Abstract:
A jumper management assembly for managing the routing of fiber optic cable jumpers is disclosed. The assembly fits within a conventional equipment rack. The assembly has a panel with two fiber support trays attached on its back side. The assembly also has ports located in the panel near the support trays. An excess length of a fiber optic cable jumper may be routed from the rear of electronics or other components in the equipment rack using the support trays, portals, and panel.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention is directed to a jumper management assembly and in particular to an assembly for managing optical fibers that mounts to a rack containing a variety of components, including electronic systems. 
     Fiber optic cables are used in a variety of ways, including transmitting voice, data, and video communications, which may require the use of electronic systems and other components that may require fiber optic jumpers (e.g., transceivers, connector panel housings, etc.). These electronic systems and components are usually flush mounted in a large equipment rack, with the majority of the system protruding from the rear of the equipment rack. With connections for the optical fibers being located on the rear side of the electronics, a large number of fiber optic cables must be routed from the rear side of the electronics to the front side in order to be interconnected with other fiber optic cables, usually in the connector panel housings. Care must be taken in the routing of the optical fibers to avoid bending the optical fibers more than a specified radius (the bend radius), usually 1.25-1.50 inches. Additionally, sagging and intertwined optical fibers resulting from the routing present not only a logistical problem, but an unsightly mess. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Thus, a routing system is needed that alleviates the problem of sagging, intertwined optical fibers as they are routed from the front to rear, and rear to front, of an equipment rack. 
     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the assembly particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as the appended drawings. 
     To achieve these and other advantages, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention is directed to an optical fiber management assembly for routing optical fiber in equipment racks, the management assembly comprising a panel mountable to the equipment racks in the vicinity of electronic components, the panel having at least one portal therethrough allowing for optical fibers to be passed therethrough, and at least one support tray extending rearward of the panel to support the optical fibers from a rearward side of the electronic components to a front side of the equipment racks. 
     In another aspect, the invention is also directed to a method of routing optical fibers in an equipment rack using an optical fiber management assembly, the equipment rack having electronic components and connector panel housings, and the optical fiber management assembly having a panel with at least one portal for optical fibers to be passed therethrough; and at least one support tray extending rearward of the panel, the method comprising the steps of guiding the fiber optic cable jumper along the support tray with one end of the fiber optic cable jumper extending through the portal, attaching one end of the fiber optic jumper to the electronic component, attaching another end of the fiber optic jumper to a connector sleeve in the connector panel housing. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing jumper management assembly constructed according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1 without the cover on and the assembly installed in a portion of an equipment rack; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the assembly and portion of the rack of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 4 is rear perspective view of the assembly and portion of the rack of FIG. 2, without the electronic component for clarity. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As illustrated in FIG. 1, jumper management assembly  10  has a front panel  12 , two support trays  14 , 16 , and a removable cover  18 . The front panel  12  includes a base wall  20 , with a top wall  22 , bottom wall  24 , and side walls  26 , 28 , which define a rear cavity  30 . The panel  12  also has two mounting flanges  32 , 34  attached to the side walls  26 , 28  at the rear of the panel  12 , that mount to an equipment rack  36  and allows the front panel  12  to extend forward of the equipment rack  36 . See FIGS. 2 and 4. 
     The two support trays  14 , 16  are attached to and extending rearward from front panel  12 . As seen in FIG. 4, the support trays  14 , 16  are preferably mounted in the rear cavity  30 . The support trays  14 , 16  are generally unshaped, although one of the upwardly extending sides  42  may be longer than the other  43 . The trays  14 ,  16  could also be of other shapes, too, as long as they supported the optical fibers. The support trays  14 ,  16  also have routing clips  44  attached to the support trays to loosely hold optical fibers therein. While the clips  44  are shown to be about as wide as the supporting trays  14 ,  16 , they could be of any size (width, height, and length) as needed to hold the optical fibers that are to be routed. The support trays  14 ,  16  may also have brackets  46 ,  48  attached in an appropriate position to attach to the equipment rack  36 . See FIG.  4 . 
     The support trays  14 ,  16  may also be mounted adjacent to portals  49  that are located in base wall  20 . Preferably, portals  49  include a grommet  51  to protect the optical fibers as they pass through the portals  49  from damage due to sharp edges and prevent the fiber from being pushed down on a hard edge. While the preferred embodiment illustrates three portals  49 , any number of portals could be used. The two side portals allow for the fibers to be easily routed back and forth along the support trays  14 ,  16 . In the event that fibers may need to be routed directly from the front of the assembly  10  to the front of another rack-mounted element (such as another assembly or connector panel housing, for example), the optical fibers could be routed behind assembly  10  through the middle portal  49  (or even the end portals), without the optical fibers passing between the base wall  20  and the cover  18 , which would make the front of the rack unsightly and unmanageable. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, with the assembly  10  shown mounted in a rack  36 , a plurality of brackets  50  that are secured to the front surface of panel  12  and extend forward therefrom to support the optical fibers as they are routed along the front of panel  12 . The brackets  50  are preferably spaced evenly along the front panel  12 , although any arrangement that prevents the sagging of optical fibers could be used. Each of the brackets  50  are generally made from integrally formed members and are generally square in shape. Specifically, the brackets  50  include a vertical rearward brace  52 , a horizontal top brace  54 , a downward protruding flange  56  on the forward end of top brace  54 , a horizontal bottom brace  60 , and an upward protruding flange  62 . Bottom braces  60  are longer than top braces  54  so that flanges  62  are parallel to, but located forward of flanges  56 , thereby providing an opening into the bracket  50  so the optical fibers can be inserted without excessive bending. Brackets  50  are mounted to base wall  20  along their rearward braces  52 . 
     Cover  18  detachably mounts to the flanges  62  of brackets  50  with a fastener  64  on each end of the cover  18 . Attaching cover  18  to flanges  62  result in cover  18  being parallel to and spaced forward from base wall  20  by attachment to the brackets  50 . The fastener  64  is preferably a swell latch that is inserted into a hole  66  in flanges  62 . However, any other fasteners (e.g., a quarter-turn, etc.) that allow for the cover  18  to be removably attached are also acceptable. 
     An electronic component  68  may also be mounted in the rack  36  as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Typically, the electronics component  68  have connections on its back side  72  requiring the fiber optic jumpers  70  to emanate from the back. However, the jumpers  70  usually need to be routed back to the front of the rack  36  to connect with other components (such as with connector panels in a connector panel housing, not shown) in the same rack  36  or a neighboring rack (not shown). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fiber optic jumpers  70  extend from the back side  72  along a support tray  14 , through a portal  49  in the front panel  12 . From there, the fiber optic jumpers  70  can be routed to other components (not shown) or other racks. While electronic component  68  is shown above assembly  10 , electronic component  68  may also be mounted below assembly  10 . Indeed, if two electronic components are mounted in a rack with a single assembly, then the assembly could be mounted with one above and one below. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the disclosed process and product without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.