Drawer for automatically pluggable and unpluggable electronic cards, a drawer and a bay therefor, and a method of removing electronic cards

Claim 2

A drawer for electronic cards, said electronic cards being connected to a mother board by card connectors, and said electronic cards being connected to output connectors, wherein the drawer is automatically pluggable and unpluggable and wherein the following are disposed successively from the back to the front of said drawer: said output connectors being disposed inside a drawer support and secured to a back face of said drawer support; said electronic cards being disposed between said output connectors in back and said card connectors in front; and said mother board being disposed forward of said card connectors and close to the front face of said drawer.

Claim 3

A drawer according to claim 1, in which said electronic cards, disposed between said output connectors and said card connectors, are suitable for being manually disconnected from the back of said mother board by virtue of the card connectors.

Claim 4

A drawer according to claim 1 in combination with a bay, said drawer being suitable for insertion into said bay, wherein said bay includes: output cabling disposed at a back of said bay; and associated output connectors disposed inside said bay, said associated output connectors being secured to the back of said bay such that said output connectors are automatically pluggable with said associated output connectors upon insertion of said drawer into said bay.

Claim 5

A drawer and a bay therefor according to claim 3, in which said electronic cards are connected to, and disconnected from, said output cabling by interaction between said associated output connectors and said output connectors, wherein said associated output connectors and said output connectors face one another such that said electronic cards are disconnected from said associated output connectors simultaneously upon removal of said drawer from said bay.

Claim 6

A drawer for electronic cards, wherein the drawer is removably insertable into a bay so as to automatically and simultaneously connect and disconnect the electronic cards from the bay, said drawer comprising: a drawer support having a back face for insertion into the bay, and a front face opposite to said back face; output connectors secured to said back face of said drawer support; electronic cards connected to said output connectors such that said electronic cards are disposed between said output connectors and said front face of said drawer support; card connectors connected to said electronic cards such that said card connectors are disposed closer to said front face of said drawer support than are said output connectors; and a mother board connected to said card connectors such that said mother board is disposed between said card connectors and said front face of said drawer support.

Claim 7

A drawer for electronic cards, wherein the drawer is removably insertable into a bay so as to automatically and simultaneously connect and disconnect the electronic cards from the bay, said drawer comprising: a drawer support having a back face for insertion into the bay, and a front face opposite to said back face; output connectors secured to said back face of said drawer support; electronic cards connected to said output connectors such that said electronic cards are disposed between said output connectors and said front face of said drawer support; card connectors connected to said electronic cards such that said card connectors are disposed closer to said front face of said drawer support than are said output connectors; and a mother board connected to said card connectors such that said mother board is disposed between said card connectors and said front face of said drawer support.

Claim 8

A drawer according to claim 5 in combination with the bay, wherein said bay includes: a front, a back opposite to said front, and an inside disposed between said front and said back; output cabling disposed at said back of said bay; and associated output connectors disposed on the inside of said bay, wherein said associated output connectors are secured to said back of said bay so as to be connectable with said output connectors upon insertion of said drawer into said bay.

Claim 9

A drawer and bay combination according to claim 6, further including grip means on said front face of said drawer support.

Claim 10

A drawer and bay combination according to claim 6, wherein: said bay further includes fixed lateral output connectors on said front; and said mother board further includes lateral output connectors for connection to said fixed lateral output connectors.