Field of invention The present invention relates to an access flooring system formed from a plurality of reversible floor panels, a plurality of support pillars to support the floor panels and a pillar head at each support pillar to provide further support for the floor panels.

Background art

Access flooring systems are typically used in office and commercial buildings to provide a raised floor distributed over a permanent floor. Using pillars to support the raised flooring creates an underlying chamber through which cabling may be accommodated that would otherwise be visible and accessible on the main floor presenting a safety hazard for the building occupants.

Example pillar supported access flooring systems are disclosed in WO 2005/021890, WO 2007/007306 and WO 201 1/089586. However, it is common for the support panels of such systems to be damaged during assembly of the access floor by sharp tools and heavy objects used and moved over the flooring system by installation personnel and construction activity in general.

Conventionally, these damaged panels must be removed and replaced which is both costly and time inefficient. This is a particular problem where the panels interlock via, for example, tapered or overlapping panel edges. What is required is an access flooring system that solves these problems.

Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an access flooring system in which the floor panels are reversible. In particular, should a first floor surface of the panel be damaged during or after installation of the system, the panel may be conveniently lifted from the system reversed and reinstalled such that the second opposed and undamaged surface is presented. This is achieved, in part, by specifically configuring the floor panels and the pillars upon which the panels are supported. It is a requirement of nearly all access flooring systems that the floor panels, when installed are arranged in close touching contact with one another so as to avoid the creation of gaps between panels which otherwise present tripping hazards and/or debris collection zones. Accordingly, the invention provides floor panels that are both reversible and that tessellate with a minimum gap sizes between reversible panels. Specifically, each support pillar comprises a centrally extending spacer projection against which a plurality of support panels contact against and around. Importantly, the shape profile at the regions of the floor panels that contact or abut the spacer projection complement the shape, or at least a portion of the shape of the spacer projection so as to fit in snug touching contact such that the spacer projection provides a component part of the tessellated modular floor system.

According to a first aspect of the present invention that is provided an access flooring system comprising: a plurality of reversible floor panels, each panel having a first and second floor surface on respective and opposed first and second sides, the system configured such that either the first or the second floor surface is positionable to be an uppermost facing floor surface; a plurality of support pillars for supporting the floor panels; a pillar head positionable at an upper end of each of the support pillars when in use to further support the floor panels, each pillar head comprising: a top face to contact either the first or second floor surfaces of the floor panels when in an orientation facing downward towards the pillar head; a spacer projection positioned or positionable so as to extend upwardly from the top face of the pillar head and aligned axially with the support pillar, the spacer projection comprising a substantially uniform cross sectional profile along its length and having an axially extending outer surface and an upper end; wherein the floor panels comprise a plurality of corners and a recess at the corners that extends the entire thickness of each panel between the first and the second floor surfaces, each recess comprising a shape to abut the axially extending outer surface of the spacer projection in a complementary manner such that at least a portion of the spacer projection sits within the respective recess of each of the panels when supported in position at the support pillars and the corners of the floor panels meet in contact around the outer surface of respective spacer projections; wherein the upper end of each spacer projection is configured to be substantially co-planar with either the first or second floor surface of the floor panels when in an orientation to be the uppermost facing surface.

Preferably, the plurality of floor panels are substantially symmetrical about a plane extending parallel and centrally between the first and second floor surfaces. More preferably, the first floor surface is substantially identical to the second floor surface. Optionally, the side walls of the floor panels extending between the first and second surfaces extend substantially perpendicular to the first and second surfaces. Optionally, the side walls are substantially symmetrical about a plane extending parallel and centrally between the plane of each of the first and second floor surfaces. Preferably, a distance by which the upper end of the spacer projection extends from the top face of the pillar head is substantially equal to a thickness of the floor panels.

Preferably, a shape of the recess at the corners of the floor panels and the outer surface of the spacer projection is such that the floor panels and the spacer projection meet in close touching contact. In particular, a shape of the recess at the corners of the floor panels in a plane extending parallel to the first and second floor surfaces and a cross sectional shape of the spacer projection perpendicular to its axial length are complementary so that the corners of the floor panels meet in close touching contact around the outer surface of the spacer projection. Preferably, the floor panels at the corners are positionable in close touching contact with the outer surface of the spacer projection along substantially the entire axial length of the spacer projection. In particular, the spacer projection is generally uniform along its length and comprises a substantially uniform thickness. Optionally, the spacer projection is substantially cylindrical or may comprise a non-circular cross sectional shape profile or a polygonal cross sectional shape profile.

