FLOOR GLAND

Abstract

The present invention relates to a floor gland for covering an access hole provided in a raised floor structure to allow cabling to pass through the floor structure. A problem with this arrangement is that cooling air passing underneath the raised floor structure can escape through the access hole. A floor gland is provided to fit into the access hole, the floor gland having sealing means that are secured to a sealing member mounted across the open area of the floor gland at a distance from the edges of the access hole such that the sealing means extend out from the sealing member towards the edges, thereby effectively sealing the access hole to prevent the passage of cooling air.

Description

The present invention relates to a floor gland and in particular a floor gland for mounting in a raised floor structure.

Raised floor structures comprising a plurality of floor tiles are often used in buildings and offices, in particular for supporting computer equipment in a data centre, for example, where a large number of computer servers and related equipment may be arranged in cabinets or racks that require cable access through holes in the floor structure.

Such cable access holes are incorporated into raised floor structures to allow various types of under floor cabling of to pass from under floor cable trays and up through the floor structure into, for example, cabinets or racks for connection to computer equipment housed therein. Beneficially, air conditioning or similar air cooling methods can also be supplied between the raised floor structure and the main floor substrate of the room for cooling the computer equipment or otherwise through designated cooling vents provided at the cabinets or racks.

In order to maximise cooling efficiency for the computer equipment via the designated vents, it is desirable to restrict the flow of air through the access holes provided for the cables in the raised floor structure to prevent cooling air from leaking out through these holes whereby it will not be directed to the computer equipment that needs it.

To prevent the leakage of this cooling air, glands can be provided that are arranged to fit into the access holes. The glands are configured to allow cables to pass through and generally have brushes that extend from the sides of the gland over the open area of the access hole to restrict the flow of air through the gland.

A problem with this type of gland is that because the root of each brush fibre of the brush strip is provided at the outer edge of the gland, cables passing through the gland proximate to the edge can cause the brush to substantially distort and separate, leaving large gaps and pathways that cooling air can escape through, reducing considerably the effectiveness of the gland seal.

According to the present invention there is provided a floor gland for mounting in a raised floor structure, the floor gland comprising: a frame structure having a first end member, a second end member and two side members; and a sealing member having flexible sealing means attached along its length in cantilever fashion and arranged to extend between the two end members, wherein the sealing member extends from a position distal from the ends of each end member and the sealing means extends away from the sealing member towards both side members such that the sealing means fill a gap created between the sealing member and the side members.

The present invention therefore provides a floor gland wherein the sealing means, for example brushes, are secured to a sealing member that extends across an access hole. Hence the sealing of the access hole at the edges, where most cables tend to pass through the access hole, is much improved as only the ends of the sealing means, for example the tips of a brush, are slightly deflected by the cables. This ensures that no gaps or pathways are provided across the open area of the access hole and therefore the floor gland substantially prevents any undesired flow of cooling air past through it. The gland is, however, not limited to use with a raised floor structure and may also be used in a walls or bulkheads.

An example of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the outer frame of a floor gland according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side member of the floor gland of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3a shows an end view of a sealing member having sealing means attached;

FIG. 3b shows a plan view of a sealing member having sealing means attached;

FIG. 4 shows the floor gland of FIG. 1 with the sealing member of FIG. 3b attached;

FIG. 5 shows the floor gland of FIG. 1 fitted into an access hole provided in a raised floor structure;

FIG. 6 shows another example of a floor gland according to the present invention, with the floor gland being arranged to extend into a space provided beneath the raised floor structure;

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary arrangement in which two floor glands according to the present invention are fitted together to provide a continuous floor gland that can pass completely through a raised floor structure, a wall or a bulkhead; and

FIG. 8 shows a plan view of a floor gland according to the present invention having a barrier means provided to separate different types of cabling.

FIG. 1 shows an outer frame structure 1 of a floor gland having a first end member 2a and a second end member 2b connected by two side members 3. The dimensions of the frame structure 1 can be easily adapted to match the dimensions of an access hole provided in a raised floor structure to allow the floor gland to fit into the access hole. In this example, at least one of the first or second end members 2a, 2b are removably attached to the side members 3 by suitable means, such as screw fixings 5. The first and second end members 2a, 2b of the frame structure 1 are each provided with a corresponding recess 4 positioned along their length, at locations distal from the ends, for attaching a sealing member 6 between them.

