Abstract:
A cabinet having a compartment disposed in an interior of the cabinet to house an electrical component. The compartment located at the base of the cabinet having Teflon rails and a stop. The compartment for holding a battery pack therein. The battery pack being slidably received into, and removed from the compartment. The battery pack engaging the stop of the cabinet, preventing the battery pack from being removed in a single sliding movement. The battery pack positioned at the base of the cabinet frame to lower its center of gravity, thus increasing the stability of the cabinet. The battery pack held firmly within the compartment during transportation of the cabinet by guide pins and finger screws.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to an electrical cabinet and more particularly to a battery pack used to supply power to electrical components stored within such cabinet. 
     As is known in the art, batteries are typically used to store energy for electrical components housed within electrical cabinets. These batteries may be used to provide power for the electrical components at all times of their operation or may simply serve as a backup power supply to the components should a main power supply to the cabinet fail. Batteries may also be rechargeable, or replaceable, depending on their desired application. 
     Unfortunately, batteries are awkward to store in electrical cabinets as they are often bulky and quite heavy as compared to the electrical components that they power. Often these batteries require maintenance or must be replaced to ensure proper operation. Further, because of their size and weight such tasks of maintenance and replacement are difficult to perform. 
     Typically batteries are mounted within cabinets using screws and shelving. Such a structure has proven difficult for providing access to the batteries, even causing damage to the cabinets or surrounding components. Thus, a structure is needed to provide better access to batteries housed within electrical cabinets. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a cabinet is provided having compartments disposed in an interior of the cabinet for housing electrical components. In one of the compartments a battery pack is disposed. The battery pack has a housing which contains a plurality of batteries disposed side-by-side. The batteries are for storing power to be supplied to electrical components also housed within the cabinet. The housing is covered by a removable cover which can be removed to provide access to the batteries for maintenance or replacement thereof. The battery pack is positioned on a rail within the compartment. The rail provides a low friction surface for receiving and removing the battery pack, into, and out from, respectively, the compartment. 
     With such an arrangement, the electrical cabinet can effectively store the heavy and awkward sized batteries needed to supply power to the housed electrical components. The arrangement also allows the batteries to be removed easily for maintenance. 
     In accordance with other features of the invention, the battery pack is located in a compartment at the base of the cabinet. Such a position lowers the center of gravity of the cabinet, thus increasing its stability and its safety. The cabinet may also employ a stop to engage the battery pack preventing it from being removed from the cabinet in a single sliding motion. Such a stop also serves to increase the safety of the cabinet, preventing an accidental or uncontrollable removal of the battery pack from the cabinet. 
     In accordance with yet other features of the invention, the battery pack may have a pull handle and a lift handle to increase the ease of manually handling it as it is received into, or removed out from the cabinet. The pack may also have slots to accept the stops of the cabinet, a finger screw to secure the pack within the cabinet, a switch to control the functions of the batteries, a removable member to hold the batteries securely in place, and air vents to allow air to circulate within the battery pack cooling the batteries stored therein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     These and other features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description when read together with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the frame of an electrical cabinet according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a base portion of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged, rotated view of FIG. 2 with the battery pack removed; 
     FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the battery pack; 
     FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cover; 
     FIG. 7 is FIG. 4 with the cover removed; 
     FIG. 8 is FIG. 5 with the cover removed; 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the removable member; 
     FIG. 10 is FIG. 4 with the batteries removed; 
     FIG. 11 is FIG. 5 with the batteries removed; 
     FIG. 12 is a bottom perspective view of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 13 is FIG. 2 with a battery pack partially removed from its compartment; 
     FIG. 14 is FIG. 13 with a battery pack almost completely removed from its compartment; and 
     FIG. 15 is a side view of FIG. 14 showing the whole cabinet frame. 
     FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the rear corner of the electrical cabinet frame according to the invention showing the inside of a battery pack compartment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a cabinet frame  10  defining an interior of an electrical cabinet is shown. The electrical cabinet has a covering, not shown, enclosing the cabinet frame  10  and a plurality of compartments disposed within the interior of the frame  10  configured to house various electrical components, also not shown. The frame  10  is manufactured here of metal members  12  riveted together by rivets  14 . A compartment  16  is located at a base  18  of cabinet frame  10  to hold a battery pack  20 . It is noted that the battery pack  20  contains a plurality of batteries  70  (FIG. 7) which together, here, weigh over  100  pounds. Thus, as such, a battery pack  20  is a substantial portion of the weight of the combined electrical components, not shown, housed within the cabinet frame  10 . 
     Here, locating the battery pack  20  at the base  18  of cabinet frame  10  lowers the center of gravity of the cabinet. Such a positioning of battery pack  20  at base  18  near the ground on which cabinet frame  10  is supported increases the stability of cabinet, and therefore its safety, both as it is moved about on wheels  22 , and as the battery pack  20  is receive into, or removed out from, compartment  16 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the compartment  16  has rails  30  and stops  32  for engaging battery pack  20 , here, removed from the cabinet frame  10 . The battery pack  20  (FIG. 4) slides into and out from compartment  16  on rails  30  as it is received into and removed out from cabinet frame  10 . In particular, here, rails  30  are attached to cabinet frame  10  by rivets  34  and are made of Teflon material to provide a low friction surface for sliding battery pack  20  into, and out from, compartment  16 . Rail  16  preferably has a Teflon surface but it may also be made from any material creating a low friction surface, including rolling surfaces, which allow battery pack  20  to be received into and removed out from compartment  16  with ease. 
