US 4,372,629 · Granted 1983-02-08
The Hidden Outlet Patent That Turned Furniture Into Cable Management
Imagine a piece of office furniture with a built-in slot that hides electrical outlets under a hinged cover. When you flip the cover open, power outlets pop out ready to use. When you close it, everything disappears—no messy wires or outlets cluttering your desk.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a wire raceway system built into furniture with a slot, a hinged cover that seals shut, and electrical outlets mounted underneath that remain hidden when closed. What's protected here is the specific combination of the raceway, the seal mechanism on the hinged cover, and the arrangement of outlets on the underside. An alternative version covers using a brush mounted to seal the slot instead of a hinged door.
Why it matters
This patent tackled a real workplace problem in the early 1980s: how to keep electrical outlets accessible without turning office furniture into a visible tangle of cords and plugs. By embedding outlets into the furniture itself with a concealable cover, it offered a cleaner, more professional look to office environments while keeping power sources within reach. This kind of integrated design became influential in modern office furniture planning.
Real-world use
Every time you open a hinged panel on an office desk or conference table and find hidden power outlets waiting inside, you're using the core idea this patent locked down.
Original USPTO abstract
A wire enclosure is disclosed having a wire raceway, a slot communicating with the raceway, and a cover for covering the slot. In one embodiment, the cover is hingedly mounted to one side of the slot and has a flexible seal to seal the cover against the other side of the slot when the cover is closed. Electrical outlets are mounted on the underside of the hinged cover so that the outlets are hidden when the cover is closed and easily accessible when the cover is open. In an alternative embodiment, the cover is a brush, mounted on one side of the slot, extending towards and engaging the other side of the slot.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 4,372,629
- Filing date
- 1980-11-10
- Grant date
- 1983-02-08
- Assignee
- Stow/Davis Furniture Company
- Inventor(s)
- PROPST; PAUL L., RICHARDSON; DONALD A., HINRICHS; CARL B.
- CPC class
- A47B21/06
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