Abstract:
A compact storage bracket and shelf apparatus is disclosed for the interior of an equipment enclosure. The bracket is attached to the inner surface of an enclosure door. This forms a storage compartment for literature or the like to be maintained within the enclosure. The shelf is pivotally connected to the bracket to close in a very compact arrangement and to open with enough space for a service technician&#39;s laptop computer. The shelf may be opened and closed in a very easy manner and the opening and closing may be accomplished with one hand. The shelf is maintained in a closed position by use of a spring biased plunger, and a shoulder bolt is used to abut an edge of a shelf wall to support the shelf in an opened position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a bracket and shelf apparatus for equipment enclosures and more particularly to a compact storage bracket and shelf apparatus adapted to be attached to the inside of the front door of an enclosure containing data transmission equipment.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Free standing, out-of-door equipment enclosures are frequently used to contain data transmission equipment. Typically, the equipment enclosure has a main upper chamber for electronic components, a lower chamber for back-up batteries and side chambers for other equipment. The enclosures are generally weather resistant and tamper proof.  
           [0005]    From time to time service technicians open the enclosures to service the equipment inside, perhaps by adding service lines or upgrading components. It is desirable that manuals and other literature be stored in the enclosure and be readily available for use by the service technician. It also is desirable that a work surface be available for a laptop computer often carried by service technicians. In the past, work surfaces were provided by attaching a panel to equipment racks inside the enclosure or by mounting the panel to the enclosure door. Neither arrangement provided for literature storage and both required cumbersome, two-handed assembly before use and then cumbersome disassembly upon completion of the technician&#39;s tasks.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The lack of a literature storage compartment and an effective shelf arrangement for equipment enclosures have been overcome by the present invention. What is described here is a compact storage compartment and shelf apparatus for an equipment enclosure comprising a generally channel shaped bracket adapted to be connected to a support surface, the bracket having a base, oppositely disposed walls connected to the base and a ledge portion also connected to the base wherein the base is spaced from the support surface for forming a storage compartment, a movable shelf pivotally connected to the bracket and supported by the bracket to allow movement of the shelf between a closed upper position and an opened lower position, the shelf having a generally flat surface which is positioned adjacent to the base of the bracket when the shelf is in the closed position and the generally flat surface extends away from the base of the bracket at approximately a perpendicular angle when the shelf is in the lower position, a first pair of surfaces, one of the first pair of surfaces being connected to the bracket and the other of the first pair of surfaces being connected to the shelf, the first pair of surfaces for engaging one another when the shelf is in the lower position, and a second pair of surfaces, one of this second pair of surfaces connected to the shelf and the other of the second pair of surfaces being connected to the bracket, the second pair of surfaces for engaging one another when the shelf is in the upper position.  
           [0007]    There are a number of advantages, features and objects achieved with the present invention which are believed not to be available in earlier related devices. For example, one advantage is that the present invention provides a literature storage compartment and shelf space in one compact and effective arrangement. Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus having a literature storage compartment and offering shelf space which apparatus is easy to use. Further, the apparatus takes little or no internal space from electrical components mounted in the equipment enclosure. A further advantage of the present invention is that the literature storage compartment and shelf system has few independent parts and no loose or unattached parts. Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a combined storage literature compartment and shelf apparatus which is simple, reliable and inexpensive and which can be installed at the time the enclosure is manufactured, or the apparatus can be retrofitted to existing equipment enclosures.  
           [0008]    A more complete understanding of the present invention and other objects, advantages and features thereof will be gained from a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiment read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing provided herein. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an equipment enclosure and illustrated in dotted line is the compact literature storage compartment bracket and shelf apparatus of the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the present invention illustrating the shelf in an opened position.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the present invention illustrating the shelf in a closed position.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a bracket of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the bracket shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the bracket shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the shelf of the present invention prior to being fully formed.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a shoulder bolt of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 is a partial exploded plan view of a spring loaded plunger of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]    While the present invention is open to various modifications and alternative constructions, the preferred embodiment shown in the drawing will be described herein in detail. It is understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalent structures and methods, and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.  
