U.S. patent number RE41,353 [Application Number 10/992,640] was granted by the patent office on 2010-05-25 for cable manager for network rack.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Panduit Corp.. Invention is credited to Kevin L. Goodwin, Michael J. McGrath, Charles F. VanderVelde, Donald C. Wiencek.
United States Patent |
RE41,353 |
McGrath , et al. |
May 25, 2010 |
Cable manager for network rack
Abstract
A cable manager provides horizontal cable management of adjacent
patch panels or network equipment on network distribution racks.
The cable manager includes a central section and a front cable
routing section and is mountable on a network rack, such as an EIA
rack. The central section has a longitudinal width sized to fit
within the network rack, a front side, a rear side, and rack
mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the
central section. The front cable routing section extends from the
front side of the central section and includes a plurality of
spaced fingers having an arcuate surface that provides bend radius
control. A slit provides flexibility to the fingers. Ears extend
laterally from the fingers. The cable manager can also include a
rear cable routing section that includes a second plurality of
spaced fingers. One or more passthrough openings can be provided in
the central section to allow routing of cabling from the front
section to the rear section. Either or both of the front and rear
sections can include a removable cover. The cover may be hingedly
connected.
Inventors: |
McGrath; Michael J. (New Lenox,
IL), Goodwin; Kevin L. (Frankfort, IL), VanderVelde;
Charles F. (Frankfort, IL), Wiencek; Donald C. (Tinley
Park, IL) |
Assignee: |
Panduit Corp. (Tinley Park,
IL)
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Family
ID: |
26888569 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/992,640 |
Filed: |
November 18, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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09261881 |
Mar 3, 1999 |
6437243 |
|
|
|
60192989 |
Mar 28, 2000 |
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Reissue of: |
09814621 |
Mar 22, 2000 |
06766093 |
Jul 20, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
385/134;
379/327 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04Q
1/064 (20130101); H04Q 1/068 (20130101); H04Q
1/066 (20130101); H04Q 1/142 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G02B
6/46 (20060101); H02G 11/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;385/134-135 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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7914008 |
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Aug 1979 |
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3335884 |
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DE |
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8412625 |
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DE |
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4003279 |
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Aug 1991 |
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DE |
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0 637 178 |
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Feb 1995 |
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EP |
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0 795 935 |
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Sep 1997 |
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EP |
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2425518 |
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Jan 1980 |
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FR |
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S57-163126 |
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Oct 1982 |
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JP |
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H01-134050 |
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Sep 1989 |
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JP |
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H02-14217 |
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Jan 1990 |
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JP |
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H05-4718 |
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Jan 1993 |
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JP |
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H05-24554 |
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JP |
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H05-67055 |
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Sep 1993 |
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JP |
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H05-75108 |
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Oct 1993 |
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JP |
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H07-86765 |
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JP |
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H07-26257 |
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May 1995 |
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JP |
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3026444 |
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Jul 1996 |
|
JP |
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Other References
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Management System", ADC Telecommunications, Inc. 1999. cited by
examiner .
"Global DSX (E1) Planning and Engineering Guide: Introduction DSX
System Design Planning Tutorial Planning Worksheets Specifications
General Information" 1st Edition, Issue 1, Mar. 1997. cited by
examiner .
Panduit, Catalog titled "Communication Products", front cover, back
cover, and pp. 59, 60, 61, 71, and 72, dated 1996. cited by
examiner .
PANDUIT Communication Products Catalog, front cover and pp.
D33-D35, 1998. cited by other .
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System, 8 pages, Aug. 1999. cited by other .
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Instructions," ADC Telecommunications, Inc. Issue:11-2 (Sep. 2000).
cited by other .
Telecom Equipment Supports, Saunders' Cable Runway & Relay
Racks, B-Line Systems, Inc., front cover, p. 48 and back cover
(1996). cited by other .
"PAN-NET Cable Management Systems Hinged Covers," PANDUIT Product
Bulletin, 2 pgs. (Sep. 1999). cited by other .
"Hubbell Premise Wiring 2U Horizontal Cable Management Panel
Assembly" Schematic, one page, date unknown. cited by other .
