Abstract:
A mounting system is provided whereby a data communications system can be mounted in a plurality of different ways in one or more standard size rack openings and on planar surfaces. A first bracket selection and arrangement provides side by side dual mounting of two closures within a first rack having a first rack width. A second bracket selection and arrangement provides side by side dual mounting of two enclosures within a second rack having a second rack width greater than the first rack width. A third bracket selection and arrangement provides a single mounting of one enclosure in the first rack. A fourth bracket selection and arrangement provides a single mounting of one enclosure in the second rack. A fifth bracket selection and arrangement provides a single mounting of one enclosure on a planar surface.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to mounting arrangements for electronic equipment to be mounted in a rack mounting system and more particularly, to such systems suitable for mounting data communication devices. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Communication devices are typically constructed so as to be mounted in standard size racks. Each rack includes first and second vertical supports which are spaced by a standard opening width. For example, the racks commonly used by the telephone companies have a width of 23 inches, whereas the racks typically used by end users of telephone services have a rack opening of 19 inches. 
     Various communication equipment is typically constructed so as to fit between and be mounted within one of the standard size racks. 
     Additionally, the prior art includes various shelves constructed to fit within a standard rack, wherein the shelf has various slots defined therein for receiving equipment. 
     Also, it is commonly known to mount an item of electrical communication equipment on a vertical surface, such as a vertical wall of the phone terminal room of an end user. 
     It would be desirable to have a mounting system for data communication devices that would provide improved flexibility and allow the equipment to be mounted in multiple modes in each of the environments mentioned above 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention, in a first embodiment, provides a data communication system constructed to be mounted in a rack having a rack width defined between first and second supports. The system includes first and second equipment boxes, each box having a box width less than one-half of the rack width. The first and second boxes are structurally connected together to form a two box structure having a combined width less than the rack width. First and second mounting brackets are connected to the first and second boxes, respectively, for attaching the two box structure to the first and second supports of the rack. 
     The mounting brackets have two alternative mounting positions which allow the two box structure to be selectively mounted in either of the two alternative rack widths. 
     Additionally, either one of the boxes may be mounted on a vertical surface such as a wall utilizing the two mounting brackets. 
     Further flexibility is provided by the alternative use of a second set of mounting brackets which allows a single one of the boxes to be mounted within a standard rack. 
     In another embodiment, the invention includes a data communication apparatus which includes a battery box having a hinged front door. A chassis is mounted on the door of the battery box. The chassis has a face oriented transversely to the door. The face includes an opening for receiving a plurality of data communication cards therein. Access to the data communication cards can be achieved when the battery box is mounted on a wall in close proximity to other devices, by pivoting the door to swing the chassis away from the other devices. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, an enclosure for data communication equipment is provided which includes a six sided rectangular box. Two oppositely facing sides of the box include a plurality of mounting holes, which plurality of mounting holes includes a first pattern for mounting the box on a planar surface, a second pattern for mounting the box in a rack, and a third pattern for mounting a power supply on the box. 
     In yet another embodiment of the invention, a system is provided for mounting one or more electrical equipment enclosures in a plurality of alternative arrangements. The system includes at least one electrical equipment enclosure and a plurality of alternative mounting brackets which provide numerous alternative arrangements. A first bracket selection and arrangement provide side by side dual mounting of two enclosures within a first rack having a first rack width. A second bracket selection and arrangement provides side by side dual mounting of two enclosures within a second rack having a second rack width greater than the first rack width. A third bracket selection and arrangement provides a single mounting of one enclosure in the first rack. A fourth bracket selection and arrangement provides a single mounting of one enclosure in the second rack. A fifth bracket selection and arrangement provides a single mounting of one enclosure on a planar surface. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, a lockable communications device enclosure is provided, which includes an enclosure having a face with one or more openings defined therein for receiving a plurality of communication cards therein. The face has a first engagement surface defined thereon. A retaining structure retains the communication cards within the enclosure. The retaining structure extends across the one or more openings and includes a second engagement surface defined thereon complementary to the first engagement surface so that the first and second engagement surfaces can interlock. A tool actuated fastener detachably connects the retaining structure to the enclosure with the first and second engagement surfaces in interlocked position. 
     It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide improved alternative mounting arrangements for data communication devices. 
     Another object of the present invention is the provision of a mounting system wherein first and second boxes, structurally connected together to form a two box structure, can be mounted within a standard rack. 
     And another object of the present invention is the provision of a system wherein such a two box structure has two alternative mounting positions in either of two alternative standard rack widths. 
