Improvements in and relating to furniture and installations

Abstract

 A support strut 12 extends laterally from a vertical structure or member 10. The strut 12 supports a bracket by having a plate 20 of the bracket secured to the upwardly facing surface of the strut 12. A vertical plate 16 extends upwardly from one side of the plate 20 and a horizontal flange 18 extends outwardly from the upper edge of the plate 16. A desk can be secured to the plate 20.
The bracket can be rotated about its elongate extent such that the same plate 20 rests on the strut 12 but with the vertical plate 16 now extending downwardly. A desk top can then again be supported on the plate 18 at a lower elevation than it was when the plate 16 extended vertically upwards.

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] This invention relates to a support bracket, a kit of parts incorporating support brackets and a desk or other piece of furniture or installation comprising a bracket.

[0002] It is becoming more popular to provide furniture which is less application specific and thus more flexible in the applications to which it can be applied. Therefore modular furniture systems are popular in which a number of element can be configured to produce furniture for one of a number of a specific applications.

[0003] However, this means that a large number of separate elements have to be provided to enable a wide range of furniture to be configured.

[0004] In providing modular furniture which can meet a variety of specifications it is advantageous to be able to adjust characteristics of the furniture. One such characteristic is the height of a working surface from the floor. Many complex mechanisms have been proposed to enable height adjustment of the working surface.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to a first aspect the invention provides a support bracket for supporting a working surface, the support bracket has a first orientation and a second orientation in which in the first orientation the support bracket is arranged to support a working surface at a first height and in the second orientation the bracket is arranged to support a working surface at a second height different to the first height.

[0006] Consequently the height at which the working surface is supported can be altered simply by moving one or more support brackets from a first to a second orientation.

[0007] This provides a very simple method of adjusting the height of the working surface. It is much simpler than the known methods, for example by using a plurality of latching points. Furthermore, this reduces the number of components which are required since one component serves two functions, that is it can support a working surface at two different heights.

[0008] Movement of the bracket from the first orientation to the second orientation may involve inversion of the bracket. The bracket may be elongate. The bracket may be rotated through 180 degrees about its longitudinal axis in order to move the bracket from one orientation to the other.

[0009] Preferably the support bracket supports a sub frame. In turn the sub-frame may support a desk or table top.

[0010] Preferably the support bracket is arranged to rest upon a strut.

[0011] The bracket may include an attachment surface and a support surface in which the attachment surface is arranged, in use, to be secured to a support, the support surface of the bracket being arranged to be at a higher elevation than the attachment surface in one orientation and at a lower elevation in the other orientation.

[0012] The present invention also includes a kit of parts comprising two brackets in which at least one of the brackets is according to the invention herein referred to. The other bracket may also be according to the invention herein referred to or it may be planar.

[0013] This may be a bracket having only one support height although it is possible that it may have more than one support height. The bracket may be substantially planar. If it has one support height then in combination with a bracket according to the invention three different support heights for a working surface can be provided depending on which brackets are used and in which orientations.

[0014] The further bracket may have any or all of the features of the bracket herein referred to.

[0015] A pair of brackets according to the present invention may be provided which brackets are arranged, in use, to support a working surface between them with a first bracket being arranged to be located at a first side and a second bracket being located at a second side of the working surface when the brackets are in the first orientation of the first bracket being at the second side and the second bracket being at the first side when the brackets are in the second orientation.

[0016] According to a second aspect the invention provides a desk or other piece of furniture or installation comprising a bracket according to the first aspect of the invention.

Description of the Drawings

[0017] A support bracket in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a bracket mounted on a lateral support member;

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of another bracket mounted on a lateral support member;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of yet another bracket mounted on a lateral support member; and

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a bracket mounted on the side support section of an item of furniture.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

[0018] The invention provides a support bracket 14, 30 for supporting a working surface, the support bracket 14, 30 having a first orientation and a second orientation in which in the first orientation the support bracket supports the working surface at a first height and in the second orientation the support bracket 14, 30 supports the working surface at a second height different to the first height.

[0019] Figure 1 shows a vertical structural member 10 from which a support strut 12 extends laterally. The support strut 12 carries a bracket 14.

[0020] The bracket is crank-shaped in cross-section having a vertical plate 16, and flanges 18, 20 comprising horizontal support plates extending from an upper edge and a lower edge of the vertical plate 16.

[0021] The support plate 20 rests on the support strut 12 and they are fixed together by a fastener such as a screw or a bolt. The support plate 20 is provided with holes 22 into which screws or bolts can be inserted.

[0022] The support plate 18 provides a support surface for the underside of a sub-frame (not shown) which may support a working surface such as a desk top. It is to be noted that in Figure 1 a sub-frame will be supported the full height of the bracket 14 above the support strut 12.

[0023] The bracket 14 has a longitudinal axis 24 about which it can be rotated. If the bracket is rotated about this axis by 180 degrees then the support plate 18 is disposed below the support plate 20. Since the support plate 20 is resting on the support strut 12 the support plate 18 will support a sub-frame below the top of the support strut 12. It should be understood that the support plate 20 and the support strut 12 are complementary, that is they are the same length.

