Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6330770
-
Patent Number
6,330,770
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, November 23, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 18, 200122 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 052 2201
- 052 2202
- 052 2203
- 052 2205
- 052 2207
- 052 2208
- 052 263
- 052 1265
- 052 1266
- 174 48
- 174 49
- 248 346
- 248 644
- 248 670
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A free access floor eliminates positioning and gluing of support members and simplifies the construction process by automatically positioning the support members. The free access floor includes a plurality of panel support structures, each being formed of a square shaped frame where each of four sides of the frame is formed of a plate member, support units provided at two corners of the square shaped frame for supporting a free access floor panel, and grooves provided on a bottom surface of the support unit where corners of another panel support structure fit in the grooves.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a free access floor which is built on a concrete surface of a building or other structure, and more particularly to a free access floor where floor panels are supported on panel support structures with a predetermined space between the surface of the concrete floor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Today, in office rooms in a building or the like, various types of information tools such as personal computers, word processors, copy machines, printers and the like are used. In such a situation, various lines and accessories connected to such information tools tend to be disorderly laid on the floors of office rooms. To prevent this, free access floor panels are used on the surface of the concrete floor in a building or other structure with a space therebetween so that the lines and accessories are orderly stored in the space created beneath the free access floor.
An example of such a free access floor which is laid on the base floor with a certain space is shown in FIG.
19
. In the conventional free access floor shown in
FIG. 19
, support members
50
are positioned on a concrete surface
20
in a building or other structure. As shown in
FIG. 20
, four corners of each free access floor panel
25
are placed on the four support members
50
, thereby creating an overall free access floor.
Thus, by storing the various lines and accessories connected to such information tools in the space between the concrete floor
20
and the free access floor panels
25
, the office room is cleanly organized without showing the wires and accessories associated with the information tools.
In order to establish the free access floor in the conventional technology, first, a process for determining the positions of the support members
50
is performed on the concrete floor
20
as shown in FIG.
20
. In this process, for example, an inked string is extended on the surface of the concrete floor
20
and plunked thereon to draw a line L. By repeating this process, a large number of positioning lines L are illustrated on the concrete surface like a checker pattern, thereby determining the positions of the support members.
Each of the support members
50
is positioned in such a way that center thereof is adjusted to a crossing point of the positioning lines L. Then the bottom surfaces of the support members
50
are attached to the concrete floor
20
through adhesives. The four corners of each of the free access floor panel
25
are placed on the support members
50
, thereby creating an overall free access floor.
In the foregoing conventional technology, however, it requires the process of determining the positions of the support members
50
on the concrete floor
20
by using the inked string. Further, the support members
50
have to be glued on the surface of the concrete floor
20
. Because the conventional technology requires such processes of positioning and gluing the support members, there is a problem that a relatively long overall construction time is required. Further, an overall cost tends to be increased because of the labor costs involved in such processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, this invention has been made to solve such a problem involved in the conventional technology. It is an object of the present invention to provide a free access floor in which the conventional processes of positioning and gluing the support members are eliminated, and thus, the construction process is simplified by automatically positioning the support members.
To attain the above object, the free access floor of the present invention is comprised of a plurality of panel support structures,
each of the panel support structure is formed of a square shaped frame where at least two adjacent sides of the frame is integrally formed of a plate like member.
support units fixedly and integrally provided at two corners of the square shaped frame for supporting a free access floor panel, and
grooves provided on a bottom surface of the support unit where each of the grooves has thickness and width which are substantially the same as that of the plate like members of the square shaped frame so that corners of another panel support structure is able to fit in the grooves,
wherein the plurality of panel support structures are aligned by engaging the grooves of the panel support structure with the corners of other panel support structure at a side without having the support units, thereby positioning the support units to support the free access floor panels thereon.
According to the free access floor of the present invention, the panel support structures are aligned in the vertical and horizontal directions at every other line alternately with the next row. Thus, the panel support structures are connected at the corners of the panel support structure diagonally adjacent with each other by fitting the corners of the frame without having the support units in the grooves of the support unit of the other panel support structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
plan view of the panel support structure
8
in the first embodiment of the free access floor of the present invention.
FIG. 2
is a view of the panel support structure
8
of
FIG. 1
seen from a direction II of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 3
is an enlarged plan view of one of the support units
12
of the panel support structure
8
of the present invention.
FIG. 4
is an enlarge side view of the support unit
12
of FIG.
2
.
FIG. 5
is an exploded side view of the support unit
12
of FIG.
4
.
FIG. 6
is a plan view showing a frame
10
formed integrally and support base receptacles
14
.
FIG. 7
is a view showing the frame
10
and the support base receptacles
14
seen from a direction VII of FIG.
6
.
