Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Including component designed to receive a disparate article... – Task-area type repositionable component
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-18
2001-01-30
Callo, Laura A. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Including component designed to receive a disparate article...
Task-area type repositionable component
C052S070000, C052S071000, C052S079500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178701
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to portable structures having the ability to be quickly assembled and disassembled and, more particularly, to a portable room that has a structure as well as characteristics which make it well suited for human use.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the years, there have been many portable structures that have been developed for a wide range of differing applications. It is generally the case with all such structures that one important goal is to provide for rapid assembly of the structure for its intended use. For some applications, there is little else that matters whereas for human use there are additional needs that must be met.
For instance, it will be appreciated that air circulation may well be an important attribute if the room is to be sufficiently comfortable for a human occupant. It is also typically the case in many applications that the room will need to provide a significant degree of privacy for human occupants, i.e., that the human occupants not be visible from outside the room. Additionally, the human occupants must have adequate lighting, particularly where the portable room is assembled where there is no source of natural light to serve this purpose.
In addition to these requirements, it is important to meet the requirements for nearly all portable rooms, i.e., that it be capable of rapid assembly and disassembly. It is also desirable in many applications to have an effective and efficient manner of transporting the portable room from one location to another when it is desired to disassemble the room at one location, transport it to another location, and reassemble the room for use at the latter location. In other words, the portable room should be constructed so as to cooperate with a transportable carrying case in such manner as to be capable of meeting this requirement.
In one particular application, a portable room can be desirable for utilization as a fitting room especially within modem retail settings such as major department stores and the like. It is often important to be able to modify or change the interior configuration of major department stores without facing the need to tear out permanent internal structures such as walls, shelving systems, and fitting rooms only to have to build new permanent structures in differing arrangements to meet changing needs. In other words, modern retailing is such that major department stores should be a shell with the internal structure having portability characteristics for efficient and cost-effective space reconfiguration.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the foregoing problems and achieving one or more of the resulting objects.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable room that can quicldy and easily be assembled, later disassembled, and still later reassembled for reuse. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a portable room having a transportable carrying case to facilitate transport of the portable room from one location to another. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable room having air circulation, privacy, and illumination for human occupants as, e.g., a fitting room.
As a result, the present invention is directed to a portable room having a plurality of walls including three solid wall panels and a fourth wall panel defining a door opening for receiving a door therein. The room also includes a door hingedly mounted for movement between opened and closed positions relative to the door opening defined by the fourth wall panel. Each of the wall panels has a wall supporting post operatively associated with at least one of the opposite ends thereof The room also includes hinge means joining each of the wall panels to an adjacent wall panel for collapsible folding movement of the wall panels relative to each other. With this arrangement, a removable ceiling is supported on the wall panels and, in a preferred embodiment, cooperates with the wall panels to maintain adjacent ones in substantially perpendicular relation.
In one respect, at least one of the wall panels has a height dimension which is less than the height of the wall supporting posts to provide a space suitable for air circulation. The air circulation space is advantageously disposed between the bottom of the wall panel(s) and a supporting surface for the wall supporting posts. With this arrangement, the removable ceiling has at least one opening which with the air circulation space cooperates to permit air circulation through the portable room.
In another respect, the portable room is provided with a transportable carrying case having an internal width dimension generally commensurate with the greatest width of the wall panels. The transportable carrying case also advantageously has a height dimension for receiving the four wall panels after collapsible folding movement and also for receiving the door and the removable ceiling therewithin. With this arrangement, the four wall panels are preferably collapsible by folding movement using the hinge means to a width which is no greater than the greatest width of the four wall panels.
In addition, one of the four wall panels preferably includes a panel portion at one end thereof extending generally perpendicular to the remainder of that one of the wall panels. Advantageously, the hinge means joining the one end of that wall panel is associated with the free edge of the panel portion so that the adjacent wall panel can undergo folding movement relative thereto by reason of the hinge means. With this construction, the hinge means joining the other end of that wall panel is such that the adjacent wall panel can undergo folding movement prior to the wall panel adjacent the free edge of the panel portion.
With regard to the removable ceiling, the wall panel cooperating means preferably comprises a flange extending generally parallel to each of the four edges of the removable ceiling which is advantageously shaped so as to be generally rectangular. The flanges define a generally rectangular recess for receiving the upper edges of the wall panels therewithin. In a highly preferred embodiment, the flanges each include an inner flange portion and an outer flange portion spaced apart by a distance generally commensurate with the thickness of the wall panels to define a wall panel-receiving channel therebetween.
With regard to the air circulation opening in the removable ceiling, the room preferably also includes means for restricting visibility from ceiling-mounted security cameras therethrough. The visibility restricting means advantageously comprises a gridwork patterned insert disposed within the opening so as to permit air flow while at the same time restricting visibility from above the portable room. Still additionally, the removable ceiling preferably has a fight fixture integral therewith and the light fixture has an electrical cord and plug extending therefrom for supplying electricity for utilizing the light fixture in order to be able to illuminate the portable room.
As for other details of the present invention, the wall panels preferably include a rear wall panel having a perpendicular panel portion, a front wall panel narrower in width than the rear wall panel by the width of the door, a wider side wall panel and a narrower side wall panel adjacent the panel portion. Advantageously, the wider side wall panel is foldable into confronting relation to the rear wall panel, the front wall panel is foldable into confronting relation to the narrower side wall panel, and the folded front wall panel and narrower side wall panel are foldable into confronting relation to the folded wider side wall panel.
With this construction, the hinge means preferably comprise piano hinges and the door is hingedly mounted to a wall supporting post on the wider side wall panel by a plurality of door hinges on the door and a corresponding plurality of post hinges on the wall supporting post. The door hinges are secured to
Arnold Russell E.
De Paepe Denice D.
Schmalen Henry E.
Callo Laura A.
Marshall O'Toole Gerstein Murray & Borun
Sears. Roebuck and Co.
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