     Here, the battery pack  20  engages stops  32  as it is almost completely removed from compartment  16 . The stops  32  ensure that battery pack  20  will not be removed to quickly from compartment  16 . Such a configuration of compartment  16  reduces the likelihood that battery pack  20  will fall uncontrollably to the floor, possibly damaging the unit, as it is removed from the compartment  16 . Stops  32  also help prevent injury to any person around cabinet frame  10  should battery pack  20  be removed uncontrollably from its compartment  16 . This added safety measure is needed since battery pack  20 , in some applications, may weigh well over 100 pounds. 
     Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, battery pack  20 , which serves to shield and protect the batteries  70  (FIG.  7 ), has a housing  40  and a removable cover  42 . Housing  40 , here, is made of metal members riveted together by rivets  44 . 
     Removable cover  42 , better seen in FIG. 6, is also made of metal and is attached to housing  40  by screws, not shown, through screw holes  46 . Such an attachment of cover  42  to housing  40  allows cover  42  to be removed from housing  40  providing access to batteries  70  stored inside. Cover  42  also has air vents  60  allowing air to circulate through battery pack  20 , cooling the electrical components stored within. 
     Battery pack  20  has a front end  48  and a rear end  50 . Here, front end  48  has a pull handle  52  and rear end  50  has a lift handle  54  to assist with the insertion and the removal of pack  20  into, and out from, compartment  16 . Pull handle  52 , attached to housing  40  by rivets  53 , is provided to assist in manually sliding battery pack  20  from compartment  16 . Lift handle  54 , attached to removable cover  42  by rivets  55 , is provided to assist with manually lifting the rear end  50  of battery pack  20  over stops  32 . Such a lifting of rear end  50  of battery pack  20  over stops  32  is necessary because a back plate  56  of housing  40  engages stops  32  to prevent the battery pack  20  from being removed from cabinet frame  10  in a single sliding motion. Lift handle  54  is also used to lift rear end  50  of battery pack  20  over stops  32  to insert it into cabinet frame  10  so that it may be received into compartment  16 . 
     The front end  48  of battery pack  20  also has, here, finger screws  58 . Finger screws  58  function to secure battery pack  20  within compartment  16  by screwing into screw holes (not shown) within cabinet frame  10 . Such a securing of battery pack  20  within cabinet frame  10  prevents it from sliding unintentionally about compartment  16 . 
     The rear end  50  of battery pack  20  also has, here, holes  86 . Holes  86 , here in back plate  56 , function to engage guide pins  84  (FIGS. 16) of compartment  16  of frame  10 . As battery pack  20  is received completely within compartment  16  the holes  86  engage guide pins  84  securing the rear end  50  of battery pack  20  within the compartment  16 . Such a structure, together with secured finger screws  58 , keeps the battery pack  20  from shifting unintentionally about the compartment  16 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 7 and 8, battery pack  20  is shown with cover  42  removed. A plurality of batteries  70 , here four positioned side-by-side, are held within housing  40  by removable member  72 . Removable member  72 , better seen in FIG. 9, here is a metal bar attached to housing  40  by screws not shown, through screw holes  74  and slots  75 . 
     The functions of batteries  70  are controlled by electrical components, not shown, stored within the front end of battery pack  20 . A switch  76  and a dial  78  are, here, positioned at the front end of housing  40  to provide input to the stored electrical components for controlling batteries  70 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, a housing  40  is shown with batteries  70  removed. Batteries  70  will be connected by leads, not shown, to terminals  80  within battery pack  20 . Terminals  80  are controlled by switch  76  and dial  78 . 
     Referring to FIG. 12, slots  82  in battery pack  20  are positioned for receiving stops  32  of cabinet frame  10 . Slots  82  serve to direct the movement of the battery pack  20  as it is received into, and removed out from, compartment  16 . Slots  82  also ensure that back plate  56  engages the stops  32  (FIG.  3 ), preventing the battery pack  20  from being removed from the cabinet in a single sliding motion. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 13,  14  and  15 , battery pack  20  is shown as it is being slid out from, and engaged by stops  32  of, cabinet frame  10 . FIG. 13 shows battery pack  20  as it is approximately a third of the way removed from compartment  16 . Battery pack  20  has been pulled into this position by manually using pull handle  52 . 
     FIG. 14 shows battery pack  20  as it engages stops  32 , preventing the pack from sliding out of compartment  16  on rails  20  in a single sliding motion. FIG. 15 shows a side view of battery pack  20  engaged by stops  32  requiring manual lifting of the rear end  50  using lift handle  54 . To completely remove battery pack  20  from cabinet frame  10  back plate  56  of rear end  50  must be lifted over stops  32  (FIG.  3 ). Once this is accomplished battery pack  20  is removed from the cabinet to be inspected or possibly replaced by another battery pack. 
     Other embodiments are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.