Stressed modular desk system

• US 5,746,488 A
• Filed: 10/12/1995
• Issued: 05/05/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lacour Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Lacour Incorporated
• Inventors: LaCour, Paul M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Peter R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anderson, Gerald A.
• Application Number:
  US08/542,170
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 312/194, 312/196, 312/198, 312/257.1, 312/265.2, 312/265.4
• US Class Current: 312/196
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 2200/0078 Control consoles or desks
• 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 stressed modular desk system employs a core having an interior raceway and a substantially open top, whereby the raceway is accessible from above. Electronic equipment, such as computer monitors, can be mounted on a plurality of platforms, each platform being supported from a support structure which extends between opposite ends of the raceway core and which spans the raceway without significantly obstructing the open top of the raceway core. At least one of the platforms is supported in cantilevered fashion by the support structure.

Claims

1. A stressed modular desk system, comprising a core having an interior raceway extending longitudinally from one end of said core to an opposite end of said core and a substantially open top, whereby said raceway is accessible through said open top of said core;

mounting means, including a plurality of platforms, for mounting electronic equipment therefrom;

supporting means, extending from said one end of said core to said opposite end of said core and spanning said raceway without significantly obstructing said open top of said core, for supporting said platforms such that each of said platforms extends outwardly from said supporting means above said raceway, at least one of said platforms being supported in a cantilevered fashion by said supporting means;

a face panel removably attached to one side of said core; and

a work top extending outwardly from said one side of said core, said work top being removably attached to said face panel, whereby said work top can be detached from said face panel and removed from said core or said panel can be detached from said core and removed therefrom together with said work top.

2. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising a telecommunication module for mounting telecommunication equipment in said desk system, said telecommunication module including a housing, a crib, which is pivotally mounted on said housing and which is sized and shaped so as to receive telecommunication equipment therein, and another mounting means for mounting said housing from a rear side of said work top in a cantilevered fashion, said another mounting means including a clip, which is attached to a front side of said housing and which is sized and shaped so as to engage a mating clip mounted along said rear side of said work top, and said housing having an extension sized and shaped so as to be supported on an upper end of said face panel when said housing is mounted from said work top.

3. The desk system of claim 1, wherein said at least one of said platforms includes a support panel for supporting electronic equipment thereon;

a connector attached along a rear edge of said support panel, said connector being sized and shaped so as to engage mating one of slats provided on said supporting means, whereby said connector can be engaged with and disengaged from selected slats to thereby vary the position of said at least one of said platforms;

pivoting means for allowing said connector to pivot relative to said support panel, whereby the angular orientation of said support panel is adjustable with respect to said supporting means when said connector is engaged with one of said slats; and

an articulatable support leg having one end, which is attached to said support panel, and an opposite end, which is sized and shaped so as to be supported on an upper end of said face panel.

4. The desk system of claim 1, wherein said work top includes connecting means for connecting said work top to an adjacent work top of another desk system when said desk system is used in forming a cluster of side-by-side workstations.

5. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising housing means, positioned within said core and movable along said raceway between said one end of said core and said opposite end of said core, for housing electronic equipment.

6. The desk system of claim 5, wherein said housing means is movable between a retracted position, in which said housing means is located completely within said core, and an extended position, in which said housing means projects outwardly from said core, whereby electronic equipment carried by said housing means is more readily accessible when said housing means is in its said extended position.

7. The desk system of claim 6, further comprising holding means, positioned within said core and movable along said raceway between said one end of said core and said opposite end of said core, for holding fiber optic cables.

8. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising another face panel removably attached to an opposite side of said core;

and another work top extending outwardly from said opposite side of said core, said another work top being removably attached to said another face panel, whereby said another work top can be detached from said another face panel and removed from said core or said another face panel can be detached from said core and removed therefrom together with said another work top.

9. The desk system of claim 8, further comprising first accessing means in said face panel for accessing said raceway from said one side of said core and second accessing means in said another face panel for accessing said raceway from said opposite side of said core.

10. The desk system of claim 9, wherein said supporting means extends along a central longitudinal axis of said core.

11. The desk system of claim 10, wherein said at least one of said platforms includes a first platform extending outwardly from said supporting means towards said one side of said core and second platform extending outwardly from said supporting means towards said opposite side of said core, whereby said first and second platforms extend outwardly from opposite sides of said supporting means.

