Office forming equipment

Details Office forming equipment Office forming equipment

2002-11-20

2004-09-07

Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)

Static structures (e.g., buildings)

Wall, ceiling, or floor designed for utilities

Partition type

C052S239000, C052S220800

Reexamination Certificate

active

06786014

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to office forming equipment which is applicable to knowledge-intensive organizations and the like particularly advantageously.
BACKGROUND ART
Recently, there has been made a proposal of a system capable of converting the use of a workspace of an office into a different use and customizing such a workspace to meet the need.
Such an office system has been proposed as a system capable of constructing a totalized workspace based on “unification of modules” and “optionality” as mainstays with respect mainly to furniture so that functions of the workspace can be selected freely and that conversion of use of the workspace can be made as desired, on the assumption that there are diversified working styles in a center office.
That is, the office system is constructed aiming principally at such functionality as to form an independent group work dedicated space, a personal work dedicated space or the like appropriately through the changing of the arrangement of furniture and the attaching or detaching of optional members with changing work style.
From now on, however, it seems that: work styles will change with increasing amounts of non-routine works for individuals or groups; workplaces will change from center offices into flexible and diversified office forms such as remote offices, mobile offices and home offices; and center offices will have an increased number of communication areas and service areas. With respect to specialist teams or knowledge work teams, the form of a team will continuously change with progress of a work in the procedure of one development through, for example, repetitive and frequent meeting and parting of staff members about group works and changes in the number and actions of such members.
It is indispensable for a working environment suited for such a work style to be capable of not only easy conversion of use of a workspace and easy customization of such a workspace but also appropriate selection of spaces suitable for diversified works of individuals or groups and for the number of working people as well as to ensure a chain of actions and continuity of moves as selection of such works and places changes. To this end, it is desirable to create an environment wherein: areas of different uses or different functions be loosely connected to each other; and each member of a team somehow grasp the flow of the task of the whole team and the locations of other members and documents.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing problem. One object of the present invention is to raise the efficiency of a knowledge-intensive organization markedly through a system configuration that realizes the provisions of diversified space functions on a use-by-use basis, semi-transparently screened spaces and seamless space layout, which serve as the mainstays in constructing an office system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide office forming equipment useful in attaining the above-described object.
That is, the present invention provides office forming equipment comprising an erected planar member partitioning a residence space of an office, characterized in that the erected planar member is configured such that the visibility of one of a pair of spaces separated with the erected planar member from the other through the erected planar member varies with varying view angle with respect to an erected surface of the erected planar member.
Such a construction allows a person in one of the spaces to grasp the condition of the other space while, at the same time, providing a support in protecting the privacy of an individual or a group in the office. Accordingly, this construction creates a semi-transparently screened environment, which allows the context (information required in grasping the relation between before and after such as the flow of operations or documents) related to actions, operations and documents in the peripheral visual field to be shared and accumulated.
The following are preferred embodiments:
An embodiment wherein the erected planar member is provided with an adjustment function for making the visibility therethrough variable.
An embodiment wherein the visibility through the erected planar member assumes a maximum when the erected planar member is viewed in a direction normal to the erected surface of the erected planar member, while when the erected planar member is viewed in a direction in the plane of the erected surface, the visibility assumes a minimum.
An embodiment wherein the pair of residence spaces separated from each other with the erected planar member are continuous with each other through a space connecting portion of the erected planar member, the space connecting portion permitting sound and air to pass therethrough.
An embodiment wherein the erected planar member comprises a latticework structure. Particularly, an embodiment wherein the erected planar member comprises a pair of latticework structures arranged to face each other with a predetermined spacing therebetween.
Since the present invention is thus constructed, the office forming equipment is effective particularly where the inside of a residence space enclosed with erected planar members is visible from four sides.
As described above, the office forming equipment according to the present invention comprises an erected planar member partitioning a residence space of an office and is constructed such that a pair of spaces separated from each other with the erected planar member have such a mutual relation that the visibility of one of the spaces from the other through the erected planar member varies with varying view angle with respect to an erected surface of the erected planar member.
Such a construction allows a person in one of the spaces to grasp the condition of the other space while, at the same time, providing a support in protecting the privacy of an individual or a group in the office. Accordingly, this construction creates a semi-transparently screened environment, which allows the context (information required in grasping the relation between before and after such as the flow of operations or documents) related to actions, operations and documents in the peripheral visual field to be shared and accumulated.
With the erected planar member provided with an adjustment function for making the visibility therethrough variable, it is possible to adjust the degree of isolation to meet the purpose and use as desired.
With the arrangement wherein the visibility through the erected planar member assumes a maximum when the erected planar member is viewed in a direction normal to the erected surface of the erected planar member, while when the erected planar member is viewed in a direction in the plane of the erected surface, the visibility assumes a minimum, a person walking along the erected planar member can see the inside of a residence space in a silhouetted fashion through the erected planar member gradually from a place before reaching the residence space, with the visibility assuming the maximum when the person passes the front face of the residence space. For this reason, the context can be shared and accumulated without much impediment to a resident in the residence space.
With the arrangement wherein the pair of residence spaces separated from each other with the erected planar member are continuous with each other through a space connecting portion of the erected planar member, the space connecting portion permitting sound and air to pass therethrough, a person outside a residence space of interest can hear talking voices in the residence space partially, so that the sharing and accumulation of the context is facilitated effectively.
With the erected planar member comprising a latticework structure, the aforementioned arrangements can be realized simply and accurately. Particularly effective is the arrangement wherein the erected planar member comprises a pair of latticework structures arranged to face each other with a predetermined spacing therebetween.
Since the present

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