Patent Application
20240147652
The disclosure relates generally to a cable management system for a server rack.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in a cable management system for a server rack, including an adapter bracket coupled to the server rack; a rail assembly coupled to the adapter bracket, the rail assembly including a plurality of apertures; a cable management apparatus slideably coupled to the rail assembly, the cable management apparatus including: a plunger; a plurality of tabs; and a plurality of retention devices, wherein, when the cable management apparatus is coupled to the rail assembly, the plunger extends through one of the apertures to define a position of the cable management apparatus with respect to the rail assembly such that one or more cables of the server rack are positioned between opposing tabs of the plurality of tabs and coupled to the cable management apparatus by one or more of the retention devices.
Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems and apparatus.
These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features. For instance, the rail assembly includes a first side positioned opposite to a second side, the first side including the plurality of apertures; top side including an opening; and a rail side, including a slot extending a length of the rail side and defining a first segment and a second segment on the rail side.
The cable management apparatus further includes a pair of flanges extending from a first end of the cable management apparatus; the plunger coupled thru a first flange of the pair of flanges; and a coupling element coupled to the first end of the cable management apparatus and extending away from the first end, the coupling element including a stub, wherein a gap is defined between the stub and the first end. The slot of the rail side includes a flared opening at the top side of the rail assembly. When the cable management apparatus is coupled to the rail assembly, i) the coupling element is positioned within the slot of the rail side of the rail assembly through the flared opening at the top side of the rail assembly such that a portion of the first segment and the second segment are positioned within the gap of the coupling element and ii) the plunger extends through one of the apertures to define the position of the cable management apparatus with respect to the rail assembly. The rail assembly further includes a coupling side that is coupled to the adapter bracket, the coupling side opposite to the rail side. The rail assembly includes a first member and a second member, the first member coupled to the second member, wherein the second member includes the rail side and the first member includes the coupling side. Both the first member and the second member include the plurality of apertures. The retention devices includes hook-and-loop members. The rail assembly further includes a bottom side opposite to the top side, the bottom side including an additional opening, wherein the slot of the rail side includes an additional flared opening at the bottom side of the rail assembly. Further including an additional adapter bracket coupled to the server rack; an additional rail assembly coupled to the additional adapter bracket, the additional rail assembly including a plurality of additional apertures; an additional cable management apparatus slideably coupled to the additional rail assembly, the additional cable management apparatus including: an additional plunger; a plurality of additional tabs; and a plurality of additional retention devices, wherein, when the additional cable management apparatus is coupled to the additional rail assembly, the additional plunger extends through one of the additional apertures to define a position of the additional cable management apparatus with respect to the additional rail assembly such that the one or more cables of the server rack are positioned between opposing additional tabs of the plurality of additional tabs and coupled to the additional cable management apparatus by one or more of the additional retention devices. The position of the cable management apparatus and the position of the additional cable management apparatus are substantially the same. The one or more cables are hoses.
Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in a cable management system for a server rack, including a rail assembly, comprising: a first side positioned opposite to a second side, the first side including a plurality of apertures; a top side including an opening; and a rail side, including a slot extending a length of the rail side and defining a first segment and a second segment of the rail side; a cable management apparatus, comprising: a pair of flanges extending from a first end of the cable management apparatus; a plunger coupled thru a first flange of the pair of flanges; and a coupling element coupled to the first end of the cable management apparatus and extending away from the first end, the coupling element including a stub, wherein a gap is defined between the stub and the first end; wherein when the cable management apparatus is coupled to the rail assembly, i) the coupling element is positioned within the slot of the rail side of the rail assembly through the opening of the top side of the rail assembly such that a portion of the first segment and the second segment are positioned within the gap of the coupling element and ii) the plunger extends through one of the apertures to define a position of the cable management apparatus with respect to the rail assembly.
Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems and apparatus.
