Multi-rack retractable door apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9258911-B2
Application number	US-201414226973-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 27, 2014
Priority date	Mar 27, 2014
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

A electronic equipment rack assembly retractable door apparatus is disclosed, which may include channels, horizontally mounted at the top and bottom of an open side of the rack assembly, and latch plates mounted to the rack assembly. The retractable door apparatus may have movable door frame members, each having a housing with a cavity and a slot opening to the cavity, rollers attached to the housing and contained within the channels, designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation, a spool, attached within the housing, a spring configured provide a torsional tensioning force on the spool, and a latching door handle, attached to the housing to engage with the latch plate receptacles. The retractable door apparatus may also include a door material attached to the door frame member spools and configured to pass through the slots in the door frame member housings.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A retractable door apparatus for an electronic equipment rack assembly, comprising:
a first structure having a first channel that is horizontally mounted at a top of an open side of the rack assembly;
a second structure having a second channel that is horizontally mounted at a bottom of the open side of the rack assembly;
a first latch plate and a second latch plate, each having a receptacle and mounted to the electronic equipment rack assembly;
a first and a second horizontally movable door frame member, each having:
a housing with an interior cavity and a slot defining an opening to the interior cavity;
a first roller, rotationally attached to an upper location of the housing, contained within the first channel and designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation;
a second roller, rotationally attached to a lower location of the housing, contained within the second channel and designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation;
a spool, rotationally attached to the housing and positioned within the interior cavity of the housing;
a spring operably coupled to the spool and to the housing to provide a torsional tensioning force on the spool; and
a latching door handle, slidably attached to the housing to engage, in a latched position, with the receptacle of one of the first latch plate and the second latch plate; and

a door material having a first lateral side attached to the spool of a first door frame member and a second lateral side attached to the spool of a second door frame member, and configured to pass through a slot in the housing of the first door frame member and a slot in the housing of the second door frame member.

2. The retractable door apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a height of the door material is sufficient to cover the open side of the rack assembly from the top of the open side of the rack assembly to the bottom of the open side of the rack assembly.

3. The retractable door apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the slot in the housing of the first door frame member and the slot in the housing of the second door frame member are oriented to face each other.

4. The retractable door apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the electronic equipment rack assembly includes a plurality of electronic equipment racks.

5. The retractable door apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of latch plates, each latch plate attached to a partition of the electronic equipment rack assembly.

6. The retractable door apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the latching door handles of the first and of the second door frame members are configured to engage with each latch plate of the plurality of latch plates.

7. The retractable door apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the door material includes perforations.

8. The retractable door apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the door material has fire-resistant properties.

9. An electronic equipment rack assembly, comprising:
a plurality of electronic equipment enclosures, arranged adjacently, each enclosure having:
a first side surface and a second side surface opposite to the first side surface, the first and second side surfaces defining a cavity for housing an electronic component;
a first mounting rail adjacent to the first side surface, and a second mounting rail adjacent to the second side surface, the first and second mounting rails configured to support the electronic component;
an open side, facing a first direction;
a first retractable door apparatus, comprising:
a first structure having a first channel that is horizontally mounted at a top of an open side of the rack assembly;
a second structure having a second channel that is horizontally mounted at a bottom of the open side of the rack assembly;
a first latch plate and a second latch plate, each having a receptacle, and mounted to the rack assembly; and
a first and a second horizontally movable door frame member, each having:
a housing with an interior cavity and a slot defining an opening to the interior cavity;
a first roller, rotationally attached to an upper location of the housing, contained within the first channel and designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation;
a second roller, rotationally attached to a lower location of the housing, contained within the second channel and designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation;
a spool, rotationally attached to the housing and positioned within the interior cavity of the housing;
a spring operably coupled to the spool and to the housing to provide a torsional tensioning force on the spool; and
a latching door handle, slidably attached to the housing to engage, in a latched position, with the receptacle of one of the first latch plate and the second latch plate; and

a door material having a first lateral side attached to the spool of a first door frame member and a second lateral side attached to the spool of a second door frame member, and configured to pass through a slot in the housing of the first door frame member and a slot in the housing of the second door frame member.

10. The electronic equipment rack assembly of claim 9 , the first structure and the second structure each further comprising a detent to hold a door frame member in a fixed position.

11. The electronic equipment rack assembly of claim 9 , wherein the latching door handle is operably connected to a pin, and the first and the second latch plate each include a recess defined to receive the pin.

12. The electronic equipment rack assembly of claim 9 , wherein the first structure has a C-shaped cross-section with a downwards-facing opening to contain the first roller.

13. The electronic equipment rack assembly of claim 9 , wherein the second structure has a C-shaped cross-section with an upwards-facing opening to contain the second roller.

14. A retractable door apparatus kit for an electronic equipment rack assembly, comprising:
a first structure having a first channel configured to be horizontally mounted at a top of an open side of the rack assembly;
a second structure having a second channel configured to be horizontally mounted at a bottom of the open side of the rack assembly;
a first latch plate and a second latch plate, each having a receptacle, and configured to be mounted to the rack assembly;
a first and a second horizontally movable door frame member, each having:
a housing with an interior cavity and a slot defining an opening to the interior cavity;
a first roller, configured to be rotationally attached to an upper location of the housing and contained within the first channel and designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation;
a second roller, configured to be rotationally attached to a lower location of the housing and contained within the second channel, and designed to maintain the door frame member in a vertical orientation;
a spool, configured to be rotationally attached to the housing and positioned within the interior cavity of the housing;
a spring configured to be operably coupled to the spool and to the housing to provide a torsional tensioning force on the spool; and
a latching door handle, configured to be slidably attached to the housing to engage, in a latched position, with the receptacle of one of the first latch plate and the second latch plate; and

a door material having a first lateral side configured to be attached to the spool of a first door frame member and a second lateral side configured to be attached to the spool of a second door frame member, and configured to pass through a slot in the housing of the first door frame m

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Cox Aaron R
• Minyard Jason E
• Sassano Camillo
• Schultz Kevin L

Classifications

• E06B9/171

  Rollers therefor; Fastening roller shutters to rollers · CPC title

• A47B96/00

  Details of cabinets, racks or shelf units not covered by a single one of groups A47B43/00 - A47B95/00; General details of furniture (doors E06B) · CPC title

• E06B9/115

  specially adapted for furniture · CPC title

• A47B81/00

  Cabinets or racks specially adapted for other particular purposes, e.g. for storing guns or skis · CPC title

• E06B9/17 Primary

  Parts or details of roller shutters, e.g. suspension devices, shutter boxes, wicket doors, ventilation openings · CPC title