JP5459586B2 - Rack nut - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a rack nut, and in particular, a rack for mounting a mounting angle of a rack on which an electronic device such as a server or a communication device is mounted, a mounting kit for supporting the electronic device, and a rack for fixing the electronic device itself. Regarding nuts.

  In recent years, information processing devices have become smaller and higher in density, and as racks on which electronic devices such as servers and communication devices are mounted, IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards and EIA (Electronic Industries Association: American Electronics) The “19-inch rack” (19-inch rack) conforming to the Japanese Industrial Association) standard is the mainstream. When mounting an electronic device on this rack, the electronic device is usually supported by a mounting kit fixed to the mounting angle of the rack, but various fixing tools are used as means for fixing the mounting angle and the mounting kit. ing.

  An example of such a fixture is a rack nut (gauge nut). This rack nut is fitted and fixed to a rack nut mounting hole formed in the mount angle using a rack nut jig, or is fixed with a screw or the like, and is fixed to the mount angle. After matching the position of the rack nut and the mounting position of the mount kit, the mount kit is fixed to the mount angle by screwing the male screw into the female screw formed on the rack nut.

  Further, as a bearing for attaching the shaft to the support plate of the apparatus, a cylindrical portion that fits into a bearing insertion hole formed through the support plate, and radially outward from the outer periphery of the proximal end portion of the cylindrical portion And a flange bearing made of resin flange, which is provided in a projecting manner and has a flange which performs axial positioning of the cylindrical portion by contact with the support plate, and rotatably supports a shaft inserted through the cylindrical portion. It has been introduced. The bearing is elastically displaced inward of the cylindrical portion when the bearing insertion hole is inserted into the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion, and is elastically displaced outwardly of the cylindrical portion when passing through the bearing insertion hole. An elastic locking piece that contacts the peripheral edge of the plate and the bearing insertion hole and prevents the cylindrical portion from coming off from the bearing insertion hole is integrally formed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  Also, as a caulking nut for fixing the connecting member to the panel, a flange is formed at one end and a non-elastic nut member is fixed at the other end, and a bolt member is screwed from the flange side. Then, a caulking nut has been introduced that can be deformed so that the diameter of the intermediate portion is expanded and can clamp a panel or the like in cooperation with the flange. This caulking nut has a configuration in which a protector for securely fixing the caulking nut to the panel is attached. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

JP 2002-340001 A No. 7-41933

  By the way, a rack (especially a 19-inch rack) may be mounted in a state where a plurality of servers and communication devices are mixed. For example, when 10 to 20 various electronic device units are mounted in one rack. There is also. The general-purpose rack has four mount angles arranged in the front, rear, left, and right directions, and a plurality of rack nut mounting holes are formed in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) of these mount angles. Therefore, the user can arrange the mounting number and mounting position of the electronic device freely by appropriately selecting the rack nut mounting hole and determining the mounting position and mounting position of the mount kit.

  However, in order to mount the mount kit at an arbitrary position of the mount angle, it is necessary to fix a rack nut in advance at a position where the four mount angles are at the same height. Therefore, when using a general-purpose rack that is higher than the user's height (for example, a general-purpose rack having a height of 2 meters or more), it is difficult to work because the rack nut is fixed at a position higher than the user's height. . Specifically, in a general rack nut, a pair of claws formed of a metal having a spring property is formed on a sleeve inserted into the rack nut mounting hole, and the mount angle is defined by these claws. The rack nut is prevented from coming off from the rack nut mounting hole.In this rack nut fixing operation, one hook is hooked into the rack nut mounting hole, and then the rack nut is mounted on the other hook. It is known that a dedicated jig is indispensable and time-consuming because the jig and driver are hooked and pulled into the rack nut mounting hole.

  Also, when adding or changing the mounting position of electronic equipment in the same general-purpose rack, the work to remove the rack nut from the rack nut mounting hole is performed, but generally the work to remove the rack nut takes more time than the fixing work. This is an operation. For this reason, for example, when the rack nut mounting hole for fixing the rack nut is mistaken, a redo work occurs and the work efficiency is further reduced.

