Horizontally supported planar surfaces – With separable components – Surface separable from support entity
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-13
2002-02-19
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3624)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
With separable components
Surface separable from support entity
C108S158110, C108S159110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06347592
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to work benches in general, and particularly to a free-standing modular workbench that may be utilized as a single unit or interconnected with multiple like units to form an elongated series of cooperatively interconnected free-standing modular workbenches.
2. Description of the prior art
There has been a long felt need for a free-standing modular workbench that can be quickly assembled with no or a minimal amount of hardware or fastening devices and from only a few pre-fabricated parts or components some of which are interchangeable, and which, unlike fully welded benches or bench frames, may be compactly crated in disassembed form for shipping purposes to minimize shipping space, and which upon reaching an ultimate destination where it is to be assembled, may be quickly and accurately assembled by relatively unskilled labor, thus further minimizing the ultimate cost of the modular workbench to the consumer.
Workbenches are used in many different industries for many different purposes. Some of these purposes include the progressive build-up assembly of many different end items. In some instances, a workbench needs to be a stand-alone unit, while in other instances, one, two or several workbenches need to be interconnected to form an elongated series of indefinite length of multiple free-standing modular workbenches as required by the particular industry. This modularity enables efficient use of floor space, promotes greater production efficiency, and facilitates the assembly of multiple individual benches in various selected patterns of interconnection wherein varying bench heights and lengths may be accommodated as necessary.
It is a common perception that most workbenches are either welded or bolted together to form a single stand alone unit, not intended to be moved, disassembled or stored after being placed into service. Therefore, the conventional design of benches by bench manufacturers is a durable, though heavy, unitized structure. However, the ever changing needs of most manufacturing, assembly or industrial facilities dictate the moving, rearranging, increasing, decreasing or customizing of the height and width of work areas and specifically work benches. As a consequence, much time and labor is expended unbolting, re-bolting, re-configuring and moving heavy unitized structures. It is usually more expensive to modify the height or width of a conventional workbench, as work needs change, than it is to buy a new bench. When this occurs, the old bench becomes obsolete and is scrapped, or sold to company employees, primarily because, in the event a bench with the dimensional qualities of the old bench is not needed elsewhere, it is too expensive to store due to the space it will occupy because of its unitized cubic volume.
Additionally, many bench manufacturers do not accurately assess the needs of their customers. Benches which become obsolete at one facility are not usually centrally pooled for re-distribution and future use at another facility. One reason for this is the disproportionate and excessive cost of space in which to store the assembled but as yet undistributed workbenches. Another reason is that benches are of such varied design, color and quantity, that when re-installed in another facility, they would make that facility look like patchwork rather than appear as a wholly integrated and well thought-out organized manufacturing or assembly facility.
It is therefore understandable why the current bench provisioning industry does not base its products and production on a design standard. Not doing so unfortunately results in a burdening of the World's economy due to the waste and inefficiencies generated by obsolete, or excess benches, as well as the intensive skilled labor required to assemble or disassemble bolt-together benches, the excessive cost in fuel and time to distribute or move a fully welded bench, the frustration of the cutomer when he has to wait six weeks for a fully welded bench to be custom made, which, when after a period of time and use, much to his surprise and disappointment, the entire cost of the bench is lost because the bench cannot be effectively or economically modified to meet ever-changing needs, or it is too costly to store because it cannot be disassembled to minimize its volume and therefore its storage costs, and because no one else wants it because of its unique appearance, i.e., it does not match the style of bench already installed in another facility, and therefore additionally burdening the economy in wasted time and money because the bench is now a liability, its disposal evermore consuming our natural resources.
Furthermore, individual conventional benches which need to be arranged and maintained in an elongated series of multiple workbenches, to form a continuous unbroken work surface as required by a particular industry, must additionally be interconnected, fastened together, or secured to the floor by skilled labor to maintain their unbroken association, again adding to the cost the consumer ultimately pays for products which are more efficiently assembled on a continuous unbroken work surface. The characteristic which enables multiple work benches to be easily interconnected, forming an unbroken continuous work surface is a still further novelty of the present invention.
Furthermore, upon thorough dissection and scrutiny of the conception and life cycle of a conventional workbench, it will be understood that there is a need for an efficiently manufacturable workbench, one which can be produced, stored and distributed in a timely manner. A three foot high by three foot wide by six foot long conventional welded bench cannot be shipped disassembled, and occupies fifty-four cubic feet of space in its finished ready-to-deliver form.
By contrast, the modular workbench of the present invention can be shipped in disassembled form, and in disassembled form, occupies only four cubic fee of space, or fully thirteen times less space than required to ship or store a fully welded conventional bench. It is therefore obvious that a modular workbench according to the present invention can be produced at the same rate as a welded bench in a facility that is at least one-thirteenth the size needed to produce a conventional welded bench.
Because of the sheer size of the conventional welded bench, the labor force to produce the bench must fluctuate with the varying demand for benches, exclusively because to manufacture conventional benches of this type on a continuous production line, and store them when completed, would necessitate a facility of such size, employee number and cost overhead (operating cost) as to make the bench too costly to be afforded, than if a welded bench were produced in a facility wherein the labor does vary. However, varying the labor force to meet demand causes disruption as new workers are trained and skilled workers look elsewhere for a more stable income. Therefore, the time it takes to manufacture a bench increases as manufacturers attempt to balance the cost of their work force, overhead and ultimately the sale price of the bench to maintain their competitiveness and stay in business.
As can be understood from the situation described above, the greater the demand for benches the longer it takes to receive one at an affordable price. However, this condition is the opposite of the needs of the bench consumers who want benches when they need them and at an affordable price so that they may meet the varying demands of consumers of the products and make a profit so as to stay in business. The result of associated business entities struggling to meet bench supply and demand at a reasonable price while still making a profit, creates a stress that ever increases the cost of products and consumes time and natural resources as the pressure mounts to deliver products on time and meet contractual commitments, and wherein ultimately, the bench becomes unwanted scrap at a landfill.
When reduced to its basic elements, it can be seen that t
Anderson Jerry A.
Cuomo Peter M.
Leavitt John J.
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