US 7,601,922 B2
Cable pathway patch panel rack with waterfall base
Lars R. Larsen, Old Lyme, Conn. (US); and Stewart A. Levesque, Scotland, Conn. (US)
Assigned to Ortronics, Inc., New London, Conn. (US)
Filed on Jun. 04, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/810,063.
Prior Publication US 2008/0017760 A1, Jan. 24, 2008
Int. Cl. H02G 3/04 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 174—481  [174/58; 174/68.1; 174/68.3; 174/72 A; 439/540.49; 385/135] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A data communications port mounting assembly, comprising:
a) a first mounting bracket and a second mounting bracket, each of the first and second mounting brackets including a support surface, a front side surface, and a rear side surface, the support surface including a bottom portion and a top portion, the bottom portion of the support surface being disposed between the front side surface and the rear side surface, and the top portion of the support surface being disposed above the bottom portion thereof; and
b) a waterfall base mounted between the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket, the waterfall base including a rear portion and a front portion, the front portion being disposed in front of the rear portion, the rear portion defining a horizontally-extending surface disposed between the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket, the rear portion further including opposite horizontal ends at which the waterfall base is mounted to the bottom portion of the support surface of the first mounting bracket, and to the bottom portion of the support surface of the second mounting bracket, respectively, the front portion defining a horizontally-extending surface disposed in front of the horizontally-extending surface defined by the rear portion, the front portion further including opposite horizontal ends;
wherein the top portion of the support surface of each of the first and second mounting brackets includes at least one upwardly extending cable management pathway mounting feature adapted to permit the respective mounting bracket to be securely mounted to an underneath portion of a cable management pathway so as to permit the data communications port mounting assembly to be supported by the underneath portion of the cable management pathway;
wherein at least one of: 1) the front side surface of the first mounting bracket and the front side surface of the second mounting bracket, or 2) the rear side surface of the first mounting bracket and the rear side surface of the second mounting bracket, cooperate to define a corresponding front or rear side mounting surface sized, shaped, oriented, and configured to permit complementary structure of a patch panel for hosting a plurality of data communications ports to be securely mounted to the data communications port mounting assembly above the waterfall base; and
wherein each horizontal end of the opposite horizontal ends of the front portion of the waterfall base defines a respective curved drop-off portion sized, shaped, oriented, and configured to permit electrical cables extending vertically upward from electrical equipment disposed beneath the waterfall base to the patch panel mounted above the waterfall base to maintain a desired bend radius.