Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-27
2001-06-12
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
C248S049000, C211S088010, C312S264000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06245998
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to arrangements for dressing or managing wire and fiber optic cables in the vicinity of an equipment rack where the cables are terminated.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
Equipment racks having a pair of vertical mounting rails spaced apart typically by about 19 or more inches, are generally known. Each rail has evenly-spaced, threaded mounting holes formed along its length. Electronic and communication equipment shelves or cabinets are often provided with front panels that protrude horizontally from both sides of the equipment, and openings are provided in the protruding portions of the panels to register with corresponding mounting holes in the rails of an equipment rack. Screws inserted in the panel openings can then engage the mounting holes in the rack rails, to mount the equipment securely within the rack. Industry standard 19-inch wide equipment panels are typically sized in their height dimension in multiples of so-called “U” units, wherein one U is about 1.75 inches.
Equipment racks at communication switching facilities typically house numerous equipment cabinets or shelves, each with its own front panel on which cable connectors are arrayed. A number of copper wire or fiber optic cables terminate at the connectors on the equipment panels, so the cables must be managed or dressed to be readily identifiable and individually accessible near or at their points of termination on the equipment panels.
Fiber optic equipment boxes with an integral horizontal shelf formed at a lower, front portion of the box, are known. The box is mounted with side wall flanges to the rails of an equipment rack, with the shelf portion of the box projecting forward from the rack. Such equipment box/shelf combination units may also be known as “seven-inch” Fiber Optic Distribution Shelves.
A cable management arrangement offered by Panduit has 83-inch high, vertical panels located on sides of equipment racks having the mentioned seven-inch shelves mounted on them. The panels are claimed to have pass-through openings to facilitate patching of cables between equipment mounted at the front and at the rear of the rack.
Horizontal cable management units are also offered by Panduit, and by Chatsworth Products, Inc. These units are in the form of a rectangular duct with a long back panel arranged for mounting horizontally on an equipment rack. Sets of flexible, spaced fingers project forward of the back panel forming top and bottom walls of the duct. Cables can be guided through the duct and let out between the fingers to connect with equipment panels on the rack.
As far as is known, no horizontal cable management unit is available which in addition to ducting a group of cables, also serves to guard the cables and the panels where they terminate, even if the panels are mounted above the management unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention, a cable management assembly includes an elongated trough having a back wall, a bottom wall and a front wall, wherein opposite end portions of the back wall are arranged to be fastened to mounting rails of an equipment rack. The bottom wall extends forward a sufficient distance from the back wall so that the trough will contain a number of cables terminated at one or more equipment panels fastened to the rack above the back wall of the trough. The assembly also has a door, and hinge parts associated with the trough front wall for engaging the door to permit swinging movement of the door. The door can be swung between a first position where it extends vertically to protect cables terminated at one or more equipment panels on the rack above the back wall of the trough, and a second position where the door is swung downward to permit access to the cables and the panels at which the cables terminate.
According to another aspect of the invention, a cable management assembly includes an elongated trough having a bottom wall and a front wall, and flange parts extending rearward from opposite ends of the bottom wall wherein the flange parts are arranged to be mounted to a given equipment panel that is fastened to the rails of an equipment rack. The bottom wall of the trough extends forward a sufficient distance from the flange parts so that the trough will contain a number of cables terminated on the given panel.
According to another aspect of the invention, a cable management assembly includes an elongated trough having a front wall, a bottom wall, and a back wall. Opposite end portions of the back wall are arranged to be mounted to a given equipment panel that is fastened to the rails of an equipment rack. The bottom wall of the trough extends forward a sufficient distance from the back wall so that the trough will contain a number of cables terminated at one or more equipment panels including the given panel.
In addition, according to the invention, opposite end portions of the bottom wall may be formed to define a minimum bend radius so that cables dressed along the bottom wall bend safely to hang vertically and clear of lower equipment panels that are fastened to rack.
For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and the appended claims.
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1. Chatsworth Products, Inc., Specifications for Cable Stowage Panel, two pages (undated).
2. Panduit Network Systems Group, Advertisement—The New Standard for Cable Management, Cabling Business Magazine, Apr. 1999, at p. 11.
3. Panduit Corp., “The Next Generation in Cable Administration”, Internet advertisement (one page—undated).
4. Panduit Corp., “Closet Cabling Solutions Correspondence Course” Internet advertisement (one page—undated).
5. Panduit Corp., Installation Instructions for “Open-Access” Cable Management Strain Relief Clip, Part No. CMSRC2 (undated).
Curry Richard Wynn
Miller Timothy Charles
Wild Ronald Lee
Avaya Technology Corp.
Law Office of Leo Zucker
Nino Adolfo
Reichard Dean A.
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