  Moreover, although the bearing described in Patent Document 1 has an elastic locking piece for preventing the bearing from being removed from the bearing insertion hole, the cylindrical portion of the bearing has a bearing insertion hole. Is passed through the cylindrical portion, and is elastically displaced outwardly from the cylindrical portion so as to come into contact with the periphery of the support plate and the bearing insertion hole. Therefore, when removing the bearing from the bearing insertion hole, it is necessary to return the cylindrical portion of the elastic locking piece to the outside by using a dedicated jig and to pass through the bearing insertion hole. It takes time and effort.

  In addition, the caulking nut described in Patent Document 2 needs to be fitted with a protector before the caulking nut is attached to the panel, which increases the workability process.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can be prevented from being unexpectedly detached from the rack nut mounting hole, and can be easily attached and detached without using a dedicated jig. An object is to provide a rack nut.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention is a rack nut that has a nut portion and is inserted into and fixed to a rack nut mounting hole formed in a mount angle, and can penetrate the rack nut mounting hole. And a sleeve formed of an elastic body, a flange abutting against one surface of the mount angle when the sleeve passes through the rack nut mounting hole, and protruding from the surface of the sleeve. When the diameter of the sleeve is elastically reduced, a retaining portion that penetrates the rack nut mounting hole and can come into contact with a surface opposite to one surface of the mount angle when the sleeve is elastically restored. And a rack nut comprising:

  In the rack nut having this configuration, since the sleeve is made of an elastic body, the diameter of the sleeve can be easily and elastically reduced with a low load without applying a large force. Therefore, the retaining portion can be easily passed (penetrated) through the rack nut mounting hole without using a dedicated jig or the like, and the sleeve can be easily passed through the rack nut mounting hole. Can do. Therefore, the rack nut can be easily attached to the mount angle. On the other hand, when removing the rack nut from the rack nut mounting hole, the sleeve can be easily elastically reduced in diameter without using a dedicated jig or the like, as described above. The nut can be easily removed from the mount angle.

  In addition, since the sleeve is elastically restored after the retaining portion passes through the rack nut mounting hole, when the rack nut moves in a direction opposite to the penetrating direction, the retaining portion is mounted on the mount. It will come into contact with the angle. Further, the movement of the rack nut in the penetration direction is prevented by the flange coming into contact with the mount angle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the rack nut from dropping from the rack nut mounting hole.

  The rack nut according to the present invention further includes an anti-rotation portion provided at one end of the sleeve, having at least one corner portion, and capable of coming into contact with a side wall defining the rack nut mounting hole. Can be configured to abut against one surface of the mount angle when the rotation stop abuts against the side wall. As described above, when the rotation stop portion has at least one corner portion and abuts against the side wall defining the rack nut mounting hole, the male screw of the bolt is screwed into the female screw of the nut portion. In addition, the rack nut can be prevented from rotating. Therefore, the operation of screwing the bolt into the nut portion can be performed more efficiently.

  Furthermore, in the rack nut according to the present invention, the retaining portion can be made of an elastic body. With this configuration, when the sleeve is passed through the rack nut mounting hole, the retaining portion is also elastically deformed. Therefore, in addition to the advantages, the rack nut can be more easily adjusted to the mount angle. It can be installed and removed.

  In the rack nut according to the present invention, the nut portion is fixed to the sleeve and abuts against an end surface of the sleeve in the insertion direction. In addition, it can be configured such that it is compressed in the axial direction and expanded in the radial direction, and abuts against a surface opposite to one surface of the mount angle. With this configuration, when the male screw and the female screw are screwed together (rotation motion), the nut portion tries to move closer to the mount angle (straight motion), and the sleeve is pivoted. Will push in the direction. Therefore, the sleeve is compressed in the axial direction, and the sleeve is expanded (expanded diameter) in the radial direction by the compression. By this operation, the sleeve comes into contact with the mount angle, and the mount angle is held between the flange and the sleeve. Therefore, the mount angle and the rack nut are more securely fixed, and the mount kit and the electronic device can be securely fixed to the mount angle in a more stable state. Further, since the mount angle is held together with the flange by the expansion of the sleeve, the selection range of the thickness (thickness) of the mount angle can be widened.

  Since the rack nut according to the present invention has the flange and the retaining portion, the rack nut can be prevented from being unexpectedly detached from the rack nut mounting hole. Further, since the sleeve is made of an elastic body, it can be easily attached and detached without using a dedicated jig. As a result, it is possible to provide a rack nut with improved mounting workability and removal workability.

