Custom Rack-Mount Enclosures
A rack-mount box has to meet the rack at its ears and clear the rails, doors, and cable around it. K-Display makes rack-mount enclosures, shelves, ears, and adapter brackets for 19-inch racks, on ears alone or with slides, delivered bare, powder coated, or with hardware and slides fitted.
Where the box meets the rack
A rack-mount enclosure fastens to the rack’s front rails at a set height and holds its equipment at a depth the rack can take. The 19-inch convention fixes the panel width, the rail opening, and the hole spacing. The height in rack units, the rail hole type and fastener, the depth, and the slide provisions decide the rest.
Everything behind the ears depends on the rack it goes into: the spacing between front and rear rails, the room for connectors and cable bend at the rear, and the side clearance around slides. Those three dimensions set the depth of the box, where the slide members mount, and how far the rear panel can carry connectors, so we settle them with the rack drawing before the body is formed.
The ears meet the front rails while the slides support the enclosure along its sides. Box depth and slide position must leave the rear space that connectors and cable bends will need.
Rack-mount parts
- Rack-mount enclosures
- Formed bodies and front panels in rack-unit heights, with ears or flanges drilled or slotted for the rack’s fastener, slide mounting to the slide maker’s drawing, and a depth that fits the equipment.
- Rack shelves
- Fixed shelves that mount to the front rails or to front and rear rails, and sliding shelves on specified slides, sized to the rack depth.
- Rack ears and brackets
- Separate ears, rear support brackets, and adapter plates that mount existing equipment in a rack, made to the rail hole pattern and fastener.
- Enclosures with hardware and slides
- Enclosures with standoffs, ground studs, captive screws, and handles installed and slide members fitted, finished in the specified color.
What decides fit in the rack
- Rack units, ears, and fasteners
- The ears fasten the box to the rail, so height in rack units, ear hole shape, and ear position (front, mid, or set back) decide whether the holes land on the rail holes. We cut round or slotted holes for the rack’s thread or cage nut and hold height a little under the full rack-unit pitch.
- Depth and rear clearance
- Doors and handles in front of the ears, connectors and cable bend behind the rear panel, and anything sharing the rear such as rails or a PDU all limit depth and width. We check the depth and the rear connector cutouts against that clearance before cutting.
- Slides and weight
- Slides carry the loaded weight and mount to the box at hole positions and side clearance set by the slide maker’s drawing. We locate the slide mounting holes from that drawing, keep the mounting areas coated or bare as the slide needs, and set screws flush through the slide travel.
- Vents, fans, and airflow direction
- Side vents are often blocked by rack rails or slides, so airflow direction decides where vent area and fan openings can go. We cut vent patterns and fan openings from the thermal design and size or mask them for coating.
- Hardware order and bare faces
- Powder coat insulates and cures hot, so hardware and bare faces are sequenced around it. We press self-clinching standoffs, nuts, and studs in before coating with threads masked, fit captive screws and handles with plastic or spring parts after the cure, and keep ear faces bare for metal contact.
From ear holes to a fitted enclosure
Ear holes, cutouts, and slide mounts are laid out together before the body is formed, so a change for the slide never lands on a part already coated.
Review the rack interface and the box together
Check the rack units, ear holes, depth, and slide provisions against each other and the EIA/ECA-310 rack convention, and confirm the cutouts and hardware before cutting.
Cut, form, and join
Laser cut or punch the body and front panel with their openings, form the flanges and ears, and join the body by welding or fastening.
Install hardware, coat, and fit
Install self-clinching hardware, mask threads and bonding areas, and powder coat. Then fit handles, covers, slide members, and any captive screws with plastic or spring parts.
Specify the rack as well as the box
Send the rail hole type and fastener alongside the enclosure model, then add the slide maker's mounting drawing. The front mounting pattern and the side clearance are separate constraints on the same box.
The ear's mounting slots have to meet the rail's hole pattern. Rail hole style and the selected fastener determine the final slot size and position on the enclosure drawing.
The rack and the box
The rack interface and the front panel layout are what the quote starts from.
- Enclosure drawing or model
- STEP model or drawing with material, thickness, height in rack units, depth, and front and rear cutouts dimensioned from datums.
- Rack interface
- Rack model or rail hole type, rack fastener, and ear hole shape and position.
- Slides and weight
- Slide part number and mounting drawing, and the loaded weight of the unit.
- Hardware and finish
- Captive screw, standoff, ground stud, handle, and slide part numbers, who supplies them, coating color and texture, and areas left bare.
- Quantities and delivery state
- Quantity, delivery date, and bare, finished, or fully fitted.