Self-locking mechanism for a hot pluggable printed circuit board

A printed circuit assembly (PCA), comprising:

• a vertically-mounted circuit board having a top edge;
• and
• a self-locking mechanism located on said top edge and locking said PCA in an electronic system and permitting said PCA to be removed from said system, comprising:
• a pair of sliding members;
• a central actuator disposed between said sliding members capable of being turned by a user;
• and
• a pair of rotating lock members, one rotating lock member associated with each sliding member;
• wherein said sliding members, rotating lock members and central actuator are mated to a top edge of a PCA;
• and
• wherein the central actuator includes at least one cam surface which, unless moved out of the way by turning said actuator, contacts a corresponding surface of at least one of the sliding members thereby preventing said locking mechanism from being unlocked.

A locking mechanism for a printed circuit assembly PCA, comprising:

• a pair of sliding members;
• a central actuator disposed between said sliding members and capable of being turned by a user;
• and
• a pair of rotating lock members having a point of rotation, one rotating lock member associated with each sliding member and each rotating lock member having a lever arm and a locking cam surface disposed about opposite sides of said rotation point;
• wherein said sliding members and said rotating lock members are mated to a top edge of the PCA;
• and
• wherein the locking cam surface of said rotating lock members engage corresponding surfaces in an electronic system in which said PCA is installed;
• and
• wherein said sliding members must be slid to permit said rotating lock members to be rotated about said point of rotation thereby disengaging said locking cam surfaces from their corresponding surfaces in the electronic system.

A locking mechanism for a printed circuit assembly PCA, comprising:

• a pair of sliding members;
• and
• a pair of rotating lock members having a point of rotation, one rotating lock member associated with each sliding member and each rotating lock member having a lever arm and a locking cam surface disposed about opposite sides of said rotation point;
• wherein said sliding members and said rotating lock members are mated to a top edge of the PCA;
• and
• wherein the locking cam surface of said rotating lock members engage corresponding surfaces in an electronic system in which said PCA is installed;
• wherein said sliding members must be slid to permit said rotating lock members to be rotated about said point of rotation thereby disengaging said locking cam surfaces from their corresponding surfaces in the electronic system;
• and
• wherein each rotating lock member includes a non-flat surface and said associated sliding member includes a curved tip portion which engages said non-flat surface, and said curved tip portion of said sliding member pushes upward on said non-flat surface of said rotating member when said sliding member is slid thereby rotating said rotating member upward.