GB2119433A

GB2119433A - Hinged panel structures

Info

Publication number: GB2119433A
Application number: GB8211564A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Paul Erlam; Arthur Edgar Carr
Original assignee: Rittal Werk Rudolf Loh GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Rittal Werk Rudolf Loh GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1982-04-21
Filing date: 1982-04-21
Publication date: 1983-11-16
Also published as: DE3312429A1; DE3312429C3; DE3312429C2; DE8310082U1; GB2119433B

Abstract

A hinged panel structure comprises a frame for housing printed circuit boards, a panel 50 for closing at least part of the frame, and two spaced hinges for mounting the panel 50 on the frame. Each hinge comprises a first hinge element 30, that is fixable to the frame by inserting a lug 34 into a slot of a cross rail of the frame, and a second hinge element 32 that is pivotally engageable with the first hinge element 30 and fixable to the panel 50 by a leg 54 of the panel 50 fitting into a channel 58 in the second hinge element 32. The first hinge elements 30 can be fixed to the frame at positions which are spaced with respect to one another either vertically or horizontally, depending on whether the panel 50 is to be hinged about a vertical or a horizontal axis. The second hinge elements 32 are engageable with the first hinge elements 30 for relative pivotal movement about either a vertical or a horizontal axis, depending on whether the panel is to be hinged about a vertical or horizontal axis. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Hinged panel structures This invention relates to hinged panel structures.

There are many cases in which it may be desired to close at least part of a frame by means of a panel hinged to the frame. In one such case, the frame comprises a "card frame" (also known as a "sub-rack"), which is a kind of frame structure used to house electrical circuitry mounted on "cards" which, for example, comprise circuit boards, for example printed circuit boards, mounting circuit components. It may be desired to close at least part of the front of a particular card frame by means of a panel, and the panel may have to be hinged about a vertical or horizontal axis.

It is now becoming conventional for electrical/electronic manufacturers and others to avoid the need to design and manufacture special housings for electrical/electronic apparatus by tailoring a card frame to their specific requirements by choosing parts from a standard range and assembling them to form a card frame suiting these requirements. This is especially so when, as is often the case, the manufacturer (or other user) has no real facility for or interest in manufacturing a special housing, which might require extensive design time, specialist design ability and appropriate manufacturing facilities.

Accordingly, the manufacturers of the standard ranges of card frame parts are always under pressure to maximise the simplicity and the extent of standardisation of their product ranges so that the burden of casing design and manufacture is as far as possible removed from the user's shoulders.

It is known for the standard ranges of products of card frame manufacturers to include front panels and hinges for mounting the front panels to the frame. The known hinges have not however complied very well with the requirements of simplicity and maximum standardisation. For example, different hinges have been required for hinging about vertical and horizontal axes and/or the panel structure has been weak and/or the fixing of the hinges has been complex.

According to the invention there is provided a hinged panel structure comprising a frame, a panel for closing at least part of the frame, and two spaced hinges for mounting the panel, each hinge comprising a first hinge element that is fixable to the frame and a second hinge element that is pivotally engageable with the first hinge element and fixable to the door, wherein the first hinge elements can be fixed to the frame at positions which are spaced with respect to one another either vertically or horizontally, depending on whether the panel is to be hinged about a vertical or a horizontal axis, and the second hinge elements can be engaged with the first hinge elements for relative pivotal movement about either a vertical or a horizontal axis, depending on whether the panel is to be hinged about a vertical or a horizontal axis.

As will be appreciated, the foregoing arrangement enables the same type of hinge to be used regardless of whether the panel is vertically or horizontally hinged. Thus, a user can order and stock a single type of hinge which he can use to make up a variety of hinged panel structures.

The frame is preferably configured so that it can receive and engage with portions of the first hinge elements to locate them at the desired spaced positions, thereby to simplify location of the first hinge elements. For instance, the frame may comprise a cross rail having a slot therein complementary to said portions of the first hinge elements. Thus, for hinging the panel about a horizontal axis, the first hinge elements can be spaced apart in the slot. The frame may comprise two such slotted cross rails, in which case the panel can be hinged about a vertical axis by disposing the hinge elements in the slots of the respective cross rails. In a preferred arrangement described below the first hinge elements can be fixed in place in the slot or slots simply by tightening a screw into a threaded member or members captive in the cross rail or cross rails.

The second hinge elements are preferably fixable to the panel by being push fitted therein.

This of course makes assembly very easy. To this end, the second hinge elements and the panel preferably comprise complementary configurations engageable by push-fitting.

A preferred manner of providing the required engagement of the first and second hinge elements for relative pivotal movement about either a vertical or a horizontal axis is for the second element to be provided with two relatively orthogonal configurations (e.g. holes) which can each receive a hinge pin that is also received by the first element.

