GB2052878A

GB2052878A - Structural component assembly kit for racks

Info

Publication number: GB2052878A
Application number: GB8017139A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Schroff und Co Gesellschaft fuer Messtechnik mbH
Current assignee: Schroff und Co Gesellschaft fuer Messtechnik mbH
Priority date: 1979-05-30
Filing date: 1980-05-23
Publication date: 1981-01-28
Also published as: GB2052878B; DE2921865A1; DE2921865C2; FR2458204A1; FR2458204B1

Abstract

A structural component assembly kit for racks for cabinets serving to accommodate electrical and electronic equipment, comprises a base frame 1, a cover frame 2 and uprights 3 connecting the base and cover frames. The uprights 3 have a closed box-like profile and the base and cover frames each have fixtures 8 in the region of their four corners for accommodating the ends of the uprights. The fixtures 8 are three lugs 12 each having two side faces 13 at right angles 14 to one another that meet in an outer common edge 15. Part of the box- shaped profile 7 of the uprights 3 is formed by an isosceles triangle profile 18 on whose angle legs 19 and at right angles thereto longitudinal fillets 21 are mounted. The outer common edges 15 of the side faces 13 of the three lugs 12 are situated in the corners of an isosceles triangle 16 that is congruent with a triangle 23 in whose corners lie the inner common edges 22, 22' formed by the two angle legs 19 and the longitudinal edges 21 of the uprights 3. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Structural component assembly kit for racks The invention relates to a structural component assembly kit for racks for cabinets serving to accommodate electrical and electronic equipment, said kit comprising a base frame, a cover frame and uprights for connecting the base and cover frames, the uprights having a closed box-like profile and the base and cover frames each having fixtures in the region of their four corners for accommodating the ends of the uprights.

Cabinets for accommodating electrical or electronic equipment, which are manufactured in the form of 19" slide-in units, frequently have a solid rack as the carrying element, on which side plates, base plates and cover plates are detachably mounted. The rack is made up of a base frame and a cover frame together with four uprights, these uprights being designed so that the slide-in units can be directly bolted, above one another, to the said uprights. However, it is often necessary to fix the slide-in units on an assembly frame that can pivot about a vertical axis and to incorporate the said frame in the cabinet, so as to facilitate repair work on the equipment; in this connection, the clear distance between the uprights must be greater than in the case where the slide-in units are directly fixed to the uprights.For this reason it was hitherto absolutely essential to manufacture various types of cabinets with rectangular and square base frames and cover frames or, in the case of square base frames and cover frames, to manufacture uprights with differently shaped (i.e. of unsymmetrical cross-section) profiles, and to fix the cabinets on mountings. The manufacturing costs of the cabinets, which were in any case expensive on account of their required degree of stability, were thus considerably increased.

The object of the present invention is to provide measures which, with the aid of the same uprights as well as their base and cover frames, will enable cabinet racks to be erected having, as desired, two different clear widths between the uprights.

This objective is achieved according to the invention in that, with a structural component assembly kit for racks of the type mentioned at the beginning, the fixtures comprise three lugs each of which has two side faces at right angles to one another that meet in an outer common edge, part of the box-shaped profile of the uprights is formed by an isosceles triangle profile on whose angle legs and at right angles thereto longitudinal fillets are mounted, and the outer common edges of the side faces of the three lugs are situated in the corners of an isosceles triangle that is congruent with a triangle in whose corners lie the inner common edges formed by the two angle legs and the longitudinal edges of the uprights.

The above design of fixtures and uprights enables the clear width between any two of the uprights to be adjusted in such a way, simply be remounting the same uprights (pivoting by 1 80 while simultaneously rotating by 90 ) on the same base frame and cover frame, that by using the same structural component assembly kit the slide-in units of equipment can be fixed either directly to the uprights or by interposing a pivoting frame.

The lugs are conveniently conically shaped.

In this way a positive locking slide-in connection between the uprights and the base and cover frames can be achieved, which is defined exactly as regards the dimensions.

In a preferred embodiment the lugs are joined to one another by connecting stays, thereby simplifying the manufacture of the fixtures and increasing their strength.

