Cable manager for network rack
A cable manager provides horizontal cable management of adjacent patch panels or network equipment on network distribution racks. The cable manager includes a central section and a front cable routing section and is mountable on a network rack, such as an EIA rack. The central section has a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section. The front cable routing section extends from the front side of the central section and includes a plurality of spaced fingers having an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control. A slit provides flexibility to the fingers. Ears extend laterally from the fingers. The cable manager can also include a rear cable routing section that includes a second plurality of spaced fingers. One or more passthrough openings can be provided in the central section to allow routing of cabling from the front section to the rear section. Either or both of the front and rear sections can include a removable cover. The cover may be hingedly connected.
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Applicant claims, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), the benefit of priority of the filing date of Mar. 28, 2000, of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/192,989, filed on the aforementioned date, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Application Ser. No. 09/814,621, filed on Mar. 22, 2001, is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/261,881, filed on Mar. 3, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,243.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to cable management devices for patch panel or network equipment racks, and more particularly to a cable manager for use with adjacent patch panels or network equipment on distribution racks or within cabinets, with an improved finger and cover design.
2. Description of Related Art
Cabling, such as UTP, ScTP, coax and fiber optic cabling, is being increasingly used in the telecommunications industry to provide data, voice, video, or audio information. Patch panel or network equipment enclosure and rack systems are well-known in the industry and provided to manage and organize such cables to or from equipment or cross-connect systems. These systems usually include a standard EIA 19″, 23″ or other distribution frame rack on which one or more patch panels, network equipment, fiber optic enclosures and the like are mounted. Enclosures within the rack serve various functions, including operation as slack trays, splice trays, cable organizers and patch panels. These racks also serve as inter-connect or cross-connect enclosures when interfacing with equipment, or may serve as a telecommunications closet, allowing the cables to be terminated, spliced, patched or stored at places along their length.
The rack usually is formed of a frame having mounting apertures located along vertical legs or walls of the rack. Patching equipment, such as a patch panel, is mounted on the rack so as to define generally a patching side where patch cords coming from an active device or another patch panel can be cross-connected and interconnected, and a distribution side where cables from network equipment or a work station area are terminated. Generally some form of cable management is also provided on both sides of the rack to support and route the cables. While preventing detrimental bending is always important even for copper cabling, with the increasing use of fiber optic connectors as applied to connector rack systems, proper cable management and bend radius control has become increasingly important. Many known systems are unable to provide complete bend radius control, are inefficient in use, difficult to manufacture, or have other drawbacks and thus, improvement in the cable management of network rack systems is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved cable management device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cable manager for a network rack with an improved finger design that provides more effective bend radius control.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a single cable manager device that provides improved cable management to each side of a network rack.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide an improved readily installable molded cable manager with a hinged cover for a network rack system.
Various ones of the above and other features and objects of the invention are provided by a cable manager mountable to a network rack. The cable manager includes a central section and a front cable routing section. The central section has a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section. The front cable routing section extends from the front side of the central section and includes a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section. Each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control. A slit is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger. At least one ear laterally extends from the distal end in a receiving space between adjacent fingers.
Various ones of the above and other features and objects of the invention are also provided by a cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising a central section, a front cable routing section and a rear cable routing section. The central section has a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section. The front cable routing section extends from the front side of the central section and includes a first plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section and retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the first plurality of spaced fingers. The rear cable routing section extends from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear side of the central section and retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the second plurality of spaced fingers.
Various ones of the above and other features and objects of the invention are also provided by a network rack containing the above cable manager.
The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
A cable manager 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown in FIGS. 1-10 and is useful in providing horizontal cable management in a network rack.
Cable manager 10 is preferably formed by an injection molding process in which two halves, preferably identical halves, are molded and then snap fit together to form a single cable manager device that is mountable on and provides cable management to both a patching side and a distribution side of a network rack. A suitable rack is a conventional 19″ or 23″ EIA network rack that has spaced vertical rails or legs that allow mounting of various numbers of rack elements thereon. However, the invention is equally applicable to other known or subsequently developed racks. Moreover, a network rack need not be an open frame structure as in the above EIA racks, but may include mounting cabinets or enclosures having mounting features and walls defining openings that can receive and fix rack elements, such as cable manager 10, patch panels, and the like.