FIG. 2 shows a side member 3 of the floor gland having a substantially U-shaped lower portion 6 which is arranged to extend into the access hole, and a curved overhanging upper portion 7 which is arranged to rest on the perimeter of the raised floor structure immediately adjacent to the access hole with the overhanging portion configured to extend away from the floor structure and to curve back in towards the lower portion 6.

Furthermore, the free ends of the substantially U-shaped lower portion 6 and overhanging upper portion 7 are arranged to curve in towards each other to form a substantially curved outer shape having a predetermined radius with a small gap 8 provided between the ends of the lower portion 6 and upper portion 7 that extends the length of the side member 3. This gap 8 can be used to receive the free ends of a sealing means 14 to provide support and hence a better seal, as will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 2 shows a side member 3 of the floor gland structure 1 wherein the free end of the substantially U-shaped lower portion 6 of the side member 3 is configured to provide anchor points 10, such as a slotted flange 9 along at least a portion on its length, for securing cabling to it using cable ties, or similar.

FIG. 3a shows an example of a sealing member 13 having sealing means 14 attached in a cantilever fashion, as can be seen in FIG. 3b. The sealing member 13 is arranged to fit within the frame structure 1, extending between the end members 2a, 2b such that, when fitted, the sealing means 14 extend away from the sealing member 13 in opposing directions towards the side members 3 of the frame structure 1. Ideally, the sealing means 14 are configured to extend to the side members 3 such that they are retained within the gap 8 provided between the lower portion 6 and upper portion 7 of each side member 3. In doing so, the sealing means 14 substantially cover the entire area of the access hole.

The sealing means 14 are, preferably, removably attachable which allows them to be attached to the sealing member 13 after it has been secured between the end members 2a, 2b of the floor structure 1. This arrangement makes fitting the floor gland easier when wires or cabling is already installed.

FIG. 3a shows a cross-sectional end view of an exemplary two-part sealing member 13, wherein the sealing means 14 comprises, for example, two separate brushes, each attached to a spine, as is well known. The spines of each sealing means 14 are then attached on either side and between the two parts of the sealing member 13. The view is taken through one of a plurality of fastening holes 18 that are provided in a spaced arrangement along the length of the sealing member 13, in both parts. In this example, a fastener 17 is arranged to pass through each of the fastening holes 18, the fasteners 17 acting to hold the two parts of the sealing member 13 tightly together such that sealing means 14 can be securely held between them.

The fasteners 17 can, preferably, be quickly and easily released without tools, such as the one shown, which will allow the sealing member 13 to be removed from it simply by squeezing the free ends together. Quick-release fasteners such as these are well known. Of course, screw means and/or brackets or similar could alternatively be used to secure the sealing means 14 to the sealing member 13.

Another arrangement might be for two separate sealing means 14 to be attached to a single spine, which is then be secured to a sealing member 13 or, alternatively, a sealing member 13 may be provided which acts as a spine wherein the sealing means 14 are directly attached to it. A further option is for the sealing member 13 to be provided with slots along its length on either side for receiving the spines of the sealing means 14.

Although in this example the sealing means 14 are a pair of brushes, a skilled person will appreciate that any arrangement wherein the sealing means 14 comprises a plurality of fibrous elements or similar, such as flexible foam plastic, rubber elements, or extruded plastic, can perform the same function adequately.

FIG. 4 shows the floor structure 1 with a sealing member 13, having sealing means 14 attached, extending across the frame structure 1 of the floor gland between the two end members 2a, 2b. In this example, the sealing member 13 is secured by screw fixing means into the recesses 4 provided in the end members 2a, 2b, which are positioned such that, when fitted, the sealing member 13 is located a distance away from the side members 3, preferably, but not essentially, at a central position within the floor gland, whereby the sealing member 13 passes across the access hole, effectively partitioning it, and the free ends of the sealing means can be retained within the gap 8 provided in the side members 3.

