EP0504533A1 - Modular, structural office system - Google Patents

Abstract

Modular office construction system, characterised in that it is composed of the necessary and sufficient number of elements or modules, assembled under the action of gravity, each corresponding to a specified function, namely the work surface function, the rest/storage function and the rest/guide-conductor function, the guide-conductor function being performed by a column (1B) forming, on a lower fraction of its height, a rest for a corner of a single platform serving as the work surface (9), above the level of which, on an upper fraction (8), it gives access to the set of various conductors feeding the equipment placed on the said platform, the said platform comprising on each side of the said column a wing (2) (3), the end of which rests on a chest (1C) (10) performing the rest function and moreover capable of performing the storage function, the juxtaposition of at least two such identical platforms along any two of their respective sides with a view to extending the structure to assemblies of unlimited dimensions being achieved by sharing at least one rest module, the said elements being linked to one another by means for positioning and for holding in position via gravity ensuring the correspondence of the respective volumes by their natural mutual adaptation. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a new modular office building system, applicable in particular to the production of quality sets of "landscaped" from a number of standard models assembled appropriately.

Such systems already exist in large numbers. They have in common the disadvantage of having a very large number of different modules, this resulting from the need for the user to use, for each dimension and arrangement provided in an assembly, a different module specially provided for such a dimension or such a provision. Thus, known systems commonly use a considerable number of components, for example five hundred, which makes the management of such systems extremely cumbersome and complicated. This is all the more true in the case where a company offers its customers several different systems. In addition, the assembly of these modules together often calls for organs if not very complicated, at least involving costs of skilled labor and consuming a lot of time.

The present invention eliminates these two major drawbacks, thanks to a new design of the system using two concepts, which, although they may seem obvious, have never been sufficiently taken into account.

• la fonction plan de travail,
• la fonction appui,
• la fonction rangement,
• la fonction guidage des conducteurs.

The first notion is that a set, whatever its shape and dimensions, in fact only fulfills a very limited number of functions, namely:

• the worktop function,
• the support function,
• the storage function,
• conductor guidance function.

Consequently, the first basic idea of the invention is to limit the number of modules to those which are each necessary and sufficient to fulfill each of these functions, or even two simultaneous functions.

The second notion is that, by means of passive means for holding in place, natural gravity, that is to say the weight of a first module, is generally sufficient to couple it to a second module situated below the first.

Consequently, the second basic idea of the invention is to eliminate any means of assembling the modules together, such assembly being done by simple positioning and gravity.

The invention therefore relates to an office construction system, characterized in that it consists of the necessary and sufficient number of elements or modules, assembled by simple gravity, each corresponding to a specific function, namely the worktop function. , the support / storage function and the support / guide guide function, the guide-conductor function being fulfilled by a column forming, on a lower fraction of its height, a support for an angle of a single plate fulfilling the worktop function , above the level of which, on a higher fraction, it makes accessible all of the various conductors supplying the materials arranged on said tray, said tray comprising on each side of said column a wing whose end rests on a filling box the support function and being able moreover to fulfill the storage function, the juxtaposition of at least two such identical trays along any two of their respective sides with a view to extending the structure to sets of unlimited dimensions being made with the pooling of at least one support module, said elements being connected to each other by means of positioning and held in place by gravity ensuring the correspondence of the respective volumes by their natural mutual adaptation.

• une zone à relativement grande profondeur destinée à recevoir notamment le matériel informatique devant lequel l'utilisateur devra pouvoir manipuler des documents,
• une zone à largeur moyenne constituant le bureau proprement dit, et sur laquelle l'utilisateur "travaillera",
• et une zone de plus faible largeur sur laquelle seront disposés téléphone, corbeilles de documents, petit matériel de bureau et analogues.

According to a preferred but not compulsory embodiment of the invention, said tray offers working areas each adapted to a "sub-function", such sub-functions also being limited in number and boiling down to:

• a relatively deep area intended to receive in particular the computer equipment in front of which the user must be able to handle documents,
• a medium width zone constituting the office proper, and on which the user will "work",
• and a narrower area over which telephone, document baskets, small office equipment and the like will be arranged.

For this purpose, the plate is asymmetrical, its two wings having different widths and connecting to a central zone bearing on the support column / guide-conductors, while the ends of the wings will rest on support modules whose the depth will correspond to the width of each wing.

If a wing is "terminal", that is to say constitutes one end for the assembly, the width of the support module may be relatively narrow, provided that it can still be used for storage.

