US 5,394,658 · Granted 1995-03-07
The Modular Desk Wall That Lets You Build Your Own Office
Imagine a desk and wall system made of snap-together blocks, where the desk's back is just another section of wall panels you can keep stacking higher. It's like building with LEGO, but for creating your own private workspace or office nook with cables hidden inside.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a freestanding desk integrated with a modular wall-panel system where the desk's back panel matches the dimensions and appearance of base wall panels, allowing upper wall panels to stack onto both the desk and surrounding walls seamlessly. What's protected here is the specific mechanical integration: the recessed desk top that lets modular panels mount on vertical support members and back panels, plus the hollow frame members underneath that hide wiring while connecting the support beam to the vertical posts.
Why it matters
This patent solves a real commercial problem: how to make office furniture modular and scalable without looking like mismatched parts. By designing the desk back to be indistinguishable from wall panels, manufacturers could sell customers a system where walls and desks grow together, and installers could configure layouts flexibly. The hidden wiring approach also made the furniture cleaner and more professional-looking, valuable in corporate office design.
Real-world use
When you walk into a modern open office where desks have matching panel walls behind them that you can raise or lower to create privacy, you're likely seeing a design descended from this modular approach.
Original USPTO abstract
An integral room divider panel and freestanding desk system comprises a base wall formed of interconnected modular base wall panels of uniform height and width and a freestanding desk unit that integrates into the base wall. The desk unit includes a work surface supported at side edges by vertical support members, with a back panel extending across the back of the desk. The desk back panel is formed of modules of the same height and width as the base wall panels and have the same appearance as base wall panels, so the back of the desk can comprise a section of the base wall. The top of the desk is recessed from the vertical support members and back panel so that the modular upper wall panels can be mounted on the back panel and vertical support members, as well as on the base wall panels, to selectively increase the height of the wall panel system and the peripheral enclosure for the desk. A transverse support beam with an open interior is mounted under the work surface, and hollow inclined frame members attach the support beam to the vertical support members, providing wiring access to the desk top. A separate wall and post and beam archistructure system complements the desk and panel system.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,394,658
- Filing date
- 1992-07-28
- Grant date
- 1995-03-07
- Assignee
- Schreiner; Charles P. / Randolph; Travis M.
- Inventor(s)
- SCHREINER; CHARLES P., RANDOLPH; TRAVIS M.
- CPC class
- A47B21/06
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