The present disclosure relates to telescoping slide assemblies, and particularly to telescoping slide assemblies mounted on racks to support a piece of equipment for movement relative to the rack. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to bracket systems for mounting telescoping slide assemblies on racks included in an equipment cabinet.
A telescoping slide assembly support system in accordance with the present disclosure comprises a telescoping slide assembly, a rack for use in an equipment cabinet, and an adaptor for the telescoping slide assembly. The telescoping slide assembly is configured to be coupled quickly and easily to the vertical rack using the adaptor to facilitate mounting the stationary slide included in the telescoping slide assembly in a fixed position relative to the rack. A load-carrying slide also included in the telescoping slide can be coupled to a piece of equipment to support that equipment for movement relative to the vertical rack first into and out of the equipment cabinet.
The adaptor is configured to enable a user to couple the telescoping slide assembly to a rack formed, for example, to include a series of square-shaped or rectangle-shaped retainer apertures. The adaptor is “clipped” or otherwise mounted on the rack. The adaptor is shaped to mate, for example, with square-shaped or rectangle-shaped retainer apertures formed in the rack. The adaptor is formed to include apertures to permit various fixed and movable retainers included in the telescoping slide assembly to extend through the adaptor and into retainer apertures formed in the rack to allow the telescoping slide assembly to mate with the rack.
In an illustrative embodiment, the telescoping slide assembly includes a slide support coupled to a stationary slide and formed to include a fixed retainer adapted to extend into a first retainer receiver formed in the adaptor. The slide support further includes a movable retainer adapted to extend into a second retainer receiver formed in the adaptor. The movable and fixed retainers cooperate to couple the slide support and the stationary slide to the adaptor and the rack to support the telescoping slide assembly in a mounted position ion the rack.
The slide support further includes a movable actuator supported on an anchor mount for movement about a central axis established by the anchor mount. The movable actuator is configured to move relative to the anchor mount so as to move the movable retainer toward and away from the fixed retainer, at the option of a user gripping and manipulating the actuator. In an illustrative embodiment, the retainers are coupled to the adaptor and rack by moving the movable retainer toward the fixed retainer to a “lowered” position, inserting the fixed retainer into the first retainer receiver formed in the adaptor and inserting the lowered movable retainer into the second retainer receiver formed in the adaptor, and then moving the movable retainer away from the fixed retainer to a “raised” position to mate the retainers to the adaptor and the rack.
Features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:
An equipment cabinet 10 includes an interior region 12 adapted to store equipment therein as shown, for example, in
Each vertical rack 18 includes a forwardly facing surface 20, a rearwardly facing surface 22, and a series of retainer apertures 19, as shown, for example, in
In the illustrated embodiment, each retainer aperture 19 formed in rack 18 is square-shaped. Adaptor 13 is configured to be mounted on rack 18 as suggested, for example, in
Adaptor 13 is used to allow a technician to couple a telescoping slide assembly 16 to a rack 18 even though the assembly 16 includes retainer lugs that are not shaped to match the shape of the lug-receiving openings provided by retainer apertures 19 formed in rack 18. In the illustrated embodiment, non-square retainer lugs 61, 62 included in telescoping slide assembly 16 are “anchored” in square-shaped retainer apertures 19 using adaptor 13. These retainer lugs 61, 62 are smaller in size than the openings provided by retainer apertures 19 formed in rack 18.
