JP2000347769A - Integrated patch panel cable managing tray assembly and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conquer difficulty in production and to obtain the merit of cost and reliability by molding a patch panel, a cable managing tray and a fixing arm from one material sheet. SOLUTION: An assembly 10 is produced from one suitable moldable material sheet such as thin sheet metal. It is preferable the assembly 10 is provided with two main parts, namely, a patch panel 11 and a cable managing tray 12. First of all, the outline or contour of the assembly 10 is stamped from the material sheet. Next, while the assembly 10 is shaped into flat coplanar sheet, a suitable hole and/or opening is formed on the patch panel 11. After the outline, the internal opening and the contour are molded, the material sheet is bent according to a main bend profile. Further, fixing arms 17 and 18 are constituted and attached to the patch panel 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to wiring management, and more particularly to data and voice communication wiring terminating in patch panels, racks, and the like. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an integrated patch panel and cable management tray assembly formed from a single sheet of material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the telecommunications and on-premise wiring industries, it is often the case that a number of connectors are located in one location, for example, without being fixed to a single patch panel. Generally, a number of cables are connected to the connector. It is desirable that the cables be neatly arranged on the back of the panel to facilitate removal of a given cable and to avoid unsightly clutter. It is also important that such cable clumps do not cause excessive distortion of the cable connection with the connector. For this reason, it is known to attach a cable management tray to the back of the patch panel, which allows the organization of the cables and the reduction of distortion. However, such a patch panel / cable management tray combination typically involves separately forming the patch panel front and the cable management tray from two separate sheets of material,
It is then manufactured in a manner that attaches together using conventional techniques. This manufacturing technique is somewhat difficult, expensive, and sometimes unreliable.

[0003]

Accordingly, given the above shortcomings of currently available patch panel and cable management tray assemblies, an improved type that overcomes manufacturing difficulties and provides cost and reliability advantages. Integrated patch panel and cable management tray assembly and method.

[0004]

In accordance with the objects of the invention embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides a substantially flat front patch panel, a cable management extending rearward of the front patch panel. Integrated cable management comprising a tray and a fixed arm extending between the cable management tray and the patch panel to reinforce the molded assembly structure, wherein the patch panel, cable management tray and the fixed arm are molded from a single sheet of material. Providing an assembly addresses the need. In a preferred embodiment, a cable management tray includes a base portion horizontally disposed at a lower end of the patch panel and a cable management support portion attached to the base portion, extending rearward from a lower end of the front patch panel. The front patch panel includes a flange extending rearward from an upper end of the front patch panel and generally parallel to the base portion. The flange is bent generally perpendicular to the plane of the flange and includes an end that becomes a fixing element to which the fixing arm is fixed. The fixed arms are respectively disposed at both ends of the cable management support portion, and are bent perpendicularly to the surface of the front patch panel and the surface of the cable management support portion,
Each arm is fixed to a corresponding fixing element. The fixing arm is preferably welded to the fixing element.

[0005] The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing an integrated cable management assembly. In a preferred embodiment, the method includes providing a formable sheet of material, forming holes in the sheet of material to receive cables and fasteners, bending the sheet of material to provide a substantially flat front patch panel portion, and Forming a cable management tray that extends behind the front patch panel portion, further bending the sheet of material to form fixed arms, and securing the free ends of each fixed arm to the material sheet to form the assembled assembly. Including the step of reinforcing. Preferably, the free end of the fixing arm is fixed to the front patch panel part by spot welding. The method further includes bending the upper end of the front patch panel portion to form a rearwardly extending flange, bending both ends of the flange to form a support end perpendicular to the front patch panel portion and the flange, and Securing the end to an associated securing arm may be included. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are:
As will become more apparent from the following description and the appended claims, it may be learned by practicing the invention as described herein.

[0006]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of how to achieve the above and other advantages and objects of the invention, the invention will be further described by reference to specific embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. This will be described in detail. It should be especially noted that the scale of the accompanying drawings is not necessarily constant. It is understood that the present invention and its present are best understood with the understanding that these drawings are merely representative of general embodiments of the present invention, and thus do not limit the scope of the invention. Its manufacture and use will be described with additional details through the use of the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. A representative integrated patch panel and cable management tray assembly embodying various features of the present invention is designated by the numeral 10 throughout the drawings. As shown and as will be described in greater detail below, the assembly 10 is manufactured from a single sheet of suitable formable material such as sheet metal. Assembly 10
Preferably comprises two main parts: a patch panel 11 and a cable management tray 12. The purpose and function of patch panels and cable management trays are well known in the art.

