Modular telecommunications frame and enclosure assembly

Abstract

Assemblies and methods for mounting telecommunications equipment, such as patch panels is provided. A mounting assembly is disclosed including a swing gate adapted to host a plurality of telecommunications equipment. The swing gate is hingedly attached to a support frame by a pair of aligned hinges adapted to allow the swing gate to open and close. The support frame includes support members defining an opening for fitting telecommunications equipment within the support frame when the swing gate is closed. The support frame is adapted to be mounted with respect to various mounting locations such as a support structure of a raised floor or drop ceiling, a wall, and/or a cabinet. A cabinet adapted to enclose the support frame includes walls defining a cavity. At least one of the walls is a front door adapted to open and close and allow access to the swing gate when the front door is open. The cabinet is adapted to be mounted with respect to a raised floor, drop ceiling, or a wall. The hinges connecting the swing gate to the support frame are aligned crooked arm hinges positioning the swing gate off set from the front face of the support frame. An exemplary assembly includes a cabinet having walls defining a cavity. One of the walls is a front door adapted to open and close. A swing gate is hingedly connected to the cabinet by a pair of aligned crooked arm hinges. The cabinet is plenum rated defining at least one fire stopped cable opening for drop ceiling mounting.

1 . A telecommunications equipment mounting assembly, comprising:
 a swing gate hingedly connected with respect to a support frame by one or more hinges allowing the swing gate to open and close, the swing gate being adapted to host a plurality of telecommunications equipment mounted with respect to the swing gate;   wherein the support frame includes support members defining an opening for the telecommunications equipment to securely fit within the support frame when the swing gate is closed; and   wherein the support frame is adapted to be mounted with respect to a particular mounting location.   
   
   
       2 . An assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the mounting location is a cabinet having walls defining a cavity to receive the support frame, the cabinet being mounted with respect to a member selected from the group consisting of a planar support structure of a drop ceiling, a planar support structure of a raised floor, and with respect to a wall. 
   
   
       3 . An assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the walls of the cabinet is a front door hingedly attached to at least one of the remaining walls by a pair of aligned hinges to allow the front door to open and close and the front door is adapted to allow access to the swing gate when the front door is open. 
   
   
       4 . An assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the mounting location is a wall and the support frame is mounted vertically with respect to the wall. 
   
   
       5 . An assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the mounting location is a support structure of a raised floor and the support frame is mounted horizontally. 
   
   
       6 . An assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the hinges attaching the swing gate to the support frame are a pair of aligned crooked arm hinges positioning the swing gate off set from a front face of the support frame within the opening of the support frame. 
   
   
       7 . An assembly according to  claim 6 , wherein the crooked arm hinges are adapted to: (i) allow for the swing gate to clear an enclosing side of a cabinet or a floor when opening the swing gate; and (ii) rotate to a greater than ninety degree angle relative to a front face of the support frame. 
   
   
       8 . An assembly according to  claim 3 , wherein at least one of the walls is hingedly attached to a rear side of the cabinet by a pair of aligned pivoting hinges and is partially detachably connected to a front side of the cabinet by a pair of aligned disengaging latches adapted to allow the hingedly attached wall to open allowing side access to the swing gate and allowing equipment mounted on the swing gate to fully swing open without physical interference by the cabinet. 
   
   
       9 . An assembly according to  claim 1 , further comprising a control cylinder attached to the swing gate and adapted to control the opening and closing speed of the swing gate. 
   
