Equipment cabinet
An equipment cabinet having a corrugation in the side panels is disclosed. The panels are affixed to a base by bolting or welding so as to be disposed opposite each other. Holes are provided in opposing surfaces the so that cross members may be secured in a position between the opposing side panels of the cabinet to form a support structure for equipment, such as batteries. Equipment may also be attached using mounting brackets. An equipment retaining bracket includes a retaining cross member, an L-shaped bracket and a bolt to joint the retaining cross member and the L-shaped bracket so as to secure the battery in two dimensions. Retaining brackets may be provided at the front and the rear surfaces of the equipment and, in cooperation with the cross members, retain the equipment in the cabinet.
1. A cabinet for housing storage batteries in a power supply system, comprising:
a base;
a pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels each of the pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels having a vertical corrugation, the pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels spaced apart by a width dimension of the base;
a plurality of horizontal support shelves, the horizontal support shelves arranged in vertically spaced ranks, the horizontal support shelves sized and dimensioned to support storage batteries connectable in a series electrical string when storage batteries are installed in the cabinet; the horizontal support shelves spaced in a vertical direction by at least a height of a storage battery of a plurality of storage batteries when the storage battery is installed in the cabinet;
a first restraining lip associated with each rank of the plurality of horizontal support shelves and positioned such that installed storage batteries supported by the support shelves are restrained from motion towards a front plane of the cabinet; and
wherein a front surface of a storage battery of installed storage batteries supported on a horizontal support shelf is spaced at an increasing horizontal distance from the front plane of the cabinet than the front surface of correspondingly positioned installed storage batteries supported on an adjacent lower horizontal support shelf; and, the horizontal support shelves are fastened to each panel of the pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels at at least two horizontally-spaced fastening locations of opposing edges of the horizontal support shelves, the at least two fastening locations spaced horizontally apart from a vertical edge of the rectangular vertical panel.
2. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein a front-to-back dimension of horizontal storage shelves is at least equal a maximum horizontal dimension of a storage battery of the storage batteries and less than the front-to-back dimension of a panel of the rectangular vertical panels.
3. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein a retaining bracket is fastened to at least one horizontal support shelf and disposed on a surface thereof opposite to a surface adapted for supporting storage batteries, and dimensioned to restrain a vertical motion of storage batteries mounted in another horizontal support shelf disposed beneath the horizontal support shelf.
4. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein a retaining bracket is directly fastened to opposing vertical panels and disposable so as to restrain a vertical motion of a storage battery supported by a horizontal support shelf.
5. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein a second restraining lip is disposed opposite a rear surface of the storage batteries.
6. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the first restraining lip is fabricated from a plastic material.
7. The cabinet of claim 6 , wherein the plastic material is a polycarbonate resin thermoplastic.
8. The cabinet of claim 1 , further comprising a fairing panel, sized, dimensioned and attachable to at least one of the pair of opposing vertical panels so as to cover a region of the at least one of the pair of opposing vertical panels to which the horizontal support shelf is fastenable.
9. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the vertical spacing between adjacent ranks of storage batteries is substantially equal to a height of a storage battery of the storage batteries; and the storage batteries on each shelf are arranged in a single row.
10. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the first restraining lip is attached to the support shelf.
11. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein the restraining lip on a first and a second support shelf has a same fixed distance relationship with respect to the front of the batteries on a first and a second rank of storage batteries, respectively.
12. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of horizontal support shelves are disposed such that a front portion of a first support shelf is positioned at a first horizontal distance from the front plane and a front portion of a second support shelf is positioned at a second horizontal distance from the front plane.
13. The cabinet of claim 1 , further comprising a vertical panel disposed at a rear of the base, the vertical panel not directly fastenable to the support shelves.
14. The cabinet of claim 1 , wherein a horizontal support shelf of the plurality of horizontal support shelves is comprised of at least two cross members, adjacent cross members spaced apart in a front-to-back direction with respect to the front of the cabinet by a distance smaller than a front-to-back dimension of a storage battery of the storage batteries.
15. The cabinet of claim 1 , further comprising:
storage batteries disposed on the horizontal support shelves and connected in a series string.
16. A cabinet for housing storage batteries in a power supply system, comprising:
a base;
a plurality of storage batteries;
a pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels each of the pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels having a vertical corrugation, the pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels spaced apart by a width dimension of the base; and
a plurality of horizontal support shelves, the horizontal support shelves arranged in vertically spaced ranks, the horizontal support shelves sized and dimensioned to support storage batteries of the plurality of storage batteries in a single row on each horizontal support shelves; and, the horizontal support shelves spaced in a vertical direction by at least a height of a storage battery of the plurality of storage batteries;
a first restraining lip associated with each rank of the plurality of horizontal support shelves and positioned such that storage batteries supported by the support shelves are restrained from motion towards a front plane of the cabinet; and
a front surface of a storage battery of a rank of storage batteries is spaced at an increasing horizontal distance from the front plane of the cabinet than the front surface of a of a storage battery of an adjacent lower rank of storage batteries,
wherein the horizontal support shelves are fastened to each panel of the pair of opposing rectangular vertical panels, and the fastening locations are spaced horizontally apart from a vertical edge of the rectangular vertical panels.