First, the outer shape or contour of the assembly 10 is stamped from a sheet of material (not shown). As will be discussed in detail below, the contour of the patch panel 11 includes fixed ends or flanges 25, 26, and the cable management tray 12 includes support or fixed arms 17, 18. Next, while the assembly 10 is in the form of a flat coplanar sheet, appropriate holes and / or openings are formed in the patch panel 11 preferably by stamping a sheet of material. In a preferred embodiment, rectangular holes 13 for supporting connectors and cables, and screws,
A round hole 14 is provided for passing a standard fastener such as a bolt. Similarly, cable alignment nodule 15,
And a hole 16 through which screws, bolts, cable ties, or other fasteners can be passed is provided in the cable management tray 1.
Form or press into 2. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the holes and nodules described above, but contemplates various other designs that the situation allows.

After shaping the profile and internal openings and contours, the sheet of material is bent according to the main bending profile shown in FIGS. These figures show the main elements of the patch panel 11 and the cable management tray 12, the upper flange 20 extending rearward of the patch panel 11, the rear ribs 21 extending downward from the cable management tray and adding rigidity to the cable management tray. It is clearly shown. As shown most clearly in FIG.
Includes a base portion 29 and a cable management support portion 30.

FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 show fixed arms 17 and 18 respectively.
And the method of attaching the fixed arm to the patch panel 11 will be described in more detail. The fixed arms 17, 18
When initially formed and before the sheet of material is bent according to FIGS. 4 and 5, it is in the plane of the sheet of material (i.e., assumes a coplanar shape). After the first bend, which brings the assembly into the state shown in FIGS.
18 is in the plane of the cable management support portion 30 of the tray 12. For clarity only, the arms 17, 18 in this position are shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 as 17 ', 18'. The arms 17 ′, 18 ′ are then bent to their final positions 17, 18 perpendicular to the plane of the cable management tray 12, as best shown in FIG.

Referring again to FIG. The flange 20 further includes fixed ends 25, 26 at both ends that extend outwardly as a cantilever after the outer contour of the material has been formed. For clarity only, these positions of the parts 25, 26 are indicated by dotted lines and are represented by 25 ', 26'. Next, as best shown in FIG. 2, the ends 25, 26 are bent downward from the plane of the flange 20 so that the plane of the patch panel 11 and the flange 2
Make it perpendicular to both zero planes. In this way, the fixed ends 25, 26 and the fixed arms 17, 18 can be snuggled together and fixed using conventional techniques, for example using spot welds 27 or bolts 28 through the sheet.

The assembly 10 can thus be easily formed by stamping and bending a sheet of material and fixing the structure using simple spot welds 27 or nuts and bolts 28. This is a significant advantage over prior art assemblies, both in terms of ease of manufacture and cost, and in terms of reliability and strength.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described by way of example, those skilled in the art will recognize that modifications to the disclosed embodiments may be made which fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. I want to be. For example, it is contemplated that the previously described manufacturing steps can be performed in a variety of different orders. Accordingly, the order of the manufacturing steps is not limited to the order strictly described above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of an integrated patch panel and cable management tray assembly embodying features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG. 1 showing additional details of the assembly embodying features of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the patch panel and cable management tray assembly of FIG. 1 embodying features of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the patch panel and cable management tray assembly of FIG. 1 showing a bending profile of a sheet of material embodying features of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the patch panel and cable management tray assembly of FIG. 1 illustrating a bending profile of a sheet of material embodying features of the present invention.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A substantially flat front patch panel, (b) a cable management tray extending behind the front patch panel, and (c) a molding extending between the cable management tray and the patch panel. An integrated cable management assembly, comprising: a fixed arm that reinforces a later assembly structure, wherein the patch panel, the cable management tray, and the fixed arm are formed from a single sheet of material. 2. A cable management tray, comprising: a base portion horizontally disposed at a lower end of the front patch panel; and a cable management support portion attached to the base portion, from a lower end of the front patch panel. The cable management assembly according to claim 1, wherein the cable management assembly extends. 3. The front patch panel includes a flange extending substantially parallel to the base portion rearward from an upper end of the front patch panel, the flange being bent substantially perpendicular to a plane of the flange. The cable management assembly according to claim 2, further comprising an end serving as a fixing element to which the fixing arm is fixed. 4. The fixing arm is disposed at both ends of the cable management support portion, and is bent perpendicularly to a surface of the front patch panel and a surface of the cable management support portion, and is fixed to a corresponding fixing element. The cable management assembly according to claim 3, wherein 5. The cable management assembly according to claim 4, wherein said fixing arm is welded to said fixing element. 6. A method of manufacturing an integrated cable management assembly, comprising: (a) providing a formable material sheet; (b) forming a hole in the material sheet through which cables and fasteners pass. c) bending the sheet of material to form a substantially flat front patch panel portion and a cable management tray extending behind the front patch panel portion; and (d) bending the sheet of material again to secure the arm. And e. Fixing the free end of the fixed arm to the sheet of material to reinforce the formed assembly. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a free end of the fixed arm is fixed to the front patch panel portion by spot welding. 8. A step of forming a rearwardly extending flange by bending an upper end of the front patch panel portion, and (b) bending both ends of the flange to be perpendicular to the front patch panel portion and the flange. The method of claim 7, further comprising: molding a support end; and (c) securing the support end to an associated fixed arm.