Panduit Corp. 1999 Installation Instructions for "Attaching the
Hinged Cover to the Horizontal/Vertical Cable Management," 1 pg.
(1999). cited by other .
"Advanced Horizontal Cable Management Framework for the Cross
Connect," Hubbell Premise Wiring, 3 pgs., date unknown. cited by
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Ortronics, Inc.'s 1996 Full Line System Solutions Catalog, front
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PANDUIT Communication Products Catalog, front cover and p. D36,
1998. cited by other.
|
Primary Examiner: Kao; Chih-Cheng G
Attorney, Agent or Firm: McCann; Robert A. Clancy;
Christopher S.
Parent Case Text
.[.Applicant claims, under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e), the benefit of
priority of the filing date of Mar. 28, 2000, of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 60/192,989, filed on the aforementioned
date, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by
reference..].
.Iadd.Application Ser. No. 09/814,621, filed on Mar. 22, 2001, is a
continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/261,881, filed on
Mar. 3, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,243..Iaddend.
Claims
What is claimed is:
.[.1. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising: a
central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the
network rack, a predetermined height, a front side, a rear side,
and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of
the central section; a front cable routing section extending from
the front side of the central section, the front cable routing
section including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the front side of the central section; a rear
cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central
section, the rear cable routing section including a second
plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear
side of the central section; and a hinged cover rotatably
attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and
the second plurality of fingers..].
.[.2. The cable manager of claim 1, wherein the central section
includes at least one passthrough opening that provides access
between the front cable routing section and the rear cable routing
section..].
.[.3. The cable manager of claim 2, wherein the at least one
passthrough opening has curved sidewalls that provide bend radius
control..].
.[.4. The cable manager of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of
spaced fingers are formed with arcuate surfaces that provide bend
radius control..].
5. .[.The cable manager of claim 4,.]. .Iadd.A cable manager
mountable to a network rack, comprising: a central section having a
longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a
predetermined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting
holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central
section; a front cable routing section extending from the front
side of the central section, the front cable routing section
including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the front side of the central section; a rear
cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central
section, the rear cable routing section including a second
plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear
side of the central section; and a hinged cover rotatably
attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and
the second plurality of fingers, wherein the first plurality of
spaced fingers are formed with arcuate surfaces that provide bend
radius control, and wherein the distal end of the first plurality
of spaced fingers include a slit medially disposed along the
arcuate surface and extending toward a proximal end of the
fingers..Iaddend.
.[.6. The cable manager of claim 4, wherein the distal end of the
first plurality of spaced fingers include laterally extending
ears..].
.[.7. The cable manager of claim 4, wherein the first plurality of
spaced fingers are arranged in multiple spaced rows..].
.[.8. The cable manager of claim 7, wherein the hinged cover is
attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple
spaced rows..].
.[.9. The cable manager of claim 8, wherein the cover includes
hinge brackets..].
10. .[.The cable manager of claim 9,.]. .Iadd.A cable manager
mountable to a network rack, comprising: a central section having a
longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a
predetermined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting
holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central
section; a front cable routing section extending from the front
side of the central section, the front cable routing section
including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the front side of the central section; a rear
cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central
section, the rear cable routing section including a second
plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear
side of the central section; and a hinged cover rotatably
attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and
the second plurality of fingers, wherein the first plurality of
spaced fingers are formed with arcuate surfaces that provide bend
radius control, wherein the first plurality of spaced fingers are
arranged in multiple spaced rows, wherein the hinged cover is
attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple
spaced rows, wherein the cover includes hinged brackets, and
wherein the distal end of the first plurality of spaced fingers
include laterally extending ears and the hinge brackets are
hingedly mounted between adjacent ones of the ears.
11. The cable manager of claim 10, wherein the cover further
includes a locking tab lockable with one of the ears to lock the
cover in an open position.
12. The cable manager of claim 10, wherein the cover includes a
release tab.
13. The cable manager of claim 10, wherein the cover is hingedly
openable in two opposite directions..Iaddend.
