Modular housing apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for joining equipment housings in rack systems are cumbersome, requiring numerous steps and excessive hardware, such as screws and bolts, which leads to wasted space and complexity in assembly and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A modular housing apparatus comprising planar, parallelogram-shaped panels with U-shaped channels and lips that slidingly engage to securely attach and align equipment housings, reducing the need for extensive hardware and simplifying the assembly process by using panels that can be attached to or made part of the housings themselves.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional rack mounting systems use screws, bolts, and brackets to secure equipment housings, then the housing can be securely attached to the rack, but the assembly process becomes complex and requires numerous hardware components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate hardware components (brackets, screws, bolts) into an integrated rack mounting system where the housing itself incorporates mounting features. The front and rear housings have integrated channels and lips that directly engage with rack mounting rails, eliminating the need for separate brackets and fasteners while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it encloses the equipment, provides structural support, and enables rack mounting through integrated channels and lips. The mounting features are built into the housing design itself, allowing the same component to perform both enclosure and mounting functions without requiring additional specialized hardware.
2Reliability
If traditional rack mounting systems use multiple screws and bolts to join housings together, then the housings can be securely connected, but space is wasted and hardware storage becomes necessary
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the connection function into the housing structure itself through integrated channels and lips. The rear housing has a U-shaped channel that receives and secures the front housing's lip, creating a direct structural connection without requiring separate fasteners or brackets that would occupy additional space.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting features are nested within the housing structure itself. The U-shaped channel in the rear housing contains and secures the lip from the front housing, with the connection features being part of the housing walls rather than external attachments. This nesting eliminates the need for external brackets and reduces overall space requirements.
3Reliability
If traditional rack mounting systems require numerous screws and bolts for assembly, then secure attachment is achieved, but maintenance and storage of multiple hardware types becomes necessary
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple hardware types into a single integrated mounting system. The rack mounting rails engage directly with the integrated channels and lips on the housings, eliminating the need to maintain inventories of different screw types, bolts, and brackets. The unified design simplifies maintenance procedures and reduces the complexity of hardware management.
4Reliability
If traditional rack mounting systems use separate brackets and mounting plates, then equipment can be secured to the rack, but the system requires excessive hardware and assembly steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mounting function from separate brackets and plates and integrates it directly into the housing structure. The channels and lips are formed as part of the housing walls, eliminating the need for external mounting plates and brackets. This extraction reduces the total component count while maintaining secure rack mounting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the structural enclosure function with the rack mounting function into a single integrated design. The housing walls themselves form the mounting interfaces through integrated channels and lips, combining what were previously separate functions (enclosure and mounting) into one unified structure that reduces overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are systems, modes, and methods for mounting one or more electronic housings to each other and to a rack mount system, a table mount system, or wall mount system. The mounting system includes a first pair of matching sliding panels that interface with each other in a slidingly engaging manner. Each of the first pair of sliding panels can be mounted to housings prior to being engaged with each other; the engagement of the first pair of sliding panels removably fixes the two housings together; additional housings can be fixed to the first two in a substantially similar manner. The first pair of sliding panels includes a U-shaped sliding panel and a C-shaped sliding panel, and according to a second embodiment, a second pair of sliding panels includes a C-shaped sliding panel and a Pi-shaped sliding panel. The second pair of sliding panels operates in a substantially similar manner as the first pair of sliding panels.