COMPUTER SUPPORT FURNITURE WITH WORKSPACE UTILIZATION ENHANCEMENT FEATURES

Technical Field The present invention generally relates to computer support furniture and, more particularly, is concerned with such furniture incorporating features for providing enhancement of efficient workspace utilization.

Background Art Computer support furniture sold by Engineered Data Products, Inc. of Broomfield, Colorado, USA under the trademark "NetCom3" provides workstations configured to house computer equipment and peripherals, such as computer processing units, monitors, keyboards, data drives, modems, printers and file servers, in an organized manner which maximizes workspace and enhances operator productivity. All such computer equipment and peripherals supported by the NetCom3 furniture remain visible to and within easy reach by the operator. The basic components comprising a unit of the prior art NetCom3 furniture includes right and left upright side panels spaced apart and interconnected by horizontally-extending top, bottom and middle rear panels which define rear access openings between the upright side panels covered by back panels removably secured to rear edges of the upright side panels. Pairs of spaced apart elongated vertical rails are attached to the inside surface of each of the upright side panels. Each vertical rail has a column of horizontally- extending vertically-spaced parallel slots formed therein.

The basic components of the prior art NetCom3

furniture unit also include a plurality of substantially rectangular shelves which are vertically spaced one above another and supported between the upright side panels by shelf fastener clips mountable to the rails and attachable to the shelves adjacent to their respective corners. Each shelf fastener clip fits into a selected pair of the parallel slots of a respective one of the vertical rails and has a threaded stud protruding outwardly for insertion through a hole in a mounting bracket on each of the opposite ends of the shelf. Lock knobs are provided which threadably screw onto the ends of the respective studs so as to tighten against the mounting brackets and thereby fixedly secure the shelves to the upright side panels. The shelf fastener clips securing the rear of the shelf to the upright side panels can be positioned at a different elevation therealong than the shelf fastener clips securing the front of the shelf thereto. In such manner, the shelves and thus computer equipment and peripherals housed thereon can be positioned at substantially any elevation and inclination desired by the operator.

The unit of NetCom3 computer support furniture having the above-described basic components as well as incorporating other advantageous features has realized significant acceptance in the commercial and industrial marketplace. The prior art NetCom3 unit has met the ever expanding demand for computer support furniture having the flexibility to accommodate equipment in various configurations desired by customers while at the same time conserving and efficiently utilizing workspace requirements.

However, the NetCom3 furniture has not utilized all potentially available workspace due to the particular manner in which the furniture units have been ganged to

one another to form a corner installation. Heretofore, a corner installation has been formed by placing three furniture units in a general side-by-side relation in which they are displaced about forty-five degrees from one another to form an overall ninety-degree corner. Then, pie-shaped corner filler panels are provided to fit between the adjacent furniture units in flush relation with respective ones of the upright side panels of the furniture units to fill the empty space between the units and provide a means to interconnect the units to one another. In view that the adjacent upright side panels of the adjacent furniture units converge together at the front of the units, the empty space now occupied by the corner filler panels cannot be accessed and thus is not used as workspace.

Furthermore, even given the variability provided by the construction of the NetCom3 furniture unit in terms of angular inclination of and vertical spacing between the shelves of the furniture unit, some items of equipment which need to be placed adjacent to one another have widely different heights. Providing these particular items of equipment in the desired configuation results in some of the available workspace between the shelves not being utilized. Consequently, as with most successful product lines, a need occasionally arises to make additional product improvements which in the case of the NetCom3 computer support furniture will further enhance efficient utilization of available workspace.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides computer support furniture with several workspace utilization enhancement features designed to satisfy the aforementioned need.

A first of the workspace utilization enhancement

features of the present invention is a corner shelf arrangement which includes upper and lower flat shelves extending between two upright side panels and means for connecting opposite ends of the shelves to the upright side panels. The shelves are preferably, although not necessarily, curved or arcuate-shaped. The corner shelf arrangement maximizes the amount of workspace available for utilization within a corner installation.