12. The desk system of claim 11, further comprising first housing means, positioned within said core between said central longitudinal axis thereof and said face panel, for housing electronic equipment, said first housing means being movable along said raceway between said one end of said core and said opposite end of said core, and second housing means, positioned within said core between said central longitudinal axis thereof and said another face panel, for housing electronic equipment, said second housing, means being movable along said raceway between said one end of said core and said opposite end of said core.

13. The desk system of claim 12, wherein said first housing means is movable between a retracted position, in which said first housing means is located completely within said core, and an extended position, in which said housing means projects outwardly from said core through said first accessing means, whereby electronic equipment carried by said first housing means is more readily accessible when said first housing means is in its said extended position, and wherein said second housing means is movable between a retracted position, in which said second housing means is located completely within said core, and an extended position, in which said second housing means projects outwardly from said core through said second accessing means, whereby electronic equipment carried by said second housing means is more readily accessible when said second housing means is in its said extended position.

14. The desk system of claim 13, further comprising first holding means, positioned within said core between said central longitudinal axis thereof and said face panel, for holding fibre optic cables, said first holding means being movable along said raceway between said one end of said core and said opposite end of said core, and second holding means, positioned within said core between said central longitudinal axis thereof and said another face panel, for holding fiber optic cables, said second holding means being movable along said raceway between said one end of said core and said opposite end of said core.

15. The desk system of claim 8, wherein said work top defines a first work station and wherein said another work top defines a second work station, whereby said first and second work stations are arranged back-to-back.

16. The desk system of claim 15, wherein said core is freestanding and wherein said raceway is common to said first and second work stations and is large enough to constitute a crawlspace.

17. The desk system of claim 1, wherein said raceway is shaped and sized to constitute a crawlspace.

18. The desk system of claim 5, wherein said face panel includes a plurality of C-shaped posts, an upper strut, which extends between upper ends of said posts, a lower strut, which extends between lower ends of said posts, and another mounting means for mounting said housing means within said core from said upper strut.

19. The desk system of claim 18, wherein said mounting means includes a bracket extending along said upper strut.

20. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising a support panel for supporting said work top thereon, said support panel being removably attached to said work top and to said face panel, whereby said work top can be detached from said face panel by detaching said support panel from said face panel.

21. The desk system of claim 5, further comprising another mounting means for mounting said housing from an upper end of said face panel.

22. The desk system of claim 21, wherein said another mounting means includes a bracket extending along said upper end of said face panel.

23. The desk system of claim 22, wherein said housing includes a pair of beams suspended from said bracket.

24. The desk system of claim 23, wherein said housing means further includes a plurality of trays slidably mounted between said beams, each of said trays being movable between a retracted position, in which it is located completely within said core, and an extended position, in which it projects outwardly from said core through said face panel, whereby electronic equipment carried on said trays is more readily accessible when said trays are in their extended position.

25. The desk system of claim 21, wherein said at least one of said platforms includes a support leg having one end, which is attached to said at least one of said platforms, and an opposite end, which is mounted on said another mounting means.

26. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising housing means for housing telecommunication equipment between said supporting means and said work top.

27. The desk system of claim 26, further comprising another mounting means for mounting said housing means from one side of said work top in a cantilevered fashion.

28. The desk system of claim 27, wherein said housing means includes a crib which is pivotable relative to said housing means and which is sized and shaped so as to receive telecommunication equipment therein.

29. The desk system of claim 27, further comprising a work top extension mounted from said one side of said work top in a cantilevered fashion.

30. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising accessing means, mounted in said face panel, for accessing said raceway from said one side of said core.

31. The desk system of claim 30, wherein said face panel includes a pair of C-shaped posts, one of said posts being positioned at said one end of said core, and another of said posts being positioned at said opposite end of said core.

32. The desk system of claim 31, wherein said face panel includes a pair of struts interconnecting said posts.

33. The desk system of claim 32, wherein said accessing means includes a door slidably mounted on a track provided in said face panel.

34. The desk system of claim 33, wherein said face panel is sized and shaped so as to allow said door to move from said face panel to an adjacent face panel of another desk system when said desk system is used in forming a cluster of side-by-side workstations.

35. The desk system of claim 1, further comprising providing means for providing electricity to electrical devices accommodated in or on said desk system.

36. The desk system of claim 35, wherein said providing means includes a strip of electrical outlets, said strip of electrical outlets being removably mounted within said raceway.

37. The desk system of claim 1, wherein said supporting means includes connecting means for connecting said supporting means to adjacent supporting means of another desk system when said desk system is used in forming a cluster of side-by-side workstations.

39. The desk system of claim 1, wherein said supporting means is constructed as a module, said module including a slat wall partition, which has a generally planar construction and which includes a plurality of slats sized and shaped so as to removably receive a mating connector provided on said at least one of said platforms, whereby said connector can be engaged with and disengaged from selected slats to thereby vary the position of said at least one of said platforms, and a pair of support posts depending from opposite ends of said slat wall partition, one of said pair of posts being attached to said one end of said core and another of said pair of posts being attached to said other end of said core.

40. The desk system of claim 39, wherein said slats are downwardly projecting, whereby said connector can be disengaged from said slats by upwardly pivoting said at least one of said platforms.

38. A stressed modular desk, comprising a core having a pair of ends, a pair of sides, a bottom and a substantially open top;

a raceway extending from one end of said core to the other end of said core, from one side of said core to the other side of said core and from said bottom of said core to said open top of said core, said raceway being accessible through said open top of said core and being shaped and sized so as to constitute a crawlspace;

mounting means, including a plurality of platforms, for mounting electronic equipment therefrom;

supporting means, extending from said one end of said core to said other end of said core and spanning said raceway without significantly obstructing said open top of said core and hence said raceway, for supporting said platforms such that each of said platforms extends outwardly from said supporting means above said raceway, at least one of said platforms being supported in a cantilevered fashion by said supporting means;

a work top extending outwardly from said one side of said core so as not to obstruct said open top of said core and hence said raceway; and

a cowling pivotally mounted from said supporting means, said cowling extending outwardly in a cantilevered fashion from said supporting means above said mounting means, whereby said cowling at least partially covers electronic equipment mounted on said mounting means.

41. The desk system of claim 38, wherein said supporting means includes a slat wall module having a slat wall partition, which includes a generally planar construction and a plurality of downwardly projecting slats sized and shaped so as to removably receive mating connectors provided on said platforms, whereby said connectors can be engaged with and disengaged from selected slats to thereby vary the position of said platforms and whereby said connectors can be disengaged from said slats by upwardly pivoting said platforms, and a pair of support posts depending from opposite ends of said slat wall partition, one of said support post being sized and shaped so as to be attached to said one end of said core, and another of said support post being sized and shaped so as to be attached to said other end of said core.

42. The desk system of claim 41, wherein some of said slats are arranged on one side of said slat wall partition and some of said slats are arranged on an opposite side of said slat wall partition.

43. The desk system of claim 41, further comprising connecting means for connecting said slat wall partition to an adjacent slat wall partition.

45. The desk system of claim 38, wherein said core is freestanding.

44. A stressed modular desk, comprising a core having a pair of ends a pair of sides, a bottom and a substantially open top;

a raceway extending from one end of said core to the other end of said core, from one side of said core to the other side of said core and from said bottom of said core to said open top of said core, said raceway being accessible through said open top of said core and being shaped and sized so as to constitute a crawlspace;

mounting means including a plurality of platforms, for mounting electronic equipment therefrom;

supporting means, extending from said one end of said core to said other end of said core and spanning said raceway without significantly obstructing said open top of said core and hence said raceway, for supporting said platforms such that each of said platforms extends outwardly from said supporting means above said raceway, at least one of said platforms being supported in a cantilevered fashion by said supporting means;

a work top extending outwardly from said one side of said core so as not to obstruct said open top of said core and hence said raceway;

a face panel, which is removably attached to said one side of said core;

a rack module mounted within said core and including a pair of beams and a plurality of trays, which are slidably mounted between said beams, each of said trays being movable between a retracted position, in which it is located completely within said core, and an extended position, in which it projects outwardly from said core, said trays being sized and shaped so as to support electronic equipment thereon; and

another mounting means for mounting said beams from an upper end of said face panel.