WO2010046460A1

WO2010046460A1 - Fasteners in equipment racks

Info

Publication number: WO2010046460A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/063950
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heidi Bleus; Didier Claeys; Danny Thijs; Jonathan Van Outryve
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Raychem Bvba
Priority date: 2008-10-24
Filing date: 2009-10-23
Publication date: 2010-04-29
Also published as: GB0819487D0

Abstract

An equipment rack comprising one or more upright supports adapted for mounting trays or boxes of equipment at different heights within the rack and comprising one or more mounting strips, wherein each strip contains a row of three or more mounting members and is attachable or attached to a respective one of the said supports, and the mounting members are adapted to receive fasteners for mounting the said trays or boxes on the support(s).

Description

FASTENERS IN EQUIPMENT RACKS

This invention relates to equipment racks or frames (hereinafter "racks"), for example as used for mounting boxes or trays of telecommunications equipment in superposed relationship to one another to form an upright stack of such boxes or trays wherein the rack comprises one or more upright supports having mounting apertures at various heights. In racks of this general kind, especially in telecommunications distribution racks or patching racks, it is often desirable to insert a caged nut of known kind in each mounting aperture to receive a threaded bolt for attaching an equipment box or tray at selected height within the racks. This insertion of the caged nuts in the mounting apertures of the rack is time- consuming and inconvenient.

The present invention provides an equipment rack comprising one or more upright supports adapted for mounting trays or boxes of equipment at different heights within the rack and comprising one or more mounting strips, wherein each strip contains a row of three or more mounting members and is attachable or attached to a respective one of the said supports, and the mounting members are adapted to receive fasteners for mounting the said trays or boxes on the support(s).

In preferred racks according to this invention, the or each said upright support has three or more mounting apertures, and the mounting members of the or each said mounting strip are spaced to correspond with the said mounting apertures. The mounting members of the said strip preferably comprise threaded apertures in the strip itself adapted to receive threaded fasteners.

The or each said mounting strip preferably includes means for attaching it to the said upright support(s), for example at least two engagement members which engage at least two of the said support apertures to support the strip on the said upright support(s). It may be preferred that at least two of the said engagement members comprise snap-fittings similar to those used for engaging a known single caged nut with a said mounting aperture in the said upright supports.

Another aspect of the invention provides a kit of parts assemblable to form a rack according to the invention, the kit comprising at least the said upright support or supports and the said mounting strip or strips. A further aspect provides a mounting strip for forming a rack or a kit according to this invention, which mounting strip contains the said row of three or more mounting members, with or without the said engagement members. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a typical previously known equipment mounting rack, Figure 2 shows a typical cage nut of the previously known kind, and Figures 3 and 4 show a rack upright support and the mounting strip of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a typical known equipment mounting rack, in this example an optical- fibre distribution frame (ODF), having two upright supports 100 held at fixed spacing from each other by a lower floor box 101 and upper cross struts 102. The uprights 100 are equipped with fixing holes 103 at intervals suited to mounting trays or boxes 104 of equipment such as the illustrated slide-out shelf of optical fibre splice trays 105. The equipment trays or boxes 104 are usually bolted to the uprights 100 by means of cage nuts inserted in the selected fixing holes 103.

Figure 2 shows a typical cage nut of the known kind, in which an ordinary threaded nut 10 is partly enclosed by fixing clip 12 having snap-fit lips 14 for engagement with the fixing holes of the frame uprights illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a rack upright 20 having square fixing holes 22 (other shapes are possible) beside a mounting strip 24 according to the present invention having threaded holes 26 spaced along the strip at intervals corresponding to the spacing of the fixing holes 22 in the upright. The strip 24 has two engagement members 32 (top and bottom) attached to the strip by rivetting or other convenient means. In this example, as shown in the magnified inset of Fig. 3, the engagement members 32 are snap-fit clips somewhat similar to those used in the known cage nuts, which allows an installer to attach the strip 24 to the upright 20 by simply snapping the lips 34 of the top and bottom clip 32 into a respective square hole 22 of the upright 20. Figure 4 shows the resulting assembly of the upright and strip described in Fig. 3.

Claims

1. An equipment rack comprising one or more upright supports adapted for mounting trays or boxes of equipment at different heights within the rack and comprising one or more mounting strips (24), wherein each strip contains a row of three or more mounting members (26) and is attachable or attached to a respective one of the said supports (20), and the mounting members are adapted to receive fasteners for mounting the said trays or boxes on the support(s).

2. A rack according to Claim 1, wherein the or each said upright support (20) has three or more mounting apertures (22), and the mounting members (26) of the or each said mounting strip (24) are spaced to correspond with the said mounting apertures.

3. A rack according to Claims 1 or 2, wherein the mounting members of the said strip comprise threaded apertures adapted to received threaded fasteners.

4. A rack according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each said mounting strip includes means for attaching it to the said upright support(s).

5. A rack according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each said mounting strip includes at least two engagement members (32) which engage at least two of the said support apertures to support the strip on the said upright support(s).

6. A rack according to Claim 5, wherein at least two of the said engagement members comprise snap-fittings similar to those used for engaging a known single caged nut with a said mounting aperture in the said upright supports.

7. A kit of parts assemblable to form a rack according to any preceding claim, the kit comprising at least the said upright support or supports and the said mounting strip or strips.

8. A mounting strip for forming a rack according to any of the Claims 1 to 6 or a kit according to Claim 7, which mounting strip contains the said row of three or more mounting members, with or without the said engagement members according to Claim 5.