Telescoping slide assembly 16 includes any suitable number of slides. In the illustrations, telescoping slide assembly 16 includes interconnected load-carrying slide 26, intermediate slide 28, and stationary slide 30. These slides 26, 28, and 30 are movable relative to one another to extend and retract load-carrying slide 26 relative to stationary slide 30 between fully extended and retracted positions as suggested in
A slide support 11 is provided in each telescoping slide assembly 16 so that each end of each stationary slide 30 can be mounted to an adjacent rack 18 and the adaptor 13 mounted on rack 18 quickly and easily. Thus, the telescoping slide assemblies 16 used to support equipment 14 are positioned to lie in spaced-apart parallel relation to one another in fixed positions on racks 18. A slide support 11 of the type shown, for example, in
Adaptor 13 is configured to occlude a portion of at least one of retainer apertures 19 formed in rack 18 when adaptor 13 is coupled to rack 18, as suggested, for example, in
It is within the scope of this disclosure to configure adaptor 13 to mount on rack 18 and to receive and mate with one or more retainer lugs included in a telescoping slide assembly, which lugs are not configured to be coupled normally to rack 18. Although many racks (like rack 18) feature square-shaped retainer apertures (like apertures 19), many retainers associated with telescoping slide assemblies are not designed to be mated with racks formed to include square-shaped apertures. An adaptor in accordance with the present disclosure may be coupled to, for example, a rack formed to include square-shaped apertures (or apertures having a first shape), and configured to receive and mate with non-square retainers (or retainers having a different second shape) so that a telescoping slide assembly including the retainers can be coupled to the rack using the adaptor.
In the illustrated embodiment, as suggested in
First and second retainer receivers 114, 115 are coupled to front wall 110 as shown, for example, in
In the illustrated embodiment, as suggested in
In an illustrative embodiment, adaptor 13 is made of a spring metal. Adaptor 13 can be “clipped” to rack 18 by spreading front and rear walls 110, 111 apart, inserting a portion of rack 18 in rack receiver channel 113, locating first retainer receiver 114 to occlude a portion of retainer aperture 19a (and, e.g., extend into retainer aperture 19a), locating tab 116 in confronting relation to retainer aperture 19b (to extend, e.g., into retainer aperture 19b), locating second retainer receiver 115 to occlude a portion of retainer aperture 19c (and, e.g., extend into retainer aperture 19c), and releasing front and rear walls 110, 111 so that the walls 110, 111 “snap” or otherwise move toward one another to engage forwardly and rearwardly facing surfaces 20, 22 of rack 18.
As suggested in
Front wall 110 is formed to include a lateral notch 121 as shown, for example, in FIG. 6. Lateral notch 121 cooperates with lug notch 119 formed in first retainer receiver 114 to form a T-shaped opening 122 in adaptor 13.
As also suggested in
Front wall 110 is also formed to include a second lateral notch 131 as shown, for example, in FIG. 6. Lateral notch 131 cooperates with lug notch 129 formed in second retainer receiver 115 to form a T-shaped opening 132 in adaptor 13. Front wall 110 is also formed to include an anchor post retainer aperture 133 located about midway between T-shaped openings 122, 132 as shown, for example, in
Rear wall 111 of adaptor 13 is formed to include a first retainer orifice 134 and a second retainer orifice 136 arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to first retainer orifice 134 as suggested in FIG. 6. In the illustrated embodiment, tab 116 is located about midway between first and second retainer orifices 134, 136. Orifices 134, 136 may be formed to have any suitable shape and in the illustrated embodiment are shown to have a somewhat square shape with rounded corners. First retainer orifice 134 is located to be aligned with retainer aperture 19a formed in rack 18 and second retainer orifice 136 is located to be aligned with retainer aperture 19c formed in rack 18 when adaptor 13 is coupled to rack 18 as suggested, for example, in
Tab 116 is formed to include an anchor post retainer aperture 138 and is arranged to lie at an acute angle 139 relative to rear wall 111 as suggested, for example, in
As suggested in
Slide support 11 includes a slide support bracket 32 coupled to stationary slide 30. Slide support bracket 32 is formed to include a series of retainer apertures 33, 34, and 35, as suggested, for example, in
As suggested in
