AN ACCESS FLOOR SYSTEM

AN ACCESS FLOOR SYSTEM

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an access floor with a groove structure wherein the wiring is arranged in lengthwise and breadthwise grooves between floor panels.

Background Art

There are two access flooring structures: panel structure and groove structure. When remodeling an ordinary floor into an access floor, the groove structure is more often adopted whereby the space for wiring can be secured with floor at a lower elevation than the panel structure. As examples of access floor with a groove structure, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 3-29641 discloses an arrangement wherein the wiring space is provided between square panel blocks composed of triangular shaped panel units and covered by flat lid plates. Japanese Utility Model Appln Laid-open No. 53-192537 discloses an arrangement wherein one or two wiring groove(s) is(are) formed inside the square panel and such groove(s) is(are) covered by flat lid plate(s).

According to the former example, legs are formed on the back of corners of each unit of a panel, and adjoining legs are combined by holder plates which can be bent to comply with the irregularity of the structural floor with its own weight. The upper portion of the panel is combined only by partial binding member which is provided at four corners of rectangular cover plates so that the panels can be removed easily. In this formation, the holder plate is apt to be distorted during transporting and other handling, and the relative position of units comprising a panel cannot be properly fixed. Moreover, as the cover plate does not change shape, the partially bound portion of the panel is easily torn off with the distortion of the holder plate portion. As such, it is difficult to maintain the square shape of a panel which causes hardship in handling and often production of noise as well. A weak and insufficient connection easily leads to displacement during earthquakes or other shaking. The connection may be improved by cutting out a portion of flat cover plate and fixing that portion to each unit of a panel to temporally determine mutual position, but such improvement would not sufficiently solve all the above-mentioned problems .

According to the latter example, the bottom of the wiring groove is made thin and flexible so that the groove can bo made to comply with the irregularity of the structural floor. This causes the easy deformation of the floor as the mutual position of the grooves is not fixed. Even when the cover plates are placed and a wide floor is constructed, grooves are not connected with each other and apt to produce noise or easily lip off during earthquakes and other shaking.

Disclosure of the Invention The present invention aims to solve these problems by providing an access floor with a groove structure which can be placed in compliance with the irregularity of the structural floor and with the grooves being connected with each other with sufficient strength, thereby eliminating unsteadiness and enhancing capacity to resist earthquakes and other shaking, and which can be manufactured at lower net cost and easily handled and assembled.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an access floor system with a groove structure wherein the groove for wiring is formed between a plurality of panel blocks being composed of panel units and placed in squares on the structural floor, and is covered by lid panels, and characterized in that the panel block has a flat upper surface, sidewalls and slot inserts of U-letter shape which are formed at the middle of the sidewall and into which the vertical wall of the lid panel is inserted, and in that the lid panel has a horizontal wall and vertical walls hanging downward therefrom.

By taking the above measures, as the vertical wall of the lid panel is held by the slot insert of the panel block, noises are eliminated and the capacity to resist earthquakes and other shaking is strengthened. Further, as panel blocks and lid panels are interconnected with each other, there is no divergence produced while assembling. Furthermore, the relative position of panel blocks and lid panels is fixed, it is unnecessary to draw lines on the floor and place down panel blocks first. It is possible to assemble panel blocks and lid panels alternately.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a partial sectional view showing the installation of panel block and lid panel in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a panel block in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a frontal view of a panel block in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a lid panel in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the installation of access floor in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view showing the installation of a center lid and lid panels in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a partial sectional view showing the connecting portion of center lid and lid panel in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a panel block in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a panel unit from which panel blocks are made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a side view of a panel unit from which panel blocks are made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a panel block, two lid panels and a locking member/central plate in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a partial sectional view of a panel block in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a plan view showing the relation between a panel block, lid panels and a locking member/central plate in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged sectional view of A - A in Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is a developed sectional view showing the relation between a locking member/central plate and a lid panel.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing the relation between a panel block, a lid panel and a locking member/central plate in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 17 is a sectional view of B - B in Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 is a schematic plan view of a principal portion of a corner of panel block in accordance with the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

An embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a partial sectional view of the access floor showing one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a panel block and Fig. 3 is a front view thereof. The access floor according to the present invention provides grooves between panel blocks 10 and covers the grooves with lid panels 12. Panel blocks 10 and lid panels 12 are made to constitute the same surface. The panel block of square shape mentioned here includes those composed of a single panel unit of square shape as in the present embodiment, those composed of an assembly of panel units to form a square, and those composed of two triangular panel units to form a square. A panel block need only be square when assembled from panel units. When combining a plurality of panel units, they must be connected by some means. Connection can be done either by providing each unit with proper means and connecting them directly, or, by affixing panel units to a sheet or other base and thus connecting them indirectly. In the latter case, if gaps are provided between panel units, such gaps can be utilized as the wiring grooves and arrangement of wires in a diagonal direction also becomes possible.

Panel block 10 has flat upper surface 14 and sidewall 16 hanging therefrom. In the middle of sidewall 16, there are provided slot inserts 18 of U-letter shape into which the vertical wall of lid panel 12 is inserted and held. The middle of sidewall 16 mentioned here refers to any point within the thickness of panel block 10. The size of panel block 10 should be a size which can absorb the irregularity of the structural floor and which is desirably no more than 300 millimeters(mm) on one side. However, as panel blocks composed of triangular panel units can absorb the irregularity with three point support, such panel blocks may be more than 300 mm. The thickness of panel block 10, which is the same as the height of sidewall 16 and which also corresponds to the depth of wiring groove, is desirably between about 30 mm to 50 mm in accordance with the volume of wiring or the size of table taps, plugs and other equipments to be used.

Slot inserts 18 are formed in U-letter shape by bending sidewall 16 into a step-like shape and, then, by providing upward wall 20 from the edge of the step along sidewall 16. The vertical wall of lid panel 12 is inserted in the resultant l - letter shaped slot and the end of the vertical wall is placed on the bottom of slot insert, so the bottom constitutes a holding floor 22 for the vertical wall. It is desirable to determine the position of slot insert 18 so as to make holding floor 22 between 10 mm to half the thickness of panel block 10 lower than upper surface 14 in relation to the length of the vertical wall. The height of upward wall 20 should be about 2 to 3 mm shorter than the height of slot insert 18 so that the interference with lid panel 12 can be avoided. If slot insert is made at too low a position, danger increases that the wiring will be erroneously placed on the holding floor 22 and be crushed by the vertical wall of lid panels. If the position of the slot insert is too high, the vertical wall of lid panel 12 must be made shorter, which could weaken the structure or cause lid panels to come off. It is not necessary to form slot insert 18 along entire length of sidewall 16, but partially is sufficient. Similarly, the holding floor may be provided partially along the sidewall.

At the foot of sidewall 16 of panel block 10, bumper member 24 of plastic material may be attached for the purpose of eliminating noise caused by the irregularity of the structural floor. Bumper member 24 may be dispensed with and substituted by a bumper sheet to be laid on the structural floor. Also, a wiring window portion 26 may be impressed on sidewall 16 of panel block 10 which may be removable by bending and snapping off. The frame of this windo portion may be composed of slit 50 and cuts 51, the connecting bridge portion 52 between the slit and cuts may be made narrow and thin for easy removal. The shape and size of wiring window may be determined freely, but, being a supplemental wiring space, about 30 mm in width and 15 mm in height will suffice. If the bumper member 24 is attached to the place where the wiring window is to be opened, it will be necessary to remove the bumper member of that portion. If panel block 10 and lid panel 12 are made of steel plate, press processing will produce fireproof products with high productivity. Upward wall 20 may be provided by cutting a portion of holding floor 22 and bending upward.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of lid panel 12 which has a horizontal wall 28 and vertical walls 30 hanging downward therefrom on both of the length sides. When lid panel 12 is connected with the central plate, a short lowered step 32 is formed at both breadth ends. The width of horizontal wall 28 may suitably be between about 50 to 100 mm in consideration of necessity of covering the wiring groove and of housing wiring equipments within the groove. The height of vertical wall 30 may be from about 10 mm to half of the thickness of panel block 10 in consideration of the strength of lid panel 12 as a whole and must be about 2 to 3 mm longer than the upward wall 20 with the view to avoid interference between horizontaJ wall 28 and upward wall 20. The upper surface 14 of the panel block and horizontal wall 28 of the lid panel are made to constitute parts of the same surface. By inserting vertical wal l 30 in slot insert 18 with sufficient depth, the two are connected and strongly held in place and would not come apart even with a certain degree of shaking.

