Patent Abstract:
A system and method for mounting a device into a rack comprises a mounting shelf that is attached to the rack, a first bracket that is attached to a first side of the device, and a second bracket that is attached to a second side of the device, wherein the second side is located opposite to the first side, wherein the first bracket and the second bracket are substantially similar, and wherein the device, with the first bracket and the second bracket attached thereto, is slideably positioned into the mounting shelf and attached to the mounting shelf via the first bracket and the second bracket.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
   This Application is a continuing application of application Ser. No. 10/464,994, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RACKMOUNTING A CHASSIS,” filed Jun. 18, 2003, which is a continuing application of patent application Ser. No. 10/073,478, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RACKMOUNTING A CHASSIS,” filed Feb. 11, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,481. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates in general to mounting devices, and in specific to an apparatus and method for rackmounting a chassis. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Large-scale computer systems typically include a plurality of towers or racks of computer equipment. Each rack comprises several pieces of equipment or chassis. Each chassis may comprise a board that includes processors, memory, and/or power supplies. Other chassis might include telecommunications equipment, writing equipment, networking equipment, I/O equipment, and/or user interface equipment. 
   Ideally, the equipment should be removably mounted into the rack. This would allow the equipment to be easily serviced and/or installed. One way that the equipment can be removably attached to the rack is to use sliding rails that are attached to the workstation. The equipment or the chassis equipment may then be attached to the sliding rails. Thus, the chassis is supported by the sliding rails and can be moved into and out of the rack by the sliding rails, which slidably extend from the rack. The sliding rails may incorporate ball bearings to more readily facilitate the sliding action. Another way that the chassis can be slidably mounted into the rack is to use a shelf. The shelf is mounted inside the rack, and rails are provided on the shelf to guide the chassis in the shelf. 
   Both of these designs allow the chassis to be mounted in only one orientation. Thus, the chassis mounted so that the front of the chassis faces out of the rack; the chassis cannot be mounted so that the rear is facing out of the front of the rack, unless substantial modifications are made to the mounting system. Also, such modifications utilize parts that are not common for the left and right sides and increases the cost of the mounting kit. Note that the sliding rail design may use identical parts to comprise the rails for the left and right sides, but the assembly of these parts to form the sliding rails is different such that the sliding rails are different for the left side and the right side. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A system for mounting a device into a rack comprising a mounting shelf that is attached to the rack, a first bracket that is attached to a first side of the device, and a second bracket that is attached to a second side of the device, wherein the second side is located opposite to the first side, wherein the first bracket and the second bracket are substantially similar, and wherein the device, with the first bracket and the second bracket attached thereto, is slideably positioned into the mounting shelf and attached to the mounting shelf via the first bracket and the second bracket. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  depicts mounting a chassis in a front facing orientation consistent with the teachings of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  depicts an embodiment of the inventive arrangement of the slide brackets and mounting shelf. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a slide bracket of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts an embodiment of the invention mounting a chassis in a rear-facing orientation. 
       FIG. 5  depicts an alternative embodiment of the slide bracket shown in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 6  depicts an alternative embodiment of the inventive arrangement using the slide bracket of  FIG. 5 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention preferably comprises a folded sheet metal slide bracket assembly and a folded sheet metal mounting shelf. Two slide brackets are preferably used with one slide bracket supporting the left side of the chassis and the other supporting the right side of the chassis. The rack mount shelf is preferably connected to the rack through the use of screws and mounting holes. The slide bracket is preferably attached to the chassis by screws through holes and provides alignment and final positioning of the chassis within the rack. 
   The slide bracket of the invention can be mounted on either side of the chassis. This allows the chassis to be mounted with either the front or rear of the chassis facing out of the front of the rack. This flexibility is desirable as some users require access to the front of the chassis, for example, to load/unload storage media, while other users prefer access to the rear of the chassis, for example, to allow connection/disconnection of cables. 
   After attachment of the slide brackets to the chassis, the chassis with the slide brackets is mounted onto the mounting shelf. Each slide bracket preferably includes a flange, which together are used to position the chassis on the mounting shelf. The mounting shelf preferably comprises flanges such that when the chassis is properly located on the mounting shelf, the flanges of the slide brackets align with the flanges of the mounting shelf. Fasteners or other forms of connectors can then be used to attach the slide bracket to the mounting shelf. Thus, the invention allows either front-or-rear-orientation equipment mounting and minimizes the costs of mounting by using common parts regardless of orientation. 
     FIG. 1  depicts an arrangement of the inventive rack mount  100  for mounting chassis  103  into rack  101 . The inventive mount  100  includes mounting shelf  102  which supports chassis or device or equipment  103 . Preferably attached to chassis  103  are two slide brackets  104 , with one bracket being mounted on one side, e.g., left, and the other bracket being mounted on the other side, e.g., right. Note that the inventive rack mount  100  preferably does not include rack  101  or chassis  103 . 
