DE8701083U1 - Computer case - Google Patents

Description

DR.-ING. ERNST STRATMAN N.:.. *.. ^: ' \. ^: .:. * \

PATENT ATTORNEY D-4000 DÜSSELDORF I ' SCHADOWi ¹ LATZ 9

Dusseldorf 22 January 1987

^568 GmZ

TES Häris Täppeift
4018 Langenfeld

Computer case

The invention relates to a computer housing, consisting of a frame part for receiving inserts, module carriers , drives, power supplies, fans, operating front panels and the like and/or computers already located in a housing, and housing and wall parts that can be attached to the frame part, as well as a cover part.

Such a computer case is known from a brochure of the company TRIMMINDüSTRIES, North Hollywood, California, USA, called "The TRIMM Tower".

Such computer cases are used, for example, to accommodate the hardware of office computer equipment, for which purpose such computer cases can be pushed under desk tops or have the same height as them.

The computer cases are therefore located in an area that is also accessible to people who are not directly assigned to these facilities. This means that there is a risk that people who are not directly assigned to these facilities will gain access to these facilities.

Postal check. IERLiN west (bank code IOO1DOIO) I3275?ö-109 ^! 'dei/tsche iank (bank code 300 7OO &Igr;&Ogr;) 6&Igr;6&Ogr;253

—2—

■ « ff -

4 i ,

either due to ignorance or misuse damage or alter the equipment housed in the computer case.

With the known computer case, in which the side walls and cover (cover) are attached to the frame using snap fasteners, there is a risk that unauthorized persons can gain access to the internal components without any great difficulty by removing the side walls and/or the cover and can carry out unwanted manipulations on the computer. There is also a risk that live parts can be touched and sensitive data that may be accessible in the computer case can fall into the hands of unauthorized persons*

It is therefore desirable to make this access to the interior of the computer case as difficult as possible.

The object of the invention is to improve the computer housing of the type mentioned at the beginning in such a way that the casing parts, namely the casing wall parts (side walls, possibly front and rear walls) and possibly a foot or the cover can only be removed with the help of special devices, such as keys, special tools or the like, or that it is at least immediately apparent that an unauthorized opening of the computer housing has taken place.

This task is solved by the housing wall parts and the cover part covering their own fastening devices and/or the fastening devices of adjacent, previously fastened wall or cover parts in such a way that only the last part mounted in the assembly sequence can be secured by means of an accessible fastening device which

can be locked by means of a locking or sealing device that can be secured against unauthorised release.

These measures make it more difficult for unauthorized persons to open the computer case at all, or such an opening is immediately visible due to damage to the seal.

Unauthorized interventions and data misuse can therefore either be prevented entirely, or the resulting damage can be reduced.

The computer case can be assigned a base part to which the frame part is attached. In this case, a frame part without a (closed) base plate can be used. If a base part is present, the case wall parts can also be attached to it if necessary.

It has proven to be particularly advantageous if the fastening devices comprise tabs protruding from the wall or hood parts, which can be inserted into openings in correspondingly aligned tabs of an adjacent part (be it a wall part, a foot part or a hood part) or have an opening which is aligned with an opening in the adjacent part and/or the foot or frame part in such a way that a fastening means which passes through both openings, such as a screw, pin, another tab, tongue of a lock or the like, secures the parts to one another.

The securable locking mechanism can be a lockable cam lock or include one. Another possibility would be _to implement the securable locking mechanism using a special screw or to provide a locking mechanism.

I) X(I Mt

ti t · ·

I I I I f

I < I I

According to yet another development of the invention, the longitudinal side walls have L-shaped tabs on the inside at the lower end that are open downwards and can be inserted from above into corresponding L-shaped tabs or openings in the frame or foot part that are open upwards, with the longitudinal side walls or the frame part at the upper end having at least one further tab that projects inwards from the wall plane and has an opening for a pin-like fastening means.

