Drawer with hidden electrical connector
An item of furniture including a work platform, a suspended member connected with and located beneath the work platform, and a drawer is described. The drawer is connected with and located beneath the work platform. The drawer is aligned with an outer surface of the suspended member. The suspended member has a thickness t and the drawer has a height h, with the thickness t being approximately equal to the height h, allowing the drawer to have a camouflaged appearance. The item of furniture also includes an electrical connector located in the drawer for connection to a wire. The size of the wire is less than the size of an opening formed between the drawer and the work platform. By having such a configuration, the opening allows for the wire to pass out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application entitled “DRAWER WITH HIDDEN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR,” filed on Aug. 19, 2005 under Express Mail Label No. EV342114143US, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDThis invention relates generally to furniture such as desks, and in particular, to a desk drawer with a hidden electrical connector.
Desks and other furniture units which are specifically adapted for use with electrical components such as computers and laptops may provide electrical connectors for the laptops or computers. However, these electrical connectors are typically located in such a way that they effect the appearance of the furniture. For example, sometimes the electrical connectors are housed either on or in the work surface of the piece of a desk, thus marring the continuous work surface of the desk. Thus interrupting the continuous work surface of the desk and effecting the overall appearance of the desk. What is needed is a piece of furniture, such as a desk, having an electrical connector which is completely hidden and which does not effect the overall look and appearance of the desk.
BRIEF SUMMARYAccording to one aspect of the present invention, a desk is provided. The desk includes a work platform, a recessed member, and a suspended member. The recessed member has a thickness t1 and is located under the work platform a distance d1 away from the edges of the work platform. The suspended member is located a distance d2 beneath the work platform and is connected with the work platform through the recessed member. The desk further includes a drawer and an electrical connector. The drawer is connected with and located approximately the same distance d2 beneath the work platform. The drawer has a front surface which is aligned with an outer surface of the suspended member. The suspended member has a thickness t2 and the drawer has a height h. The thickness t2 is approximately equal to the height h, allowing the drawer to have a camouflaged appearance and form an opening between the drawer and the work platform. The electrical connector is located in the drawer for connection to a wire having a thickness t3, wherein the thickness t3 is less than the distance d2 to allow for the wire to pass out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
According to another aspect of the present invention a desk including a work platform, a drawer, and an electrical connector is provided. The drawer is connected with and located beneath the work platform. The drawer has a front surface which forms an opening for allowing a wire to pass through. The electrical connector is located in the drawer for connection to the wire having a cross section which is sized less than the size of the opening to allow for the wire to pass through the opening and out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
According to another aspect of the present invention an item of furniture is provided. The item of furniture includes a work platform, a suspended member connected with and located beneath the work platform, and a drawer. The drawer is connected with and located beneath the work platform. The drawer is aligned with an outer surface of the suspended member. The suspended member has a thickness t and the drawer has a height h, with the thickness t being approximately equal to the height h, allowing the drawer to have a camouflaged appearance. The item of furniture also includes an electrical connector located in the drawer for connection to a wire. The size of the wire is less than the size of an opening formed between the drawer and the work platform. By having such a configuration, the opening allows for the wire to pass out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
It should be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the Figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to each other for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the Figures to indicate corresponding elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Shown in
The support members 35, 36 are used to support and elevate the work platform 24 a distance above the ground and form a knee opening 34 within the desk 22, preferably to allow for one to use the work platform 24 while seated. While two support members 35, 36 are shown in
Referring to
In one embodiment, the front surface 65 forms the opening 72 for allowing a wire to pass through. Preferably, the wire 100 has a cross section which is sized less than the size of the opening 72 to allow for the wire 100 to pass through the opening 72 and out of the drawer 60 when the drawer 60 is in a closed position. Preferably, the opening 72 has a height ho and a width wo of greater than 5 mm, as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the opening 72 is formed between the drawer 60 and the work platform 24, wherein the opening 72 allows for the wire 100 to pass out of the drawer 60 when the drawer 60 is in a closed position.
