The present disclosure relates generally to wall systems provided with at least one dedicated or existing panel installed therein. More particularly, the present disclosure pertains to an add-on wall panel arrangement which is removably and reversibly mounted to the wall system over at least a portion of the existing panel.
A wall system, such as for use in creating a workspace in an office environment, typically has a frame assembly constructed of a series of spaced apart vertical frame members connected together by horizontal frame members that extend between adjacent vertical frame members. The vertical and horizontal frame members are configured to define open areas closed by dedicated or existing wall panels retained between the frame members.
Many of today's wall systems are constructed with dedicated panels formed of a clear transparent material, such as glass, which will create a certain amount of openness in the walls of the workspace, such as for light transmission and visual communication through the clear transparent panels. However, it is important for psychological comfort and productivity to provide a degree of individual control over lighting, operator positioning and a balance between privacy and visual communication for occupants of workspaces defined by wall systems constructed of such glass panels. It is also desirable to provide a degree of customization to non-transparent dedicated or existing panels retained by frame members of existing wall systems.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an add-on wall panel arrangement which can be easily removed and installed as well as selectively located over at least a portion of a dedicated or existing panel retained by the frame members of a wall system for ease of addressing the various changing needs of the users of these wall systems.
The present disclosure relates to a wall panel arrangement adapted to be used in a wall system provided with at least one pair of spaced apart vertical frame members having inwardly facing flat walls for retaining at least one existing panel therebetween. The wall panel arrangement includes an add-on wall panel assembly constructed with opposed face structure connected to opposed side structure, and adapted to cover at least a portion of the existing panel. Mounting structure is provided on the wall panel assembly and is configured with flexible resilient retainers extending outwardly relative to the side structure, and adapted to frictionally engage the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members, and hold the wall panel assembly over the existing panel and between the vertical frame members.
The wall panel includes a shell having a horizontal wall, and a pair of spaced apart sidewalls bent away from outer ends of the horizontal wall. The wall panel has opposed faces and opposed side edges connected to the opposed faces, one of the faces being affixed to the horizontal wall of the shell and the side edges being spaced from the sidewalls of the shell. The mounting structure includes a pair of mounting strips attached to the shell and the wall panel, and is provided with the flexible resilient retainers. Each mounting strip includes a body constructed of a rigid material, and a deflectable fin forming one of the flexible resilient retainers, and extending in one direction away from the body. Each body has one side constructed with a first edge which is bent away from the body in a second direction opposite the first direction. The first edge is bent away from the body preferably at an angle less than 90°. Each body further has an opposite side constructed with a second edge bent away from the body in the second direction to form a U-shaped retaining portion defining a retaining groove. The mounting strips are slidably engaged with the shell on the wall panels such that the first edges of the mounting strips define first engagement surfaces frictionally engaged against outer ends of the horizontal wall of the shell, the second edges of the mounting strips define second engagement surfaces frictionally engaged against the side surfaces of the wall panel, and outer ends of the sidewalls of the shell are received and retained by walls forming the retaining groove of the U-shaped portion. The fins have a common longitudinal axis which lies perpendicular to the side edges, the sidewalls and the bodies of the mounting strips. The fins also have outer walls which taper inwardly towards each other as the fins extend outwardly away from the body. The second edge of each mounting strip may include a protrusion which extends beyond the U-shaped retaining portion. The fins are spaced from the side edges of the wall panel and are centered relative thereto.
The present disclosure further relates to a wall system including a frame assembly including at least one pair of spaced apart vertical frame members having inwardly facing flat walls for retaining an existing wall panel therebetween. The existing wall panel has a pair of opposed external surfaces. An add-on wall panel arrangement is configured to cover at least one portion of the existing wall panel, and is fictionally engaged between the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members. The add-on wall panel arrangement includes a shell having a horizontal wall and a pair of spaced apart sidewalls bent away from outer ends of the horizontal wall. A wall panel has a pair of opposed faces connected by a pair of opposed side edges. One of the faces is affixed to the horizontal wall of the shell, and the side edges are spaced from the sidewalls of the shell. A pair of mounting strips is attached to the shell and the wall panel, and is provided with flexible resilient retainers extending outwardly relative to the sidewalls and the side edges. The flexible resilient retainers are frictionally engaged against the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members without protruding therethrough to hold the shell and the wall panel in spaced apart relationship relative to the at least one portion of the existing wall panel and between the vertical frame members.
The existing wall panel is preferably constructed of a clear transparent material. The wall panel arrangement is configured to be removably and reversibly mounted on either or both of the external surfaces of the existing wall panel. The wall panel arrangement is further configured to be removably and reversibly mounted over either one of the external surfaces of the existing panel such that the shell attached to the one face of the wall panel lies closely adjacent the one external surface, or such that the other face of the wall panel lies closely adjacent to one external surface. Portions of the mounting strips are engaged between the shell and the existing panel. Each of the mounting strips includes a body constructed of a rigid material and a deflectable fin forming one of the flexible resilient retainers, and extending in one direction away from the body. Each body has one side constructed with a first edge which is bent away from the body in a second direction opposite the first direction. Each body further has an opposite side constructed with a second edge bent away from the body in the second direction to form a U-shaped retaining portion defining a retaining groove. The mounting strips are slidably engaged with the shell and the wall panels such that the first edges define first engagement surfaces frictionally engaged against the inwardly facing flat sidewalls of the vertical frame members, the second edges define second engagement surfaces frictionally engaged against the side edges of the wall panel, and outer ends of the sidewalls of the shell are received and retained by walls forming the retaining groove.
