion 2312 protruding from the supporting portion 2311, it is possible to ensure that the guide portion 2312 of the circuit board seat 231 of the expansion component 23 abuts against the guide structure 222 before the circuit board 232 contacts the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, so that the guide structure 222 guides the circuit board 232 to the correct plug-in path, thereby further reducing the chance of the expansion component 23 colliding with the electrical connector 212 and the electronic components around it.

It should be noted that the guide structure 222 of the guide seat 22 is not limited to being farther from the supporting surface 211 of the motherboard 21 than the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21, and the length L1 of the plug-in portion 2321 of the circuit board 232 protruding from the supporting portion 2311 of the circuit board seat 231 is not limited to being less than the length L2 of the guide portion 2312 protruding from the supporting portion 2311. In other embodiments, the guide structure of the guide seat can be flush with the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the plug-in portion of the circuit board can be flush with the guide portion of the circuit board seat.

It should be noted that the number of the guide structure 222 of the guide seat 22 and the guide portion 2312 of the circuit board seat 231 is not intended to limit the present invention, but can be increased or decreased according to demand.

In this embodiment, the circuit board 232 is fixed to the motherboard 21 by the hook portion 2313 of the circuit board seat 231 being fixed to the slot 2214, rather than by the anti-tripping mechanism of the electrical connector 212 integrated into the motherboard 21. Therefore, when the electrical connector 212 of the motherboard 21 is damaged, only the electrical connector 212 needs to be replaced, and the process and parts required for replacing the anti-tripping mechanism are omitted.

On the other hand, the hook portion 2313 of the circuit board seat 231 is an optional structure. In other embodiments, the circuit board seat may not have a hook portion, and the seat body of the guide seat may correspondingly not have a slot. Under such a configuration, the expansion component and the motherboard can be fixed only by the friction between the circuit board plugged into the electrical connector.

According to the electronic module and server disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments, the guide seat body is arranged around the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the guide seat has a guide structure protruding from the seat body, and the circuit board seat includes a guide portion. In the process of plugging the circuit board of the expansion assembly into the electrical connector of the motherboard, the circuit board seat of the expansion assembly is guided by the guide bevel of the guide structure of the guide seat, and the guide bevel of the guide portion of the circuit board seat is abutted by the seat body, so as to correct the offset of the expansion assembly in multiple directions (such as the offset on the short axis and long axis of the electrical connector of the motherboard), so as to guide the circuit board to the electrical connector, so that the circuit board can be plugged into the electrical connector in the correct path. This can reduce the chances of expansion components colliding with electrical connectors and surrounding electronic components, thus preventing the motherboard from being damaged during the process of plugging the expansion components into the circuit board.

Furthermore, in addition to the guide structure of the guide seat to correct the offset of the expansion assembly on the short axis of the electrical connector of the motherboard, the guide part of the circuit board seat also corrects the offset of the expansion assembly on the long axis of the electrical connector of the motherboard. Therefore, the guide structure of the guide seat and the guide part of the circuit board seat can provide multi-directional offset correction for the expansion assembly, which can further reduce the chance of the expansion assembly colliding with the electrical connector and the surrounding electronic components.

In addition, by configuring the guide structure of the guide seat to be farther away from the supporting surface of the motherboard than the electrical connector of the motherboard, and the length of the plug-in portion of the circuit board protruding from the supporting portion of the circuit board seat to be shorter than the length of the guide portion protruding from the supporting portion, it is possible to ensure that the guide portion of the circuit board seat of the expansion component first abuts against the guide structure before the circuit board contacts the electrical connector of the motherboard, so that the guide structure guides the circuit board to the correct plug-in path, and further reduces the chance of the expansion component colliding with the electrical connector and the electronic components around it.

In this embodiment, the server of the present invention can be used for artificial intelligence (AI) computing, edge computing, and can also be used as a 5G server, cloud server or car networking server.

Although the present invention is disclosed as above with the aforementioned preferred embodiment, it is not used to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with similar techniques can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of patent protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope of the patent application attached to this specification.

