This invention relates to access floor assemblies. More specifically, this invention relates to access floor assemblies that include access floor panels with interlocking edges.
Access floors are utilized in many applications, including, but not limited to, data rooms or centers, office floor space and clean rooms. Typical access floors include a continuous array of access floor panels arranged edge-to-edge and supported by pedestals above a subfloor, to provide a passageway between the subfloor and the plurality of access floor panels for cables, wiring, cooling air, etc. The continuous array of access floor panels usually extends wall-to-wall in the room or facility that includes the access floor. In most access floor assemblies, all the access floor panels are individually removable to gain access to the passageway between the access floor panels and the subfloor via removal of any of the panels. However, there are some applications of access floors in which having each access floor panel be individually removable is undesirable. The reasons why it is undesirable to have each access floor panel be removable in such applications include the requirement for security in the room or facility including the access floor (so that access cannot be gained by lifting one of the access floor panels from below), to prevent liquids from passing between adjacent access floor panels into the passageway between the access floor panels and the subfloor, and the need for a very smooth and level floor. Such applications may include airports, hospitals and retail establishments.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide an access floor assembly constructed such that not all of the individual access floor panels are removable.
The access floor assemblies of this invention address the above need and other needs that will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of this disclosure.
An access floor assembly according to one embodiment of this invention includes a plurality of access floor panels arranged edge-to-edge and a plurality of pedestals. The plurality of access floor panel is positioned above a subfloor by the plurality of pedestals. In this embodiment of the invention, each of the plurality of access floor panels includes (1) a support layer and a floor finish layer on top of the support layer and (2) four edges. At least one of the four edges has a tongue connector or a groove connector. The tongue connector and the groove connector are configured to form a tongue and groove connection when joined. Each of the tongue connector and each of the groove connector are formed by the support layer and the floor finish layer.
In another embodiment of the invention, the floor finish layer is the top layer of each of the plurality of access floor panels.
In other embodiments of the invention, a first set of the plurality of access floor panels has the groove connector on the four edges and a second set of the plurality of access floor panels has the tongue connector on the four edges.
In certain other embodiments of the invention, each of the plurality of access floor panels has two edges with the tongue connector and two edges with the groove connector.
In further embodiments of the invention, the two edges with the tongue connector are perpendicular and form a first corner of each of the plurality of access floor panels, and the two edges with the groove connector are perpendicular and form a second corner of each of the plurality of access floor panels.
In yet other embodiments of the invention, the tongue connector includes a side wall and a tongue that extends outwardly from the side wall, and the tongue includes part of the support layer and part of the floor finish layer.
In additional embodiments of the invention, the tongue connector includes a side wall and tongue that extends outwardly from the side wall, and the tongue is formed only by the support layer and the side wall is formed by the support layer and the floor finish layer.
In yet other embodiments of the invention, the groove connector includes a side wall and a groove recessed inwardly from the side wall, the groove has a top surface, a back wall and a bottom surface, and the back wall of the groove is formed in part by the support layer and in part by the floor finish layer.
In yet other embodiments of the invention, the groove connector includes a side wall and a groove recessed inwardly from the side wall, the groove has a top surface, a back wall and a bottom surface, the back wall and the bottom surface of the groove are formed by the support layer, and the top surface of the groove is formed by a bottom surface of the floor finish layer.
The invention also includes a method of forming an access floor assembly that includes the steps of (1) placing spaced supporting pedestals on a subfloor in an array of perpendicular rows, (2) placing understructure members on the pedestals such that the understructure members extend between and are supported by the pedestals, (3) placing a plurality of access floor panels on the substructure members edge-to-edge, each of the plurality of access floor panels includes (a) a support layer and a floor finish layer on top of the support layer and (b) four edges, at least one of the four edges has a tongue connector or a groove connector, the tongue connector and the groove connector are configured to form a tongue and groove connection when joined, each of the tongue connector and the groove connector is formed by the support layer and the floor finish layer, wherein the plurality of access floor panels are positioned such that the groove connectors of a first set of a plurality of access panels face the tongue connectors of a second set of the plurality of access floor panels, and (4) inserting the tongue connectors into the groove connectors.
The advantages of this invention include at least the following. The top surface of the access floor assemblies of this invention is a smooth, joint-less surface that may result in superior walking comfort, increased stability, and the prevention of fluids passing between adjacent access floor panels into the passageway between the access floor panels and the subfloor. Also, this invention results in an access floor assembly with access floor panels that are difficult to remove individually, which increases the security of the room or facility that includes the access floor assembly, as discussed above. Further, each of the access floor panels of this invention includes the support layer and the floor finish layer. The inclusion of the support layer and the floor finish layer in each access floor panel means that only one layer of access floor panels has to be installed, which reduces the installation time and costs when compared to the previous access floor panels with interlocking edges that consist only of the support layer. The formation of an access floor assembly using the previous interlocking panels involves at least two steps—first install a layer of support panels with interlocking edges and then install a floor finish layer on top of the layer of support panels.
As stated, one embodiment of an access floor assembly of this invention is illustrated in
Pedestal 27 is one example of the pedestals that can be employed in the access floor assemblies of this invention. Other known pedestals can be used instead of, or with, pedestals 27.
As illustrated in
The height of top plate 33 relative to base plate 29 (and thus to subfloor 22) can be adjusted by the threaded engagement of threaded member 35 and upright receptacle 31.
In this embodiment of the invention, understructure 25 includes main supports 37, cross supports 39, and weld plates 41. Other configurations of understructure can be utilized as long as the understructure provides the necessary interface between the pedestals and the access floor panels.
Understructure 25 is configured as follows.
