This invention relates generally to mechanical-shock-mounts or shock absorbers for attachment of mechanical-shock-sensitive electronic devices to support structures.

Many types of electronic devices, such as disk drives, including optical disk drives and magnetic recording hard disk drives (HDDs), are sensitive to mechanical shock, i.e., sudden acceleration or deceleration. Disk drives are especially sensitive to shock in a direction perpendicular or normal to the disks. Mechanical-shock-sensitive electronic devices are finding wide use in portable host systems, such as notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, and MP3 music players, all of which experience mechanical shock in ordinary use.

What is needed is a shock-mount assembly for attachment of a mechanical-shock-sensitive electronic device to a support structure, wherein the support structure can be part of the host system or an independent structure that can in turn be attached to the host system.

GB-A-2392969 discloses a resilient mounting for a data storage device in which a mounting element has projections at either end which are each attached to a support structure for the data storage device via a resilient body formed by e.g. a rubber block with a groove therein into which the corresponding projection is received. The resilient body, and hence the projections, we clamped to the support structure by a fastening extending through the resilient body.

According to the present invention there is provided a shock-mount assembly for attachment of an electronic device to a support structure comprising:

• a suspension member comprising a cross member having two ends and adapted for attachment to the electronic device, a first generally planar cantilever beam having its fixed end attached to one end of the cross member, a second generally planar cantilever beam having its fixed end attached to the other end of the cross member, the first and second beams being generally coplanar and having their free ends adapted for attachment to the support structure;
• a layer of damping material on the first beam;
• a layer of damping material on the second beam; and
• at least one clamping plate for compressing the damping layers against the beams when the free ends of the beams are attached to the support structure (100);

• the cantilever beams extend generally parallel to the length of the cross member with their free ends located between the ends of the cross member.

Preferably, the cross member is generally planar and wherein the planes of the cantilever beams are orientated generally perpendicular to the generally planar cross member.

The shock-mount assemblies with the spring-like cantilever beams and the compressed damping material thus act as a highly-damped nonlinear spring system that provides mechanical-shock resistance for the device in a direction perpendicular to the planar beams and high stiffness in a direction parallel to the planar beams.

The shock-mount assembly may be part of an HDD assembly that includes two shock-mount assemblies attached to the sides of the HDD, with the free ends of the cantilever beams attached generally at the middle of the sides of a frame that generally surrounds the HDD and acts as the support structure. The clamping plate of each shock-mount assembly has a hole or notch at its end for attachment to the frame to provide additional rigidity of the clamping plate and frame. The frame can have attachment and alignment features for a printed-circuit card, which permits the HDD to be readily shock-mounted inside a portable host system, such as an MP3 player, that is typically subjected to mechanical shock during ordinary use.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying figures.

Fig. 1 is an exploded isometric view showing the relationship between the shock-mount assemblies of this invention, a support structure, and the electronic device.

Fig. 2 is an exploded isometric view of the shock-mount assembly of this invention.

Figs. 3A and 3B are top and side views, respectively, of the suspension member of the shock-mount assembly of this invention.

Fig. 1 is an exploded isometric view showing the relationship between the shock-mount assemblies 300 of this invention and a support structure, represented as a frame 100, and the electronic device, represented as a hard-disk drive (HDD) 200. The support structure (frame 100) has sides 102, 104, a front end 106 and a rear end 108. The frame includes mounting platforms for attachment of the shock-mount assemblies 300, such as platform 112 shown on frame rear end 108. Fasteners, such as screws 330, attach the mount assemblies to the mounting platforms. The electronic device (HDD 200) has sides 202, 204, and ends 206, 208. Each shock-mount assembly 300 is attached to a respective end 206, 208 of the HDD 200 by fasteners, such as screws 340.

Fig. 2 is an exploded isometric view of shock-mount assembly 300 and shows a suspension member 301, damping layers 320, 322, and clamping plates 308, 310 that compress the damping layers when the shock-mount assembly is attached to the support structure. The suspension member 301 includes a generally planar cross member 302 and two generally planar cantilever beams 304, 306 oriented generally perpendicular to planar cross member 302. The fixed end of cantilever beam 304 is attached to cross member 302 at one end 305 of the cross member and the fixed end of cantilever beam 306 is attached to cross member 302 at the other end 307 of the cross member. As shown by the top view (Fig. 3A) and side view (Fig. 3B) of suspension member 301, each cantilever beam has a generally "Z-shaped" bend (e.g., as shown by end 305 and beam 304) which increases its stiffness. The beam profile, i.e., the shape of the "Z", can be tailored to alter the stiffness. The free end of each cantilever beam 304, 306 has a hole for passage of a mounting screw. The use of the shock-mount assembly with cantilever beams that have their free ends attached to the support structure allows some flexibility and slight movement of the electronic device within the support structure. When the device is an HDD, this improves the mechanical-shock resistance of the HDD in a direction perpendicular to the planes of the disks (perpendicular to the planar cantilever beams) while providing high lateral stiffness parallel to the planes of the disks (parallel to the planar cantilever beams). This is especially important when the HDD is used in portable host systems, typically notebook computers. The cross member 302 that connects the fixed ends of the two cantilever beams 304, 306, is a rigid member that reduces shear stress at the screw attach points to the HDD 200 when the HDD 200 deflects under a mechanical shock, and thus prevents loss of torque on the screws 340 (Fig. 1).

The shock-mount assembly 300 functions as a highly-damped, essentially nonlinear spring system because of the damping material located between the cantilever beams and the support structure. Referring again to Fig. 2, this is shown by damping material 322 that is placed between the cantilever beams 304, 306 and the mounting platforms, such as platform 112 (Fig. 1) of frame 100. A bottom clamping plate 310 can optionally be located between the damping material 322 and the mounting platforms. Alternatively, the mounting platforms in the frame 100 can be shaped to provide the function of bottom clamping plate 310. The clamping plates 308, 310 have holes in their mid-regions for alignment with the holes in the ends of the cantilever beams 304, 306 when the shock-mount assembly is attached to the support structure. Additional damping material 320 can also optionally be located on top of the cantilever beams 304, 306 and secured by a top clamping plate 308. The clamping plates 308, 310 have a material composition and/or thickness so as to be stiffer than the more flexible spring-like cantilever beams 304, 306. This results in a shock-mount assembly that is a highly-damped, essentially nonlinear spring system supporting the electronic device on the support structure. Suitable materials for the cross member 302 and cantilever beams 304, 306 are steel or spring steel. A suitable material for the clamping plates 308, 310 is aluminum or steel. The damping material may be a layer of an adhesive viscoelastic material such as commercially-available damped elastomers or polymers, which absorb energy by shear strain and/or compression, or a "soft" foam-like material, such as urethane, which absorbs energy primarily by compression.

In the above-described figures, the support structure has been depicted as a frame that generally surrounds the electronic device, and the device has been depicted as an HDD. However, the support structure may be any generally rigid structure, such as a wall or floor of a housing that supports one or more components of the host system, including the electronic device that requires shock-mounting. Preferably the wall or floor has a mounting platform configured to receive the shock-mount assembly. Similarly, the electronic device may be any device that benefits from shock-mounting, including devices with moving parts, and particularly rotating disk devices which have generally low tolerance to mechanical shocks perpendicular to the disk plane and require relatively high stiffness parallel to the disk plane.