Access flooring

Abstract: Access flooring of the kind comprising floor panels carried in spaced relationship above a floor substrate by support means, is characterised in that a single fastening means acts to clamp adjacent parts of a plurality of said floor panels to a single element of said support means.

Description: This invention concerns access flooring of the kind (hereinafter termed of the kind referred to) comprising abutting floor panels carried in spaced relationship above a floor substrate by support means. Selected panels may be lifted to enable installation or rearrangement of underfloor cabling providing power, data transmission and communication facilities at desired locations above the floors. EP-A-0 145 247 teaches a plurality of support pedestals each including a lower floor substrate engaging base and an upper floor panel receiving formation. Each formation is of plate-like form and supports the four corners of adjacent panels which are recessed to accommodate a square plate which can be screwed to the pedestal to secure the panels. This arrangement makes for certain difficulties in lifting a selected panel. The present invention proposes an arrangement wherein the panels come together with a wedge-like action enabling no more than a screw-head to secure them adequately, and thus making the lifting of a selected panel particularly easy. According to the present invention there is provided access flooring comprising a plurality of support pedestals each including a lower floor substrate engaging base and an upper floor panel receiving formation characterised in that the upper floor panel receiving formation is a cup of truncated conical form with a screw thread, a captive screw comprising a threaded shank and head engageable with said screw thread and having a plurality of floor panels having corners for engaging said cup formation so that four adjacent corners of said panels form an upwardly concave cup-like shell of truncated conical form for engaging said cup formation of one of the pedestals and are retained by the head of said captive screw which locates in the concave cup-like shell. The panel corners may be countersunk and the captive screw means may be correspondingly shaped so as to provide a level floor surface when engaged with said screw thread to retain said floor panels. The invention will be further apparent from the following description with reference to the several figures of the accompanying drawings, which show, by way of example only, one form of access flooring embodying same. Referring firstly to Figure 1 it will be seen that the flooring is comprised by a plurality of rectangular or square panels 10 arranged in the fashion of a chequer-board with cruciform joints therebetween. The panels 10 are supported by pedestals 11 (see Figure 2) extending upwardly from a substrate 12, there being one pedestal 11 beneath the four adjacent corners at each cruciform joint. Each pedestal 11 comprises a base 20 secured to the substrate 12 by screws 21 or other suitable means and supporting an upwardly extending tube 22 mounting a head 23 which provides an annular flange 24 around a boss 25 having a cup formation 26 on its upper surface. A threaded bore 27 is provided at the base of the cup 26. Each corner of each panel 10 is defined by a quarter annular concave lip formation, such that the four juxtaposed corners of four adjacent panels 10 define a concave cup 14 having an aperature at its base above and within a circular recess 15. In use, the panels 10 are arranged over the pedestals 11 so that the four panel corners at each cruciform joint overlie the flange 24 of a pedestal head 23 with the concave cup defined by the panels located in the cup 26 in the boss 25 of the head 23 and with the boss 25 located within the recess 15. A screw fastener 30 (see Figure 3) has a head 31 sized to fit within the cup 14 and a shank 32 having a first threaded portion 33 adjacent the head 31, an unthreaded waist portion and a terminal threaded portion 35 which is driven through the threaded bore 27 to hold the fastener captive to the pedestal head. With the panels 10 in position on the pedestals, the fasteners may have their portions 33 engaged with the bores 27 and tightened to clamp the panels to the pedestals and form an integrated structure. It will be appreciated that it is not intended to limit the invention to the above example only, many variations, such as might readily occur to one skilled in the art, being possible, without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims: Access flooring comprising a plurality of support pedestals (11) each including a lower floor substrate engaging base (20) and an upper floor panel receiving formation characterised in that the upper floor panel receiving formation is a cup (26) of truncated conical form with a screw thread (27), a captive screw (30) comprising a threaded shank and head engageable with said screw thread and having a plurality of floor panels (10) having corners for engaging said cup formation so that four adjacent corners of said panels form an upwardly concave cup-like shell (14) of truncated conical form for engaging said cup formation of one of the pedestals and are retained by the head of said captive screw which locates in the concave cup-like shell. Access flooring according to claim 1, characterised in that the panel corners are countersunk and said captive screw is correspondingly shaped so as to provide a level floor surface when engaged with said screw thread to retain said floor panels.

Inventors: HAZELDINE ALBERT, HAZELDINE, ALBERT,
Applicants: TATE ACCESS FLOORS LIMITED
Application year: 1990
Main classification: E04F15
IPC codes: E04F15