Modular bench systems

Abstract

A modular bench system comprises a support frame 3, a worktop 1 and a box unit 2, wherein the box unit is supported by a rail at the rear (12, figure 12) and attached to an upper rail at the front (10

Description

This invention relates to modular bench systems particularly ones designed to serve as laboratory and technical benches, especially in educational and research establishments. 5 A wide variety of bench systems are available commercially and very often consist generally of a support frame and a worktop. In the case of benches for laboratory use there is a need for systems which can be installed without difficulty and which will have the necessary strength and stability, but which do not involve the provision of structures which are built into the fabric of a building and which are to be regarded as essentially permanent. Such installations are 10 expensive to install and very inflexible, significantly limiting the number of different configurations possible. We have now designed a modular bench system which is suited for use in a wide variety of applications, for example in schools, colleges and other teaching environments, both in workshop and laboratory spaces, and which enables a bench and associated items of 15 equipment such as drawer or cupboard units, to be configured (or if necessary reconfigured) without difficulty and which can be installed quickly and straightforwardly where desired. In particular the system provides bench units which can be assembled and disassembled in situ but which, when assembled, have substantial strength and rigidity. Known bench systems, in order to provide the necessary strength and rigidity fortheir 20 intended use, are often constructed on the basis of a frame with components welded together and a worktop which is permanently fixed to the frame. Such arrangements are generally made in factory conditions and then require to be transported as a unit to the desired site for installation, which can prove challenging. Accordingly, an aspect provides a modular bench system comprising: a support frame, a worktop, 25 and one or more box units, wherein the support frame comprises: joint pieces, two vertical frame members each comprising two vertical legs and two horizontal cross members one of which is adjacent the ends of the vertical legs, and three horizontal rails between the two vertical frame members, two such rails being upper rails fixed adjacent the tops of the legs of the vertical frame members and the third such rail being fixed to one of the legs of each of the vertical frame 30 members at a position remote from the top of the legs, wherein the third rail is positioned to support the rear end of the or each box unit and means are provided to attach the front end of the or each box unit to the upper rail on the other leg, wherein the worktop comprises one or more worktop sections which can be attached to the support frame, and wherein the system comprises means to hold the members of the support frame together rigidly and to fix the worktop section or sections 35 thereto firmly, wherein the vertical frame members and the horizontal rails of the support frame are 26 01 26 constructed of hollow rectangular section bars which are connected to one another by the use of the joint pieces, wherein each joint piece is a metal bar sized to fit snugly into one of the rails, and which is connectable to one of the rails and to one of the vertical frame members by threaded fastener bolts passing through one or more apertures in the side of the rail and one or more 5 corresponding apertures in the joint piece, and separately through an aperture in the joint piece and into an internally threaded aperture lying within the hollow rectangular section of the vertical frame member adjacent the end of the rail, wherein the threaded fastener bolts each have a head with a conical section between the end of the head remote from a threaded section and the threaded section itself, and wherein the one or more apertures in the side of the rail, the one or 10 more corresponding apertures in the joint piece, and the aperture in the joint piece to be aligned with the internally threaded aperture lying within the hollow rectangular section of the vertical frame member are respective chamfered or countersunk apertures, with the chamfer or countersink for each of the one or more apertures in the joint piece which correspond to the one or more apertures in the side of the rail being on an opposing side of the joint piece to the chamfer or countersink for 15 the aperture in the joint piece to be aligned with the internally threaded aperture lying within the hollow rectangular section of the vertical frame member. The worktop may comprise of two or more worktop sections abutted together by means enabling the worktop sections to be attached to one another so that they cannot be moved apart. 20 The underside of each worktop section may comprise one or more protruding studs, adjacent to the end of each worktop section, and the system may further comprise a plate member adapted to pull two of the two or more worktop sections together by engagement of two adjacent studs, one on each worktop section, with two or more corresponding slots in the plate member sized to fit over the studs and wherein the slots in the plate member are inclined 25 relative to one another so that by moving the plate member in a plane parallel to the plane of the worktop sections, those worktop sections can be drawn together tightly. The tops of the upper rails of the support frame may be set at a height above the top horizontal cross member of each vertical frame member by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the plate members. 