     And another object of the present invention is the provision of a data communication apparatus including a chassis mounted on a hinged front door of a battery box, whereby access to devices contained in the chassis can be achieved by pivoting the door to swing the chassis away from other devices mounted adjacent the battery box. 
     And another object of the present invention is the provision of a lockable communications device enclosure apparatus including improved means for retaining data communication devices within an enclosure. 
     Other and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following disclosure when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a single box data communications system connected between a network and end user devices, such as telephones. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a single data communication card which could be received within the single box structure like that of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the single box structure of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view of a first mounting bracket having a shorter leg and a longer leg. 
     FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the shorter leg of the bracket of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the longer leg of the bracket of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 7 is a plan view of alternative mounting bracket utilized to mount a single box within a standard rack mount system. 
     FIG. 8 is an elevation view of the longer leg of the bracket of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 9 is an elevation view of the shorter leg of the bracket of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of a two box structure mounted within the standard 19 inch wide rack. 
     FIG. 11 is a front elevation view of a two box structure mounted within a standard 23 inch width rack. 
     FIG. 12 is a side elevation view taken along line  12 — 12  of FIG.  10 . 
     FIG. 13 is a front elevation view of a single box structure mounted within a standard rack of either dimension. 
     FIG. 14 is an elevation view of a single box structure mounted on a vertical surface such as a wall. 
     FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a single box structure mounted on a vertical hinged door of a battery box which is in turn mounted on a vertical wall. 
     FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a locking bar. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 illustrates in schematic form a data communications system  10  having a single box enclosure  11  for data communication equipment, such as data communication cards  12 ,  14 ,  16  and the like. 
     The data communication system  10  is typically connected to public communications network  18  by communications line  20  which may, for example, be a standard T 1  line. The data communication system  10  will in turn be connected by a plurality of telephone lines  22  to individual telephones  24  at the user&#39;s facility. It will be understood that the data communication system  10  might also be connected to other devices at the user&#39;s facility. 
     One of the communication cards, such as card  12  is shown in perspective view in FIG.  2 . 
     The present invention deals primarily with the construction of the enclosure  11  in combination with various arrangements of mounting brackets which allow one or two of the enclosures  11  to be mounted in a plurality of ways. 
     For example, FIG. 10 shows side by side mounting two enclosures, which have been designated as  11 A and  11 B, within a rack  26  having a rack width  28 . The rack  26  is constructed of two vertical members  30  and  32 . The rack  26  illustrated in FIG. 10 may, for example, be a standard communications device rack having a width  28  of 19 inches, such as is commonly utilized by end users of communications equipment. The enclosures  11 A and  11 B are mounted within the rack  26  by first and second brackets  34  and  36  which are further described below with regard to FIGS. 4-6. 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a second mounting arrangement for the two enclosures  11 A and  11 B between vertical members  40  and  42  of a rack  38  having a rack width  44  which is greater than the rack width  28 . Rack  38  may for example be a standard 23 inch wide rack such as is conventionally used by telephone companies. As will be further described below, the same two brackets  34  and  36  are utilized in FIG. 11, but in a different orientation than they were utilized in FIG.  10 . 
     In still another possible mounting arrangement for one of the enclosures  11 , as shown in FIG. 13, the same may be mounted within either of the racks  26  or  38  in a single enclosure arrangement utilizing a different set of brackets  46  and  48  which are further described below with regard to FIGS. 7-9. By choice of the dimensions of brackets  46  and  48 , a single box mounting arrangement may be utilized in either the narrower rack  26  or the wider rack  38  of FIGS. 10 and 11, respectively. 
     Finally, FIG. 14 illustrates still another mounting arrangement for a single one of the enclosures  11  wherein the same is mounted on a vertical surface, such as wall  50 , by use of the first and second brackets  34  and  36 . 
     The details of construction of one of the enclosure boxes  11  is shown in the exploded view of FIG.  3 . The enclosure  11  can be described as a six sided rectangular box, two oppositely facing sides  52  and  54  of which include a plurality of mounting holes as best seen on side  52  in FIG.  3 . As will be further described below, those mounting holes are arranged in a plurality of patterns to provide for alternative mounting of the enclosure on various support structures. The first and second sides  52  and  54  may be referred to as the left and right lateral sides when the enclosure  11  is mounted in a horizontal manner as shown in FIG.  10 . The enclosure box  11  further includes a front side  56 , a rear side  58 , a top side  60  and a bottom side  62 . 
     The rear side  58  receives a backplane board  64  having slots such as  66  for receiving the plug-in connectors of the communications card such as  12  in a conventional manner. The rear side  58  is closed by a rear cover  68  and an access panel  70 . 