If a wing is connected to another wing belonging to a neighboring platform, the width of the support module must be double, and distributed between the two wings. Such a "double" support model could moreover be the single support module used in the system, in which case a terminal wing could either completely cover it, or cover only one half, the other half. being covered by a shelf, an auxiliary tray or the like.

Each support module can be fitted out appropriately to fulfill the storage function: drawers, doors, shelves, hanging files and the like.

The support column / conductor guide module is a vertical prism having, at the height of the upper face of the support modules, a notch intended to receive the angle of the plate which therefore finds its support therein and extends above the tray by a portion to which all the conductors intended to supply the devices carried by the tray are guided, and on the front face of which the sockets necessary for this purpose are mounted.

The assembly of a tray to the next to make a landscaped set can be done on any couple of sides having the same length or width, with or without turning the tray, usable double-sided, to create sinuous shapes. It can also be done only on the two opposite sides of a support / guide column, in which case the two plates will be "head to tail".

A particular interest in these assemblies according to the invention is that they offer the possibility of creating a very large number of work stations on a relatively small area of the premises.

As has been explained, the whole assembly is kept as immobile as a mono-block by the simple weight of the plates on the support modules. However, in the context of the invention, provision is made to equip the plate and the support modules with positioning and holding means ensuring the correspondence of the respective volumes by their natural mutual adaptation. These positioning or holding elements in place may be nipple / bowl pairs, or pegs crossing the plate to come into support housings. Such means have the advantage of only intervening by simple gravity, requiring no tools.

Of course, optional additional accessories may optionally be associated with the basic module described above, such as folding accordion panels which can be deployed to close off a space between support modules and the like.

• les figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D représentent l'ensemble des modules nécessaires et suffisants selon l'invention pour réaliser un ensemble de base, pouvant être associés à d'autres ensembles identiques, pour former un ensemble complet de toute configuration souhaitée,
• la figure 2 représente une telle association de deux ensembles de base, réunis de manière à donner un aspect sinueux à l'ensemble final et comportant les modules de base illustrés aux figures 1A à 1D.

The invention will now be described in a preferred embodiment with reference to the attached drawing in which:

• Figures 1 A , 1 B , 1 C , 1 D represent the set of modules necessary and sufficient according to the invention to produce a basic set, which can be associated with other identical sets, to form a complete set of any desired configuration,
• 2 shows such a combination of two basic sets, together so as to give a serpentine appearance in the final set and having the basic modules shown in Figures 1 A to 1D.

In FIG. 1 A, a tray 1 A is shown fulfilling the worktop function as a whole and consisting of two rectangles 2 and 3 joined at right angles by a rectangle 4 having a cutaway in 5. One side of the rectangle 4 is notched so that the three elements, 2, 3 and 4, which are of course made in the form of a single plate, have a curved notch 6 which will constitute the location of the user.

The width L of the rectangle 2 is greater than the width l of the rectangle 3 in this preferred embodiment. It is understood, however, that in a simpler embodiment the widths l and L can be equal.

Figures 1 C and 1 D show two support modules, this number being made necessary because the widths l and L are different.

The two modules 1 C and 1 D have the form of boxes whose depth is respectively equal to the width L and to the width l of the two rectangles 2 and 3.

Finally, FIG. 1 D represents a column 1 D of prismatic shape, the lower part 7 of which is of square section, while the upper part 8 is of triangular section, thus defining a horizontal surface 9 on which the cutaway will be placed. 5 of tray 1 A.

According to a variant, the column 1 D may have at the height of the plate a peripheral groove whose height is very slightly greater than the thickness of the plate, while the plate has, instead of a cutaway 5, a notch corresponding to the section of the column.

With this minimum number of modules, it is possible according to the invention to constitute an unlimited number of assemblies having all the desired configurations and dimensions.

Such an assembly is shown by way of example in FIG. 2.

We find in Figure 2 the four modules 1 A , 1 B , 1 G , 1 D shown individually in Figures 1 A to 1 D, the rectangle 2 of the tray 1 A resting on the entire width of the support module 1 C while the end of rectangle 3 rests on half the width of module 1 D.

The cutaway 5 of the tray 1 A is placed as described above on the horizontal half-section 9 of the column 1B .

