1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wire management systems for electrical component racks, and more particularly to the field of multi-positional mounting members for electrical component racks utilizing moveable retention brackets or rings for securely retaining wires or cables therein.
2. Background Art
As is well known, electrical component racks are frequently utilized to store computer equipment and other electrical equipment of a variety of types. The various components are mounted on or in such racks in close proximity to one another and connected together by cables, wires, or the like, collectively referred to herein as xe2x80x9cwires.xe2x80x9d
Apparatuses for routing wires within and through the electrical component racks are likewise well known. In particular, a number of such apparatuses have utilized a plurality of rings or similar retention brackets installed in advantageous locations in a given rack, or attached to an elongated mounting member which may installed in a desired location in the rack. Wires may then be held in place on the rack by routing them through the interiors of the respective rings or retention brackets. In order to facilitate simple insertion and removal of wires from the respective rings, a gap commonly exists in the body of each ring, thus connecting the interior of the respective ring or retention bracket to its exterior. Unfortunately, not only does the gap permit wires to be inserted into the ring or retention bracket interior, but it permits wires to escape as well. Thus, retention brackets making use only of fingerlike projections extending toward each other from opposite sides of the mounting member have large gaps which provide only minimal retention properties in the area of the gap.
One solution to this problem is to use D-shaped rings which have a very narrow gap at one corner of the xe2x80x9cDxe2x80x9d. However, many prior art D-rings are rigid structures having fixed gaps which permit only a single wire having a cross-section smaller than the gap to be inserted into the interior at a time, thus limiting the size of wire which may be routed through the D-ring and requiring bundles of wires to be separated in order to install them within the interior of the D-ring. Other prior art D-rings are more flexible and may be bent outward by hand, thus widening the gap, to accommodate the insertion of wires. Unfortunately, the weight or other forces placed on the rings by the wires is usually directed in the same outward direction, and at the same point on the rings, as the force placed on the rings manually during wire insertion. The forces placed on the rings by the wires are frequently enough to bend the rings by themselves, thus widening the gap enough to allow the wires to escape. Thus, a need exists for a ring which is rigid enough to withstand the forces placed on it by the wires it surrounds but which is capable of providing a gap large enough to facilitate the insertion of bundles of wires.
A further problem arises with retention brackets which must be temporarily moved from one location to another. Once installed, many wires are disposed statically in that they are not moved out of their initial installed positions or locations unless they are being uninstalled. However, it is frequently advantageous for a wire or collection of wires to be easily moveable from one location to another in order to allow access to a particular area of a rack, to enable wire connections to be made more easily, to maintain a particular physical disposition between the wires and the equipment to which they are connected, or the like. One solution to this problem is to attach retention brackets to a mounting member which is pivotable relative to a stationary support structure. Unfortunately, prior art retention brackets also tend to rotate the wires retained therein as well, and this tends to twist and otherwise stress the wires each time the retention brackets are moved.
A further problem with prior art retention brackets involves those surfaces of the brackets which make contact with the wires retained therein. These surfaces, which are typically the inwardly-facing surfaces of the brackets, are typically flat or planar in shape, with minimal curvature at their edges. Thus, wires installed and retained within the brackets are often bent sharply around the edges of the inwardly-facing surfaces. When industry-standard curvature or xe2x80x9cbendxe2x80x9d requirements or recommendations for wires are not met, there is a much greater risk of damage being done to the wires, either by bending the wires so sharply that they are damaged or through the friction caused by the sharp edges of the retention brackets on the outside surfaces of the wire. Unfortunately, prior art retention brackets generally make no provision for these bend requirements or recommendations.
Some prior art retention brackets are believed to be formed from ring sections whose cross-sections are generally round, although they are not known to be formed to take into consideration the above-described xe2x80x9cbendxe2x80x9d requirements. Ring sections having round, uniform cross-sections are relatively easy to design and manufacture, and thus they are used for a variety of purposes. However, in order to rigidly attach a retention bracket to a mounting member, it is frequently advantageous for the retention bracket to include one or more flat surfaces which may be abutted against the mounting member to provide a stable interface. Unfortunately, ring sections having entirely round cross-sections do not include such flat mounting surfaces. Further, the ring sections of retention brackets must frequently be twisted in order to install wires therein, but must be subsequently able to return to their original shape in order to retain those wires. At the same time, the ring sections must be rigid enough to withstand the twisting forces placed on them by the wires. Unfortunately, ring sections having entirely round cross-sections are typically not capable of meeting these requirements. Thus, a need exists for a retention bracket having convex inner surfaces for safely guiding wires coupled with flat mounting surfaces for mounting the retention bracket to a support structure while at the same time providing the necessary structural strength to reliably retain the wires therein.
Briefly summarized, the present invention relates to a pivotable cable ring wire management system for an electrical component rack which utilizes one or more round cable rings in order to securely retain wires or cables therein. Broadly defined, the pivotable cable ring wire management system according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a mounting member pivotably attachable to a stationary support structure, and at least one retention bracket extending from the mounting member, the retention bracket including a substantially circularly-shaped cable ring.