1: Server

10: Chassis

11: Storage space

20: Electronic module

21: Motherboard

22: Guide seat

23: Expansion components

231: Circuit board holder

232: Circuit board

233: Electronic devices

Claims (9)

An electronic module comprises: a motherboard having an electrical connector; a guide seat comprising at least one card slot, a seat body and at least one guide structure, the seat body being arranged around the electrical connector of the motherboard, the at least one guide structure protruding from the seat body, the circuit board seat comprising a supporting portion and at least one hook portion connected to each other, the circuit board being arranged on the supporting portion, the at least one hook portion being fixed to the at least one card slot; and an expansion assembly comprising a circuit board seat, a circuit board and at least one electronic device, The circuit board is arranged on the circuit board seat, and the at least one electronic device is arranged on the circuit board; wherein the circuit board seat comprises at least one guiding portion, the at least one guiding structure and the at least one guiding portion each have a guiding slope, the at least one guiding portion of the circuit board seat is guided by the guiding slope of the at least one guiding structure of the guiding seat, and the guiding slope of the at least one guiding portion of the circuit board seat is abutted by the seat body, thereby guiding the circuit board toward the electrical connector, so that the circuit board is assembled on the electrical connector. The electronic module as described in claim 1, wherein the motherboard further has a bearing surface, the electrical connector is located on the bearing surface, the base is fixed to the bearing surface of the motherboard, and the at least one guide structure is farther away from the bearing surface of the motherboard than the electrical connector. An electronic module as described in claim 1, wherein the number of the at least one guide structure is four, two of which are located on one side of the electrical connector, and the other two are located on the other side of the electrical connector. An electronic module as described in claim 1, wherein the circuit board seat includes a supporting portion connected to the at least one guiding portion, and the circuit board is disposed on the supporting portion. The electronic module as described in claim 4, wherein the circuit board has a plug-in portion, the plug-in portion and the at least one guide portion protrude from the same side of the support portion, and the length of the plug-in portion protruding from the support portion is less than the length of the at least one guide portion protruding from the support portion. The electronic module as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one hook portion includes an elastic arm, a card block and an operating handle, the elastic arm has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the first end of the elastic arm is connected to the bearing portion, the operating handle has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, the card block and the first end of the operating handle are respectively connected to different sides of the second end of the elastic arm, the card block is fixed to the at least one card slot, and the second end of the operating handle is farther from the card block than the first end of the elastic arm. The electronic module as described in claim 1, wherein the circuit board has a plurality of light-emitting components, the circuit board seat comprises a supporting portion and a partitioning portion, the circuit board is disposed on the supporting portion, the two opposite ends of the partitioning portion are detachably mounted on the supporting portion and the circuit board, respectively, the partitioning portion has a plurality of separated partitioning grooves, and the light-emitting components are respectively located in the partitioning grooves. The electronic module as described in claim 7, wherein the circuit board seat further comprises a coupling portion, one end of the partition portion is detachably mounted on the carrier portion through the coupling portion, and the other end of the partition portion has a hook structure, which is detachably fixed to the circuit board. A server comprises: a housing having a storage space; and an electronic module located in the storage space, comprising: a motherboard having an electrical connector; a guide seat comprising at least one card slot, a seat body and at least one guide structure, the seat body being arranged around the electrical connector of the motherboard, the at least one guide structure protruding from the seat body, the circuit board seat comprising a supporting portion and at least one hook portion connected to each other, the circuit board being arranged on the supporting portion, the at least one hook portion being fixed to the at least one card slot; and an expansion assembly comprising a circuit A board seat, a circuit board and at least one electronic device, the circuit board is arranged on the circuit board seat, and the at least one electronic device is arranged on the circuit board; wherein the circuit board seat comprises at least one guiding portion, the at least one guiding structure and the at least one guiding portion each have a guiding slope, the at least one guiding portion of the circuit board seat is guided by the guiding slope of the at least one guiding structure of the guiding seat, the guiding slope of the at least one guiding portion of the circuit board seat is abutted by the seat body, and the circuit board is guided toward the electrical connector, so that the circuit board is assembled on the electrical connector.

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