DE20019509U1 - Device for attaching a keyboard - Google Patents

Description

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' Patent attorneys

GEYER, FEHNER$ & PARTNER JCB.Rj); ·

European Patent a£d Tredemark^torrtifs ^## **

MUNICH-JENA

Office Munich /Munich Offices:

Perhamerstrasse 31 ■ D-80687 Munich -Telephone: (089) 5 461520 -Fax: (089) 5460392 · e-mail: gefepat.muc@t-online.de

Office Jena//ena Offices:
Sellierstrasse 1 · D-07745 Jena ■ Telephone: (03641) 291 50 · Fax: (03641) 291521 · e-mail: gefepat.jena@t-online.de

(Attorney file: GM 3239/7-00) 17 November 2000

A/22/yy

Roger-Electronic Components GmbH Zum Gerlen / Ensheim

D-66131 Saarbrücken Device for attaching a keyboard

Patent attorneys

&Ggr;&Rgr;&ggr;&rgr;&rgr; FEHNER*?i

European Patent j.dTrademark Aorrw^* ·· ··
MUNICH-JENA

Munich Office I Munich Offices: - Perhamerstraße 31 ■ D-80687Munich -Telephone: (089) 5461520 -Fax: (089) 5460392 · e-mail: gefepat.muc@t-online.de

Office Jena /Jena Offices:
Sellierstrasse 1 · D-07745 Jena -Telephone: (03641)2 9150 ■ Fax: (03641) 291521 ■ e-mail: gefepat.jena@t-online.de

Roger Electronic Components GmbH 17 November 2000

(Attorney file: GM 3239/7-00) A/22/jj (ah)

Device for attaching a keyboard

The invention relates to a device for fastening a keyboard to a metal slide-in shelf, in particular accommodated in a control cabinet, which has two support beams running vertically at a certain distance from one another to accommodate slide-in units provided with front panels, to which the front panels of the slide-in units are attached in a mounting plane, wherein the support beams also serve to attach a keyboard which can be moved between a working position protruding from the slide-in shelf, in which the keys are operable, and a rest position in which the keys are not operable.

The slide-in racks mentioned are used in the industrial sector to accommodate electrical equipment. Racks that comply with the 19" standard (IEC 297 or DIN 41494) as well as racks with metric dimensions (DIN 43356 or DIN EN 60917) have become established.

It is essential for these push-in shelves that the front panels of the slide-in units are attached to the two vertical support beams. The position of the front panels defines the so-called assembly level, from which the slide-in units continue inwards into the push-in shelf.

Electrical systems housed in such racks are nowadays increasingly computer-controlled. A keyboard and a computer pointing device, such as a mouse, are usually essential for their operation. This also applies to electrical systems in which the racks mentioned are housed in cabinets. However, such a keyboard is usually not needed continuously during operation of a system; access to the keyboard is often only required for maintenance work. Since such racks are also often used in environments that are prone to dirt, it is desirable to be able to stow the keyboard away when it is not needed.

The state of the art knows two solutions for this: either the keyboard is housed in the slide-in shelf in a specially designed pull-out or a cabinet that accommodates the slide-in shelf is designed so that the keyboard also has space in the cabinet.

The pull-out solution uses a telescopic guide that holds the keyboard and a computer pointing device. When pushed in, the keyboard is then housed in the slide-in shelf, protected from dirt. If you want to make entries on the keyboard, it can be pulled out of the slide-in shelf like a drawer. However, this type of storage creates the problem that the available installation space in a slide-in shelf only allows a maximum internal width of, for example, 450 mm for a 19" shelf. The width available for the keyboard is therefore limited by this dimension, and the necessary installation space for the telescopic pull-out must also be provided. This means that standard keyboards from conventional computers cannot be used with the slide-in shelves mentioned, as they are usually wider than the available width. This means that you have to use special keyboards, which are expensive and, due to their smaller width, do not have the range of keys that is usual for standard keyboards and is also assumed in most programs.

