Abstract:
The invention relates to a distribution cabinet ( 10 ) for optical fibers, comprising a housing ( 11 ) and a frame ( 18 ) that is pivotally mounted inside the housing ( 11 ). Cables encompassing optical fibers that are guided therein can be routed into and/or directed out of the distribution cabinet, the cables being routed to the frame ( 18 ) from a rear side ( 14 ) of the housing ( 11 ) and being routed away from the frame in the direction of the rear side. Subassemblies are fastened to the frame ( 18 ) in order to connect the optical fibers that are guided within the cables. At least one holding device ( 23 ) for the cables is fastened to the pivotally mounted frame ( 18 ), the cables being fixable to the holding device ( 23 ). The holding device ( 23 ) is configured so as to be pivotable relative to the housing ( 11 ) along with the frame ( 18 ), while also being pivotable relative to the frame ( 18 ).

Description:
[0001]     This National stage application claims the benefit of International Application No. PCT/EP04/009890, filed on Sep. 4, 2004, which claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. 10343270.1, filed on Sep. 17, 2003, and which was not published in the English language under PCT Article 21(2). 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a distribution cabinet for optical fibers.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Distribution cabinets are required when designing optical fiber cable networks in order to ensure the cables are arranged in a structured fashion. One requirement made of distribution cabinets for optical fibers is that they be equipped to the maximum extent with a high packing density and at the same time little mechanical load on the optical fibers.  
         [0004]     The prior art discloses distribution cabinets for optical fibers in which assemblies for connecting optical fibers which are routed by means of patch cables are arranged, such that they can pivot, in a frame which can pivot in relation to a housing of the distribution cabinet. In distribution cabinets for optical fibers of this type, the cables are routed into the distribution cabinet for from an upper face and/or a lower face of the housing in the region of a rear face of the housing and from the rear face of the housing to the pivotable frame. According to the prior art, the cables are in this case attached firstly in a region of the rear face of the housing and secondly to the pivotable frame. In the case of distribution cabinets for optical fibers of this type, the frame is pivoted in relation to the housing or out of the housing in order to gain access to the rear face of the assemblies which are accommodated in the frame. When the frame is pivoted, the cables are also moved and mechanically loaded since they are fixed to the frame. On account of the cables being rigidly fixed to the pivotable frame in the manner customary according to the prior art, the cables are bent, compressed or even twisted, and this often leads to the optical transmission properties of the optical fibers which run in the cables being impaired. In addition, a mechanical force is exerted on the frame on account of the cables being rigidly fixed to the pivotable frame, and in extreme cases this may lead to the frame no longer being able to move. If a plurality of cables in the form of a bundle are routed from the rear face of the housing in the direction of the frame and fixed to the frame, the above problems are intensified since the cables which are combined to form one bundle adhere to one another in a frictionally engaging manner on account of the properties of the cable casing and therefore can form a rigid connection. Consequently, it is problematical to route the cables from the rear face of the housing of the distribution cabinet in the direction of the pivotable frame in the case of distribution cabinets for optical fibers which are known from the prior art.  
         [0005]     Against this background, the present invention is based on the problem of providing a novel distribution cabinet for optical fibers.  
         [0006]     This problem is solved by a distribution cabinet for optical fibers including the features of the present invention shown and described herein. In the distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention, at least one holding device for the cables is attached to the frame which is mounted such that it can pivot, it being possible to fix the cables to the each holding device, and the each holding device being formed such that it can pivot firstly together with the frame in relation to the housing and secondly in relation to the frame. The mechanical load on the cables when the frame is pivoted is minimized on account of the ability of the each holding device to pivot in relation to the likewise pivotable frame. The difficulties known from the prior art are [thus] overcome.  
         [0007]     According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the each holding device can be pivoted in relation to the frame in such a way that in each position of the frame the holding device is oriented toward the rear face of the housing. In this case, the each holding device is oriented toward a region of the rear face or rear wall of the housing in which the cables which can be routed into and/or out of the distribution cabinet are routed and/or attached.  
         [0008]     The holding device is preferably attached to the rear face of the housing by means of at least one traction device in each case, to be precise in the region or in the vicinity of the region in which the cables which can be routed into and/or out of the distribution cabinet are routed and/or attached. The traction device is relatively relaxed in the position in which the relative distance between the respective holding device and the region of the rear face of the housing is the shortest, with the each traction device being tensioned as the relative distance increases. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     Preferred embodiments of the invention can be found in the following detailed description. One exemplary embodiment is explained in greater detail with reference to the drawing figures, in which:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1 : shows a highly schematic plan view of a distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention, with a pivoting frame in the starting position,  
         [0011]      FIG. 2 : shows a highly schematic plan view of the distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention from  FIG. 1 , with a pivoting frame pivoted out of the distribution cabinet,  
         [0012]      FIG. 3 : shows a highly schematic side view of the distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention from  FIGS. 1 and 2 , with the pivoting frame shown in the starting position and in the pivoted-out position, and  
         [0013]      FIG. 4 : shows a perspective side view of a detail of the distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     In the text which follows, the present invention is described in greater detail with reference to FIGS.  1  to  4 .  FIGS. 1 and 2  show a plan view of the distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention, while  FIG. 3  shows a front view of the same.  
