AU2011200138B2 - A patch panel and an end cap therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

An end cap 30 for a patch panel 12 is disclosed. The cap 30 includes: a cap body 32 having a front wall 34 for covering screws attaching the patch panel 12 to a rack; a resilient leg 36 extending rearwards from the front wall 34 adjacent an aperture 54 in the front wall; a foot on the leg 36; a toe on the foot 38, the toe 39 arranged for hooking engagement with the patch panel 12. The toe 39 is releasable by insertion of a screw driver 69 into the aperture and levering the leg 36 so as to release the toe 39. A patch panel 12 including end caps 30, 30' as described above is also disclosed, the patch panel 12 having a panel body supporting a plurality of sockets 19 and at least one facia panel 80 attachable to the body, the facia panel 80 defining a plurality of apertures 85 to allow access to the sockets 19, and a label panel 70 mountable between the facia panel 80 and the body, the label panel 70 defining a plurality of apertures 75 alignable with the apertures in the facia panel. C%4o

Description

Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant: Clipsal Australia Pty Ltd Actual Inventor: Elizabeth Tunde Juhasz Address for Service: C/- MADDERNS, GPO Box 2752, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: A PATCH PANEL AND AN END CAP THEREFOR The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

A PATCH PANEL AND AN END CAP THEREFOR FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 The present invention relates to patch panels and in particular to rack mountable patch panels. Patch panels such as those found in communication and server rooms are typically mounted in racks. The racks comprise spaced apart vertical members typically made of steel. These vertical members typically have a plurality of holes arranged to receive mounting screws or other fixing members that 10 pass through patch panel frames to secure the patch panel frames to them. In order to provide an aesthetically pleasing result, the patch panels can be provided with end caps. The end caps cover screws that attach the patch panel frames to the racks. A problem with existing patch panel designs is that the end caps are difficult to remove. 15 A further problem with existing patch panels is that labelling of the sockets is fiddly. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an end cap for a patch panel, the 20 end cap including: a cap body having a front wall for covering screws or other fixing members attaching the patch panel to a rack, the front wall defining an aperture; a resilient leg extending rearwards from the front wall adjacent the aperture; a foot on the leg at a position spaced rearwards from the front wall; 25 a toe on the foot, the toe arranged for hooking engagement with a surface on the patch panel, whereby the toe is releasable by insertion of a screw driver or similar tool into the aperture and levering the leg so as to release the toe from hooking engagement with the surface. In one form, the end cap includes a pair of spaced apart lugs, the lugs hingedly engagable with 30 the patch panel, whereby the lugs and the toe retain the end cap on the patch panel. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a patch panel, including: a panel body, the panel body including a pair of laterally spaced apart mounting portions, each mounting portion defining a hole or holes for receiving fixing members connectable to a 35 rack; and a pair of end caps mountable over respective mounting portions, each end cap having a cap body having a front wall for covering the fixing member, the front wall defining an aperture, whereby each end cap is releasable by insertion of a screw driver or similar tool into the aperture and manipulation of an end of the screw driver within the aperture. In one form, each end cap includes: 5 a resilient leg extending rearwards from the respective front wall adjacent the aperture; a foot on the leg at a position spaced rearwards from the respective front wall; and a toe on the foot, the toe arranged for hooking engagement with a respective surface on the patch panel, whereby the toe is releasable by insertion of a screw driver or similar tool into the respective 10 aperture and levering the leg so as to release the toe from hooking engagement with the respective surface. In one form, each end cap includes a pair of spaced apart lugs, the lugs hingedly engagable with the patch panel, whereby the lugs and the toe retain the end cap on the patch panel. 15 According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a patch panel including: a panel body supporting a plurality of sockets; at least one facia panel attachable to the body, the facia panel defining a plurality of apertures to allow access to the sockets; 20 a label panel mountable between the facia panel and the body, the label panel defining at least two stacked rows, each row including a plurality of apertures alignable with the apertures in the facia panel. In one form, the sockets protrude through the apertures. 25 In one form, areas of the label panel between the apertures are labelled, or are arranged for labelling, to identify adjacent sockets. In one form, the facia panel of the patch panel includes internal clips, the clips engageable with 30 the body for attachment thereto. In one form, the clips include legs that extend into the body. In one form, the legs and the label panel are mutually shaped such that, when assembled 35 together, the legs at least loosely retain the label panel while the facia panel is being attached to the body.