Preferably, the recess at each corner of the floor panels comprises a shape that is arcuate in a plane extending parallel to the plane of each of the first and second floor surfaces and wherein a curvature of the arcuate recess is substantially the same as a curvature of a cross section of the spacer projection perpendicular to its axial length. Additionally, a depth (in a plane parallel with the first and second surfaces of the panel) of each recess at each corner of the panel is substantially equal along the length of the recess in a direction between the first and second surfaces.

Preferably, the recess at each corner extends the full thickness of the floor panel between the first and second floor surfaces. That is one end of the recess is aligned substantially coplanar with the first surface and a second end of the recess is aligned substantially coplanar with the second surface. Accordingly, in one embodiment, an axial length of the corner projection is substantially equal to the length of the recess in a direction between the first and second floor surfaces.

Preferably, the support pillars comprise means to be axially adjustable to change an axial length of the support pillar. In particular the means to provide the axial adjustment may comprise a conventional twist collar telescopic arrangement; a sliding arrangement in which a first elongate section slides relative to a second elongate section; a detachably connectable sectional elongate element or a plurality of elongate elements that may be moved axially relative to one another via cooperating screw threads or the like.

Preferably, the spacer projection is detachably mounted at the pillar head. Optionally, the spacer projection is non-detachably mounted at the pillar head. Optionally, the pillar head is detachably mounted at a respective support pillar. Preferably, the pillar head is non- detachably mounted at a respective support pillar.

Preferably, the top face of the pillar head is substantially planar except for the spacer projection. In particular, the top surface is substantially devoid of any projections extending perpendicular to the top face except for the spacer projection Brief description of drawings

A specific implementation of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional side elevation view of an access flooring system according to a specific implementation of the present invention comprising a plurality of support pillars supporting a plurality of reversible floor panels; Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the corner pillars of Figure 1 showing three of four floor panels supported by a support pillar and arranged around a spacer projection extending axially upward from the support pillar;

Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of a section of the access flooring system of Figure 1 in which a plurality of floor panels and spacer projections form a close fitting tessellated modular floor system;

Figure 4 is a magnified plan view of a support pillar of Figure 1 illustrating two floor panels arranged around the spacer projection in close contact;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a further specific implementation of the arrangement of Figure 2 in which the spacer projection is detachably mounted at the support pillar via a mounting slot; Figure 6 is a side elevation view of a further embodiment of Figure 5 in which the spacer projection is detachably mounted at the support pillar.

Detailed description of preferred embodiment of the invention

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the access flooring system 100 comprises a plurality of support pillars 101 intended to be positionable perpendicular and upwardly extending from a ground surface or floor 109. Each support pillar 101 comprises a pillar head 102 at its upper end configured to support a plurality of floor panels 103.

Support pillar 101 further comprises a base 108 having a disk-like configuration so as to provide a relatively large contact surface area with ground 109 such that pillar 101 is stable in the substantially vertical orientation as illustrated in Figure 1. Base 108 may be detachable or non-detachably mounted at its bottom or ground end. Additionally, base 108 comprises a plurality of anchorage apertures 203 to receive suitable anchorage screws, pins or bolts via which each support pillar 101 may be secured to floor 109. Pillar 101 comprises a plurality of elongate sections 101a and 101b. Section 101a comprises a radius smaller than section 101b such that 101a may slide telescopically from a mounting position within section 101b. A twist grip adjustment collar 107 is circumferentially adjustably mounted about an upper end of section 101b such that by rotation of collar 107, section 101a may be released to slide axially relative to section 101b to adjust the height or separation distance of pillar head 102 relative to base 108 and floor 109.

As will be appreciated, the present invention encompasses alternative support pillar height adjustment means 107. Alternatively, pillar 101 may be rigid along its length having a height that is not adjustable.

Pillar head 102 comprises a disk-like structure and is coaxially mounted at an upper end of pillar section 101a. Disk 102 has a top face 1 10 intended to be upward facing when pillar 101 is orientated in normal use and supported upon ground 109. The substantially planar top face is devoid of significant surface profiling, recesses and projections save for a centrally extending spacer projection 106. According to the specific embodiment, projection 106 is a relatively short cylindrical projection extending upwardly from a central region of top face 1 10. A height by which projection 106 extends from top face 1 10 is many orders of magnitude greater than a thickness of pillar head 102 and in particular a length of projection 106 may be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 times the thickness of pillar head 102. In particular, a length by which projection 106 extends from top face 1 10 is substantially equal to a thickness of each floor tile 103 such that when arranged in use as shown in Figure 1 , an upper end 200 of projection 106 is aligned co-planar with an upward facing surface 104 of floor panels 103.