The two upright side panels of the corner shelf arrangement are angularly displaced from one another by the two shelves with at least one of the upright side panels forming a part of one furniture unit. The one furniture unit has left and right upright side panels generally planar in shape and disposed parallel to one another and laterally spaced apart from one another, and a plurality of horizontal shelves spaced apart one above the other and extending between and mounted at opposite ends to the left and right upright side panels. The other upright side panel of the corner shelf arrangement can be a standalone panel or form a part of a second furniture unit substantially the same in construction as the first furniture unit and can be angularly displaced, for example ninety degrees, from either one of the left and right upright side panels of the one furniture unit. A second of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention is an intermediate shelf arrangement for fitting between upper and lower horizontal full-length shelves of a furniture unit. The furniture unit has left and right upright side panels generally planar in shape and disposed parallel to one another and laterally spaced apart from one another and pairs of full-height upright support rails attached to and extending along the insides of the upright side panels. The upper and lower horizontal full-length shelves are spaced apart one above the other and extend

between and are mounted at opposite ends to the pairs of full-height support rails on the insides of the left and right upright side panels. The intermediate shelf arrangement includes at least a pair of partial-height support rails extending vertically between and mounted to the upper and lower full-length shelves of the furniture unit and a plurality of partial-length shelves extending horizontally between and mounted at opposite ends respectively to the full-height support rails on the opposite upright side panels and partial-height support rails mounted between the upper and lower full- length shelves. This feature maximizes the amount of workspace available for utilization between the full- length shelves of the furniture unit. A third of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention is an inside wire cover which includes a U-shaped end portion having a central partition defining dual channels for receiving therethrough and separating communication and power cables from one another in different ones of the dual channels, and an offset end portion attachable by a shelf fastener clip to an upright support rail on an inside surface of one of the upright side panels of a furniture unit. This feature minimizes the amount of workspace within the furniture unit occupied by equipment cables.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Brief Description of Drawings

In the following detailed description, reference

will be made to the attached drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of computer support furniture employing workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the enhanced furniture of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front perspective view of some of the prior art components employed by the enhanced furniture of Fig. 1. Figs. 4A to 4C are enlarged detailed views of the portions of the prior art components enclosed by box 4 in Fig. 3, showing the steps for installing a shelf fastener clip to a vertical rail on the inside of a left one of the upright side panels of the furniture. Fig. 5 is an enlarged front perspective view of a corner shelf arrangement comprising one of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of an upper shelf of the corner shelf arrangement of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a lower shelf of the corner shelf arrangement of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevational view of a right one of the connecting brackets for supporting the right side of one of the shelves employed in the corner shelf arrangement of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the right connecting bracket as seen along line —9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side elevational view of a left one of the connecting brackets for supporting the left side of one of the shelves employed in the corner shelf arrangement of Fig. 5.

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the left connecting bracket as seen along line 11--11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a front perspective view of a modified

form of the corner shelf arrangement of Fig. 5.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged front perspective view of an intermediate shelf arrangement comprising another one of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged exploded view of a portion of the intermediate shelf arrangement enclosed by circle 14 in Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of an inside wire cover comprising still another one of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a side elevational view of the wire cover as seen along line 16--16 of Fig. 15. Fig. 17 is a top plan view of the wire cover as seen along line 17--17 of Fig. 16.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Overview of Enhanced Furniture Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 to 3 and 4A to 4C, there is illustrated computer support furniture, generally designated 10, (hereafter referred to as "enhanced furniture") employing the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention. The enhanced furniture 10 also employs one or more furniture units 12 having the same construction as used in the prior art NetCom3 furniture and thus many of the same basic prior art components as the prior art NetCom3 furniture. These prior art components include spaced apart right and left upright side panels 14, 16 being generally planar in shape and disposed substantially parallel to one another and laterally spaced apart from one another, top, bottom and middle horizontal planar rear panels 18, 20, 22 extending between and interconnecting the right and left

upright side panels 14, 16, removable upper and lower planar back panels 24, 26 closing upper and lower rear access openings 28, 30 defined between the respective rear panels 18, 20, 22, and pairs of spaced apart elongated full-height vertical support rails 32 attached to inside surfaces 14A, 16A of the right and left upright side panels 14, 16. Each support rail 32 is termed "full-height" in the sense that its respective height is about equal to the height of the respective side panel 14, 16 to which it is attached. Each vertical support rail 32 has a vertical column of horizontally-extending vertically-spaced parallel slots 34 formed therein.

Also, as in the prior art NetCom3 furniture, the enhanced furniture 10 includes vertically-spaced full- length rectangular shelves 36 and pluralities of shelf fastener clips 38 disposed at the corners of the shelves 36 and supporting the shelves 36 between the upright full-height support rails 32 on the right and left upright side panels 14, 16 of the enhanced furniture 10 for vertical and angular adjustment relative thereto. Each shelf 36 is termed "full-length" in the sense that its respective length is substantially equal to the distance between the right and left upright side panels 14, 16 of the furniture unit 10. Each shelf fastener clip 38 has a flat body 40 and a pair of lock flanges 42 attached at one end and along opposite sides of the flat body 40 and extending therefrom to define respective grooves 44 between the ends of the lock flanges 42 and the flat body 40 which permit the lock flanges 42 to fit into a selected pair of the parallel slots 34 of the respective ones of the full-height shelf rails 32. Each shelf fastener clip 38 also has a push flange 46 attached along an opposite end of the flat body 40 of the clip 38 against which a force is applied to install

the clip 38 on the respective full-height support rail 32 such that edge portions 32A of the rail 32 located adjacent to the selected pair of slots 34 snugly fit within the grooves 44 defined between the lock flanges 42 and the flat body 40 of the clip 38. Further, each shelf fastener clip 38 has a threaded stud 48 attached to the flat body 40 and protruding outwardly therefrom for insertion through a hole 50A in a mounting bracket 50 on each end of the full-length shelf 36. Each shelf fastener clip 38 also includes a lock knob 52 which threadably screw onto the outer end of a respective stud 48 so as to tighten against the respective mounting bracket 50 and thereby fixedly secure the shelf 36 to the respective full-height support rail 32 on the one upright side panel 14, 16.

In combination with the above-described basic components of the prior art NetCom3 furniture, the enhanced furniture 10 employs the following workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention: (1) a corner shelf arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 5-12 and generally designated 54; (2) an intermediate shelf arrangement illustrated in Figs. 13 and 14 and generally designated 56; and (3) an inside wire cover illustrated in Figs. 15-17 and generally designated 58.

Corner Shelf Arrangement

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 5-12, there is illustrated the corner shelf arrangement 54 employed by the enhanced furniture 10, constituting a first of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention. This feature maximizes the amount of workspace available for utilization within a corner installation.

The corner shelf arrangement 54 basically includes at least one flat shelf 60 and preferably a pair of

upper and lower shelves 60 extending between a pair of upright side panels, such as a right upright side panel 14 of a first furniture unit 12 and a left upright side panel 16 of a second furniture unit 12 as seen in Figs 1 and 2, or, in the alternative, a standalone right upright side panel 14 as seen in Fig. 12. Thus, at least one of the side panels 14, 16 forms a part of one furniture unit 12, whereas the other side panel 14, 16 can be a standalone panel 14, 16 or form a part of a second furniture unit 12. The upright side panels 14, 16 of the corner shelf arrangement 54 are angularly displaced from one another through a predetermined angle. In the illustrated embodiments of the shelves 60 in Figs. 6 and 7, the predetermined angle is about ninety degrees, although other angles could be employed.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, each of the shelves 60 have opposite side edges 60A which are substantially straight. The straight opposite side edges 60A of each shelf 60 extend relative to one another at the predetermined angle of preferably ninety degrees. The upper shelf 60 preferably has a pair of opposite front and back curved edges 60B extending substantially concentric to one another. The lower shelf 60 preferably has a front straight edge 60C and a back curved edge 60B. Alternatively, the front and back edges 60B of both upper and lower shelves 60 could be straight. Thus, while in the preferred form the upper and lower shelves have at least one of their front and rear edges with a curved configuration such that the overall configuration of the shelves may be referred to as being curved, they can also have front and rear edges which are straight such that the overall configuration of the shelves may be referred to as being straight.

