Abstract:
A fiber management shelf includes a housing having an opening, a door shiftable between open and closed positions, and a hinge connecting the door to the housing. The hinge includes a hinge pin and a receiver configured to receive and rotatably support the hinge pin. The receiver includes a channel having first and second sides defining a channel opening having a first channel width and at least one boss on the first or second channel side so that the channel has a second width at the boss less than the first channel width. The hinge pin has a first portion with a first width in a first direction and a second width in a second direction less than the first hinge pin width, and the first hinge pin width is greater than the second channel width and the second hinge pin width is less than the second channel width.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications No. 61/153,613, filed Feb. 18, 2009, and 61/153,617, filed Feb. 18, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a fiber management shelf having a removable door and, more specifically, toward a fiber management shelf having a door pivotable between first and second positions that is removable from the fiber management shelf in an intermediate position between the first and second positions. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Data centers that support one or more businesses, factories or residential areas typically comprise one or more racks or cabinets filled with interconnection sites for optical fibers and fiber optic cables. In a typical installation, fiber optic cables that include multiple optical fibers from an external source (these are often known as “outside plant” or “OSP” fibers) enter the cabinet and are spliced together with individual optical fibers known as “pigtails.” Splicing typically occurs in a splice tray or similar component that includes multiple splice sites. The pigtail fibers are then connected within the cabinet to standard termination sites. The termination sites include termination ports that connect optically with “jumper” optical fibers that exit the rack or cabinet to supply data or other information in optical form to the remainder of the building or site. The termination sites can be provided in a number of forms, including fiber distribution cartridges, fiber distribution modules, multi-position adapter couplers and/or bezels. 
     Fiber management shelves are often provided a front door for providing selective access to the termination sites and elements near the front of the shelf and/or a rear door providing selective access to the splice panel and elements at the rear of the shelf. These doors may be easily opened and closed as needed. However, for some actions, including installing or removing termination sites or working on the splice panel, it may be useful to completely remove the front or rear door. Sometimes removal is required to add or remove elements from the splice panel; sometimes door removal merely makes it faster or easier to work on the interior of the splice panel. In either case, it may be necessary to remove screws and/or hinge assemblies, which may be spring biased and include multiple parts, from the shelf. It would be desirable to provide a fiber management shelf with a door that can be removed and reattached without tools which door still performs the functions of conventional doors on fiber management panels. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These problems and others are addressed by the present invention, a first aspect of which comprises a fiber management shelf having a housing with an opening, a door pivotably mounted on the housing and shiftable from a first position substantially covering the opening to a second position allowing access to the opening past an intermediate position between the first position and the second position, and a hinge connecting the door to the housing. The hinge includes at least one hinge pin that is located on one of the housing and the door and at least one receiver configured to receive and rotatably support the at least one hinge pin that is located on the other one of the housing and the door. The receiver comprises a channel having a length and first and second sides defining a channel opening having a first channel width and at least one boss on the first or second channel side, and the channel has a second channel width at the boss less than the first channel width. The hinge pin has a length and a first portion having a first hinge pin width in a first direction and a second hinge pin width in a second direction less than the first hinge pin width, and the first hinge pin width is greater than the second channel width and the second hinge pin width is less than the second channel width. 
     Another aspect of the invention comprises a fiber management shelf that includes a housing having an opening, a door pivotably mounted on the housing and shiftable from a first position substantially covering the opening to a second position allowing access to the opening past an intermediate position between the first position and the second position, and a hinge mechanism for pivotably supporting the door on the housing for motion from the first position to the second position, the hinge mechanism preventing the door from being removed from the housing except when the door is in the intermediate position. 
     A further aspect of the invention comprises a method of using a fiber management shelf as described above that includes pivoting the door from the first position to the intermediate position and removing the door from the housing by pulling the at least one hinge pin through the channel opening and past said at least one boss. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other aspects of the invention will be better understood after a reading of the following detailed description together with the attached drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a housing and a removable door of a fiber management shelf according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the housing and door of  FIG. 1  with the door detached from the housing. 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional side elevational view of the door and housing of  FIG. 1  with the door in a closed position. 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional side elevational view of the door and housing of  FIG. 1  with the door in a partially open, intermediate, position. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional side elevational view of the door and housing of  FIG. 1  with the door in an open position. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a housing and a removable door of a fiber management shelf according to another embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     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. 
     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. 
     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. 
     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. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a fiber management shelf  10  that includes a housing  12  having a floor  14  with a radiused edge  16  and a door  18  attached to the housing  12  near edge  16  for selectively allowing access to opening  20  in the housing. As used herein, “housing” refers to the elements surrounding a plurality of fiber optic components and may comprise the floor of a fiber optic management shelf, the side walls of the fiber optic management shelf or a rack (not illustrated) in which the shelf is mounted, and/or a top wall that may be formed by another element mounted above the fiber optic management shelf in a rack. The housing may also be defined at least in part by one or more fiber retainer rings mounted near either side of the door at the front of a fiber management shelf. Door  18  is removably attached to housing  12  by a hinge, indicated generally by reference numeral  22 , and includes an inner surface  24  that will face opening  20  when door  18  is in a closed position, a proximal edge  26  that remains close to radiused edge  16  of floor  14  and a distal edge  27  that moves toward and away from housing  12  when door  18  pivots between open and closed positions as described herein. Two hinges  22  are illustrated in  FIG. 1  at the left side of a door, and a second pair of hinges (not illustrated) is present on the right side of the door. The hinges  22  are substantially identical, and only one hinge  22  is described below. 