It is a perspective view of the rack nut concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which fixes the mount kit to a mount angle with the rack nut shown in FIG. 1, and the volt | bolt screwed together to the said rack nut. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which fixes the mount kit to a mount angle with the rack nut shown in FIG. 1, and the volt | bolt screwed together to the said rack nut. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which attached the rack nut shown in FIG. 1 to the mount angle of the rack. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which fixed the mount kit to the mount angle with the rack nut shown in FIG. 1, and the volt | bolt screwed together to the said rack nut.

  Next, a rack nut according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, embodiment described below is the illustration for demonstrating this invention, and this invention is not limited only to these embodiment. Therefore, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist thereof.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack nut according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mount kit is fixed to a mount angle by the rack nut and a bolt screwed to the rack nut. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the mount kit is fixed to the mount angle by the rack nut and the bolt, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the rack nut is attached to the mount angle. These are sectional drawings which show the state which fixed the said mount kit to the said mount angle with the said rack nut and the said volt | bolt. In the drawings, for easy understanding, the thickness, size, enlargement / reduction ratio, etc. of each member are not matched with the actual ones.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the rack nut 1 according to the present embodiment is inserted into a rack nut mounting hole 31 formed in the mount angle 30 and fixed to the mount angle 30. For example, a total of four mount angles 30 are arranged at four corners of a 19-inch rack (not shown) conforming to the IEC standard or EIA standard, and the longitudinal direction (19-inch rack height direction not shown) is arranged. ), A plurality of rack nut mounting holes 31 are formed at predetermined intervals. These rack nut mounting holes 31 have a square shape when viewed from the insertion direction of the rack nut 1 (the direction of arrow X shown in FIG. 4; hereinafter, this direction is simply referred to as “insertion direction”). 2 to 5, a part of the mount angle 30 in the longitudinal direction (height direction) is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the rack nut 1 according to this embodiment is provided with a sleeve 11, a rotation stopper 12 provided at one end of the sleeve 11, and the other end of the sleeve 11. The nut part 13, the flange 14 provided in the surface on the opposite side to the surface in which the sleeve 11 of the rotation stop part 12 is provided, and the retaining part 15 formed protruding from the surface of the sleeve 11 are provided. Yes.

  The sleeve 11 has a hollow cylindrical shape and is made of an elastic body such as rubber, for example. The sleeve 11 has a diameter longer than the length of the side wall 32 (see FIG. 2) that defines the rack nut mounting hole 31 (the length of one side of the rack nut mounting hole 31), and is pinched by the user with a finger. The rack nut mounting hole 31 can be penetrated by elastically reducing the diameter by a force applied in the same manner (force applied from the outside) or the like. Further, a bolt 50 that is screwed into a female screw 21 of the nut portion 13, which will be described in detail later, is inserted into the hollow portion of the sleeve 11. Since the sleeve 11 itself is made of an elastic body and is hollow, the sleeve 11 can be deformed with a force that can be grasped by a user with a finger.

  The rotation stopper 12 is provided at one end of the sleeve 11 (on the opposite side to the insertion direction), and has a quadrangular prism shape whose shape viewed from the insertion direction is a square complementary to the shape of the rack nut mounting hole 31. doing. When the rotation stopper 12 is inserted into the rack nut mounting hole 31, the rotation stopper 12 abuts against a side wall 32 that defines the rack nut mounting hole 31, and the rack nut 1 is mounted to the rack nut mounting hole 31 by four corners. Plays a role in preventing the rotation. The rotation stopper 12 is made of the same elastic body as the sleeve 11 and is formed integrally with the sleeve 11. The rotation stop portion 12 is formed with a hollow portion communicating with the hollow portion of the sleeve 11, and a bolt 50 is inserted into the hollow portion.

  The nut portion 13 is made of metal and is provided at the other end (end portion on the insertion direction side) of the sleeve 11. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a part of the nut portion 13 on the sleeve 11 side is fixed to the sleeve 11 while being surrounded by the sleeve 11, and the remaining portion is from the other end of the sleeve 11. It has been extended. Further, the end surface 22 opposite to the inserting direction of the nut portion 13 is in contact with a step surface 28 formed on the sleeve 11. The hollow portion of the sleeve 11 is communicated with the hollow portion defined by the female screw 21 of the nut portion 13. The male screw 51 of the bolt 50 is screwed into the female screw 21 formed in the nut portion 13.

