JP7625348B2 - Power Supply Cabinet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a power supply cabinet.

As described in Patent Document 1, a DC power supply cabinet capable of supplying DC power to equipment installed inside is known. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is intended to solve the problem that the power bus bar becomes long and may bend when the power bus bar is arranged to span from the top to the bottom of the cabinet body, and is configured to provide a split section on the power bus bar, and a power supply unit is connected so as to span the split sections of the power bus bars arranged vertically, thereby supplying DC power to multiple power bus bars.

JP 2018-074667 A

However, when using a configuration such as that described in Patent Document 1, it becomes necessary to connect a power supply unit to the split section of the power supply bus bar. Therefore, the mounting position of the power supply unit depends on the position of the split section, and there is no freedom in the mounting position.

The inventors of this case have thoroughly investigated this issue and attempted to solve it. The problem that this invention aims to solve is to allow freedom in the mounting position of the power supply unit while suppressing the bending of the power supply bus bar.

To solve the above problem, a power supply cabinet is provided that includes a cabinet body and a power bus bar that has multiple copper bars and is arranged vertically, with the power bus bars aligned in the longitudinal direction of the copper bars at the rear of the cabinet body, and the power supply cabinet is provided with a connecting connection part to which a connecting metal fitting that connects the power bus bar can be attached, and a power connection part that connects a power supply unit at a position different from the connecting connection part.

It is also preferable that an end of the power bus bar is fixed to the horizontal frame of the cabinet body, and an intermediate bar fixing part that can fix the other end of the power bus bar and be fixed to the vertical frame of the cabinet body is disposed adjacent to the connecting part.

It is also preferable to connect a power supply unit to each of the power supply bus bars arranged side by side.

This invention allows for flexibility in the mounting position of the power supply unit.

1 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of a power supply cabinet according to an embodiment, as viewed from an oblique front side. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of a power supply cabinet according to an embodiment, as viewed obliquely from the rear. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2 . 11 is a partially enlarged view showing the power bus bars connected by connecting fittings. FIG. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 4 . 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a power supply unit is attached to the power supply cabinet illustrated in FIG. 1 . FIG. 13 is a partially enlarged view showing the state in which the equipment unit mounting bracket is installed in front of the connecting fitting and the intermediate bar fixing portion. 11 is a partially enlarged view showing a state in which the power bus bars are not connected to each other with connecting fittings, and a power supply unit is attached to each power bus bar. FIG.

The following describes an embodiment of the invention. As can be understood from FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, the power supply cabinet 1 of this embodiment includes a cabinet body 10 and a power bus bar 20 having a plurality of copper bars 21 and arranged to extend vertically, and the power bus bar 20 is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the copper bars 21 at the rear of the cabinet body 10. The power bus bar 20 also includes a connecting connection part 23 to which a connecting metal fitting 61 for connecting the power bus bar 20 can be attached, and a power connection part 25 for connecting the power supply unit 8 at a position different from the connecting connection part 23. This allows for flexibility in the mounting position of the power supply unit 8. The power supply unit 8 of the embodiment can convert AC to DC, and can obtain power from an AC power source.

Here, the power supply cabinet 1 of the embodiment will be described from the basic configuration. The power supply cabinet 1 of the embodiment has a cabinet body 10 that forms the outer shape. The cabinet body 10 has a skeleton that is roughly rectangular parallelepiped-shaped, with vertical frames 11 extending in the up-down direction, horizontal frames 12 extending in the left-right direction, and depth frames 13 extending in the front-rear direction. The outer shape is formed by plate-like members fixed to the outer surface side of the skeleton. The cabinet body 10 is provided with a mounting frame 14 inside to which the mounted equipment unit can be attached. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the mounting frame 14 extending in the up-down direction is located at the four corners of the cabinet body 10. The mounting frame 14 of the embodiment is fixed at a position closer to the center of the cabinet body 10 than the vertical frames 11.

The rear side of the cabinet body 10 is provided with a power bus bar 20 for supplying direct current. A typical power bus bar 20 has two copper bars 21 arranged in parallel, but more than two copper bars 21 may be arranged in parallel. In this manner, the power bus bar 20 made up of multiple copper bars 21 is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the copper bars 21. In this embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the copper bars 21 is also the longitudinal direction of the cabinet body 10.

The power bus bar 20 is fixed to the cabinet body 10, and in this embodiment, one end of the power bus bar 20 is fixed to the adjacent horizontal frame 12 via a bar fixing part 51. The other end is fixed to an intermediate bar fixing part 52 that is fixed to the vertical frame 11. In this embodiment, a bar holding part 53 is located between the end side of the power bus bar 20 and the intermediate bar fixing part 52, so that the end side of the power bus bar 20 and the intermediate bar fixing part 52 are connected via the bar holding part 53.

