Granted Patent B2

US 11,416,044 · App. 17/015,657 · Granted Aug 16, 2022

Inventors: Jing-Chi Tzeng (Taoyuan, TW); Mu-Ting Fang (Tainan, TW)

Assignee: Dell Products, L.P.

G06F1/185G06F1/186

Abstract

Claims (32)

1. A bracket for coupling a expansion card to an Information Handling System (IHS), the bracket comprising:

a riser card portion that receives a riser card that couples the expansion card to a motherboard connector of the IHS, wherein the riser card comprises a plurality of pins that are received by the motherboard connector and that are located along a first edge of a PCB (printed circuit board) of the riser card and further comprises a connector that receives the expansion card, and wherein the riser card portion comprises a first channel of a width that corresponds to a thickness of the PCB of the riser card that receives the first edge of the riser card along which are located the pins for connecting the riser card to the motherboard connector, and wherein the riser card portion of the bracket receives the riser card through an administrator pushing the first edge of the PCB along which the pins of the riser card are located into the first channel such that the first edge of the PCB of the riser card is received within the width of the first channel of the riser card portion of the bracket and the pins located along the first edge of the riser card extend from the bracket for connecting the riser card to the motherboard connector; and

a card-receiving portion that receives the expansion card, wherein the expansion card comprises a plurality of pins that couple to the connector of the riser card when the expansion card is inserted in the card-receiving portion, and wherein the card-receiving portion comprises a second channel that receives the expansion card, and wherein the second channel restricts vertical movement of the installed expansion card and also restricts vertical movement of the riser card when the expansion card is coupled to the riser card.

2. The bracket of claim 1 , wherein the expansion card comprises a graphics card.

3. The bracket of claim 1 , wherein the riser card portion of the bracket comprises a first plurality of protrusions for positioning the bracket on a motherboard of the IHS.

4. The bracket of claim 3 , wherein the positioning aligns the pins of the riser card with the motherboard connector.

5. The bracket of claim 3 , wherein the positioning of the bracket comprises positioning the protrusions of the riser card portion of the bracket in alignment with a plurality of fastening elements of the motherboard.

6. The bracket of claim 5 , wherein the fastening elements attach a fan system of the IHS to the motherboard.

7. The bracket of claim 3 , wherein the riser card portion is removable from the card-receiving portion of the bracket and wherein a replacement riser card portion comprises a second plurality of protrusions for positioning the bracket on the motherboard.

8. The bracket of claim 1 , wherein the riser card is coupled to a motherboard and to the expansion card without use of any tools and without any fasteners.

9. The bracket of claim 1 , wherein the riser card portion comprises a handle for pulling the bracket from the IHS by pulling the pins of the riser card from the motherboard connector.

10. An Information Handling System (IHS) comprising:

one or more processors coupled to a motherboard;

the motherboard comprising a first expansion card connector; and

a bracket for coupling a expansion card to the first expansion card connector of the motherboard, wherein the bracket comprises:

a riser card portion that receives a riser card that couples the expansion card to the first expansion card connector of the motherboard, wherein the riser card comprises a plurality of pins that are received by the expansion card connector of the motherboard and that are located along a first edge of a PCB (printed circuit board) of the riser card and that further comprises a connector that receives the expansion card, and wherein the riser card portion comprises a first channel of a width that corresponds to a thickness of the PCB of the riser card that receives the first edge of the riser card along which are located the pins for connecting the riser card to the expansion card connector of the motherboard, and wherein the riser card portion of the bracket receives the riser card through an administrator pushing the first edge of the PCB along which the pins of the riser card are located into the first channel such that the first edge of the PCB of the riser card is received within the width of the first channel of the riser card portion of the bracket and the pins located along the first edge of the riser card extend from the bracket for connecting the riser card to the expansion card connector of the motherboard; and

a card-receiving portion that receives the expansion card, wherein the expansion card comprises a plurality of pins that couple to the connector of the riser card when the expansion card is inserted in the card-receiving portion, and wherein the card-receiving portion comprises a second channel that receives a retainer of the expansion card, and wherein the second channel restricts vertical movement of the installed expansion card and also restricts vertical movement of the riser card when the expansion card is coupled to the riser card.

11. The IHS of claim 10 , wherein the riser card portion of the bracket comprises a first plurality of protrusions for positioning the bracket on the motherboard of the IHS.

12. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the positioning aligns the pins of the riser card with the first expansion card connector of the motherboard.

13. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the positioning of the bracket comprises positioning the protrusions of the riser card portion of the bracket in alignment with a plurality of fastening elements of the motherboard.

14. The IHS of claim 13 , wherein the fastening elements attach a fan system of the IHS to the motherboard.

15. A method for coupling a expansion card to an Information Handling System (IHS), the method comprising:

seating a riser card in a riser card portion of a bracket, wherein the riser card comprises a plurality of pins that are received by a motherboard connector of the IHS and that are located along a first edge of a PCB (printed circuit board) of the riser card and further comprises a connector that receives the expansion card, and wherein the riser card is seated within a first channel of the riser card portion, where the first channel is of a width that corresponds to a thickness of the PCB of the riser card and where the first channel receives the first edge of the riser card along which are located the pins for connecting the riser card to the motherboard connector, and wherein the riser card is seated in the riser card portion through an administrator pushing the first edge of the PCB along which the pins of the riser card are located into the first channel such that the first edge of the PCB of the riser card is received within the width of the first channel of the riser card portion of the bracket and the pins located along the first edge of the riser card extend from the bracket for connecting the riser card to the motherboard connector;

seating the expansion card in a card-receiving portion of the bracket, wherein the expansion card comprises a plurality of pins that couple to the connector of the riser card when the expansion card is seated in the card-receiving portion, and wherein the card-receiving portion comprises a second channel that receives the seated expansion card, wherein the second channel restricts vertical movement of the seated expansion card and also restricts vertical movement of the seated riser card;

aligning one or more protrusions of the riser card portion of the bracket with respective fasteners of a motherboard of the IHS; and

while the protrusions of the riser card portion are aligned with the fasteners, coupling the pins of the riser card to a motherboard connector of the IHS.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the alignment using the one or more protrusions of the riser card portion of the bracket aligns the pins of the riser card with the motherboard connector.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the fasteners comprise screws that fasten a first hardware component to the IHS.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first hardware component comprises a fan system of the IHS.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the riser card is seated in the bracket, the expansion card is seated in the bracket, and the riser card is coupled to the motherboard connector without use of any tools.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

pulling the bracket comprising the seated riser card and the seated expansion card from the IHS by pulling the pins of the riser card from the motherboard connector using a handle of the riser card portion of the bracket.

Assignments (9)