The invention will now be further described, by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a card frame; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a lower front cross rail of the card frame of Figure 1, taken along a line Il-Il in Figure 1, the view showing a first hinge element engaged with the cross rail; Figure 3 is a rear view of the first hinge element shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the first hinge element and a second hinge element engaged so as to form one of a pair of hinges to mount a front panel of the card frame intended to be hinged about a vertical axis; Figure 5 is a front view - on a reduced scale ~of the front panel shown in Figure 4;; Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the first and second hinge elements engaged so as to form one of a pair of hinges to mount a front panel of the card frame intended to be hinged about a horizontal axis; and Figure 7 is a front view - on a reduced scale ~of the front panel shown in Figure 6.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a card frame that comprises a pair of pressure die cast metal side plates 10. The side plates 10 are preferably, though not essentially, of identical construction.

The side plates 10 have front mounting flanges 12 cast integrally therewith. In a manner known per se, the card frame can be secured in a rack by screws (not shown) extending through clearance holes 14 in the flanges 12 into threaded members (not shown) in the rack. The side plates 10 are disposed in respective vertical planes and are joined together and spaced apart by a plurality of horizontally extending cross rails, two only of which (both front cross rails) are shown at 16 in Figure 1, the cross rails being secured to the side plates 10 by suitable means (not shown). The illustrated cross rails 16 and other cross rails mount various other components of the card frame, for instance card guides for receiving the cards and electrical connectors for connection to cards received in the card guides.The card frame illustrated in Figure 1 may in fact be of generally the same form as that disclosed in our copending UK Patent Application No. 81 19943 (Publication No. GB A).

A cross-sectional view of the lower front cross rail 16 is shown in Figure 2. As will be apparent from Figure 2, the configuration of the cross rail 16 is somewhat simplified in Figure 1 for the sake of clarity. The cross rail 16 in fact has a slot 18 extending along its front face, the slot 1 8 having a pair of opposed recesses 20 in its opposed faces between its mouth and its base. Also, a ledge 24 is provided on the bottom of the-front face of the cross rail 1 6. The upper front cross rail 1 6 is of the same configuration as the lower front cross rail 16, but inverted. That is to say, the ledge 24 extends along the top of the front face of the upper cross rail 16.

The slot 18, recesses 20 and ledge 24 are provided in the cross rails 16 for purposes not directly concerned with the subject matter of the present application and therefore not described in detail. Suffice it to say, for present purposes, that a strip having tapped holes therein at a predetermined pitch may be received in the recesses 20 in at least one of the illustrated cross rails 16 to enable a fixed panel or module to be secured in place.

In some instances the user may require that the front of the card frame be closed by means of a hinged panel. The panel may for example close the whole face of the card frame, desirably having its front face flush with the front faces of the flanges 12. The panel could in that case be hinged about a vertical axis, at one or the other of the ends of the card frame, or about a horizontal axis, at the top or bottom of the card frame. Alternatively, either a horizontally hinged or vertically hinged panel could be arranged to cover only part of the card frame, or there could in fact be a plurality of hinged panels for closing respective parts of the card frame. In any of these cases, the or each such panel is desirably hinged to the card frame by the technique that will now be described.

The panel hinging technique described below makes use of a pair of spaced hinges, each hinge comprising a first hinge element 30 fixable to one of the front cross rails 1 6 and a second hinge element 32 fixable to the panel.

The first hinge element 30, shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6, is so configured that it can be received in and engaged with the front face of any of the front cross rails 1 6 at any desired position therealong. More specifically, the first hinge element 30 has on its rear face a pair of spaced lugs 34 that fit into the slot 18 of the cross rail 1 6.

The hinge# element 30 also has a step 36 on its rear face that fits over the ledge 24 of the cross rail 16. A hole 38 extends from the front face to the rear face of the first hinge element 30, the hole 38 being countersunk or counterbored at the front face of the element 30. As shown in Figure 2, a screw 40 extends through the hole 38 into a threaded member 42 disposed in the recesses 20. (The member 42 may be the abovedescribed-strip having a spaced array of tapped holes or, depending upon the circumstances, it may comprise a nut of square or other configuration that will prevent it rotating when the screw 40-is turned.) As will be evident from an inspection of Figure 2, once the hinge element 30 has been engaged with the cross rail and slid therealong to a desired position it can be releasably clamped in place by tightening the screw 40.

As can be seen from Figures 4 and 6, each first hinge element 30 has therein a pair of blind holes 44 having vertical axes and a pair of blind holes 46 having a common horizontal axis. Each of the holes 44, 46 can receive a hinge pin 48 as a slide fit.

A manner of assembling the first hinge element 30, the second hinge element 32 and the hinge pin 48 to form the lower one of a pair of hinges for mounting a front panel 50 of the card frame for pivotal movement about a vertical axis will now be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. As shown in Figure 4, the hinge pin 48 is fitted into that one of the holes 44 in the first hinge element 30 that is on the left as the element 30 is viewed in Figure 4 and is also fitted into the lower one of a pair of aligned blind holes 52 in the second hinge element 32 whereby the elements 30, 32 are relatively pivotable about a vertical axis. The hinge is then fixed to the lower left hand corner of the panel 50 by engagement of the second hinge element 32 with a configuration provided at such corner of the panel 50 for that purpose. Such configuration comprises a leg 54 and a cut-out 56. The leg 54 fits tightly into a channel 58 in the second hinge element 32. A neck 60 between the base of the channel 58 and a surface 62 of the element 32 fits tightly in the cut-out 56.