         [0015]     A distribution cabinet  10  for optical fibers has a housing  11  which is formed, inter alia, by two struts  12 ,  13  in the region of a rear wall or rear face  14  of the distribution cabinet for optical fibers and by two struts  15 ,  16  in the region of a front wall or front face  17  thereof. A pivotable frame  18  is arranged in the distribution cabinet  10  for optical fibers, it being possible to pivot the frame  18  in relation to the fixed housing  11  about a pivot axis  19 .  FIG. 1  shows the distribution cabinet for optical fibers with a frame  18  pivoted into the housing  11 , and  FIG. 2  shows the same with a frame  18  pivoted out of the housing  11 . It follows directly from this that the front face of assemblies which are positioned in the frame can be accessed in the position of the pivotable frame  18  shown in  FIG. 1 , whereas the rear face of these assemblies can be accessed in the position of the frame  18  which is illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0016]     Adjacent to the rear face  14 , cables (not illustrated in detail) are routed into and optionally out of the distribution cabinet  10  for optical fibers from an upper face and/or a lower face of the distribution cabinet  10 . In this case, the cables which can be routed into and/or out of the distribution cabinet  10  for optical fibers are routed and optionally attached in a region  20  of the rear wall  14 . Starting from this region  20 , the cables are then fed to the pivotable frame  18  in order to ultimately feed the cables to assemblies, which are arranged in the frame  18 , for connecting the optical fibers which are routed in the cables.  
         [0017]     In the exemplary embodiment shown, the cables are fed to one end  21  of the pivotable frame  18  from the region  20 , with a guide rail  22  being rigidly connected to the frame  18  in the region of this end  21 . The cables can be routed in the vertical direction on the pivotable frame  18  along the guide rail  22 . For the purposes of the present invention, the cables are not attached directly to the guide rail  22  but rather to a holding device  23 , with the holding device  23  being formed such that it can pivot firstly together with the frame  18  in relation to the housing  11  and secondly can likewise pivot in relation to the frame  18 . The holding device  23  is accordingly not rigidly fixed to the pivotable frame  18  but engages thereon by means of a rotary bearing or hinge  24 . In this case, the rotary axis of the hinge  24  runs just like the pivot axis  19  of the frame  18  in an approximately vertical direction and therefore approximately parallel to the latter. As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , the guide rail  22  which is rigidly connected to the frame  18  does not extend over the entire vertical height of the pivotable frame  18  but only in the region of the top two thirds of the vertical height of the frame  18 . The holding device  23  is positioned below the guide rail  22 . It should be noted that  FIG. 3  shows the frame  18  in two different positions. The position according to  FIG. 1  is shown by solid lines in  FIG. 3 , and the position according to  FIG. 2  is shown by dashed lines in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0018]     For the purposes of the invention, the holding device  23  is formed such that it can pivot in relation to the frame  18  in such a way that the holding device  23  is oriented toward the rear face  14  of the distribution cabinet  10  in each position of the pivotable frame  18 —be it in the position pivoted into the housing  11  illustrated in  FIG. 1  or in the position pivoted out of the housing  11  illustrated in  FIG. 2 . It can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2  that the holding device  23  is always oriented toward the region  20  in which the cables which can be routed into and/or out of the distribution cabinet  10  are routed and/or attached. It can furthermore be seen in  FIG. 2  that the holding device  23  is oriented toward the region  20  in such a way that an angular position of the holding device  23  with respect to the rear wall  14  of the housing  11  remains approximately unchanged in each position of the frame  18 . Therefore, in  FIG. 1 , in which the frame  18  is fully pivoted into the housing  11 , the angular position between the holding device  23  and the rear face  14  of the housing  11  is approximately 15°. If, however, the frame  18  is pivoted about its pivot axis  19  completely out of the housing  11 —the frame  18  is typically pivoted about its pivot axis  19  through  1350  for this purpose—the angular position between the holding device  23  and the rear face  14  of the distribution cabinet  10  changes only slightly. In  FIG. 2 , this angular position is approximately  250 . Therefore, while the guide rail  22  which is firmly connected to the pivoting frame  18  is pivoted through  1350  when the pivoting frame  18  moves from the position illustrated in  FIG. 1  to the position illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the angular position between the holding device  23  and the rear face  14  of the distribution cabinet  10  changes only by approximately 100. It follows directly from this that the cables which are attached to the holding device  23  are only subject to a low mechanical load despite the large pivoting movement of the frame  18 , and are therefore handled particularly carefully in the distribution cabinet  10  for optical fibers according to the invention.  