   Each slide bracket  104  preferably includes a flange  105  that is located on the front distal end of the slide bracket  104 . Flange  105  is used to position the chassis within the rack. As shown in  FIG. 1 , chassis  103  is being installed into (or removed from) the rack  101 . Flange  105  will stop the insertion of the chassis  103  when flange  105  encounters either rack  101  or mounting shelf  102 . Slide bracket  104  may then be attached to either rack  101  or mounting shelf  102  via connectors such as fasteners, screws, nuts and bolts, pins, adhesives, welds, hooks and slots, keyholes and keyhole standoffs, or any combination thereof. 
   Mounting shelf  102  is preferably attached to rack  101  by one or more connectors  204  ( FIG. 2 ) which could comprise one or more pins, screws, nuts and bolts, adhesives, welds, fasteners, hooks and slots, keyholes and keyhole standoffs, or any combination thereof. 
   Note that mounting shelf  102  may be sized so as to receive chassis  103  and be able to be attached to rack  101 . Mounting shelf  102  may include adjustable supports or brackets (not shown) so as to attach to rack  101 . This means that the rack  101  does not have to be sized to exactly fit chassis  103 . Thus, rack  101  may be significantly larger than chassis  103 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the chassis is mounted into rack  101  so that the front  106  of chassis  103  is accessible at front of rack  101 . 
     FIG. 2  depicts a view similar to that of  FIG. 1  except that chassis  103  is not present for easier viewing of the components of the invention. The invention also preferably includes two handles  201 , one of which is mounted on each flange  105 . Handles  201  allow for chassis  103  to be more easily installed into and/or removed from the rack  101 . 
     FIG. 2  also depicts a preferred embodiment wherein shelf  102  includes two flanges  202 , each of which is located so as to contact a respective flange  105  of slide brackets  104  when the chassis  103  is properly located in rack  101 . Flange  105  and flange  202  preferably have co-located holes  203  which enables a connector to securely connect the slide brackets  104 , and hence, chassis  103 , to mounting shelf  102 . 
     FIG. 3  depicts an elevational view of one of the flanges  104 . Each flange  104  would preferably have a chassis mounting system that would allow the chassis  103  to be mounted in either a front orientation or a rear orientation. 
   In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , mounting system  300  preferably comprises hole sets  301  and  302 . Each hole set is specifically configured and placed on flange  104  to enable flange  104  to be attached to a side of chassis  103 . For example, hole set  301  may enable the left side of the chassis to be attached to flange  104 , while hole set  302  enables the right side of chassis  103  to be attached to flange  104 . Thus, flange  104  could be attached to either side of chassis  103 . Note that the mounting system  300  could comprise one or more pins, screws, nuts and bolts, adhesives, welds, fasteners, hooks and slots, keyholes and keyhole standoffs, or any combination thereof. 
   Note that the flange shown in  FIG. 3  is oriented to attach to the left slide of chassis  103 . The flange would be inverted to be attached to the right side of chassis  103 . 
   Note that the holes  203  and hole sets  301 ,  302  are shown by way of example only. There could be more holes, fewer holes, holes located in different positions, different-sized holes, or whatever is needed to accommodate attachment of the flange  104  to the mounting shelf  102  or attachment with chassis  103 , respectively. Further note that the connectors  204  are shown by way of example only, as there could be more connectors, fewer connectors, connectors located in different positions, different-sized connectors, or whatever is needed to accommodate attachment of the shelf  102  to rack  101 . 
     FIG. 4  depicts an arrangement of the chassis  103  in the rack  101  such that the rear  401  of chassis  103  is located at the front of rack  101 . 
     FIG. 5  depicts an alternative embodiment  500  of the slide bracket that can be used in arrangements of  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  4  in place of the slide bracket  104  shown in  FIG. 3 . Slide bracket  500  includes at least one additional flange, e.g.  501  and/or  502 . The additional flange(s)  501 ,  502  increase(s) the strength of the slide bracket  500 . Also, slide bracket  500  may be of sufficient height so that flange  501  interfaces with flange  503  of mounting shelf  102 , and thereby provide easier mounting of the chassis into the rack. Note that bracket  104  may also be of sufficient height so that its upper portion also interfaces with flange  503 . 
     FIG. 6  depicts an alternative embodiment  600  using the slide bracket  500  of  FIG. 5 . Note that in the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  4 , the slide bracket does not contact the upper flange  503  of the mounting shelf  102 , and the upper portion of chassis  103  may contact the upper flange  503 . Thus, the height of the chassis  103  is limited by the height of the mounting shelf  102 . In the alternative embodiment  600 , the flange  601  of mounting shelf  102  does not contact chassis  103 . The flange  601  preferably contacts the upper flange  501  of each slide bracket  500 . This would prevent vertical movement of the chassis, but would allow the chassis to be of any height.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7