.[.14. The cable manager of claim 1, wherein the second plurality
of spaced fingers are arranged in two spaced rows..].
.[.15. The cable manager of claim 14, wherein the rear side of the
central section includes a step down portion such that the two
spaced rows have a height that is less than the predetermined
height of the central section..].
.[.16. The cable manager of claim 14, further comprising a second
cover attachable to the second plurality of spaced fingers..].
.[.17. A network rack, comprising: a rack frame having mounting
legs; at least one patch panel mounted to the mounting legs of the
rack frame; and a cable manager mounted to the mounting legs to be
adjacent the at least one patch panel, the cable manager
comprising: a central section having a longitudinal width sized to
fit within the rack frame, a front side, a rear side, and rack
mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the
central section; a front cable routing section extending from the
front side of the central section, the front cable routing section
including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the front side of the central section and
retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of
the first plurality of spaced fingers; a rear cable routing section
extending from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable
routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers
extending transversely from the rear side of the central section
and retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones
of the second plurality of spaced fingers; and a hinged cover
rotatably attachable to at least one of the first plurality of
fingers and the second plurality of fingers..].
.[.18. The network rack of claim 17, wherein the at least one patch
panel has a patching side and a distribution side, the front cable
routing section is provided on the patching side and the rear cable
routing section is provided on the distribution side..].
.[.19. The network rack of claim 18, wherein the rear side of the
central section includes a step down portion such that the two
spaced rows have a height that is less than the predetermined
height of the central section..].
.[.20. The network rack of claim 17, wherein the first plurality of
fingers have an arcuate surface that provides bend radius
control..].
.[.21. The network rack of claim 17, wherein the central section
includes at least one passthrough opening that provides access
between the front cable routing section and the rear cable routing
section..].
22. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising: a
central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the
network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and
rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the
central section; and a front cable routing section extending from
the front side of the central section, the front cable routing
section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the front side of the central section, wherein
each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that
provides bend radius control to cables routed thereover, and a slit
is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a
distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger,
wherein at least one ear laterally extends from near the distal end
into a receiving space between adjacent fingers, the at least one
ear assisting in insertion and removal of cables in the receiving
space.
23. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising: a
central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the
network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and
rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the
central section; a front cable routing section extending from the
front side of the central section, the front cable routing section
including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from
the front side of the central section, wherein each of the
plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides
bend radius control to cables routed thereover, and a slit is
medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a
distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger,
wherein the plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in multiple
spaced rows; and a front cover attachable to at least one finger on
at least two of the multiple spaced rows.
24. The cable manager of claim 23, wherein at least one ear
laterally extends from near the distal end into a receiving space
between adjacent fingers and the front cover is a hinged cover that
includes hinge brackets hingedly mounted between adjacent ones of
the ears that allow positioning of the hinged cover between open
and closed positions.
25. The cable manager of claim 24, wherein the hinged cover further
comprises a locking tab lockable with one of the ears to lock the
hinged cover in the open position.
26. The cable manager of claim 23, wherein the front cover includes
a release tab.
27. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising: a
central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the
network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and
rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the
central section; a front cable routing section extending from the
front side of the central section, the front cable routing section
including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from
the front side of the central section, wherein each of the
plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides
bend radius control to cables routed thereover, and a slit is
medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a
distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger; a
rear cable routing section extending from the rear side of the
central section, the rear cable routing section including a second
plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear
side of the central section, wherein the second plurality of spaced
fingers are arranged in two spaced rows; and a rear cover
attachable to at least one finger on each of the two spaced rows of
the second plurality of spaced fingers.
28. A network rack, comprising: a rack frame having mounting legs;
at least one patch panel mounted to the mounting legs of the rack
frame; and a cable manager mounted to the mounting legs and being
adjacent the at least one patch panel, the cable manager
comprising: a central section having a longitudinal width sized to
fit within the network rack, a front side, a rear side, and rack
mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the
central section; and a front cable routing section extending from
the front side of the central section, the front cable routing
section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the front side of the central section, wherein
the plurality of spaced fingers are provided in two spaced rows and
a cover is hingedly attachable to at least one finger in each of
the two spaced rows, wherein each of the plurality of spaced
fingers has an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control,
and a slit is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and
extends from a distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of
the finger.
