Abstract:
An equipment enclosure includes a set of features enabling alignment of an electronic component with an L-shaped wall bracket. The bottom of the component rests on a base of the bracket. A rear wall of the bracket includes fastener elements, such as threaded standoffs, and alignment posts that extend forward beyond the standoffs. The rear of the component likewise includes fastener elements, such as captive screws, and alignment openings. During installation, the component is brought into a position in which the alignment openings engage the alignment posts, and then the component is pushed rearward until it abuts the rear wall of the bracket. The fasteners become mutually aligned for subsequent fastening.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to the field of enclosures for electronic equipment. 
     It is common for equipment enclosures to house multiple electronic components or related items. For example, in the field of data communications, equipment items such as add/drop multiplexers have incorporated a card cage, a DC power supply, and other components. While some equipment items are assembled only in a manufacturing facility, others are intended for final assembly at a customer&#39;s site or similar location. It is desirable that the installation of components into the enclosures of such items be simple and “robust”, in the sense that the chances of having components misaligned or otherwise installed incorrectly is minimized as much as possible. 
     Many equipment items are intended to be mounted on a wall, and accordingly present unique difficulties in the installation process. In particular, it may be necessary to lift and maneuver heavy components into position in a wall-mounted enclosure and maintain the components in this position until secured within the enclosure. It may be difficult for installation personnel to maintain the position of such an item to assure proper alignment and installation. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, an equipment enclosure having several features used to ensure proper installation is disclosed. The features provide for desirable simplicity and robustness in the installation process. 
     The disclosed enclosure includes features that enable an electronic component to be accurately aligned for proper mating with an L-shaped wall bracket. The bottom of the component rests on a base of the bracket. A rear wall of the bracket includes fastener elements, such as threaded standoffs for receiving respective screws, and alignment posts that extend forward beyond the standoffs. The rear of the component likewise includes fastener elements, such as captive screws, and alignment openings. During installation, the component is first brought into a partially installed position in which the alignment openings engage corresponding alignment posts, and then the component is pushed rearward until it abuts the rear wall of the bracket. By this action, the respective fasteners are mutually aligned so that the component can then be secured while being supported by the base of the wall bracket. 
     The disclosed enclosure also includes features that enable easy installation of a power supply or similar heavy item. The rear wall of a wall bracket includes a horizontal elongated hook support member and an alignment post, along with fastener elements such as threaded openings. A shelf-like assembly containing the power supply has a hook member on its rear wall, along with an alignment opening and fastener elements such as captive thumbscrews. During installation of the assembly, its hook member is brought into engagement with the hook support member of the wall bracket, in effect hanging the assembly on the rear wall of the wall bracket. From this initial position, the assembly is moved sideways until the alignment post of the wall bracket enters the alignment opening of the assembly, at which point the assembly rotates forward slightly to come into abutting relationship with the wall bracket. When the assembly is in this position, the fasteners are mutually aligned, and can then be fastened while the weight of the assembly is supported by the wall bracket. 
     Additional aspects, features and advantages of the present invention are also described in the following Detailed Description. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the Drawing, of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic device assembly employing a wall mount enclosure in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is perspective exploded view of a wall mount bracket forming part of the enclosure of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of a removable patch panel cover attached to the wall mount bracket of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the patch panel cover of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a front right lower portion of the assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a power supply shelf in the electronic device assembly of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the power supply shelf of FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of a power supply box forming part of the power supply shelf of FIGS. 6 and 7; and 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of a battery tie-down bracket in the electronic device assembly of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In FIG. 1, an electronic device is shown having a removable cover  12  and a number of mechanical and electrical components installed on a wall bracket  10  having an L-shaped cross section. The main electrical components include an electronic communications unit  14 , a power supply  16 , and a battery  18 . The communications unit  14  rests on a horizontal base portion  20  of the wall bracket  10 . The power supply  16  and battery  18  are included in a shelf assembly  22  secured to the upper rear portion of the bracket  10 . The power supply  16  is secured in place via screws  24  extending through corresponding openings in the shelf assembly  22 . The battery  18  is secured via an L-shaped battery bracket  26  in a manner described in more detail below. A removable patch panel  28  is attached to the front of a baffle assembly  29  over a corresponding opening (not shown in FIG.  1 ). The cover  12  includes a door  30  through which the various items attached to the wall bracket  10  are accessible when the cover  12  is installed thereon. 
