Abstract:
A louvered door assembly for an outdoor electronic enclosure includes an outer panel attached to an inner panel. Channels for holding louvers are attached to both panels. Each channel has slots formed therein which receive the individual louvers and hold them in position without fasteners. The inner panel holds the louvers in the slots. The louvered door assembly provides a clean look, a compact arrangement, large air flow and resists water ingress into the enclosure.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The present invention claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/041,560, filed Apr. 1, 2008, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]    The present invention is directed toward a louver system for an outdoor electronics enclosure and more specifically, toward a louver door for an outdoor electronics enclosure having slots for receiving the individual louvers. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]    Outdoor enclosures for telecommunications equipment and other electronics are well known. These cabinets must control the temperature of the equipment they contain within specified temperature levels. For enclosures housing equipment with extremely high heat dissipation, the only method that provides sufficient heat transfer is direct air cooling. To ensure the necessary airflow, openings or louvers must be placed in the enclosure to allow air to enter and exit. 
         [0004]    While many such enclosures are available, it is desirable to provide devices which are aesthetically pleasing, provide large cross-sectional areas for air intake, are compact, mitigate the impact of solar heating, reduce acoustic emission, prevent moisture ingress and are scalable to different sizes. Further, simplicity of manufacture is desirable to decrease costs. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]    The present invention addresses one or more of these needs by providing a louvered door system having an outer panel, an inner panel, and central louver retaining channels. The channels have slots for holding the louvers. The slots are open at one end so that the louvers can be easily inserted. The inner panel holds the louvers in place so that mechanical fasteners such as rivets, screws, etc. are unnecessary. 
         [0006]    The outer panel provides a flush face with the enclosure to make the device more attractive. The louvered open area is large to increase the air intake. The overall size is reduced and yet remains scalable for different sized enclosures. 
         [0007]    Another aspect of the invention is that the overlapping louvers provide protection from moisture ingress and further safety protection for personnel and equipment. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0008]    These other aspects and features of embodiments of the present invention will be better understood after reading the following detailed description, together with the attached drawings, wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an outdoor enclosure having the louvered door of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the outer cover of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view from the rear of the outer cover and channel for holding the louvers; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the inner cover and channel for holding the louvers; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a cross-section view of the louvered door of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the door assembly of the present invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a side view of the channel for holding the louvers. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]    The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. 
         [0017]    Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. 
         [0018]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. 
         [0019]    As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.” It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature. Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature&#39;s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly. 
         [0020]    Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  illustrates an enclosure  20  for housing telecommunications and other electronics in an outdoor setting. The enclosure  20  includes a louvered door assembly  10  mounted on the front of the enclosure  20 . The louvered door assembly  10  may be removed for access to the inside of the enclosure  20 . Louvers  22  are present in the center of the louvered door assembly  10  to allow air to enter and exit the enclosure  20 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  shows an outer panel  11  of the louvered door assembly  10 . The outer panel  11  includes a front face  12  having a central opening  14  which forms an entrance area for the air. At each edge of the front face  12 , a flange  16  is formed to provide a side for the outer panel  11 . This flange  16  may be formed from the same metal piece as the front face  12  merely by bending the metal along an appropriate line. Latches  18  are included on the upper portion of the front face  12  to hold the louvered door assembly  10  onto the enclosure  20 . Aside from the latches  18 , the front face  12  has no other projections, leading to a more attractive flat surface. The side flanges  16  may also be made flush with the sides of the enclosure  20  in order to improve the appearance of the enclosure  20 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows the louvered door assembly  10  from the rear in a partially assembled condition. The flanges  16  are seen as enclosing channels  24  for holding the louvers  22 . Closeout channels  26  are also provided above and below the louvered area to prevent air from leaking around the louvers  22  so that air movement is limited to the area of the louvers  22 . The backside of the latches  18  are also seen near the top of the louvered door assembly  10 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows an inner panel  21  of the louvered door assembly  10  from the front in a partially assembled condition. The inner panel  21  is shown as having flanges  30  along its edges into which the channels  24  are received. Closeout channels  26  are also provided at the top and bottom area. The louvers  22  are seen extending from one of the channels  24  to the other. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the louvered door assembly  10 . The outer panel  11  and the inner panel  21  extend around the channel  24  which holds louvers  22 . An air gap is formed between the two panels in areas not covered by the louvers  22 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing the inner panel  21  side of the louvered door assembly  10 . As can be seen, the flanges  16  from the outer panel  11  extend backwardly to enclose both the channels  24  and the inner panel  21 . A metal filter  32  may be placed behind the louvers  22  and in front of the inner panel  21 . This helps to prevent the ingress of water and other material into the enclosure  20  from outside. A gasket  34  is placed around the periphery of the inside of flanges  16  so as to form a tight seal with the side edges of the enclosure  20 . This also prevents air from entering the enclosure  20  without passing through the louvers  22 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 7  shows a closer view of one of the channels  24  which hold the louvers  22 . The channel  24  has a flat surface into which is punched or cut a series of parallel slots  25 . The lower end of each slot  25  is closed, but the upper end is open. The slots  25  extend at an angle so that when the louvers  22  are inserted, they overlap, e.g., as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the front face  12  of the outer panel  11 . In fact, one can not see through the gaps between the louvers  22 , even at a slight plus or minus angle from the perpendicular direction because of the louver depth. 