This pin-like fastening means can be a sheet metal screw, threaded screw, expanding rivet etc. , but it could also be other pinnings, for example split pins, bent and thus downwardly oriented pins with a head and the like.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the front and/or rear wall can have wall areas that are angled inwards/downwards at the lower end and can be inserted into corresponding openings or hooked behind corresponding crossbars on the base or frame part, and the rear wall (or front wall) could run out at the upper end into a wall area that protrudes into the area of the hood and has a transverse slot for receiving a horizontal tab or angle that is attached to the corresponding lower edge of the hood or is created by bending the edge end.

The hood may have tabs or an angled portion projecting downwards at the opposite end, which are provided with openings for a pin-like fastening device.

In particular, the openings for the pin-like fastening means can align with the corresponding openings in the side walls or the frame part and be penetrated together by the pin-like fastening means. This.

greatly simplifies the assembly of the individual housing parts and reduces the number of pins required.

The rear wall (alternatively the front wall or frame part) can have a lockable cam lock at its upper end, the tongue of which engages in a slot or behind a strut or bend in the hood.

The side walls can have a projection at the top, to which the downward edge of the hood is attached to secure the side wall. This projection could also be set back from the outer plane of the side wall. It is particularly advantageous if the edge of the hood has an inward-facing flange or forms a U-profile, the free front edge of which forms the attachment for the side wall.

To simplify assembly, it can be advantageous to equip the computer housing with, for example, only three side walls, with the fourth wall then being formed by the housing of the computer . In particular when housing computers that are already equipped with a housing but whose housing does not protect against unauthorized access, it can be advantageous if, according to yet another embodiment, two housing wall parts, in particular opposite ones, are firmly connected to a base part, e.g. screwed, riveted, welded, glued or bent in one piece, and form the frame part.

The securable locking device can be arranged in the frame part - for example in a base part or in one of the two housing wall parts if these form part of the frame part - or in one of the housing wall parts that can be attached to the frame part or - particularly advantageous due to good accessibility - in the cover part.

The housing will usually be made of sheet metal, particularly sheet steel or aluminum, but plastic panels, particularly those with glass fiber reinforcement, can also be used.

The invention is explained in more detail below using embodiments shown in the drawings.

It shows:

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of the essential individual parts of a computer housing in which the features according to the invention can be used to advantage;

Fig. 2 shows a computer housing according to an embodiment of the invention with a schematic representation of the sequence of assembly of the individual housing parts;

Fig. 3 the closed housing, placed on a base;

Fig. 4 is a partial view similar to Fig. 2 showing another method of fastening the housing cover ;

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the computer housing and its assembly;

Fig. 6 in a similar representation to Fig. 2, yet another embodiment of the computer housing according to the invention, in which a base part and two side parts are in one piece;

i I l

&bull;» ti ti t it

Fig. 7 is a detailed view of the embodiment according to Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 a further development of the embodiment according to Fig. 5, in closed state, with built-in computer with its own housing; and

Fig _; 9f 10 and ii

various options for attaching the side wall to the frame part or foot part.

In Fig. 1, a computer housing intended for use with the invention is shown, consisting of a base part 3, which can also have wheels 22, on which base part 3 a frame part 30 can be attached, which can serve to accommodate inserts, drive group supports, drives, power supplies, fans, a front operating panel 12 and the like, wherein the frame part 30 according to the illustration in Fig. 1 consists of vertical supports 2, which in turn are held together by a lower and an upper plate 1, each of identical construction but mounted in reverse, and with the help of clearly visible fastening screws.

A mounting plate 17 is attached between the plates 1 using a mounting bracket 16. In addition, an air filter insert 18 with a filter mat 19 can be inserted into the base 3 and the insertion slot can be closed with a cover plate 7.

The computer housing further comprises housing wall parts that can be attached to the base part 3 or to the frame part 30, such as side panel 4, rear panel 5 and cover part, which can either be flat, see reference number 14, or raised, as indicated by reference number 10.