The length of lid panel 12 is usually made to be the same length as one side of panel block 10, but it may be longer or shorter. However, as a gap of the same length as that of one side of panel block 10 is produced between panel blocks, lid panels of the same length as one side of panel block 10 are also required. In order that lid panels 12 properly fit panel blocks 10, it is desirable to provide apertures 34 on lid panels with 100 to 150 mm interval. Apertures 34 should start from the bottom of vertical wall 30 on both sides and should extend to a portion of horizontal wall 28 to enable lid panels to bend to a certain extent whenever needed. Taking into account these provisions, lid panels 12 may be as long as about 500 mm.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the access floor which is composed of above-mentioned panel block 10 and lid panel 12. For assembling this floor, vertical wall 30 of lid panel 12 is inserted in slot insert 18 of panel block 10. U-shaped slot insert 18 catches hold of vertical wall 30. Thus, the mutual positioning of panel block 10 and lid panel 12 is determined together, thereby preventing the coming apart or sliding off even if some shaking is applied. Further, lid panel 12 fits better and suppresses noise. By attaching bumper material 36 to vertical wall 30 of lid panel 12, and by catching hold of bumper material 36 more tightly in slot insert (Fig. 1) , more effects can be expected in the prevention of coming off and the suppression of noise.

When lid panel 12 has the same length as panel block 10, a square space at the corner of panel blocks is produced. This square space is covered by central plate 38. Fig. 6 shows a cross sectional view of this portion wherein the edge of central plate 38 is placed on the aforementioned lowered step 32 of lid panel 12 and central plate 38 is locked to support stand 40 from above with locking member 42. By so doing, the whole structure is connected strongly together and the shaking-proof capacity increases. Support stand 40 may be made of aluminium die casting or similar materials and be fixed to the structural floor by two- sided adhesive tape or other means. The locking means in Fig. 6 is by screwing, but a cam system may realize quicker locking.

Fig. 6 shows another embodiment of bumper material which is different from that of 36 in Fig. 1. In this embodiment, bumper material 60 covers up to the upper portion of upward wall 20, thereby the top of upward wall 20 is made to constitute the holding floor for lid panel 12. For this purpose, it may be more stable if the top of upward wall 20 has a certain width.

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of another embodiment showing the relationship between central plate 38 and lid panel 12 where, instead of providing a lowered step, U-shaped groove 44 is formed at the end of lid panel 12, and vertical wall 46 is formed at the end of central plate 38 to be inserted into groove 44, thus strengthening the combination.

Upon completion of the aforementioned construction, wiring is made by utilizing grooves under lid panel 12. If the wiring is placed on the holding floor 22 of panel block 10, there is a danger that wiring may be damaged when lid panel 12 is assembled. In order to prevent such a danger, a wiring guard like a channel may be placed in the space beneath lid panel 12 (not shown in the drawings). Even without such facilities provided, upward wall 20 of slot insert 18 plays the roll of a guide to lead the wiring to the normal position and sufficiently guard the wiring.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which the design of panel block 10, lid panel 12 and central plate 38 are slightly different from aforementioned embodiments. This embodiment is characterized by its provision of a notch 80 in the middle of upward wall 20 of panel block 10 and provision of indentation 82 at the corresponding position of lid panel 12, thereby connecting the panel block and lid panel. This connection can regulate the correct position of lid panel 12 in the length direction. Also, by engraving adjusting marks 84 at appropriate points of both panels, the assembling of lid panel 12 becomes easier. In the rear surface of panel block 10, reinforcement board 86 is attached by screwing or spot welding (Fig. 12). In this case, indentation 88 is provided on the under surface of panel block 10 and is fixed into the hole provided on reinforcement board 86, thereby determining the mutual positions. When using reinforcement board 86, the thickness of panel block 10 may be reduced.

