WO1988002593A1

WO1988002593A1 - A pivotable subrack for an electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO1988002593A1
Application number: PCT/FI1986/000101
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pentti ÖSTMAN
Original assignee: Standard Electric Puhelinteollisuus Oy
Priority date: 1986-09-30
Filing date: 1986-09-30
Publication date: 1988-04-07

Abstract

Subrack to be mounted within a cabinet, a rack or the like housing in an electronic device or the like, which subrack forms the supporting structure for component boards (5), plug-in units and the other components of the device and which can be removed from within the housing and pivoted in such a manner that the back face of the subrack becomes accessible. This pivoting possibility has been achieved by means of a simple structure which requires less room in such a manner that the subrack, which is formed as a structurally independent unit, is provided at the front edge of the upper rail (1) thereof with a groove or the like extending in the direction of the length of the rail and on the back edge of the lower rail (2) thereof with an edging which is adapted to pivot on said groove.

Description

A pivotable subrack for an electronic device

The invention relates to a subrack to be mounted within a cabinet, a rack or the like housing as a structurally independent unit of an electronic device or the like, which subrack forms the primary structure for component boards, plug-in units and other components of the device and which is removable from within the housing and pivotable on an edging provided on the back edge of a lower rail of the subrack in such a manner that a back face of the subrack becomes accessible.

Pivotable industrially utilized structures are usually so constructed that the subrack is secured on a pivoted frame which has the shape of a right-angled parallelogram and which is positioned within a cabinet or the like housing and hinged e.g. on the wall of the housing at one vertical side thereof. The subrack is pivoted with this hinged, pivoted frame. Another used structure comprises slide bars or the like which have a telescopic structure and which are fastened on the side plates of the subrack and by means of which the subrack is first extracted sufficiently from within the housing and thereafter pivoted in front of the housing, whereby the pivot shafts are positioned at the ends of the telescopic bars.

This kind of pivoted frames and telescopic struc¬ tures, however, are disadvantageous in many respects. The structures are expensive, and the fastening thereof both on the housing and the subrack requires several compo-^' nents and several finishing steps. They take plenty of room on the sides of the subrack, and thereby increase the width as well as the other dimensions of the cabinet or the like housing. In addition, pivoted frames and telescopic structures secured between the subrack and its housing hamper the passage of cables led to the the subrack and reduce coupling possibilities.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above disadvantages and provide a pivotable subrack structure which is suited for various purposes. The invention is characterized by the features disclosed in the attached claims. The subrack, which is formed as a structurally independent unit, is pivoted on a shaft point, i.e. a pivot joint which is formed by the compo¬ nents of the subrack unit itself. The upper and the lower rails of the subrack unit according to the inven¬ tion differ in shape from the conventional ones. The front edge of the upper rail is provided with a groove or the like extending in the direction of the length of the rail and intended for the pivoting and supporting of the subrack. Correspondingly, the back edge of the lower rail of the subrack unit is provided with an edging which fits said groove. The groove and the edging together form the pivot joint when two subrack units according to the invention are psoitioned one upon the other within a cabinet or the like housing, and the upper one is loosened and drawn out until the edging of the lower rail thereof falls into the groove of the upper rail of the subrack unit beneath.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein

Figure 1 is a front view of subrack units accord¬ ing to the invention when these are fastened within a cabinet or the like housing,

Figure 2 is a side view of the subrack units of Figure 1 within a cabinet as a section along the line II-II of Figure 1 ,

Figure 3 is a top view of the subrack units of Figure 1 within a cabinet as a section along the line III-III of Figure 1 , Figure 4 illustrates the subrack units of Figure 3 in a situation wherein the upper^' subrack has been loosened from the cabinet and drawn out so that the pivot edging of the lower rail thereof has slid into the pivot groove of the upper rail of the lower subrack unit, Figure 5 illustrates the subrack units of Figure 4 in a position in which the upper subrack unit has been pivoted in front of the cabinet on the pivot joint and supported by the joint in a position which allows the back face of the subrack unit to be reached, and Figure 6 is a partial enlarged view of the pivot joint of Figure 5.

Figure 1 shows two subrack units according to the invention positioned within a cabinet. The frame of the subrack unit is here formed by an upper rail 1 , a lower rail 2 and two side plates 3. Further, a front panel 6 of a component board 5 positioned within the subrack unit is also illustrated in the figure 1. The subrack units are fastened by means of screws 7 in the cabinet in such a manner that a suitable clearance is provided between them and the cover and the base of the cabinet as shown e.g. in Figure- 2.

Figure 2 shows the cabinet of Figure 1 as a section along the line II-II of Figure 1. As appears from Figure 2 and in more detail from Figure 6, a groove 11 is provided on the upper surface of the upper rail 1 close to the front face of the cabinet, the cross-section of the groove having substantially the shape of a paralle¬ logram the vertical sides of which are at an angle of about 45°, for instance, with the side forming the bottom of the groove. Thus the groove opens obliquely upwards on the front side of the cabinet. The back edge of the lower rail 2, in turn, is provided with a downwardly projecting listlike edging 12, whereby that corner of the edging which is positioned on the front side of the cabinet is rounded. The groove 11 and the edging 12 together form a pivot joint, as will be more closely described in connection with Figures.4, 5 and 6. Figure

2 further shows a component board 5 which is illustrated by means of diagonal lines drawn on the surface thereof from one corner to another. Additionally, Figure 2 shows a back plate 4 or the like which is fastened on the subrack unit and whereto connectors and cables 8 brought to the subrack unit are attached.

