Bracket device

#The present invention relates to a bracket device and more particularly to one with a fool-proofing function.

#U.S. Pat. No. 7,281,694 B2, granted to Allen et al., discloses a rack, or more specifically an equipment rack, including a plurality of posts, or vertical support columns (104), arranged in a bilaterally symmetric manner. An object, or rack-mount module (102), is mounted on the left and right vertical support columns (104) of the equipment rack via the mounting brackets (114) on a pair of slide rail assemblies and is thus mounted on the equipment rack. More specifically, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C of the specification of the afore-cited patent, a mounting bracket (200) has a base member (202) with a cantilevered flat spring (214). While the base member (202) of the mounting bracket (200) is being mounted to a vertical support column (104), the cantilevered flat spring (214) abuts against an end portion of the vertical support column (104) and is tilted by an angle toward a side plate (204) of the base member (202) so that a pin (210) on the base member (202) can be aligned with and mounted into a hole (106) of the vertical support column (104). Once the pin (210) is in place, the cantilevered flat spring (214) resumes the unbiased position and abuts against the vertical support column (104).

#In an actual mounting operation, however, the mounting bracket on the slide rail assembly must be correctly mounted on the left or right side of the equipment rack in order to mount the rack-mount module properly into the rack. It is, therefore, common practice nowadays for slide rail assembly manufacturers to mark their products, either the slide rails or the brackets on them, with the letter “L” or “R” to facilitate identification of the particular side (i.e., left or right) for which a slide rail or bracket is intended. Nevertheless, a marked slide rail or bracket may still be mounted on the wrong side of a rack due to the operator's negligence, resulting in an error in installation or even endangering the operator and the equipment in question. The present invention was developed to solve this very problem of the prior art.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing how an object is mounted to a rack via a pair of slide rail assemblies according to an embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of one of the slide rail assemblies in FIG. 1;

#FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the bracket device in FIG. 2;

#Referring to FIG. 1, a rack 20 includes a plurality of posts 22 arranged in bilateral symmetry. An object, such as a chassis 24, is mounted on the left and right posts 22 of the rack 20 via a pair of slide rail assemblies 26 respectively and is thus mounted on the rack 20.

#As shown in FIG. 2, the slide rail assembly 26 in an embodiment of the present invention includes a first rail 28, a second rail 30, and a third rail 32 movably provided between the first rail 28 and the second rail 30. The third rail 32 serves to increase the distance by which the second rail 30 can be extended with respect to the first rail 28. The first rail 28 has two portions, such as a front end portion and a rear end portion, which can be mounted with a first bracket device 34 and a second bracket device 35 respectively. The slide rail assembly 26 is mounted to the rack 20 via the two bracket devices 34 and 35. To illustrate the features of the present invention clearly, the following paragraphs describe only the first bracket device 34 (hereinafter the bracket device 34 for short) by way of example.

#As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the bracket device 34 includes a bracket 36, at least one mounting member 38, a locking member 40, and a fool-proofing member 42. The bracket 36 has a side plate 44 and an end plate 46 substantially perpendicularly connected to the side plate 44. Preferably, at least one lug is also included and extends from the side plate 44 of the bracket 36. In this embodiment, a first lug 48a and a second lug 48b are provided by way of example, wherein the first lug 48a is spaced from the second lug 48b. In this embodiment, the first lug 48a, the second lug 48b, and the end plate 46 extend transversely with respect to the same side of the side plate 44.