   
       10 . A telecommunications equipment mounting assembly, comprising:
 (a) a front side enclosure having: (i) a top face; (ii) an opposite bottom face; (iii) a first side face; and (iv) an opposite second side face; wherein the faces are connected to define a substantially rectangular opening; the enclosure including a front door pivotally attached to the second side face adapted to allow the front door to pivot along an axis to open and close;   (b) a swing gate hingedly connected to a support frame by a pair of aligned hinges to allow the swing gate to open and close, the swing gate is adapted to host a plurality of telecommunications equipment mounted onto the swing gate;   wherein the support frame includes support members defining an opening for the telecommunications equipment to securely fit within the support frame when the swing gate is closed;   wherein the enclosure at least partially encloses the support frame and allows front side access to the swing gate when the front door of the enclosure is open and allows for the swing gate to swing open allowing front and rear access to the telecommunications equipment mounted on the swing gate and access to the opening of the support frame; and   wherein the support frame is adapted to be mounted with respect to a particular mounting location.   
   
   
       11 . An assembly according to  claim 10 , wherein the hinges connecting the swing gate to the support frame are a pair of aligned crooked arm hinges positioning the swing gate off set from a front face of the support frame within the opening of the support frame spaced away from the front door of the enclosure. 
   
   
       12 . An assembly according to  claim 11 , wherein the crooked arm hinges are adapted to: (i) allow for the swing gate to clear the side faces of the enclosure when opening the swing gate; and (ii) rotate to a greater than ninety degree angle relative to the plane of the front door of the enclosure. 
   
   
       13 . An assembly according to  claim 11 , wherein the swing gate pivots along an axis adjacent and perpendicular to the pivot axis of the front door of the enclosure. 
   
   
       14 . An assembly according to  claim 11 , wherein the swing gate pivots along an axis opposite and parallel to the pivot axis of the front door of the enclosure. 
   
   
       15 . An assembly according to  claim 10 , wherein the support frame is mounted to a rear side enclosure adapted to attach to the front side enclosure to fully enclose the support frame and the telecommunications equipment mounted on the swing gate; wherein the mounting location is a drop ceiling having a planar support structure and a vertically spaced partition plane; and wherein the rear side enclosure is horizontally mounted to the support structure such that the front door of the front side enclosure is flush with the vertically spaced partition plane. 
   
   
       116 . An assembly according to  claim 15 , wherein the partition plane includes a plurality of ceiling tiles and the front door flush with the partition plane is adapted to match the look of the ceiling tiles. 
   
   
       17 . An assembly according to  claim 15 , wherein the rear side enclosure is plenum rated defining at least one fire stopped opening to allow for telecommunication cables connecting to the telecommunication equipment to enter and exit the enclosed space created by the front and rear side enclosure. 
   
   
       18 . An assembly according to  claim 10 , wherein the mounting location is a wall and the support frame is mounted vertically with respect to the wall. 
   
   
       19 . An assembly according to  claim 18 , wherein the second side face is hingedly attached to a rear side of the enclosure by a pair of aligned pivoting hinges and is partially detachably connected to a front side of the enclosure by a pair of aligned disengaging latches adapted to allow the second side face attached to the front door to open allowing side access to the swing gate and allowing equipment mounted on the swing gate to fully swing open without physical interference by the enclosure. 
   
   
       20 . An assembly according to  claim 10 , wherein the mounting location is a raised floor having a support structure and a vertically spaced partition plane and the support frame is horizontally mounted to the support structure adapted to allow access to the equipment mounted on the swing gate by removing a floor tile associated with the partition plane. 
   
   
       21 . A telecommunications equipment mounting assembly, comprising:
 (a) a cabinet having walls defining an enclosed cavity wherein at least one of the walls is a front door pivotally attached on a front face of the cabinet adapted to allow the front door to open and close pivoting along an axis defined by the pivot attachment, the cabinet adapted to be mounted with respect to a particular mounting location and allowing access to the cavity when the front door is in the open position;   (b) a swing gate pivotally mounted by a pair of aligned hinges within the cabinet adapted to host a plurality of telecommunications equipment fully enclosed within the cavity when the front door of the cabinet is in the closed position;   wherein the cabinet is adapted to allow for the swing gate to open or close when the front door of the cabinet is open allowing for front side or rear side access to the equipment mounted on the swing gate.   
   
