This application claims benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of provisional Application No. 61/620,680 filed Apr. 5, 2012, entitled UNIVERSAL QUICK CORNER FOR RAISED FLOOR SYSTEMS, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein.
The present invention relates to a raised floor panel for a raised floor system such as for a data center (computer room), the floor panels being adapted to mate with various existing raised floor systems either as a new or retrofit installation.
Raised floor systems include support stands for supporting floor panels above a building's structural floor, with a top of each support stand typically supporting the mating corners of four adjacent floor panels to create a raised floor over the building's structural floor. This allows flexible installation and distribution of cabling and wires, and also allows air conditioning to be funneled under the raised floor and into the room through apertured panels (also called “air grates”) at selected strategic locations in the room. However, raised floor systems provided by different vendors are not standardized. Therefore, replacement panels must be purchased from the original manufacturer of the raised floor system, or a replacement panel with customized corners must be made, since the corners of the replacement panel must matingly stably engage the configured top of the support stand in the existing raised floor system. Improvements are desired to allow replacement floor panels (including air-passing air grates) to mate with a wide variety of support stands of different existing raised floor panel systems, yet without the need for customized corners. Alternatively, improvements are desired that allow corners of replacement floor panels (including air grates) to be easily customized without numerous specialized parts and expensive components.
In one aspect of the present invention, a floor panel assembly is provided for use in an existing raised floor system, where the existing raised floor system includes existing floor panels with existing support stands and existing stringers connected between the existing support stands for supporting floor panels. The floor panel assembly comprises a floor panel with a top and corner structures, each corner structure including a first retainer and down flanges that support the top inward from a perimeter of the top, and a universal quick corner at each corner structure. Each universal quick corner includes an extension plate attached to the first retainer and extending outboard of the down flanges at least partially toward the perimeter, and includes a body with at least one thickness pad supporting the extension plate so that the extension plate engages one or both of the associated stringer and support stand to hold an upper surface of the top level with an upper surface of existing floor panels of the raised floor system.
In a narrower form, the first retainer includes a post retainer.
In a narrower form, the body includes four pads of different thicknesses, the body being selectively engaged with the associated extension plate to support the top at a level condition with adjacent raised floor panels of the existing raised floor system.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of constructing a floor panel assembly is provided for use in an existing raised floor system, where the existing raised floor system includes existing floor panels and existing support stands for supporting corners of the existing floor panels. The floor panel assembly comprises steps of: providing a floor panel with a top and corner structures, each corner structure including a post retainer and down flanges that support corners of the top inward from a perimeter of the top, and attaching a universal quick corner to each corner structure, the quick corners each having and a body with at least one thickness pad, the body engaging the associated corner structure on the floor panel and the quick corner engaging an associated portion of the existing raised floor system to hold an upper surface of the top level with an upper surface of the existing floor panels of the existing raised floor system.
In another aspect of the present invention, a floor panel assembly is provided for use in an existing raised floor system, where the existing raised floor system includes existing floor panels and existing support stands and existing stringers connected between the existing support stands for supporting the existing floor panels. An improvement in the floor panel assembly comprises a floor panel with a top and corner structures, each corner structure including a post retainer and interconnected down flanges that support corners of the top plate inward from a perimeter of the top plate. A universal quick corner at each corner structure includes a body with at least two different thickness pads. The body is selectively orientable on an associated one of the corner structures to position a selected one of the at least two different thickness pads to engage and support the floor panel on an associated portion of the existing support stand and stringer, thus holding an upper surface of the top level with an upper surface of existing floor panels on the existing raised floor system.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of assembly in an existing raised floor system is provided, where the existing raised floor system includes existing floor panels and existing support stands and existing stringers connected between the existing support stands for supporting the existing floor panels. The method comprises steps of: providing a floor panel with a top and corner structures, each corner structure including a post retainer and interconnected down flanges that support corners of the top inward from a perimeter of the top, providing a universal quick corner at each corner structure, the universal quick corner having a body with at least two different thickness pads, and selectively orienting the body on the an associated one of the corner structures to position a selected one of the at least two different thickness pads to support an extension plate; so that the extension plate supports and engages the floor panel using the selectively oriented quick corner body and extension plate to engage an associated portion corner of the existing support stand and stringer, thus holding an upper surface of the top level with an upper surface of existing floor panels in the existing raised floor system.
An object of the present invention is to provide a very durable and robust support for the corner structures of a floor panel which extends toward, and potentially all the way to, a perimeter of its top plate, with the assembly being sufficiently robust such that over time it does not creep, wear, migrate or shift in a manner leading to uneven support of corners of the floor panel assembly.
An object of the present invention is to provide a universal quick attach corner attachable to a raised floor panel, where the quick attach corner engages a portion of the support structure in an existing raised floor panel system, and support corners of the raise floor panel in a level condition with adjacent panels of the existing raised floor system.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
A replacement floor panel assembly 20 (
The illustrated replacement assembly 20 is a raised floor panel with top defining corners, and four corner structures 24. The illustrated top is an aperture top plate 31 permitting air pass-through (e.g. the assembly 20 is an apertured air grate permitting air pass through), but it is contemplated that it need not be apertured. The corner structures 24 include a post retainer 32, an apertured boss retainer 47, and interconnected down flanges 33, 34 that support the top plate 31 inward of its perimeter. The illustrated top plate 31 is an apertured/slotted steel panel allowing it to be used as an air grate for controlled air flow in a raised floor system. However, a scope of the present inventive concepts also extends to non-apertured raised floor panels and panels not having a top plate per se. The assembly 20 further includes a universal quick corner 25 at each corner structure 24. The universal quick corner 25 can be pre-assembled in pieces to the floor panel assembly 20 (see
The illustrated universal quick corner 25 (
The extension plate 36 is attached to the post retainer 32 by a friction retainer, such as nut 50. The extension plate 36 is stamped from metal, such as steel plate. It includes an inner section (
The illustrated universal quick corner 25 (
It is noted that there are two distinct and different applications for the illustrated parts. One application uses a selected body 41 by itself to engage an existing support stand (or uses a selected body 41A or 41B). The other application uses the body 41 in combination with the extension plate 36 to engage onto a connecting stringer grid members (with each stringer grid member being bolted onto the top surface of an existing support stand and extending between adjacent support stands).
When both body 41 and extension plate 36 are assembled (
The illustrated body 41 (see
The illustrated friction retainer 50 is a push-on-and-twist-lock nut shaped to resiliently slip onto the end of the post retainer 32 for quick installation. Thereafter, the nut retainer 50 can be rotated on the threads of the post 32 (also called “post retainer” herein) to provide a desired torsional compression retention force. It is contemplated that other friction retainers can be used, such as a polymeric tube or washer frictionally engaging the post retainer 32.
The push pin retainer 51 is a stud of polymeric material that extends through and frictionally engages aligned holes 53 and 54 in the extension plate 36 and body 41 (
Thus, the retainers 50 and 51 facilitate different assembly methods, including allowing preassembly and handling of the panel assembly 20 without losing parts and without having to perform assembly at the point of installation.
It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61620680 | Apr 2012 | US |