AU2006200759B1

AU2006200759B1 - Pedestal for access floor

Info

Publication number: AU2006200759B1
Application number: AU2006200759A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Petar Zlatar
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-02-23
Filing date: 2006-02-23
Publication date: 2006-11-16
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-23

Description

Regulation 3.2 Revised 2/98

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act, 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION TO BE COMPLETED BY THE APPLICANT NAME OF APPLICANT: ACTUAL INVENTOR: ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: ASP Access Floors Pty Limited (ACN 092 649 208) Petar Zlatar Peter Maxwell Associates Level 6 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 PEDESTAL FOR ACCESS FLOOR Nil INVENTION TITLE: DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED APPLICATION NO(S) The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:m:\docs\20061012\094840.doc The present invention relates to access flooring and, in particular, to a pedestal for an access floor.

Access flooring is a common feature of many computer, media and communication rooms. Being raised above a concrete slab or other sub-floor by pedestals, access flooring provides underlying space to conceal and arrange cabling and other service items used to operate the computers or other interactive equipment located within the room. The space beneath access flooring also allows air to distribute therethrough in a manner that can be controlled, thus assisting to control the temperature of the room. Access flooring also provides some degree of noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties desirable in an office environment.

The interconnecting panels which define the surface of an access floor are designed to be readily taken up and rearranged, upon prior removal of any overlying carpet or other floor coverings, when upgrading of the computers and other interactive equipment is required. The panels, as well as the pedestals which support them, also need to withstand, and provide long-term stability against, considerable static and dynamic loads.

Although, by and large, most access flooring performs well, an unacceptable level of noise may still be created when the metal to metal contacting components of each pedestal are subject to relative movement, say, through their expansion or contraction arising from temperature variation, or by movement of a load thereon.

These contracting metal components of each pedestal also allow vibration to be readily conducted therethrough, with the result that any vibration sensitive component of the computers and other interactive equipment may be subject to gradual diminution of its effectiveness or failure. A sensation of walking on a hard floor, and the lower leg strain that may arise from walking 22/02/06 thereon for extended periods, are a further result of having all components of the pedestal being readily conductive to vibration. The vibrations generated by the impact shock of foot steps are reflected back from the sub-floor to the feet walking on the access floor.

Similar noise and vibration related problems may arise with the interconnecting panels which have adjacent contacting edges supported by a common pedestal.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pedestal for an access floor that creates a reduced level of noise and has improved vibration dampening properties over prior art pedestals.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pedestal for an access floor that creates a slight separation between adjacent edges of adjacent panels sufficient to prevent transmission of noise and vibration therebetween.

In one broad form of the invention there is provided a pedestal for an access floor, the pedestal including: a stand portion having a base plate for resting upon a sub-floor, and (ii) a metal stem extending upwardly therefrom, a head portion having a platform for receiving thereon an edge region of one or more panels that define the surface of the access floor, and (ii) a metal shaft extending downwardly therefrom, and an isolator sleeve means having noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties, and being adapted to fit longitudinally 22/02/06 between overlapping portions of the metal stem and the metal shaft to thereby isolate the stem from contact with the shaft, wherein the metal stem is a hollow cylindrical tube, and the isolator sleeve means is a plastic sleeve member adapted to fit through the stem, and the metal shaft is adapted to fit through the plastic sleeve member.

In a preferred form, the shaft is threaded.

The platform preferably comprises a cruciform boss extending upwardly from a circular support plate.

The head portion preferably further includes a cruciform divider panel having noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties, the panel being adapted to be secured upon the cruciform boss, whereby it may receive thereupon the edge region of one or more panels.

It is preferred that the cruciform divider panel has raised cruciform ribbing thereon, and the corners of a panel of the access floor are adapted to fit against the corresponding sides of any two perpendicularly arranged arms of the raised cruciform ribbing.

Preferably, the isolator sleeve means further comprises a rubber isolator ring through which the shaft is adapted to fit so that a bottom surface of the isolator ring abuts against a top surface of the plastic sleeve member.

It is preferred that the top surface of the plastic sleeve member is defined by an annular, outwardly extending, flange portion.

In a preferred form, the pedestal further includes a metal cup having a central opening and an annular upright wall. The flange portion of the plastic sleeve member is adapted to fit snugly alongside the annular upright wall of the metal cup.