In order to accommodate the keyboard in a cabinet that also houses the slide-in shelf, door constructions are used in which the keyboard is attached to a special door designed as a flap. However, this construction requires specially designed cabinets. This solution is not suitable for slide-in shelves without doors or cabinets with standard doors.

The invention is therefore based on the object of creating a device for fastening a keyboard to a metal shelf, in particular accommodated in a control cabinet, in which standard keyboards can be used independently of a door construction.

This object is achieved in that the keyboard is pivotably attached to the front of the support beams of the slide-in shelf in front of the assembly level, whereby the keyboard can be pivoted from a position folded in front of the support beams, which represents the rest position, into a position lying at an angle of essentially 90° thereto, which represents the working position.

The invention departs from the conventional concept of accommodating a keyboard in the slide-in shelf so that it can be pulled out using a telescopic extension and instead provides for a pivoting attachment of the keyboard to the front of the slide-in shelf. It is therefore not built into the cabinet from the mounting level, as has previously been the case with slide-in shelves, but rather is mounted in front of it. On the other hand, since the keyboard is not attached to a door, the device can be used universally.

Another advantage of installing the device for attaching the keyboard in front of the actual mounting level of the slide-in shelf is that the vertical space available for slide-in units is not restricted by the keyboard attachment. Since the keyboard is not pushed from the mounting level into the slide-in shelf to be put into the rest position, but is swung in front of other slide-in units in the slide-in shelf, the height available for slide-in units is not restricted in any way. Of course, there should be no operating or display elements in the front panel directly behind the keyboard, as these would be covered by the device for attaching the keyboard. This has the additional advantage that the device for attaching the keyboard can also be retrofitted to existing control cabinets, as the keyboard can be attached independently of any already installed slide-in units or any door structures.

In the resting position, in which the keys are not accessible, the keyboard is folded up in front of the slide-in shelf. It is then folded down to be used. This means that the possible width of the keyboard is no longer limited by the width of the installation space available for slide-in shelves, but only by the entire width of the slide-in shelf. The keyboard can therefore extend beyond the installation width and also in front of the vertical support beams that are intended to hold slide-in shelves. This means that a standard keyboard can be used. Another advantage is that in the event of a fault, which cannot be ruled out, particularly in very dirty environments, the keyboard can be replaced more easily because it is no longer permanently installed in a telescopic extension.

It is important for the working position that the keyboard is easily accessible. As a rule, the keyboard will therefore be at an angle of around 90° to the vertical support beams in the working position. Of course, this angle can also be chosen to be larger, so that the keyboard is tilted forwards like a console. Ultimately, however, the exact location of the working position depends on the ergonomic aspects of a given application, in particular on the height at which the keyboard is mounted.

In principle, the keyboard can be attached to the shelf in a variety of ways so that it can be pivoted. For example, a corresponding pivoting device connected to the support beams can be attached directly to the keyboard body. However, the keyboard must have the necessary stability for this to happen. This is not always the case with particularly inexpensive plastic keyboards. For such applications, it is preferable for the keyboard to be placed in a pivoting bracket that is pivotably attached to the support beams. The keyboard is then suitably secured in the pivoting bracket against falling out.

for example, by means of a suitable adhesive, a Velcro fastener or a locking or snap connection. With this further development, there is no need to place any demands on the stability of the keyboard.

The swivel mechanism can be designed in any suitable way. However, it is particularly preferable to use a swivel hinge for swiveling. In a particularly useful design, such a swivel hinge comprises two brackets attached to the support beams, each with a hole, whereby the two holes determine the swivel axis. Optionally, corresponding pins can also be provided instead of the holes. The brackets can simply be attached to the support beams, for example to the rows of holes already provided there for receiving inserts.