The second element identical to the previous one and which is associated with it in the inverted position in FIG. 2 likewise comprises a plate 11 A , a column 11 B and a support box 11 C , but on the other hand shares the other box 1D with l 'previous set by the narrow end 13, while the wide end 12 rests on half the width of the box 11 C.

The other half of this width is occupied by a shelf designated by 20 and which constitutes one of the optional elements of the assembly.

As seen on the whole drawing, a user located in the notch 6 of the plate 1 A , can take three positions in front of three different work zones: if he stands in front of zone 4, which is the deepest up to the cutaway 5, he may have before him computer equipment and the documents necessary to use it.

If he stands in front of position 2, he has in front of him a work surface similar to a normal office, while he can use the narrower position 3 to place files or a telephone or any other office equipment.

The inversion between the work plan 1A and the work plan 11A is done by simple reversal of one of these two work plans, which makes it possible to give the assembly of FIG. 2 the sinuous appearance that the 'we see.

Of course, an infinity of other assemblies are possible with an infinite number of similar assemblies, and it should be noted that neither the dimensions nor the relative arrangements of said elements are affected by the extremely reduced number of modules used to constitute them.

It should be repeated, as already said above, that the asymmetrical shape of the trays 1 A and 11 A is not an obligation, and that one could have entirely symmetrical trays in which case the number of modules would be further reduced, since modules 1 C and 1 D would then be identical.

The modules 1 C and 1 D can be arranged in storage with drawers as shown in FIG. 1 C or with doors that can be seen in FIG. 1 D or with any customary arrangement in the office industry.

The huge advantage of the system according to the invention is therefore to have only three, or at most four, modules of very great simplicity of construction and easy assembly, since the simple weight of each work plan is sufficient to immobilize the support modules on which they are placed.

Due to this simplicity of design and construction, the system according to the invention is exceptionally inexpensive to build and to assemble. It should also be noted that by this very design, it is very easy to transform an already existing assembly by adding other assemblies to it or by modifying the arrangement of the elements, since no assembly and disassembly of assembly members n 'is to be expected.

Instead of joining two trays along one side of one of rectangles 2 and 3 to form a continuous surface, we can also assemble two trays by the cut sides 5, in which case, instead of a simple cut cut, it will be advisable to practice in the angle 5 a square notch coming to slip into a slot having the thickness of the tray of the column 1 B , this slit being made on each side of each each opposite edge of the column B, this double slit then replacing the triangular bearing surface 9.

It is obvious that the description which has just been given by way of example has no limiting character, all the variants being able to be conceived while remaining within the scope of the claims below.

Claims (8)

Modular office construction system, characterized in that it consists of the necessary and sufficient number of elements or modules, assembled by simple gravity, each corresponding to a specific function, namely the worktop function, the support function / storage and the support / guide guide function, the guide-conductor function being fulfilled by a column forming, on a lower fraction of its height, a support for a corner of a single tray fulfilling the worktop function, above the level of which, on a higher fraction, it makes accessible all of the various conductors supplying the materials arranged on said tray, said tray comprising on each side of said column a wing whose end rests on a box fulfilling the support function and being able to moreover fulfill the storage function, the juxtaposition of at least two such identical trays along any two of their sides respective for the extension of the structure to sets of unlimited dimensions being done with pooling of at least one support module, said elements being connected to each other by means of positioning and holding in place by gravity ensuring the correspondence of the respective volumes by their natural mutual adaptation. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the two wings of the plate are of different widths, the end support boxes having depths respectively equal to these widths. System according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the width of each box being twice that corresponding to the support surface of a tray, the remaining available surface is used to support the end d 'a second juxtaposed tray, to place shelving or the like, or to place a secondary auxiliary tray. System according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the said column is a prism with a square base, the upper part located above the lower plane of the plate is hollowed out in a diagonal so as to constitute a plane of triangular support on which rests the corresponding corner of said tray, this corner having a cutaway whose length is equal to the diagonal of said square. System according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the said column has a peripheral groove at the height of the plate, the height of which is very slightly greater than the thickness of the plate, while the plate has the corresponding angle a notch corresponding to the size and shape of the horizontal section of the column. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a panel in the form of an accordion curtain is hung between two support modules, so as to constitute a width-adjustable skirt. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the positioning and holding-in-place means consist of a nipple / cup pair, each of the two elements of which is formed respectively in the plate and the support module or vice versa . System according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the positioning and holding-in-place means consist of pegs completely passing through a lumen of the plate to come and lodge in a housing of the corresponding support.

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