As illustrated in
In other embodiments of the invention, each main support may span only two pedestals and be connected at its ends to those two pedestals. In yet other embodiments of the invention, each main support may span more than three pedestals. In further embodiments of this invention, the lengths of the main supports in a given understructure may vary. For example, some of the main supports may span two pedestals, while other main supports may span three or more pedestals.
Main supports 37 are attached to top plates 33 of pedestals 27 by welding, bolts and/or any other acceptable attachment method or means.
In this understructure configuration, cross supports 39 are oriented perpendicular to the rows of main supports 37. Cross supports 39 are of two types. The first type extends between and is connected on their ends to top plates 33 of adjacent pedestals 27. The second type extends between and is connected on their ends to adjacent main supports 37 by weld plates 41. As can be seen in
In this embodiment of the invention, main supports 37 and cross supports 39 form a grid, from the plan perspective, such that edges of access floor panels 43 are directly supported by main supports 37 and cross supports 39. More specifically, main supports 37 and cross supports 39 supports all the edges of the access floor panels 43 of array of access floor panels 23 that are “interior panels”, i.e., panels that do not form an edge of array of access panels 23. For access floor panels 43 that form, in part, an edge of array of access floor panels 23, the edges of those panels that do not form an edge of array of access floor panels 23 are also directly supported by main supports 37 and cross supports 39.
As illustrated in
As stated, one embodiment of an access floor panel that can be used in array of access floor panels 23 is illustrated in
While, in access floor panel 45, side walls 51 and 52 are in a common plane and side walls 54 and 55 are in a common plane, in other embodiments of the access floor panels that can be used in this invention, side wall 52 could be offset from side wall 51 and side wall 55 could be offset from side wall 54.
Access floor panel 45 also includes support layer 57 and floor finish layer 59. See
As can be seen in
Another embodiment of an access floor panel that can be used in array of access floor panels 23, and having, like access floor panel 45, two edges forming tongue connectors and two edges forming groove connectors, but with different thicknesses of the support layer and the floor finish layer, is illustrated in
Another embodiment of an access floor panel that can be used in array of access floor panels 23 is access floor panel 61, illustrated in
Another embodiment of an access floor panel that can be used in array of access floor panels 23, and having, like access floor panel 61, tongue connectors along its four edges, but with different thicknesses of the support layer and the floor finish layer, is illustrated in
Another embodiment of an access floor panel that can be used in array of access floor panels 23 is access floor panel 70, illustrated in
Another embodiment of an access floor panel that can be used in array of access floor panels 23, and having, like access floor panel 70, groove connectors along its four edges, but with different thicknesses of the support layer and the floor finish layer, is illustrated in
Support layers 57, 57′, 68, 68′, 75 and 75′ can be comprised of a concrete formed from a mixture of cement, water, limestone aggregate and haydite, or any other materials suitable for use as support layers for access floor panels. Floor finish layers 59, 59′, 69, 69′, 76 and 76′ can be comprised of concrete formed from a mixture of cement, water, limestone aggregate, concrete sand, marble dust, and a colored pigment, a concrete formed from a mixture of cement, water and marble aggregate, or any other materials suitable for use as a floor finish layer of access floor panels.
In certain embodiments of the access floor panels that can be used in this invention, a steel sheet can be attached to the bottom surface of the support layer and/or steel edging can be attached to one or more of the side edges of the access floor panels.
Another embodiment of access floor panels that can be used in array of access floor panel 23 includes access floor panels 101 and 102, illustrated in
Access floor panel 101 includes at least one edge 103 that forms a tongue connector having a tongue 105. Access floor panel 102 includes at least one edge 104 that forms a groove connector having groove 106. Tongue 105 is received within groove 106 when access floor panels 101 and 102 are joined edge-to-edge.
Unlike the tongues of the other embodiments of access floor panels of this invention illustrated in
Array of access floor panels 23 can consist of the following: (1) a plurality of access floor panels 45; (2) a plurality of access floor panels 45′; (3) a plurality of access floor panels 61 in combination with a plurality of access panels 70; (4) a plurality of access floor panels 61′ in combination with a plurality of access floor panels 70′; or a plurality of panels 101 and 102.
Access floor assembly 21 can be assembled as follows.
Pedestals 27 are positioned on a subfloor, such as subfloor 22, with base plates 29 of pedestals 27 resting on the sub-floor. Base plates 29 can simply rest on subfloor 22, or they can be attached to subfloor 22 by adhesive or any other acceptable attachment method or means. Pedestals 27 are arranged on subfloor 22, spaced apart, and in perpendicular rows, as illustrated in
The desired height of top plate 33 of each pedestal 27, vis-à-vis sub-floor 22, is achieved by rotating the threaded member 35 of each pedestal within its upright receptacle 31.
Main supports 37 are then positioned on top plates 33 of pedestals 27 to form the parallel rows of main supports 37 illustrated in
Next, cross supports 39 are attached to pedestals 27 and main supports 37. In the array of understructure 25 illustrated in
A plurality of access floor panels is then placed on main supports 37 and cross supports 39 and connected on their edges to form array of access floor panels 23. One method of doing so is illustrated in
As shown in
Next, as shown in
The top surfaces of access floor panels 45′ may be honed to remove any caulk/glue 65 and/or adhesive 66 that protrude above the top surfaces of panels 45′. The end result is illustrated in
Finally, the top surfaces of access floor panels 45′ may be polished and sealed as desired.
In some applications, it may not be necessary or desirable to use caulk, glue and/or an adhesive between the joined edges.
As stated, the configuration of the understructure of another embodiment of this invention is illustrated in
What is described and illustrated herein are preferred embodiments of the invention. The terms, descriptions and figures are set forth by way of illustration only and are not intended and meant to be limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many other embodiments and variations of the invention are possible, which invention is defined by the following claims in which all terms are intended and meant in their broadest reasonable meaning unless otherwise indicated.