US20100051211A1

US20100051211A1 - Partition System

Info

Publication number: US20100051211A1
Application number: US12/552,997
Authority: US
Inventors: Chao-Ken Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-09-03
Filing date: 2009-09-02
Publication date: 2010-03-04
Also published as: TWM349420U

Abstract

A partition system for office or room includes a first and second partition wall, a pivot mechanism connected between the partition walls and a glide set mounted on the bottom of the partition walls. The pivot mechanism can allow the partition walls to relatively rotate. The glide set is composed of a pair of inverted vee feet and a support mechanism. The feet have flexibility for matching uneven surface. The support mechanism can rotate the feet to be parallel with the partition wall for easy storage.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to combinative partitions for partitioning a room.
2. Related Art
To effectively use limited space of a room, partitions are usually adopted by general users. A conventional partition system, as can be seen in FIG. 10, is composed of at least a first partition wall 10 and a second partition wall 11 connecting with each other. Usually, there is a pivot (not shown) disposed between the partition walls 10, 11. The pivot can allow the partition walls 10, 11 to rotate to form a desired angle. Additionally, the partition walls 10, 11 are separately provided with glide sets 12 for facilitating moving of the partition walls 10, 11.
In the abovementioned prior art, because the partition walls 10, 11 are provided with glide sets 12, the partition walls 10, 11 are hard to be firm positioned when they have been moved to a desired position. Even though the glide sets 12 are additionally provided with brakes, the positioning effect is not still good enough because the heavy weight of the partition walls 10, 11. Furthermore, while the partition walls 10, 11 are moving, the user must give care to operation of the brakes. A desired angle of the partition walls 10, 11 is not easy to be positioned, and the operation is inconvenient.
The glide set 12 shown in FIG. 10 includes a mounting plate 120 parallel to the partition walls 10, 11, a support frame 121 under the mounting plate 120 and wheels 122 under the support frame 121. A spring 123 is provided between the mounting plate 120 and the support frame 121. The spring 123 is used for matching uneven surfaces on which the partition walls 10, 11 stand. The support frame 121 must have a certain height because it has to cooperate with the spring 123. On the other side, two ends of the support frame 121 protrude from the partition walls 10, 11, so they become barriers to the people walking near the partition walls 10, 11. Furthermore, the mounting plate 120 is perpendicular to the support frame 121, its occupying space is very uneconomical for package and delivery.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the invention is rotation of the partition walls is independent of the glide set. Thus the operation of rotating the partition walls is very convenient without any other action.
A secondary object of the invention is not to make feet of the partition walls become a barrier by lowering the height of the feet.
Another object of the invention is to reduce the occupying space by rotating the feet.
To accomplish the above objects, the invention includes a first and second partition wall, a pivot mechanism connected between the partition walls and a glide set mounted on the bottom of the partition walls. The pivot mechanism can allow the partition walls to relatively rotate. The glide set is composed of a pair of inverted vee feet and a support mechanism. The feet have flexibility for matching uneven surface. The support mechanism can rotate the feet to be parallel with the partition wall for easy storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the partition system according to the invention;

FIG. 1-1 is a partially perspective view of the first partition wall for showing the hollow sticks;

FIG. 1-2 is a partially perspective view of the second partition wall for showing the hollow sticks;

FIG. 1-3 shows a rotating status of the two partition walls;

FIG. 2 shows the connection of the pivot mechanism and partition walls;

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the pivot mechanism;

FIG. 4 shows an assembled view of the pivot mechanism;

FIG. 5 shows the action of the pivot mechanism;

FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of the glide set;

FIG. 7 shows an assembled view of the glide set;

FIG. 8 shows a partially sectional view of the glide set;

FIG. 9-1 shows a top plan view of the mounting plate and the feet in a perpendicular arrangement;

FIG. 9-2 shows a side plan view of FIG. 9-1;

FIG. 9-3 shows a top plan view of the mounting plate and the feet in a parallel arrangement;