The drawer 60 includes a planar bottom panel 70 and a back panel 68, side panels 64, 66, and a front panel 62 vertically protruding from the bottom panel 70 to form a storage area 67. Suitable drawer slides may be attached to side panels 64, 66 and the desk 22 in order to slideably mount drawer 60 to desk 22. Preferably, the storage area 67 is sized to hold items, such as a laptop computer, some books, as well as a full sized alpha-numeric computer keyboard. However, the storage area 67 may be dimensioned in such a way that it cannot fit a laptop or an auxiliary computer keyboard.
The front panel 62 includes a suspended portion 74 connected with a support portion 76 with a transition portion 79, as shown in
The side panels 64, 66 are connected with and between the front and back panels 62, 68. The back panel 68 may be connected with a cable management device 104, as shown in
The drawer 60 houses an electronic module 80, as shown in
Preferably, the electrical connector 82 is mounted on the housing 83 at an angle a which is slightly obtuse with respect to the plane of the bottom panel 70 of the drawer 60, as illustrated in
Electrical connector 82 may be any type of connector used to transfer electrical signals, such as a power outlet 84 for connecting to AC or DC power, a data port 88 for receiving and sending information, a video connector 94 for receiving and sending video signals, an audio connector 96 for receiving and sending audio signals, and any other outlet, connector or port that may be used to transmit and receive electrical signals. The data port 88 may include a telephone outlet 89, for receiving and sending telephone calls, a LAN outlet for connecting to a network, a Firewire or USB port for connecting to a computer, a DVI or HDMI port for connecting to a digital video signal, a fiber optic port, a serial port, a parallel port, or any other port or outlet that can send and receive information. The video connector 94 may be any one of a variety of video connectors used to send and receive video signals, such as a VGA connector, an HDMI connector, a DVI connector, an RCA connector, a BNC connector, and an F-type connector. The audio connector 96 may be any one of a variety of audio connectors used to send and receive audio signals, such as a BNC connector, a balanced connector, an RCA, a ¼″ or ⅛″ connector, a fiber optic connector or any other such connector.
As a result of the above configuration, a laptop computer or other such electronic device may be advantageously plugged into the power outlet 84 for power and may be connected in a suitable manner to data port 88 or telephone outlet 89 for network or Internet connectivity. An exemplary electronic module 80 is a power and data module manufactured by Electri-Cable Assemblies, Inc., of Shelton, Conn. 06484. However, any other types of modules may be used, such as the 8-Outlet SurgeMaster® Superior Series, by Belkin Corporation of Compton, Calif. 90220, having Part #F9S800-06.
The desk 22 preferably includes a recessed member 40 having a thickness t1 located under the work platform 24 a distance d1 away from the edges 30, 31, 32, 33 of the work platform 24 and a suspended member 50 located a distance d2 beneath the work platform 24 and connected with the work platform 24 through the recessed member 40. By locating the recessed member 40 a distance d1 away from the edges 30, 31, 32, 33 of the work platform 24, the recessed member 40 can have a hidden appearance, thus causing the illusion that the suspended member 50 beneath the recessed member 40 is suspended underneath the work platform 24 without being connected to the work platform 24. However, the recessed 40 member may also be located adjacent the edges of the work platform 24. Preferably the recessed member 40 has a thickness t1 of greater than 5 millimeters, and more preferably the recessed member 40 has a thickness t1 of greater than 7 millimeters. Also the recessed member 40 preferably is located a distance d1 from the edges 30, 31, 32, 33 of greater than 7 millimeters, and more preferably greater than 12 millimeters.