         [0027]    In assembling the louvered door assembly  10 , the channels  24  are connected to the outer panel  11  using rivets or other means. The individual louvers  22  are then placed into the slots  25  from the upper open end. The inner panel  21  is then connected to the channels  24  so as to close the slots  25 . Thus, the louvers  22  are prevented from leaving the slots  25  by the presence of the inner panel  21 . This arrangement avoids the need for individually connecting the louvers  22  using rivets or other means. Accordingly, assembly of the louvers  22  is made simpler and cheaper. 
         [0028]    The present arrangement of the louvers  22  provides a wide area of air inlet. The louvers  22  extend across the entire width of the central opening  14 . This differs from prior art devices which typically use stamped louvers which are relatively narrow in depth. When louvers are stamped out, as in the prior art, the louvers do not overlap as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the front face of the outer door. Rather, a direct line of sight exists through the gaps between the louvers, as viewed at the perpendicular to the front face of the outer door. Such an arrangement does not resist the ingress of water into an enclosure as well as the present invention, especially wind driven rain. In addition, the vertical distance between louvers may be larger, such as 0.5 inch. This also allows additional air to flow through the louvers. 
         [0029]    This arrangement of louvers  22  also allows for scalability of this arrangement. Thus, louvered door assemblies  10  having the same width of the central opening  14  but a different length may be made with the same channels  24 , but merely shortened or lengthened. If desired, the assembly may be made wider and similar parts can still be used, with the channels  24  being used without change and the louvers  22  being made longer. It is also possible to use two louvered areas side-by-side depending on the size of the enclosure  20 . Thus, this arrangement is completely scalable which allows for easy manufacture of varying sized enclosures  20 . 
         [0030]    It should also be noted that the louvers  22  do not extend forward from the outer panel  11 , but are recessed within the opening  14 . This makes the details of the enclosure  20  less obtrusive and more aesthetically pleasing. Only the latches  18  extend outside the outer panel  11 , which simplifies the appearance of the enclosure  20 . 
         [0031]    The overall thickness of the louvered door assembly  10  is minimized by having an overlapping louver  22  arrangement as compared to punched louvers in the prior art. The integration of the channels  24 , the outside panel  11  and inner panel  21  also decreases the overall size of the louvered door assembly  10 . The overlapping louvers  22  provide a maximum air opening while reducing the possibility of moisture ingress or accidental entry of a person or tool into the enclosure  20 . 
         [0032]    Since the enclosures  20  are often located in an area receiving sunlight, the enclosure  20  can be subject to solar heating where the light shines on the enclosure&#39;s wall(s). The louvered door assembly  10  helps avoid this problem by providing an air gap between the outer panel  11  and inner panel  21 . This air gap acts as insulation against the heat generated on the outer panel  11  by the sunlight. Similarly, acoustic noise from any fans or electronics inside the enclosure  20  may be reduced due to this dual wall construction. 
         [0033]    The present invention has been described herein in terms of several preferred embodiments. However, modifications and additions to these embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It is intended that all such modifications and additions comprise a part of the present invention to the extent that they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto.