Horizontally supported planar surfaces – With separable components – Surface secured to leg-connecting parallel member
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-19
2004-05-04
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3637)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
With separable components
Surface secured to leg-connecting parallel member
C108S158110, C403S170000, C403S172000, C411S107000, C411S339000, C411S401000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06729244
ABSTRACT:
The present invention refers to a tubular-frame structure for supporting surfaces, particularly but not exclusively for the realisation of tables.
As is well known to men skilled in the art, the realisation of office-desks requires a lot of flexibility as to the configuration and arrangements of surfaces to combine functionality and appearance. Particularly in “open space” office applications, which seems to be an expanding sector, work desks are frequently positioned at an angle with each other or else in a complex arrangement.
The need to cut production costs and to also allow companies which are not specialised in making office furniture to offer a vast range of solutions which can satisfy the most varying requirements to its customers has led to the development of modular solutions.
For the realisation of work desks the assembly is widely carried out using a supporting surface and a frame structure with legs, which can be put together varyingly according to requirements.
These single components must allow an assembly which is fast but stable, to obtain a solid structure without the risk of deterioration of the materials used.
For practicality, tables are usually made up, to as great a degree as possible, of detachable parts to make transportation and storage easier, thus considerably reducing encumbrance.
The main drawback of work desk structures currently in use is that they are not composed entirely of detachable and standardised construction elements, which could be used in a whole range of finished products, but this does require specifically designed elements. This substantially reduces the number of different products which can be offered.
One field which is also susceptible to improvement regards, indeed, the optimisation of transportation of partially pre-assembled tables, which should harmonise the reduction in encumbrance of items with a small requirement in manpower for the final assembly.
The general purpose of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art mentioned above in an extremely simple, cost-effective and particularly functional way.
Another purpose is to allow a wide choice in materials to be coupled to realise the single elements of the table and of the structure without any technological limit to the combination of materials.
In view of the aforementioned purposes, according to the present invention, we put our minds to realising a tubular-frame structure for supporting surfaces, in which all the segments are attached through joints, having the characteristics shown in the attached claims.
The structural and functional characteristics of the present invention and its advantages compared to the prior art will become even more clear and evident through the examination of the following description, referring to the attached drawings, which show a tubular-frame structure for supporting surfaces realised according to the innovative principles of the invention itself.
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EP Search Report.
Fitzgerald John
Hedman & Costigan ,P.C.
Leonardo S.r.l.
Mai Lanna
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