Modular office furniture system

• US 6,189,268 B1
• Filed: 06/04/1999
• Issued: 02/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hon. Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Paoli, Inc. (HNI Corporation)
• Inventors: Jaqua, John Judson III, Carr, Roger John
• Primary Examiner(s): CHILCOT, RICHARD E
• Application Number:
  US09/325,991
• Time in Patent Office: 627 Days
• Field of Search: 52/32, 52/361-36, 522/39, 522/207, 522/203, 522/202, 108/50.02, 108/42, 108/47, 108/48, 108/106-109, 108/144, 312/194, 312/195, 312/223.6, 312/223.3, 312/223.2, 174/48
• US Class Current: 52/36.1
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 21/06 characterised by means for holding, fastening or concealing cables
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 83/001 Office desks or work-stations combined with other pieces of furniture, e.g. work space management systems
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 96/067 Horizontal rails as suspension means in a cantilever arrangement suspension fittings for cabinets to be hung on walls A47B95/008
• CPC Class Codes: A47B 97/001 Wall mounting or suspension arrangements for blackboards or the like easels or stands A47B97/04

Abstract

The Village Wall system utilizes furniture, equipment, components, and accessories in the creation of unique office designs. Two parallel rails are attached to existing walls and support fixed tackboards and rolling accessories, e.g., markerboards, shelves, bookcases, etc. An outrigger beam is releasably connected, orthogonally, anywhere along the length of one of the rails. The other end of the outrigger beam is fixed to a pedestal which rotatably supports a work surface. Electrical power and communication services are provided through a wire managing service zone attached to the existing wall, a wire managing channel formed in the outrigger beam, a wire and cable storage facility within the interior of the pedestal, and through a grommet to the top of the work surface. Work areas without walls are defined by the location of the work surface along the existing wall.

Claims

1. A wall assembly for mounting to an existing wall, comprising:

a tackboard having a first top edge and a first bottom edge;

a rolling panel including a second top edge with top rollers attached and a second bottom edge with bottom rollers attached; and

an upper rail and a lower rail;

said upper rail comprising a unitary extrusion having an upper wall attachment for attaching said upper rail to the existing wall, a wire management channel, guide flanges for guiding said top rollers, and an upper constraining flange for constraining said first top edge; and

said lower rail comprising a unitary extrusion having a lower wall attachment for attaching said lower rail to the existing wall, a supporting said bottom rollers, and a lower constraining flange for constraining said first bottom lower edge.

2. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein said upper and lower wall attachments each comprise a flanged recess, and upper and lower hanger brackets fixed to the existing wall and received into said flanged recesses of said upper and lower wall attachments, respectively.

3. The wall assembly of claim 1, wherein said upper and lower constraining flanges define notches which respectively receive said first top edge and said first bottom edge comprises a tackboard.

4. The wall assembly of claim 1 wherein said rolling panel is a markerboard.

5. The wall assembly of claim 4 wherein said markerboard comprises a whiteboard.

6. The wall assembly of claim 1 wherein said tackboard comprises a bulletin board made of a sheet of cork.

7. The wall assembly of claim 6 further comprising a plurality of tackboards, sufficient to cover the existing wall.

8. The wall assembly of claim 7 wherein said plurality of tackboards are covered with decorative coverings comprising materials, patterns, textures, and colors.

9. The wall assembly of claim 1 further comprising two of said tracks, spaced apart and parallel, and two of said rolling panels which are supported by said tracks for sliding, overlapping movement.

10. An electrical service panel assembly for attachment to a wall, comprising:

a plurality of horizontally spaced brackets fixed to the wall, each of said brackets including two vertically spaced panel-engaging surfaces;

a plurality of elongated, rectangular access panels removably attached to said brackets;

said access panels, when attached to said brackets, defining an elongated slot extending along the entire length of said access panels;

a flexible brush strip fixed relative to said access panels to cover said elongated slot; and

said wall, brackets, and brush strip enclosing an interior volume for housing wires and cables, and wire managers for managing said wires and cables while permitting egress of said wires and cables through said brush strip at any point along said entire length of said slot.

11. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 10 wherein said brackets comprise a rigid strap material.

12. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 10, wherein said brackets have a horizontally extending portion and are serpentine shaped to provide a vertical, elongated wall-engaging surface spaced from said panel-engaging surfaces, said wall-engaging surface being joined to said panel-engaging surfaces by said horizontally extending portions of said brackets.

13. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 10, wherein said panels are removably attached to said brackets by Velcro patches.

14. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 10 wherein said wall is an existing wall.

15. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 14, wherein said existing wall includes existing electrical power outlets and data communication jacks.

16. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 10, further including endcaps to enclose said interior volume.

17. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 16, further including a grommet hole in each of said endcaps for the transmission of said wires and cables therethrough.

18. The electrical service panel assembly of claim 10, further comprising an elongated wall-mounted rail extending parallel above said slot, said brackets including an upper horizontally extending segment fastened to said rail, said brush strip being attached to said rail.

19. A work-area delineation system, comprising:

a room comprising a floor and at least one wall;

an elongated rail mounted on said wall, said rail extending parallel to said floor;

a work surface;

a free-standing pedestal, said work surface being pivotally supported by said pedestal; and

an outrigger beam having a first end and a second end, said first end being slidably, releasably connected to one of a plurality of positions along the length of said rail and said second end being fixed to said pedestal.

20. The work-area delineation system of claim 19, wherein said rail further includes a first wire management channel for receiving power and communication wires and cables.

21. The work-area delineation system of claim 20, wherein said outrigger beam further includes a second wire management channel for receiving power and communication wires and cables.

22. The work-area delineation system of claim 21, wherein said pedestal further includes a third wire management channel for receiving power and communication wires and cables.

23. The work-area delineation system of claim 22, wherein said work surface further includes a wire management access port therethrough for permitting said wires and cables to egress from said pedestal onto said work surface.

24. The work-area delineation system of claim 21, wherein said second wire management channel comprises an open slot along one side, said slot being enclosed by a flexible flap fixed along one edge of said slot and open along the other edge.

25. The work-area delineation system of claim 19, wherein said pedestal comprises a lower end, a hollow body, and an upper end.

26. The work-area delineation system of claim 25, wherein said lower end comprises a unitary structure including a base, a stub, and a lower wheel-like plinth, said plinth including a tubular hub, a set of radial vanes, and a circumferential ring.

27. The work-area delineation system of claim 26, wherein said upper end comprises a unitary upper wheel-like plinth including a circumferential ring, radial vanes, and a tubular hub;

and said hollow body comprises a cylindrical sleeve connected at respective opposite ends to said circumferential rings.

28. The work-area delineation system of claim 27, further including a swivel plate attached to the bottom surface of said work surface, said swivel plate comprising an outer ring and a depending axle connected thereto by a plurality of radial arms, said depending axle being journalled within said tubular hub for free rotation about the longitudinal axis of said pedestal.

29. The work-area delineation system of claim 28 wherein said plurality of radial arms of said swivel plate define pie-shaped apertures opening into a circular aperture through said work surface, and a grommet adjustably closing said circular aperture.

30. The work-area delineation system of claim 19, wherein said work surface is elongated and said pedestal pivotally supports said work surface nearer to one end of said work surface than the other end, said other end being supported by a leg structure having casters mounted thereon.

31. The work-area delineation system of claim 30, wherein said work surface is capable of substantially 360°

rotation about said pedestal.

32. The work-area delineation system of claim 19, further including a saddlebag, said saddlebag comprising storage containers having support hooks thereon for removable attachment to said outrigger beam.

33. A modular office furniture system for designing office environments, comprising:

a wall assembly including an upper rail and a lower rail;

at least two rolling panels supported for parallel sliding movement along said upper and lower rails;

a service zone for supplying and managing electrical services which comprises brackets mounted to an existing wall, a plurality of panels removably mounted linearly along said wall beneath said lower rail, said panels and said lower rail defining a slot therebetween, and a brush strip mounted to cover said slot;

an outrigger beam having a first end and a second end, said first end being slidably, releasably connected anywhere along the length of said lower rail;

a free-standing pedestal, said second end of said outrigger beam being fixed to said pedestal; and

a work surface, said work surface being pivotally supported by said pedestal.

34. The modular office furniture system for designing office environments of claim 33, further comprising a plurality of tackboards mounted between said upper and lower rails.

35. The system for designing office environments of claim 33 wherein said rolling panels support at least one accessory.

36. The modular office furniture system for designing office environments of claim 35 wherein said accessory is selected from the group consisting of markerboards, bookcases, laptop docks, presentation easels, cabinets, shelves, and accessory bars.

37. The modular office furniture system for designing office environments of claim 33, further including a system for wire management, comprising:

power and communication cables connected to power and communication sources within said existing wall;

said outrigger beam further including a wire management channel formed on one side thereof and extending along its length;

said pedestal further including a cable inlet, a hollow interior, and a cable outlet, said cable outlet being open to the top of said work surface, wherein said cables are stored within said service zone, exit through said brush strip anywhere along the length of said slot, traverse within said outrigger beam channel, enter said pedestal inlet, are stored in said hollow interior, and exit through said pedestal outlet to said work surface.

38. The system for designing office environments of claim 33 further including a saddlebag, which comprises a storage container having support hooks thereon for removable attachment to said outrigger beam.