FIG. 9-4 shows a side plan view of FIG. 9-3; and

FIG. 10 shows a partition system of prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the partition system of the present invention least includes a first partition wall 20, a second partition wall 21 and a pivot mechanism 3 connected between the partition walls 20, 21. The pivot mechanism 3 is composed of a first pivot plate 30, a second pivot plate 31 and a pivot shaft 32. Each of the pivot plates 30, 31 has a connecting portion 301, 311 fixed on the top or bottom 201, 211 of the partition walls 20, 21 and a pivoting portion 302, 312 passed through by the pivot shaft 32.
Please refer to FIGS. 1-1 and 1-2, a first hollow stick 203 and a second hollow stick 213 are longitudinally provided on lateral edges 202, 212 of the first and second partition wall 20, 21, respectively. Normally, the two hollow sticks 203, 213 press to each other. As shown in FIG. 1-3, when the first partition wall 20 make a relative rotation against the second partition wall 21 to change its position, the first partition 20 can obtain effective support to smoothly rotate by mutual press of the hollow sticks 203, 213.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pivoting portions 302, 312 of the pivot plates 30, 31 overlap. The center of each of the pivoting portions 302, 312 has a pivot hole 303, 313 for being passed through by the pivot shaft 32. A plurality of positioning holes 304 in a round arrangement are provided around the pivot hole 303 of the first pivot plate 30. A plurality of positioning troughs 314 corresponding to the positioning holes 304 are provided on the second pivot plate 31. A rolling ball 33 is placed in each of the positioning holes 304. A portion of the rolling ball 33 is exposed out of the positioning hole 304. A pressing plate 34 is passed through by the pivot shaft 32 for pressing the exposed portion of the rolling ball 33 to prevent the rolling ball 33 from falling off. A positioning effect can be obtained when the rolling ball 33 embeds the positioning trough 314. The pressing plate 34 is provided with threadlike holes 340 in a radial arrangement. The threadlike holes 30 are used for increasing flexibility of the pressing plate 34 and irrelative to the rolling balls 33.
Referring to FIG. 5, when a user wants to move the second partition wall 21, he or she must exert force to overcome the resistance from the rolling balls 33 pressed by the pressing plate 34. The second partition wall 21 can rotate about the pivot shaft 32 when the rolling balls 33 swerve from the original positioning troughs until they embed next positioning troughs 314. During the moving, the pressing plate 34 is temporarily deformed by the rolling balls 33 swerving from positioning troughs 314. The deformation of the pressing plate 34 forms additional pressure to the rolling balls 33.
Referring to FIGS. 6-8, the bottoms of the first and second partition walls 20, 21 are provided with glide sets 4. Each of the glide sets 4 is composed of a mounting plate 40, a support mechanism 5 and a pair of feet separately carrying wheels 410, 420.
The mounting plate 40 is used for connecting the glide sets 4 on the bottom of the partition walls 20, 21. The mounting plate 40 is provided with two inserting holes 401, 402.
The support mechanism 5 includes a frame 50, a spring coil 51 and screw rod 52. There is a through hole 501, which is passed through by the screw rod 52, in the frame 50. One end of the screw rod 52 is fixed between the two inserting holes 401, 402. The spring coil 51 is put around the screw rod 52. The outer end of the screw rod 52 is terminated by a nut 53. The spring coil 51 is limited between the nut 53 and the frame. The frame 50 has two parallel and corresponding wings 502, 503 and a bridge connecting therebetween. Two inserting pins 504, 505 corresponding to the inserting holes 401, 402 extend from the bridge.
One end of each the feet 41, 42 connect with one of the wheels 410, 420. The other ends 411, 421 of the feet 41, 42 are pivotedly connected between the wings 502, 503 by bolts 43, 44. The paired feet 41, 42 are of an inverted vee shape and capable of swinging about the bolt 43, 44. An extending spring 45 is provided between the paired feet 41, 42 for exerting inward force. This makes the paired feet 41, 42 has flexibility when the wheels 410, 420 contact with the ground. In other words, the flexible structure can compensate uneven ground.
Referring to FIG. 9-1, to stably support the partition walls 20, 21, the paired feet 41, 42 are perpendicular to the mounting plate 40. When a user wants to store or deliver the partition system, the mounting plate 40 will be parallel to the feet 41, 42 if the user upward pulls the mounting plate 40 with the screw rod 52 and then rotates. The inserting pins 504, 505 insert the inserting holes 401, 402 again because of the returning force of the spring coil 51 as shown in FIGS. 9-3, 9-4. Therefore, the occupying space of the partition system can be reduced.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A partition system comprising:

a first partition wall;

a second partition wall;

a pivot mechanism connected between the first and second partition wall; and

a plurality of glide sets fixed on bottoms of the first and second partition wall;

wherein a first hollow stick and a second hollow stick are longitudinally provided on lateral edges of the first and second partition wall, respectively, the two hollow sticks press to each other;

wherein the pivot mechanism comprising a first pivot plate, a second pivot plate and a pivot shaft, each of the pivot plates has a connecting portion fixed on a top or bottom of the partition walls and a pivoting portion having a pivot hole passed through by the pivot shaft, the pivoting portions of the pivot plates overlap, a plurality of positioning holes in a round arrangement are provided around the pivot hole of the first pivot plate, a plurality of positioning troughs corresponding to the positioning holes are provided on the second pivot plate, a rolling ball is placed in each of the positioning holes, a portion of the rolling ball is exposed out of the positioning hole, and a pressing plate is passed through by the pivot shaft for pressing the exposed portion of the rolling ball to prevent the rolling ball from falling off, thereby a positioning effect can be obtained when the rolling ball embeds the positioning trough.

2. The partition system of claim 1, wherein the pressing plate is provided with threadlike holes in a radial arrangement.

3. The partition system of claim 1, wherein each of the glide sets comprises a mounting plate, a support mechanism, a pair of feet and wheels under the feet, the mounting plate connects on the bottom of the partition walls, the feet are of an inverted vee shape, and an extending spring is disposed between the feet.

4. The partition system of claim 3, wherein the mounting plate is provided with two inserting holes, the support mechanism includes a frame, a spring coil and screw rod, a through hole for being passed through by the screw rod is disposed in the frame, one end of the screw rod is fixed between the two inserting holes, the spring coil is put around the screw rod, an outer end of the screw rod is terminated by a nut, the spring coil is limited between the nut and the frame, the frame has two parallel and corresponding wings and a bridge connecting therebetween, and two inserting pins corresponding to the inserting holes extend from the bridge.