Rotatable fastener mechanism for quick release of component tray

1. An expansion bay assembly comprising:

a bay housing having two facing side walls, a front open end, and a bottom panel;

a first tab having a first aperture, the first tab extending from the interior of one of the side walls;

a tray having a guide block with a threaded aperture, the guide block being mounted between the side walls for supporting an expansion component, the tray being configured to be moved between an open position and a closed position; and

a rotating fastener mechanism configured to move the tray between the open and the closed position, the rotating fastener mechanism including a rod inserted through the first aperture of the first tab and rotationally engaging the threaded aperture of the guide block.

2. The expansion bay assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a second tab extending from the interior of one of the side walls, wherein the second tab includes a second aperture, and wherein the rod is inserted through the second aperture of the second tab.

3. The expansion bay assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first tab is positioned in proximity to the front open end of the bay housing and the second tab is positioned in proximity to a closed end of the bay housing, opposite the front open end.

4. The expansion bay assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fastener mechanism includes a knob with grips on one end of the rod.

5. The expansion bay assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tray includes a registration feature mating with the expansion component.

6. The expansion bay assembly of claim 1 , wherein the expansion component is a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) compliant device.

7. The expansion bay assembly of claim 1 , wherein the expansion component includes an edge connector mateable with a socket extending from an end wall of the bay housing.

8. A computer system comprising:

a chassis having two side walls, and a front end;

a motherboard positioned in the chassis between the two side walls; and

a bay housing for holding an expansion component mounted on the front end of the chassis, the bay housing including:

two facing side walls;

a front open end;

a bottom panel joining the two facing side walls;

a first tab having a first aperture, the first tab extending from the interior of one of the side walls;

a tray having a guide block with a threaded aperture mounted between the side walls for supporting the expansion component, the tray moveable between an open position and a closed position; and

a rotating fastener mechanism configured to move the tray between the open and closed position, the fastener mechanism including a rod inserted through the first aperture of the first tab and rotationally engaged with the threaded aperture of the guide block.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the computer system is one of a storage server or an application server.

10. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the bay includes a second tab on the interior of one of the walls, wherein the second tab includes a second aperture, and wherein the rod is inserted through the second aperture.

11. The computer system of claim 10 , wherein the first tab is positioned in proximity to the front open end of the bay housing and the second tab is positioned in proximity to a closed end of the bay housing, opposite the front open end.

12. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the fastener mechanism includes a knob with grips on one end of the rod.

13. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the tray includes a registration feature mating with the expansion component.

14. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the expansion component is a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) compliant device.

15. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the expansion component includes an edge connector mateable with a socket extending from an end wall of the bay housing.

16. An expansion bay for a computer system, the expansion bay comprising:

a bay housing having two facing side walls, a front open end, a rear end, and a bottom panel;

a first front tab having a first aperture, the front tab extending from the interior of one of the side walls in proximity to the front open end;

a second rear tab having a second aperture, the rear tab extending from the interior of one of the side walls in proximity to the rear end;

a tray having a guide block with a threaded aperture mounted between the side walls for supporting an expansion component, the tray configured to be moved between an open position and a closed position; and

a fastener mechanism operable to move the tray between the open and the closed position in response to rotation of the fastener mechanism, the fastener mechanism including a rod inserted through the first and second apertures of the first tab and the second tab, allowing free rotation of the rod, wherein the rod includes a threaded exterior section between the first and second tabs to rotationally engage the threaded aperture of the guide block, and the rod further having a knob attached to an end of the rod extending from the front open end of the bay housing.

17. The expansion bay of claim 16 , further comprising a socket extending from the rear end of the bay housing, wherein the expansion component includes a circuit board with an edge connector mateable with the socket when the tray is in the closed position.