     The front side  56 , which may also be referred to as a face  56 , is generally open to and defines a plurality of opening slots, such as  72  and  74 , for receiving data communication cards such as  12 ,  14 ,  16  and the like therein. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 4,  5  and  6 , the details of construction of mounting bracket  34  are shown. The mounting bracket  36  is identical. 
     As shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, the bracket  34  is constructed in a right angle shape having an apex  76  and having a shorter leg  78  and a longer leg  80 . 
     As seen in FIG. 5, the shorter leg  78  has two oval shaped bolt holes  82  and  84  defined therein which can be described as a rack bolt pattern  82 ,  84 . As can be seen, for example, in FIG. 10, the short leg  78  engages the vertical member  30  of rack  26  and the bracket  34  is attached to the rack  26  by bolts (not shown) extending through the oval shaped bolt holes  82  and  84 . 
     The short leg  78  also includes three smaller bolt holes  86 ,  88  and  90  which can be described as a box bolt pattern  86 ,  88 , and  90  which will be utilized to bolt the short leg  78  to the box  11  when the bracket  34  is reoriented in the manner shown in FIG.  11 . 
     Similarly, the longer leg  80  shown in FIG. 6 includes a rack bolt pattern made up of oval bolt holes  92  and  94  which are utilized to bolt the bracket  34  to the vertical member  40  of rack  38  when in the orientation shown in FIG.  11 . The longer leg  80  also includes a box bolt pattern made up of three smaller bolt holes  96 ,  98  and  100  which are utilized to bolt the longer leg  80  to the box structure  11  when the bracket  34  is in the orientation shown in FIG.  10 . 
     As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the box bolt patterns made up of three smaller bolt holes are spaced identical distances  102  and  104  from the apex  76 . As is also apparent in comparing FIGS. 5 and 6, the rack bolt patterns of the shorter and longer legs  78  and  80  are spaced different distances  102  and  106  from the apex  76 . The different between distances  102  and  106  is equal to one-half of the difference between the two alternative rack widths  28  and  44 . Thus, if the rack widths are 19 and 23 inches, as would be the case for two commonly used standard racks as previously described, then the difference between distance  102  and  106  would be two inches. 
     Furthermore, as seen in FIG. 6, the longer leg  80  includes four additional bolt holes  108 ,  110 ,  112  and  114  which can be described as an alternative box bolt pattern  108 ,  110 ,  112 ,  114  for allowing one of the boxes  11  to be mounted on a planar surface such as wall  50  with the first and second mounting brackets  34  and  36 . The use of this alternative box bolt pattern can be better understood with reference to FIG. 3, and an examination of the various bolt holes found in the left side wall  52  of box  11 . 
     Each of the left and right side walls  52  and  54  of box  11  can be described as including a plurality of mounting holes, which plurality of mounting holes includes a first pattern made up of mounting holes  116 ,  118 ,  120  and  122  for mounting the box  11  on a planar surface, such as wall  50 . 
     The plurality of mounting holes of the left side  52  further includes a second pattern made up of mounting holes  116 ,  118  and  132  for mounting the box  11  in one of the racks of FIG. 10 or  11 . 
     The left side wall  52  further includes a third pattern of mounting holes including holes  134 ,  136 ,  138  and  140  for mounting a power supply  142  (see FIG. 15) on the box  11 . 
     The long leg  80  of bracket  34  can be mounted on left side wall  52  with the short leg  78  oriented flush with the bottom wall  62  and with the bolt holes  108 ,  110 ,  112  and  114  aligned with corresponding bolt holes  116 ,  118 ,  120  and  122 . The bracket  34  will of course, be attached to the side wall  52  by bolts or machine screws fitted through the bolt hole patterns just described. With brackets  34  and  36  mounted on either side wall  52  and  54  of the box  11  in the manner just described, the box  11  can then be mounted on a planar surface, such as vertical wall  50  in a manner shown in FIG. 14, wherein wall bolts would extend through the oval holes  82  and  84  of brackets  34  and  36 . 
     Referring again to FIG. 10, the structure illustrated therein can be described as a data communication system constructed to be mounted in the rack  26  having the width  28  defined between the first and second supports  30  and  32 . The data communications system includes first and second equipment boxes  11 A and  11 B. Each box has a box width, such as  122  less than one-half of the rack width  28 . The first and second boxes  11 A and  11 B are structurally connected together by a pluarality of screws (not shown), which extend through aligned threaded holes such as  127 ,  129 ,  131  and  133  seen in FIG.  3 . The screws are inserted from inside one enclosure  11 A and threaded through the holes into the corresponding holes of the adjacent enclosure  11 B. Thus, the first and second boxes  11 A and  11 B are structurally connected together to form a two box structure having a combined width less than the rack width  28 . The first and second mounting brackets  34  and  36  are then connected to the first and second boxes  11 A and  11 B, respectively, for attaching the two box structure to the first and second supports  30  and  32  of the rack  26 . 