In features of this aspect, the mounting member is pivotable relative to the stationary support structure about an axis of rotation, the circular shape of the cable ring defines a central axis, and the axis of rotation and the central axis are generally parallel; the axis of rotation and the central axis are both generally vertical; the mounting member is pivotable relative to the stationary support structure about an axis of rotation, and the cable ring extends from the mounting member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation; the mounting member is pivotable relative to the stationary support structure about an axis of rotation, the cable ring defines a generally cylindrical interior defining a central axis, and the axis of rotation and the central axis are generally parallel; the mounting member is a swinging structure attached by hinges to the stationary support structure; the system further includes a swinging structure attached by hinges to the stationary support structure, and the mounting member is attached to the swinging structure; the stationary support structure is a stationary frame assembly, the swinging structure is a gate frame, and the stationary support structure and the gate frame are for supporting at least one electrical component and at least one wire; the cable ring includes two arcuate ring sections discontinuous from each other at a separation point; and some of the surfaces of the ring section face inward, and the inward-facing surfaces of the ring section are convexly shaped.
The present invention also includes a method for repositioning a plurality of wires relative to a stationary support structure, wherein the method includes: supporting a circular retention bracket on a mounting member; positioning a plurality of wires in the circular retention bracket in a wire arrangement, the wire arrangement defining an angular orientation; and pivoting the mounting member relative to the stationary support structure such that the wire arrangement is moved relative to the stationary support structure while preserving the angular orientation of the wire arrangement.
In features of this aspect, the step of pivoting the mounting member relative to the stationary support structure includes rotating the circular retention bracket around the wire arrangement without rotating the wires; the circular retention bracket defines a central axis, and the step of rotating the circular retention bracket around the wire arrangement without rotating the wires includes rotating the circular retention bracket without rotating the wires relative to the central axis; the step of pivoting the mounting member relative to the stationary support structure includes rotating the circular retention bracket around the wire arrangement without substantially disturbing the wire arrangement; the circular retention bracket defines a central axis, and the step of pivoting the mounting member relative to the stationary support structure includes moving the wire arrangement in an arcuate direction without rotating the wires relative to the central axis; the step of positioning a plurality of wires in the circular retention bracket includes the steps of twisting at least one section of the circular retention bracket to open a gap in the circular retention bracket and maneuvering at least one of the wires through the gap; and the method further includes bending the wires around a convexly-curved surface of the circular retention bracket.
In another aspect of the present invention, a cable retention bracket for a wire management system has two oppositely-facing open sides for accommodating the routing of wires therethrough, and the cable retention bracket includes: a base portion having at least one planar surface for mounting the cable retention bracket to a support structure; and at least one ring section, which includes an inner surface for facing the wires and for making contact therewith, for routing wires, wherein at least part of the inner surface is convexly curved from one open side of the retention bracket to the other.
In features of this aspect, at least one outer surface of the ring section faces away from the wires, and at least a portion of at least one outer surface is flat from one open side of the retention bracket to the other open side of the retention bracket; the ring section has an H-shaped cross-section formed by two generally parallel side elements and one central cross element connecting the two side elements together, and at least one side element of the H-shaped cross-section is convexly curved from one end to the other; the ring section and base portion are integrally formed; the planar surface of the base portion is an outer surface disposed to face away from wires, and the planar surface is disposed generally adjacent to a convexly-curved inner surface of the ring section; the ring section and the base portion together have an H-shaped cross-section formed by two side elements and one central cross element, and at least one side element of the H-shaped cross-section is convexly curved from one end to the other; the base portion further includes an inner surface for facing the wires and for making contact therewith, and at least part of the inner surface is convexly curved from one open side of the retention bracket to the other open side of the retention bracket; the base portion has an H-shaped cross-section formed by two generally parallel side elements and one central cross element connecting the two side elements together, and at least one side element of the H-shaped cross-section is convexly curved from one end to the other; all of the inner surfaces of the ring section are convex from one open side of the retention bracket to the other open side of the retention bracket; the ring section is a first ring section and the cable retention bracket further comprises a second ring section having an inner surface for facing the wires and for making contact therewith, wherein at least part of the inner surface of the second ring section is convex from one open side of the retention bracket to the other; the convexity includes substantially uniform curvature from one open side of the retention bracket to the other; the retention bracket is substantially circular in shape; the outwardly-facing surfaces of the retention bracket are collectively generally cylindrical in shape; and the base portion includes a tab, which includes a plurality of flat surfaces, extending generally away from the ring section for mounting the cable retention bracket to a support structure.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a swing-gate type mounting rack for supporting at least one electrical component and at least one wire includes: a stationary frame assembly; a gate frame, attached to the stationary frame assembly, which is pivotable relative to the stationary frame assembly about a substantially vertical axis of rotation; and a circular cable ring, extending from the gate frame, which defines a substantially vertical central axis.
In features of this aspect, the central axis defined by the circular cable ring remains substantially vertical while the gate frame and the cable ring are rotated relative to the stationary frame assembly; the cable ring includes two oppositely-facing open sides for accommodating the routing of wires therethrough, the cable ring includes an inner surface disposed to face and make contact with wires retained therein, and at least part of the inner surface is convex from one open side of the retention bracket to the other open side of the retention bracket; and the stationary frame assembly is adapted to be attached to a wall.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds