Console embedded server rack
A server rack enclosure has a display, keyboard and mouse mounted on the inside face of the enclosure's door. When the door is in an open position, these user interface devices provide access and control over the servers, hard drives, network equipment, etc. mounted in the server rack. The location of the user interface devices on the enclosure door saves valuable rack space for servers or other machines. The user interface devices are integrally or separately mounted to a vertical rail affixed to the door to permit user positioning of the user interface devices to a preferred height by sliding the display and keyboard along the rail. The display and keyboard are mounted to the rail using hinge or swivel mounts to permit the user rotation and positioning of the user interface devices to a preferred viewing and operational angle.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to hardware for computer systems, and in particular to console displays mounted within computer system enclosures.
2. Description of the Related Art
System racks have been provided for housing equipment, such as network server systems, telephone switch gear, power supplies, and the like. Industry standards have been adopted for system racks, including the adoption of standard unit vertical heights, horizontal widths and horizontal depths of the system racks. One such standard size rack has a width of 19 inches. The vertical height of components for installation into system racks is typically expressed in terms of a standard vertical unit of measure called a “U,” which corresponds to 1.25 inches. Various such U components have been secured to system racks using threaded fasteners, which have included bolts and screws that require hand tools to secure the various components to the system racks. System racks are typically enclosed using a metal or composite enclosure surrounding the system racks, and incorporating a door to provide access to the components mounted therein.
While the system rack enclosure allows for efficient use of space by housing multiple computing devices, some of the enclosure space is in some circumstances consumed by a computer console used access the machines within the system rack enclosure. Typically, such a console consists of a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and sometimes even has its own central processing unit or other type of computer system. A large video display and keyboard combination can be housed within the enclosure, but a large number of units (“U”) of space are consumed storing such console.
In an improvement to this configuration, some systems utilize just a single unit (“1U”) of the rack to hold a flat panel display and keyboard/touch-pad input device, both housed in a rectangular drawer that slides in and out of one of the units in the system rack. The flat panel displays have been pivotally mounted to the drawers such that the monitor may be disposed in a horizontal position for storage, and then raised to an upright position for viewing once the drawer is pulled outward of the server system rack. Such a configuration allows the flat panel monitor to be laid flat in the drawer and the drawer pushed in to a housed position within the rack when not in use. Input and output devices, such as keyboards, mice, touch pads and display monitors are connected to the servers in the system rack to allow user access to the servers. The drawback to this solution is the loss of at least one unit of rack space that could be otherwise mounting another machine in the system rack. It would be desirable to provide an alternative solution to provide computer console functionality for a system rack without consuming valuable system rack unit space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with the present invention, improved apparatus and systems of system rack enclosures are disclosed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a door for a system rack enclosure has a door body, one or more attachment devices functioning to rotatably attach the body to an enclosure, and one or more interface devices attached to a back side of the door body and positioned thereon such that, when the door body is attached to an enclosure, the one or more interface devices is within the enclosure when the door is in a closed position and accessible by a user when the door is in an open position.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThis invention is described in a preferred embodiment in the following description with reference to the drawings, in which like numbers represent the same or similar elements, as follows:
With reference now to the Figures, and particular with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
Inset 32 within door 16 is of a depth to allow mounting rail 34, flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 to be fully contained therein such that when rotated to a vertical position, flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 do not interfere with the machines 30 when door 16 is closed and secured by latches 24. Flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 are connected by hinges 40 to allow keyboard 38 to be rotatably positioned between the vertical and horizontal positions to allow for more ergonomic positioning by a user. Flat panel display 36 may also be pivotally mounted to hinges 40 or mounting rail 34 in an alternative embodiment such that the flat panel display 36 may be moved between a vertical and angled position relative to door 16.
Electronic cabling connecting machines 30 to flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 is wired through an inner conduit within mounting rail 34 (not shown), or alternatively is loosely placed within inset 32 and into an aperture (not shown) in door 16. The electronic cabling comes out of door 16 through cable harness 21 (
With reference now to
In an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer console is provided on the front face of the door. In this way, the console can be accessed without opening door 16. Keyboard 38, pointing device 39 and flat panel display 36 are mounted to a front side of door 16. This embodiment can be visualized by considering
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A system rack comprising:
- an enclosure having rack mounting components to enable machines to be mounted within the enclosure; and
- a door movably attached to the enclosure, the door having one or more user interface devices attached thereto configurable for connection to machines mounted in the enclosure to provide interface therewith.
2. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the machines are servers.
3. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the rack mounting components mount machines having a vertical height expressed in terms of a standard vertical unit of measure.
4. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the door permits access to the machines mounted within the enclosure.
5. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices are attached on a back side of the door, wherein the back side faces into the enclosure when the door is closed.
6. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices comprise a display device.
7. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices comprise a laptop computer.
8. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices comprise a keyboard.
9. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices are rotatably mounted on the door to permit rotation of the user interface devices into a plane at an angle to the plane of the door.
10. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the door is configurable to mount the user interface devices at a user-selected vertical position on the door.
11. A door for an enclosure comprising:
- a door body;
- one or more attachment devices functioning to rotatably attach the body to an enclosure; and
- one or more interface devices attached to a back side of the door body and positioned thereon such that, when the door body is attached to an enclosure, the one or more interface devices are within the enclosure when the door is in a closed position and accessible by a user when the door is in an open position.
12. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices provide communication to machines in an enclosure.
13. The door according to claim 11, wherein the door permits access to machines mounted within an attached enclosure.
14. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices comprise a display device.
15. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices comprise a laptop computer.
16. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices comprise a keyboard.
17. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices are rotatably mounted on the door body to permit rotation of the interface devices into a plane at an angle to a plane defined by the longest dimension of the door body.
18. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices are movably attached to the door body to permit the interface devices to be located at a user-selected vertical position on the door body.
19. The door according to claim 11, wherein the door body includes a rail and wherein the interface devices are slidably attached to the rail to permit the interface devices to be attached at a user-selected position along the rail.
20. The door according to claim 19, wherein the interface devices are enabled to slid along the rail in a vertical direction to permit the interface devices to be attached at a user-selected vertical position along the rail.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 14, 2004
Publication Date: Jun 15, 2006
Inventor: Robert Vernon Williamson (Austin, TX)
Application Number: 11/011,251
International Classification: A47B 81/00 (20060101); A47B 97/00 (20060101);