[0024] The support plate 20 always sits on the strut 12 to support the bracket 14. Therefore inversion of the bracket 14 changes the level at which the sub-frame is supported. A rotation of 180 degrees changes the support height by nearly twice the height of the bracket 14.

[0025] It is to be appreciated that the bracket 14 is "handed". In Figure 1 the bracket 14 would support a sub-frame extending to the left of the vertical structural member. If the bracket 14 is rotated by 180 degrees it would support a sub-frame extending to the right of the vertical structural member. Consequently, the brackets are provided in complementary pairs, a left handed bracket and a right handed bracket. If the support level of two brackets is to be changed, they are each rotated as discussed above and then have to be exchanged with one another. This is because the support plates 18 always have to extend into the gap between the two support struts 12 in order that the distance between support plates 18 is kept constant. If the complementary brackets were not exchanged, on rotation the support plates 18 would change from pointing into the gap to pointing out of the gap and the distance between adjacent support plates 18 would alter.

[0026] Figure 2 shows a vertical structural member 26 from which a lateral support member 28 carries a bracket 30. The bracket 30 is complementary to the bracket 14 of Figure 1. The brackets 14, 30 are not identical but are, in fact, mirror images. If it is assumed that the vertical support members of Figures 1 and 2 are part of the same piece of furniture it can be seen that if the bracket 14 is rotated by 180 degrees, the respective support brackets 14 and 30 face one another and can support a sub-frame across the gap between the support struts.

[0027] Consequently the sub-frame will be supported at its lowest level. If it is desired for the sub-frame to be supported at a higher level, both brackets are rotated by 180 degrees and then exchanged. The support members will both still be extending into the gap and their separating distance will not have changed.

[0028] This provides a method of raising and lowering the height of support of a sub-frame which is very straightforward. An advantage of the brackets as described is that one single pair can support at two different levels. Therefore, there is no need to provide a pair of brackets for each level at which a sub-frame is to be supported and the number of parts required in a modular furniture system is limited.

[0029] Figure 3 shows a third bracket 32 which is flat. If this bracket is used rather than brackets 14 and 30, an intermediate support level is available. Of course because this item is flat and features on each side, such as holes, correspond, a single type of bracket 32 can occupy the left or the right side of a gap simply by its inversion.

[0030] Therefore by providing the brackets 14, 30 of Figures 1 and 2 and the flat bracket 32 of Figure 3, by suitable choice of brackets and their orientation, three different support levels for supporting the sub-frame of a working surface are available.

[0031] Figure 4 shows a bracket 34 corresponding to the bracket of Figure 1 mounted on the side assembly 36 for a piece of furniture, such as a desk. In such an embodiment a sub-frame for a desk top will be supported at different heights depending on the type of bracket and orientation which is used. Typically, an arrangement incorporating the bracket 14 orientated as in Figure 1 will support at a height above the floor of 767 mm, an arrangement incorporating the bracket 32 of Figure 3 will support at a height of 743.5 mm and an arrangement incorporating the bracket 30 orientated as in Figure 2 will support at a height of 720 mm.

[0032] The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0033] All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0034] Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0035] The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A support bracket (14,30) for supporting a work surface, the support bracket having a first orientation and a second orientation in which, in the second orientation, the support bracket (14) is arranged to support a working surface at a first height and, in the second orientation (30), the bracket is arranged to support a working surface at a second height, different to the first height.

2. A bracket as claimed in Claim 1 in which movement of the bracket from the first orientation (14) to the second orientation (30) involves inversion of the bracket.

3. A bracket as claimed in any preceding claim in which the bracket is elongate and is arranged to be rotated through 180 degrees about its longitudinal axis in order to move the bracket from one orientation to the other.

4. A bracket as claimed in any preceding claim including an attachment surface (20) and a support surface (18) in which the attachment surface is arranged, in use, to be secured to a support (12), the support surface of the bracket being arranged to be at a higher elevation (14) than the attachment surface in one orientation and at a lower elevation (30) to the support surface in the other orientation.

5. A kit of parts comprising two brackets in which at least one of the brackets is according to any of Claims 1 to 4.

6. A kit as claimed in Claim 5 in which at least one of the brackets has only one support height.

7. A kit as claimed in Claim 5 or 6 in which there are two brackets that are arranged to have two orientations to provide more than one support height.

8. A kit of parts as claimed in any of Claims 8 to 10 in which one bracket (32) is substantially planar.

9. A kit of parts as claimed in any of Claims 5 to 8 in which two brackets as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4 are arranged, in use, to support a working surface between them with a first bracket (14) being arranged to be located at the first side and a second bracket (30) being located at a second side of the working surface when the brackets are in the first orientation, and the first bracket being arranged to be at the second side and the second bracket being arranged to be at the first side of the working surface when the brackets are in the second orientation.

10. A desk or other piece of furniture or installation comprising a bracket as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4 or a kit of parts as claimed in any of Claims 5 to 9.

Drawing