Electricity: conductors and insulators – Boxes and housings – With electrical device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-08
2002-06-25
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Boxes and housings
With electrical device
C174S066000, C220S003300, C220S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06410850
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally related to cable enclosure assemblies and, more particularly, to a wall-mounted cable enclosure assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An increasing demand for higher capacity local area networks, coupled with lower costs, and availability of fiber networking cards for personal computers, has generated a need for wall-mounted housings that can accommodate multiple fiber ports and multiple copper outlets. Further, cable slack, a meter or more, must be stored in the wall-mounted housing in a configuration that maintains a minimum fiber bend radius. The wall-mounted housing should not be too large and cumbersome, but should still provide adequate protection and accessibility to the cable.
Flexible configurations are required for general-purpose wall-mounted housings because a variety of circumstances can arise in which the housings can be used. However, many housing configurations are not flexible and are unable to be adapted to specific applications because they contain one or more of the following drawbacks: density limitations (e.g., up to 6 fibers/6 copper wires); large size (height, width, and depth); lack of fiber slack storage/management; difficulty in loading fiber slack so as to maintain good fiber management; lack of space to properly manage the fiber coils in proximity to the connectors/adapters; inability to maintain minimum bend radius requirements needed to ensure cable integrity; connections that are unprotected from impact or from tampering; lack of fiber port identification areas or unsightly labeling; and high cost.
Accordingly, a need exists for a cable enclosure assembly that overcomes many of the aforementioned disadvantages and drawbacks associated with current cable enclosure assemblies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The cable enclosure assembly of the present invention comprises a cable enclosure base, a faceplate mount, a cover and a bezel. The cable enclosure base attaches to a wall at a location where an optical fiber cable protrudes through the wall. The cable passes through a cutout formed in the cable enclosure base. Next, a faceplate is attached to the faceplate mount. The faceplate mount is then attached to the cable enclosure base. Once the faceplate mount has been attached, a bezel is attached to the cable enclosure base. The cover is then removably secured to the cable enclosure base.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bezel is a removable full-width bezel. In accordance with this embodiment, the cable enclosure base and the faceplate mount are connected together via a snap-and-pivot mounting configuration. The removable full-width bezel can be removably secured to the cable enclosure base at two locations, thereby enabling the positioning of the bezel within the cable enclosure base to be adjusted. The first location is at an inboard-position interconnect, while the second location is at an outboard-position interconnect. A slack drum that has a minimum fiber bend radius of 3/4 inch is provided in the cable enclosure base. The snap-and-pivot mounting component of the cable enclosure base is comprised of at least one pivot-point hinge and at least one snap-point latch. The snap-and-pivot-point mounting component of the faceplate mount is comprised of at least one pivot-point hook and at least one snap-point hook. When the faceplate mount is attached to the cable enclosure base, the snap-and-pivot mounting component of the cable enclosure base couples with the snap-and-pivot mounting component of the faceplate mount, thereby securing them together.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings, detailed description, and claims.
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Abel John N.
Flynn Richard Michael
Avaya Technology Corp.
Patel Dhiru R
Reichard Dean A.
Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley LLP
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