The base and cover frames preferably have grooves along the feet of the lugs as well as of the connecting stays. These grooves ensure that the ends of the uprights engage firmly and fully with the base and cover frames under all circumstances. The grooves in fact collect the detailed metal shavings and particles of loose paint with which the base and cover frames have been painted or sprayed, when the uprights are mounted on the lugs.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective and exploded view of a structural component assembly kit for a rack for cabinets designed to accommodate electrical and electronic equipment; Figure 2 is a side view of one of the corners of a base of cover frame; Figure 3 is a plan view of the corner shown in Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a cross-section of an upright having a closed box-shaped profile; Figure 5 is a plan view of a corner of a base or cover frame, in another embodiment; and Figure 6 is a cross-section along the line VI-VI of Fig. 5.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the structural component assembly kit for racks shown comprises a base frame 1, a cover frame 2, and four uprights 3. The base and cover frames 1 and 2 are diecast, while the uprights 3 are produced from extruded aluminium. A cover plate 4, base plate 5, three side plates 6 and a door (not shown) if required are mounted on the rack to form a closed cabinet serving to accommodate electrical or electronic equipment.

The uprights 3 have a complex shape, unsymmetrical in horizontal projection, for fixing the electrical or electronic equipment, and are also provided with grooves and strips for mounting the side sheets 6 and the door. The uprights 3 comprise a closed box-shaped profile 7 (see also Fig. 4), which is an integral constituent of the shape of the upright 3.

The base frame 1 and cover frame 2 carry fixtures 8 at their four corners. The fixtures 8 project from the plane of the respective frame 1, 2 and serve as mountings for the ends of the uprights 3 by projecting into and engaging with parts of the profile of the uprights 3.

The assembled rack is securely held together by connecting screws 9 having self-tapping threads, which are inserted through holes 10 in the base frame 1, and cover frame 2 and screwed into channels 11 provided for this purpose (see also Fig. 4).

According to Fig. 3 the fixtures 8 are shown to comprise three lugs 12 arranged in the region of each corner of the base frame and cover frame 1. 2. Each of these three lugs 12, which has a square horizontal section and is integral with the respective frame 1, 2, has two side faces 13 that form a right angle 14 with respect to one another and meet in an outer common edge 15. The outer common edges 15 of the two side faces 13 of the three lugs 12 of each corner of the base and cover frame 1, 2 lie at the corners of an isosceles triangle 16 (shown by chain-dotted lines). The lugs 12 may also be formed as cylindrical pins 12' (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3), whose centre points lie on a (smaller) isosceles triangle 16'.

The base and cover frames 1, 2 have grooves 17 along the feet of the lugs 12, and in fact there the side faces 13 of the lugs 12 change into the respective base and cover frames 1, 2 (see Figs. 2 and 3).

Part of the box-shaped profile 7 of the uprights 3 is (Fig. 4) formed by an isosceles triangle profile 18 consisting of two angle legs 19 that meet along an inner common edge 20. A longitudinal fillet 21 extending over the whole length of the upright 3 is arranged on each of the two angle legs 19, and at right angles thereto. The longitudinal sides 21 together with the angle leg 19 form inner common edges 22. The three common edges 20, 22 and 22' lie in the corners of an isosceles triangle 23 which is congruent with the isosceles triangle 16 in whose corners lie the outer common edges 15 of the side faces 13 of the lugs 12.

A second form of the fixture 8 is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This fixture 8, which has a triangular horizontal cross-section, consists of three lugs 12 joined to one another by connecting stays 24. The outer common edges 15 of the two side faces 13 of the three lugs 12 lie in the corners of the isosceles triangle 1 6 illustrated by the chain-dotted lines. The fixture 8 consisting of the three lugs 12 has a conical shape. The base and cover frames 1, 2 carry grooves 17 along the foot of the fixture 8, i.e. along the lugs 12 and connecting stays 24.

Claims

1. A structural component assembly kit for racks for cabinets serving to accommodate electrical and electronic equipment, said kit comprising a base frame, a cover frame, uprights for connecting the base and cover frames which uprights have a closed box-like profile, and fixtures in the region of the four corners of each of the base and cover frames for accommodating the ends of the uprights, wherein the fixtures comprise three lugs each of which has two side faces at right angles to one another and that meet in an outer common edge the uprights comprising a boxshaped profile defined in part by two angularly disposed legs which form two sides of an isosceles triangle profile, have longitudinal fillets mounted at right angles thereto and the outer common edges of the side faces of the three lugs are situated in the corners of an isosceles triangle that is congruent with a triangle in whose corners lie the inner common edges formed by the two angularly disposed legs and the longitudinal edges of the uprights.

2. A structural component assembly kit according to Claim 1, wherein the lugs are conically shaped.

3. A structural component assembly kit according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the lugs are joined to one another by connecting stays.

4. A structural component assembly kit according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the base and cover frames have grooves along the feet of the lugs and the connecting stays when present.

5. A structural component assembly kit for racks for cabinets serving to accommodate electrical and electronic equipment, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. A rack when assembled from a kit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.