Abstract:
A cable management enclosure includes: a side; a sliding drawer; a fiber slack manager mounted to the side, the fiber slack manager includes: a first link having a first end and a second end, the first end pivotally secured to the side; and a second link pivotally coupled to the second end of the first link, the second link pivotally secured to the sliding drawer. A cable management enclosure also includes: a main body portion having a first side and a second side; a sliding drawer disposed between the first side and the second side; a patch panel disposed between the first side and the second side, the patch panel having a plurality of openings, the patch panel is mounted to the sliding drawer; wherein the sliding drawer includes a front portion and a rear portion, the first portion slides relative to the rear portion, the front portion and the rear portion slide relative to the first side, the front portion is smaller than the rear portion.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims the benefit of the date of the earlier filed provisional applications, having U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/256,769, filed on Dec. 19, 2000 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/268,979, filed on Feb. 15, 2001, which are incorporated herein in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to enclosures for cabling systems and in particular to a rack mountable enclosure that provides fiber splicing and/or patching capability. Cable management enclosures are used to terminate and distribute cable for a variety of applications. One existing type of cable management enclosure is a fiber management enclosure often employed to provide for managing optical fiber. When the optical fiber is located in the enclosure, it is desirable to manage and control the optical fiber within the enclosure so that a bend radius of the optical fiber is above a certain threshold. When the bend radius is too small and the optical fiber is tightly bent, the optical fiber may crack and become less efficient during operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An exemplary embodiment of the invention is a cable management enclosure that provides for fiber splicing. The enclosure includes at least one sliding drawer to provide access to a splice tray and a fiber slack manager to manage lengths of fiber when the drawer is opened and closed. 
     Another embodiment of the invention is a cable management enclosure that provides for fiber splicing and patching. The enclosure includes a sliding drawer to provide access to a splice tray and a patch panel. A fiber slack manager manages lengths of fiber when the drawer is opened and closed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several FIGURES: 
     FIGS. 1-8 are various views of a cable management enclosure that provides for fiber splicing; 
     FIGS. 9-15 are various views of cable management enclosure that provides for fiber splicing and patching; 
     FIGS. 16-18 are various views of a fiber slack manager; 
     FIGS. 19-23 are various views of an alternate cable management enclosure having a telescoping drawer; and 
     FIG. 24 is a perspective view of an alternate cable management enclosure having an alternative sliding drawer arrangement. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cable management enclosure  100  in an embodiment of the invention. The cable management enclosure  100  includes six sides, which include a top  102 , sides  104 , bottom  106 , rear  108  and front door  110 . The front door  110  is hinged at bottom  106  to provide access to the interior of the cable management enclosure  100 . The distance between sides  104  is set so that the cable management enclosure  100  can be mounted in standard telecommunications racks. Brackets  105  may be used to mount the cable management enclosure  100  to racks having various widths. FIG. 2 is a top view and FIG. 3 is a front view of the cable management enclosure  100 . The rear  108  may be open and a hinged rear door may be used to provide access to the cable management enclosure  100 . 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the cable management enclosure  100  with top  102  removed. The cable management enclosure  100  includes a sliding drawer  120  and a fiber slack manager  130 . As shown in FIG. 4, the sliding drawer  120  is in a closed position. Fiber  190  is lead in near the rear  108  of the cable management enclosure  100  through access openings formed in rear  108  and/or sides  104 . The fiber  190  enters the cable management enclosure  100  and is passed over fiber slack manager  130 . The fiber slack manager  130  may include clips to retain fiber  190  adjacent to the surface of the fiber slack manager  130 . Fiber slack manager  130  manages the fiber cable slack and bend radius in a controlled, non-strenuous manner. From the fiber slack manager  130 , the fiber is routed through one or more bend radius guides  150  that are positioned to form a loop of fiber while maintaining the fiber above a minimum bend radius. Suitable bend radius guides include a multi-level fiber manager or the BRG2 bend radius guide, both available from the Siemon Company of Watertown, Conn. The fiber is then lead to a splice tray  152  where an incoming fiber  190  can be spliced to an outgoing fiber (not shown). The outgoing fiber is then lead out the cable management enclosure  100  along bend radius guides  150  and fiber slack manager  130 . 
