Receptacles – Closures – Pivotable
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-23
2002-03-12
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
Pivotable,
C016S257000, C292SDIG001, C220S004230, C220S004020, C220S840000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06354461
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to electronics enclosures. More particularly, the invention pertains to an enclosure for electronic components which includes a hand-operable latch to facilitate removal of the enclosure cover.
Electronic equipment, such as telecommunication or computing hardware, typically comprises a plurality of printed circuit boards which are mounted within an environmental enclosure. Enclosures are required in an outdoor environment to prevent environmental elements such as rain, snow, sleet and flying debris from damaging the electronic components. For indoor applications, enclosures are used to prevent inadvertent damage to electronic components by people working in the vicinity of the enclosures. Additionally, enclosures are required to prevent removal of, or tampering with, electronic components by unauthorized individuals.
An illustrative electronics enclosure
5
is shown in FIG.
1
. The enclosure
5
comprises a cover
10
and a housing
20
. The cover
10
is designed for mating engagement with the housing
20
such that environmental elements cannot enter the enclosure
5
when the cover
10
is in a closed position as shown in FIG.
2
. The cover
10
is coupled to the housing
20
via a plurality of hinges
25
to allow the cover
10
to be opened for repair, maintenance, or upgrading of the components inside the enclosure
5
. At times, it is beneficial to completely remove the cover
10
to facilitate the work. In those instances where the cover contains a portion of the active electrical components, the time required to repair a failed unit can be reduced by changing out the cover. To permit such, the hinges
25
must be separable.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, the hinges
25
comprise a pin
27
, pin lugs
29
and a socket
31
. The pin lugs
29
are fixed to the housing
20
and secure the pin
27
firmly in place. The socket
31
is engaged with the pin
27
to secure the cover
10
in mating engagement with the housing
20
. A locking mechanism
33
latches the cover
10
to the housing
20
. As long as the locking mechanism
33
is engaged to latch the cover
10
in a closed position with the housing
20
, the cover
10
will prevent materials from entering the enclosure
5
. In order to remove the cover
10
, the locking mechanism
33
is disengaged and the cover
20
is rotated beyond 180° such that the open side of the socket
31
faces the housing
20
. In this position, the cover
10
may be removed from the housing
20
.
Although this design facilitates removal and installation of the cover
20
, it has design drawbacks and introduces negative safety implications. Since the cover
10
must be rotated beyond 180°, this design sometimes cannot be used for wall mounts since, depending on the depth of the cover casting, it may not be possible to achieve such rotation. Another drawback with this type of design is that in certain mounting orientations, if the cover
10
inadvertently opens, the cover
10
will swing freely and separate from the housing
20
. Since electronic enclosures
5
, are often located above pedestrians, such as on telephone poles, buildings or CATV and telephone transmission lines, a falling cover
10
can create serious safety risks.
To address the safety concerns, another type of removable hinge
35
is often used. As shown in
FIG. 3
, this type of hinge
35
comprises two pin lugs
37
, for securing the pin (not shown) and a socket
39
. The socket
39
is fixed securely to the housing
40
with a bolt
41
. As shown in the top view of the enclosure
34
in
FIG. 4
, the cover
42
cannot be removed from the housing
40
without removing each of the three bolts
41
. Although this addresses the safety concerns of the design shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, this design presents negative implications for technical personnel. Namely, technical personnel must have the proper tools for removal of the bolts
41
. Additionally, this design increases the risk of dropping small parts such as the bolts
41
, the sockets
39
, the cover
42
or even the removal tools when servicing the electronics enclosure
34
. Accordingly, this design is also undesirable.
Other designs which utilize blocking screws, “barrel nuts” or enclosures with a cover retained permanently to the housing, are also subject to safety or servicing drawbacks.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an electronics enclosure design which facilitates separation of the cover from the housing quickly, without tools and without the removal of hardware from the enclosure. The latch should positively retain the cover to the housing in any orientation unless the latch is purposely activated by technical personnel.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides an electronics enclosure including first and second clamshell components. Each component includes a hinge member and the components are hingedly coupled by engagement of the respective hinge members. A biased latch is attached to one of the clamshell components. It is moveable between a position aligned with a portion of the opposite hinge member and a second position nonaligned therewith. In the first position, the latch maintains engagement of the hinge members. In the second position, the hinge members can be disengaged and the clamshell components separated. In the preferred embodiment, one of the hinge members includes a pin and the other includes a pin receiving bore.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1425995 (1922-08-01), McGiveney
patent: 3666134 (1972-05-01), Rauch
patent: 4594750 (1986-06-01), Carcas
patent: D312244 (1990-11-01), Collins et al.
patent: D336074 (1993-06-01), Friend et al.
patent: 5274881 (1994-01-01), DeRosa
patent: 6000550 (1999-12-01), Simpson et al.
patent: 6089392 (2000-07-01), Daoud
patent: 6105809 (2000-08-01), Yamanaka
Niesley, Jr. Charles F.
Tenney Douglas A.
General Instrument Corporation
Hylton Robin
Shoap Allan N.
Volpe and Koenig P.C.
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