Slide support 11 also includes a movable retainer 38 and a retainer mover linkage 40 configured to move movable retainer 38 between raised and lowered positions in a retainer passageway defined by aligned retainer apertures 19a, 35 (when operated by a technician) when slide support bracket 32 is mated to rack 18 so that slide support 11 can be coupled to and uncoupled from rack 18 quickly and easily in a manner suggested in
Slide support bracket 32 includes a slide mount portion 42 coupled to stationary slide 30 and a rack mount portion 44 arranged to lie at an angle to slide mount portion 42 as shown, for example, in
Rack mount portion 44 includes a forwardly facing surface 52 and a rearwardly facing surface 54 as shown, for example, in
As shown best in
As shown best in
Retainer lug body 64 is also sized to move up and down in that retainer passageway 19a, 35, 122, 134 between a “lowered and unlocked position” shown, for example, in
Lug head 66 is formed to include inclined cam surface 67. Inclined cam surface 67 is arranged to engage an edge formed on rack 18 to define retainer aperture 19a and to urge movable retainer 38 in a direction 261 (see
Retainer mover 40 is configured to be used by a technician to move retainer lug 62 quickly and easily to either its (1) lowered and unlocked position or (2) raised and locked position. In the illustrated embodiment, retainer mover 40 includes a movable actuator 70 and a driver pin 72 pivotably coupled to the movable actuator 70 and arranged to move in boomerang-shaped slot 63 formed in mid-section 68 of movable retainer 38 to cause movable retainer 38 to pivot about a retainer pivot axis 74 established by pivot mount 76 to move retainer lug body 64 in retainer passageway 19a, 35, 122, 134 between the (1) lowered and unlocked position and (2) the raised and locked position in response to movement of movable actuator 70 about a “floating” pivot axis 89 established, in part, by a deformable O-ring 77 mounted in an aperture formed in movable actuator 70. In the illustrated embodiment, deformable O-ring 77 constitutes the means for mounting the pivotable actuator for pivoting movement about the actuator pivot axis 89.
Although a deformable O-ring is used in the illustrated embodiment, any suitable deformable or resilient means may be used. Also, it is possible to eliminate deformable O-ring 77, and instead pivotally mount movable actuator 70 directly on anchor mount 85. Reference is hereby made to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/600,660, filed Jun. 20, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein for a more detailed description of O-ring 77 and the floating nature of pivot axis 89.
In the illustrated embodiment, pivot mount 76 is coupled to slide mount portion 42 of slide support bracket 32. Base 60 of movable retainer 38 is arranged to intercept retainer pivot axis 74 as suggested in FIG. 13.
As shown best in
A connector 90 is also included in slide support 11 of telescoping slide assembly 16 as suggested in
As shown best in
A slide support bracket 232 in accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure is shown, for example, in
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/403,850, filed Aug. 15, 2002, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
516583 | Adkins | Mar 1894 | A |
1698252 | Ashe | Jan 1929 | A |
2394729 | Tinnerman | Feb 1946 | A |
2644588 | Brown | Jul 1953 | A |
2749200 | Kuss | Jun 1956 | A |
2809086 | Fall | Oct 1957 | A |
3054511 | Erismann | Sep 1962 | A |
3133768 | Klakovich | May 1964 | A |
4423914 | Vander Ley | Jan 1984 | A |
4441772 | Fielding et al. | Apr 1984 | A |
4474492 | Fleitas | Oct 1984 | A |
5063715 | Goodman | Nov 1991 | A |
5199777 | Taima et al. | Apr 1993 | A |
5292198 | Rock et al. | Mar 1994 | A |
5405195 | Hobbs | Apr 1995 | A |
5433517 | Fleisch | Jul 1995 | A |
5580138 | Grabher | Dec 1996 | A |
5620244 | Yang | Apr 1997 | A |
5632542 | Krivec | May 1997 | A |
5671988 | O'Neill | Sep 1997 | A |
5683159 | Johnson | Nov 1997 | A |
5730514 | Hashemi | Mar 1998 | A |
5791498 | Mills | Aug 1998 | A |
5823648 | Domenig | Oct 1998 | A |
5904412 | Lammens | May 1999 | A |
6027194 | Fleisch | Feb 2000 | A |
6095345 | Gibbons | Aug 2000 | A |
6209979 | Fall et al. | Apr 2001 | B1 |
6230903 | Abbott | May 2001 | B1 |
6273534 | Bueley et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6398041 | Abbott | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6422399 | Castillo et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
6450747 | Fischer | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6681942 | Haney | Jan 2004 | B2 |
6746193 | Drake | Jun 2004 | B1 |
6749275 | Cutler et al. | Jun 2004 | B2 |
20040094492 | Greenwald et al. | May 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
817754 | Jul 1969 | CA |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20040089779 A1 | May 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60403850 | Aug 2002 | US |