.[.29. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:.].
a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within
the network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side,
and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of
the central section; a front cable routing section extending from
the .[.first.]. .Iadd.front .Iaddend.side of the central section,
the front cable routing section including a plurality of spaced
fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central
section, wherein the central section includes at least one
passthrough opening that provides access to the front cable routing
section; and a hinged cover rotatably attachable to the plurality
of fingers.
.[.30. The cable manager of claim 29, wherein the plurality of
spaced fingers are arranged in multiple spaced rows..].
.[.31. The cable manager of claim 30 wherein the hinged cover is
attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple
spaced rows..].
.[.32. The cable manager of claim 31, wherein the cover is
hingeably openable in two opposite directions..].
.[.33. The cable manager of claim 29, further comprising retaining
flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the
plurality of spaced fingers..].
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to cable management devices
for patch panel or network equipment racks, and more particularly
to a cable manager for use with adjacent patch panels or network
equipment on distribution racks or within cabinets, with an
improved finger and cover design.
2. Description of Related Art
Cabling, such as UTP, ScTP, coax and fiber optic cabling, is being
increasingly used in the telecommunications industry to provide
data, voice, video, or audio information. Patch panel or network
equipment enclosure and rack systems are well-known in the industry
and provided to manage and organize such cables to or from
equipment or cross-connect systems. These systems usually include a
standard EIA 19'', 23'' or other distribution frame rack on which
one or more patch panels, network equipment, fiber optic enclosures
and the like are mounted. Enclosures within the rack serve various
functions, including operation as slack trays, splice trays, cable
organizers and patch panels. These racks also serve as
inter-connect or cross-connect enclosures when interfacing with
equipment, or may serve as a telecommunications closet, allowing
the cables to be terminated, spliced, patched or stored at places
along their length.
The rack usually is formed of a frame having mounting apertures
located along vertical legs or walls of the rack. Patching
equipment, such as a patch panel, is mounted on the rack so as to
define generally a patching side where patch cords coming from an
active device or another patch panel can be cross-connected and
interconnected, and a distribution side where cables from network
equipment or a work station area are terminated. Generally some
form of cable management is also provided on both sides of the rack
to support and route the cables. While preventing detrimental
bending is always important even for copper cabling, with the
increasing use of fiber optic connectors as applied to connector
rack systems, proper cable management and bend radius control has
become increasingly important. Many known systems are unable to
provide complete bend radius control, are inefficient in use,
difficult to manufacture, or have other drawbacks and thus,
improvement in the cable management of network rack systems is
desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an
improved cable management device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cable
manager for a network rack with an improved finger design that
provides more effective bend radius control.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a single
cable manager device that provides improved cable management to
each side of a network rack.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide
an improved readily installable molded cable manager with a hinged
cover for a network rack system.
Various ones of the above and other features and objects of the
invention are provided by a cable manager mountable to a network
rack. The cable manager includes a central section and a front
cable routing section. The central section has a longitudinal width
sized to fit within the network rack, a front side, a rear side,
and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of
the central section. The front cable routing section extends from
the front side of the central section and includes a plurality of
spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the
central section. Each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an
arcuate surface that provides bend radius control. A slit is
medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a
distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger. At
least one ear laterally extends from the distal end in a receiving
space between adjacent fingers.
Various ones of the above and other features and objects of the
invention are also provided by a cable manager mountable to a
network rack, comprising a central section, a front cable routing
section and a rear cable routing section. The central section has a
longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a front
side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite
longitudinal ends of the central section. The front cable routing
section extends from the front side of the central section and
includes a first plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely
from the front side of the central section and retaining flanges
extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the first plurality
of spaced fingers. The rear cable routing section extends from the
rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section
including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending
transversely from the rear side of the central section and
retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of
the second plurality of spaced fingers.
