Patent Publication Number: US-2015083027-A1

Title: Stand Up Desk Having Adjustable Telescoping Legs

Description:
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/720212 filed Oct. 30, 2012. The foregoing application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This disclosure is generally directed to a stand up desk that improves health and provides a user to work ergonomically standing up. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Sitting for long periods of time negatively impacts quality of life for many people. Poor posture and existing back injuries can make sitting painful, and recent studies have shown that sitting most of the day decreases human lifespan by two to three years. 
     The majority of standing desks require the customer to replace their current desk. Many customers are unwilling to do this, especially if they work in a cubicle where removing the desk is not an option. 
     Existing desktop stand up desks do not offer a sufficient range of height adjustments to be ergonomic for the majority of the population, and several are not adjustable at all. 
     Existing standing desks are also prohibitively expensive for most of population, leaving the health benefits of standing out of their reach. 
     These legs will be used to create a standing desk that sits on top of the customer&#39;s current desk, adjusts to their correct ergonomic height, and is strong, stable, and affordable. 
     As stated above, sitting for long periods of time negatively impacts quality of life for many people. Poor posture and existing back injuries can make sitting painful, and recent studies have shown that sitting most of the day decreases human lifespan by two to three years. The invention claimed here solves this problem. 
     These legs will be used to create an adjustable standing desk that is designed to sit on top of the customer&#39;s existing desk or table. They will adjust it to their proper ergonomic height, enabling them to work standing up and therein eliminating the negative effects of working sitting down. Furthermore, the standing desk can be made tiltable using the telescoping legs. 
     The invention differs from what currently exists. No known desktop standing desk currently uses telescoping tubes to adjust its desktop. The invention further uses a five-point anchoring system to better stabilize the desktop from lateral forces. 
     This invention is an improvement on what currently exists. The invention differs from what currently exists. The majority of standing desks on the market require the customer to replace their entire desk. These legs allow for the creation of a stand up desk that sits on top of the customer&#39;s desk, so they do not need to replace the desk they already have. These legs allow have a wider height adjustment range than other products on the market, allowing customers of more varied heights to be able to work ergonomically standing up. The majority of standup desks are prohibitively expensive. These legs will allow the standing desk to be sold at a lower price point than other desk top stand up desks on the market, allowing more people to take advantage of the health benefits of standing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an isometric view of the stand up desk being used on top of an ordinary desk and a person utilizing a computer set on top of desktop of the stand up desk. 
         FIG. 2  shows an isometric view of the stand up desk of the instant invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows an exploded view of the stand up desk shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of section  4 - 4  of the stand up desk shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  shows a close-up view shown in  FIG. 4  showing the intersection of two U-shaped members and an anchoring point. 
         FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view of the telescoping legs at a fixed position. 
         FIG. 7  shows a cross-sectional view of the telescoping legs being disengaged from each other. 
         FIG. 8  shows a cross-sectional view of the telescoping legs being engaged with each other at a different fixed position than that shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 9  shows an isometric view of the stand up desk being tilted. 
         FIG. 10  shows a side view of the stand up desk being tilted. 
     