30 The or each box unit may be configured as a cupboard unit, a set of drawers, a racking system or a refrigerated compartment. We provide a modular bench system comprising a support frame, a worktop and one or more box units, wherein the support frame comprises two or more vertical frame members each comprising two vertical legs and two horizontal cross members one of which is adjacent the 35 ends of the vertical legs, and three horizontal rails between the two or each of the support frames, two such rails being fixed adjacent the tops of the legs of the vertical frame members 26 01 26 and the third such rail being fixed to one of the legs of the vertical frame member at a position remote from the top of the legs, and wherein the third rail is positioned to support the rear end of the or each box unit and means are provided to attach the front end of the or each box unit to the upper rail on the other leg, and a worktop comprising one or more worktop sections and 5 which can be attached to the support frames and / or the upper rails attached thereto, and means are provided to hold the members of the support frame together rigidly and to fix the worktop section or sections thereto firmly. The vertical frame members and the horizontal rails of the support frame of bench systems are preferably constructed of hollow rectangular section bars, preferably square section bars, 10 which are connected to one another by the use of joint pieces rather than by welding. In a particularly preferred arrangement, the joint pieces are metal bars sized to fit snugly into the hollow rail sections, and which can be connected to the respective rail sections by threaded fastener bolts passing through one or more (most preferably three) apertures in the side of a rail and separately into an internally threaded aperture fixed adjacent the end of a rail section 15 and lying within its rectangular hollow profile. By using bolts having a head with a conical section between the end of the head remote from the threaded section and the threaded section itself, and providing a chamfered or countersunk aperture in both the wall of the rail section and the joint piece it is possible to construct a joint which as the bolts are tightened pulls the rail sections together in the desired precise alignment, which imparts substantial 20 rigidity to the support frame and accordingly to provide the desired rigidity to the bench unit. However, the avoidance of welded connection enables the support frame to be disassembled if desired. Although for relatively short benches a single worktop unit may suffice, it is often the case that the worktop is comprised of two or more sections. In accordance with a further aspect of the 25 present invention these sections maybe abutted together by means enabling the sections to be attached to one another so that they cannot be moved apart. A particularly preferred way of effecting this is to provide on the underside of each worktop section one or more protruding studs, adjacent to the end of each section, and to pull the two sections together by means of a plate member adapted to engage with two adjacent studs, one on each section of the worktop, 30 by means of two or more slots in the plate which are a fit over the studs and which are inclined relative to one another so that by moving the plate in a plane parallel to the plane of the worktop sections, those sections can be drawn together tightly. In order to accommodate such a plate connection system, the tops of the horizontal front and back rails of the support frame may be set at a height above the top horizontal rail of each vertical support frame by an 35 amount corresponding to the thickness of the plate. A particular advantage of this method of abutting two worktop sections is that the abutting ends of the sections are unmodified, for example by needing to have fixings installed which require holes in or studs protruding from the end edges of the sections. 26 01 26 As noted above, the box units are supported at their lower rear side on the lower horizontal support frame rail, while their front is supported on the upper horizontal front rail of the support frame. These box units are conveniently of the same standard width, this being an integral fraction, such as a half, third, quarter or fifth, of the length of the horizontal support rails 5 between the vertical frame members. Some box sections may be of twice the standard width. This modular approach enables the bench to be configured with a plurality of different types of box unit, for example a "single width" set of drawers and an adjacent double-width cupboard. In a completed bench system, a number of box section units may be ranged along the frame and in order to assist the alignment of these the lower horizontal rail of the frames may include 10 means to guide the lower rear edge of the box unit into the exactly correct position. We have found that by using all these various features in combination it is possible to produce a bench structure which is strong and rigid but which has the major advantage that it can be assembled simply and rapidly on site rather 5 than having to be made in factory conditions and then transported as a whole. 