The central portion of sidewall 16 of panel block 10 is indented inwardly towards the center of panel block to form dent 17. The depth of this dent is made so that sidewall 16 is kept on the same line as or inside of the outer edge of upper surface 14 of panel block 10 and thereby sidewall 16 can resist the load from above and can prevent outward opening of sidewall 16. Also, the break of sidewall 16 is not at each corner, but is made to be off the corner. Fig. 18 is a partial plan view of the corner portion of panel block 10, wherein the end of one sidewall 16 is extended past the corner at a right angle, and the end of adjoining sidewall is bent at a right angle towards inside before the end of adjoining sidewall. The end of sidewall 16 which was bent towards inside is made to reach the same line as the outer edge of upper surface 14 or inner than that line. This is for preventing the outward opening of sidewall 16 in resistance against load from above, as in the case with above-mentioned dent 17. At the corner portion of sidewall 16, there is provided an opening 92 for a part of locking member/central plate 90 (hereinafter referred to as locking member) to be inserted as will be explained later. Further, at the foot of sidewall 16 on the corner portion, bumper member 24 is attached as was in the aforementioned embodiment. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 12, the inside portion of bumper member 24 is extended upward to support holding floor 22. Bumper member 24 is also attached to reinforcement board 86, wherein the edge of reinforcement board 86 is bent at some points to form lowered steps 87. The extended bumper member 24 supports the under surface of lowered steps 87 to reduce the load per one unit of space and minimize deterioration. By providing projections to bumper member 24 and fixing the projection into holes provided on sidewall 16 (not shown in the drawings) , the unity of the connection can be strengthened. Along the length side of lid panel 12 are provided apertures 94 for small wiring and covered window portion 98 for ordinary wiring. The window portion can be opened by either bending downward or removing the piece of plate at window portion at slit or hole 96. In this embodiment, vertical wall 30 of lid panel 12 extends fully to the end of the panel because, when a load is placed on the ends of the panel, if the vertical wall does not extend to the end, the panel may rise. Extending the vertical wall to both ends will prevent the rising of the panel as the load can be born at the ends of the panel, too. Lowered step 32 at the ends of lid panel 12 is formed in a semicircular shape in relation to the locking member 90. Slit 100 is provided on lowered step 32 along breadth sides of the lid panel and the outside of slit 100 constitutes bending portion 102. Bending portion 102 is composed of the lowest portion 102a, middle-hei ht portion 102b and the highest portion 102c. The reason for this formation shall be explained later.

Locking member 90 is in a circular shape and is placed on lowered step 32 of lid panel 12 and has four stopper tongues 104 around the circumference. The locking member is rotated and the stopper tongue is inserted into opening 92 on panel block 10. Fig. 13 is a plan view showing the relation between locking member 90, panel block 10 and lid panel 12. Fig. 14 is an enlarged cross sectional view at A - A in Fig. 13. By putting in place and rotating locking member 90 on lowered step 32 of lid panel 12, stopper tongue 104 enters into opening 92 whereby panel block 10 and lid panel 12 are pressed from both top and bottom and combined as one unit. Two holes 106 are provided along the central line on the upper surface of the locking member, into which a specialized tool is inserted to rotate the locking member. By providing a slot groove 108 in the center of locking member 90 into which a portion of the circumference of another locking member 90 can be inserted or applied, a locking member can be used as a tool to rotate another locking member.

Fig. 15 is a developed sectional view showing the contact between locking member 90 and lowered step 32 of lid panel 12. Locking member 90 is provided with indentation 110 which, in compliance with the rotation of locking member, is made to slide on bending portion 102 from the lowest portion 102a, over the highest portion 102c and to middle-height portion 102b. Bending portion 102 must be bent utmost when locking member slides over the highest portion 102c and is bent moderately at middle-height portion 102b, thus locking member 90 is prevented from loosening by portion 102c and firmly locked at portion 102b. The completion of locking can be confirmed by providing adjusting marks 112 on lid panel 12 and locking member 90. As stopper tongue 104 of locking member 90 is formed with certain vertical thickness, the same can prevent panels from slipping off when the panel received a shock while tentatively placed on the floor before locking. Stopper tongue 104 also increases strength. It is also possible to provide a hole in the center of locking member 90 and install a floor electrical outlet directly, although such installation is not shown in the drawings. As was explained before, another means for connecting panel units into panel blocks is by placing panel units on an appropriate plastic sheets, wherein the plastic sheet functions as reinforcement material and as bumper material too. Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing such formation and Fig. 17 is a sectional view at B - B in Fig. 16. In this embodiment, four panel blocks (although this should be correctly termed as "panel units", the term "panel blocks" is used here because the structure and shape are practically the same. The terms "lid panel" and "locking member" are used in the same sense.) and four lid panels compose one panel block 10 on plastic sheet 114. Rectangular projections 116 are provided on plastic sheet 114, one in the center and two on both ends of each of the four sides of the panel block. Panel block 10 is in a similar shape, although the size is smaller, to the panel block which was explained in previous embodiment. Only a few^r differences include the point that upward wall 20 of slot insert 18 is cut. out from side wall and the bottom of slot insert constitutes a slit.