FIG. 5 shows the floor gland fitted into an access hole provided in a raised floor structure 11. The lower portion 6 of the floor gland is configured to be substantially the same depth as the raised floor structure 11. Cabling 12 is shown passing through the floor gland adjacent the side members 3, the cabling 12 being secured to the slotted flange 9 of the lower portion 6, preferably by way of the anchor points 10.

FIG. 5 also illustrates an important feature of the present invention previously mentioned, which is that the radius of the curve formed by the overhanging upper portion 7 and the substantially U-shaped lower potion 6, preferably, have a bend radius that is greater than the critical bend radius limits of the power cabling and data cabling which is intended to be used, or is already installed, for example, in data centres and the like where a floor gland such as the one provided by the present invention may be utilized.

A further advantage provided by the present invention is that as a result of one, or both, of the end members 2a, 2b being removably attachable to the side members 3, it makes it easier to install the floor gland into an existing raised floor structure 12 having cabling 11 pre-installed that passes through an access hole. In this situation, the floor gland can be fitted into the access hole of the raised floor structure 12 simply by removing one of the end members 2a, 2b and sliding the now open-ended side members 3 around the existing cabling before reattaching the end member 2a, 2b to the side members 3. Furthermore, an advantage provided by the sealing means 14 being removably attachable to the sealing member 13, is that it allows them to be attached to the sealing member 13 either before or after floor gland is fitted into an access hole.

FIG. 6 shows another example of a floor gland according to the present invention installed in a raised floor structure 12. In this example, however, it can be seen that the lower portion 6 of the floor gland does not have a substantially U-shaped configuration, but is instead configured to extend down through the access hole provided in the raised floor structure 12 into the space provided underneath.

Similar to the example of FIG. 5, the sealing member 13 is provided at a substantially central position between the two end members (not shown), such that it partitions the access hole. The sealing member 13 has sealing means 14 attached to it in a cantilever fashion and arranged to extend in opposing directions away from the sealing member 13 towards the side members 3 of the frame structure 1. As before, the sealing means 14 are configured to extend the width of the floor gland sufficiently that they can be retained within the gap 8 provided between the lower portion 6 and upper portion 7 of each side member 3. In doing so, the sealing means 14 substantially cover the entire area of the access hole.

FIG. 7 shows a pair of floor glands similar to the one shown in FIG. 6 extending between two floor structures 12. In this example of the present invention, the lower portions 6 of each floor gland are of sufficient length to cause them to abut together, thereby creating a substantially sealed area within the two floor glands. The lengths of the lower portions 6 of each floor gland can be configured as required and can further be provided with lip portions 15 to provide a better seal between the two abutting floor glands. Of course, it will be appreciated that such an arrangement of two floor glands as described here can very easily be adapted to pass through a wall or a bulkhead, to provide a very similar effect as when passing through, for example, a raised floor structure.

FIG. 8 shows a plan view of a floor gland according to the present invention having removable barriers 16 installed to allow for the separation of different types of cabling 11, such as data cabling and power cabling, along the length of the side members 3.

As explained above, the sealing means 14 are attached to the sealing member 13, which is arranged to extend across the access hole, in cantilever fashion and are arranged to extend, preferably, to the side members 3 such that free ends of the sealing means 14 can be retained by the gap 8 provided between the free ends of the lower portion 6 and upper portion 7 of each side member 3.

A good seal across the entire surface of the floor gland can thereby be maintained because the floor gland is arranged such that cabling 11 passes through it adjacent to the side members 3, where it is preferably secured to anchor points 10 of the flange 9 of the side member 3. Accordingly, cabling 11 that passes through the free ends of the sealing means 14 only distorts the ends of the sealing means 14 that are not attached to the sealing member 13. Hence the cabling 11 does not cause any permanent distortion or pathways between the elements of the sealing means 14 as it would were it to pass through the sealing means 14 adjacent to where they are attached to the sealing member 13. The advantage of brushes, flexible foam, rubber elements, extruded plastic elements or the like is that they will only deform only at the position that cabling 11 passes through them, thereby providing a good sealing effect.

Furthermore, because the free ends of the sealing means 14 can be retained and supported by the side members 3 by passing through the gap 8, this prevents the sealing means 14 from sagging or falling down into the access hole, thereby ensuring that a good seal is provided across the entire area of the access hole.