As can be seen from
Central section 16 has a suitable height, a longitudinal width sized to fit within a desired network rack, and a depth which approximates the depth dimension of rack legs 60 (
The central section 16 of the cable manager is preferably a passthrough section that includes one or more passthrough openings 56. The passthrough openings 56 allow installers the ability to route cables from one side of the rack to the other (i.e., from the patching side to the distribution side and the converse). The passthrough openings 56 preferably are formed with curved sidewalls that provide bend radius control to the cables routed through the passthrough openings.
The front cable routing side of the cable manager (front section 12) preferably forms the patching side where active equipment is interconnected or patch cords on a patch panel are cross-connected. As shown in
Fingers 30 are also provided with a pair of ears 34 formed near the distal end with each ear extending towards an opposing ear formed on an adjacent finger 30. The ears 34 preferably have a generally triangular configuration that provides angled surfaces which assist in the insertion and removal of cables from in between the fingers. As the formation of the fingers with an arcuate cross-section has been found to result in a relatively stiff structure, each finger 30 on the patching side also includes a slit 36 medially disposed along the arcuate surface of the finger. Slit 36 is formed to extend from the distal end towards the base approximately one-half the length of finger 30. Slit 36 provides additional flexibility to fingers 30 during routing of cables.
As best seen in
A more detailed description of hinged cover 52 will be described with respect to
The rear side of the cable manager (rear section 14) preferably forms the distribution side where cables from network equipment or a work station area can be terminated. As shown in
As shown in
Selected fingers from both sets of fingers 30, 40 also include respective retaining flanges 38, 39 formed on the distal ends to help retain routed cables 70 when a cover is not present.
While the particular embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation.
Claims
1. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predetermined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section;
- a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section;
- a rear cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear side of the central section; and
- a hinged cover rotatably attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and the second plurality of fingers.
2. The cable manager of claim 1, wherein the central section includes at least one passthrough opening that provides access between the front cable routing section and the rear cable routing section.
3. The cable manager of claim 2, wherein the at least one passthrough opening has curved sidewalls that provide bend radius control.
4. The cable manager of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of spaced fingers are formed with arcuate surfaces that provide bend radius control.
5. The cable manager of claim 4, A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predetermined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section;
- a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section;
- a rear cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear side of the central section; and
- a hinged cover rotatably attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and the second plurality of fingers,
- wherein the first plurality of spaced fingers are formed with arcuate surfaces that provide bend radius control, and
- wherein the distal end of the first plurality of spaced fingers include a slit medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extending toward a proximal end of the fingers.
6. The cable manager of claim 4, wherein the distal end of the first plurality of spaced fingers include laterally extending ears.
7. The cable manager of claim 4, wherein the first plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in multiple spaced rows.
8. The cable manager of claim 7, wherein the hinged cover is attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple spaced rows.
9. The cable manager of claim 8, wherein the cover includes hinge brackets.
10. The cable manager of claim 9, A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predetermined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section;
- a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section;
- a rear cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear side of the central section; and
- a hinged cover rotatably attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and the second plurality of fingers,
- wherein the first plurality of spaced fingers are formed with arcuate surfaces that provide bend radius control,
- wherein the first plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in multiple spaced rows,
- wherein the hinged cover is attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple spaced rows,
- wherein the cover includes hinged brackets, and
- wherein the distal end of the first plurality of spaced fingers include laterally extending ears and the hinge brackets are hingedly mounted between adjacent ones of the ears.
11. The cable manager of claim 10, wherein the cover further includes a locking tab lockable with one of the ears to lock the cover in an open position.
12. The cable manager of claim 10, wherein the cover includes a release tab.
13. The cable manager of claim 10, wherein the cover is hingedly openable in two opposite directions.
14. The cable manager of claim 1, wherein the second plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in two spaced rows.
15. The cable manager of claim 14, wherein the rear side of the central section includes a step down portion such that the two spaced rows have a height that is less than the predetermined height of the central section.
16. The cable manager of claim 14, further comprising a second cover attachable to the second plurality of spaced fingers.