These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features. For instance, the rail assembly further includes a coupling side that is coupled to the adapter bracket, the coupling side opposite to the rail side. The retention devices includes hook-and-loop members. The slot of the rail side includes a flared opening at the top side of the rail assembly, and the rail assembly further includes a bottom side opposite to the top side, the bottom side including an additional opening, wherein the slot of the rail side includes an additional flared opening at the bottom side of the rail assembly. The rail assembly includes a first member and a second member, the first member coupled to the second member, wherein the second member includes the rail side and the first member includes the coupling side. Both the first member and the second member include the plurality of apertures. The one or more cables are hoses.
The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
This disclosure discusses a cable management system for a server rack, including an adapter bracket coupled to the server rack; a rail assembly coupled to the adapter bracket, the rail assembly including a plurality of apertures; a cable management apparatus slideably coupled to the rail assembly, the cable management apparatus including: a plunger; a plurality of tabs; and a plurality of retention devices, wherein, when the cable management apparatus is coupled to the rail assembly, the plunger extends through one of the apertures to define a position of the cable management apparatus with respect to the rail assembly such that one or more cables of the server rack are positioned between opposing tabs of the plurality of tabs and coupled to the cable management apparatus by one or more of the retention devices.
Specifically, a server rack can include multiple servers. The servers may be liquid cooled, with multiple hoses running on the back of the server rack to provide such cooling. However, components at the back of the server rack may need to be accessed as well. A cable management system can be coupled to the server rack to provide a proper positioning of such hoses so that the components can be accessed.
In the following description, details are set forth by way of example to facilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. It should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that the disclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possible embodiments.
For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include an instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize various forms of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a PDA, a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or another suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communication between the various hardware components.
For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may include an instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retain data and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable media may include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct access storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM, DVD, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory (SSD); as well as communications media such wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing.
Particular embodiments are best understood by reference to
Turning now to the drawings,
As depicted in
Also in
In information handling system 100, I/O subsystem 140 may comprise a system, device, or apparatus generally operable to receive and/or transmit data to/from/within information handling system 100. I/O subsystem 140 may represent, for example, a variety of communication interfaces, graphics interfaces, video interfaces, user input interfaces, and/or peripheral interfaces. In various embodiments, I/O subsystem 140 may be used to support various peripheral devices, such as a touch panel, a display adapter, a keyboard, an accelerometer, a touch pad, a gyroscope, an IR sensor, a microphone, a sensor, or a camera, or another type of peripheral device.
Local storage resource 150 may comprise computer-readable media (e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, CD-ROM, and/or other type of rotating storage media, flash memory, EEPROM, and/or another type of solid state storage media) and may be generally operable to store instructions and/or data. Likewise, the network storage resource may comprise computer-readable media (e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, CD-ROM, and/or other type of rotating storage media, flash memory, EEPROM, and/or other type of solid state storage media) and may be generally operable to store instructions and/or data.
In
In particular embodiments, network 110 may include one or more routers for routing data between client information handling systems 100 and server information handling systems 100. A device (e.g., a client information handling system 100 or a server information handling system 100) on network 110 may be addressed by a corresponding network address including, for example, an Internet protocol (IP) address, an Internet name, a Windows Internet name service (WINS) name, a domain name or other system name. In particular embodiments, network 110 may include one or more logical groupings of network devices such as, for example, one or more sites (e.g. customer sites) or subnets. As an example, a corporate network may include potentially thousands of offices or branches, each with its own subnet (or multiple subnets) having many devices. One or more client information handling systems 100 may communicate with one or more server information handling systems 100 via any suitable connection including, for example, a modem connection, a LAN connection including the Ethernet or a broadband WAN connection including DSL, Cable, Ti, T3, Fiber Optics, Wi-Fi, or a mobile network connection including GSM, GPRS, 3G, or WiMax.
Network 110 may transmit data using a desired storage and/or communication protocol, including, but not limited to, Fibre Channel, Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet protocol (IP), other packet-based protocol, small computer system interface (SCSI), Internet SCSI (iSCSI), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or another transport that operates with the SCSI protocol, advanced technology attachment (ATA), serial ATA (SATA), advanced technology attachment packet interface (ATAPI), serial storage architecture (SSA), integrated drive electronics (IDE), and/or any combination thereof. Network 110 and its various components may be implemented using hardware, software, or any combination thereof.
