The tieline hanger bar was a cool idea but it also tended to catch ears and noses...
Swing RacksI've been building racks that split, crack, open, hinge, swing, and flop open in various ways since 1978. Usually the reason is to achieve better access to the rear of the equipment, to improve wiring cable access, and to maximize density in tight spaces. Here's a few examples from the past. The Swing Rack Lives On... at Signal Transport! |
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The first Swing Racks built into a tight basement space at Elfstrom-Hilmer productions in approx. 1980. I installed a bunch of 16MM film equipment into them. Left: Closed Right: Open. Note the storage cabinets which went into the space between the racks when closed. |
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Another pioneering swing rack design, including a
pre-packaged back cabinet, power distribution, and audio tieline panels
designed into the space between the swing rack pair. Built and installed
for M.C. Hammer. Incidentally this was the job where I met Steve Young,
who later came on staff at DCE and is still one of my trusted associates.
The tieline hanger bar was a cool idea but it also tended to catch ears and noses... |
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A detail of the swing rack design at Disney Feature Animation. I went totally crazy with sheet metal design, spent weeks in autocad. In order to reduce cost I thought the whole thing should be made from sheet metal (instead of tubular steel). I ended up with a million parts to manage. This was the last one we did like this... back to tubes. |
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Here's an example of an early design, the "split rack". A wood cabinet rack is built in two parts with a piano hinge down the side. The front is deeper than the back. Patch bays and equipment go in front of the front section, cross connects go in the back of the front section. Tie panels and interfaces go in the back of the back section. Open it up to get at the cross connect and make changes. This was a portable effects setup for Dale Strumpell. |
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Not all Swing Racks go the same way... we built several of these "swing down" racks for equipment credenzas. They had a cool delrin bushing with a removable pivot peg, which was adjustable for perfect alignment within the cabinet opening. This pix is from Walter Afanasieff's studio. We did more but I don't remember where... |