US20060125358A1

US20060125358A1 - Console embedded server rack

Info

Publication number: US20060125358A1
Application number: US11/011,251
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Vernon Williamson
Original assignee: International Business Machines Corp
Current assignee: International Business Machines Corp
Priority date: 2004-12-14
Filing date: 2004-12-14
Publication date: 2006-06-15

Abstract

A server rack enclosure has a display, keyboard and mouse mounted on the inside face of the enclosure's door. When the door is in an open position, these user interface devices provide access and control over the servers, hard drives, network equipment, etc. mounted in the server rack. The location of the user interface devices on the enclosure door saves valuable rack space for servers or other machines. The user interface devices are integrally or separately mounted to a vertical rail affixed to the door to permit user positioning of the user interface devices to a preferred height by sliding the display and keyboard along the rail. The display and keyboard are mounted to the rail using hinge or swivel mounts to permit the user rotation and positioning of the user interface devices to a preferred viewing and operational angle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to hardware for computer systems, and in particular to console displays mounted within computer system enclosures.
2. Description of the Related Art
System racks have been provided for housing equipment, such as network server systems, telephone switch gear, power supplies, and the like. Industry standards have been adopted for system racks, including the adoption of standard unit vertical heights, horizontal widths and horizontal depths of the system racks. One such standard size rack has a width of 19 inches. The vertical height of components for installation into system racks is typically expressed in terms of a standard vertical unit of measure called a “U,” which corresponds to 1.25 inches. Various such U components have been secured to system racks using threaded fasteners, which have included bolts and screws that require hand tools to secure the various components to the system racks. System racks are typically enclosed using a metal or composite enclosure surrounding the system racks, and incorporating a door to provide access to the components mounted therein.
While the system rack enclosure allows for efficient use of space by housing multiple computing devices, some of the enclosure space is in some circumstances consumed by a computer console used access the machines within the system rack enclosure. Typically, such a console consists of a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and sometimes even has its own central processing unit or other type of computer system. A large video display and keyboard combination can be housed within the enclosure, but a large number of units (“U”) of space are consumed storing such console.
In an improvement to this configuration, some systems utilize just a single unit (“1U”) of the rack to hold a flat panel display and keyboard/touch-pad input device, both housed in a rectangular drawer that slides in and out of one of the units in the system rack. The flat panel displays have been pivotally mounted to the drawers such that the monitor may be disposed in a horizontal position for storage, and then raised to an upright position for viewing once the drawer is pulled outward of the server system rack. Such a configuration allows the flat panel monitor to be laid flat in the drawer and the drawer pushed in to a housed position within the rack when not in use. Input and output devices, such as keyboards, mice, touch pads and display monitors are connected to the servers in the system rack to allow user access to the servers. The drawback to this solution is the loss of at least one unit of rack space that could be otherwise mounting another machine in the system rack. It would be desirable to provide an alternative solution to provide computer console functionality for a system rack without consuming valuable system rack unit space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, improved apparatus and systems of system rack enclosures are disclosed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a door for a system rack enclosure has a door body, one or more attachment devices functioning to rotatably attach the body to an enclosure, and one or more interface devices attached to a back side of the door body and positioned thereon such that, when the door body is attached to an enclosure, the one or more interface devices is within the enclosure when the door is in a closed position and accessible by a user when the door is in an open position.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention is described in a preferred embodiment in the following description with reference to the drawings, in which like numbers represent the same or similar elements, as follows:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an external appearance of a system rack, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2A shows a front view of the system rack enclosure, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2B shows a front view of the system rack enclosure in state in which the front door thereof is removed, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3A shows a perspective view of the front of the system rack enclosure in state in which the door is in an open position, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3B shows a perspective view of the front of the system rack enclosure door, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the enclosure door, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a front view of the enclosure door, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference now to the Figures, and particular with reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of an external appearance of a system rack, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. System rack 10 is of the type which is commonly used in network server systems, telephone switch gear, power supplies, and the like. FIG. 2A is a front view of the system rack enclosure, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a front view showing the system rack enclosure in state in which the front door thereof is removed.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A, system rack 10 includes an enclosure comprising an upper main body 12 and a lower main body 14, which are made of a sturdy material such as steel for example. On the upper main body 12, an open-closeable front door 16, including a handle 20 is arranged and a back door (not shown) is also arranged on a back side thereof. Servers, routers or other electronic machines can be housed in the inside upper main body 12 and accessed by opening the front door 16. The front door 16 is closely attached and fixed to the front of the upper main body 12 by three hinges 22 at a predetermined spacing on one side of front door 16. In addition, interconnection of mounted machines via rear connection sockets is performed by accessing the machines through the back door. Further, an open-closeable lower front door 18 is also arranged on lower main body 14. In addition, three door locking members 24 are also provided on the other side of door 16 at predetermined spacing on a side wall of the upper main body 12.
As shown in FIG. 2B, an internal space 27 in the upper main body 12 receives a number of machines for mounting in the system rack 10. For example, FIG. 2B shows thirteen servers 30 of the 1U size and one router 32 of the 1U size attached to system rack 10 at a predetermined spacing (e.g., 89 mm) sufficient to provide an air layer for cooling of the servers. While not shown, cabling in the rear of upper main body 12 interconnects servers 30 and router 32 and provides output cabling to connect these machines externally to system rack 10. Attachment panels 28, on which predetermined threaded holes are formed in order to secure the mounted servers 30, are disposed within internal space 27 adjacent to the openings of the upper main body 12. In a state in which the front door 16 is open, a user can place the servers 30 on the inside of the upper main body 12 and, aligning threaded holes provided in front panels of the servers and the threaded holes in the attachment panels 28, thread screws into the threaded holes to mount the machines in the system rack 10. The user can also attach the router 32 in the inside of the upper main body 12 in the same manner.
FIG. 3A shows a perspective view of the front of the system rack with the door in an open position, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B shows a perspective view of the back of the system rack enclosure door, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A computer console is provided on the inside face of the door. The computer console includes a display 36, keyboard 38 and pointing device 39. Keyboard 38 may integrally contain pointing device 39, which is a track ball or mouse, for example. Flat panel display 36, which can be a liquid crystal display or light emitting diode display, for example, provides a display monitor for a graphical user interface. Other types of input devices may also be used, such as touch screens, touch pads, audio microphones, and the like. The flat panel display 36/keyboard 38 combination is housed within an inset 32 of door 16, and is slidably mounted to mounting rail 34 to allow the flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 to be vertically positioned along the rail 34 to a preferred height for usability. Mounting rail 34 is secured to the door 16 with securing means such as brackets and screws. Keyboard 38 and pointing device 39 are shown as a single unit, but may be fixated to mounting rail 34 as two separate units in some embodiments. In an alternative preferred embodiment, display 36, keyboard 38 and pointing device 39 are contained in an integrated housing, for example as a laptop computer, and integrally mounted to door 16, for example by attachment to rail 34.
Inset 32 within door 16 is of a depth to allow mounting rail 34, flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 to be fully contained therein such that when rotated to a vertical position, flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 do not interfere with the machines 30 when door 16 is closed and secured by latches 24. Flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 are connected by hinges 40 to allow keyboard 38 to be rotatably positioned between the vertical and horizontal positions to allow for more ergonomic positioning by a user. Flat panel display 36 may also be pivotally mounted to hinges 40 or mounting rail 34 in an alternative embodiment such that the flat panel display 36 may be moved between a vertical and angled position relative to door 16.
Electronic cabling connecting machines 30 to flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 is wired through an inner conduit within mounting rail 34 (not shown), or alternatively is loosely placed within inset 32 and into an aperture (not shown) in door 16. The electronic cabling comes out of door 16 through cable harness 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2A) into enclosure 12 for connection to machines 30. Typically, such electronic cabling supplies power and electronic signaling to enable operation of flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 with an associated server mounted in enclosure 12.
With reference now to FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown, respectively, an exploded perspective view and back view of the enclosure door, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. On the inside face of door 16 is inset 32. Mounting rail 34 is equipped with various mounting brackets (not shown) to secure mounting rail 34 to door 16 within inset 32 using fastening means such as brackets and screws. Keyboard 38 and pointing device 39 are attached to flat panel display 36 by hinges 40 (FIG. 3). Flat panel display 36 is securely attached to rail bracket 37, which is slidably coupled to mounting rail 34 to allow for slidable movement along mounting rail 34 in the vertical direction. A locking mechanism (not shown) allows rail bracket 37 to be locked into position at a selected height along mounting rail 34. For example, rail bracket 37 may contain a latch member slidably secured to rail bracket 42 and biased into an extended or latched position by a spring (not shown) to secure the rail bracket 37 to the rail 34 at a selected position. The latch member would be movable between the latched position and a release position for selectively fastening the rail bracket 37 to the mounting rail 34 and releasing the rail bracket 37 from the mounting rail 34, without the use of tooling, to allow user positioning of flat panel display 36 in the vertical direction.
In an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer console is provided on the front face of the door. In this way, the console can be accessed without opening door 16. Keyboard 38, pointing device 39 and flat panel display 36 are mounted to a front side of door 16. This embodiment can be visualized by considering FIG. 3B as showing a perspective view of the front of the system rack enclosure door, and FIGS. 4 and 5, show an exploded perspective view and front view of the enclosure door, respectively, in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention. The computer console includes a display 36, keyboard 38 and pointing device 39. The flat panel display 36/keyboard 38 combination is housed within an inset 32 of door 16, and is slidably mounted to mounting rail 34 to allow the flat panel display 36 and keyboard 38 to be vertically positioned along the rail 34 to a preferred height for usability. Mounting rail 34 is secured to the door 16 with securing means such as brackets and screws. As will be appreciated, this embodiment operates similarly to the embodiment described above.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A system rack comprising:

