Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-26
2001-07-24
Gaffin, Jeffrey (Department: 2841)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C211S041170, C211S088010, C211S090020, C211S094020, C248S231900, C248S220210, C248S220220, C248S220310, C248S224700, C248S225110, C248S222410
Reexamination Certificate
active
06266250
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to apparatus for mounting electronics components and particularly to apparatus for mounting components in a home system electronics system.
Modular electronics has long had a requirement to mount different products (often from different manufactures) in close proximity to one another. The classic example of this is the telephone 19″ rack. This standard (EIA-1310) allows arbitrary electronic pieces to be mounted in a vertical rack, so long as they adhere to the width requirements and the location of mounting holes. The heights may vary by increments of 1.75″. This standard has long fulfilled the needs of telephone companies, cable companies, and electronic instrument manufactures. However, the size and inherent cost of this system restricts it to commercial use in an open room.
The size issue was directly addressed by the DIN-rail mounting system. Featureless rails mount modular electronics side by side. Designed for use inside machine tools, this standard has the positive attributes of excellent modularity and inherent low cost of the rail. The disadvantages of DIN-rail mounts are the complexity of the latch on the electronics and a rather narrow support area. For attaching wires to screw terminals, this is not a problem. but the support is insufficient for using telephone type punch-down tools. The force of the tool to push wires into insulation-displacement connectors and then cut the excess wire is quite high.
A home system must be part of the home's infrastructure. It must accommodate a variety of mounting environments. An enclosure that may be surface mounted in an attic or basement can have an almost arbitrary size and shape. However, in many places, being built-in means being inside a wall. The most common construction that must be accommodated is that of 2×4 vertical studs placed on 16″ centers. To be mounted in this type of wall makes restrictions on width and depth of the enclosure and subsequently on the electronics inside.
Home system electronics is an area that needs an appropriate mounting solution. “Structured wiring” systems are just now making changes to how homes are wired. These systems have all of the communication wiring in a home terminate in a single “service center” enclosure. This includes telephone wiring, TV coax, speaker wiring and now data wiring. These wires run from various rooms in the house and are to be terminated at connectors or electronic devices inside this enclosure. If terminated at a connector, the wires may then be jumpered or cross-connected to different devices. For example, a wall-plate in a bedroom may have an RJ45 connector on it and CAT-5 cable running back to a similar RJ45 connector inside the service center. Now, by jumpering from the service center connector to the appropriate device, an installer may turn that bedroom jack into a telephone port, an Ethernet port for the home data network, or a high-speed Internet access port, such as DSL or ISDN. Future services will deliver entertainment digitally. A jack may have a telephone connected today and a television in five years. In a structured wiring system, the personality of the house wiring may be changed by adding electronics and changing the jumpers. A mechanical mounting system is needed to allow this ability to change.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, this invention provides a home system electronics component mounting system that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. The electronics mounting system according to the present invention provides an inexpensive modular apparatus that is easy to install and that can be used with a wide variety of electronics components.
Apparatus according to the present invention for mounting an electronic component to a wall of a structure such as a home or an office, comprises a support plate that includes a grid of holes therein. The grid is formed to have a pair of columns of the holes with the columns being spaced apart by a selected distance. The holes in each of the columns are spaced apart by a predetermined interval. The support plate is configured to be mounted to a wall such that the grid is spaced apart from the wall.
The apparatus according to the present invention further includes a module formed generally as a plate such that an electronic component may be mounted thereto. The module includes a pair of hooks extending from a first edge of the plate. The hooks are spaced apart by the column spacing such that the hooks may be arranged to extend through first and second holes in the grid. A locking pin extends from the module such that the locking pin extends into a corresponding third hole in the grid to restrain the module against movement parallel to the support plate. The module further includes a passage that is aligned with a fourth hole in the grid when the hooks and locking pin are in their respective holes. The invention further includes a locking pin configured for insertion into the passage and through the fourth hole in the grid, the locking pin being arranged to restrain the module against movement away from the support plate.
The apparatus according to the present invention may further comprise a second pair of columns of holes formed in the support plate. The second pair of columns is preferably substantially identical to the first pair of columns and arranged to be parallel thereto. A pair of flanges extend from opposite sides of the support plate with the flanges being configured to receive fasteners for mounting the support plate to a pair of wall studs.
An appreciation of the objectives of the present invention and a more complete understanding of its structure and method of operation may be had by studying the following description of the preferred embodiment and by referring to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5295041 (1994-03-01), Metivier et al.
patent: 5405111 (1995-04-01), Medlin, Jr.
patent: 5407160 (1995-04-01), Hollingsworth et al.
patent: 5482232 (1996-01-01), Wynn et al.
patent: 5738020 (1998-04-01), Correia
patent: 6036517 (2000-03-01), Byrne
patent: 6074247 (2000-06-01), Hall et al.
Gaffin Jeffrey
Lynn & Lynn
Multiplex Technology, Inc.
Tran Thanh Y.
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