15 The box units may be of varied types, for example in the form of a cupboard unit, a set of drawers, a racking system or some other unit, for example a refrigerated compartment. Further details of the modular bench system in accordance with the present invention are evident from the following description of a preferred embodiment which is given by way of illustration rather than limitation. This description refers to the accompanying drawings in 20 which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic front view of a modular bench system in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic isometric view from the rear showing part of a bench unit in accordance with the present invention; 25 Figure 3 is a diagram showing a variety of options for long medium and short benches; Figure 4 is an exploded view of the components of the end of the support frame of the bench shown in Figure 2; Figure 5 is an exploded view of the components of the central vertical frame at the front of the bench unit shown in Figure 1; 30 Figure 6 is an exploded view of the vertical frame and the way in which it is connected to the three horizontal rails; Figure 7 is a similar view to Figure 6; 26 01 26 Figure 8 is an exploded view showing the connection between the upper horizontal rails and the vertical frame at one end of the bench; Figure 9 is a view of the arrangement shown in Figure 8 but seen from the back of the bench; Figure 10 shows the detail in standard 5-viewform of the joint pieces connecting the vertical 5 frame at the end of the bench to the horizontal rails; Figure 11 shows the joint piece used to connect the horizontal rails to the central vertical frame; Figure 12 shows the fitting of a drawer unit into the bench support frame, seen from the rear of the bench once the unit has been placed in position; 10 Figure 13 is a view showing the drawer unit before insertion into and fixing to the support frame; Figure 14 is a view showing how the front of the drawer unit is fixed to the front horizontal rail; Figure 15 is a vertical section through the bench shown in Figure 1 along the lines A-A; Figure 16 is a sectional view on a larger scale of the detail within the circle marked B on 15 Figure 15; Figure 17 shows from the underside of the worktop where the worktop consists of two sections and Figures 18 and 19 show the shapes of the fixing brackets which can be used to 20 fix the entire bench for example to a wall of the room in which the bench is located. 20 As shown in Figure 1, the bench unit illustrated has two worktop sections 1, three box units 2 installed in the left hand side of the support frame and the support frame itself has three vertical frames 3. Each of the vertical frames 3 consists of two vertical legs 5 which are connected together via an upper cross member 6 and a lower cross member 7. 25 At the base of each vertical leg 5 there is a foot 8 which can be screwed into or out of a threaded aperture in a transverse plate welded on to the bottom of the leg. Also attached at the bottom of the leg is a laterally extending bracket 9 which has a hole in it enabling the positioning of the entire bench structure to be fixed by means of a suitable bolt or screw passing through the hole and penetrating the floor on which the support frame rests. As can 26 01 26 be seen most clearly in Figure 4 and others, the legs 5 and cross members 6 and 7 are formed of square section hollow tube. The vertical frames 3 are connected to one another via three rails each formed of rectangular section hollow tubing. In Figure 1 only the upper horizontal front rail denoted 10 is visible while 5 the upper horizontal rear rail is denoted 11 in Figure 2 and subsequent ones of the drawings. Connecting the legs 5 of adjacent vertical frames 3 below each of the upper horizontal rear rails 11 is a lower horizontal rear rail 12. This is located at the same level as the lower cross member? in each of the vertical frames 3. As shown in more detail in Figures 5 to 9, the vertical frames 3 and the rails 10, 11 and 12 are 10 connected together in order to form the support frame by using joint pieces 13. The joint pieces 13 can be inserted into the upper cross members 6 of the vertical frames 3 and the upper end of the front leg 5 via slots 14 as shown in Figures 5, 6, 8 and 9. The joint pieces 13 are a precise fit into slots 14 and the vertical extent of those slots is a little shorter than the inner longer dimension of the rectangular section horizontal rails 10, 11 and 12. 15 The joint pieces 13 are fixed to the upper cross member 6 by means of a threaded nut 16 welded to a transverse plate 15 which is welded to one end of the upper cross member 6 at the front of the vertical frame 3 as seen in Figure 8 and there is a similar transverse plate with a threaded nut welded on it inset from the rear end of each upper cross member 6 at a position adjacent the slot 14 in its side wall. 20 The structure of the joint pieces 13 is shown in Figures 10 and 11 and these show respectively three or six holes through the joint pieces of a relatively smaller size and a separate hole in the end or centre of the joint piece of a larger diameter. Joint pieces 13 are affixed to the threaded nuts 16 by means of a threaded bolt 17. The head of the bolt 17 is frustoconical with its narrower end adjacent its threaded portion and that matches the countersunk or chamfered 25 edge of the larger apertures in joint pieces 13. Joint pieces 13 are attached to the horizontal rails 10, 11 and 12 using a similarly shaped set of bolts 18 which are threaded to engage in the smaller size holes in joint pieces 13, they align accurately with their frustoconical sections extending through holes with countersunk edges in the ends of the rails 10, 11 and 12 as well as into the countersunk edges in the smaller holes 30 in joint pieces 13. This arrangement means that the joint