Referring to Figs. 8-11, the corner shelf arrangement 54 also includes means in the form of right

and left connecting brackets 62, 64 for connecting the opposite side edges 60A of the respective shelves 60 to the respective upright side panel 14, 16. Each of the right connecting brackets 62 has a construction which is substantially a mirror image of that of each of the left connecting brackets 64. With respect to the corner shelf arrangement 54 of Figs. 1 and 2 wherein the arrangement is employed with two furniture units 10, the right and left connecting brackets 62, 64 are mounted respectively along the outside surfaces 14B, 16B of the right and left upright side panels 14, 16. Holes and slots provided respectively in the side panels 14, 16 and connecting brackets 62, 64 are alignable to receive conventional fasteners to fixedly secure the connecting brackets 62, 64 to the side panels 14, 16. Also, the opposite ends of the connecting brackets 62, 64 have tabs 62A, 64A with holes therein being alignable with holes in the front and rear vertical edges of the side panels 14, 16 for receiving conventional fasteners to fixedly secure the connecting brackets at the locations of such tabs to the side panels.

However, with respect to the modified corner shelf arrangement 54 of Fig. 12, two left connecting brackets 64 are employed to support each of the upper and lower shelves 60 on the two right side panels 14. In this arrangement 54, the one of the two left connecting brackets disposed at the right side edge of the curved shelves 60 is attached to the vertical support rails 32 on the one right side panel 14 by the shelf fastener clips 38 in the same manner as described earlier by which the full-length shelves 36 are attached to the support rails 32.

It can be readily understood and observed that in the corner shelf arrangement 54 having the above- described construction, the workspace now available for

use extends the full distance between the respective right and left side panels 14, 16 of the two adjacent furniture units 10 bridged by the arrangement 54. There are no corner filler panels employed which would reduce the usable workspace. The above-described corner shelf arrangement 54 thus maximizes the amount of workspace available for utilization within the furniture corner installation.

Intermediate Shelf Arrangement Referring now to Figs. 13 and 14, there is illustrated the intermediate shelf arrangement 56 employed by the enhanced furniture 10, constituting a second of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention. This feature maximizes the amount of workspace available for utilization between the vertically-spaced full-length shelves 36 of the furniture unit 12. The intermediate shelf arrangement 56 fits between the upper and lower horizontal full- length shelves 36 of the furniture unit 12 so as to permit division of the overall space between the full- length shelves 36 and the opposite side panels 14, 16 into smaller compartments.

It will be recalled that the furniture unit 12 includes the right and left upright side panels 14, 16 which are generally planar in shape and disposed parallel to one another and laterally spaced apart from one another, and pairs of the full-height upright support rails 32 attached to and extending along the insides of the upright side panels 14, 16. Also, the upper and lower horizontal full-length shelves 36 are spaced apart one above the other and extend between and are mounted at opposite ends by the shelf fastener clips 38 to the pairs of full-height support rails 32 on the side panels 14, 16. As best seen in Fig. 13, the intermediate shelf