         [0019]    Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an equipment enclosure  10  of the type containing telecommunications, television cable and/or other data transmission equipment. This enclosure may be free standing and located out-of-doors. A compact literature storage compartment bracket and shelf apparatus  12 , shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, is mounted to the interior of one of the enclosure doors, as indicated in dotted line. The apparatus includes a bracket  16 , FIG. 2, having a generally U-shape which is attached to the inner surface  18  of the door  14 . The inner surface of the door acts as a support for the bracket. The bracket may be attached in any suitable manner, such as by welding. Pivotally mounted to the bracket is a shelf  20 . The shelf is shown in an opened lower position in FIG. 2 and in an closed upper position in FIG. 3.  
         [0020]    Pivoting of the shelf occurs about two bolts, such as the bolt  22 , and another bolt, not shown, at the opposite end of the bracket. Another projection, or two, such as the projecting shoulder bolt  24  is used to maintain the shelf  20  in the opened position. In this position the shelf is generally perpendicular to the bracket. A spring loaded projection or plunger  26  is attached to the shelf and is used to secure the shelf in its closed position as will be explained below.  
         [0021]    The simple, reliable and inexpensive nature of the present invention may be seen by reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and  6 . The bracket  16  may be formed from a single piece of aluminum plate with a base portion  30 , oppositely disposed side walls  32 ,  34  and a bottom ledge  36 . The base is shown with three openings  38 ,  40  and  42  and the walls and ledge also include a series of openings. For example, the ledge  36  includes eight equal size openings, such as the opening  44 . The side walls  32 ,  34  each includes seven openings, such as the two small bolt openings  46 ,  48  at the lower end  50  of the side wall  34 , and four equal size openings, such as the opening  52 . A last, reduced size opening  54  toward the upper end  56  of the side wall  34  is provided to engage the plunger  26 .  
         [0022]    The bracket  16  may be formed of 0.125 inch aluminum plate whose configuration is stamped and bent to the geometry shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The bending operation results in rounded edges  53 ,  55  at the intersection of the side walls and the base portion. As shown in FIG. 2, when the walls  32 ,  34  of the bracket are attached to the support surface  18 , a storage compartment, designated  59 , is formed by the base, the walls and the ledge. This storage compartment may contain manuals, brochures and the like, such as the manual  61  drawn in phantom line. The front openings  38 ,  40  and  42  allow visual inspection of the literature in the storage compartment.  
         [0023]    In a like manner, the pull down shelf  20  may also be formed from a single sheet of aluminum, 0.125 inches thick, which is stamped to the geometry shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Referring first to FIG. 7, the shelf has a large, generally flat center surface  60  and oppositely disposed integral side walls  62 ,  64 . An integral front lip  66  is a structural member of the shelf and may also act as a tab to be pulled by a technician to lower the shelf. Pulling on the lip helps to move the shelf from the vertical closed position to the horizontal opened position. In FIG. 7 the shelf is shown as it would appear before the side walls  62 ,  64  and the lip  66  are formed. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the shelf is in its final configuration. Each of the side walls has two openings, such as the openings  68 ,  70  in the side wall  64  and the openings  69 ,  71  in the side wall  62 . Each of the side walls includes an upper edge  72 ,  74 . The height of the walls are reduced in size near the back edge  76  of the shelf. The reduced size portions act as abutment surfaces  80 ,  82  for stopping the pivoting movement of the shelf when it rotates from the closed position shown in FIG. 3 to the opened position shown in FIG. 2. The abutment surfaces  80 ,  82  engage projecting bolts, such as the bolt  24 , to support the shelf in the opened, horizontal position shown in FIG. 2. It is noted that only one bolt may be used although two are preferred.  
         [0024]    One of the primary purposes of the shelf is to provide a working surface for a laptop or portable computer or any other device or item used by service technicians. In order to accommodate these items, the width of the shelf from one side wall to the other is approximately 15.8 inches while the depth of the shelf is approximately 13.5 inches. Of course, other dimensions may be used.  
