Rack with extruded custom struts
A rack for holding panels, includes a pair of extruded specially-shaped struts (30, 32) at opposite sides of the rack that enable rapid mounting of a panel (11-15) at any height along the struts. Each strut includes a front mount portion (70) that forms a cavity (72) with a front vertical strip-shaped opening (86) and a pair of flanges (82, 84) at laterally opposite sides of the opening and includes an integral column portion (150) that increases resistance to lateral strut buckling. A side of the panel is supported on the mount portion by a screw (102) that passes through a hole (94) in the panel and that threadably engages a nut (104) that lies in the mount portion cavity and against the flanges. The front-to-rear length J of the cavity is short enough to allow a compression spring (106) to fit in the cavity and press the nut against the flanges until a screw can be installed.
Electrical equipment is commonly mounted on a frame that supports electrical components and that includes a front panel, and with switches, displays, etc. accessible from the front of the panel. The panel is mounted on a rack that lies on a floor and that commonly supports a plurality of panels at different heights. One design of such a rack includes a pair of laterally-spaced vertical struts that are joined by beams that keep the struts parallel. Each strut has a front with a vertical row of threaded holes. The most common standard panel width is 19 inches, the lateral spacing between the rows of vertical holes of the two struts is a standard 18 5/16 inches (18.31 inches), and each panel has a plurality of holes at each of its laterally opposite sides that are also spaced by 18.31 inches. A panel is mounted on the rack by projecting screws through the panel holes and into the strut holes, and turning the screws to threadably fix them to the threaded strut holes. Because of the fixed vertical hole spacing, this type of rack often results in large gaps between vertically spaced panels, and because of the strut cross-section previously used this type of rack results in exposed side edges of the panels, both of which detract from the appearance of the rack. Also, in such a rack, a threaded hole in a strut can be damaged, which makes that hole unusable thereafter. Furthermore, the screw rear ends are exposed to the electrical equipment on a frame and can abrade against wires of the electrical equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a rack is provided which has struts of simple and sturdy construction that facilitate clamping of panels to the struts at any chosen height, and to avoid large gaps between plates and to avoid the need for threaded strut holes that can be stripped, the struts concealing the laterally opposite edges of the panels and isolating the ends of mounting screws. Each strut is an extruded element of custom cross-section, with a front mount portion on which a front panel can be mounted and with an integral column portion that adds to the stiffness against buckling of the struts under the weight of the panels and equipment thereon. The front mount portion has walls that form a mount cavity with a front that forms a vertical strip-shaped opening, the cavity walls including a pair of flanges at laterally opposite sides of the opening. A side of a panel is mounted on a strut by projecting a screw rearward through a hole in the panel and through the vertical strip-shaped opening, with the screw rear portion being threadably connected to a nut that lies in the cavity. The nut has opposite ends that lie against the rear faces of the flanges. As the screw is tightened on the nut, the nut presses firmly against the flanges, and the panel is clamped between the head of the screw (or a washer thereon) and the front surface of the cavity walls at the flanges.
Each strut preferably has a front projection at its side that projects forward of the mount cavity front wall, by the thickness of a panel. This conceals the edge of the panel and results in a rack with a flush front surface. The walls of the cavity of the front mount portion, preferably include laterally opposite side walls and a rear wall, all of which isolate the rear end of the screw from equipment mounted on a panel. A compression spring holds the nut in position, and the cavity has a limited front-to-rear length to allow the spring to press against the rear wall of the cavity while the spring presses the nut against the flanges, without spring buckling.
The strut is preferably of a shape that allows two struts of identical cross-sections to be used as the two struts that lie at laterally opposite sides of the rack. This can be done by constructing each strut so it is symmetrical about a lateral vertical mid plane, with a rear mounting portion that is identical to the front mounting portion. As a result, when a second strut is used that is identical to a first strut that lies at the first side of the rack, the second strut can be turned 180° about its vertical axis and then serves the same purposes as the first strut at the first side of the rack.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
When the screw 102 is tightened, it clamps the panel 11 against a front surface portion 122 of the strut, at the flanges 82, 84. The purpose of the spring 106 is to hold the nut 104 at a constant position in the cavity before the screw is installed and tightened. Applicant prefers to attach the front end 124 of the spring to the nut so they remain together. The nut is initially moved to a position close to the desired position at which the panel hole will lie. The panel hole is aligned with the nut and the screw is inserted through them and partially tightened on the nut. The same procedure is performed for all fastener assemblies on each side of the panel. Then, the panel is moved up or down to the precise desired vertical height, and all screws are tightened. Normally, the panel is initially positioned with its panel top edge 130 (
Applicant constructs the two struts 30, 32 so they are identical but are turned 180° from each other about a vertical axis 140. To this end, the strut 30 of
The strut 30 of
The strut cross-section of
Applicant prefers to construct the struts by extrusion. Aluminum extrusions are preferred because the dies and the extrusion process are of lower cost than for steel, and because aluminum is corrosion-resistant. Applicant has constructed and successfully tested extrusions of the shape shown in
Thus, the invention provides a rack and struts for the rack, which enables a panel to be installed at a closely desired height and enables the panel height to be adjusted to avoid gaps between panels, which avoids the need for a vertical row of threaded holes in the strut, which allows the panel to lie flush with an exposed front face of the struts, and which provides a channel(s) through which wires can be extended. The rack is an extruded member with at least a front mounting portion and with a column portion that strengthens the strut against lateral buckling. The front mounting portion has walls forming a mounting cavity with a vertical front opening, the walls including flanges on laterally opposite sides of the vertical opening. This allows the use of a fastening assembly that includes a screw that projects rearwardly through a panel hole and through the vertical opening and that has a screw rear portion that is threadably connected to a nut. The nut has opposite ends that press against the opposite flanges, so when the screw is tightened it clamps the panel between the screw head and the front surface of the mount portion at the flanges. The column portion is formed by an integral longitudinally elongated strut portion that lies on a side of the mount portion that is opposite the opposite strut, to considerably increase the strut strength against buckling. The column portion preferably forms a forward projection that projects forward of the flanges by the thickness of a panel, to conceal the edge of a panel. The two struts of a rack are preferably identical, and the strut is preferably symmetric about a lateral mid plane. This provides a mount portion at the rear of the first strut which can pass wires, and which is used as the front mount portion of the second strut when a strut identical to the first one is turned 180° about its vertical axis.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.