  The flange 14 has a square shape that is larger than that of the rotation stopper 12 when viewed from the insertion direction. When the sleeve 11 passes through the rack nut mounting hole 31 and the rotation stopper 12 contacts the side wall 32. In addition, one surface 30A of the mount angle 30 (a surface opposite to the insertion direction) is brought into contact. The flange 14 is made of the same elastic body as the sleeve 11 and the rotation stopper 12 and is integrally formed therewith. The hollow portion of the rotation stop portion 12 communicates with the hollow portion of the flange 14, and the hollow portion of the flange 14, the hollow portion of the rotation stop portion 12, the hollow portion of the sleeve 11, and the hollow portion of the nut portion 13, Bolt insertion holes 29 are formed.

  The retaining portions 15 are formed at positions 180 degrees apart from each other (on the same diameter) along the same circumference of the sleeve 11. On the insertion direction side of these two retaining portions 15, an inclined surface 25 that is inclined so as to approach the surface of the sleeve 11 as it goes toward the insertion direction side is formed. Further, the end face 26 on the rotation stopper 12 side of the retaining part 15 is a surface protruding in parallel with the radial direction of the sleeve 11. These retaining portions 15 are made of the same elastic body as the sleeve 11 and can be elastically deformed by a force applied by the user by pinching with a finger or the like. It is easy to make it. Furthermore, these retaining portions 15 are provided on the other surface 30B of the mount angle 30 (opposite to the surface 30A) when the sleeve 11 passes through the rack nut mounting hole 31 and the rotation preventing portion 12 contacts the side wall 32. Side surface) and a position that maintains a predetermined distance. When the rack nut 1 moves to the side opposite to the insertion direction, the end face 26 comes into contact with the other surface 30B of the mount angle 30 so that the rack nut 1 is prevented from being pulled out.

  The mount kit 40 attached to the mount angle 30 by the rack nut 1 and the bolt 50 is a general one for mounting and supporting an electronic device, and a bolt hole 41 into which the bolt 50 is inserted has a 19-inch rack (not shown). A plurality are formed at predetermined intervals along the height direction.

  Next, the operation | movement which attaches the mount kit 40 to the mount angle 30 using the rack nut 1 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated.

  First, the user selects a rack nut mounting hole 31 to be the mounting position of the mount kit 40 for one mount angle 30, pinches the sleeve 11 of the rack nut 1 with a finger, reduces the diameter, and the rack nut mounting hole. The sleeve 11 is passed through 31. At this time, since the diameter of the sleeve 11 and the retaining portion 15 is reduced by the force of pinching with a finger, it is not necessary to use a dedicated jig or the like. Further, when the side wall 32 defining the rack nut mounting hole 31 hits the inclined surface 25 of the retaining portion 15, the retaining portion 15 is further easily elastically deformed, and passes through the rack nut mounting hole 31 more easily. .

  The sleeve 11 and the retaining portion 15 that have passed through the rack nut mounting hole 31 are elastically restored, and the retaining portion 15 is positioned outside the side wall 32 that defines the rack nut mounting hole 31. Next, the rack nut 1 is inserted and the rack nut 1 is fixed to the mount angle 30 until the rotation stopper 12 contacts the side wall 32 and the flange 14 contacts one surface 30 </ b> A of the mount angle 30. Thus, the rack nut 1 can be easily fixed to the mount angle 30 without using a dedicated jig or the like, and workability can be improved. Further, when the rack nut 1 is moved to the opposite side to the insertion direction, the retaining portion 15 contacts the other surface 30B of the mount angle 30, so that the rack nut 1 falls off carelessly. There is nothing.

  Next, the rack nut 1 is similarly fixed to the remaining three mount angles 30. At this time, each rack nut 1 is normally fixed at the same height position of each mount angle 30. Here, if the fixing position of the rack nut 1 is wrong, the user removes the rack nut 1 fixed at the wrong position and re-fixes it at the correct position.

  When removing the rack nut 1 from the mount angle 30, the user can pinch the sleeve 11 of the rack nut 1 with his finger to reduce the diameter and remove the sleeve 11 from the rack nut mounting hole 31. At this time, since the sleeve 11 and the retaining portion 15 are reduced in diameter by the force of pinching with fingers, the rack nut 1 can be easily removed from the rack nut mounting hole 31 without using a dedicated jig or the like. Can do. Then, the rack nut 1 is fixed at the correct position by the same method as described above.