17. A network rack, comprising:
- a rack frame having mounting legs;
- at least one patch panel mounted to the mounting legs of the rack frame; and
- a cable manager mounted to the mounting legs to be adjacent the at least one patch panel, the cable manager comprising: a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the rack frame, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section; a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a first plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section and retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the first plurality of spaced fingers; a rear cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear side of the central section and retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the second plurality of spaced fingers; and a hinged cover rotatably attachable to at least one of the first plurality of fingers and the second plurality of fingers.
18. The network rack of claim 17, wherein the at least one patch panel has a patching side and a distribution side, the front cable routing section is provided on the patching side and the rear cable routing section is provided on the distribution side.
19. The network rack of claim 18, wherein the rear side of the central section includes a step down portion such that the two spaced rows have a height that is less than the predetermined height of the central section.
20. The network rack of claim 17, wherein the first plurality of fingers have an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control.
21. The network rack of claim 17, wherein the central section includes at least one passthrough opening that provides access between the front cable routing section and the rear cable routing section.
22. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section; and
- a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section,
- wherein each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control to cables routed thereover, and a slit is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger, wherein at least one ear laterally extends from near the distal end into a receiving space between adjacent fingers, the at least one ear assisting in insertion and removal of cables in the receiving space.
23. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section;
- a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section,
- wherein each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control to cables routed thereover, and a slit is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger, wherein the plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in multiple spaced rows; and
- a front cover attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple spaced rows.
24. The cable manager of claim 23, wherein at least one ear laterally extends from near the distal end into a receiving space between adjacent fingers and the front cover is a hinged cover that includes hinge brackets hingedly mounted between adjacent ones of the ears that allow positioning of the hinged cover between open and closed positions.
25. The cable manager of claim 24, wherein the hinged cover further comprises a locking tab lockable with one of the ears to lock the hinged cover in the open position.
26. The cable manager of claim 23, wherein the front cover includes a release tab.
27. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section;
- a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section,
- wherein each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control to cables routed thereover, and a slit is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger;
- a rear cable routing section extending from the rear side of the central section, the rear cable routing section including a second plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the rear side of the central section, wherein the second plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in two spaced rows; and
- a rear cover attachable to at least one finger on each of the two spaced rows of the second plurality of spaced fingers.
28. A network rack, comprising:
- a rack frame having mounting legs;
- at least one patch panel mounted to the mounting legs of the rack frame; and
- a cable manager mounted to the mounting legs and being adjacent the at least one patch panel, the cable manager comprising: a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section; and a front cable routing section extending from the front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section, wherein the plurality of spaced fingers are provided in two spaced rows and a cover is hingedly attachable to at least one finger in each of the two spaced rows, wherein each of the plurality of spaced fingers has an arcuate surface that provides bend radius control, and a slit is medially disposed along the arcuate surface and extends from a distal end of the finger towards a proximal end of the finger.
29. A cable manager mountable to a network rack, comprising:
- a central section having a longitudinal width sized to fit within the network rack, a predefined height, a front side, a rear side, and rack mounting holes provided on opposite longitudinal ends of the central section;
- a front cable routing section extending from the first front side of the central section, the front cable routing section including a plurality of spaced fingers extending transversely from the front side of the central section, wherein the central section includes at least one passthrough opening that provides access to the front cable routing section; and
- a hinged cover rotatably attachable to the plurality of fingers.
30. The cable manager of claim 29, wherein the plurality of spaced fingers are arranged in multiple spaced rows.
31. The cable manager of claim 30 wherein the hinged cover is attachable to at least one finger on at least two of the multiple spaced rows.
32. The cable manager of claim 31, wherein the cover is hingeably openable in two opposite directions.
33. The cable manager of claim 29, further comprising retaining flanges extending from distal ends of multiple ones of the plurality of spaced fingers.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Nov 18, 2004
Date of Patent: May 25, 2010
Assignee: Panduit Corp. (Tinley Park, IL)
Inventors: Michael J. McGrath (New Lenox, IL), Kevin L. Goodwin (Frankfort, IL), Charles F. VanderVelde (Frankfort, IL), Donald C. Wiencek (Tinley Park, IL)
Primary Examiner: Chih-Cheng G Kao
Attorney: Robert A. McCann
Application Number: 10/992,640
International Classification: G02B 6/46 (20060101); H02G 11/00 (20060101);