     As is apparent in viewing both FIGS. 10 and 11, the mounting brackets  34  and  36  have two alternative mounting positions which allow the two box structure  11 A,  11 B to be selectively mounted in either of the two alternative racks  26  or  38  having rack widths  28  or  44 , respectively. 
     The mounting brackets  46  and  48  utilized to mount a single box structure within one of the standard rack arrangements are shown in greater detail in FIGS. 7-9. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the mounting bracket  46  having a shorter leg  158  and a longer leg  160 , which meet at an apex  162 . 
     As seen in FIG. 8, the longer leg  160  includes a pair of oval shaped holes  164  and  166  for attachment to the vertical members of one of the mounting brackets. As seen in FIG. 9, the shorter leg  158  includes three smaller mounting holes  168 ,  170  and  172  for attachment to the box  11 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 15, another possible mounting arrangement for the box  11  is shown. 
     FIG. 15 illustrates a single box  11  mounted on a hinged front door  174  of a battery box  176  which is in turn mounted on a vertical surface, such as the wall  50 . 
     It will be understood for example, that the communications device  11  shown in FIG. 15 might be mounted with the battery box  176  in order to provide battery backup in the event of a power failure on the local utility grid. The system shown in FIG. 15 includes the box  11 , which might also be referred to as a chassis  11  mounted on the hinged front door  174  of the battery box  176 . The chassis has a face, such as front face  56  previously described, which is oriented transversely to the door  174 . Face  56  includes openings such as  72 ,  74  and the like defined therein for receiving a plurality of data communication devices, such as  12 ,  14  and the like therein as shown in FIG.  3 . 
     The box  11  will be mounted on the door  174  in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. 14, utilizing the brackets  34  and  36  which cannot be seen in the view of FIG.  15 . 
     Additionally, an external power supply and charger  142  is mounted on one side of the chassis  11  as seen in FIG.  15 . 
     It will be understood that the system illustrated in FIG. 15 might be mounted on the wall  50  of a utility closet at the user&#39;s facility, and quite often there will be a great deal of other electrical equipment also mounted on the wall  50  in close proximity to the battery box  176 . 
     With the system illustrated in FIG. 15, the front door  174  can be pivoted along vertical hinge  178  to move the battery box  11  away from the wall  50  to provide access to the devices  12  and  14  received therein. If the box  11  could not be so pivoted, it could be very difficult to remove and replace the devices  12  and  14  if another electrical apparatus were mounted on the wall  50  in close proximity to the open front  56  of box  11 . 
     As previously noted, the front side  56  of box  11  has openings such as  72  and  74  defined therein for receiving a plurality of data communication devices, such as  12 ,  14 ,  16  and the like within the box  11 . Those devices are not illustrated in FIG. 15, but are shown in FIG.  3 . 
     Another new feature of the enclosure box  11  is the provision of means for retaining the data communication devices, such as  12 ,  14  and  16  within the box  11 . This feature is provided by a retaining bracket  144  best seen in FIG.  16 . 
     The retaining bracket  144  includes two hooks  146  and  148  defined on its side, and a tab  156  on its right hand end. The box  11  includes two holes  150  and  152  defined therein, and includes an ear  130  with a slot  128  therein. The holes  150  and  152  and hooks  146  and  148  are complementary shaped. Also the tab  156  fits in slot  128 . After the communication devices  12 ,  14 ,  16  and the like are placed within the open front  56  of the box  11 , the retaining bracket  144  can be placed across the front of the communication devices, and the hooks  146  and  148  engaged with the slots or openings  150  and  152  in the box  11 , and the tab  156  received in slot  128 . The retaining bracket  144  is then detachably connected to the box  11  by fastener  154  which may be a threaded lock screw. 
     The slots  150  and  152  defined in box  11  may be described as engagement surfaces  150  and  152 , and the hooks  146  and  148  defined on retaining bracket  144  may be described as second engagement surfaces which are complementary to the slots  150  and  152 , so that the hooks and slots can interlock. The threaded fastener  154  in turn can retain the bracket  148  in place, with the hooks and slots in their interlocked positions. 
     Preferably, the threaded fastener  154  is constructed to be actuated or engaged with a tool, such as a screwdriver or an allen wrench, and can be described as a tool actuated fastener  154 . 
     Thus, it is seen that the apparatus of the present invention readily achieves the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described for purposes of the present disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement and construction of parts may be made by those skilled in the art, which changes are encompassed within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.