FIG. 8
is an enlarge side view of one of the support base receptacles
14
of FIG.
6
.
FIG. 9
is a view of the support base receptacle
14
seen from a direction IX of FIG.
8
.
FIG. 10
is a view of the support base receptacle
14
seen from a direction X of FIG.
9
.
FIG. 11
is directed to a support base
16
in
FIG. 5
wherein FIG.
11
(
a
) is a side view of the support base
16
and FIG.
11
(
b
) is a cross sectional view of the support base
16
taken along B—B line of FIG.
11
(
a
).
FIG. 12
is directed to a support base cap
18
in
FIG. 5
wherein FIG.
12
(
a
) is a side view of the support base cap
18
and
FIG. 12
(
b
)is a bottom view of the support base cap
18
seen from a section B of FIG.
12
(
a
).
FIG. 13
is a plan view showing the situation where a large number of panel support structures
8
for a free access floor are aligned on the concrete floor.
FIG. 14
is an enlarged plan view showing a situation where the corner of plate like member
10
a
of the frame
10
of the panel support structures
8
denoted by a circle A in
FIG. 13
is fit in the grooves
14
d
of the support base receptacle
14
of the other panel support structure
8
diagonally adjacent to each other.
FIG. 15
is an enlarged plan view showing a situation where the corner of plate like member
10
a
of the frame
10
of the panel support structures
8
denoted by a circle B in
FIG. 13
is fit in the grooves
14
d
of the support base receptacle
14
of the other panel support structure
8
diagonally adjacent) to each other.
FIG. 16
a side view showing the situation where free access panels
24
are placed on the support units
12
of the panel support structures
8
to form a free access floor and where a carpet
28
is laid on the free access floor.
FIG. 17
is a plan view of the panel support structure
15
in the second embodiment of the free access floor of the present invention.
FIG. 18
is a bottom view of the support base receptacle
34
in the third embodiment of the free access floor of the present invention.
FIG. 19
a side view showing the conventional free access floor where free access floor panels
25
are supported on support members
50
.
FIG. 20
is a plan view of the free access floor panel
25
supported by the support members
50
of FIG.
19
.
FIG. 21
is a plan view showing the positioning lines L illustrated on the concrete floor
20
for positioning the support members
50
of FIG.
19
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE EMBODIMENTS
The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The free access floor in the first embodiment of the present invention is explained in the following with reference to
FIGS. 1-16
.
FIG. 1
shows a panel support structure
8
for the free access floor of the present invention. The panel support: structure
8
in
FIG. 1
includes a square shaped frame
10
having four sides which are formed of plate like members (or plate members)
10
a
and
10
b
made of rigid material such as plastic plate so that the four sides are not easily bent. In this example, at two corners of the square shaped frame
10
, support units
12
are provided for supporting free access floor panels
24
as will be described later.
The three plate like members
10
a
of the frame
10
are integrally formed so that the two corners of the frame
10
(left side of
FIG. 1
) continuously formed at substantially right angle. In the present invention, preferably, at least two adjacent plate like members are integrally formed to achieve sufficient physical strength as well as to maintain the predetermined angle therebetween. At both ends of the three plate like members
10
a
(right side of
FIG. 1
) are integrally connected to the corresponding bottom portions of the two support units
12
. The remaining plate like member
10
b
of the frame
10
is positioned between the two support units
12
. The both ends of the plate like member
10
b
are integrally connected to the corresponding bottom portions of the support units
12
.
As shown in
FIG. 5
, the support unit
12
is configured by three members including a support base receptacle
14
which is integrally connected to the frame
10
, a support base
16
which is received by the support base receptacle
14
, a support base cap
18
which covers the support base
16
. The support base receptacle
14
is formed of, as shown in
FIG. 9
, a bottom portion
14
a
having a thickness of slightly larger than that of the frame
10
, and a tubular portion
14
b
built on the bottom portion
14
a.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the center of the bottom portion
14
a
has a square shaped hole
14
c
. Further, on a bottom surface (which contacts the concrete floor) of the bottom portion
14
a
, grooves
14
d
are provided as shown in
FIGS. 8 and 10
. The grooves
14
d
are perpendicular to one another in the directions extended from the plate like members
10
a
and
10
b
. The grooves
14
d
have the width and thickness which are substantially equal to the width and thickness of the plate like members
10
a
and
10
b
so that a corner formed of plate like members
10
a
of a frame
10
of another panel support structure
8
is fit in the grooves
14
d
. On the bottom portion
14
a
and within the tubular portion
14
b
of the support base receptacle
14
, the support base
16
(shown in
FIG. 5
) such as shown in
FIG. 11
is installed. FIG.
11
(
a
) is a side view of the support base
16
and FIG.
