US 7,318,532 B1Granted

Slam latch for rackmount rail

AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.

InventorsDaniel Z. Lee, Arthur S. Brigham, William R. Jones, III, Joel F. Jensen, Denise R. Silverman, Christopher H. Frank, Sarah Aquino, Robert F. Mori

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Abstract

A rackmount system for a component may include outer slide members that couple with inner slide members. The outer slide members may be coupled to a rack with slam latches. The slam latches may couple with rails of the rack when the slam latches are placed against the rails. The inner slide members may be coupled to a component. The inner slide members may include tabs that engage slots in a chassis of the component to couple the inner slide members to the component. An inner slide assembly may include an inner latch that couples with the outer slide member to inhibit movement of the inner slide member relative to the outer slide member. The rackmount system may include a locking mechanism that locks the component relative to the rack.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A system for mounting a component in a rack comprising:

a first slide member;
a slam latch coupled to the first slide member, the slam latch comprising:
a body;
a pin movably coupled to the body, wherein the pin is configured to engage a rail of the rack to couple the first slide member to the rail;
and
a cocking element;
and
a second slide member configured to couple with the component, the second slide member configured to engage the first slide member when the second slide member is coupled to the component and the component is inserted into the rack;
wherein the cocking element is configured to hold the pin in a retracted position when the cocking element is in a first position to inhibit the pin from engaging the rail, and wherein the cocking element is configured to automatically release the pin into an aperture of the rail when the slam latch is placed proximate to the rail;
and
wherein the cocking element comprises an armature pivotally coupled to the body of the slam latch, wherein a portion of the armature is configured to be deflected by the rail when the latch is placed on the rail, wherein the armature is configured to automatically release the pin into a hole in the rack rail when the armature is deflected by the rail by a predetermined amount.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.