A specific embodiment of the invention will not be described in some further detail with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying figures. This embodiment is illustrative, and is not meant to be restricted as the scope of the invention. 5 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF INVENTION The invention will now be described with reference to the following figures. Figure 1 is an isometric view of a patch panel having end cap 5. 10 Figure 2 is an exploded isometric view of the patch panel of Figure 1. Figure 3a is a front view of an end cap of the patch panel of Figures 1 and 2. 15 Figure 3b is a sectional view of the end cap of Figure 3a taken through section lines 3b-3b. Figure 3c is a sectional view of the end cap of Figure 3a taken through section lines 3c-3c. Figure 3d is a side view of the end cap of Figure 3a. 20 Figure 3e is an end view of the end cap of Figure 3a. Figure 4 is a rear view of the end cap of Figure 3a. 25 Figure 5 is a close up view of the left hand side mounting portion of the patch panel illustrated in Figure 2. Figure 6 is an enlarged view of Figure 3b. 30 Figures 7 and 8 are similar to figure 1 but show progressive removal of the end cap with a screw driver. Figure 9 is a close up rear view of a portion of the facia panel of the patch panel of figure 1. 35 Figure 10 is a cross sectional view through section lines 9-9 through figure 9. A patch panel according to the invention is show in Figure 1. The patch panel 10 includes a plurality of socket assemblies 18. The patch panel 10 has end caps 30 and 30'and facia panels 80 and 80'.

Turning to Figure 2, the patch panel 10 is shown in more detail in an exploded view. The patch panel 10 has a panel body in the form of a panel plate 12. The plate 12 includes a pair of laterally spaced apart mounting portions 13 and 13'. Each mounting portion 13 defines holes 14 and 14' for receiving fixing members that are connectable to a rack. Typically, the fixing members are screws. 5 The patch panel 12 further includes a pair of end caps 30 and 30' that are mountable over respective mounting portions 13 and 13'. Each end cap 30 and 30' has a cap body having a front wall 34 for covering the fixing members. This is more clearly illustrated in Figures 3a through to Figure 3e. Figure 3a shows in front view the end cap 30 and its component parts. End cap body 32 has a front 10 wall for covering the screws or other fixing members. The front wall 34 defines an aperture 54 more clearly shown in the cross sectional view 3b-3b of Figure 3b. Each end cap 30 and 30' is releasable by insertion and manipulation of the screw driver or similar tool into the aperture 54. 15 The end cap of the invention includes a resilient leg 36 that extends rearwards from the front wall 34 adjacent the aperture 54. A foot 38 on the leg 36 is provided at a position space rearwards from the front wall 34. A toe 39 on the foot is arranged for hooking engagement with a surface 20 on the patch panel plate 12 of the patch panel 10. The surface 20 is shown in Figure 2. The surface 20 is on 20 the rear side of a slightly protruding area on the panel plate 12 as can be seen in Figure 2 and more clearly in Figure 5. The toe 39 of the end cap 30 is releasable from the surface 20 and hence the patch panel 10 by insertion of the screw driver, or similar tool, into the aperture 54 and levering the leg 36 so as to 25 release the toe 39 from hooking engagement with the surface 20. This is shown progressively in figures 7 and 8 with a screw driver 69 being used. In Figure 3a and in Figure 6, in can be seen that the end cap 30 also has a pair of spaced apart lugs 40 and 41. The lugs are hingedly engageable with the patch panel and the lugs 40, 41 and the toe 39 30 retains the end cap 30 on the patch panel 12. More specifically, the lugs 40 and 41 engage with the surfaces 24 and 22 illustrated in Figure 2. In this embodiment illustrated, the surfaces 24 and 22 are provided by the provision of holes within the panel plate 12. Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, the mounting portion 13 of the patch panel plate 12 is shown in 35 more detail as is the component of the end cap 30. Referring now to both Figure 3e and Figure 5, it can be seen that locating tabs 45 and 46 are arranged to be received by locating tab recesses 26 and 28 from within the panel plate 12. Figure 3d shows a further locating tab 44 that locates within locating tab recess 27 shown on Figure 5. The locating tabs and their corresponding recesses help keep the end cap in position and alignment on the panel plate 12. Referring to figure 2, a labelling system for the socket assembly 18 will now be described. Label 5 panels 70 and 72 are mountable between the facia panels 80 and 80' and the body (in the form of a plate 12). Each facia panel 80 and 80' is constructed from a clear plastics material. Plastics material is then masked so as to leave windows 88 and 88'after painting in the embodiment illustrated , the windows 10 88 and 88' are raised so as to facilitate masking. In the embodiment of the invention shown in figure 2, each facia panel 80 and 80' has twelve (12) windows 88 and 88' respectively. The windows 88 and 88' are staggered to sit above and below the socket assembly 18 to be labelled. The facia panels 80 and 80' define a plurality of apertures 85 and 85' to allow access to 15 corresponding sockets 19 of the sockets assembly 18. Label panel 70 and 72 each provide for 12 label portions to correspond with 12 adjacent sockets 19. In the embodiment shown in figure 2, the label portions are numbered I to 12 for label panel 70 and 13 to 24 the label panel 72. In other embodiments the invention, not shown, the label portions may 20 be either left blank or may have other numbers or letters printed on them. Looking at label panel 70 in more detail, it can be seen that the label panel 70 defines two stached rows. It also defines a plurality of label panel apertures 75 that are alignable with the apertures 85 of the corresponding facia panel 80 to allow access to the corresponding sockets 19. 25 Now turning to figures 9 and 10, a portion of the facia panel 80 is shown in more detail. In facia panel 80 includes integral clips 90, the clips 90 being engageable with the panel body (in the form of panel plate 12) for attachment thereto. Holes 15, illustrated in figure 2, are provided through the mounting plate 12 for receiving the clips 90. 30 Figure 10 shows one of the clips 90 in cross section. This figure shows that the clips 90 include protrusions 92. The protrusions 92 extend through label panel clip openings 76, which are shown in figure 2, such that, when assembled together, the clips at least loosely retain the label panel 70 while the facia panel 80 is being attached to the panel body in the form of panel plate 12. In the 35 embodiment illustrated in figure 7 and 8, figures 9 and 10 the clips 90 are in the form of legs 90. While the present invention has been described in terms a preferred embodiment in order to facilitate better understanding of the invention, it should be appreciated that various modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. Therefore, the invention should be understood to include also modifications within its scope.