     FIG. 2 shows several features of the wall bracket  10  and the patch panel  28  in greater detail. The baffle assembly  29  has a front-facing wall  34  to which the patch panel  28  is attached. The baffle wall  34  includes an opening  36  through which a cable  38  extends to provide interconnection between the patch panel  28  and other devices (not shown) in the unit. A pair of horizontal slots  39  are disposed near the lower corners of the opening  36 , and a threaded standoff  41  is disposed near the top center of the opening  36 . 
     The patch panel  28  includes a cover  40  and a mounting plate  42  secured to the cover  40  by rear-facing standoffs (not shown). The mounting plate  42  includes connectors  44  accessible from the rear and from the front via an opening  46  in the cover  40 . A safety interlock switch  48  is attached to the cover  40  through a corresponding opening  50 , and is connected to the connectors  36  by a wiring fixture  52 . The interlock switch  48  is activated by the door  30  of the cover  12  (FIG. 1) to detect whether the door  30  is in an open or closed position. 
     As also shown in FIG. 2, the bracket  10  includes an upper wall portion  54  and a forward-projecting lower wall portion  56 . The upper wall portion  54  has an attached hook support member  58 , threaded standoffs  60 , and an alignment post  62 . The threaded standoffs  60  receive captive screws used to secure the shelf assembly  22  to the wall bracket  10 , as described in more detail below. The alignment post  62  engages a corresponding opening in the rear of the shelf assembly  22  for purposes of alignment, as also described below. The lower wall portion  56  includes threaded standoffs  64  and alignment posts  66  (one visible in FIG.  2 ). The alignment posts  66  extend away from the wall portion  56  slightly further than do the threaded standoffs  64 . The alignment posts  66  engage corresponding openings in the rear of the unit  14  for purposes of alignment, and the threaded standoffs  64  receive captive screws used to secure the electronic unit  14  of FIG. 1 to the wall bracket  10 , as described in more detail below. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 show the patch panel cover  40  in greater detail. The cover  40  is made from a single cut-out sheet of cold-rolled steel, and is formed to have a front face portion  70  and rear-facing walls  72 . At either end of the bottom wall  72  are a pair of bent tabs  74 . At the top center of the face portion  70  cover  40  is a captive thumbscrew  76 . 
     The patch panel  28  is installed in the following manner. The cable  38  is inserted through the opening  36  of the baffle front wall  34  and then connected to the rear of the connectors  44 . The patch panel  28  is brought to a sufficiently horizontal (open) position to permit the tabs  74  to be placed into the respective slots  39  on the baffle front wall  34 , and then rotated up to a vertical (closed) position. When the patch panel  28  is in the closed position, the thumbscrew  76  can be inserted into the standoff  41  on the baffle front wall  34  and then tightened. It will be appreciated that when the thumbscrew  76  is loosened, the patch panel  28  can be rotated to the open position as may be necessary for access to the connectors  44  or the cable  38 . Once in the open position, the patch panel  28  can be removed by disconnecting the cable  38  and pulling the patch panel horizontally to remove the tabs  74  from the slots  39 . 
     While in the illustrated embodiment the bottom of the illustrated patch panel  28  is secured to the baffle front wall  34  by two slots  39 , other arrangements may be used in alternative embodiments. For example, it may be convenient to use only one slot, in which case it is preferably located more centrally with respect to the opening  36  rather than at one of the sides as shown. Additionally, it may be convenient to use more than two slots. 