11
(
b
) is a cross sectional view of the support base
16
taken along B—B line of FIG.
11
(
a
). As can be seen in FIG.
11
(
b
), each of the four sides of the support base
16
is bent at about the center to improve support strength thereof.
The support base cap
18
(shown in
FIG. 5
) is placed on the support base
16
to cover the support base as shown in FIG.
12
. As shown in
FIGS. 3 and 12
(
a
), the support base cap
18
includes a positioning boss
18
a
at each upper corner thereof. A round hole
18
b
is formed at the center of the support base cap
18
and a back of each positioning boss
18
a
is formed of a hole
18
c. FIG.
12
(
a
) is a side view of the support base cap
18
and
FIG. 12
(
b
) is a bottom view of the support base cap
18
seen from a direction B of
FIG. 12
(
a
).
An assembly process of the panel support members
8
for the free access floor of the present invention is explained in the following:
FIG. 13
shows a situation where a large number of panel support structures
8
for the free access floor are aligned on the concrete floor. Thus, the assembly process of the panel support structures
8
is described with reference to FIG.
13
. The panel support structures
8
, each having the support units
12
at the both ends of the plate like member
10
b
are aligned in a vertical direction at the right end of FIG.
13
.
At the corner of the panel support structures
8
denoted by a circle A in
FIG. 13
, two panel support structures
8
diagonally adjacent to each other are connected as shown in FIG.
14
. Namely, the corner of the frame
10
of the panel support structure
8
positioned in the lower right of
FIG. 14
is fit in the grooves
14
d on the support base receptacle
14
of the panel support structure
8
positioned in the upper left of FIG.
14
.
As shown in
FIG. 13
, at the corner of the panel support structure
8
denoted by a circle B, two panel support structures
8
diagonally adjacent to each other are connected as shown in FIG.
15
. Namely, the corner of the frame
10
of the panel support structure
8
positioned in the upper right of
FIG. 15
is fit in the grooves
14
d
on the support base receptacle
14
of the panel support structure
8
positioned in the lower left of FIG.
14
.
In this manner, the panel support structures
8
are aligned in the vertical and horizontal directions in every other line of FIG.
13
. Thus, the panel support structures
8
are connected at the corners of the panel support structure diagonally adjacent with each other by fitting the corner of the frame
10
in the grooves
14
d
of the support unit
12
of the other panel support structure. Thus, the panel support structures are connected in a manner shown in
FIG. 13
without the process of illustrating the position lines by ink on the concrete surface or gluing the support members to the concrete floor. Accordingly, the positioning of the support units
12
are easily completed without any specific labor work for determining the positions.
Like in the positions denoted by circles C and D, there arise a situation where the support unit
12
may not be properly provided at such a location. In such a location, a support unit
12
having the grooves
14
d
at the support base receptacle without having the frame
10
is connected to the other panel support structure
8
, thereby establishing the support units
12
at all of the corners of the floor panels.
It should be noted that, in
FIG. 13
, although the hatched lines are provided to show the locations of the panel support structures
8
, in reality, this hatched portions are blank and thus the concrete surface is visible therethrough.
On the support units
12
of the large number of panel support structures
8
assembled in the process noted above, as shown in
FIG. 16
, the free access floor panels
24
are placed on the support units
12
of the panel support structures
8
. The floor panel
24
is placed on the support structures
8
in such a way that each positioning boss
18
a
on the support base cap
18
is engaged with a corresponding recess provided on the floor panel
24
. By fitting the four corners of all of the floor panels
24
with the support units
12
, a free access floor is completed. A carpet may be laid on the free access floor to finalize the office floor.
As in the foregoing, the panel support structures
8
are aligned in the vertical and horizontal directions at every other line alternately with the next row. Thus, the panel support structures
8
are connected at the corners of the panel support structure diagonally adjacent with each other by fitting the corners of the frame
10
without having the support units
12
in the grooves
14
d
of the support unit
12
of the other panel support structure. Thus, the present invention makes it possible to easily position the support units
12
for supporting the free access floor panels
24
.
As a consequence, the process for positioning the support units such as drawing the positioning lines and the process for bonding the support members in the conventional technology are unnecessary in the present invention, resulting in the simplicity of construction works, reduction of construction time and accordingly reduction of cost.
Further, the support base receptacle
14
of the support unit
12
of the panel support structure
8
has a hole at its center. Similarly, the support base
16
and the support base cap
18
also have holes at the center thereof. Therefore, the corner of the frame
10
of the other panel support structure
8
is visible through the holes, thereby being able to easily determine whether the plate like members
10
a
are provided in the intended location under the support base receptacle
14
and are properly engaged with the grooves
14
d
of the support base receptacle
14
.