Of course, the keyboard can also be attached to a front panel attached to the support beams. This has the advantage that only one standard part, such as a

The front panel usually represents the front panel and must be attached to the shelf using known fastening devices. Any adjustment can be carried out at the factory when attaching the swivel device to the front panel. If you want to use the swivel hinge mentioned above, this can be attached to the front panel.
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The keyboard can be attached directly to the swivel hinge by attaching corresponding counterparts to the keyboard body. These counterparts advantageously comprise two pins or an axis that is rotatably mounted in the holes in the brackets. If the brackets have pins, the counterparts are of course equipped with the corresponding holes. The pins or holes are expediently provided on the swivel bracket.

As mentioned above, a computer pointing device is becoming more and more indispensable for operating programs. In a preferred development, a drawer for holding a computer pointing device is therefore attached to the swivel bracket, which can be pulled out under the keyboard in the working position and pushed in when in the rest position. This option offers the advantage that the computer pointing device is located within direct reach of the keyboard. In addition, the support surface in the drawer base is protected from dirt when the drawer is pushed in, which is particularly advantageous when using a mouse, which is known to react very sensitively to dirt on the surface on which the ball in the mouse rolls. In order to prevent damage to the insert located under the keyboard attachment when pushed in, a mechanism is expediently provided which prevents the drawer from hitting the insert shelf when pushed in. Particularly advantageous

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This can be achieved by a stop that limits the insertion depth of the drawer.

The keyboard should be secured in such a way that it remains in the rest position, in which it is folded in front of the shelf, as well as in the working position, which is essentially at a 90° angle to it. Additional protection against unauthorised use or operation is achieved if this security is designed in such a way that it can only be released by authorised persons. A suitable lock has proven particularly useful for this task, with which the keyboard is secured in the rest position and which must first be released in order to bring the keyboard into the working position in which the keys are accessible and can be operated.

In the simplest case, a stop that makes it impossible to pivot beyond the working position and a lock for the rest position are sufficient for fixing in the working position. Preferably, a locking device is provided with which the keyboard can be secured against pivoting in the rest position and/or the working position. It is particularly useful to design the pivot hinge so that it can be locked in the rest position and/or the working position. The keyboard can then be secured in the upwardly folded rest position simply by acting on the locking device of the pivot hinge.

In the working position, the locking mechanism ensures that the keyboard does not fold down accidentally.

A particularly flexible option for adapting to the ergonomic constraints of using a push-in shelf is achieved if the position of the working position is adjustable. If the working position is fixed using a stop, this can be achieved using an adjustable stop. If a locking device is used, it is advisable to have a locking mechanism that can be set in different positions.

Depending on the application, slide-in shelves are housed in cabinets with doors. Any intervention in the door construction affects the protection class of such a cabinet. In an advantageous further development of the invention, the device for fastening the keyboard is designed in such a way that the keyboard is located between the mounting level and the back of the door in the rest position. This design illustrates the universal retrofittability of the device for fastening the keyboard: It can be used both for slide-in shelves without a door construction and for slide-in shelves that are behind doors without any modification. The device for fastening the keyboard is located behind the door level in slide-in shelves with a door, so that the door intended to protect the slide-in shelf can continue to be used, i.e. can be closed. When the door is closed, the keyboard is therefore located in the protected space behind the door. This means that official or standard-prescribed

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Requirements for fulfilling certain protection classes are met. The cabinet housing the slide-in shelf remains unchanged when closed. Special door constructions are unnecessary; in particular, doors that extend over the entire height of the slide-in shelf can be used.
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The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an embodiment of the drawing. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a keyboard attached to a 19" rack in the working position;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the device of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view similar to Figure 2, but with the drawer inserted;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but with the keyboard pivoted into the rest position, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the resting position

Contraption.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a 19" metal slide-in rack that has two vertically running support beams 1 in which there are two rows of holes 2. The support beams are used to accommodate 19" racks. The installation space available between the support beams is suitable for racks with a maximum front panel width of 482.6 mm; the clear width that remains free between the support beams 1 is 450 mm for a 19" slide-in rack. The slide-in rack shown in Figure 1 is only an example, however; instead of a 19" slide-in rack as described in the DIN 41494 or IEC 297 standard, a slide-in rack of other dimensions is also possible, for example according to the metric standard as described in DIN 43356 or DIN EN 60917.

