Corner Duct with Co-Extruded Hinges

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a one-piece corner duct that routes wires in a corner of an enclosure. The one-piece corner duct includes a back wall and sidewalls. The back wall has at least one co-extruded hinge that enables the back wall to pivot to allow the one-piece corner duct to conform to a corner of the enclosure. The sidewalls have a plurality of fingers that retain the wires in the corner duct. The fingers also maintain a cover on the one-piece corner duct to provide access to the wires therein.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of the present invention with a double co-extruded hinge;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 1 in a pre-installed configuration;

FIG. 3 illustrates an end view of the corner duct of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates an end view of the double co-extruded hinge of the corner duct of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exploded view of the corner duct of FIG. 1 with a mounting clip secured to a back panel and a side panel of an enclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded view of the corner duct of FIG. 1 with a mounting clip and a cover;

FIG. 7 illustrates a top view of the corner duct of FIG. 5 to be mounted to the mounting clip secured to the enclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a top view of the double co-extruded hinge of the corner duct of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 illustrates a top view of the mounting clip to be installed in the pockets of the corner duct of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of the corner duct of FIG. 1 mounted to the mounting clip;

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the double co-extruded hinge and the corner duct of FIG. 1 mounted to the mounting clip;

FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 1 to be mounted to the enclosure by mounting rails;

FIG. 13 illustrates a top view of a portion of the corner duct of FIG. 12 to be mounted to one of the mounting rails;

FIG. 14 illustrates a top view of a portion of the corner duct of FIG. 12 mounted to one of the mounting rails;

FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 1 to be mounted to the enclosure by mounting discs;

FIG. 16 illustrates a top view of a portion of the corner duct of FIG. 15 to be mounted to one of the mounting discs;

FIG. 17 illustrates a top view of a portion of the corner duct of FIG. 15 mounted to one of the mounting discs;

FIG. 18 illustrates a perspective view of an alternative corner duct of the present invention with a single co-extruded hinge;

FIG. 19 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 18 in a pre-installed configuration;

FIG. 20 illustrates an end view of the corner duct of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 illustrates an end view of the single co-extruded hinge of the corner duct of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 illustrates a top view of the corner duct of FIG. 18 mounted to a mounting clip;

FIG. 23 illustrates a top view of the single co-extruded hinge of the corner duct of FIG. 18;

FIG. 24 illustrates a perspective view of an alternative molded corner duct of the present invention with hinging sidewalls mounted to an enclosure;

FIG. 25 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 24 in a pre-installed configuration;

FIG. 26 illustrates a perspective view of the disengaged latch mechanism of the corner duct of FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 illustrates an end view of the latch mechanism of FIG. 25;

FIG. 28 illustrates a perspective view of the snap-fit mechanism of the corner duct of FIG. 25;

FIG. 29 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 25 to be assembled to a second corner duct;

FIG. 30 illustrates a perspective view of the corner ducts of FIG. 29 assembled to each other;

FIG. 31 illustrates a cross section of the snap-fit mechanism taken along the line 31-31 of FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 illustrates a perspective view of the corner duct of FIG. 24;

FIG. 33 illustrates a top view of the corner duct of FIG. 24 mounted to the enclosure;

FIG. 34 illustrates a perspective view of the engaged latch mechanism of the corner duct of FIG. 24; and

FIG. 35 illustrates a top view of the engaged latch mechanism of the corner duct of FIG. 24.

Claims

1. A one-piece corner duct for routing wires in an enclosure, the one-piece corner duct comprising: a back wall having at least one co-extruded hinge: andsidewalls having d plurality of fingers.whereby the at least one co-extruded hinge enables the back wall to pivot to allow the one-piece corner duct to conform to a corner of the enclosure.

2. The one-piece corner duct of claim 1, wherein the back wall includes a plurality of pockets for receiving a mounting device that mounts the one-piece corner duct to the enclosure.

3. The one-piece corner duct of claim 1, wherein the back wall includes latches for receiving a divider wall.

4. The one-piece corner duct of claim 3, wherein the back wall includes one co-extruded hinge positioned between the latches.

5. The one-piece corner duct of claim 3, wherein the back wall includes two co-extruded hinges positioned adjacent the latches.

6. The one-piece corner duct of claim 1, wherein the fingers are angled for providing a pre-load that maintains a cover installed over the one-piece corner duct.

7. The one-piece corner duct of claim 1, wherein the fingers include a double restricted slot with a detent nub for retaining the wires in the one-piece corner duct.

8. A one-piece corner duct and a mounting device assembly for routing wires in an enclosure, the assembly comprising: a one-piece corner duct including a back wall and sidewalls, the back wall having at least one co-extruded hinge and a plurality of pockets; anda mounting device positioned in at least one of the pockets in the back wall of the one-piece corner duct for mounting the one-piece corner duct to the enclosure.

9. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the mounting device includes a mounting clip.

10. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the mounting device includes mounting rails.

11. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the mounting device includes mounting discs.

12. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the mounting device includes fasteners.

13. A one-piece corner duct for routing wires in an enclosure, the one-piece corner duct comprising: a back wall having a plurality of first latch members; andsidewalls hinged to the back wall, each sidewall having a plurality of second latch members,whereby the hinged sidewalls pivot to conform the one-piece corner duct to a corner of the enclosure and the first latch members and the second latch members cooperate to lock the sidewalls.

14. The one-piece corner duct of claim 13, further comprising a snap-fit mechanism for joining adjacent one-piece corner ducts.