Electronic equipment enclosure
AssigneeW. H. Stewart Co.
InventorJohn R. Ludwig
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic equipment enclosure for supporting a plurality of shelves is provided. The enclosure includes a frame having an opposed pair of upstanding, corrugated panels separated by a top and bottom corrugated panel together defining a shelf receiving cavity. The enclosure further includes a pair of mounting bracket assemblies removably attached to the upstanding panels of the frame in an opposing relationship. Each mounting bracket assembly has a set of apertures alignable with corresponding mounting apertures of the shelves to facilitate attachment of the shelves to the frame.
Claims25
An electronic equipment enclosure for supporting a plurality of shelves containing electronic equipment, each of the shelves having a first set of vertically spaced mounting holes on one end thereof and a second set of vertically spaced mounting holes on an opposing end, the electronic equipment enclosure comprising:
- a frame having a bottom panel, a pair of parallel side panels, and a top panel connected together to define a shelf receiving cavity, the panels having grouped longitudinal flanges forming a plurality of corrugations for strengthening the frame, and each of the side panels having an interior side and an exterior side;
- and
- a first bracket assembly set for supporting a first shelf of the plurality of shelves, the first bracket assembly set comprising:
- a first bracket assembly secured to the interior side of one of the side panels, the first bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the first bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures alignable with one of the first and second sets of the mounting holes of the first shelf to permit attachment of one end of the first shelf to the first bracket assembly;
- and
- a second bracket assembly secured to the interior side of the other side panel in an opposing relationship with respect to the first bracket assembly, the second bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the second bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures which are laterally spaced from the apertures of the mounting flange of the first bracket assembly to be alignable with the other set of the mounting holes of the first shelf to permit attachment of the other end of the first shelf to the second bracket assembly;
- and
- a second bracket assembly set for supporting a second shelf of the plurality of shelves, the second bracket assembly set comprising:
- a third bracket assembly secured to the interior side of one of the side panels, the third bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the third bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures alignable with one of the first and second sets of the mounting holes of the second shelf to permit attachment of one end of the second shelf to the third bracket assembly;
- and
- a fourth bracket assembly secured to the interior side of the other side panel in an opposing relationship with respect to the third bracket assembly, the fourth bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the fourth bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures which are laterally spaced from the apertures of the mounting flange of the third bracket assembly to be alignable with the other set of the mounting holes of the second shelf to permit attachment of the other end of the second shelf to the fourth bracket assembly.
A bracket assembly set interposed between a frame of an electronic equipment enclosure and a shelf supported by the electronic equipment enclosure, wherein the shelf has a first set of spaced mounting holes on one end thereof and a second set of spaced mounting holes on an opposing end, the bracket assembly set comprising:
- a first bracket assembly adaptively secured to the frame, the first bracket assembly including a mounting flange having a plurality of apertures alignable with one of the first and second sets of the mounting holes of the shelf to permit attachment of one end of the shelf to the first bracket assembly;
- and
- a second bracket assembly adaptively secured to the frame, the second bracket assembly including a mounting flange having a plurality of apertures laterally spaced relative to the apertures of the mounting flange of the first bracket assembly to be alignable with the other set of the mounting holes of the shelf to permit attachment of the other end of the shelf to the second bracket assembly.
A method of installing a plurality of electronic equipment shelves having various mounting characteristics in an electronic equipment enclosure, comprising the steps of:
- determining the width of attaching portions of a first of the plurality of the shelves, each of the attaching portions of the first shelf having a mounting hole pattern;
- determining the mounting hole pattern of the attaching portions of the first shelf;
- determining the desired depth of the attaching portions of the first shelf in the enclosure;
- providing a first mounting bracket assembly set with opposing mounting flanges to abuttingly engage and matingly align with the attaching portions of the first shelf;
- attaching the first mounting bracket assembly set to the frame of the enclosure;
- attaching the first shelf to the first mounting bracket assembly set;
- determining the width of attaching portions of a second of the plurality of the shelves, each of the attaching portions of the second shelf having a mounting hole pattern;
- determining the mounting hole pattern of the attaching portions of the second shelf;
- determining the desired depth of the attaching portions of the second shelf in the enclosure;
- providing a second mounting bracket assembly set with opposing mounting flanges to abuttingly engage and matingly align with the attaching portions of the second shelf;
- attaching the second mounting bracket assembly set to the frame of the enclosure;
- and
- attaching the second shelf to the second mounting bracket assembly set.
An electronic equipment enclosure for simultaneously supporting a plurality of shelves having various mounting characteristics, the enclosure comprising:
- a frame comprising opposing side panels disposed substantially in parallel relationship and separated by a top panel and a bottom panel, the panels defining a shelf receiving cavity;
- a first bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted to support a first shelf having a first set of mounting holes on one end and a second set of mounting holes on an opposing end spaced a first distance from the first set of mounting holes;
- and
- a second bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted to support a second shelf having a first set of mounting holes on one end and a second set of mounting holes on an opposing end spaced a second distance from the first set of mounting holes which is different than the first distance of the first shelf.
An electronic equipment enclosure for simultaneously supporting a plurality of shelves having various mounting characteristics, the enclosure comprising:
- a frame comprising opposing side panels disposed substantially in parallel relationship and separated by a top panel and a bottom panel, the panels defining a shelf receiving cavity;
- and
- a first bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a first shelf having a first mounting characteristic;
- and
- a second bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a second shelf having a different second mounting characteristic,
- wherein each of the first and second bracket assembly sets has an opposing pair of bracket assemblies with each bracket assembly having a mounting flange, the mounting flanges of the first bracket assembly set providing a supporting surface for attaching the first shelf at a first depth and the mounting flanges of the second bracket assembly set providing a supporting surface for attaching the second shelf at a second depth which is different from the first depth.
An electronic equipment enclosure for simultaneously supporting a plurality of shelves having various mounting characteristics, the enclosure comprising:
- a frame comprising opposing side panels disposed substantially in parallel relationship and separated by a top panel and a bottom panel, the panels defining a shelf receiving cavity;
- a first bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a first shelf having a first mounting characteristic;
- and
- a second bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a second shelf having a different second mounting characteristic,
- wherein the first bracket assembly set supportingly engages the first shelf at a selected height in the shelf receiving cavity, and wherein the second bracket assembly set supportingly engages the second shelf at substantially the same height as the first shelf and in a back-to-back relationship relative thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.