  Next, the bolt 50 is inserted into an arbitrary bolt hole 41 of the mount kit 40, and then the bolt 50 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 29 of the rack nut 1 fixed to the mount angle 30, The female screw 21 is screwed. At this time, the rotational force of the bolt 50 is applied to the rack nut 1, but the rack nut 1 is prevented from rotating together with the bolt 50 because the rotation is prevented by the rotation stopper 12. Therefore, the bolting operation can be performed efficiently. Further, the nut portion 13 tends to approach the mount angle 30 relatively (moves linearly) by screwing (rotational motion) between the male screw 51 and the female screw 21. For this reason, the sleeve 11 is compressed in the axial direction, whereby the sleeve 11 expands (expands) in the radial direction. By this operation, the expanded sleeve 11 contacts the other surface 30B of the mount angle 30, and the mount angle 30 is sandwiched between the flange 14 and the sleeve 11. Therefore, the mount angle 30 and the rack nut 1 are more reliably fixed, and the mount kit 40 can be securely fixed to the mount angle 30 in a stable state.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the retaining portion 15 is made of an elastic body has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and sufficient elastic deformation is performed so that the retaining portion 15 can easily pass through the rack nut mounting hole 31. When the sleeve 11 performs, the retaining portion 15 does not necessarily need to be formed of an elastic body.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the mount angle 30 is sandwiched between the flange 14 and the sleeve 11 due to the compression in the axial direction and the expansion in the radial direction of the sleeve 11 has been described. The mounting angle 30 may be sandwiched between the flange 14 and the retaining portion 15 by matching the position of the portion 15 with the thickness (thickness) of the mounting angle 30.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the shape of the rotation stopper 15 viewed from the insertion direction is a square is described. However, the shape of the rotation stopper 15 is not limited to this and is inserted into the rack nut mounting hole 31. It is sufficient that the shape matches the shape of the rack nut mounting hole 31 so that it can be brought into contact with the side wall 32. Moreover, in order to exhibit the function as a rotation stopper, it is sufficient to have at least one corner.

  Furthermore, although the case where the shape seen from the insertion direction of the flange 14 is a square has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the flange 14 may be other as long as it can contact one surface 30A of the mount angle 30. The shape may also be

  In the present embodiment, the case where the mount kit 40 is attached to the mount angle 30 with the rack nut 1 and the bolt 50 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mount angle 30 includes the rack nut 1 and the bolt 50 with Electronic equipment or the like may be directly attached.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rack nut, 11 ... Sleeve, 12 ... Anti-rotation part, 13 ... Nut part, 14 ... Flange, 15 ... Detachment part, 30 ... Mount angle, 31 ... Rack nut mounting hole, 40 ... Mount kit, 50 ... Bolt

Claims (4)

A rack nut inserted into and fixed to rack nut mounting holes formed in the mount angle,
A sleeve that can penetrate the rack nut mounting hole and is made of an elastic body;
A nut portion fixed to one end of the sleeve;
A flange formed at the other end of the sleeve, the flange abutting against one surface of the mount angle when the sleeve passes through the rack nut mounting hole;
It is formed to protrude from the surface of the sleeve. When the sleeve is elastically reduced in diameter, it penetrates the rack nut mounting hole, and when the sleeve is elastically restored, it is opposite to one surface of the mount angle. e Bei a retained portion which allows contact to the other surface side, and
When the male screw of the bolt is screwed into the female screw of the nut portion, the sleeve is compressed in the axial direction and expanded in the radial direction to contact the other surface of the mount angle. A rack nut sandwiched between the flange and the sleeve . A rotation stop portion provided between the sleeve and the flange , having at least one corner portion and capable of coming into contact with a side wall defining the rack nut mounting hole;
The flange, when the rotation stopper is in contact with the side wall and abuts on one surface of the mount angle, rack nut as claimed in claim 1. The retained portion is composed of elastic material, according to claim 1 or rack nut according to 2. The nut portion is in contact with the insertion end face of the front kiss Reeve, rack nut as claimed in any one of 請 Motomeko 1-3.

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