Blanking panel

1. A blanking panel for occupying one or more mounting locations in an equipment rack or cabinet enclosure having spaced-apart mounting rails for mounting electronic equipment in a closely-spaced manner, which mounting rails define a plurality of predefined mounting locations spaced-apart at regular intervals, said blanking panel comprising:

a front wall; first and second end portions on opposite lateral sides of said front wall;

releasable connecting means operable to releasably connect said blanking panel to the mounting rails, with said front wall facing outward, said releasable connecting means being disposed adjacent said first and second end portions of said blanking panel;

said front wall including first and second grips operable for mounting and removal of said blanking panel to and from the mounting rails;

means for stacking said blanking panel on a lower blanking panel resting on a horizontal support surface, without external support, where the lower blanking panel has the same construction as said blanking panel;

said means for stacking being located adjacent opposite ends of said blanking panel and extending rearwardly with respect to said front wall of said blanking panel, and being operable to position said blanking panel at a fixed distance above and parallel to said lower blanking panel and to orient said blanking panel along a horizontal, lateral X axis and along a horizontal Y axis perpendicular to the X axis, relative to said lower blanking panel; and

said means for stacking including elements engageable with a front wall of said lower blanking panel and operable to limit an extent of horizontal relative movement of said blanking panel along said X and Y axes, with respect to said lower blanking panel.

2. A blanking panel, as in claim 1 , further comprising:

first and second skirt members extending along substantially an entire length of said blanking panel and projecting rearwardly, in a cantilevered manner, from first and second edges, respectively, of said front wall;

said first and second grips comprising contact members projecting forwardly of said front wall and forming laterally opening finger cavities defining laterally facing edges,

said means for stacking comprising first and second stacking supports disposed between said first and second skirt members;

each stacking support including a first portion positioned to engage a contact member of said lower blanking panel;

each stacking support including a second portion laterally spaced from said first portion of said stacking support,

said second portions of said stacking supports extending rearwardly with respect to said front wall and being positioned to be in contact with or laterally closely adjacent to laterally facing edges of finger cavities of said lower blanking panel;

said first portions of said stacking supports orienting and limiting horizontal movement of said blanking panel along said Y axis relative to said lower blanking panel; and

said second portions of said stacking supports orienting and limiting horizontal movement of said blanking panel along said X axis relative to said lower blanking panel.

3. A blanking panel, as in claim 2 , further comprising:

said first and second grips each including a forwardly-projecting contact member having a forwardly convex shape;

said front wall having first and second contact areas disposed adjacent said first and second end portions of said front wall, each contact area having a convex shape; and

radii of curvature of said contact members being substantially less than radii of curvature of said contact areas of said front wall.

4. A blanking panel, as in claim 3 , further comprising:

when said blanking panel is stacked on said lower blanking panel, a center of curvature of said contact areas of said front wall lies substantially below a center of curvature of said contact members.

5. A blanking panel for occupying one or more mounting locations in an equipment rack or cabinet enclosure having spaced-apart mounting rails for mounting electronic equipment in a closely-spaced manner, which mounting rails define a plurality of predefined mounting locations spaced-apart at regular intervals, said blanking panel comprising:

a front wall; first and second end portions on opposite lateral sides of said front wall;

releasable connecting means operable to releasably connect said blanking panel to the mounting rails, with said front wall facing outward, said releasable connecting means being disposed adjacent said first and second end portions of said blanking panel;

said front wall including first and second grips operable for mounting and removal of said blanking panel to and from the mounting rails;

means for stacking said blanking panel on a lower blanking panel resting on a horizontal support surface, without external support, where the lower blanking panel has the same construction as said blanking panel;

said means for stacking extending rearwardly with respect to said front wall of said blanking panel, and being operable to orient said blanking panel along a horizontal, lateral X axis and along a horizontal Y axis perpendicular to the X axis, relative to said lower blanking panel; and

said means for stacking being operable to limit relative movement of said blanking panel along said X and Y axes, with respect to said lower blanking panel,

said means for stacking including first stacking elements projecting rearwardly from said front wall and engageable with said first and second grips to limit relative movement of said blanking panel along said Y axis, with respect to said lower blanking panel;

said first and second grips having laterally facing edges, facing in opposite lateral directions, and

said means for stacking further including laterally spaced apart second stacking elements projecting rearwardly from said front wall and positioned for engagement with laterally facing edges of said first and second grips of said lower blanking panel to limit movement of said blanking panel along said X axis, with respect to said lower blanking panel.

6. A blanking panel, as in claim 5 , further comprising;

a pair of spaced apart alignment projections extending rearwardly from the back of said front wall adjacent to each end portion of said blanking panel;

rearward end extremities of said alignment projections being positioned adjacent to or in contact with an outer surface of a front wall of said lower blanking panel to limit or prevent rotation of said blanking panel about said X axis, with respect to said lower blanking panel.

7. A blanking panel, as in claim 5 , wherein;

said grips have forwardly projecting portions formed with forwardly convex contours;

said first stacking elements are formed with rearwardly concave contours complimentary with the convex contours of said grips and serving to limit relative movement of said blanking panel along said Y axis, with respect to said lower blanking panel.

8. A blanking panel, as in claim 7 , further comprising;

a pair of spaced apart alignment projections extending rearwardly from said front wall adjacent to each end portion of said blanking panel;

rearward end extremities of said alignment projections being positioned adjacent to or in contact with an outer surface of a front wall of said lower blanking panel to limit or prevent rotation of said blanking panel about said X axis, with respect to said lower blanking panel.

9. A blanking panel as in claim 8 , wherein

said front wall is formed with a forwardly convex front surface,

said convex front surface and said forwardly projecting portions of said grips each having a radius of curvature, and

the radius of curvature of the forwardly projecting portions of said grips being substantially less than the radius of curvature of said convex front surface.

10. A blanking panel as in claim 8 , wherein

said front wall is formed with a forwardly convex front surface,

said convex front surface and said forwardly projecting portions of said grips each have a center of curvature, and

the center of curvature of the forwardly projecting portions of said grips is spaced forwardly of the center of curvature of said convex front surface.

11. A blanking panel as in claim 5 , wherein

said grips have portions extending forwardly of said front wall and defining finger receiving cavities disposed at an acute angle to the front wall, and

said forwardly extending portions of said grips define edges engageable by said second stacking elements.

12. A blanking panel as in claim 11 , wherein

said finger receiving cavities are of closed cross sectional shapes and have openings facing laterally outward toward the end portions of said blanking panel, and

said second stacking elements are positioned to extend rearward from bottom wall portions of said cavities and, when said blanking panel is stacked onto a lower blanking panel, to extend at adjacent to the finger-receiving cavities of said lower blanking panel.

13. A blanking panel according to claim 11 , wherein

said blanking panel is configured as two panels, each of a height of 1 U, to form a rigid double panel of a height of 2 U,

said double panel having at least one set of first and second grips and at least one set of first and second stacking means associated with said grips for limiting movement of said double panel along said X and Y axes, with respect to a similar double panel positioned directly below.