The suspended member 50 is located distance d2 beneath the work platform 24 and is connected with the work platform 24 through the recessed member 40. The suspended member 50 has a thickness t2 of preferably greater than 40 millimeters, and more preferably, greater than 50 millimeters. The suspended member 50 may comprise a transition member 55 located beneath a flat member 54, as illustrated in
While the desk 22 may have various dimension, in one embodiment, the desk 22 has dimensions labeled as shown in
Although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific illustrative embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
Claims
1. A desk comprising:
- a work platform;
- a recessed member having a thickness t1 located under the work platform a distance d1 away from the edges of the work platform;
- a suspended member located a distance d2 beneath the work platform and connected with the work platform through the recessed member;
- a drawer connected with and located approximately the same distance d2 beneath the work platform, the drawer having a front surface which is aligned with an outer surface of the suspended member, wherein the suspended member has a thickness t2 and the drawer has a height h, and wherein the thickness t2 is approximately equal to the height h, allowing the drawer to have a camouflaged appearance and form an opening between the drawer and the work platform; and
- an electrical connector located in the drawer for connection to a wire having a thickness t3, wherein the thickness t3 is less than the distance d2 to allow for the wire to pass out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
2. The desk of claim 1, wherein the thickness t1 of the recessed member is greater than 5 mm.
3. The desk of claim 1, wherein the distance d2 is greater than 5 mm.
4. The desk of claim 1, wherein the drawer includes two side surfaces each connected at an edge to an opposing side of the front surface, a back surface connected to an edge of each side surface, and a bottom surface connected with and below the front, the back, and the two side surfaces.
5. The desk of claim 1 further comprising an electrical housing housed within the drawer, wherein the electrical housing houses the electrical connector.
6. The desk of claim 1, wherein the electrical connector is one of a power connector, a telephone connector, an audio connector, a video connector, or a LAN connector.
7. The desk of claim 1, further comprising a flexible conduit connected with the drawer, wherein the flexible conduit hoses an electrical wire which is electrically connected with the electrical connector.
8. A desk comprising:
- a work platform;
- a drawer connected with and located beneath the work platform, the drawer having a front surface which forms an opening for allowing a wire to pass through; and
- an electrical connector located in the drawer for connection to the wire having a cross section which is sized less than the size of the opening to allow for the wire to pass through the opening and out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
9. The desk of claim 8, wherein the opening has a height h and a width w of greater than 5 mm.
10. The desk of claim 8, wherein the width of the opening is equal to the width of the drawer, and the height of the opening is greater than a thickness of the wire.
11. The desk of claim 8, wherein the drawer has a camouflaged appearance.
12. The desk of claim 8 further comprising an electrical housing housed within the drawer, wherein the electrical housing houses the electrical connector.
13. The desk of claim 8, wherein the electrical connector is one of a power connector, a telephone connector, an audio connector, a video connector, or a LAN connector.
14. An item of furniture comprising:
- a work platform;
- a suspended member connected with and located beneath the work platform;
- a drawer connected with and located beneath the work platform, the drawer having being aligned with an outer surface of the suspended member, wherein the suspended member has a thickness t and the drawer has a height h, and wherein the thickness t is approximately equal to the height h, allowing the drawer to have a camouflaged appearance; and
- an electrical connector located in the drawer for connection to a wire, wherein the size of the wire is less than the size of an opening formed between the drawer and the work platform, wherein the opening allows for the wire to pass out of the drawer when the drawer is in a closed position.
15. The item of furniture of claim 14, wherein the electrical connector is one of a power connector, a telephone connector, an audio connector, a video connector, or a LAN connector.
16. The item of furniture of claim 14, further comprising a cable management device connected with the drawer, wherein the cable management device houses an electrical wire which is electrically connected with the electrical connector.
17. The item of furniture of claim 14, wherein the width of the opening is equal to the width of the drawer, and the height of the opening is greater than a thickness of the wire.
18. The item of furniture of claim 14 further comprising an electrical housing housed within the drawer, wherein the electrical housing houses the electrical connector.
19. The item of furniture of claim 14, wherein the electrical connector is one of a power connector, a telephone connector, an audio connector, a video connector, or a LAN connector.
20. The item of furniture of claim 14 further comprising a support member located under the work platform and used to support and elevate the work platform 24 a distance above the ground.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 22, 2005
Publication Date: Feb 22, 2007
Inventor: Christian Arkay-Leliever (Fairfield, CT)
Application Number: 11/208,496
International Classification: A47B 17/00 (20060101);