The position of panel block 10 is determined by insert ing rectangular projection 116 into slit 118 (and therefore the center of sidewall 16 of panel block 10 is not inwardly indented) . Groove 120 is formed on top of rectangular project ion 116 and vertical wall 30 of lid panel 12 is inserted into groove 120, thereby rectangular projection 116 serves as bumper member 36 as well. Further, the corner side of the rectangular projection on four corners is made one step lower. This lowered portion supports the flat portion at the back of upper surface 14 of panel block 10, thereby reinforcing the support of panel blocks. Also, columnar projections 122 are formed on plastic- sheet 114 with appropriate interval for supporting the back of upper surface 14 of panel block 10, thereby preventing the hanging of surface 14. The structure of lid panel 12 and locking member 90 are the same as in the aforementioned embodiment. Thus, the upper portion of panel blocks 10 and lid panels 12 form a scrummage. This scrummage and the connection by way of plastic sheet 114 at lower portion complete a total combination of panel blocks and lid panels, which can be more easily handled as a module.

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing another embodiment of panel block 10. Fig. 9 is a plan view and Fig. 10 is a side view of panel unit 10a which comprises panel block 10. In this embodiment, a plurality of panel units (here is shown as a panel block comprising four panel units, but this number is not. limited to four) compose one panel block 10. Each panel unit 10a must be connected so that positioning is fixed. Connector projection 70 is cut open in L-letter shape on sidewall 16a and is connected with each other. As such connector projection does not hinder the connection of the panel unit and the lid panel, a panel block may be composed of one or a plurality of panel units. On the other hand, panel unit 10a and panel block 10 can be different in size and shape. It is appropriate to provide two connector projections 70 on each sidewall 16a, wherein the connector projections of one sidewall 16a project inwardly and those of adjacent sidewall 16a project outwardly so that all panel units 10a can be connected each other. Moreover, hole 72 is provided on the corners of upper surface 14a of panel unit 10a so that a tool can be applied thereto when raising panel units for installation or dismantling.

The groove for wiring is provided between panel blocks 10. Such grooves may be provided between panel blocks 10 composed of a plurality of panel units 10a, or, between those composed of a plurality of panel units and those composed of a single panel unit 10a. In all cases, the size of lid panel 12 must be matched with the size of panel block 10 for covering provided grooves. As such, the ratio in size of space for grooves against space of panel blocks 10 can be changed, which brings about such desirable effects as being able to secure the necessary wiring space according to the volume of wiring.

While further developing such a formation, grooves for wiring can be secured in the space under panel units 10a or panel blocks 10 which themselves can replace the lid panels. That. is. while covering the whole floor with panel units 10a or panel blocks 10 without providing grooves, wiring can be arranged through wiring window 26 of panel unit. 10a by removing beforehand the piece of sidewall at wiring windo portion 26. (Panel units 10a which are planned to be used as such may be provided with a wiring gate instead of providing wiring window portion 26. ) When such formation is adopted, panel units 10a are connected with each other by connector projection 70 and there are no positioning problems. In this operation, lid panels are not required and the work for providing grooves can be spared, which makes the number of parts smaller, the cost lower and the work easier.

Industrial Applicability

The invention under the present application was described as above, in which the vertical wall of the lid panel is held at the slot insert of the panel block. This eliminates noise and strengthens the resistance of lid panels against coming loose due to earthquakes and other shaking. Further, panel blocks and lid panels are interconnected and their relative position is fixed so that they cannot slide off from each other. As the positioning of panel blocks and lid panels are both fixed, it is not necessary to draw lines on the floor beforehand nor place only panel blocks first. Instead, panel blocks and lid panels can be assembled alternately, thus the construction attains a high efficiency.