     FIG. 5 depicts the sliding drawer  120  in the open position. As shown in FIG. 5, the fiber slack manager  130  expands to continuously accommodate the fiber  190 . The fiber slack manager includes two links  132  and  134 . As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each link includes a generally L-shaped arm section  136 , an arc member  138  and a hinge plate  140 . Links  132  and  134  may be formed from sheet metal. The outside surface of arm section  136  may include clips formed integrally with the arm section to retain fiber adjacent to the arm section. The clips may be formed by stamping L-shaped fingers in arm section  136 . Alternatively, separate clips may be used and secured to arm sections  136 . FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the cable management enclosure  100  showing the drawer  120  in the open position. The L-shaped nature of the arm sections  136  is shown in FIG.  8 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a distal end of link  132  is pivotally secured to the cable management enclosure  100 , preferably at bottom  106 . A distal end of link  134  is pivotally secured to sliding drawer  120 . The two links  132  and  134  are pivotally coupled at hinge plates  140 . The pivotal connections may be made using fasteners such as rivets. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, the arc members  138  are arcuate segments having radii selected so that the two arc members  138  are nestled together. In an exemplary embodiment, one arc member has a radius slightly larger than the radius of the other arc member. Also, one arc member may have a longer arc length than the other. The radii are selected to control the bend radius of the fiber  190  within acceptable limits. Hinge plates  140  extend from arm sections  136  and provide a surface for pivotally coupling the links  132  and  134 . 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 are exploded perspective views of the cable management enclosure  100 . The cable management enclosure  100  includes drawer supports  154  on which the sliding drawers  120  rest. Any number of sliding drawers  120  may be used to accommodate a high number of fibers. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the cable management enclosure  100  includes twelve sliding drawers  120  with each drawer including a splice tray for twenty-four fibers. The cable management enclosure  100  has a reduced number of parts and the top, bottom, sides, drawer supports, sliding drawer and fiber slack manager can all be made from sheet metal thereby reducing the need for expensive molds. 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cable management enclosure  200  in another embodiment of the invention. Cable management enclosure  200  provides for patching and splicing of fibers. The cable management enclosure  200  includes a main body portion  201  with five sides, including a top  202 , sides  204 , bottom  206  and rear  208 . Cable management enclosure  200  may also include a front door to control access to the cable management enclosure  200 . Rear  208  may be open and covered with a hinged door. The distance between sides  204  is set so that the cable management enclosure  200  can be mounted in standard telecommunications racks. Brackets  205  may be used to mount the cable management enclosure  200  to racks having various widths. FIG. 10 is a front view and FIG. 11 is a side view of the cable management enclosure  200 . FIG. 10 depicts a patch panel  220  including a number of openings  222  for receiving fiber connectors. Openings  222  may receive the fiber connector housing or receive a bezel which in turn receives the fiber connector housing. In use, incoming fiber is terminated to a connector, which is then mounted in opening  222 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 12-14, cable management enclosure  200  includes a sliding drawer  210  and a fiber slack manager  130 , which is described above with reference to FIGS. 1-8. The patch panel  220  is mounted to the sliding drawer  210 . FIG. 12 is a perspective view of cable management enclosure  200  with the sliding drawer closed. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the cable management enclosure  200  with the sliding drawer open. As shown in FIG. 13, the sliding drawer  210  includes side walls  212 . FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the cable management enclosure  200  with the sliding drawer  210  open depicting internal components. 
     FIG. 15 is a top view of the cable management enclosure  200  with the sliding drawer  210  in the open position. Splice tray  230  is shown positioned on sliding drawer  210 . Sliding drawer  210  may also include cable management devices at locations  232 . Suitable cable management devices include a multi-level fiber manager or the BRG2 bend radius guide, both available from the Siemon Company of Watertown, Conn. The cable management enclosure  200  provides for both splicing of fiber through splice tray  230  and connectorizing fiber through patch panel  220 . 
     FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the fiber slack manager  130 , FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the link  132  and FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the link  134 . As shown in FIGS. 16-18, arm sections  136  arm generally L-shaped. The arc members  138  each have a proper radius and are length to interact as link  132  pivots relative to link  134  and control the bend radius of the fiber. In an exemplary embodiment, one arc member has a radius that is less than the radius of the other arc member. 
     FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a cable management enclosure  300  in another embodiment of the invention. Cable management enclosure  300  is similar to that shown in FIGS. 9-15 and includes main body portion  201  with top  202 , sides  204 , bottom  206  and rear  208 . In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 19-23, enclosure  300  has a sliding drawer  310  different than sliding drawer  210 . Sliding drawer  310  is a telescoping drawer and includes a rear portion  312  and a front portion  314 . The front portion  314  fits within the rear portion  312  and slides relative to the rear portion  312 . The rear portion  312  also slides relative to the bottom  206 , sides  204  and top  202 . As shown in FIG. 19, the rear portion  312  of sliding drawer  310  is extended but front portion  314  is unextended. In this state, patch panel  220  is positioned close to top  202  thus providing a small access opening to the splice tray or rear of patch panel  220 . 
     FIG. 20 shows the front portion  314  extended relative to the rear portion  312  of sliding drawer  310 . The patch panel  220  is mounted to the front portion  314 . Thus, when the front portion  314  is extended away from the rear portion  312 , a larger access opening is provided between patch panel  220  and top  202 . This facilitates access to the splice tray and rear of patch panel  220 . A stop is used to limit the forward progress of the front portion  314 . In one embodiment, a groove  316  in the front portion  314  receives a tab  318  formed on the rear portion  312 . When the tab  318  reaches the end of groove  316 , travel of the front portion  314  is stopped. Conversely, when the front portion  314  is moved towards the rear portion  312 , the tab  318  contacts the front of groove  316  thereby applying force to the rear portion  312  to close the sliding drawer  310 . 
     The patch panel  220  moves with the front portion  314  to preserve bend radius control of fiber optic cable at the front of the patch panel  220 . A fiber protector  320  may be mounted in cut outs  322  where fiber optic cable is routed from the front of the enclosure. These outlet areas are formed on the front portion  314  of sliding tray  310  and thus move along with patch panel  220 . Thus, a constant bend radius of the fiber optic cable is maintained even when the sliding drawer  310  is fully extended. 
     FIG. 21 illustrates a side view of the sliding drawer  310  of the cable management enclosure  300 . FIG. 22 illustrates a top view of the cable management enclosure  300 . FIG. 23 illustrates a front view of the cable management enclosure. Each view further illustrates the cable management enclosure  300 , as described above. 
     FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a cable management enclosure  400  in another embodiment of the invention. Cable management enclosure  400  is similar to that shown in FIGS. 9-15 and FIGS. 19-23 and includes main body portion  201  with top  202 , sides  204 , bottom  206 , rear  208 , and brackets  205 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 24, enclosure  400  has a sliding drawer  410  different than sliding drawer  210  and sliding drawer  310 . Sliding drawer  410  includes a rear portion  412  and a front portion  414 . The rear portion  412  includes two sides  416  and a base  418 . The front portion  414  also includes two sides  420  and a base  422 . Two sides  416  and base  418  may be formed from a folded piece of sheet metal. Two sides  420  and base  422  may also be formed from a folded piece of sheet metal. Sides  420  are coupled to a slide portion  424  by fastening means  426  such as a bolt, screw, or the like. Brackets  428  are mounted to top sides  430  of sides  416 . The front portion  414  is slideably mounted to the rear portion  412 , by having brackets  428  receive slide portion  424 . Sides  420  are shaped to fit and couple with fiber protector  320 . 
     The rear portion  412  slides relative to the bottom  206 , sides  204  and top  202 . The front portion  414  also slides independently from rear portion  412  and relative to the bottom  206 , sides  204  and top  202 . FIG. 24 shows the front portion  414  extended relative to the rear portion  412  of sliding drawer  410 . When sliding drawer is closed, front portion  414  slides closer to rear portion  412  until front portion  414  cannot slide any further. Rear portion  412  then slides into main body portion  201 . 
     The patch panel  220  is mounted to the front portion  414 . Thus, when the front portion  414  is extended away from the rear portion  412 , a larger access opening is provided between patch panel  220  and top  202 . This facilitates access to the splice tray and rear of patch panel  220 . A stop may be used to limit the forward progress of the front portion  414 . The stop includes a projection  434  that is located at the sliding portion  424  and faces the bracket  428 . The projection can be a bolt, or similar like structure, that passes through sliding portion. The projection  434  comes in contact with a ledge (not shown) located in bracket  428 , which stops the forward progress of front portion  414 . 
     The patch panel  220  moves with the front portion  414  and allows the fiber optic cable to move also, which preserves the bend radius control of the fiber optic cable at the front of the patch panel  220 . Thus, a constant bend radius of the fiber optic cable is maintained even when the sliding drawer  410  is fully extended. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications maybe made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.