- r i- &iacgr;

In the latter case, an additional rear wall 11 is required.* The fastening is again carried out with fastening parts 13, 15, or by welding to the hood. The rear wall 5 shown has openings for the installation of ventilation devices, which, if ventilation devices are not present, can be closed by a blanking plate 20, but which can also be used as a mains or plug field plate. 2 3 dien-h DiU Hhn&mdash;

lent purposes in case the hood 10 is provided *

When arranging the hood 10, an operating front panel 12 can be provided.

A front plate 21 can be mounted on the vertical struts of the front end, again by means of fastening devices, for example screws, which are arranged through corresponding openings arranged at regular intervals in the supports or struts 2.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, but also from Fig. 9, the side plate 4, i.e. one of the two housing wall side parts, has a fastening device in the form of a tab 32, which is inserted into a correspondingly aligned tab of an adjacent part, here the frame part 30. The tabs 32 and 8 are welded (by means of spot welding) or riveted or screwed to the housing wall 4 or the support 2. Alternatively, openings could also be provided instead of the lower tab 8, see for example the openings 34 in the foot part 3 (Fig. 1) or in the frame part 30 (Fig. 11). The side wall edge itself can also be received in a slot 27 formed, for example, by a foot extension 103, see Fig. 10.

Reference is now made to Fig. 2, in which the computer housing 40 can be seen in a representation which

I t I --

aspects of the invention stand out particularly clearly. For this purpose, the foot part 3 (which can be replaced by a base plate according to the invention) and the frame part 30 as well as the other details of Fig. 1 are omitted, but a modified version of a cover part 42, two longitudinal side wall parts 44 and a rear wall 48 can be seen. A front wall 46 can be attached to the frame part 30.

■V &Lgr; 4? &Lgr;.» 4- 4 JTV J- _&Mgr;&Lgr; 4 &Mgr; J4 A 4 »·»

-~l Ti. -i &ldquor;J-

The two side walls 44 are fastened in the manner already described with the help of L-shaped brackets 32 which are open downwards from the inside at the lower end and which are hooked into corresponding brackets 8 which are open upwards or into openings 34 in the frame part 30 or the foot part 3, while the long side walls 44 or the frame part 30 at the upper end each have at least one further bracket 50 which protrudes inwards from the wall plane and has an opening 52 for a pin-like fastening device 54, here in the form of a Phillips-head hood. Fastening at the other end can again be carried out using a bracket in the form of the component 32, or the lower edge 56 of the hood part 42 is pulled down so far that it securely grips the upper edge 58 of the side wall 44.

The front wall 46 shown in Fig. 3 and the rear wall 48 have wall areas that are angled inwards or downwards at the lower end, as can be seen in the component 5 in Fig. 1 below, which can be inserted into corresponding openings or hooked behind corresponding crossbars 24 on the foot or frame part 3 or 30, see for example also the slot 26, while the front wall 46 or the frame part 30 ends at the upper end in a wall area 62 that projects into the area of the cover hood 42 and has a transverse slot 64 for receiving a tab 66 or angle that is attached to the corresponding lower edge end 68 of the hood 42, or is created by bending the edge end.

tr Ii · ■

- 10 -

i · · &igr;

> < The

&mdash;.11 -«- &igr;

I i <

Il ·

At the opposite end, the hood has a downwardly projecting tab 70, which can also have the shape of a bend, which is provided with openings 72 for a pin-like fastening means 54, preferably this is again the already mentioned Phillips screw 54, which also extends through the hole 52 of the tab 50.