27/10/06 According to another broad form of the invention, there is provided an access floor including a plurality of pedestals described above, and a plurality of panels supported thereby.

Preferably, each panel has corners with cutaway edges that meet perpendicularly and are adapted to fit against the corresponding sides of any two perpendicularly arranged arms of a raised cruciform ribbing of a divider panel that is secured upon a cruciform boss of the platform.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig 1 is a perspective view of an access floor in which some of the panels thereof have been taken up to reveal the supporting pedestals according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig 2 is a perspective view of one of the pedestals shown in Fig 1, Fig 3 is a perspective view of the pedestal shown in Fig 2 when disassembled into its component parts, Fig 4 is part sectional side view of the pedestal shown in Fig. 2, Fig 5 is a plan view of the pedestal shown in Fig 2 alongside corner portions of panels of an access floor which are adapted to be supported by the pedestal, Fig 6 is a plan view of a portion of an access floor resulting from the interconnection of the panels with the pedestal shown in Fig and Fig 7 is a side view of the portion of the access floor shown in Fig 6.

22/02/06 The access floor shown in Fig 1 has raised floor surface panels 12 supported by pedestals 14 resting upon a sub-floor, with telecommunications cabling 16 also shown in the space underlying the panels 12.

The floor panels 12, in this embodiment, are in the form of steel cementitious floor panels of 600 mm length by 600 mm width having an outer steel welded construction with an enclosed bottom pan 18 formed with a uniform pattern of generally hemispherical pockets. The cementitious material that fills the welded steel jacket of each panel 12 is lightweight and has some degree of noise attenuation properties.

Each of the pedestals 14 broadly comprises a stand portion, a head portion and isolator sleeve means.

In this broad form, the stand portion comprises a base plate 20 for resting upon the sub-floor, and a metal stem 22 extending upwardly therefrom.

In the preferred form shown in Figs 2, 3 and 4, the base plate 20 is made of metal and is substantially square shaped with rounded corners. The stem 22 is a hollow cylindrical tube and is welded centrally to the base plate In this broad form, the head portion comprises a platform 24 for receiving thereon an edge region of one or more of the panels 12, and a metal shaft 26 extending downwardly therefrom. In the preferred form shown in Figs 2, 3 and 4, the platform 24 comprises a metal, cruciform boss 28 extending upwardly from a metal, circular support plate 30. There is a plastic cruciform divider panel 32 having noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties that is engaged to the uppermost surface of the cruciform boss 28. The divider panel 32 has raised cruciform ribbing 34 thereon. The shaft 26 is threaded and screwably engages first and second nuts 36, 38. The first nut 36 serves as a locking nut, and the second nut 38 serves as an adjusting nut. The platform 24 22/02/06 has a threaded aperture (not shown) at its underside and within which the top of the shaft 26 is screwably engaged. The platform 24 is made by die casting.

In this broad form, the isolator sleeve means, in use, fits longitudinally between overlapping portions of the metal stem 22 and the metal shaft 26 so as to isolate the stem 22 from contact with the shaft 26. The isolator sleeve means has noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties. In the preferred form shown on Figs 2, 3 and 4, the isolator sleeve means comprises a plastic sleeve member 40 that fits longitudinally through the metal stem 22, and the metal shaft 26 fits longitudinally through the plastic sleeve member The top surface of the sleeve member 40 is defined by an annular, outwardly extending, flange portion 42. There is a rubber isolator ring 44 through which the shaft 26 fits so that a bottom surface of the isolator ring 44 locates against a top surface of the flange portion 42 of the plastic sleeve member 40. There is also a plastic isolator ring 46 through which the shaft 26 fits so that a bottom surface of the plastic isolator ring 46 locates against a top surface of the rubber isolator ring 44. The rubber isolator ring 44, in particular, has significant noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties.

In the preferred form shown in Figs 2, 3 and 4, the pedestal 14 further includes a metal cup 48 having a central opening and an annular upright wall 50. The plastic sleeve member 40 is fitted through the central opening of the cup 48 until the flange portion 42 of the plastic sleeve member 40 fits snugly alongside (and is surrounded by) the annular upright wall 50. The diameter of the central opening of the cup 48 is equal to that of the stem 22 and so the cup 48 cannot fit over the stem 22 but is located upon the top edge defining the opening of the stem.

22/02/06 The height of the pedestal 14 is determined by the location of the second nut 38 along the shaft 26, as the second nut 38 adjusts the extent to which the stem 22 overlaps the shaft 26.