Moreover, since the different sizes of the frame
10
of the panel support structure
8
can be easily made depending on the size of the free access floor panel
24
, the present invention can be applied to any sizes of free access floor panels
24
.
FIG. 17
is directed to the second embodiment of the panel support structure
15
to be used in the free access floor of the present invention. In the first embodiment described in the foregoing, two support units
12
are provided at one side of the frame
10
, i.e, both ends of the plate like member
10
b
. In the second embodiment, two support units
12
are provided at the ends of two L shaped members
10
c
of the frame
10
on a diagonal line. The panel support structure
15
in the second embodiment can achieve the same effect as that of the first embodiment.
FIG. 18
is directed to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described in the foregoing, the grooves
14
d
on the bottom surface of the support base receptacle
14
are formed in the directions which are extension of the frame
10
which is integrally formed with the support base receptacle
14
. In the third embodiment, grooves
34
d
on a support base receptacle
34
are shifted their position from the extension of the frame
10
and integrally formed with the support base receptacle
34
. The structure in the third embodiment can achieve the same effect as that of the first embodiment.
In the foregoing explanation, the support units
12
have the identical height to one another. However, the present invention can be applied to the support units whose height can be adjustable.
In the present invention, the panel support structures are aligned in the vertical and horizontal directions at every other line alternately with the next row. Thus, the panel support structures are connected at the corners of the panel support structure diagonally adjacent with each other by fitting the corners of the frame without having the support units in the grooves of the support unit of the other panel support structure. Thus, it is possible to easily determine the positions of the support units for supporting the free access floor.
As a consequence, the processes for positioning the support units such as drawing the positioning lines and for bonding the support members can be eliminated resulting in the simplicity of construction works and reduction of construction time and cost.
Claims
- 1. A free access floor formed on a base floor with a predetermined space therebetween, comprising:a plurality of panel support structures, each panel support structure is comprised of: a square shaped frame where at least two adjacent sides of the frame are integrally formed of a plate member; support units integrally provided at two corners of the square shaped frame for supporting a free access floor panel; and grooves provided on bottom surfaces of the support units, each of the grooves having a thickness and a width substantially the same as that of the plate members of the square shaped frame so that corners of another panel support structure are able to fit in the grooves; wherein the plurality of panel support structures are adapted to be aligned on the base floor by engaging the grooves of the support units of the panel support structure with the corners of the square shaped frame of another panel support structure at a side where there are no support units in such a way to receive the corners of the square shaped frame of another panel support structure in the grooves, thereby positioning the support units to support the free access floor panels thereon.
- 2. A free access floor as defined in claim 1, wherein the support units are respectively provided at two adjacent corners of the square shaped frame.
- 3. A free access floor as defined in claim 1, wherein the support units are respectively provided at two corners of the square shaped frame positioned diagonally with one another.
- 4. A free access floor as defined in claim 1, wherein the plate members are made of plastic material which is not easily bent.
- 5. A free access floor as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the support units is comprised of a support base receptacle integrally formed with the square shaped frame, a support base which is placed on the support base receptacle for supporting the free access floor panel, and a support base cap for covering a top of the support base.
- 6. A free access floor as defined in claim 5, wherein the support base receptacle has a thickness slightly larger than that of the plate members and has a hole at about a center thereof, the support base receptacle being formed of a bottom portion having a bottom surface and a tubular portion integrally formed on an outer end of the bottom portion.
- 7. A free access floor as defined in claim 6, wherein the support base is received by the tubular portion of the support base receptacle at a lower position thereof, each side wall of the support base being bent at about the center thereof.
- 8. A free access floor as defined in claim 7, wherein the support base cap covering the support base has a positioning boss at each of four upper corners thereof for positioning the free access floor panel and a hole at a center thereof for monitoring the square shape frame when assembling the panel support structures.
- 9. A free access floor as defined in claim 1, wherein the panel support structures are adapted to be aligned on the base floor of a building in vertical and horizontal directions at every other line alternately with a next row by connecting the corners thereof with one another.
- 10. A free access floor as defined in claim 9, wherein support units, without being connected to the square shaped frame, are placed at corners of the square shaped frames of the panel support structures adapted to be aligned on the base floor of the building, where there are no support units, by fitting the corners of the square shaped frames in the grooves of the support units.
- 11. A free access floor as defined in claim 8, wherein each of the four positioning bosses on the support base cap is engaged with a corresponding recess provided on one of four floor access floor panels, thereby accurately positioning the free access floor panels on the panel support structures.
- 12. A free access floor as defined in claim 5, wherein the height of the support unit of the panel support structure is adjustable to be different from that of the other support unit.
Priority Claims (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
| 10-375737 |
Dec 1998 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (7)
