Knoll Gmbh

Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Robert E Reuter

Wallace C Bullwinkle

Charles P Rozier, Jr

John J Rizzi

William I Stephens

A Brooks Rorke

Robert E Anderson

R Douglas Reuter

Arkady Golynsky

Ronald A Snyder

Michael L McAllister

Robert A Melhuish

Larry L Hoff

Al Schmidt

James A Petronio

A wall spine assembly for a modular office system comprises a plurality of individual panel assemblies. Each of the panel assemblies includes a vertical support structure and mechanically affixed lower panels in a rigid box-beam structure. Facing panels are removably attached to support brackets mounted on the vertical supports. A cavity exists between the facing panels and vertical supports to permit the lay-in of cabling through the office system. A crown member is provided on the top of the vertical support and is adapted to receive brackets for the mounting of accessories above a desk or other work surface attached to the panel. The panels, and especially the crown, permit the mounting of office components such as shelves, storage cabinets, lighting fixtures and the like anywhere along the horizontal length of the wall. A horizontally telescoping vertical end post is also provided.

Hybrid office panel construction for a modular office furniture system

A modular storage cabinet which can be shipped in a knocked-down condition and assembled on site with a minimal number of mechanical fasteners. Arcuate end connectors are provided for the side panels, which end connectors engage a tube at the corner connections. A sleeve slides over the arcuate end connectors, securely locking the side panels to the tube without the need for screws or any other fasteners. Top and bottom panels are attached at the corner connection assemblies. The cabinet includes a front panel which pivotally receives.one or more doors, or the doors can be directly connected to the top and bottom panels. The side walls in the preferred embodiment are manufactured by a plastic injection molding process. The interior of the side walls may include screw bosses integrally formed therein for attachment of drawer slides, shelving or other accessories. The corner connection assembly can be used for any type of corner connections, such as for modular office panel systems.

Modular storage cabinet

A stackable panel system having a versatile corner supporting arrangement for addition onto existing wall systems for a modular office system. The corners of the stackable panel include a sliding engagement scheme, wherein a mast assembly is secured to a top portion of the wall system by a mast base and slidably engages a central open area of a corner support on the stackable panel by means of a vertically oriented mast upright. Additional panels can be added to the stackable panels by means of intermediate connectors. On the upper portion of the top panel, a corner trim piece covers over the central open area of the top corners. A top connector helps to rigidly secure adjacent stackable panels, either with a T-shaped, L-shaped or X-shaped connection. A perimeter framing system utilizing the corner support arrangement for the stackable panels is also provided. Each of the frame members includes a semi-circular section and a flat section. The frame members are secured to the corner connectors having a matching cross section by means of screws which are threadingly engaged with the flat portions and pass into the semi-circular areas such that the open area of the frame does not have the frame securing elements projecting therein. In a further embodiment, a floor mounted mast assembly is provided for using the stackable panels of the present invention as a room space divider. In addition, the corner supports can be attached to existing panels so that they may be used with prior art systems to convert them into stackable panels of the present invention having a sliding engagement mechanism.

Stackable panel system for modular office furniture

A network of electrical raceways primarily for carrying telephone and data cable wires extends in vertical and horizontal directions through a modular partition system and enables vertical and horizontal lines such as signal wires to be inserted and removed from the surface of horizontal and vertical channel members. Vertical raceways are provided by a vertical spine attached between adjacent panels. The vertical raceways have resilient elongated tubes with a longitudinal slit forming a seam, with resilience and stiffness sufficient to retain any enclosed wires. The tube is deflectable to permit manual, forcible insertion and removal of the wires into and out from the vertical wireway. Splicing fixtures continue the raceways around vertical to horizontal diversions, also being accessible from the surface.

Lay-in wireways for a space divider system

An office furniture system of free standing furniture elements which can be linked to each other comprises a modular desk unit and a modular storage unit. The modular storage unit occupies the same floor footprint as a rectangular desk unit. The separate storage unit enhances the storage capacity of an office layout since the mounting of drawers and shelves are not limited by the desk unit configuration. The storage unit has compatible lay-in wiring trays, accepts compatible modular power components and accepts the same privacy partition panels and other accessories as are mounted to the desk units. When the desk unit and the storage unit are linked into an integrated office design, a continuous pathway is provided for the electrical, communication and data wiring required for the office system. Power cables are physically separated from the data and communication wires. Since the vertical space above the wiring trays remains accessible, cabling can be easily routed at any time through the system, enhancing office system expansion and design.