A slide-in unit is inserted between the support beams 1 for fastening and is attached to the holes 2 of the support beams 1 with its front plate 3, in which fastening holes 4 are located. As an alternative to the holes 2, continuously vertically adjustable fastening mechanisms with a so-called sliding nut system are known. The exact design of the fastening is not important here. The front plates 3 define a mounting level from which the slide-in units are built into the slide-in shelf.

For attaching a keyboard, brackets 5 are provided, which are attached to a front panel 3

^; are. At the angles 5 there is a swivel bracket 6, which will be explained in more detail later and

which carries a keyboard 7, is pivotably mounted opposite the slide-in shelf. The keyboard 7 is therefore not arranged behind the assembly level inside the slide-in shelf like all other components provided in slide-in shelves, but is attached to the support beams 1 in front of the assembly level. This applies, as can be clearly seen in Figure 4, to both the working and the rest position.

The keyboard 7 is located in the swivel holder 6 and is secured there against falling out. In the example shown, this is done by a Velcro fastener, but any other type of fixation is also possible, for example an adhesive, a locking or snap connection.

The swivel bracket 6 with the keyboard 7 resting on it can be swiveled between two positions. In the working position shown in Figure 1, the keys are accessible. The transfer to the rest position is carried out from the working position by swiveling the swivel bracket 6 upwards so that the keyboard 7 is folded upwards with the keys pointing towards the slide-in shelf.

Under the swivel bracket 6 there is a drawer 8 which is attached to the swivel bracket 6 by means of a telescopic guide 9. The drawer 8 has a divider 10 and accommodates a mouse 11 which serves as a computer pointing device. The divider 10 separates the area on which the mouse 11 runs and thus creates the possibility of additionally storing other utensils. The drawer 8 has a handle hole 12 on its front which makes it easier to pull out the drawer 8 from under the swivel bracket 6. The cables to the mouse 11 or the keyboard 7 run into the slide-in shelf through a cable duct 13 designed as a hole in the front panel 3.

The pivoting ability of the pivot bracket 6, which is attached to the angles 5, is achieved by the mechanism shown in Figure 2. The angles 5 have elongated holes 14 in which pins 15 attached to the pivot bracket are rotatably received. The angles 5 with the elongated holes 14 and the pins 15 located therein, which are attached to the pivot bracket 6, together form a pivot hinge that makes it possible to pivot the pivot bracket 6 upwards from the working position shown in Figures 1 and 2 into the aforementioned rest position.

The pivoting into the rest position is limited by the slide-in shelf itself, as pivoting is only possible until the keyboard rests against the slide-in shelf. Such a

^£ However, there is no automatic swivel limitation for the working position. In the

In the working position, a suitable safety device is therefore provided to prevent the keyboard from being folded down too far from its rest position. The safety device in the working position can be secured either by a stop (not shown) or by a locking device (not shown).

The telescopic guide 9, which allows the drawer 8 to be pulled out from under the swivel bracket 6, limits the depth at which the drawer 8 can be pulled out. On the other hand, the sliding in of the drawer 8 is limited by a stop 16, which can be clearly seen in Figure 3. This prevents the drawer 8 from hitting the support beams 1 or the front panel 3 of a drawer accommodated in the slide-in shelf if it is pushed in too far.

To bring the keyboard into the rest position, it is folded upwards in front of the slide-in shelf. This position can be clearly seen in the side view of Figure 4. This illustration clearly shows a second function of the stop 16. This stop 16, which is located on a cross member 17 of the swivel bracket 6 that carries the pins 15, prevents the drawer 8 from sliding downwards in the rest position when it is folded upwards. Since conventional telescopic slides, such as those used for the telescopic guide 9 in the described embodiment, only have a pull-out limit in one direction, this would otherwise be possible.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the device holding the keyboard in the rest position. It can be seen that the drawer 8 has further handle openings 18 on the underside, which make it easier to fold down the entire device.

