Latch mechanism for a housing

[0002] 1. Field of the invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a housing having a chassis, a cover and a front panel such as a personal computer, and more particularly to a mechanism for latching and releasing the front panel and the cover with and from the chassis.

[0004] 2. The Related Art

[0005] As development of computer has advanced, this industrial field is more and more professionalized and divided into computer housing manufacturer, monitor manufacturer, PCB manufacturer, drive manufacturer and so on. Components from these different manufacturers are then transferred to a system manufacturer and assembled into a finished product there. During the assembly, a computer housing is usually disassembled and reassembled several times to subsequently assemble each component in it. Thus, how to simplify the assembly of the computer housing now becomes a problem to be hastily resolved.

[0006] A conventional computer generally comprises a front panel, a U-shaped cover and a chassis, wherein the front panel and the cover are respectively mounted on the chassis. As Taiwan Patent Application No. 85202167 discloses, opposite sides of a front panel integrally define two hooks respectively for engaging corresponding slots in side walls of a chassis thereby mounting the front panel to the front of the chassis. Then a cover is mounted on the chassis and latched with the side walls of the chassis. The problem is that when to remove the front panel, the cover must be removed first to provide accessible space, which is quite inconvenient and inefficient.

[0007] Taiwan patent application No. 81209656 also disclosed the mounting of a computer front panel. Upper and lower edges of the front panel define hooks to respectively latch its cover and chassis. The lower edge further defines a slanted surface on which there are openings corresponding to the lower hooks for facilitating accessing the lower hooks. Thus, the cover does not need to be removed first when to remove the front panel as the lower hooks can be released from the openings. However, the problem is that the lower hooks can not be determined their positions by eye vision and results in inefficiency. Moreover, the openings can not prevent dust and moisture.

[0008] Therefore, there is a need for an improved latch mechanism for a housing for readily assembling and disassembling the housing without the shortcomings of the prior art.

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide a latch mechanism for simply assembling and disassembling a housing.

[0010] It is another object of the present invention to provide a housing having a front panel, a cover and a chassis, wherein assembling and disassembling the housing only includes one operation procedure.

[0011] It is a further object of the present invention to provide simplified construction of a latch mechanism.

[0012] In accordance with the present invention, a computer housing has a front panel, a cover and a chassis, wherein the front panel and the cover are connected together. A mechanism for latching and releasing the front panel and the cover with and from the chassis include a match opening defined in a side of the front panel, a latch member, a spring and a locking hole defined in the chassis. The latch member has an arm extending towards the chassis terminating in a hooked portion to engage the locking hole. The latch member and the spring are received in the matching opening and are movable between a locked position where the arm is locked in the locking hole and a released position where the arm disengages the locking hole. The spring urges against the base to retain the latch member in the locked position.

[0013] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer in the state where a front panel and a cover are latched with a chassis;

[0015] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIG. 1 in the state where the front panel and the cover are disassembled from the chassis showing a latch mechanism in accordance with the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the latch mechanism of this invention;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a latch member and a spring of said embodiment in the state where they are assembled;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing the construction of the latch mechanism of said embodiment in the state where the front panel and the cover are latched with the chassis; and

[0019] FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing the construction of the latch mechanism of said embodiment in the state where the front panel and the cover are to be released from the chassis and the latch mechanism are unlatched.

[0020] Referring more in detail to the drawings, the illustration shows a housing having a front panel 10, a cover 20 and a chassis 30, which is applied to a personal computer. As better shown in FIGS. 1-2, the front panel 10 and the cover 20 are connected together by screws, or by posts 14 extending backwardly from the front panel 10 (as shown in FIG. 3) engaging with corresponding holes 22 of the cover 20 (as shown in FIG. 2), or by any suitable means forming a first portion of the housing. The chassis 30 provides a second portion of the housing. Then the front panel 10 and the cover 20 are mounted on the chassis 30 to form the housing.

[0021] A latch mechanism 99 for latching and releasing the front panel 10 and the cover 20 with and from the chassis 30 of the present invention is more particularly shown in FIG. 3. The latch mechanism 99 includes a match opening 12 defined in a side of the front panel 10, a latch member 40, a spring 50 and a locking hole 32 defined in the front wall of the chassis 30. The match opening 12 is used to receive the latch member 40. In the match opening 12 there are four parallel spaced apart first, second, third, and fourth planar boards 120a, 120b, 122aand 122bextending from the back of the front panel 10. The first and the second planar boards 120aand 120bare respectively connected to upper and lower edges of the match opening 12. The first and the second planar boards 120aand 120beach define a notch 126 at their free ends. The third and forth planar boards 122aand 122bare located between the first and the second planar boards 120a, 120band are spaced apart from the upper and lower edges of the match opening 12 at a certain distance. Inner edges of the four planar boards 120a, 120b, 122aand 122bopposite to the matching opening 12 are connected by a plate 124 therefore a trough 128 is defined between the planar boards 122a, 122band the plate 124 and faces to the match opening 12.

[0022] The latch member 40 which is generally retained between the front panel 10 and the cover 20, comprises a base 42 for mounting in the match opening 12 of the front panel 10. A top and a bottom of the base 42 define a pair of protrusions 422 extending upwardly and downwardly respectively for inserting into the notches 126 of the first and the second planar boards 120a, 120brespectively. There are ribs 424 on an outer side of the base 42 facing outside to facilitate pressing operation. As shown in FIG. 4, an inner side of the base 42 has a post 426 extending therefrom for positioning a spring 50. The latch member 40 further forms an L-shaped arm 44 connected to the base 42. The arm 44 terminates in a tapered hooked portion 46 having a forwardly and outwardly slanted cam surface 462 terminating in an abrupt shoulder 464.

[0023] The spring 50 can be replaced by other resilient means, such as a spring clip or others. The spring 50 positioned around the post 426 is urged between the inner side of the base 42 and the plate 124 when the latch member 40 is mounted in the match opening 12 and the spring 50 is received in the trough 128.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 5, when the front panel 10 and the cover 20 are configured to the chassis 30, the hooked portion 46 of the latch member 40 is firstly aligned with the locking hole 32 and then forcedly slides through the locking hole 32 with the cam surface 462 engaging the side edge of the locking hole 32. Simultaneously, the spring 50 is deformed and the latch member 40 offsets from its original position under assembly force and contacting force between the cam surface 462 and the side edge of the locking hole 32. As hooked portion 46 completely passes through the locking hole 32, the contacting force between the cam surface 462 and the side edge of the locking hole 32 loses and the spring 50 automatically extends and recovers to its original form. Simultaneously, the shoulder 464 snaps the side edge of the locking hole 32. As better shown in FIG. 5, the width of the notches 126 and the distance between the third and forth planar boards 122a, 122band the match opening 12 are adequate to provide the base 42 and the protrusions 422 enough space for moving therein.

[0025] Positive action is required as shown in FIG. 6 to remove the front panel and the cover 20. The base 42 of the latch member 40 is firstly pressed to move in N direction in the match opening 12 thereby compressing the spring 50. This releases the abrupt shoulder 464 with the side edge of the locking hole 32 and allows front panel 10 and the cover 20 to be pulled down. Then, the spring 50 elastically extends and recovered to its original form thereby drawing the latch member 40 back to its original position.

[0026] While the present invention has been described in reference to a specific embodiment thereof, the description is illustrative and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications to the present invention may be made to the preferred embodiment by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.