As will be further understood, to assemble the computer housing according to the invention, the side walls 44 are first hooked in their lower area and then pressed into position against the frame. Afterwards or beforehand, the front wall 46 is then hooked in a corresponding manner and again pressed against the frame and thereby brought into the vertical position, provided that this front wall is not already connected to the frame part 30 or is one piece with it, whereupon the cover hood 42 is then pushed with its tab or projection 66 into the transverse slot 64 of the front wall 46 or frame part 30, with the other end of the hood 42 still pointing obliquely upwards, after which, as the next assembly step, the cover hood 42 is pressed into the horizontal position, whereby the tab 70 of the hood 42 lies in front of the tabs 50 of the two side walls 44 or the frame part 30, such that the openings 72 and 52 are aligned with each other, so that the screws 54 can now be screwed into a screw thread formed in the hole 52. The two side walls 44 as well as the hood 42 are thereby secured to one another without the inner frame necessarily being required for this. The side walls 44 are secured by the tabs 50 if these are attached to the side walls 44, otherwise by the hood edges 56 overlapping over the upper edge areas of the side walls.

It can be seen that - except for the last mentioned two screws 54 - all previous fastening points

- 11 -

are either covered or are blocked against each other in such a way that opening is not possible. In order to cover the screws 54, the rear wall 48, which can also be hooked in at its lower end in the manner already described, can be pressed against the tab 70, thereby covering the screw fastenings 54. In order to also lock the rear wall 48 in this vertical position, a cam lock 74 is provided, which can either come into contact with its tongue 76 behind a part of the hood 42 or in a slot 78 which can be fitted in the frame part 30 or in a sheet metal part which can be part of the frame.

If the cam lock 74 is provided with a lock, as is usually the case, the computer housing 40 can only be opened by people who have a corresponding key for the cam lock 74. All other fastening points, however, are now inaccessible or cannot be removed in the case of assembled housing parts, so that the desired security purpose is achieved.

In its closed form, see also Fig. 3, which also shows the base, the computer housing 40 is also aesthetically pleasing due to the concealment of the various fastening devices and is also easier to clean.

According to Fig. 1, the frame part 30 can comprise an upper plate, designated 80 in Fig. 4. From this plate, the tabs 50 can protrude as shown in Fig. 2 in order to fasten the tab 70 of the hood 42. If this tab of the hood 42 is formed as an angle 170 as shown in Fig. 4, the tabs 50 can be dispensed with and the fastening can be carried out by means of screws guided through holes 152 in the plate 80.

In Fig. 4 5, the side walls 144 are equipped with deep tabs which are inserted into slots 108 of a base plate 82.

&bull;&igr; i 111 it ■ *» ti * ■

4 « ttttttt

&Lgr;4 III flicker

4f< ti («(fet

ti < ft ld if ft I

can be plugged in, see arrow 83. The upper end of the side walls 144 has an upwardly directed projection 84, which, after the side wall 144 has been placed on the frame part 30, see arrow 85, springs back with respect to the outer wall plane of the housing and thus enables the hood 142, see arrow 87, to be pulled over in such a way that on the one hand the hood edges do not protrude beyond the outer wall plane, but on the other hand the projection 84 lies behind the hood edge 86, in particular its front edge 86 of an edge flange 88, as can be seen in Fig. 5, and is thereby secured.

In Fig. 6, in a similar representation to Fig. 2, yet another embodiment of the computer housing according to the invention can be seen, in which a base part 182 and two opposing side walls, namely a front wall 146 and a rear wall 148, are bent in one piece from a piece of sheet metal or are connected to one another by riveting or welding and form a frame part 130 into which two side walls can be hung in the manner already described, for example similarly to Fig. 5 by arranging slots 108 in the base part 182 into which corresponding tabs extending from the side walls 244 can be inserted, whereby the side walls 244 are initially held at their lower ends, see arrow 83, after which (or at the same time) a U-shaped fold can be hung over a right-angled fold 159 of the front wall 146 or back part or rear wall 148, as indicated by the arrow 185. The bends 159 and 158 also serve to stiffen the respective wall areas. The same applies to a right-angled bend 160 at the lower end of the side wall panels 244, from which the tabs 132 _extend, as can be seen in Fig. 6. The side edges of the wall panels 244 are also stiffened accordingly by U-shaped bends 161.