In short, a server rack can include multiple servers (or information handling systems such as the information handling system 100). The servers may be liquid cooled, with multiple hoses running on the back of the server rack to provide such cooling. However, components at the back of the server rack may need to be accessed as well. A cable management system can be coupled to the server rack to provide a proper positioning of such hoses so that the components can be accessed.
Turning to
The second cable management system 204b can include an adapter bracket 220b, a rail assembly 222b, and a cable management apparatus 224b. The cable management apparatus 204b can include a plunger 226b, tabs 228b, and retention devices 230b. The cable management systems 204a, 204b can be collectively referred to as cable management systems 204. The adapter brackets 220a, 220b can be collectively referred to as adapter brackets 220. The rail assembly 222a, 222b can be collectively referred to as rail assemblies 222. The cable management apparatus 224a, 224b can be collectively referred to as cable management apparatuses 224. The plungers 226a, 226b can be collectively referred to as plungers 226. The tabs 228a, 228b can be collectively referred to as tabs 228. The retention devices 230a, 230b can be collectively referred to as retention devices 230.
In some examples, the cable management system 204 can include any number of cable management apparatuses 224.
The rail assembly 222 can include a first side 610 positioned opposite to a second side 612. The rail assembly 222 can include a top side 614 and a bottom side 616 opposite to the top side 614. The rail assembly 222 can include a rail side 620 and a coupling side 622, the coupling side 622 opposite to the rail side 620. In some examples, the first member 602 includes the coupling side 622 and the second member 604 includes the rail side 620. The coupling side 622 can be coupled to the adapter bracket 220, as shown in
The top side 614 includes an opening 624. The bottom side 616 can include an additional opening 626. The rail assembly 222, and in particular, the first side 610, can include a plurality of apertures 630. In some examples, the second side 612 also includes apertures 632. In some examples, the first member 602 and the second member 604 both include the plurality of apertures 630, 632.
The rail side 620 can include a slot 640 extending a length of the rail side 620. The slot 640 can define a first segment 642 and a second segment 644 on the rail side 620. The slot 640 can further include a flared opening 646 proximate to the top side 614 of the rail assembly 222. Further, the slot 640 can also include a flared opening 648 proximate to the bottom side 616 of the rail assembly 222.
The cable management apparatus 224 can further include a pair of flanges 710 extending from a first end 712 of the cable management apparatus 224. The plunger 226 can be coupled thru one of the flanges of the pair of flanges 710. The cable management apparatus 224 can further include a coupling element 720 coupled to the first end 712 of the cable management apparatus 224 and extending away from the first end 712. The coupling element 720 can include a stub 722, shown in
Further, when the cable management apparatus 224 is coupled to the rail assembly 222, the plunger 226 extends through one of the apertures 630 to define a position of the cable management apparatus 224 with respect to the rail assembly 222. That is, the cable management apparatus 224 can be translated along the rail assembly 222 along the directions D1 and/or D2, shown in
Further, when the cable management apparatus 224 is coupled to the rail assembly 222, the flanges 710 can be positioned adjacent the first side 610 and the second side 612 of the rail assembly 222.
In some examples, the cables 212 are hoses. In some examples, the cables 212 are thermal cooling hoses.
The cable management apparatus 224 can be decoupled from the rail assembly 222 by removing the plunger 226 from extending through the aperture 620, translating the cable management apparatus 224 along the rail assembly 222 until the coupling element 720 is positioned within the flared opening 626 or flared opening 648, and removing the cable management apparatus 224. The plunger 226 can be removed from being extended through the aperture by the user “pulling” the plunger 226 away from the rail assembly 222 to disengage the plunger 226 from the aperture 620.
In some examples, the position of each of the cable management apparatus 224a, 224b can be defined with respect to the rail assembly 222 to be substantially the same. That is, the cables 212 of the server rack 202 are positioned between opposing tabs 228 and coupled to the cable management apparatus 224 by the retention devices 230 of each of the cable management apparatus 224a, 224b, as shown in
The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated other-wise by context.
The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, features, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative.
