Patent Publication Number: US-2017353014-A1

Title: Rackmount case for the accommodation of optical equipment

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/346,762 filed on Jun. 7, 2016 which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a rackmount case for the accommodation of optical equipment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     An exemplary rackmount case of the prior art comprises a door, which includes a metal member and a plastic member. The plastic member is fixed to the metal member by means of a plurality of screws. This door of the prior art rackmount case requires an elaborate assembly and a plurality of parts. 
     It is an object of the invention to facilitate the assembly of a rackmount case and a door of a rackmount case. It is a further object of the invention to provide a cost-efficient rackmount case and door. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     There is provided a rackmount case for the accommodation of optical equipment. The case comprises a metal housing comprising an open end, and a door comprising dimensions substantially the same as the open end for selectively opening and closing the open end, the door including a structural member made from metal and hinged to the housing along an edge of the open end, and an aesthetic member made from plastic, the aesthetic member at least partially covering the structural member. The aesthetic member comprises a one-way attachment system comprising a plurality of post like protrusions and the structural member comprises a plurality of recesses for receiving the protrusions, each of the protrusions comprising a head deformed by heat for engaging with a shoulder of a respective one of the recesses to hold the aesthetic member relative to the structural member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a rackmount case in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the rackmount case, wherein a door of the rackmount case is open and in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an isometric view of the door of the rackmount case and in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric view of an aesthetic member of the door and in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a detailed sectional view of the door along lines V-V in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an isometric view of a replaceable anchoring member of the rackmount case and in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  provides a detailed perspective view of a hinge connecting the rackmount case and door in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a rackmount case  10  in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention will be described. The rackmount case  10  comprises a housing  12  and a door  14  for selectively opening and closing the rackmount case  10 . The housing  12  is adapted to house optical equipment, such as a plurality of fibre optic cables. In particular, the rackmount case  10  includes means for housing and engaging a plurality of removable cassettes. Such cassettes may include further optical equipment. The rackmount case  10  also comprises a second door  16 , which can comprise any or all of the features of the door  14  described herein. 
     The housing  12  of the rackmount case  10  comprises on each one of two side walls  18  two openings  20  for feeding through wires or cables even when the doors  14 ,  16  are closed. Each opening  20  is open in direction to the respective door. The door  14  comprises a cut  22  near the opening  20 , the cut  22  further facilitating feeding through wires or cables. Each opening  20  can comprise a brush-type cover (not shown) preventing dust from entering the rackmount case  10 . 
     The rackmount case  10  includes an anchor plate  24  adjacent the opening  20  facing the door  14 . the anchor plate  24  illustratively extends perpendicular to the side wall  18 . The anchor plate  24  comprises a plurality of openings or apertures, thereby providing the possibility to fix wires or cables to the plate  24  for example by means of a tie or a strap. 
     The side wall  18  of the rackmount case  10  further comprises a flange  26  for the fixation of the rackmount case  10  on two beams  28  of a rack, in particular a standard size rack for the accommodation of a plurality of rackmount cases. 
     The door  14  further comprises a lock  56  and two engagement hooks  32  for securing the door  14  in a closed position, as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the rackmount case  10  of  FIG. 1  is shown, wherein the door  14  is in an open position. As can be seen from  FIG. 2 , the housing  12  comprises engagement recesses  34  for the engagement of the hooks  32  with the housing  12  in order to secure the door  14  in its closed position. 