^ftl^ «<»« > I I it Il ill·

Il ·'&iacgr; S '! S &igr;&igr;&igr; ¹ &igr;'

} I * al Itlll &igr;

* &igr; * &diams; a »·&igr;· &igr;&igr;&igr;

&bull; I * H III ft* Il Il

- 13 -

After hanging the two side walls 244, a hood part 242, the edges of which also have stiffening bevels 163, can now be inserted into a transverse slot 164 with a horizontal tab 166 extending from this bevel, see arrow 189. The end of the wall 146 forming part of the frame part 130, which supports the slot 164 and is the front wall here but can also be the rear wall, is shown here without a bevel. A bevel can, however, be provided, for example in the form of a bevel, which can have been created at the same time as punching out the slot 164, not shown. The bevel would then be the material punched out of the slot and bent away.

The opposite part 148 (here the rear wall, but can also be the front wall) is again provided with a bevel at the upper end, which is directed inwards and bears the reference number 167. In addition, an incision 169 can be seen, in which a locking element, for example in the form of a cam lock 174, comes to rest when the cover 242 is folded down in the direction of the arrow 187 after being inserted into the slot 164. The cam lock 74 is installed, for example screwed, into a tab 170 with a stiffening bend 171. In particular, this can be a cam lock, as is also used in switch cabinets, whereby these cam locks can carry a locking cylinder arranged in their axial area. The actual locking can be achieved in various ways, for example by a hook penetrating an eyelet (not shown) or by a cam tongue that is placed behind the bevel 16 7, see arrow 191 in Fig. 7.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is highly simpler to manufacture and assemble than the previously described embodiments, and it is

I I I

i i 1

III
I1 1

1 1

particularly suitable for computers that are already enclosed in a housing, but which is not yet secured, so that the computer housing according to the invention essentially serves to make unauthorized access, which would still be possible with a normal computer housing, more difficult or impossible, and possibly also to provide additional protection against external influences, such as splashes and water. Conventional computers usually have no special precautions to prevent the ingress of liquid, which could, for example, come from a coffee cup or Coca-Cola can that has been placed on the computer housing and falls over. Such accidents can certainly occur in offices.

In Fig. 8, a slightly modified embodiment of the computer housing according to Figs. 6 and 7 can be seen, the difference being essentially that special foot arrangements 103 are provided on the frame part 130 and the front wall 246 is formed by the housing of the built-in computer, which can have, for example, ventilation slots 293 and openings 294, 295 for any operating elements such as push buttons, switches, plug contacts and the like. The cover 342 again has a bevel 270 which carries a closure 274, for example in the form of a simple cam lock with a cylinder lock insert, which engages in any projecting part of the cover 342 for the purpose of locking it. An additional switch 296 can also be arranged in this area as a main or power switch, see Fig. 8.

The computer is screwed to the frame part 230 - concealed by the side walls - and therefore cannot be pulled out of the frame part 230 without first removing the cover 342 and the side walls 344, despite the lack of a front wall in the housing according to the invention of this particular design.

<< 1111 It I It »■ Uli

ti «I Jiff If I *

It < &igr;&igr; ■

t t t «II 1 f <i II

SSa Il iillill I * t Il ItI I» MI*

Claims (1)