     Hinge  22  comprises a hinge pin  28  on door  18  and a receiver  30  on housing  12 . Hinge pin  28  includes first and second generally cylindrical ends  32  and a central portion  34  with first and second flattened, parallel portions  36  which are spaced apart from each other a distance less than the diameter of the cylindrical ends  32  of hinge pin  28 . First and second arcuate portions  37  connect the flattened portions  36  and generally conform to the curvature of the cylindrical ends  32 . The distance between the first and second arcuate portions  37  is the same as the diameter of the first and second cylindrical ends  32 ; the distance between the flattened portions  36  is less than the diameter of the first and second cylindrical ends  32 . First and second arms  38  connect to first and second ends  32  of hinge pin  28  to support hinge pin  28  in a spaced relation above inner surface  24  of door  18  and extending at least partially beyond the plane of the proximal edge  26  of door  18 . The first and second arms  38  include a first surface  40  that faces toward door inner surface  24  and a second surface  42  that faces away from door inner surface  24 , and both first surface  40  and second surface  42  are generally parallel to inner surface  24  of door  18 . 
     Receiver  30  comprises a channel  44  having an opening  46  with spaced apart, generally parallel side walls  48  having upper edge  50 . The distance between side walls  48  at upper edge  50  is greater than the diameter of hinge pin  28 , while the interior of the channel is configured to substantially conform to the shape of the cylindrical ends  32  of the hinge pin  28  to form a bearing surface  52  for cylindrical ends  32  and arcuate portions  37  when the door  18  moves between open and closed positions. A first boss  54  projects from a first one of the channel side walls  48  and a second boss  54  projects from the opposite channel side wall  48  across from the first boss  54 . The first and second bosses  54  constrict the channel opening  46  and constitute a narrowed portion of channel opening  46 . The distance between first and second bosses  54  is greater than the distance between the first and second parallel portions  36  of hinge pin  28  but less than the distance between the first and second arcuate portions  37  and the diameter of cylindrical end portions  32  of hinge pin  28 . Channel  44  includes a first slot  56  at one end of channel  44  that extends into floor  14  of housing  12  and a second slot  58  across the channel  44  from first slot  56  in the radiused edge  16  of housing  12 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , door  18  is attached to housing  12  by aligning the first and second flattened portions  36  of hinge pin  28  with the space between the first and second bosses  54  and inserting hinge pin  28  into channel  44  until the cylindrical end portions  32  and one of the arcuate portions  37  contact bearing surface  52 . The bosses  54  of receiver  30  and first and second parallel portions  36  on the hinge pin  28  are configured such that the central portion  34  of the hinge pin  28  can pass between the bosses  54  when the door  18  makes an angle of about 135 degrees with the floor  14  of the housing  12  or is opened about 45 degrees as viewed from the outside of the housing. Changes to the configuration of the bosses and/or the flattened portions  36  of the hinge pin  28  could be made to make the door  18  removable and insertable at a different angle to the housing floor. However, it is generally preferable to make the door removable in an intermediate position between the opened and closed positions so that the door will be securely retained in the receiver  30  when in the open or closed positions, the positions in which the door is usually found. With the cylindrical end portions  32  and arcuate portions  37  of hinge pin  28  in contact with bearing surface  52 , door  18  can be moved from the insertion/removal position illustrated in  FIG. 4  to either the closed position covering opening  20 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , or the open position, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Except when door  18  is in the intermediate position illustrated in  FIG. 4 , it is securely retained by bosses  54  and channel  44  and cannot be removed from channel  44 . 
     Door  18  is moved from the insertion position toward the closed position illustrated in  FIG. 3  by moving distal edge  27  of door  18  toward housing  12  until a first latch element  60  on door  18  engages a complementary second latch element  62  on housing  12  to hold door  18  in the first, closed position. First latch element  60  and second latch element  62  are preferably two halves of a push-push type latch that secures the door  18  to the housing  12  when first latch element  60  is pressed into second latch element  62  and that releases door  18  when door  18  is again pressed toward second latch element  62 . When door  18  is pressed toward housing  12 , the first latch element  60  is released from second latch element  62 , and distal end  27  of door  18  can pivot away from the housing  12  toward the open position illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Door  18  moves past the intermediate insertion/removal position illustrated in  FIG. 4  during this travel; however, because the forces applied against door  18  during this movement are primarily downward, door  18  does not exit receiver  30  unless a user applies an outward and upward force on door  18  when it is in the intermediate position of  FIG. 4 . As door  18  reaches the second position, second surface  42  of arm  38  enters second slot  58  in radiused edge  16  of floor  14 , and the second slot  58  forms a stop for the arm  38  and hence the door  18  and limits the opening of the door to approximately 95 degrees. 
     The hinge pin  28  and the receiver  30  have been described as being formed on the door  18  and housing  12 , respectively. However, in a second embodiment of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the hinge pin  28  is formed on a housing  12 ′ and the receiver  30  is formed on the door  18 ′. This embodiment otherwise is constructed and functions in the same manner as the embodiment described above, and the same reference numerals are used to identify elements common to both embodiments. 
     The present invention has been described herein in terms of presently preferred embodiments. However, additions and modifications to these embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant arts upon a reading of the foregoing description. It is intended that all such additions and modifications form a part of the present invention to the extent they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto.