Self-supporting data processing desk module with detachable and longitudinally shiftable exhaust fan assembly and adjustable angle, reversible video deck bridges with front and rear continuous sweep grommets

• US 5,499,868 A
• Filed: 08/31/1994
• Issued: 03/19/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Woodtronics Incorporated (SPBS, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Woodtronics Incorporated (SPBS, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schainholz, Alfred
• Primary Examiner(s): Brittain, James R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anderson, Gerald A.
• Application Number:
  US08/298,752
• Time in Patent Office: 566 Days
• Field of Search: 312/213, 312/223.3, 312/236, 165/80.2, 165/47, 454/306, 454/230, 454/49
• US Class Current: 312/236
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 2200/06 Desks with inlet and evacuation of air
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 83/001 Office desks or work-stations combined with other pieces of furniture, e.g. work space management systems

Abstract

A trading desk cluster of back-to-back, side-to-side paired desk modules employs a generally enclosed cabinet for mounting internally electronic data processing equipment, which develops high heat under load. The enclosed cabinet includes an apertured front wall for passage of cooling air and carries internally a fan assembly including a box-like plenum chamber, from which rises at the rear an upright outlet duct sized smaller than the open lower end of a vertical chimney at the rear of the desk. Tilting of the fan assembly permits the outlet duct to project vertically upward within the chimney and locked to the lower end thereof. The fan assembly is mounted on an angle bar for tilting and for supporting the fan assembly for sliding longitudinally to a position so as to overlie and be centered with the underlying processing equipment such as a CPU. A plurality of side-by-side flat video bridges are detachably interfitted between a rear edge of the desk top work surface and the back panel and extend coplanar with the desk top work surface. Each flat video bridge has at least one rectangular flat panel and a continuous brush-type sweep grommet extending lengthwise along at least one of front and rear edges of the panel. The bridges may be reversibly front-to-back mounted and may be hinged along one front or rear edge for adjustable oblique inclination of the bridge panels. The communication cables pass readily through the brush bristles of the grommets for facilitating connections between internal and external data processing equipment.

Claims

1. In a data processing desk comprising:

a generally enclosed cabinet for mounting internally electronic data processing equipment which develops high heat under load,

said enclosed cabinet including an apertured wall for passage of cooling air into the interior of the cabinet, means comprising closely spaced vertical walls extending upwardly from the rear of said cabinet defining a vertical chimney and open at a lower end to the interior of said cabinet, the improvement comprising;

a fan assembly including a box like plenum chamber,

an air inlet opening within a wall of said fan assembly proximate to said equipment,

said plenum chamber including an upright outlet duct spaced from said air inlet and sized smaller than the open lower end of said chimney, means for supporting said plenum chamber within the interior of said cabinet with said outlet duct projecting vertically upwardly within said chimney at said lower end thereof, with a front face of said outlet duct abutting the lower end of one of said closely spaced vertical walls proximate to the apertured wall of said cabinet, whereby tilting of the plenum chamber about said support means permits the fan assembly to be detachably mounted within said cabinet and maintained by contact between said outlet duct and said vertical chimney, whereby operation of said fan assembly causes cooling air to enter the apertured wall of said cabinet to pass over and about said electronic processing equipment to be drawn into the fan assembly through said inlet and discharged vertically upwardly through said vertical outlet duct for passage through said chimney to efficiently cool said electronic data processing equipment.

2. The data processing desk as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support means comprises an angle bar extending longitudinally through said cabinet from one side to the other and being fixed to said cabinet, wherein said plenum chamber includes a stepped bottom wall in abutment with said angle bar, and said angle bar is spaced some distance below said closely spaced vertical walls such that a rear of said plenum chamber and said vertical upright outlet duct may be inserted into the lower end of said chimney, with said stepped bottom wall of said plenum chamber proximate to said angle bar and the plenum chamber tilted clockwise from a horizontal orientation thereof, and wherein said angle bar includes a vertically upright portion having an upper edge acting as a pivot axis for the stepped bottom wall of said plenum such that the plenum chamber after insertion of the vertical upright outlet duct into said chimney rotates counterclockwise to reposition the plenum chamber horizontally within the cabinet, with a front face of the vertical upright outlet duct in contact with the rear face of one of said spaced vertical walls defining said chimney to maintain the fan assembly in proper position with respect to the underlying electronic data processing equipment.

3. The data processing desk as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stepped bottom wall and the mass of the fan assembly is such that the fan assembly tends to rotate counterclockwise about the pivot axis defined by the angle bar to gravity seat the vertical upright outlet duct within the chimney and in contact with the spaced vertical wall proximate to said angle bar.

4. The data processing desk as claimed in claim 1, wherein said longitudinally extending angle bar extends lengthwise of the cabinet and constitutes a rail, whereby said fan assembly may be slid longitudinally along the rail to align the position of the fan assembly to that of the electronic data processing equipment to maximize cooling of the equipment during operation of the fan assembly.

5. The data processing desk as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of longitudinally spaced vertical reinforcing partition studs between said closely spaced vertical walls, separating said chimney into a plurality of side-by-side chimney sections, and wherein the width of the plenum chamber is sized to the longitudinal spacing between said upright reinforcing partition studs, thereby confining the flow of cooling air discharging from the outlet of said vertical upright outlet duct, thereby facilitating the flow of cooling air from the exterior through the apertured wall of the cabinet over the equipment and outwardly of said chimney section.

6. The data processing desk as claimed in claim 3, wherein said fan assembly includes a pancake axial fan mounted to the stepped bottom wall of said plenum chamber and to the side of said rail remote from said vertical upright outlet duct.