In a communications system, such as a distributed antenna system, it is often necessary to place a remote unit in an outdoor area. For example, a remote unit may be placed in an outdoor stadium, park, etc. Placing a remote unit outdoors potentially exposes the unit to adverse weather conditions, such as rain, wind, etc. In order to protect the electronic components of the remote unit, the electronic components are typically placed in a enclosure which is sealed watertight. While enclosures protect the electronic components, conventional enclosures also make it difficult to access the components during installation or maintenance by blocking or providing small access areas to one or more sides of the electronic components.
Therefore, for the reasons stated above and for other reasons which shall become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and studying the present application, there is a need in the art for an improved electronics enclosure which provides greater ease of access to electronic components contained therein.
In one embodiment, a hinge is provided. The hinge comprises a first member having a protrusion, wherein the protrusion has a cam profile shape; and a second member having a cavity operable to receive the protrusion, wherein a cam profile shape of the cavity corresponds to the cam profile shape of the protrusion such that, when the protrusion is in a first position, a gap is present between the second member and the protrusion and, when the protrusion is in a second position, substantially no gap is present between the second member and the protrusion.
Features of various embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings. Understanding that the drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting in scope, the invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
In accordance with common practice, the various described features are not drawn to scale but are drawn to emphasize specific features. Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific illustrative embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the method presented in the drawing figures or the specification is not to be construed as limiting the order in which the individual steps may be performed. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
Some embodiments of the present invention are used in a distributed antenna system (DAS), such as DAS 100 in
In such embodiments, the host unit 102 and remote units 106 have a modular design and defined interfaces that allow components to be removed and installed to adapt to the needs of the service providers. Therefore, it may be necessary to periodically open and close enclosures which house the installed components either to upgrade the components or perform maintenance on the components. For instance, there are different radio frequency (RF) modules, and each RF module is designed for a particular technology and frequency band. Thus, technology and frequency band adjustments can be made by simply replacing the conversion module in the host unit or remote unit. One exemplary RF module is described in the '1027 application. Additional details regarding an exemplary modular platform and distributed antenna system are described in the '828 and '829 applications.
Additionally, the host unit 102 and remote units 106 are designed to allow different transport mechanisms 114 between the host unit and remote units. For example, the same host unit 102 and remote units 106 that use fiber optic for inter-unit transmission can be adapted to use millimeter wave (MMW) wireless transmission, such as E band communications, instead of or concurrently with the fiber optic. Finally, wireless processing functionality can be placed all on a base station 103 near the central node, or the functionality can be distributed throughout each of the remote units 106. The flexibility to modify the functionality of each remote unit 106 allows the wireless platform to support centralized base stations 103 and distributed base stations, either separately or concurrently.
As stated above, remote units 106 have a modular design and defined interfaces that allow components to be removed and installed to adapt to the needs of the service providers. In order to facilitate the removal, installation, and maintenance of the modules in remote units 106, system 100 uses enclosures for remote units 106 which provide ease of access to the modules.
In addition, base 214 and/or side walls 216 and 218 are manufactured, in some embodiments, through an extrusion process. Extruding base 214 and side walls 216 and 218 enables the walls and base to be manufactured with varying lengths based on the needs of service providers. In other embodiments, however, other manufacturing processes, such as die casting, are used to manufacture base 214 and side walls 216 and 218. Each of side walls 216 and 218 is comprised of two sections 226 and 228. Section 226 and 228 together form an angle which matches the shape of first end plate 222 and second end plate 224. In particular, in the example shown in
Furthermore, hinges are implemented which facilitate the rotation of the side walls 216 and 218 in order to open and close the enclosure 212 as described above and in the '1030 application. In particular, the hinges are comprised of a cavity in the base 214 and a corresponding protrusion of the side walls 216 and 218 as shown below. Thus, when the side walls 216 and 218 are extruded, the protrusions are simultaneously extruded in the same process. As a result, hinges 234 extend the length of base 214 and side walls 216 and 218, enabling hinges of variable length based on the needs of service providers. Manufacturing the hinges as part of other components also results in a reduction in manufacturing costs.
However, when side wall 216 is rotated to a closed position, as shown in
As shown in
Hence, hinge 234 reduces manufacturing costs by being manufactured as part of side walls 216/218 and base 214. In addition, hinge 234 does not increase the difficulty of assembling the hinge since the shape of hinge 234 is such that a loose fit is obtained with sufficient clearance in the open position, while a tight fit is obtained when in the closed position.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose, may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. For example, although embodiments of the present invention are described in relation to a remote unit enclosure having angled side walls or doors, it is to be understood that embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in other enclosures. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
This application is related to the following co-pending United States patent applications, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference: U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,581 (attorney docket number 100.1037USPR entitled “CAM SHAPED HINGES”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '581 Application. The present application hereby claims priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/060,581; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/137,322 (attorney docket number 100.1027US01 entitled “COMMUNICATION MODULES”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1027 Application; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/137,297 (attorney docket number 100.1028US01 entitled “APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING A MODULE AND ENABLING HEAT CONDUCTION FROM THE MODULE TO THE MOUNTING SURFACE”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1028 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,589 (attorney docket number 100.1029USPR entitled “SUSPENSION METHOD FOR COMPLIANT THERMAL CONTACT OF ELECTRONICS MODULES”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1029 Application; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/137,307 (attorney docket number 100.1030US01 entitled “ANGLED DOORS WITH CONTINUOUS SEAL”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1030 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,523 (attorney docket number 100.1031USPR entitled “L-SHAPED DOOR WITH 3-SURFACE SEAL FOR ENDPLATES”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1031 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,576 (attorney docket number 100.1032USPR entitled “L-SHAPED DOORS WITH TRAPEZOIDAL SEAL”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1032 Application; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/137,309 (attorney docket number 100.1033US01 entitled “VENTURI FAN-ASSISTED COOLING OF HEAT SINK”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1033 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,547 (attorney docket number 100.1034USPR entitled “COMBINATION EXTRUDED AND CAST METAL OUTDOOR ELECTRONICS ENCLOSURE”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1034 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,584 (attorney docket number 100.1035USPR, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CABLE MANAGEMENT”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1035 Application; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/137,313 (attorney docket number 100.1038US01 entitled “SOLAR SHIELDS”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1038 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,501 (attorney docket number 100.1039USPR entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BLIND SLOTS FOR SELF DRILLING/SELF-TAPPING SCREWS”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1039 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,593 (attorney docket number 100.1040USPR entitled “THERMAL MANAGEMENT”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1040 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,762 (attorney docket number 100.1062USPR entitled “SERF BOARD COMPONENTS”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1062 Application; U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/060,740 (attorney docket number 100.1064US01 entitled “PULL-OUT SHELF FOR USE IN A CONFINED SPACE FORMED IN A STRUCTURE”) filed on Jun. 11, 2008 and which is referred to herein as the '1064 Application; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/627,255 (Attorney Docket No. 100.829US01), entitled “A DISTRIBUTED REMOTE BASE STATION SYSTEM” (the '829 Application); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/627,251 (Attorney Docket No. 100.828US01), entitled “MODULAR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM” (the '828 Application).
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 61060581 | Jun 2008 | US |
Child | 12356295 | US |