   
       22 . An assembly according to  claim 21 , wherein the mounting location is a drop ceiling having a planar support structure and a vertically spaced partition plane, and wherein the cabinet is horizontally mounted to the support structure with the front door flush with the vertically spaced partition plane. 
   
   
       23 . An assembly according to  claim 22 , wherein the patrician plane includes a plurality of ceiling tiles and the front door flush with the partition plane is adapted to match the look of the ceiling tiles. 
   
   
       24 . An assembly according to  claim 22 , wherein the cabinet is plenum rated having at least one fire stopped opening to allow for telecommunications cables connecting to the telecommunications equipment to enter and exit the cabinet. 
   
   
       25 . An assembly according to  claim 21 , wherein the hinges connecting the swing gate to the cabinet are a pair of crooked arm hinges pivotally attaching the swing gate within the cabinet and positioning the swing gate off set into the cavity away from the front door of the cabinet. 
   
   
       26 . An assembly according to  claim 25 , wherein the crooked arm hinges are adapted to: (i) allow for the swing gate to clear the walls of the cabinet when opening the swing gate; and (ii) rotate to a greater than ninety degree angle relative to the plane of the front face of the cabinet. 
   
   
       27 . An assembly according to  claim 21 , wherein the mounting location is a wall within a room and the cabinet is mounted vertically with respect to the wall. 
   
   
       28 . An assembly according to  claim 21 , wherein the mounting location is a raised floor having a support structure and a vertically spaced partition plane and the cabinet is horizontally mounted to the support structure adapted to allow access to the cabinet by removing a floor tile associated with the partition plane. 
   
   
       29 . An assembly according to  claim 21 , wherein the swing gate pivots along an axis adjacent and perpendicular to the pivot axis of the front door defined on the front face of the cabinet. 
   
   
       30 . An assembly according to  claim 21 , wherein the swing gate pivots along an axis opposite and parallel to the pivot axis of the front door defined on the front face of the cabinet. 
   
   
       31 . A method for mounting telecommunications equipment comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing a support frame having support members defining an opening to fit telecommunications equipment and associated cabling within the support frame;   (b) hingedly attaching a swing gate to a front face of the support frame by a pair of aligned hinges for opening and closing the swing gate, the swing gate is adapted to host a plurality of telecommunications equipment;   wherein the support frame is adapted to be mounted with respect to a particular mounting location.   
   
   
       32 . A method according to  claim 31 , wherein the mounting location is a cabinet having walls defining a cavity to receive the support frame; the cabinet being mounted with respect to a member selected from the group consisting of a planar support structure of a drop ceiling, a planar support structure of a raised floor, and a wall. 
   
   
       33 . A method according to  claim 32 , wherein at least one of the walls is a front door pivotally attached to at least one of the remaining walls allowing the front door to open and close, the front door is adapted to allow access to the swing gate when the front door is open. 
   
   
       34 . A method according to  claim 31 , wherein the hinges attaching the swing gate to the support frame are a pair of aligned crooked arm hinges positioning the swing gate off set from a front face of the support frame within the opening of the support frame. 
   
   
       35 . A method according to  claim 34 , wherein the crooked arm hinges are adapted to: (i) allow for the swing gate to clear an enclosing side of a cabinet or a floor when opening the swing gate; and (ii) rotate to a greater than ninety degree angle relative to a front face of the support frame. 
   
   
       36 . A method according to  claim 33 , wherein at least one of the walls is hingedly attached to a rear side of the cabinet by a pair of aligned pivoting hinges and is partially detachably connected to a front side of the cabinet by a pair of aligned disengaging latches adapted to allow the hingedly attached wall to open allowing side access to the swing gate and allowing equipment mounted on the swing gate to fully swing open without physical interference by the cabinet. 
   
   
       37 . A method according to  claim 31 , further comprising a control cylinder attached to the swing gate and adapted to control the opening and closing speed of the swing gate.