an enclosure having rack mounting components to enable machines to be mounted within the enclosure; and

a door movably attached to the enclosure, the door having one or more user interface devices attached thereto configurable for connection to machines mounted in the enclosure to provide interface therewith.

2. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the machines are servers.

3. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the rack mounting components mount machines having a vertical height expressed in terms of a standard vertical unit of measure.

4. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the door permits access to the machines mounted within the enclosure.

5. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices are attached on a back side of the door, wherein the back side faces into the enclosure when the door is closed.

6. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices comprise a display device.

7. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices comprise a laptop computer.

8. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices comprise a keyboard.

9. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the user interface devices are rotatably mounted on the door to permit rotation of the user interface devices into a plane at an angle to the plane of the door.

10. The system rack according to claim 1, wherein the door is configurable to mount the user interface devices at a user-selected vertical position on the door.

11. A door for an enclosure comprising:

a door body;

one or more attachment devices functioning to rotatably attach the body to an enclosure; and

one or more interface devices attached to a back side of the door body and positioned thereon such that, when the door body is attached to an enclosure, the one or more interface devices are within the enclosure when the door is in a closed position and accessible by a user when the door is in an open position.

12. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices provide communication to machines in an enclosure.

13. The door according to claim 11, wherein the door permits access to machines mounted within an attached enclosure.

14. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices comprise a display device.

15. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices comprise a laptop computer.

16. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices comprise a keyboard.

17. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices are rotatably mounted on the door body to permit rotation of the interface devices into a plane at an angle to a plane defined by the longest dimension of the door body.

18. The door according to claim 11, wherein the interface devices are movably attached to the door body to permit the interface devices to be located at a user-selected vertical position on the door body.

19. The door according to claim 11, wherein the door body includes a rail and wherein the interface devices are slidably attached to the rail to permit the interface devices to be attached at a user-selected position along the rail.

20. The door according to claim 19, wherein the interface devices are enabled to slid along the rail in a vertical direction to permit the interface devices to be attached at a user-selected vertical position along the rail.