     FIG. 5 shows the manner in which the right side of the communications unit  14  is secured to the right side of the wall bracket  10 . Although not shown in the Figures, the arrangement of FIG. 5 is repeated on the left side of the unit  14  and the wall bracket  10  as well. A backplane bracket  77  extends horizontally from the sides of the unit  14 . The bracket  77  includes four captive thumbscrews  79  and an alignment opening  81 . During installation, the unit  14  is first placed in roughly the position shown in FIG. 5, and then pushed generally rearward to complete its installation. When the bracket  77  meets the tips of the alignment posts  66  of the wall bracket  10 , the unit  14  is prevented from sliding further rearward until it has been maneuvered into a substantially aligned position in which the tips of the alignments posts  66  just enter the alignment openings  81 . From this position, the unit  14  is then pushed further rearward into an installed position in which the bracket  77  abuts the lower wall portion  56  of the wall bracket  10 . At this point, the thumbscrews  79  are brought into engagement with the threaded standoffs  64  on the wall bracket  10  and tightened. 
     It will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments it may be convenient to place the alignment posts  66  on the rear of the unit  14  and the alignment openings  81  on the wall bracket  10 . 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 show a perspective view and front view, respectively, of a shelf  80  that is the main structural element of the shelf assembly  22  of FIG.  1 . The shelf  80  includes a battery box  82  attached to a power supply box  84 . The battery box  82  includes an upper bent tab  86  having a horizontal slot  88  formed therein, and a lower bent tab  90  formed in the area of a front cutout  92 . A threaded opening  94  is formed in the tab  90  for receiving a battery bracket thumbscrew as described below. The power supply box  84  includes a rear-facing hook portion  96 , which is best seen in the side view of FIG.  8 . The shelf  80  is secured to the wall bracket  10  of FIG. 1 by five floating captive screws  98 , one of which is shown in a cutaway view of the lower left corner of the shelf  80 . An alignment opening  100  is formed in the rear panel of the power supply box  84 . 
     During installation of the shelf assembly  22 , the power supply  16  is preferably installed into the power supply box  84  before the shelf  80  is attached to the wall bracket  10 . The shelf  80  with the installed power supply  16  is then hooked onto the wall bracket  10  by placing the hook portion  96  into the hook support member  58  of the wall bracket  10  (FIG.  2 ). In general, at this stage the shelf  80  cannot lie flat against the wall bracket  10 , due to interference between the rear wall of the power supply box  84  and the post  62  attached to the wall bracket  10  (FIG.  2 ). The shelf  80  is slid horizontally in either direction until the alignment post  62  enters the alignment opening  100 , at which point the shelf  80  rotates down to an upright position in which its rear wall abuts the upper portion  54  of the wall bracket  10 . At this point, the shelf  80  is oriented in its final installed position. The floating captive screws  98  are then manipulated to engage the threaded openings of the respective standoffs  60  on the wall bracket  10  (FIG. 2) to secure the shelf  80  in place. 
     Either before or after installation of the shelf  80 , the battery  18  can be placed in the battery box  82  and the battery bracket  26  installed in place to retain the battery  18  in position. As shown in FIG. 9, the battery bracket  26  includes a rear tab portion  102  having a slightly curved tip  104 , and a captive thumbscrew  106  extending through a front portion  108  thereof. The battery bracket  26  is installed by placing the tab portion  102  into the slot  88  of the battery box  82  (FIG. 6) and then rotating the battery bracket  26  down such that the front portion  108  registers within the front cutout  92 . This registration of the battery bracket  26  with the cutout  92  ensures that the battery bracket  26  is in the proper installed position, and permits the thumbscrew  106  to be easily manipulated to engage the threaded opening  94  for securing the battery bracket  26  to the battery box  82 . 
     While various attachments are shown as being made using captive thumbscrews and corresponding threaded openings, other fastener arrangements may be used in alternative embodiments. It is also possible to utilize multi-piece assemblies in place of single-piece items formed by cutting and bending. For example, the battery box  82  of FIG. 6 may be formed from separate pieces that are welded together rather than from a single folded piece. Similarly, bent tabs on larger items may be replaced with flange pieces that are welded, riveted, or otherwise attached to the items. 
     Various installation features in a multi-component equipment enclosure having been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications to and variations of the above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed herein, and therefore the invention should not be viewed as limited except to the full scope and spirit of the appended claims.