         [0025]    Referring back to FIGS. 2 and 3, two oppositely disposed fasteners are provided to connect the shelf  20  to the bracket  16 . For example, the bolt  22  passes through the opening  71  of the shelf wall  62  and the forward opening  48  of the bracket. An identical fastener passes through similar openings on the opposite side of the shelf and bracket although this is not shown in the drawing. A second pair of fasteners, represented by the shoulder bolt  24  is mounted in the rearward opening  46  of the bracket. An identical shoulder bolt may be mounted through a similar opening in the opposite side of the bracket. As can seen by reference to FIG. 8, the shoulder bolt includes a head  90  with a socket opening  92  for receiving a tool such as an Allen head wrench. To the left of the head  90  is a smooth shoulder  94  and to the left of the smooth shoulder is a threaded shank  96 . The threaded shank  96  receives a threaded nut (not shown) so as to attach the shoulder bolt to the bracket. The surface of the shoulder portion  94  is configured to engage the abutment surface  82  so as to position the shelf approximately 90 degrees removed from the vertically disposed bracket and the support surface  18 . In conjunction with the attachment fasteners, such as the bolt  22 , the shelf supports any reasonable weight placed on the center surface  60 . The shoulder bolts may be made of any suitable material such as stainless steel. A suitable shoulder diameter is 0.250 inches with an axial length of 0.25 inches.  
         [0026]    Referring now to FIG. 9, there is illustrated in more detail the spring loaded plunger  26 . The plunger includes a knob  100  within which is a spring connected to a retractable projecting stud  102  with a chamfer edge  104 . The spring loaded plunger is attached to the side wall  62  of the shelf  20  by a threaded sleeve  106  which engages the plunger so as to sandwich the shelf side wall  62  between the plunger and the sleeve. The spring loaded plunger  26  is readily available from a hardware source such as Southco of Concordville, Pa. and sold under the designation of 56-99-197-20. When the shelf is closed, the stud  102  extends into the opening  54  in the bracket  16  and the outer surface  103  of the stud abuts or engages the wall  108 , FIG. 2, formed around the opening  54 .  
         [0027]    In operation, the storage compartment bracket and shelf apparatus  12  is formed from two main parts, the bracket  16  and the shelf  20 . These are put together using fasteners, such as the bolt  22  and may be attached to the inner surface  18  of an equipment enclosure door  14  by welding. This may be done at the time the enclosure is manufactured or it may be done by retro-fitting the apparatus to an existing equipment enclosure. When in storage mode, the shelf is in its closed position as shown in FIG. 3. In this position, the center surface  60  of the shelf is essentially parallel to the base  30  of the bracket. The shelf is maintained in this closed position by the spring loaded plunger  26  which is attached to the shelf side wall  62  and which engages the bracket by having the stud  102  of the plunger pass into the opening  54  of the bracket wall  34 . As explained earlier, the apparatus is simple, reliable and relatively inexpensive. The apparatus is also compact so as to occupy a minimum valuable interior space in the equipment enclosure. When there is a need to perform work in the interior of the equipment enclosure and the enclosure doors are opened, the knob  100  of the plunger is pulled to retract the stud from the opening  54  in the bracket, and the knob may be used to lower the shelf. When the shelf is generally horizontal, the abutment surfaces  80 ,  82  strike the shoulders of the shoulder bolts, such as the shoulder  94  of the bolt  24 . The shelf may support a piece of literature, a notebook or a computer. When the work is finished, the shelf is lifted, the stud is biased inward when the chamfer edge  104  engages the rounded edge  55  of the bracket, and when the closed position of FIG. 3 is reached, the stud springs into engagement with the wall of the opening in the bracket. This self or automatic latching is a convenience for the user of the shelf. When the shelf is opened, literature  61  and the like may be inserted or removed from the compartment  59  between the bracket base  30  and the support surface  18  of the door  14 .  
         [0028]    The specification describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention. Other modifications and variations will under the doctrine of equivalents come within the scope of the appended claims. For example, a captive screw fastener may be positioned on the shelf center surface  60  to engage an opening in the base of the bracket. Or, spring bias plunders may be attached to the bracket and engage holes or recesses in the shelf. More or less openings can be made in the bracket and in the shelf. Further, different types of fasteners may be used. These are all considered equivalent structures. Still other alternatives will also be equivalent as will many new technologies. There is no desire or intention here to limit in any way the application of the doctrine of equivalents.