between each of the square or rectangular section tubes which make up the support frame is very firmly fixed, while should it be desired to dismantle the support frame, bolts 17 and 18 are simply unscrewed, whereafter the frame may be taken apart into its component horizontal rails and vertical frames 3. Attached, for example by welding, to the upper horizontal front rail 10 is a hanging rail 19 35 having a number of threaded nuts fixed to the horizontally extending portion of the rail. These 26 01 26 nuts can be used to support the front end of the drawer unit 21 illustrated which has at its front portion a set of vertical holes through which bolts 24 may be inserted and screwed into the nuts welded to support rail 19, the details of the arrangement being shown in Figures 15 and As is evident from the vertical section detail shown in Figure 16, there is a gap between the 5 upper surface of the upper cross member 6 and the underside of worktop 1. This gap is intentional in the case illustrated where the bench unit shown has two worktops 1 abutted together. They are held tightly together above the central vertical frame 3 by means of two connector plates 32, shown in Figure 17. This Figure shows the underside of the worktops 1 and each of the two plates 32 is fixed to the underside of the worktop by means of short 10 screws 33 the shanks of which pass through slots 34 in plates 32. The slots 34 run in a direction slightly angled relative to the sides of the plate 32. When the two worktops are to be connected, they are abutted together and the plates 32 laid on top of the undersides in the position shown, and the screws 33 then inserted into the wider apart ends of each of the angled slots and the plates screwed on, but not so firmly as to be 15 tightly held against the worktop undersides. When the worktops are placed on top of the support frame, the plates lie in the gap above the upper cross member 6, and the underside of the worktop 1. The plates are then moved in the direction of the cross members and as each plate is moved the pairs of angled slots 34 exert a wedging action to draw the edges of the two worktops 1 firmly together, and the screws 33 are then tightened up so that the worktops stay 20 in close contact. The thickness of plates 32 is the same as the gap 25 shown in Figure 16, so the worktop sections 1 are fitted precisely with their long edges resting on the two upper horizontal rails 10 and 11, and are firmly fixed into position by means of appropriate fixings, for example screws passing through the rails 10 and 11 at appropriate intervals. Holding the two abutting ends of 25 the two worktop sections 1 together in this way means that a very tight connection is made but without the need for (and consequential risk of damage to) the end faces of the two worktop sections. This method of securing tight abutment between adjacent worktop sections constitutes a further desirable feature of the bench structures according to the invention. The bench unit may be fixed, once levelled by screwing the feet 8 in or out from the legs 5, to 30 an adjacent wall if desired by means of fixing brackets 35 which are illustrated in Figures 18 and 19 and which are identified by reference number 35 on Figures 2, 4, 8, 9 and 15. These are a fit into the extended rear end of the upper cross member 6 of each vertical frame 3 and the lower face of each extended rear end of upper cross member 6 has a slot in its lower horizontal wall extending from the open end and of length corresponding to the longer portion 35 of the bracket 35. That longer portion has two tapped holes in it into which bolts may be fitted and the bolts may be tightened up with their heads below the slot so as to fix the distance between the shorter portion of each wall fixing bracket and the end of upper cross member 6. 26 01 26 In this way, the top edge of the support frame may be fixed securely to a wall at three positions even if those three positions are not collinear. The modular bench system illustrated by way of example in Figure 1 can be applied to a variety of standard length benches. That illustrated in Figure 1 is a full length unit with two 5 adjacent worktops 1 and underneath the left hand one are two drawer units and a central cupboard unit which, as can be seen in Figure 2, has a hole in its upper section which could receive a basin or sink of generally rectangular shape set into a suitably shaped aperture in the worktop 1. The width of the two drawer units as shown in Figure 1 is one third of the width of the cupboard unit just described. This modular approach is best illustrated in Figure 3 which 10 shows diagrammatically a front view of arrangements with a long space between two adjacent vertical frames, which as shown at the top of Figure 3 is as in Figure 1 and next down houses five identical width drawer units. The alternative middle length version illustrated in the 3rd and 4th sections of Figure 3 reading from the top show a single width drawer unit and a triple width cupboard unit or, next down, a quadruple drawer unit arrangement. The lower two diagrams 15 show how the system may have shorter horizontal rails with the vertical frames spaced apart to take a single triple width cupboard or three standard width drawer units. The bench arrangement shown in Figure 1 shows a five modular unit width space between the left and centre vertical frames 3 while on the right hand portion of the support frame there are no modular units installed, though the drawing shows a mobile cupboard unit on castors which 20 can be, as it were, parked under the worktop 1. 26 01 26

