Electro-magnetically shielded door hinge

Claim 2

An EM shielded hinge structure for hinging a metallic access door to a metallic cabinet having a plurality of side panels, said hinge structure comprising: a hinge tab extending from and integral with one side edge of said access door, said tab having a lower edge, an upper edge and an outer edge, said tab being bent at a first acute angle from the plane of the door, and a portion of said tab lower edge extending outwardly, thereby forming a notch between said tab and said one side edge of said access door; and tab receiving means located in one of said side panels for receiving said hinge tab and for providing support for pivoting said hinge tab in a hinged relationship therewith, said tab receiving means including a first elongated slot in siad one side panels having a slot length coextensive with the length of said tab outer edge, said tab receiving means also including a raised metal arch extending inwardly from and integral with said side panel and bridging the central portion of said slot, said raised arch spaced apart from the surface of said side panel to permit said tab outer edge to freely rotate when said access door is swung open and closed, said arch forming an electro-magnetic shield to radiation otherwise leaking through said elongated slot.

Claim 3

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said raised metal arch further comprises: an arched strip of metal having a plurality of second elongated slots formed lateral to the longitudinal axis of said strip to facilitate forming said strip into said arch during fabrication thereof.

Claim 4

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said plurality of second elongated slots are evenly spaced along said longitudinal axis.

Claim 5

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said arch is integrally formed from said one side panel by stamping a section of said one side panel prior to forming said first elongated slot.

Claim 6

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 4 wherein a lower inside edge of said first elongated slot and the upper inside edge of said notch are in sliding engagement for opening and closing said access door to said metallic cabinet.

Claim 7

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 5 wherein said hinge tab is bent at a second location closer to said tab outer edge and at substantially the same acute angle but in the opposite direction of said first acute angle thereby causing said tab outer edge to be substantially parallel to the plane of said access door.

Claim 8

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 6 wherein said different location is chosen to cause said end portion of said tab to be flush with the inside surface of said one side panel when said access door is in a closed position relative to said side panel.

Claim 9

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 7 wherein said arch is stamped prior to forming said first elongated slot thereby forming a third slot lateral to the location of said first elongated slot.

Claim 10

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 8 wherein said tab is tapered to facilitate insertion into said fast elongated slot.

Claim 11

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 9 wherein said first elongated slot is longer than said hinge tab.

Claim 12

An EM shielded hinge structure as defined in claim 10 wherein said metallic cabinet is made of sheet metal.

Claim 13

An EM shielded metallic enclosure having a plurality of side panels and at least one access door hinged to one of the side panels by a plurality of hinges, each hinge comprising: a metallic tab member integral with one edge of said access door and extending therefrom at a first acute angle relative to the extended plane of said access door, said metallic tab member having an upper edge portion, a lower edge portion and a free end portion, said free end portion being bent at a second acute angle such that said free end portion of said metallic tab member is substantially parallel to the plane of said access door, said lower edge portion having a notch adjacent to said one edge of said access door; and tab receiving means provided on one of said side panels for receiving said metallic tab member and for providing support for pivoting said metallic tab member in a hinged relationship therewith, said tab receiving means including a first elongated rectangular slot having a slot length L suitable for receiving said free end portion of said metallic tab member, said tab receiving means also including: a raised metal continuous arch extending inwardly from and integral with said one side panel and bridging the central portion of said elongated rectangular slot, said raised arch being spaced apart from the surface of said one side panel to permit said free end portion of said metallic tab member to freely rotate when said access door is swung open and closed, said arch having a width W and forming an electro-magnetic shield to radiation otherwise leaking through said elongated rectangular slot.

Claim 14

An EM shielded metallic enclosure having a plurality of side panels and at least one access door hinged to one of the side panels by a plurality of hinges, each hinge comprising: a metallic tab member integral with one edge of said access door and extending therefrom at a first acute angle relative to the extended plane of said access door, said metallic tab member having an upper edge portion, a lower edge portion and a free end portion, said free end portion being bent at a second acute angle such that said free end portion of said metallic tab member is substantially parallel to the plane of said access door, said lower edge portion having a notch adjacent to said one edge of said access door; and tab receiving means provided on one of said side panels for receiving said metallic tab member and for providing support for pivoting said metallic tab member in a hinged relationship therewith, said tab receiving means including a first elongated rectangular slot having a slot length L suitable for receiving said free end portion of said metallic tab member, said tab receiving means also including: a raised metal continuous arch extending inwardly from and integral with said one side panel and bridging the central portion of said elongated rectangular slot, said raised arch being spaced apart from the surface of said one side panel to permit said free end portion of said metallic tab member to freely rotate when said access door is swung open and closed, said arch having a width W and forming an electro-magnetic shield to radiation otherwise leaking through said elongated rectangular slot.

Claim 15

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 12 wherein said raised metal arch further comprises: an arched strip of metal of width W≧4/L, said arched strip having a plurality of second elongated slots <W in length and spaced lateral to the longitudinal axis of said strip to facilitate forming said arched strip into said arch during fabrication thereof.

Claim 16

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 13 wherein said arch is integrally formed from said one side panel by stamping a section of said one side panel prior to forming said first elongated rectangular slot.

Claim 17

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 14 wherein a lower inside edge of said first elongated rectangular slot and the inside edge of said notch are in sliding engagement for opening and closing said access door to said metallic enclosure.

Claim 18

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 15 wherein said arch is stamped prior to forming said first elongated rectangular slot thereby forming a third slot lateral to the location of said first elongated rectangular slot.

Claim 19

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 16 wherein said upper edge portion of said tab member is tapered to facilitate insertion of said tab member into said first elongated rectangular slot.

Claim 20

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 17 wherein said slot length L is longer than said free end portion of said metallic tab member.

Claim 21

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 18 wherein said plurality of hinges is 3.

Claim 22

An EM shielded metallic enclosure as defined in claim 19 wherein said metallic enclosure is made of sheet metal.