Supports: cabinet structure – Knockdown or setup type – Adjacent walls rigidly interlocked
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-08
2001-07-03
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Supports: cabinet structure
Knockdown or setup type
Adjacent walls rigidly interlocked
C312S265500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254207
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns enclosures for housing and protecting electrical equipment of any kind, for example.
It is more particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, aimed at enclosures of the above kind designed to be attached to a support of any kind, for example a wall, without resting on the floor, and usually known as cabinets.
To be even more precise the present invention is aimed at enclosures of the above kind which, independently of any door, include a surround that forms their top wall, their bottom wall and their side walls and to the rear edge of which is attached a frame referred to for convenience hereinafter as the support frame, and a back which is pressed against the outside face of the support frame, preferably in a watertight manner, and with which are associated, inside the surround, for fixing the equipment concerned, support means suitable for fixing equipment of any kind.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When the enclosure is made of metal the back is usually welded to the support frame provided for it at the rear of the surround.
This is because the corresponding joint must be sufficiently strong to transfer to the back forces due to the surround and to any door with which the latter may be fitted.
What is more, the enclosure is usually fixed to a support by its back and it is therefore the back that directly carries support means suitable for fixing equipment, for example in the form of studs that are also welded to it.
The above arrangements, whereby the back constitutes the key component of the enclosure, the surround merely constituting a covering carried by the back, have proved satisfactory and may continue to do so.
However, they suffer from the drawback that an enclosure of the above kind can be painted only after assembly, i.e. after the back has been welded to the support frame of the surround.
One result of this is that painting must be carried out by immersion, possibly in association with electrostatic powder coating, in order to paint the corners of the surround in a satisfactory manner, in particular in the vicinity of the back. This is relatively costly.
The corresponding bath gives rise to environmental and pollution problems which can be difficult and costly to overcome.
What is more, before the painting operation is carried out the studs carried by the back must be covered so that they remain at least partly free of paint so that they can thereafter assure the electrical continuity function that is usually required in an enclosure containing electrical equipment. This is relatively costly.
The general aim of the present invention is to provide an arrangement that avoids the above drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To be more precise, the present invention consists in an enclosure comprising a surround that forms its top wall, its bottom wall and its side walls, a support frame attached to its rear edge, a back pressed against an outside face of said support frame, support means inside said surround for fixing equipment of any kind and, inside said surround, in each corner area thereof, a respective corner piece to which said back can be attached by at least one fixing means and which itself comprises said support means for fixing equipment.
The corner pieces provided in this way in accordance with the invention contribute to the assembly of the enclosure because they are used to fix the back to the support frame of the surround and so it is advantageously possible to paint the back and the surround before assembly.
The corresponding operation can therefore advantageously be effected other than by dipping, for example electrostatically, so advantageously avoiding the drawbacks of dip painting.
What is more, the corner pieces in accordance with the invention themselves incorporate the support means for fixing equipment, so the back is advantageously spared the presence of any stud, which avoids having to fit covers to the studs before painting is carried out.
In accordance with one development of the invention the fixing means by which the back is attached to the corner pieces in accordance with the invention preferably pass also through the support frame of the surround, the support frame being as it were sandwiched between the corner pieces and the back.
In this way the corner pieces in accordance with the invention are attached to the surround through the intermediary of the support frame and it is just as if they were part of the surround.
In accordance with a complementary development of the invention, at least one fixing hole is provided in each corner area of the surround for fixing the enclosure to a support of any kind and the fixing hole is in the corresponding corner piece.
In this way the corner pieces in accordance with the invention advantageously contribute to fixing with the result that, because of them, the surround constitutes the main part of the enclosure.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2058263 (1936-10-01), Rosendale
patent: 3087768 (1963-04-01), Anderson et al.
patent: 3265419 (1966-08-01), Durnbaugh et al.
patent: 3297383 (1967-01-01), Fay
patent: 3307894 (1967-03-01), Collier
patent: 4426935 (1984-01-01), Nikoden, Jr.
patent: 5590939 (1997-01-01), Piontek
patent: 5791498 (1998-08-01), Mills
patent: 0010291 (1980-04-01), None
patent: 0762586 (1997-03-01), None
patent: 2744847 (1997-08-01), None
patent: 9310692 (1993-06-01), None
British Industries Corporation, “Widney—Dorlec cabinet components”, four pages, Mar. 1955.
Cuomo Peter M.
Hansen James O.
Legrand
Young & Thompson
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