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  Covering memberUSPTO Application #: 20070114253Title: Covering member Abstract: A covering member filled in a spare bay of a server having a first latch portion is proposed. The covering member includes a hollow body capable of being inserted in the spare bay, an opening formed on a side surface of the hollow body, a spring unit formed on a surface of the hollow body, and a functional unit extended from the side surface of the hollow body. The functional unit includes a second latch portion disposed corresponding to the first latch portion, a spring arm for providing resilience for the second latch portion, and an operating portion extended from the hollow body. Thus, by the present invention, a user may readily actuate the operating portion through the opening. Moreover, by the extended design of the functional unit, the number of the jointing points can be significantly reduced, thereby decreasing the fabrication cost. (end of abstract) Agent: Edwards & Angell, LLP - Boston, MA, US Inventor: Yung-Chin Hsu USPTO Applicaton #: 20070114253 - Class: 224239000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Package And Article Carriers, Carried By Animate Bearer, Article Held By Receiver, Receiver Closing Means, Flap Flexed Between Open And Closed Positions, Cartridge Receiver The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070114253. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates generally to a covering member, and more particularly, to a covering member applicable to a spare bay of a server device. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] Servers play an increasingly dominant role in information management. One of the most important features of the server is that a plurality of hard disks can be plugged in and utilized to store a mass of data and information. In addition to hard disks, floppy disks or controller cards can also be designed to the same form factor as hard disks to match the hard disk bay, so as to expand the applicability of the hard disk bay. [0005] However, in situations where not all of the hard disk bays are utilized, any spare bays of the must be filled by a suitable covering member for preventing dust from entering and affecting the inner electrical apparatus. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a prior-art covering member capable of filling in a spare bay is shown. [0006] As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a covering member 1 includes a spring-stop block 10 for increasing inner friction with the spare bay of a server when filling the bay, a finger hole 110 for withdrawing the member during removal, an operating hole 111, an opening 112 for exposing a retaining hook (mentioned subsequently), jointing portions 12 for connecting to each side of the covering member 1, and jointing portions 13 for installing a latch member 14 in advance. The latch member 14 includes an operating handle 141 protruding through the operating hole 111, a hook 142 protruding through the opening 112, and jointing portions 143 for fixing with the jointing portions 13. [0007] The above prior-art covering member 1 is formed by folding and fixing a metal plate, requiring numerous jointing portions. Such fabrication may employ welding, riveting, punch riveting, or the like to accomplish jointing. Moreover, in addition to fabrication work to the various sides of the covering member 1, the latch member 14 must additionally be fabricated, thereby increasing the material cost and also making the jointing process more complicated, further increasing the overall fabricating cost. Furthermore, in that the covering member 1 must smoothly slide into a spare bay of a server, irregular objects such as the redundant welding slag after welding and the convex nail-heads after riveting and the like formed on the surface during fabricating the covering member 1 must be eliminated by grinding and pressing, in order not to provide for smooth movement of the covering member in the spare bay, thus increasing fabrication costs and complexity. [0008] Moreover, the latch member 14 is jointed to the covering member 1, and openings 111 and 112 must be formed on the covering member 1 to allow the operating handle 141 and hook 142 to respectively protrude there through, thereby making the structure of the covering member 1 more complex and further increasing costs. [0009] Meanwhile, when removing the covering member 1, the user must plunge a finger into the finger hole 110 with one hand, and move the latch member 14 that protrudes outside the front surface of the covering member through opening 111 with the other hand, thereby making the operation much more inconvenient. [0010] Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a covering member with simple structure to fill in an unutilized spare bay. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0011] Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the above prior art by providing a covering member that has both simpler construction and fabrication, so as to reduce the fabricating cost. [0012] It is another objective of the present invention to provide a covering member capable of being easily disassembled from the spare bay of a server device. [0013] In order to attain the above-mentioned objectives and others, a covering member is provided according to the present invention. The covering member includes a hollow body capable of being inserted in a spare server bay, an opening formed on a side surface of the hollow body and extended toward a region outside of the spare bay; a spring unit formed on a surface of the hollow body for limiting the degree of freedom of the hollow body in the spare bay; and a functional unit extended from the side surface of the hollow body, the functional unit having a spring arm, a second latch portion disposed on the spring arm for engaging with the first latch portion, and an operating portion moving in accordance with the movement of the spring arm and capable of being operated by a finger through the opening. [0014] According to the preferred embodiment, the operating portion is a suspension link to allow it to be operated through the opening; and the opening is a finger hole for a finger to protrude through to operate the operating portion that is slightly dislocated with the opening, so as to allow for the user to push the operating portion toward the opening. The first latch portion in the spare bay of the server can be a latch hole, and the second latch portion can be a corresponding a hook. The spring unit can be a spring piece to provide a degree of movement freedom for the hollow body in at least one direction of the spare bay. [0015] Compared with that the covering member in the prior art that uses many jointing portions, thereby making fabrication more complicated and increasing the fabricating cost, the functional unit of the covering member according to the present invention is extended from the hollow body as an integral whole, such that it can be formed of a metal plate by stamping and folding, so that the manufacturing process is simplified and the usage of material is reduced, thus further reducing the overall fabrication cost. In addition, the operating portion of the covering member according to the present invention is formed inside the hollow body, such that, when the covering member fills in the spare bay, the covering member can be easily pulled out by moving the operating portion toward the opening and then hooking the opening and pulling with just one hand, thus making the operating portion much easier to operate than the prior art. Therefore, the covering member according to the present invention has overcome various drawbacks of the prior art, due to its simple structure, low fabrication cost, and easy operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0016] FIGS. 1A and 1B are two perspective diagrams of a covering member according to the prior art. [0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram of a covering member of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention. [0018] FIG. 3A is a bottom view of the covering member shown in FIG. 2. [0019] FIG. 3B is another perspective diagram of the covering member shown in FIG. 2. [0020] FIG. 4A is a side view of the covering member shown in FIG. 2. [0021] FIG. 4B is a cut-away view of the covering member shown in FIG. 3B. Continue reading... Full patent description for Covering member Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Covering member patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Covering member or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Helmet holder for a vision device, in particular for a night vision device Next Patent Application: Adjustable belt for carrying sporting equipment Industry Class: Package and article carriers ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Covering member patent info. 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