         [0019]     In order to assist the movement of the holding device  23  when the frame  18  is pivoted, or to assist the orientation of the holding device  23  toward the rear face  14  of the housing  11  in a controlled manner, the holding device  23  is connected to the rear face  14 , specifically to the region  20  of the rear face  14 , by means of a traction device  25 . The traction device  25  is attached by a first end  26  to a fixed point  27  of the region  20  of the rear face  14  and by a second end  28  to the holding device  23 . The traction device  25  may be in the form of a traction cord or a tension spring. The traction force in the traction device  25  is set such that the traction device  25  is relatively relaxed when there is an extremely small distance between the holding device  23  and the stationary point  27  or the region  20 . When the distance between the fixed point  27  and the holding device  23  increases, the traction device  25  is increasingly tensioned. This can be seen in  FIG. 3  in particular. The traction device is tensioned by the weight of the cables when the traction device  25  is in the form of a traction cord.  
         [0020]     Preference is given to a refinement of the traction device in which there are two traction cords, with an accommodation depression which is made of plastic film being formed between the two traction cords, and it being possible to insert the cables into this accommodation depression. In the position of the frame  18  shown in  FIG. 1 , the two traction cords and the accommodation depression are tensioned in this case and the cables which are inserted in the accommodation depression are raised. The traction cords are tensioned by the weight of the cables which are inserted in the accommodation depression. When the frame is pivoted into the position from  FIG. 2 , the cables are lowered with the accommodation depression, with the weight of the cables being transmitted as traction force by means of the traction cords to the holding device which is mounted on the frame such that it can pivot.  
         [0021]     In the above-described, preferred exemplary embodiment of the distribution cabinet  10  according to the invention, the movement of the cables when the frame  18  is pivoted is divided into two main components or zones by the holding device  23  which is formed such that it can pivot in relation to the pivotable frame  18 . The first main movement which can be executed by the cables is determined by the extent to which the cables hang freely between the region  20  of the rear face  14  of the distribution cabinet  10  and the holding device  23  to which the cables are attached. The cables are raised when the frame  18  is in the position pivoted into the distribution cabinet  10 , which position is illustrated in  FIG. 1 , and in contrast are lowered when said frame is pivoted into the position which is shown in  FIG. 2 . This follows directly from  FIG. 3 . In addition to this movement component, the cables execute a relative movement between the holding device  23  and the guide rail  22  which is arranged above the holding device  23 . Whereas the guide rail  22  is rigidly connected to the pivotable frame, the holding device  23  can be pivoted in relation to the frame  18 . In the region between the holding device  23  and the guide rail  22 , the cables accordingly execute a slight bending movement with a little torsion.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a preferred embodiment of the holding device  23 . The cross section of the holding device  23  shown in  FIG. 4  is designed in the approximate shape of the alphabet letter “E”. The holding device  23  thus has a plate-like base element  29 , with three holding elements  30  which are at an angle of approximately 90° in relation to the base element  29  being provided in the exemplary embodiment from  FIG. 4 . Together with the base element  29 , the holding elements  30  bound two accommodation spaces  31  and  32  which are formed to be open in the direction of the rear face  14  of the distribution cabinet  10  for optical fibers. This can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2  in particular. The formation of the two accommodation spaces  31  and  32  makes it possible to separate incoming and outgoing cables from one another. This facilitates possible jumpering work on the cables.  
         [0023]     As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , openings  33  are made in the holding elements  30  and in the base element  29 . Cable ties or touch-and-close fastening strips, for example, can be drawn through the openings  33  in order to fix the cables, which are arranged in the accommodation spaces  31  and  32 , in the holding device  23 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  also shows the hinge  24  which makes possible the relative movement between the holding device  23  and the frame  18 . The hinge  24  engages on the base element  29 . The holding device  23  can be attached to the pivotable frame  18  by means of an attachment element  34  which likewise engages on the hinge  24 .  
         [0025]     In the exemplary embodiment shown, a holding device  23  is attached to the pivotable frame  18 . As already mentioned, this holding device  23  engages on the end  21  of the frame  18 . In contrast to the exemplary embodiment shown, it is also possible to attach the holding device  23  to the frame  18  at an end  35  of said frame which is opposite the end  21 . Furthermore, it is also possible to arrange a holding device  23  at each of the two ends  21  and  35 . It is also possible, within the scope of the invention, to arrange a holding device  23  both on the frame  18  and on the rear wall  14  of the distribution cabinet  10  in each case.  
         [0026]     The distribution cabinet for optical fibers according to the invention allows the cables which contain the optical glass fibers or optical fibers to be handled particularly carefully, with the frame which is arranged in the distribution cabinet such that it can pivot having an unlimited freedom of movement.