The intermediate bar fixing portion 52 of the embodiment has a protective portion 54 that can cover a portion of the power bus bar 20. To form this protective portion 54, the intermediate bar fixing portion 52 of the embodiment is configured to be concave in plan view.

As can be seen from Figs. 1 to 3, the copper bar 21 in this embodiment is almost entirely covered by a protective cover 55. This prevents the conductive portion of the power bus bar 20 from accidentally coming into contact when, for example, mounting the equipment unit in the power supply cabinet 1. Note that the protective cover 55 has been omitted from Figs. 4 onwards to make the structure easier to understand.

The longitudinal ends of the power bus bars 20 are provided with connecting parts 23 to which connecting fittings 61 for connecting to other power bus bars 20 can be detachably attached. In the embodiment, the connecting parts 23 are holes, and the connecting fittings 61 made of conductive metal plates can be attached to the connecting parts 23 using screws or the like to connect the power bus bars 20 to each other.

The power bus bar 20 also includes a power connection section 25 for connecting a power supply unit 8 that supplies DC power. This power connection section 25 is provided at a different position from the linking connection section 23, but in this embodiment, multiple power connection sections 25 are provided on the power bus bar 20. If the power supply unit 8 is fixed using one of the power connection sections 25 provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the power bus bar 20, DC power can be supplied to the entire power bus bar 20. Note that the power connection section 25 in this embodiment is a penetration section. The penetration sections are arranged at intervals so that they are located in both the upper and lower halves of the copper bar 21.

If the power supply unit 8 can be selected from a plurality of power supply connection parts 25 in this way, the options for the connection position of the power supply unit 8 are expanded. In addition, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of power supply connection parts 25 on the power supply bus bar 20, and it is sufficient that at least one power supply connection part 25 is provided at a position different from the connecting connection part 23. Since the position for connecting the power supply unit 8 is not limited to the end part of the power supply bus bar 20 (the divided part of the power supply bus bar 20) located near the center in the vertical direction of the cabinet body 10, it is also possible to connect the power supply unit 8 to, for example, the top or bottom of the cabinet body 10. In this way, it is possible to prevent the power supply unit 8 from interfering with the arrangement of other devices. On the other hand, if the position for connecting the power supply unit 8 is arranged in proximity to the end part of the power supply bus bar 20 (the divided part of the power supply bus bar 20) located near the center in the vertical direction of the cabinet body 10, a more stable power supply can be provided to the upper and lower power supply bus bars 20 connected by the connecting metal fittings 61.

The power supply cabinet 1 is equipped with equipment that uses DC power. In the embodiment, a mounting frame 14 provided inside the power supply cabinet 1 can be used to secure the equipment.

Generally, DC power supply equipment units used with DC power sources have a larger lateral width for mounting equipment than commonly used servers, etc. For this reason, the lateral spacing of the mounting frame 14 provided within the cabinet body 10 of the embodiment is configured to match the width of the DC power supply equipment unit to be mounted.

The connection between the device using DC power and the power bus bar 20 may be made using a plug-in terminal that allows a direct connection, or may be fixed to the copper bar 21 with screws or the like. Since the power bus bar 20 is located at the rear of the cabinet body 10, devices using DC power are usually connected to the power bus bar 20 on the rear side of the device.

The power supply cabinet 1 may be equipped with only devices that use DC power, but it is also possible to equip it with devices that use AC power. For this reason, it is preferable to provide devices that can supply AC power, such as a power outlet bar (not shown), inside the cabinet body 10. In this way, power can be secured for devices that use AC power.

Generally, AC power equipment units used with AC power sources have the same left-right width as commonly used servers and are sized to fit in a 19-inch rack. For this reason, as described above, if the mounting frame 14 is installed to match the width at which the DC power equipment unit can be mounted, it is not possible to support the AC power equipment unit on both the left and right sides while directly mounting it to the mounting frame 14. For this reason, in the embodiment, an equipment unit mounting bracket 71 is attached to the mounting frame 14. By using this equipment unit mounting bracket 71, it is possible to mount the AC power equipment unit so that it supports both the left and right sides. Although not shown in the figure, in the embodiment, the equipment unit mounting bracket 71 is attached to the mounting frame 14 on both the left and right sides.

However, when connecting power bus bars 20 together using connecting fittings 61, it is not preferable to place a DC power supply device directly in front of the connecting fittings 61. This is because it becomes difficult to connect the DC power supply device to the power bus bar 20 in this position. To make effective use of space, it is preferable to use the space directly in front of the connecting connection part 23 as mounting space for devices that receive power from sources other than the power bus bar 20. In particular, it is preferable to use this space as mounting space for AC power supply devices. Note that AC power supply devices receive AC power from a socket bar or the like, and do not need to be connected to the power bus bar 20.