Figure 3 illustrates the cabinet of Figure 1 as a section along the line III-III of Figure 1. The upper rail 1 is provided with a pivot groove 11 extending in the longitudinal direction of the rail. That edge of the pivot groove which is positioned on the front side thereof forms a slightly elevated threshold 13 (Figure 6) which prevents the pivot edging 12 of the lower rail 2 of the subrack unit from sliding over the pivot groove 11 of the upper rail 1 at the extraction stage of Fig¬ ure 4. The height of the threshold is about half of the vertical clearance. It further appears from Figure 3 that the cables 8 brought to the back face of the subrack unit can be attached thereto over the entire width of the back plate 4 without difficulty.

In figure 4, the fastening screws 7 of the upper subrack unit have been loosened so that the subrack unit has fallen downwards a distance corresponding to the clearence, and the lower rail 2 is supported on the lower subrack unit. The subrack unit has been drawn horizontally outwards until the pivot edging 12 of the lower rail 2 has slid into the pivot groove 11 on the upper rail 1 of the lower subrack unit. The patch C-C of the subrack unit is indicated by a dot-and-dash line in the figure.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the pivoting of an extracted subrack unit on a joint formed by the pivot groove 11 and the pivot edging 12. By virtue of the inclined position of the groove 11 and the rounding of the front corner of the edging 12, the edging 12 can be easily passed into the groove 11, and the subrack can be tilted substantially to such an extent as is allowed by the inclination of groove 11. The back face of the edging 12 and the back face of the groove 11 are thereby positioned against each other, thus preventing further tilting of the subrack unit. When the upper and the lower rails 1 and 2 and the grooves 11 and the edgings 12 thereof are manufactured of a sufficiently strong material, such as e.g. an aluminium alloy, the subrack does not require any further supportion in order to be maintained in the tilted position shown in Figure 5. The angle of inclination of the subrack unit is indicated by the reference C , and this angle may vary e.g. 40 or more; however, if two subracks positioned one upon the other are to be drawn out -simultaneousl , the angle oC should be 45 or less in order to ensure that the upper subrack will be maintained in position on the pivot joint thereof. When the subrack has been tilted backwards, its back face, the back plate 4 and the cables 8 are easily accessible through the formed opening. The path of the backmost upper corner of the subrack is indicated by the broken line C-C'-C¹¹. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the pivoting of the upper subrack only. It is also possible to pivot the lower subrack and, if desired,, the lower subrack together with the upper subrack, as already mentioned above, when a separate upper rail 1 is fastened on the base of the cabinet. This rail 1 is shown in Figure 2, 4 and 5.

In comparison with prior solutions, this loosely pivotable subrack unit according to the invention provides an advantage in that no separate pivoted frames or telescopic structures are necessary. Consequently, no additional room is required by the pivotable subrack according to the invention in the cabinet. Furthermore, ^'the cables can be led easily within the housing on the sides of the subrack since the structure is open and there are no hampering bars or hinges. If required, the subrack unit according to the invention can be lifted off the joint 11, 12 out of the cabinet with the cables coupled. -

As the pivot edging 12 provided on the lower rail 12 of the subrack unit is horizontally positioned, a f rther advantage is obtained in^' that the cables to be installed at the the back of the subrack unit can be attached thereto over the entire width of the subrack unit, and at the same time the length and the transition of the cables are at their minimum, and in that even with an angle of inclination (σ ) of 45 the back portion of a subrack is sufficiently visible for the reparations and couplings to be carried out without difficulty_*

The different embodiments of the invention may vary within the scope of the claims. So it is not essential of what size the subrack units are and how the details of the components thereof are dimensioned.^' It is essential that the upper and the lower rail of the subrack units can be fitted together so that they form a joint extending in the direction of the width of the subrack unit, and that the position and the shape of the joint are such that the subrack unit can be tilted by means thereof and supported in such a position in front of the housing that the centre of gravity of the subrack unit is outside the housing, whereby the back face of the subrack is easily accessible.

Claims

Claims:

1. A subrack to be mounted within a cabinet, a rack or the like housing as a structurally independent unit of an electronic device or the like, which subrack forms a primary structure for component boards (5) , plug-in unit^'s and other components of the device and which is removable from within the housing and pivotable on an edging (12) provided on the back edge of a lower rail (2) of the subrack in such a manner that a back face (4) of the subrack becomes accessible, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a groove (11) or the like extending in the direction of the length of the upper rail (1) of the subrack is provided on said rail (1) close to the forward edge thereof, the edging (12) of the back edge of the lower rail being adapted to pivot on said groove (11) .

2. A subrack according to claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the edging (12) and the groove (11) forming the pivot joint are adapted to interact so as to define the maximum pivot angle (oC) of the subrack unit, whereby the height of the edging (12) forms the torgue arm between the supporting points which restrict the pivot movement.

3. A subrack according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the edge of the upper rail (1) on the front side of the pivot groove (11) forms a slightly elevated treshold (13) .