The plastic isolator ring 46, rubber isolator ring 44, plastic sleeve member 40, and metal cup 48 are sandwiched between the second nut 38 and the top edge of the stem 22, and they are then locked in their respective fitted locations through pressure applied thereon by downwardly screwing the first nut 36 against the second nut 38.

In the preferred form shown in Figs 1 and 5 to 7, an edge region in the form of a corner of each of four floor surface panels 12 is received on the platform 24 of the pedestal 14. Specifically, each corner has cutaway or stepped edges 50 that meet perpendicularly and are adapted to fit against the corresponding sides of any two perpendicularly arranged arms of the raised cruciform ribbing 34 of the divider panel 32 that is secured upon the cruciform boss 28. When so fitted, bolts 52 are applied through overlapping screw holes 54, 56 formed near the corners of each panel 12 and through the circular support plate 30 of the pedestal 14, and the bolts 52 are then engaged by nuts for tightly securing the corner of each panel 12 to the pedestal 14. As shown in Fig 6, the adjacent edges 58 (other than the cutaway edges 50) of adjacent panels 12 are slightly separated sufficiently to prevent transmission of noise and vibration therebetween.

It will be apparent from the above description that the pedestal of the present invention has an advantage over access floor pedestals of the prior art in that it creates a reduced level of noise and has improved vibration dampening properties. This is due largely to the use of an isolator sleeve means to prevent contact between metal components of the stand portion and the head portion of the pedestal. The inclusion of a rubber isolator ring and its 22/02/06 interaction with a plastic sleeve member in the isolator sleeve means further provides a sensation of walking on a soft floor, as the rubber isolator ring dampens the vibrations generated by the impact shock of footsteps and prevents reflection of same back from the sub-floor to the feet walking on the access floor.

Persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications may be made in details of design and construction of the pedestal for an access floor described above without departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.

22/02/06

Claims

1. A pedestal for an access floor, the pedestal including: a stand portion having a base plate for resting upon a sub-floor, and (ii) a metal stem extending upwardly therefrom, a head portion having a platform for receiving thereon an edge region of one or more panels that define the surface of the access floor, and (ii) a metal shaft extending downwardly therefrom, and an isolator sleeve means having noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties, and being adapted to fit longitudinally between overlapping portions of the metal stem and the metal shaft to thereby isolate the stem from contact with the shaft, wherein the metal stem is a hollow cylindrical tube, and the isolator sleeve means is a plastic sleeve member adapted to fit through the stem, and the metal shaft is adapted to fit through the plastic sleeve member.

2. The pedestal of claim 1 wherein the shaft is threaded.

3. The pedestal of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the platform comprises a cruciform boss extending upwardly from a circular support plate. 27/10/06

4. The pedestal of claim 3 wherein the head portion further includes a cruciform divider panel having noise attenuation and vibration dampening properties, the panel being adapted to be secured upon the cruciform boss, whereby it may receive thereupon the edge region of one or more panels. The pedestal of claim 4 wherein the cruciform divider panel has raised cruciform ribbing thereon, and the corners of a panel of the access floor are adapted to fit against the corresponding sides of any two perpendicularly arranged arms of the raised cruciform ribbing.

6. The pedestal of claim 1 wherein the isolator sleeve means further comprises a rubber isolator ring through which the shaft is adapted to fit so that a bottom surface of the isolator ring abuts against a top surface of the plastic sleeve member.

7. The pedestal of claim 6 wherein the top surface of the plastic sleeve member is defined by an annular, outwardly extending, flange portion.

8. The pedestal of claim 7 further including a metal cup having a central opening and an annular upright wall, and wherein the flange portion of the plastic sleeve member is adapted to fit snugly alongside the annular upright wall of the metal cup.

9. An access floor including a plurality of the pedestals of any one of claims 1 to 8, and a plurality of panels supported thereby. 26/10/06 An access floor including a plurality of the pedestals of claim 5, and a plurality of panels supported thereby, wherein each panel has corners with cutaway edges that meet perpendicularly and fit against the corresponding sides of any two perpendicularly arranged arms of the raised cruciform ribbing of the divider panel that is secured upon the cruciform boss of the platform.

11. A pedestal for an access floor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. An access floor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 2 6 th day of October 2006 A.S.P. Access Floors Pty Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL AND ASSOCIATES 26/10/06