A radius of pillar head 102 is sufficiently large to provide the appropriate support for each floor panel 103. According to the preferred embodiment, a radius of the disk-like pillar head 102 is slightly less than of the disk-like base 108. According to further embodiments, an integrally formed or detachable support layer (not shown) may be positioned at top face 1 10 to assist with the frictional contact with a lower face 105 of each floor panel 103 at the region of mounting upon pillar head 102.

As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, each support pillar 101 and each pillar head 102 is sized so as to support four floor panels 103 upon top face 1 10, with each panel 103 abutting or mated in close approximate touching contact with the upwardly extending spacer projection 106 coaxially aligned with support pillar 101 and upper and lower sections 101 a, 101 b. According to the preferred embodiment, each floor panel 103 comprises a recess portion 201 at each corner. The recessed portion 201 is formed by a concave arcuate curve extending between and joining adjacent edges 205 of panel 103. The side wall surface 1 12 at recess 201 is approximately one quarter of a circle having a curvature corresponding approximately to a curvature of an outer surface 1 10 of spacer projection 106. Accordingly, each recess portion 201 is capable of positioning in a complementary manner against spacer projection 106 in close touching contact or near touching contact.

According to the preferred embodiment, the side walls 206 of floor panels 103 extend perpendicular to a plane parallel to the upper and lower surfaces 104, 105 so as to mate approximately against spacer projection 106 along its axial length and about its axially extending outer surface 1 1 1.

Figure 3 illustrates a section of the flooring system showing four floor panels 103 mounted upon a respective single support pillar 101 having a respective spacer projection 106. As indicated, due to the corresponding height of spacer projection 106 and thickness of each panel 103, top face 200 of spacer projection 106 is co-planar with the uppermost facing floor surface 104 so as to be 'flush' with no projections or recesses evident at each corner region 201. According to the embodiments of Figures 1 to 4, spacer projection 106 is formed integrally or is at least non-detachably mounted at pillar head 102.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate further embodiments of the present invention in which spacer projection 106 is detachably mounted at pillar head 102. Referring to Figure 5, upper pillar section 101a comprises an axially extending mounting slot 501 downwardly projecting from top face 1 10 of pillar head 102. Slot 501 is substantially cylindrical and comprises a radius approximately equal to or slightly grater than a radius of the cylindrical spacer 106. According to the further embodiment, spacer 106 is approximately twice the length of the corresponding spacer 106 detailed with reference to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4. Accordingly, and in use, spacer 106b is at least partially accommodated within mounting slot 101 such that, one half 500 the axial length of projection 106b is accommodated within the slot 501 with a second upper half 502 extending upwardly from top face 1 10 of pillar head 102. If it is desired such that projection 106b is non-detachably mounted at pillar head 102, a suitable adhesive or intermediate mounting sleeve (not shown) may be positioned between the opposed inner facing surface of slot 501 and the outer facing surface of lower section 500 of projection 106b as the two components are assembled together. According to the further embodiment of Figure 6, spacer projection 106c comprises an axial length slightly less than the axial length of projection 106. According to the further embodiment, a stub neck 600 is upwardly extending and centrally positioned at pillar head 102 also co-axial with support pillar 101. The stub neck 600 extends only a relatively short distance from top face 1 10 being approximately half, a third, a quarter, an eighth or a sixteenth the length of projection 106 referring to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4. The axial length of stub neck 600 is sufficient so as to provide a short projection from top face 1 10 against which each of the floor panels 106 may abut when the modular flooring system 100 is assembled. In particular, the stub neck 600 is also a fraction of the thickness of each floor panel 103 such that a cylindrical cavity is created by the corner regions 201 tessellated and arranged around stub neck 600 in close touching contact. Spacer projection 106c comprises a length which, in combination with an axial length of stub neck 600, is approximately equal to a thickness of each floor panel 103. When projection 106c is mounted and accommodated within the substantially cylindrical cavity defined by the panel corners 201 , the projection top face 200 is also aligned to be co-planar with upward facing surface 104 so as to be substantially 'flush'. Accordingly, spacer 106c, like spacer 106b, is removable from the modular system.