Removable hard disk drive system with circuit for hot insertion and removal responsive to contacts of zero-insertion-force connector on the lateral side of the drive

Claim 2

A removable hard disk drive system comprising: a docking bay which fits within a disk drive bay of a computer, said disk drive bay accommodating a drive, said docking bay having an opening therein with a height, width and depth dimension, said opening in the docking bay having an open end and a closed end, said closed end including a spring plate, a first portion of an electrical connector is positioned along the depth dimension of said opening; a cartridge which fits within the opening of the docking bay which includes a hard disk drive and a second portion of the electrical connector positioned along a depth dimension of the hard disk drive corresponding to the first portion of the electrical connector, the hard disk drive having dimensions which are less in height, width, and depth dimensions than the corresponding dimensions the disk drive bay, said spring plate contacting said cartridge and urging said cartridge toward said open end of said docking bay; and hot plugging means for allowing the removal of a first cartridge and the insertion of a second cartridge while power is maintained to the computer system, said hot plugging means operating over a time span between when a first contact is broken and the last contact is broken on the electrical connector as a coupling system is moved between a first position and a second position to break electrical contact and said hot plugging means operating over a time between when a first contact is made and the last contact is made on the electrical connector as the coupling system is moved between a second position and a first position to make electrical contact.

Claim 3

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 1 wherein said hot plugging means is provided by electrical devices on one of said first or second circuit cards.

Claim 4

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 1 wherein the electrical connector also serves to guide the cartridge into the opening of the docking bay.

Claim 5

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 1 wherein the disk drive bay has height, width and depth dimensions associated with a first form factor, the hard disk drive within the cartridge having the dimensions associated with a second form factor which are less in height, width, and depth than the corresponding dimensions of the first form factor.

Claim 6

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 1 wherein the coupling system electrically connects the first and the second portions of the electrical connector after the cartridge has been fully inserted into the opening of the docking bay.

Claim 7

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 1 wherein the coupling system includes means positioned on an external face of one of the docking bay or the cartridge for moving the coupling system between the first and the second position.

Claim 8

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 1 further comprising lockout means for preventing a write to the hard disk drive in a second cartridge after a first cartridge has been replaced by the second cartridge in the opening of the docking bay, said lockout means including indicator means for indicating a cartridge change after the first cartridge has been replaced with the second cartridge.

Claim 9

The removable hard disk drive system of claim 7 wherein said indicator means includes a light emitting diode (LED) which remains active until the computer system is rebooted and hard disk write operations can resume.

Claim 10

A computer system having a central processing unit capable of sending write commands to a hard disk drive, means for rebooting the computer system, and a removable hard disk drive system which fits within the computer system, said removable hard disk drive system comprising: a docking bay having a height, a width and a depth dimension, a cartridge having a height, a width and a depth dimension which fit within said docking bay, said cartridge containing a hard disk drive; a two part connector wherein one of said parts is electrically connected to and carried along the length of the depth dimension of the docking bay, and the other of said parts is electrically connected to and carried along the length of the depth dimension of the cartridge; a coupling system means for electrically connecting and disconnecting the parts of the two part connector; hot plugging means for allowing the removal of a first cartridge and the insertion of a second cartridge while power is maintained to the computer system, said hot plugging means operating over a time span between when a first contact is broken and the last contact is broken on the two part connector as the coupling system is moved between a first position and a second position to break electrical contact and said hot plugging means operating over a time between when a first contact is made and the last contact is made on the two part connector as the coupling system is moved between a second position and a first position to make electrical contact; and lockout means for preventing the central processing unit of the computer system from writing to the hard disk drive of the removable hard disk drive system after the cartridge has been removed from the docking bay during operation of the computer system, and before rebooting the computer system.

Claim 11

A computer system having a central processing unit capable of sending write commands to a hard disk drive, means for rebooting the computer system, and a removable hard disk drive system which fits within the computer system, said removable hard disk drive system comprising: a docking bay having a height, a width and a depth dimension, a cartridge having a height, a width and a depth dimension which fit within said docking bay, said cartridge containing a hard disk drive; a two part connector wherein one of said parts is electrically connected to and carried along the length of the depth dimension of the docking bay, and the other of said parts is electrically connected to and carried along the length of the depth dimension of the cartridge; a coupling system means for electrically connecting and disconnecting the parts of the two part connector; hot plugging means for allowing the removal of a first cartridge and the insertion of a second cartridge while power is maintained to the computer system, said hot plugging means operating over a time span between when a first contact is broken and the last contact is broken on the two part connector as the coupling system is moved between a first position and a second position to break electrical contact and said hot plugging means operating over a time between when a first contact is made and the last contact is made on the two part connector as the coupling system is moved between a second position and a first position to make electrical contact; and lockout means for preventing the central processing unit of the computer system from writing to the hard disk drive of the removable hard disk drive system after the cartridge has been removed from the docking bay during operation of the computer system, and before rebooting the computer system.

Claim 12

The computer system of claim 9 wherein the one and other parts of the two part connector are used to guide the cartridge into the docking bay before electrical connection is made.

Claim 13

The computer system of claim 9 further including handle means positioned on an external face of one of the docking bay or the cartridge for moving the coupling system between the first and the second position.

Claim 14

The computer system of claim 11 further including holding means for positioning and holding the cartridge within the docking bay independent of the handle means.

Claim 15

The computer system of claim 12 wherein said cartridge includes a recess and wherein said holding means includes a lever having an end which hooks into said recess in the cartridge.

Claim 16

The computer system of claim 13 further including means for ejecting the cartridge.