Patent Application
20150122752
The present technology generally relates racks for telecommunications equipment; and more specifically relates to a rack mounting kit for mounting a switch chassis.
Information technology and telecommunications equipment (“IT and telecom equipment”) is typically stored on equipment racks (“racks”). These racks offer flexibility of positioning, allow appropriate spacing, and allow for a clean installation for access to add, remove, repair, or replace equipment. Traditional rack mount kits generally require more than one person to safely and reliably install telecommunications equipment into a rack. The device chassis that compose this IT and telecom equipment are often heavy and of a large size, making it difficult for a single person to safely hold the device chassis steady while attaching the equipment to the rack.
While one might be tempted to look at racks that are designed and used for other purposes, such as utility racks, for solutions, these other racks are not faced with the same design constraints that encumber racks for IT and telecom equipment. Specifically, racks for IT and telecom equipment are located in a special room that is modified to provide appropriate electrical power and HVAC control (temperature, humidity, and/or particulate). Thus, as a business expands, this room can become very space constrained, as there is often a need to fit as many device chassis in one rack as possible. In addition, some open space must exist as telecommunications devices generate heat that must be able to be dissipated, or at a minimum, must not be directly conducted to neighboring devices. Therefore, shelving and direct staking approaches are not practical.
Traditional racks are also prone to being laterally flexible when telecommunications equipment chassis are not yet installed. Such flexibility makes installing IT and telecom equipment chassis into a rack difficult to accomplish, especially by only one person. Installed equipment actually increases the rigidity of the rack because the installed equipment acts as a lateral support between the vertical members.
Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appended claims. However, the accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding, illustrate disclosed aspects and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology. Understanding that these drawings depict only example embodiments of the disclosure and are not, therefore, to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principles, herein, are described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology can be practiced. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosed principles. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a more thorough understanding of the subject technology. The features and advantages of the disclosure can be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or can be learned by the practice of the principles set forth herein.
Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below. However, it will be clear and apparent that the subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and may be practiced without these details. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without parting from the spirit and the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, structures and components may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology.
Overview:
The disclosed technology includes an improved rack mounting kit which makes it practical for a single person to install an IT and telecom equipment chassis (“chassis”), such as a chassis for a switch, router, etc. In some embodiments, the present technology includes two complimentary brackets that each contain an edge or lip for the chassis to rest upon, like a partial shelf. In addition, a removable bracket can be installed to provide extra structure between the sides of the rack, in order to reduce lateral movement. Several possible embodiments of the present technology are disclosed herein. However, the described embodiments are not meant to be limiting, and persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate many potential variations that are within the level of skill in the art. Further, while aspects of the present technology will be described as embodiments, it will be appreciated that aspects of one embodiment are usable with other embodiments, and such is explicitly contemplated herein.
Description:
The present technology includes an improved rack mounting kit, which makes it practical for a single person to install a telecommunications equipment chassis (chassis), such as a chassis for a switch, router, server, etc. In some embodiments, the present technology includes two complimentary brackets that each contain an edge or lip for the chassis to rest upon, like a partial shelf. Additionally, a removable bracket can be installed to provide extra structure between the sides of the rack, to reduce lateral movement.
The two sets of complimentary horizontal members (101a/109a and 101b/109b) are horizontally expandable to allow installation in multiple racks designs where the distance between the front and rear vertical members are within a specified range. In the example embodiment, the front horizontal members 101a and 101b are formed with U-channels at the top and bottom. The rear horizontal members 109a and 109b, in the example embodiment, are configured to slide inside of the U-channels formed by the respective complimentary front horizontal members 101a and 101b. The length of each complimentary horizontal member (101a/109a and 101b/109b) can be varied by sliding the rear horizontal member 109a or 109b away from the respective front horizontal member 101a or 101b.
Horizontal members 101a and 101b both include a side rail portion 104a and 104b, respectively, and lip portion 102a and 102b, respectively. (Lip portion 102b of horizontal member 101b is not shown in
Horizontal members 101a and 101b both include a male latch portion 110. (Latch portion of member 101b is not shown in
The design of the cross brace may include stiffening features, such as ribs, gussets, and bosses, and may have a shape that increases bending stiffness, such as I-beam or curved cross-section.
As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art the presently described technology allows an operator to freely support a chassis on complimentary lips that create a shelf-like feature as the operator affixes the chassis to the rack. The present technology makes alignment between the chassis and rack significantly easier, such that a chassis can be installed on a rack easily and safely by one person. The present technology does not require rollers or ball bearings for installation of a chassis. The bottom of the chassis contacts lip portions 102a and 102b, so when sliding the chassis onto the rack kit, the friction surface area is limited. Further, the complimentary horizontal members (101a/109a and 101b/109b) can be made from a strong material with a low coefficient of friction, such as steel, to allow the chassis to slide more easily during installation.
To install the present technology onto a four-vertical post rack, the following method may be used. With respective front and rear horizontal members already assembled, one front horizontal member can be attached to the rack. This is often done with two threaded screws. The complimentary rear horizontal member can then be slid out from the front horizontal member until it contacts the rear vertical member of the rack. This rear horizontal member can then be attached to the rack. Again, this is often done with two threaded screws. The same process is repeated with the front and rear horizontal member on the opposite side of the rack, wherein the complimentary horizontal members (101a/109a and 101b/109b) are parallel to each other. A cross brace may then be placed near the rear of the front horizontal members. It may be located behind the latches but ahead of the rear end of the front horizontal members. The hardware chassis is then lifted and placed onto the lip portions of the front horizontal members. The hardware chassis is slide toward the rear of the rack. The latches on the front horizontal members may then engage receptacles located on the rear and/or sides of the chassis. The front and/or sides of the chassis may contain a bracket, such that the front portion of the chassis can be secured to the rack. This is often done with a threaded screw on each side.
Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explain aspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of the claims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements in such examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use these examples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further and although some subject matter may have been described in language specific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. For example, such functionality can be distributed differently or performed in components other than those identified herein. Rather, the described features and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systems and methods within the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/900,338, filed Nov. 5, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61900338 | Nov 2013 | US |