Various ones of the above and other features and objects of the
invention are also provided by a network rack containing the above
cable manager.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following
description of preferred embodiments with reference to the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a top front perspective view of a cable manager of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top rear perspective view of the cable manager of FIG.
1, with the rear cover removed;
FIG. 3 is a top front perspective view of the cable manager of FIG.
1, shown with closed covers;
FIG. 4 is a top front perspective view of the cable manager of FIG.
1 with a front cover in a top open position;
FIG. 5 is a top front perspective view of a cable manager of FIG. 1
with the cover in a bottom open position;
FIG. 6 is a top rear perspective view of the cable manager of FIG.
1, shown with closed covers;
FIG. 7 is a top front perspective view of a network rack having a
pair of the cable managers mounted on the rack;
FIG. 8 is a top rear perspective view of a network rack having a
pair of the cable managers mounted on the rack;
FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of a hinged cover; and
FIG. 10 is a partial view of the hinged cover of FIG. 9 in an open
position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A cable manager 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention is generally shown in FIGS. 1-10 and is useful in
providing horizontal cable management in a network rack.
Cable manager 10 is preferably formed by an injection molding
process in which two halves, preferably identical halves, are
molded and then snap fit together to form a single cable manager
device that is mountable on and provides cable management to both a
patching side and a distribution side of a network rack. A suitable
rack is a conventional 19'' or 23'' EIA network rack that has
spaced vertical rails or legs that allow mounting of various
numbers of rack elements thereon. However, the invention is equally
applicable to other known or subsequently developed racks.
Moreover, a network rack need not be an open frame structure as in
the above EIA racks, but may include mounting cabinets or
enclosures having mounting features and walls defining openings
that can receive and fix rack elements, such as cable manager 10,
patch panels, and the like.
As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, cable manager 10 generally
includes a front cable routing section 12, a rear cable routing
section 14 and a central section 16, which preferably has
passthrough capabilities. The front and rear cable routing sections
12, 14 generally include a pair of back-to-back channels each
formed by a base section 18, 20 and a plurality of upstanding
fingers 30, 40 disposed longitudinally along at least one and
preferably two opposing sides (front and rear) of the respective
base sections.
Central section 16 has a suitable height, a longitudinal width
sized to fit within a desired network rack, and a depth which
approximates the depth dimension of rack legs 60 (FIGS. 3 and 7) or
a mounting cabinet (not shown) to which the cable manager 10 is
mounted. In the case of a 19'' network rack, the width would be
approximately 19'' when mounted horizontally on the rack and the
height would be a multiple of 1.75'', which is a standard single
device height. However, these are exemplary and may change
depending on the size and type of rack used. Each longitudinal end
of the central section 16 contains a plurality of mounting holes 50
that mount the cable manager to a frame structure, such as legs 60
of a standard rack system or to walls of a mounting cabinet
(unshown). The legs 60 (or other equivalent mounting frame
structure) have various apertures that allow mounting of the cable
manager to the rack by a suitable mounting element, such as a bolt,
that extends through the mounting holes and rack apertures aligned
therewith. The base sections 18, 20 are integrally connected by a
central wall and a plurality of strengthening walls 22 to comprise
the central section 16.
The central section 16 of the cable manager is preferably a
passthrough section that includes one or more passthrough openings
56. The passthrough openings 56 allow installers the ability to
route cables from one side of the rack to the other (i.e., from the
patching side to the distribution side and the converse). The
passthrough openings 56 preferably are formed with curved sidewalls
that provide bend radius control to the cables routed through the
passthrough openings.
The front cable routing side of the cable manager (front section
12) preferably forms the patching side where active equipment is
interconnected or patch cords on a patch panel are cross-connected.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 7, patching side fingers 30 extend
from base section 18 in the form of two parallel and spaced rows
that define a cable channel. Fingers are separated from adjacent
fingers 30 to provide a space 32 for routing cables from within the
cable channel to the equipment either above or below on the rack.