Office system comprising linkable desk and storage units

Cornice

A cabinet is provided with a curved, upwardly-swinging door and interior shelves. The curved shelf door is mounted on a pair of opposed pivot arms which rotate on a horizontal axis. Each pivot arm is provided with a disk portion having a central boss and an arm portion tangent to the disk portion. The central boss engages a fixed stud at the side of the cabinet and provides a center pivot for each of the arms. A gas spring for each arm is provided, which is pivotably connected at one end to the arm and at the other end to a side wall of the cabinet. The gas spring serves a dual purpose of counterbalancing the door as it moves between an open and a closed position and opening the door unassisted once the user initiates movement of the door, this opening feature being very beneficial to seated and physically disabled users.

Overhead cabinet with rotating door

Storage cabinet

A fully enclosed structural support stanchion for furniture is provided, having an internal cavity which may receive standard modular office furniture electrical service cabling, and which is provided with a demountable front accessory panel to which plural electrical or electronic accessories may be mounted such that a portion of the accessory extends into the stanchion and releasably connects to one end of the standard modular furniture electrical service cabling. The stanchion is constructed with rigid materials so that it can act as a support for an overhead bookshelf or other storage facility, and the stanchion is further provided with a large internal storage cavity into which small office supplies or other articles may be placed and stored behind a hinged, selectively closable door. The stanchion further includes an elongated bracket support which may receive standard shelf brackets, permitting the stanchion to act as a cantilever support for structures such as shelves secured to the shelf brackets. The internal cavity and demountable front-accessory panel of the stanchion may receive electrical service wiring comprising a conventional cable and connector shell rigidly mounted on a support bracket having a spring clip, enabling an electrical receptacle to be quickly and releasably secured to the mounting bracket spring clip while simultaneously mating electrical contacts on the receptacle with electrical contacts provided in the cable connector shell.

Furniture stanchions with unitary power routing system

A cabinet is provided with a curved, upwardly-swinging door and interior shelves. The curved shelf door is mounted on a pair of opposed arms which rotate on a horizontal axis. Each arm is provided with two opposed, circularly arcuate slots and a central ellipsoidal slot, each slot engaging a fixed stud at the side of the cabinet. The ellipsoidal slot and its corresponding stud provide a center pivot for each of the arms. The arms are mounted inside the cabinet on opposed interior side walls. Lighting can be provided in a formed recess in the bottom of the cabinet. The cabinet can also be provided with plural internal shelves supported on planar brackets. The cabinet further can be provided with a pair of side-by-side doors and a center wall. Arms are mounted on each side of the center wall and adjacent the interior side walls of the cabinet, for separately mounting the doors.

A fully enclosed structural support stanchion for furniture is provided, having an internal cavity which may receive standard modular office furniture electrical service cabling, and which is provided with a demountable front accessory panel to which plural electrical or electronic accessories may be mounted such that a portion of the accessory extends into the stanchion and releasably connects to one end of the standard modular furniture electrical service cabling. The stanchion is constructed with rigid materials so that it can act as a support for an overhead bookshelf or other storage facility, and the stanchion is further provided with a large internal storage cavity into which small office supplies or other articles may be placed and stored behind a hinged, selectively closable door. The stanchion further includes an elongated bracket support which may receive standard shelf brackets, permitting the stanchion to act as a cantilever support for structures such as shelves secured to the shelf brackets. The internal cavity and demountable front-accessory panel of the stanchion may receive electrical service wiring comprising a conventional cable and connector shelf rigidly mounted on a support bracket having an accessory spring clip, enabling accessories to be quickly and releasably secured to the mounting bracket spring clip while simultaneously mating electrical contacts on the accessory with electrical contacts provided in the cable connector shell.

Growing community of inventors

Suffolk County, NY, United States of America

Robert E Reuter