Claims

1. A modular bench system comprising:a support frame,a worktop, andone or more box units,wherein the support frame comprises:joint pieces,two vertical frame members each comprising two vertical legs and two horizontal cross members one of which is adjacent the ends of the vertical legs, andthree horizontal rails between the two vertical frame members, two such rails being upper rails fixed adjacent the tops of the legs of the vertical frame members and the third such rail being fixed to one of the legs of each of the vertical frame members at a position remote from the top of the legs, wherein the third rail is positioned to support the rear end of the or each box unit and means are provided to attach the front end of the or each box unit to the upper rail on the other leg,wherein the worktop comprises one or more worktop sections which can be attached to the support frame, and wherein the system comprises means to hold the members of the support frame together rigidly and to fix the worktop section or sections thereto firmly,wherein the vertical frame members and the horizontal rails of the support frame are constructed of hollow rectangular section bars which are connected to one another by the use of the joint pieces,wherein each joint piece is a metal bar sized to fit snugly into one of the rails, and which is connectable to one of the rails and to one of the vertical frame members by threaded fastener bolts passing through one or more apertures in the side of the rail and one or more corresponding apertures in the joint piece, and separately through an aperture in the joint piece and into an internally threaded aperture lyingwithin the hollow rectangular section of the vertical frame member adjacent the end of the rail,wherein the threaded fastener bolts each have a head with a conical section between the end of the head remote from a threaded section and the threaded section itself, andwherein the one or more apertures in the side of the rail, the one or more corresponding apertures in the joint piece, and the aperture in the joint piece to be aligned with the internally threaded aperture lyingwithin the hollow rectangular section of the vertical frame member are26 01 26respective chamfered or countersunk apertures, with the chamfer or countersink for each of the one or more apertures in the joint piece which correspond to the one or more apertures in the side of the rail being on an opposing side of the joint piece to the chamfer or countersink for the aperture in the joint piece to be aligned with the internally threaded aperture lying within the hollow rectangular section of the vertical frame member.

2. A modular bench system according to claim 1 wherein the worktop comprises of two or more worktop sections abutted together by means enabling the worktop sections to be attached to one another so that they cannot be moved apart.

3. A modular bench system according to claim 2 wherein the underside of each worktop section comprises one or more protruding studs, adjacent to the end of each worktop section, and the system further comprises a plate member adapted to pull two of the two or more worktop sections together by engagement of two adjacent studs, one on each worktop section, with two or more corresponding slots in the plate member sized to fit over the studs and wherein the slots in the plate member are inclined relative to one another so that by moving the plate member in a plane parallel to the plane of the worktop sections, those worktop sections can be drawn together tightly.

4. A modular bench system according to claim 3 wherein the tops of the upper rails of the support frame are set at a height above the top horizontal cross member of each vertical frame member by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the plate members.

5. A modular bench system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the or each box unit is configured as a cupboard unit, a set of drawers, a racking system or a refrigerated compartment.

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