In addition, the slotted flange 9 provided along the length of the lower portion 6 of the side member 3 can provide anchor points 10 for securing cables 11. Preferably, the slotted flange 9 should be sufficiently robust to be able to take the strain of large volumes of heavy cabling 11 passing through the floor gland, which substantially eases the otherwise difficult challenge of manhandling heavy cable bunches within a rack or cabinets because, once secured to the floor gland via the slotted flange 9, the floor gland takes up much of the weight of the heavy cabling 11, allowing it to be far more easily manoeuvred.

Preferably, the lower portion 6 of the floor gland is arranged in a U-shaped configuration, especially when it is configured to extend substantially only the depth of the raised floor structure, as shown in FIG. 5. In this configuration, a floor gland often rests closely against a sharp under edge of the raised floor structure adjacent to the access hole into which the floor gland is fitted. The curved lower portion 6 therefore provides an advantage in that it keeps cabling 11 away from the damaging effect of the sharp under edge. This prevents damage to the cabling, especially during the installation of cabling where the cables may be pulled roughly through the flooring, which can otherwise cause a major danger.

The removably attachable sealing means 14 provides a further advantage in that they can be omitted from the frame structure 1 of a floor gland whilst cabling work and tying is in progress, making access much easier than, for example, with a fixed securing means such as a fixed brush strip. In addition, cable tying is made a lot easier with such open access, as is visibility into the access hole. Furthermore, the sealing means can be temporarily removed for any later instance of re-entry into the gland.

The floor gland preferably has a frame structure produced in either metal or plastic and can be of any suitable size or configuration to fit within a raised floor structure, depending on the size in configuration of the raised floor structure. By controlling the curved radius of the over hanging portion and the substantially U shaped portion of the side members 3 a radius can be provided that is greater than the critical bend radius limit of modern data and power cabling, such as fiberoptic cables and the like.

Claims

1. A floor gland for mounting in a raised floor structure, the floor gland comprising:

a frame structure having a first end member, a second end member and two side members; and

a sealing member having flexible sealing means attached along its length in cantilever fashion and arranged to extend between the two end members, wherein the sealing member extends from a position distal from the ends of each end member and the sealing means extends away from the sealing member towards both side members such that the sealing means fill a gap created between the sealing member and the side members.

2. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means are arranged to extend from the sealing member in substantially opposite directions in substantially the same plane.

3. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means comprise a pair of brushes.

4. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means are formed of flexible foam plastic elements.

5. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means are formed of rubber elements.

6. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means are removably attachable to the sealing member.

7. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the first end member is detachable from the frame structure to allow the frame structure to be fitted around pre-installed cabling.

8. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein slots are provided in the side members of the frame structure for receiving and supporting the free ends of the sealing means.

9. A floor gland according to claim 1, further comprising a separation means for separating power cables and data cabling.

10. A floor gland according to claim 9, wherein the separating means comprises a barrier that can be removably attached to the frame.

11. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein the side members comprise a substantially horizontal upper portion for resting over neighbouring floor panels in a raised access floor structure and a substantially vertical lower portion for abutting neighbouring floor panels, the lower portion extending down from an innermost end of the upper portion.

12. A floor gland according to claim 11, wherein the upper portion of the side member comprises an overhanging portion which extends substantially vertically away from the outermost end of the upper portion and then curves inwardly towards the innermost end of the upper portion to form an overhanging portion.

13. A floor gland according to claim 11, wherein the lower portion of the side member comprises a substantially U-shaped portion which is arranged to form a slotted flange within the frame structure along the length of the side member.

14. A floor gland according to claim 1, wherein each side member is configured such that a surface of the side member that faces generally towards the attached sealing member is curved along at least a portion of its length in the direction that the cabling is inserted through the gland, the bend radius of the curved portion being greater than the critical bend radius limits of power cabling and data cabling.

15. A floor gland according to claim 2, wherein the sealing means comprise a pair of brushes.

16. A floor gland according to claim 3, wherein the sealing means are formed of flexible foam plastic elements.

17. A floor gland according to claim 2, wherein the sealing means are formed of rubber elements.

18. A floor gland according to claim 12, wherein the lower portion of the side member comprises a substantially U-shaped portion which is arranged to form a slotted flange within the frame structure along the length of the side member.