Claims
1. A rack with front and rear longitudinally spaced ends, for supporting panels with holes, which includes a pair of laterally spaced and parallel vertical struts and a plurality of beams that extend between said struts to fix the spacing of the struts, wherein:
- each of said struts forms a front mount portion with cavity walls that form a mount cavity with a front that forms a vertical strip-shaped opening and that forms a pair of flanges on laterally opposite sides of said opening, said flanges forming rearwardly-facing flange surfaces at opposite sides of the front of the cavity;
- a plurality of fastener assemblies that each fastens a location on one of said panels to said rack, each fastener assembly including a screw that extends through one of said panel holes and a nut that is threadably engaged with the screw, the nut lying in said cavity and having nut opposite ends that each presses forwardly against one of said flange surfaces;
- each of said struts is of constant cross-section along its height and forms a column portion of increased thickness at a side of said mount portion that adds to the buckling resistance of the strut and that is integral with said front mount portion.
2. The rack described in claim 1 wherein:
- each of said struts has a rear mount portion that lies behind said front mount portion and that forms a vertical channel with a vertical strip-shaped opening.
3. The rack described in claim 1 wherein:
- said panels each have a predetermined thickness;
- said column portion has a forward projection that lies laterally adjacent to said front mount portion and that projects forward of said front mount portion by a distance equal to the thickness of said panels.
4. The rack described in claim 1 wherein:
- said pair of struts are identical in cross-section, with each strut having a predetermined longitudinal length and having a rear mount portion with cavity walls that form a rear mount cavity having a vertical strip-shaped rear opening and a pair of flanges on laterally opposite sides of said rear opening;
- said front and rear mount portions of each strut are longitudinally spaced, and said column portion of each strut extends along the full longitudinal length of the strut and merges with walls of each mount portion;
- said column portions of said pair of struts lie at laterally opposite sides of said rack, with said mount portions lying laterally between said column portions of said pair of struts.
5. The rack described in claim 4 wherein:
- the column portion of each strut extends longitudinally forward and rearward of the mount portions of the strut, by distances that are each equal to the thickness of said panels.
6. The rack described in claim 1 wherein:
- said mount cavity has a predetermined width rearward of said flanges, and said mount cavity has a rear cavity wall spaced longitudinally a predetermined distance rearward of said flanges;
- each of said fastener assemblies includes a compression spring lying in said mount cavity behind said nut, with the rear cavity wall positioned so the spring is compressed.
7. The rack described in claim 1 wherein:
- each of said struts has a rear mount portion that lies behind said front mount portion and that forms a vertical channel, with a recess between said front and rear mount portions, and with said column portion lying on one lateral side of said recess and with the other lateral side of the recess being open.
8. A strut that is useful to form one lateral side of a rack on which panels can be mounted comprising:
- an elongated extrusion of constant cross-section along its length which forms a front mount means on which a panel can be mounted and which forms an integral column means on one lateral side of the mount means, said front mount means including walls forming a front cavity with a rear wall and side walls and with a front wall that includes laterally opposite flanges that extend toward each other and that leave a front cavity opening between said flanges.
9. The strut described in claim 8 including said rack, wherein said panel has a hole, and including:
- a nut lying in said cavity, said nut having opposite ends lying against rear faces of said flanges;
- a screw having a screw head lying forward of said panel and having a screw shank that extends through said cavity opening between flanges and that is threadably engaged with said nut, said screw clamping said panel against front faces of said flanges.
10. The strut described in claim 8 wherein:
- said extrusion forms a rear mount means lying behind said front mount means, said rear mount means having a rear cavity with a front wall and side walls and with a rear wall that includes laterally opposite rear flanges that extend toward each other and that leaves a vertically-extending rear cavity opening between said rear flange.
11. The strut described in claim 8 including said rack, wherein said rack includes said strut at a first lateral side of the rack and a second strut element at an opposite second side of the rack;
- said strut and said strut element are of identical shape and orientation if one of them is turned 180° about an axis, but on said rack the column means of the strut and strut element lie on internally opposite sides of the corresponding front mount means.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 18, 2006
Publication Date: Jul 19, 2007
Inventors: Josh Carruthers (Covina, CA), Naim Siddiqui (Chino Hills, CA)
Application Number: 11/334,818
International Classification: A47B 47/00 (20060101);