arrangement 56 incorporated in the furniture unit 12 includes at least a pair of partial-height support rails 66 having respective columns of vertically-spaced horizontally-extending slots 68 and extending vertically between and mounted to the upper and lower full-length shelves 36 of the furniture unit 12, and a plurality of partial-length shelves 70 extending horizontally between and mounted at their opposite ends respectively to the full-height support rails 32 on selected ones of the opposite upright right and left side panels 14, 16 and the partial-height support rails 66 mounted between the upper and lower full-length shelves 36. The partial- height support rails 66 preferably are located midway along the upper and lower full-length shelves 36 from opposite ends thereof, although other locations along the shelves 36 are possible. Like the full-length shelves 36, the partial-length shelves 70 have mounting brackets 72 attached to their opposite ends which, in turn, are mounted to the slots 34 and 68 of the respective full-height support rails 32 and partial- height support rails 66 by respective shelf fastener clips 38. At least one of the partial-length shelves 70 is located on a side of the partial-height support rails 66 opposite from the location of at least one other of the partial-length shelves 70. Further, the partial- length shelves 70 on the respective opposite sides of the partial-height support rails 66 are typically located at different elevations, although they can be located at the same elevation. Each support rail 66 is termed "partial-height" in the sense that its respective height is substantially less than the height of the full-height support rails 32 and the heights of the side panels 14, 16. Each shelf 70 is termed "partial-length" in the sense that its respective length is substantially less than the length of the "full-

length" shelves 36 and the distance between the right and left upright side panels 14, 16 of the furniture unit 10. An alternative way to distinguish between the support rails 32 and 66 and the shelves 36 and 70 is to characterize the full-height support rails 32 as the "main" support rails and the "partial-height" support rails 66 as the "auxiliary" support rails and similarly to characterize the full-length shelves 36 as the "main" shelves and the "partial-length" shelves 70 as the "auxiliary" shelves.

Referring now to Fig. 14, there is illustrated in greater detail compared to Fig. 13 the means by which the partial-height or auxiliary support rails 66 are attached at their opposite upper and lower ends to upper and lower full-length or main shelves 36. Such means includes the aforementioned shelf fastener clips 38 which interfit with selected pairs of the slots 68 in the auxiliary support rails 66 and an angle bracket 74 having vertical and horizontal portions 74A, 74B with openings 76, 78 defined therethrough. The opening 76 in the vertical portion 74A of the bracket 74 receives the threaded stud 48 of the clip 38 therethrough, after which the lock knob 52 is applied to the end of the threaded stud 48 to fixedly secure the angle bracket 74 to the auxiliary support rail 66 via the clip 38. The selected opening 78 in the horizontal portion 74B of the bracket 74 receives a conventional fastener or bolt 80 therethrough which also extends through a selected hole 82 defined in the one main shelf 36. A nut 84 is applied to the end of the bolt 80 to tighten the angle bracket 74 against the surface of the one main shelf 36.

It can be readily understood and observed that with the intermediate shelf arrangement 56 having the aforementioned construction, the workspace now available for use extends more nearly the full distance between

the respective right and left side panels 14, 16 and between the upper and lower shelves 36 of the furniture unit 10. Because equipment of various heights can now be accommodated by the auxiliary shelves 70 placed at different elevations there will be less unused space. The above-described intermediate shelf arrangement 56 thus tends to maximize the amount of workspace available for utilization between the main shelves 36 of the furniture unit 12. Inside Wire Cover

Referring finally to Figs. 15-17, there is illustrated the inside wire cover 58 employed by the enhanced furniture 10, constituting a third of the workspace utilization enhancement features of the present invention. This feature gathers the equipment cables together and in such way minimizes the amount of workspace occupied by the equipment cables.

The inside wire cover 58 includes a U-shaped end portion 86 having a central partition 87 defining dual channels 88 for receiving equipment cable therethrough, and an offset end portion 90 integrally connected to and extending from one end of the U-shaped end portion 86 and being attachable via a shelf fastener clip 38 (the same way as a main shelf 36) to a respective one of the main support rails 32 attached on the inside surface 14A, 16A of one of the upright side panels 14, 16 of the furniture unit 12. The dual channels 88 of the U-shaped end portion 86 of the wire cover 58 receives the equipment cables therethrough and the partition 87 defining the dual channels 88 will maintain the communication and power cables separated from one another in different ones of the dual channels 88 and close to the inside surface 14A, 16A of the respective upright side panel 14, 16 and thereby minimizes the amount of workspace occupied by the equipment cables .

It is thought that the present invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely preferred or exemplary embodiment thereof.