The present disclosure further contemplates a method of installing a wall panel arrangement in a wall system having at least one pair of spaced apart vertical frame members having inwardly facing flat walls retaining at least one existing panel therebetween. The method includes the steps of a) providing an add-on wall panel assembly constructed with opposed face structure connected to opposed side structure; b) providing the wall panel assembly with flexible resilient retainers extending outwardly relative to the side structure of the wall panel assembly to form the wall panel arrangement, the wall panel arrangement being suitably sized to be engaged between the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members, c) positioning the wall panel arrangement between the vertical frame members at a selected location such that the outwardly extending flexible resilient retainers engage the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members; and d) applying a push-on force to advance the wall panel arrangement towards the existing panel and cause deflection of the flexible resilient retainers against the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members resulting in a frictional engagement between the resilient retainers and the inwardly facing flat walls without the retainers protruding therethrough so as to hold the wall panel over at least one portion of the existing panel and between the vertical frame members.
The existing panel is constructed preferably of a clear transparent material, and the holding of the wall panel arrangement over the at least one portion of the clear transparent panel enables control of visual communication through the clear transparent panel. The wall panel arrangement is configured to be removably and reversibly engaged between the inwardly facing flat walls of the vertical frame members.
The present disclosure additionally relates to a wall panel arrangement adapted to be used in a wall system provided with at least one pair of spaced apart vertical frame members having inwardly facing flat walls for retaining at least one existing panel therebetween. The wall panel arrangement includes a shell having a horizontal wall and a pair of spaced apart sidewalls bent away from outer ends of the horizontal wall. A wall panel has opposed faces connected by opposed side edges, one of the faces being affixed to the horizontal wall of the shell, and the side edges being spaced from the sidewalls of the shell. A pair of mounting strips is attached to the shell and the wall panel, and is provided with flexible resilient retainers extending outwardly relative to the side edges and to the sidewalls, and is adapted to frictionally engage the flat walls of the vertical frame members, and hold the shell and the wall panel over the existing panel and between the vertical frame members.
The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated in carrying out the disclosure. In the drawings:
Referring now to the drawings,
The embodiment of
In accordance with the present disclosure, the wall panel arrangement 12 is removably and reversibly engaged with either the vertical frame members 14 (
Referring now to the embodiment shown in
The wall panel arrangement 12 is generally comprised of a metallic shell 34, a wall panel or tile 36, and a pair of identical elongated mounting strips 38 engaged with the side structure of the shell 34 and the panel 36.
The metallic shell 34 is U-shaped in cross section and includes a flat horizontal wall 40 and a pair of sidewalls 42, 44 which are bent at generally 900 angles away from the horizontal wall 40. The wall panel 36 is generally rectangular in cross section, and includes opposed horizontally extending faces 46, 48 and opposed side edges 50, 52 connected thereto. The wall panel 36 has a length 1 (
The mounting strips 38 are configured to be slidably engaged with the longitudinally extending shell 34 and the wall panel 36, and to be frictionally engaged against and disengaged from the flat surfaces of the walls 30 of vertical frame members 14. As best seen in the top end view of
Referring to
In the installation of
In the installation of
As seen in
The formation of the wall panel arrangement 12 and a push-on installation of the wall panel arrangement 12 utilizing mounting strips 38′ is similar to the formation and installation previously detailed above with the exception that the second engagement surfaces 70 are shortened. All other aspects of the wall panel arrangement 12 shown in
Unlike other wall panel installations used in previously known wall systems 10, the present wall panel arrangement 12 does not require the formation of differently sized and shaped holes and openings variously located along the vertical frame members 14 of the wall system 10. In other words, the fins 56 when engaged with the walls 30 provide a sufficient holding force to maintain the wall panel arrangement 12 in position without the need to protrude through the vertical frame members 14. Also, the wall panel arrangement 12 does not necessitate the particular alignment of various snap-in connectors on the wall panel 36 with variously formed receiving structure on the vertical frame members 14. Furthermore, no tools are required to cover the panels 18, 76 of the wall panel arrangements 12 which are quickly added to and removed from the wall system 10 by push-on and pull-off operations. In addition, no other wall systems 10 are known to provide a reversible wall panel arrangement 12 which can be easily added or interchanged on either side 20, 22 or both sides 20, 22 of an existing panel 18, 76 held between vertical frame members 14 of the wall system 10. The wall panels 36 of the wall panel arrangement 12 can be variously sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the panel 18, 76 and, if desired, the entire surface area of the panel 18, 76.
Various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated at being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.
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