OFFICE FURNITURE SYSTEM WITH INTEGRAL ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
An office furniture system with integral electronic components comprises at least one vertically oriented prefabricated furniture panel. The panel can be free standing or wall or desk mounted, and has a structural frame providing a hollow interior to the panel. The panel is thick enough to house electronic components in its interior, and the frame has compartments for separately housing computer components, so that each component can be replaced separately. The system also includes one or more work surface components mounted on the vertical furniture panels that are not obstructed by the computer components mounted in the vertical panel. The panel also can include pivotal storage bins for files or the like.
The present application is based on and claims the filing date of applicant's co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 60/903,541, filed Feb. 26, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.
PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENTNot Applicable.
REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTINGNot Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONOffice furniture systems were first introduced in 1965. Prior to that date, office furniture was limited mainly to the traditional desk, filing cabinet and bookshelf. These furniture objects equipped the working offices, whether partitioned rooms or open space in which desks were lined up in rows. The working environment was noisy, unproductive and lacked privacy for the end-users. AT that time, the common office equipment was limited mainly to the telephone and the typewriter. A few offices also had a desk calculator. Both the furniture and the equipment were designed as objects—a finished product that could only be repaired or replaced if damaged.
The first office furniture systems were introduced in 1965. These systems are sets of components that can be assembled in a wide variety of configurations to meet the needs of different functions. Periodically, they can be disassembled and reassembled in new configurations to meet the evolving needs. Their flexibility allowed them to remain the state-of-the-art for over four decades, defying obsolescence with their adaptability to the changing world.
When the office furniture systems were first introduced in the mid 1960's, administrative work was processed on paper. Documents were handwritten then typed on typewriters, if necessary. The office furniture systems were designed to meet paper-processing requirements. They provided writing work surfaces, shelves and filing bins hung on partition panels or wall tracks. Most offices were stationed on the work surfaces, like they were on the traditional desk. The telephone occupied a small space on the work surface, which was not a big problem for the end-user, and secretarial desks were dedicated mainly to typing and answering the phone.
The radical change in the office environment took place in the late seventies with the introduction of the personal computer. With it came a monitor, a keyboard, and a printer. A mouse and a scanner would be added later. All these items were designed as objects that sat on the work surface. By the 1990's they became the main tools in most offices, occupying the work surface that was designed for working with paper. Clerical offices, which represent over seventy percent of offices, are limited to one 2′×6′ work surface, or two 2′×4′ work surfaces. These limited work surfaces have little room left with a telephone, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and possibly a printer occupying them. One would also find a pencil cup, one or two family pictures on the work surface. And whether the equipment is in use, or sitting idle, the work surface remains occupied, leaving no space for opening files and working with paper. The equipment and the paper have been hard to manage in such an environment, which has become known as the “cluttered cubical.”
Another problem addressed by the present invention is the rate at which the equipment is becoming obsolete—three years on average. Although it is possible to replace a component of the computer, its design as an object, a finished product sealed in a box, makes the public at large treat it as an object discarded and replaced for convenience. Some four hundred million computers are produced worldwide every year, of which two hundred thirty million for the US market. The present invention provides the convenience of replacing a component without discarding the housing structure, the other functioning components, or the rest of the computer hardware. The financial and environmental impact of discarding perfectly functional equipment for updating is considerable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an office furniture system designed with the following criteria.
1. The office processing equipment are designed as independent functional components, such as hard drive, motherboard and processor, DVD/CD drive, monitor, wiring harnesses, laptop dock or network outlet, on/off switches, plug outlets, printing plate, refillable or disposable ink cartridges, telephones, interphones, recorders, electronic drawing boards and others.
2. The system integrates the furniture components and the electronic processing components, fitting coherently together in one and same system.
3. The hollow space of the panel frames is utilized to fit storage cupboards or cabinets, filing bins and casing for the electronic components inside the panels.
4. The system clears the work surfaces form the equipment traditionally stationed on their surface by integrating the equipment inside the system's panels. This applies also to wall-hung work stations where the equipment would be inside casings hung on the wall or on wall track, or to traditional desks in which the equipment would be inside casings fixed to the back panel of the desk, or under the work surface.
5. The invention extends the functional life of the equipment and reduces its fast obsolescence by breaking the equipment into plug-in components that are easily accessible and replaceable.
6. The invention also reduces the generated waste by disposing of a single component that requires updating, instead of disposing of a full unit of equipment. The replaced components are easily pre-sorted for recycling or reinstalling for different application with lesser requirement.
7. The system provides storage cabinets and multiple filing bins for files in process, within easy reach of the end-user.
8. The system provides prefabricated or custom made kits of casings with electronic components to modify existing furniture installations.
9. The system provides prefabricated or custom made kits of storage cabinets and filing bins to modify existing furniture installations.
10. The system enhances the utilization of the working space and reduces the financial cost of replacing fully assembled equipment.