Claims (5)

1. An end cap for a patch panel, the end cap including: a cap body having a front wall for covering screws or other fixing members attaching the patch panel to a rack, the front wall defining an aperture; a resilient leg extending rearwards from the front wall adjacent the aperture; a foot on the leg at a position spaced rearwards from the front wall; a toe on the foot, the toe arranged for hooking engagement with a surface on the patch panel, whereby the toe is releasable by insertion of a screw driver or similar tool into the aperture and levering the leg so as to release the toe from hooking engagement with the surface.

2. The end cap as claimed in claim 1 including a pair of spaced apart lugs, the lugs hingedly engagable with the patch panel, whereby the lugs and the toe retain the end cap on the patch panel.

3. A patch panel, including: a panel body, the panel body including a pair of laterally spaced apart mounting portions, each mounting portion defining a hole or holes for receiving fixing members connectable to a rack; and a pair of end caps mountable over respective mounting portions, each end cap having a cap body having a front wall for covering the fixing member, the front wall defining an aperture, whereby each end cap is releasable by insertion of a screw driver or similar tool into the aperture and manipulation of an end of the screw driver within the aperture.

4. The patch panel as claimed in claim 3 wherein each end cap includes: a resilient leg extending rearwards from the respective front wall adjacent the aperture; a foot on the leg at a position spaced rearwards from the respective front wall; and a toe on the foot, the toe arranged for hooking engagement with a respective surface on the patch panel, whereby the toe is releasable by insertion of a screw driver or similar tool into the respective aperture and levering the leg so as to release the toe from hooking engagement with the respective surface. 8

5. The patch panel as claimed in claim 4 wherein each end cap includes a pair of spaced apart lugs, the lugs hingedly engagable with the patch panel, whereby the lugs and the toe retain the end cap on the patch panel. 9