Card guide with groove having a base portion and ramped portion which restrains an electronic card

摘要

A card guide that both restrains an installed electronic card and allows the card to be inserted into a computer chassis in a direction that is parallel to the motherboard of the computer. The card guide extends from a beam that is cantilevered from a frame of a computer chassis. The card guide has a groove that guides an edge of the electronic card so that the card is aligned with a connector of the motherboard. The card guide also has a ramp that guides the card into the groove in a direction parallel with the motherboard and perpendicular to the groove. The card is installed by initially pushing the electronic card along the ramp until the edge of the card snaps into the groove. The cantilevered beam is deflected by the installation force of the user to allow the card to move down the ramp. Once in the groove the electronic card is pushed in a direction perpendicular to the motherboard to plug the card into the motherboard connector. A corner of the installed electronic card is restrained from movement by a ramped portion of the groove. The electronic card is removed from the chassis by sliding the card corner along the ramped portion. The movement of the corner up the ramped portion deflects the beam so that the electronic card can be removed from the chassis in a direction parallel with the motherboard.