To achieve this, it is preferable to place an equipment unit mounting bracket 71 in front of the connecting fitting 61. If the equipment unit mounting bracket 71 is placed at approximately the same height as the connecting fitting 61, it becomes easier to place equipment that uses AC power in front of the connecting fitting 61. It also becomes easier to see that this is a space in which a DC power supply unit cannot be placed.

It is also preferable to arrange the intermediate bar fixing portion 52 used to fix the power bus bar 20 adjacent to the connecting portion 23. In this way, the intermediate bar fixing portion 52 is provided on the end side of the power bus bar 20, and the power bus bar 20 can be stably attached to the cabinet body 10.

In addition, because the intermediate bar fixing part 52 holds the power bus bar 20 via the bar holding part 53, it is difficult to place DC power equipment in front of it. This is because, as with the connecting connection part 23 to which the connecting fitting 61 is attached, it is difficult to connect the DC power equipment to the power bus bar 20. However, if the intermediate bar fixing part 52 is placed adjacent to the connecting fitting 61, it is possible to concentrate the points where it is difficult to connect to the power bus bar 20. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish between the mounting positions of the equipment that connects to the power bus bar 20 and other positions, making it easier to understand the mounting positions.

When securing a relatively large mounting space for the AC power supply equipment units, such as the space in front of the height from the connecting fitting 61 to the intermediate bar fixing part 52 or the space in front of the height from the intermediate bar fixing part 52 to another intermediate bar fixing part 52, the AC power supply equipment units can be mounted together. To make this possible, it is preferable to design the equipment unit mounting bracket 71 so that multiple devices can be mounted. This reduces the work of mounting the bracket and improves workability.

For example, Figures 6 to 8 show an equipment unit mounting bracket 71 that can mount a 19-inch device. This equipment unit mounting bracket 71 has a height of 3U (5.25 inches, approximately 133.5 mm) per bracket.

The equipment unit mounting bracket 71 of the embodiment has a mounting portion 74 to which an equipment receiving portion 72 capable of supporting the lower portion of the equipment unit can be attached. The equipment unit mounting bracket 71 allows the equipment receiving portion 72 to be attached and detached to this mounting portion 74. When the AC power equipment unit to be mounted is 1U or 2U in size, multiple AC power equipment units can be mounted on one bracket by attaching the equipment receiving portion 72 that supports the lower portion of the AC power equipment unit to the equipment unit mounting bracket 71. Furthermore, by concentrating the mounting positions of the AC power equipment units together, it is also easier to connect them to power equipment such as a power outlet bar.

As described above, it is preferable to use the locations that are not suitable for arranging equipment that uses DC power as mounting spaces for equipment units that receive power from power equipment other than the power bus bar 20. Specifically, it is preferable to use the locations as mounting spaces for AC power equipment units. In this way, the space inside the power supply cabinet 1 can be used effectively.

Up to this point, the description has been given with the connecting fittings 61 attached to the connecting connection parts 23, but the connecting fittings 61 may be removed from the connecting connection parts 23 for use. In the example shown in FIG. 8, a power supply unit 8 is attached to each of the power bus bars 20 arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction of the cabinet body 10. In this way, the power bus bars 20 arranged inside the power supply cabinet 1 can be divided into two systems. Therefore, the current value can be adjusted according to the amount of power required by the equipment, and efficient power supply can be achieved. In addition, the power bus bars 20 can be divided into systems by simply attaching and detaching the connecting fittings 61 and the power supply units 8. In this way, it is preferable to connect the power supply units 8 to each of the power bus bars 20 arranged in a row.

The present invention has been described above using examples of embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be implemented in various forms. For example, although a power bus bar divided into two parts has been described, a power bus bar divided into three or more parts is also possible.

Reference Signs List 1 Power supply cabinet 8 Power supply unit 10 Cabinet body 11 Vertical frame 12 Horizontal frame 20 Power bus bar 21 Copper bar 23 Connection connection part 25 Power connection part 52 Intermediate bar fixing part 61 Connection metal fitting

Claims (2)

A power supply cabinet comprising: a cabinet body; and a power bus bar having a plurality of copper bars and arranged vertically, the power bus bars being arranged in a longitudinal direction of the copper bars at a rear of the cabinet body,
a power supply bus bar including a connecting portion to which a connecting metal fitting for connecting the power supply bus bar can be attached, and a power supply connecting portion for connecting a power supply unit at a position different from the connecting portion ;
A power supply cabinet in which power supply units of different systems are connected to each of the power supply bus bars arranged side by side and spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the cabinet body . The power supply cabinet according to claim 1, in which an end of the power bus bar is fixed to the horizontal frame of the cabinet body, and an intermediate bar fixing part that fixes the other end of the power bus bar and can be fixed to the vertical frame of the cabinet body is arranged adjacent to the connecting part.

Images