The system includes the following:
an open panel frame in different widths and heights.
a work surface with keyboard storage bins and hinged lids, or with hinged lids to access the keyboard stored in a bin inside the panel;
a series of modular storage and/or display cupboards that fit inside the panel frame;
a series of modular filing bins that fit inside the panel frame;
an articulated, extendable and height-adjustable monitor support arm that fits inside the panel frame;
a casing frame for the DVD/CD drive, with doors or tilt-bin;
a casing frame for the hard drive, with doors or tilt-bin;
a casing frame for the motherboard and the processor, with doors or secured access cover;
a casing frame for the printer with doors;
an ambient/task light inserted inside the panel frame;
a prefabricated wall hung workstation with the electronic components; and
a printer with full page print plate, full page print in one pulse, that fits inside the panel frame.
Referring now to the drawings, a conventional open plan office layout employing free standing furniture partitions in combination with free standing (or partition-mounted) work surfaces is shown in
An open office furniture system 10 having integral electronic components, constructed in accordance with the present invention is shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The printer 54 and printer compartment 56 are shown in more detail in
Another feature of the invention is that the inkjet printer can be a full page printer 70 as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The various computer components are shown in more detail in
As shown in
The components of the present invention are shown in side view and side sectional view in
As shown in
A pictorial view of an exemplary panel incorporating various elements desirable at a work station is shown in
The incorporation of pivotal lighting elements 112 in a panel system of the present invention is shown in
When the features of the present invention are to be used in a temporary storage location, such as a college dorm room, all of the elements of the invention can be incorporated into a separate portable case 120, as shown in
It should be understood that the foregoing is merely exemplary of the preferred practice of the present invention and that various other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to a person skilled in the art.
Claims
1. An office furniture system with integral electronic components comprising:
- at least one vertically oriented prefabricated furniture panel, the panel being free standing or wall or desk mounted, the panel having a structural frame providing a hollow interior to the panel, the panel having a thickness sufficient to house electronic components in the interior thereof, the frame having compartments for separately housing computer components, such that each component can be replaced separately; and
- one or more work surface components mounted on the vertical furniture panels, the work surface being unobstructed by the computer components mounted in the vertical panel.
2. A furniture system as in claim 1 wherein the vertical panel has separate compartments for one or more of a computer motherboard, a hard drive, a DVD or CD or other replaceable memory drive, a computer monitor, a printer, and a cell phone charger.
3. A furniture system as in claim 2 wherein the vertical panel also has one or more compartments in the form of bins for files or the like wherein a container having an open top is pivotally mounted in a compartment opening in the panel for movement between a closed position, wherein the container is enclosed in the panel, and an open position, wherein the top of the container is pivoted outwardly from the panel so as to be accessible for insertion or removal of materials in the bin.
4. A furniture system as in claim 3 wherein the bin is mounted to the compartment for pivotal movement by means of a living hinge wherein a flexible sheet material is folded along a hinge axis and the material on the opposite sides of the hinge axis are attached to a bottom of the bin and to a lower interior surface of the compartment.
5. A furniture system as in claim 2 wherein a computer monitor in the form of a flat panel display is mounted in a compartment by means of a movable mounting arm that permits the display to move inwardly and outwardly from the compartment and to move vertically and to tilt or swivel with respect to the compartment.
6. A furniture system as in claim 2 wherein the system has separate compartments for computer components in the nature of removable memory, a hard drive or hard drives, a motherboard, and a monitor, with the system including wiring for electrically connecting the components.
7. A furniture system as in claim 2 wherein the system includes a compartment for a printer and a printer is mounted in the compartment, the printer being flat enough to fit into the compartment and having a paper outlet slot at a lower edge that directs printed sheets outwardly from the front of the panel at a lower edge of the printer compartment.
8. A furniture system as in claim 7 wherein the printer is an inkjet printer having an array of inkjet nozzles that cover the surface of entire an sheet of regular paper such that the discharge of the inkjet array prints an entire sheet of paper at one time.
9. A furniture system as in claim 1 wherein the work surface has a receptacle for a keyboard at a rear edge thereof, such that a keyboard can be stored therein when not in use.
10. A furniture system as in claim 9 wherein the keyboard receptacle has a door pivotally mounted thereon, the door closing an open top of the receptacle when the door is closed.
11. A furniture system as in claim 1 wherein the panel includes a light compartment for an elongated task light, the task light being pivotable about a longitudinal axis between an open position, wherein a light transmitting panel is exposed and directed at the work surface, and a closed position wherein the light transmitting panel is directed into the interior of the light compartment and a non-light transmitting panel faces out from the light compartment.
12. An office furniture system with integral electronic components comprising:
- at least one vertically oriented prefabricated furniture in the form of a cabinet with a downwardly pivotal front panel, the cabinet being free standing or wall or desk mounted, the cabinet having a structural frame providing a hollow interior to the cabinet, the cabinet having a thickness sufficient to house electronic components in the interior thereof, the interior of the cabinet having compartments for separately housing computer components, such that each component can be replaced separately, the downwardly pivotal front panel being restrained to stop at a horizontal position so that it serves as a work surface when the cabinet is opened, the work surface being unobstructed by the computer components mounted in the vertical panel.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 26, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
Inventor: Omar Marashi (Grand Rapids, MI)
Application Number: 12/037,811
International Classification: A47B 21/04 (20060101);