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a setup where the stand up desk  1  is set on top of an ordinary desk  36 . The desktop  10  of the stand up desk  1  holds a computer screen  2  and a keyboard  3 . The stand up desk  1  has outer telescoping legs  16  that allow a user  34  to level the desktop  10  to a proper height thus making an ergonomic environment and adjustable. 
       FIG. 2  shows the stand up desk  1  including a first U-shaped member  12  and a second U-shaped member  14  both upside down that provide both a support to a desktop  10  as well contain outer telescoping legs  16 . Each of the outer telescoping legs  16  are plugged with feet  20  thus preventing the ordinary desk  36  from being scratched. 
       FIG. 3  shows the stand up desk  1  in an exploded view and in upside-down orientation. The U-shaped members  12 ,  14  are tubular in shape, and the U-shaped members  12 ,  14  are respectively comprised of a horizontal member  12   a,    14   a.  The horizontal members  12   a,    14   a  have a pair of inner telescoping legs  16   a  at opposite ends of the horizontal legs  12   a,    14   a.  The inner telescoping legs  16   a  are angled relative to the horizontal members  12   a,    14   a  to provide the stand up desk stability from external lateral forces. The horizontal members  12   a,    14   a  comprises opposite anchoring holes  26  which fasteners  24  pass through to anchor the U-shaped members  12 ,  14  to the desktop  10  and be fastened to threaded inserts  32  embedded on the desktop  10  either by gluing, pressed fitted, or threaded therein. The U-shaped members  12 ,  14  further include outer telescoping legs  16  with adjustable holes  22  positioned longitudinally to the outer telescoping legs  16 . The adjustable holes  22  are able to receive the button locking pins  18  that project from the inner telescoping legs  16   a  so the desktop  10  can be adjusted to any ergonomic height level. 
     As seen in  FIGS. 3-5 , the U-shaped members  12 ,  14  respectively includes a notch  28 ,  30  that face each other and mate with each other to make the U-shaped members  12 ,  14  crisscross with each other. The first notch  28  and the second notch  30  contain a through hole  36  that allows a fastener  24  to pass through providing a fifth anchoring point on a threaded insert  32  embedded in the desktop  10 . Of course, while there&#39;s mention of five anchoring points, it is envisioned that the U-shaped members  12 ,  14  can be fastened to the desktop  10  with just the through holes  36  and one threaded insert  32  thus using one anchoring point dead center to the desktop  10 . Of course, for better stability, five anchoring points or four anchoring points are also envisioned. Evidently, the five anchoring points is the superior system as the stand up desk withstands greater lateral forces. The first notch  28  and the second notch  30  can either be made by pressing, crushing, cutting, or milling a center portion of the horizontal members  12   a,    14   a  so that the first notch  28  faces the second notch  30  and nest with each other. In other words, the crushed section creates a bridge diving the horizontal members  12   a,    14   a  into two sections and used as the fifth anchoring point. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6-8 , the outer telescoping leg  16  is a tubular member  16  and the inner telescoping leg  16   a  slides along several positions via button locking pins  18  that flex in and out of the inner telescoping leg via a v-shaped leaf spring  40 . When a user wants to adjust one of the outer telescoping legs  16 , the user merely pushes in the locking pin  18  until the pin  18  disengages the engagement hole  22  thus freeing the outer telescoping leg  16  to be positioned at any desired hole for adjusting the ergonomic height of the desktop  10 . 
     It is envisioned that the U-shaped members  12 ,  14 , which are tubular as shown, could as well be solid members. The design of the components could be altered, but it would still serve the same core function. Changes that could be made but would not alter function include: the shape of the desktop  10 , the angle of the bends of the inner telescoping legs  16   a  relative to the horizontal members  12   a,    14   a,  the length of the U-shaped members  14 ,  16 , the tube material, the tube color or finish, the adjustment hole size  22 , the number of adjustment holes  22 , the locking pin size, and the locking pin type. It is also envisioned that the outer telescoping leg  16  can be made as an inner telescoping leg so that it fits inside the telescoping leg  16   a.  Further, it is envisioned that the holes and the locking pins can be replaced with a twist and lock mechanism, not shown, to adjust the outer telescoping leg  16 . It is also envisioned that the stand up desk can be sold unassembled and will only take a few minutes to assemble. Two of the outer telescoping legs  16  can telescope more outward than the other two of the outer telescoping legs  16  in the opposite side such that the desktop  10  is tiltable towards the user  34  as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . It is envisionsed that desktop  10  can also tilt away from the user  34 . 
     While there&#39;s no specific reference to the materials used beforehand. It is envisioned that the U-shaped members  12 ,  14  can be made of metal or any other material. The feet  20  can be made from plastic, rubber, or any known material, and the desktop  10  can be made of any material, especially wood or similar to any common desktop.