Another hinge is formed for the left hand upper corner of the panel 50. The other hinge is the same as that shown in Figure 4 for the lower corner of the panel 50, except that the element 30 is inverted and disposed above the element 32 and the hinge pin 48 is fitted into the upper hole 52 in the element 32 and the other hole 44 in the element 30.

When the hinges have been fitted to the panel 50 as described above, the hinged panel may be secured to the cross rails by slotting the hinge elements 30 into the front cross rails 16, sliding the arrangement therealong to the desired place (the left hand ends of the cross rails 16 in the case of a panel 50 closing the whole of the front of the card frame) and then screwing the screws 40 into the threaded members 42 to clamp the arrangement in place.

The hinged panel 50 can be held in the closed position by any suitable technique. According to one arrangement, screws (not shown) can be passed through holes 64 (Figure 5) in the panel 50 and into threaded members like the members 42 at the other ends of the cross rails 1 6.

An arrangement as just described could be used for hinging the panel 50 about its right hand edge rather than its left hand edge. In this case, the panel 50 will of course be rotated through 1800 and the first hinge elements 30 would be disposed towards the right hand rather than the left hand ends of the front cross rails 16.

Figures 6 and 7 show how the hinges just described can be assembled in a different manner to hingedly mount a panel 50' which is of similar construction to the panel 50 except that it is designed to be hinged about a horizontal axis. To this end, the configurations 54, 56 are provided at both bottom corners rather than both left hand corners of the panel and the holes 64 are dispose#d at the two upper corners rather than the two right hand corners of the panel.

The first hinge element 30 and second hinge element 32 are in this case made relatively rotatable about a horizontal axis by engaging the hinge pin 48 in this case with one of the holes 46 of the first hinge element 30 (and, as before, with one of the holes 52 of the second hinge element 32). The second hinge elements 32 are then engaged with the configurations 54, 56 as described above and the hinged panel is then fitted to the card frame as described above, except that in this case the two first hinge elements 30 are engaged with and secured to the same front cross rail 16 rather than two different cross rails 16.

As shown in Figures 4 and 6, the legs 54 are deformed slightly out of the plane of the panel 50 or 50'. This is done to displace the position of the second hinge element 32 slightly to ensure that it does not foul the front mounting flanges 12 or cross rails 16 as the panel is opened and closed.

Should there be no risk of such fouling, the legs 54 need not be deformed out of the plane of the panel 50 or 50'.

The invention can of course be carried into effect in other ways than that described above by way of example. For instance, in a card frame having three or more front cross rails, a vertically hinged front panel could be hinged to two only of the rails or to more than two of them. In the latter case, three or more hinges generally as described above would be required, and the panel would need a further configuration, similar to the configurations 54, 56, between those illustrated.

Further, though the invention is particularly applicable to the hinging of panels to card frames, it can be used to hinge panels to other forms of structures provided with frames, in particular housings for electrical/electronic equipment.

Claims

1. A hinged panel structure comprising a frame, a panel for closing at least part of the frame, and two spaced hinges for mounting the panel, each hinge comprising a first hinge element that is fixable to the frame and a second hinge element that is pivotally engageable with the first hinge element and fixable to the panel, wherein the first hinge elements can be-fixed to the frame at positions which are spaced with respect to one another either vertically or horizontally, depending on whether the panel is to be hinged about a vertical or a horizontal axis, and the second hinge elements can be engaged with the first hinge elements for relative pivotal movement about either a vertical or a horizontal axis, depending on whether the panel is to be hinged about a vertical or a horizontal axis.

2. A hinged panel structure according to claim 1, wherein the frame is configured to receive and engage with portions of the first hinge elements to locate them at spaced positions.

3. A hinged panel structure according to claim 2, wherein the frame comprises a cross rail having a slot therein complementary to said portions of the first hinge elements.

4. A hinged panel structure according to claim 2, wherein the frame comprises two cross rails each having a slot complementary to said portions of the first hinge elements, thereby enabling the panel to be hinged about a vertical axis by disposing the portions of the first hinge elements in the slots of the respective cross rails.

5. A hinged panel structure according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the first hinge elements can be fixed in place in the slot or slots by tightening a screw into a threaded member or members captive in the cross rail or cross rails.

6. A hinged panel structure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second hinge elements and the panel comprise complementary configurations so that the second hinge elements are fixable to the panel by pushfitting.

7. A hinged panel structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first hinge element is provided with two relatively orthogonal configurations which can each receive a hinge pin that is also received by the second element, so as to enable the first and second hinge elements to be pivotally engageable for relative pivotal movement about either a vertical or a horizontal axis.

8. A hinged panel structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.