Termination panel with pivoting bulkhead and cable management

A telecommunications connection system comprising:

• a connection module including:
• a housing an interior with a front opening and an exterior,
• a bulkhead with a first side and an opposing second side pivotably mounted in the interior, movable about a vertical axis from a first position occluding the opening and a second position allowing access to the interior of the housing, the first side of the bulkhead oriented toward the interior when the bulkhead is in the first position, the bulkhead including connection locations for connecting a first telecommunications cable on the first side of the bulkhead with a second telecommunications cable on the second side of the bulkhead;
• the bulkhead including a cable management structure adjacent the second side which moves with the bulkhead, the cable management structure providing slack storage for a plurality of cable slack lengths and further including cable guide structures to provide bend radius protection and direct a telecommunications cable to the cable management structure from the interior of the housing and from the cable management structure to the connection locations on the first side of the bulkhead;
• a first vertical cable guide mounted adjacent the exterior of the housing on a first side, and a second vertical cable guide mounted adjacent the exterior of the housing on a second side, the first and second sides including cable access openings allowing cables to extend from the interior of the housing into the first and second vertical cable guides respectively;
• a telecommunications equipment rack including a first vertical support and a second vertical support spaced apart from one another, the first and second vertical supports cooperating to define a plurality of mounting locations for receiving the connection module;
• the connection module mounted to one of the mounting locations of the equipment rack.

A telecommunications connection system comprising:

• a connection module including:
• a housing an interior with a front opening and an exterior:
• a bulkhead with a first side and an opposing second side pivotably mounted in the interior, movable about a vertical axis from a first position occluding the opening and a second position allowing access to the interior of the housing, the first side of the bulkhead oriented toward the interior when the bulkhead is in the first position, the bulkhead including connection locations for connecting a first telecommunications cable on the first side of the bulkhead with a second telecommunications cable on the second side of the bulkhead;
• the bulkhead including a cable management structure adjacent the second side which moves with the bulkhead, the cable management structure providing slack storage for a plurality of cable slack lengths and further including cable guide structures to provide bend radius protection and direct a telecommunications cable to the cable management structure from the interior of the housing and from the cable management structure to the connection locations on the first side of the bulkhead;
• p2 a first vertical cable guide mounted adjacent the exterior of the housing on a first side, and a second vertical cable guide mounted adjacent the exterior of the housing on a second side, the first and second sides including cable access openings allowing cables to extend from the interior of the housing into the first and second vertical cable guides, respectively;
• a first vertical cable guide mounted to the exterior of the housing on the first side and a second vertical cable guide mounted to the exterior of the housing on the second side, the first and second sides including cable access openings allowing cables to extend from the interior of the housing into the first and second vertical cable guides, respectively;
• a telecommunications equipment rack including a first vertical support and a second vertical support spaced apart from one another, the first and second vertical supports including mounting openings;
• a slack storage panel mounted the equipment rack and adjacent the first vertical support, the panel including an inner edge which includes mounting openings which cooperate with the mounting openings of the second vertical support to define a plurality of mounting locations adapted to receive the connection module, the slack storage panel including a plurality of spools providing a plurality of cable storage paths of different lengths;
• the connection module mounted to one of the mounting locations.

A method of connecting a telecommunications cable comprising the steps of:

• providing a housing including a first side wall and a second opposing side wall, a rear wall, a top and a bottom cooperating to define an interior with an open end with a bulkhead including a plurality of connection locations pivotably mounted within the open end, the bulkhead pivotable between an open position allowing access into the interior and a closed position blocking access into the interior;
• pivoting the bulkhead to the open position;
• extending an end of the cable into the interior of the housing through an opening in the first side wall;
• placing the cable into a cable route defined by a cable guide structure in the interior of the housing, the cable guide structure extending along an interior side of the first side wall, an interior side of the rear wall and an interior side of the second side wall, the cable exiting the cable route along the second side wall proximate an axis extending from the bottom to the top, about which the bulkhead pivots;
• directing the cable from the cable route into a cable management structure mounted to the bulkhead and movable with the bulkhead, the cable management structure including a plurality of cable paths of different lengths;
• selecting at least one of the cable paths and placing the cable within the selected cable paths;
• directing the end of the cable to one of the connection locations on the bulkhead and connecting the end to the connection location;
• pivoting the bulkhead to the closed position.