The fingers 30 preferably extend outwardly beyond the frame legs 60
as shown. Each of the plurality of patching side fingers 30 are
formed having an inwardly directed arcuate surface at least on a
distal portion of the finger. The arcuate surfaces of fingers 30
have a predefined minimum radius that provides a bend radius
control surface for wires and cables. The minimum bend radius can
vary depending on the types of wires and cables used. An exemplary
radius may be 1'' or greater for many applications. However, the
minimum bend radius should be selected to correspond to desired
criteria of cable(s) to be managed by the cable manager.
Fingers 30 are also provided with a pair of ears 34 formed near the
distal end with each ear extending towards an opposing ear formed
on an adjacent finger 30. The ears 34 preferably have a generally
triangular configuration that provides angled surfaces which assist
in the insertion and removal of cables from in between the fingers.
As the formation of the fingers with an arcuate cross-section has
been found to result in a relatively stiff structure, each finger
30 on the patching side also includes a slit 36 medially disposed
along the arcuate surface of the finger. Slit 36 is formed to
extend from the distal end towards the base approximately one-half
the length of finger 30. Slit 36 provides additional flexibility to
fingers 30 during routing of cables.
As best seen in FIGS. 3-5, the patching side of cable manager 10
includes a hingedly connected front cover 52, which can be rotated
180.degree. up or down. That is, cover 52 can be opened from either
side. Cover 52 may also be completely removable. Cover 52 is
hingedly connected to cable manager 10 by a plurality of spaced
apart pairs of hinge brackets 54 having apertures. The hinge
brackets 54 are dimensioned so as to releasably engage with the
tops of a pair of opposing ears 34 formed on adjacent patching
fingers 30. A release tab 62 is formed in between hinge brackets 54
to allow for easier releasing of cover 52 by extending beyond the
remaining periphery of cover 52.
A more detailed description of hinged cover 52 will be described
with respect to FIGS. 9-10. Hinge brackets 54 include a
semi-spherical aperture 55 that mates with a corresponding ear 34
to allow rotation thereabout and a locking tab 53 that engages with
an edge of ear 34 to lock the cover in an open position when cover
52 is opened about 180.degree.. Cover 52 can be closed by pulling
forward on the cover to release locking tab 53 and allow rotation
of cover 52 back to a closed position.
FIG. 7 shows a pair of cable manager devices 10 mounted on a
network rack having a pair of rack legs 60, adjacent to a plurality
of patch panels 64. As shown, the cable managers 10 may be provided
either above and/or below a patch panel 64. The lower cable manager
device 10 is shown with the cover 52 rotated pen in the down
position. As can be seen, cables 70, which terminate connectors
connected to patch panels 64, are routed through the spaces 32 and
around fingers 30 into the cable routing section whereby they exit
at either end. With the inventive cable manager 10, good horizontal
cable management can be achieved.
The rear side of the cable manager (rear section 14) preferably
forms the distribution side where cables from network equipment or
a work station area can be terminated. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6,
distribution side fingers 40 are formed having arcuate portions 42
at least on a distal portion and a flat portion 44 at a proximal
portion. As discussed above with reference to the front patching
side, when the fingers are formed with an arcuate configuration,
they are relatively stiff. On the distribution side, the installer
often has need for greater access to the adjacent patch panels for
their hands and other tools. Thus, by forming fingers 40 with the
initial flat platform section 44, the fingers 40 can be made more
flexible. The distal ends of fingers 40 on the distribution side
include lips 48 for engagement with a duct cover 58. A suitable
duct cover may snap fit on upstanding member 49 (see FIGS. 6 and
8). Alternatively, a hinged cove as used on the front section may
be provided.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 8, the distribution side also includes a
stepped down portion 46 that provides additional room to
accommodate a tool and/or a hand of an installer. That is, the base
section 20 on the distribution side is narrower than the base
section 18 on the patching side so that fingers 40 on the
distribution side are spaced a little farther from the rear side of
adjacent patch panels to provide additional clearance for the
installer.
Selected fingers from both sets of fingers 30, 40 also include
respective retaining flanges 38, 39 formed on the distal ends to
help retain routed cables 70 when a cover is not present.
While the particular embodiment of the present invention has been
shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art
that changes and modifications may be made without departing from
the invention in its broader aspects. The matter set forth in the
foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way
of illustration only and not as a limitation.
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