In the rest position, the device can be secured against accidental pivoting. In the embodiment shown, this is achieved by the elongated hole 14, in which the pins 15 are moved slightly away from the metal shelf in the rest position, so that the entire device remains folded up leaning against the slide-in shelf. Alternatively, a locking mechanism, for example in the form of a latch, can be provided to secure the device in the rest position. Optionally, the keyboard 7 is secured against unauthorized access in the rest position, e.g. by a suitable lock.

In a further development, the slide-in shelf is accommodated in a cabinet with a door (not shown in the figures) which is hinged to the cabinet so as to be pivotable about a vertical axis. It can be moved between an open position in which the front of the slide-in shelf is accessible and a closed position in which the front of the

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Slide-in shelf is secured against access and contamination, pivotable. The distance between the closed door and the mounting level defined by the front panels 3 is 100 mm in the present embodiment and is adjustable since the position of the support beams can be changed within the cabinet. In the resting position, folded upwards, the keyboard 7 is located in this space between the mounting level and the door level formed by the back of the door. As a result, when the door is closed, it also closes the device including the keyboard 7. The protection class achieved by the door is therefore in no way impaired by the device for fastening the keyboard 7.

Claims (12)

1. Device for fastening a keyboard to a metal slide-in shelf, in particular housed in a switch cabinet, which has two support beams which run vertically at a certain distance from one another to accommodate slide-in units provided with front panels, to which the front panels of the slide-in units are attached in an assembly plane, wherein the support beams also serve to attach a keyboard which can be moved between a working position protruding from the slide-in shelf, in which the keys are operable, and a rest position in which the keys cannot be operated, characterized in that the keyboard ( 7 ) is pivotably fastened to the front of the support beams ( 1 ) in front of the assembly plane, wherein the keyboard ( 7 ) can be pivoted from a position folded in front of the support beams ( 1 ), which represents the rest position, into a position lying at an angle of essentially 90° thereto, which represents the working position. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the keyboard ( 7 ) is inserted into a pivoting holder ( 6 ) which is pivotably attached to the support beams ( 1 ). 3. Device according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that a pivoting hinge ( 5 , 14 , 15 ) is provided for pivoting. 4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the pivot hinge comprises two angles ( 5 ) fastened to the support beams ( 1 ), each having a hole ( 14 ), the two holes ( 14 ) defining the pivot axis. 5. Device according to claims 2 and 4, characterized by two pins ( 15 ) fastened to the pivot bracket ( 6 ) and rotatably received in the holes ( 14 ). 6. Device according to one of the preceding claims in conjunction with claim 2, characterized by a drawer ( 8 ) for receiving a computer pointing device ( 11 ), which drawer is attached to the pivoting holder ( 6 ) and can be pulled out under the keyboard ( 7 ) in the working position. 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized by a stop ( 16 ) which limits the insertion depth of the drawer ( 8 ). 8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a locking device by means of which the keyboard ( 7 ) can be secured, in particular locked, against pivoting in the rest and/or working position. 9. Device according to claims 3 and 8, characterized in that the pivot hinge ( 5 , 14 , 15 ) is designed to be lockable in the rest and/or working position. 10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a front plate ( 3 ) is attached to the support beams ( 1 ), to which the keyboard ( 7 ) is fastened. 11. Device according to claims 3 and 10, characterized in that the pivot hinge ( 14 , 15 ) is attached to the front plate ( 3 ). 12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a door is provided for closing the slide-in shelf, which door lies in front of the mounting plane in the closed state, and that the keyboard ( 7 ) lies between the mounting plane and the back of the door in the rest position with the door closed.