Computer housing, consisting of a frame part (30) for accommodating plug-in units, subracks, drives, power supplies, fans, front panels and the like and/or computers already in a housing and housing wall parts (44, 46, 48; 144) that can be fastened to the frame part (30) as well as a cover part (42; 142), characterized in that the housing wall parts (44, 46, 48; 144) and cover part (42; 142) cover their own fastening devices (32, 50, 62, 70; 132, 170) and/or the fastening devices (8, 64, 70, 72) of adjacent, previously fastened wall or cover parts in such a way that only the last part mounted in the assembly sequence (here 48) can be fastened by means of a accessible fastening device (74, 76) which comprises a locking or sealing device which can be secured against unauthorised release. Computer housing according to claim 1, characterized in that the computer housing is assigned a base part (3) on which the frame part (30) is fastened. I I I I 5. 6. 7. Computer housing according to claim 2, characterized in that the housing wall parts (44, 46, 48) are optionally also attached to the base part (3). Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the fastening device comprises tabs (50, 62, 66, 70; 170, 32; 88) projecting from the wall or hood parts (44, 46, 48 or 42; 142) which can be inserted into openings (e.g. 64; 26) of correspondingly aligned tabs (8) of an adjacent part (wall, base, hood), or have an opening (72) which is aligned with an opening (52; 152) of the adjacent part (44) and/or the base or frame part in such a way that a fastening means (54) which passes through both openings (72, 52; 152), such as a screw, pin, further tab, tongue of a closure or the like, secures the parts to one another. Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the securable locking mechanism comprises a lockable cam lock (74, 76). Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the securable locking device comprises a special screw or a seal* Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the longitudinal side walls (44) have L-shaped tabs (32) open downwards at the lower end, which can be inserted from above into corresponding L-shaped tabs (8) or openings (26) in the frame or base part (30, 3) open upwards, and that the longitudinal side walls (44) or the frame (30) have at the upper end at least one further tab (50) projecting inwards from the wall plane, which has an opening (52) for a pin-like fastening means (54). II i I I · · Il It >&idiagr;,:1:.-.&Mgr;&iacgr;^. &ldquor; - It &igr;:&diams; I «&iacgr; ,. * &diams;*&diams; · ·<&trade;" J &mdash; 8. Computer housing according to claim 7, characterized in that the pin-like fastening means (54) is a sheet metal screw, a threaded screw, an expanding rivet or the like. 9. Computer housing according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the front and/or rear wall have wall areas at the lower end that are angled inwards/downwards, which can be inserted into corresponding openings (26) or can be hooked behind corresponding crossbars on the base or frame part (3, 30), and that the rear wall (48) (if applicable front wall) ends at the upper end in a wall area (62) that projects into the area of the hood (42) and has a transverse slot (64) for receiving a horizontal tab (66) or angle that is attached to the associated lower edge end (68) of the hood (42) or is created by angling the edge end. 3.0. Computer housing according to claim 9, characterized in that the hood (42) has downwardly projecting tabs (70) or angled portions (170) at the opposite end, which are provided with openings (72) for a pin-like fastening means (54). 11. Computer housing according to claim 10, characterized in that the openings (72) for the pin-like fastening means (54) are aligned with the corresponding openings (52; 152) of the side walls (44) or frame part (30). And are jointly penetrated by the pin-like fastening means (54). 12. Computer housing according to claim 9, 10 or 11, characterized in that the rear wall (48) or the front wall or frame part (30) has a lockable cam lock (74, 76) at its upper end. whose tongue (76) engages in a slot (78) or behind a strut or bend of the hood (42). 13. Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the side walls (144) have a projection (84) at the upper end, against which the downwardly drawn edge (56) of the hood (142) rests to secure the side wall (144). l4i Computer housing according to claim 13, characterized in that the projection (84) is recessed relative to the outer wall plane of the side wall (144). 15. Computer housing according to claim 14, characterized in that the edge (56) of the hood (142) has an inwardly directed flange or forms a U-profile (88) whose free front edge (86) represents the support for the projection (84) of the side wall (144). 16. Computer housing according to claim 1, characterized in that two, in particular opposite housing wall parts (146, 148) which are firmly connected to a base part (182), e.g. screwed, riveted, welded, glued or bent in one piece, and form the frame part (130). 17. Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the securable locking device (174) is arranged in the frame part (130). 18. Computer housing according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the securable locking device (174) is arranged in a housing wall part (244) that can be fastened to the frame part (130) or in the cover part (242)*