     The door  14  comprises a structural member  36 , which is made from metal, for example a steel or aluminium sheet. The door  14  further comprises and aesthetic member  38  made from plastic, the aesthetic member  38  covering the structural member  36  from view when the door  14  is in the closed position, as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the door  14  is shown in more detail. The structural member  36  is a pressed metal sheet providing structural stability for the door  14 . The structural member  36  comprises a plurality of anchors  40  and  42  for the attachment of wires or cables, for example by means of ties or straps. The anchors  40  and  42  are provided as metal loops extending from the metal sheet of the structural member  36 . Referring to  FIG. 6  in addition to  FIG. 3 , further, the structural member  36  comprises a plurality of openings  44 ,  46 , four openings  44  and four openings  46  forming together a set of openings for receiving a replaceable anchoring member  48 . The structural member  36  comprises two such sets of openings  44 ,  46 . The structural member  36  further includes a plurality of recesses  50  for the fixation of the aesthetic member  38  to the structural member  36 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the aesthetic member  38  is made of plastic and is of a generally curved shape and comprises a plurality of ribs  52  for the reinforcement of the aesthetic member  38 . The aesthetic member  38  further comprises a plurality of post like protrusions  54  the free ends of which are each received by a respective one of the recesses  50  of the structural member  36  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). A respective protrusion  54  and a respective recess  50  form together a fixation point in a manner described in more detail below. Although the protrusions  54  of the aesthetic member  38  are shown as parts of respective ribs  52 , the protrusions  54  could also be located independently from the ribs  52  at the aesthetic member  38 . As can further be seen from  FIG. 4 , the aesthetic member  38  also comprises apertures for engagement hooks  32  and lock  56 , as for example shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the fixation between the aesthetic member  38  and the structural member  36  is illustrated by means of a sectional, more detailed view, wherein the section plane extends along the line A-A indicated in  FIG. 3 . The protrusion  54  is, in the present embodiment, designed as a pin extending from the rib  52  through the recess  50 . The recess  50  is, in the present embodiment, tapered in the direction of a root of the protrusion  54 . In particular, the recess  50  is of a conical shape forming an annular shoulder. The structural member  36  abuts the rib  52 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 5 , the protrusion  54  is shown in an unconnected state. In other words, the structural member  36  and the aesthetic member  38  are shown at a point in time of the assembly of the rackmount case  10  before establishing a permanent, or one-way, connection between the aesthetic member  38  and the structural member  36 . In order to establish this permanent one-way connection, the protrusion  54  can be formed or worked to acquire a shape, for example a head, engaging with the annular shoulder of the recess  50 . In particular, the protrusion  54  can be deformed by heat or molten into a shape, which provides for a form-fit connection between the aesthetic member  38  and the structural member  36 . For example, this can be achieved by pressing a hot plunger (not shown) onto an end surface of the protrusion  54 . Thereby, a permanent fixation is established and the aesthetic member  38  can no longer be separated from the structural member  36  without the destruction of the connection. As it becomes apparent from  FIG. 5 , the described connection between the aesthetic member  38  and the structural member  36  does not require any separate mechanical fasteners, such as screws, thus providing for a cost-efficient process of assembly. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the rackmount case  10  also comprises a replaceable anchoring member  48 , displayed in  FIG. 6  in more detail. The replaceable anchoring member  48  is of a generally box-like shape and comprises a plurality of hooks  58  for the engagement with openings  44  of the structural member  36  or of a wall of the rackmount case  10 , for example a bottom wall  60 . The replaceable anchoring member  48  further comprises a plurality of stabilizing protrusions  62  for being received by openings  46  of the structural member  36  or the wall of the rackmount case  10 . As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the bottom wall  60  of the rackmount case  10  comprises two sets of openings  44 ,  46 , each set of which being adapted to receive a replaceable anchoring member  48 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . In  FIG. 2  one such replaceable anchoring member  48  is engaged with one such set of openings  44 ,  46 , the respective set of openings being covered by the replaceable anchoring member  48  in  FIG. 2 . A user of the rackmount case  10  can easily place the replaceable anchoring member  48  at any desirable one of the sets of openings  44 ,  46 . Also, more than one replaceable anchoring member  48  could be used. For facilitating the desirable arrangement of wires or cables within the rackmount case  10 , the replaceable anchoring member  48  comprises a plurality of protrusions  64 , which can serve as anchors for fastening ties or strips to the anchoring member  48 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7 , the door  14  is hingedly connected to the housing  12 . In particular, the structural member  36 , which in  FIG. 7  is covered by the aesthetic member  38 , comprises a flap  66  forming a knuckle  68 . A metal base sheet  70  of the bottom wall  60  also comprises a flap  72  forming a knuckle  74 . Both knuckles  68  and  74  are secured around a common hinge pin (not shown), in order to allow for the structural member  36  to revolve around the hinge pin relative to the bottom wall  60 . Further, the aesthetic member  38  comprises a ridge portion  76  also forming a knuckle  78  to clasp around the hinge pin. 
     The bottom wall  60  is made up of the metal base sheet  70  and a functional member  80 , which is made from plastic and can be seen in  FIG. 2 . The metal base sheet  70  and functional member  80  are fixed to each other in a manner similar to the connection between the aesthetic member  38  and the structural member  36  described above. In particular, the metal base sheet  70  comprises a recess  82 , through which a protrusion  84  of the plastic functional member  80  extends to be molten into a shape engaging with an annular shoulder of the recess  82 . 
     Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of specific embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention as defined in the appended claims.