Desk With Hidden Wiring

Abstract

A desk provided with a vertical flat pedestal supporting one end of the top has a wiring channel formed in an edge of the pedestal. A nose molding closes the channel normally, but may be removed to lay in an appliance cord without disconnecting the cord from either the appliance or its connector plug. Notches are provided at the top and bottom of the channel in which the cord may be laid for ingress and egress when the nose cap is replaced.

Description

Many of the appliances used in modern offices require electric power, are positioned upon desk tops, and require a power cord leading from an outlet receptacle frequency mounted in the floor or the nearby baseboard of the building. Efforts have been made to position these cords internally of the desk structure for both appearance and safety reasons. To thread a cord through the passageways previously provided requires that the cord be disconnected from the appliance or from the connector plug at the opposite end in order to thread it through a hole of reasonable size for the cord.

An object of the present invention is to provide a desk having wiring channels selectively usable at various points in the desk and which do not require threading of an appliance cord therethrough, but in which the entire channel may be laid open and the cord laid in with the plug and appliance attached.

A further object is to provide wiring channel means of the character described in which the appliance cord may be presented at the top surface of the desk at any one of a plurality of locations and in which any unused channel is closed at the desk top and may be opened when needed by removing a simple knockout.

These objects are accomplished by the present invention which consists in a desk or the like having a top, a supporting pedestal at the end of the top and extending to the upper surface of the top, means forming a vertical channel means in the pedestal, removable cover means for the channel, means forming a pair of notches, one adjacent each end of the channel whereby an appliance cord may be laid in the channel and the cover closed to leave the cord extending into and out of the channel through the notches.

IN THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a desk or table incorporating a preferred form of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of an end portion of the table of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bottom portion of the table.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 5--5 of FIG. 2.

The desk of FIG. 1 comprises a top 10 supported by end pedestals 12 which are secured in abutting relation to the ends of the top 10. The pedestals 12 are preferably formed of a ladderlike inner frame formed of rectangular metal tubing as indicated at 14 in FIG. 3. Inner and outer face panels 16 are secured to the frame 14 by means of spring clips 18 which engage the reentrant flanges 20 of the face panels 16. These panels are so shaped at their vertical edges that they provide a channel between them to receive an appliance cord as illustrated in FIG. 1. The inner face panel is provided with a notch 22 in which the appliance cord 24 may be laid for entrance to the wiring channel.

Cover means for the wiring channel comprises a nose molding 25 and a block member 26. The molding 25 is snapped onto the spring clips 18 and the block 26 is secured to the end of the table top 10 by a bolt 28. The block 26 is provided with a semicircular notch 29 overlying the top of the wiring channel and flush with the upper surface of the table top 10. The top end of the pedestal is closed by a molded cap member 30 which, when first installed, has circular knockouts 32 filling each of the notches 29. When one of these knockouts is removed, there is thus provided a circular opening which includes the notch 29 and through which the appliance cord 24 may extend to the top surface of the desk. Preferably, the four vertical edges of the two pedestals 12 are constructed in identical fashion so that there will be four knockouts 32, any one or more of which may be utilized to provide cord egress from the channel over which it lies.

To install or remove an appliance cord in one of the channels, it is merely necessary to remove the block 26 by loosening the bolt 28 and to snap the cover molding 25 off from the clips 18. The cord is then laid into (or removed) the channel and the molding 25 and the block 26 replaced. If the cord is being installed for the first time, the knockout 32 at the top of the channel being utilized is, of course, removed. If use of the channel is being discontinued, the open hole may be closed by a suitable snap-in plug, not illustrated.

Claims

We claim:

1. In a desk or the like having a top, a supporting pedestal at the end of the top and extending to the upper surface of the top, a vertical channel means in the pedestal, removable cover means for the channel, and means forming a pair of notches, one adjacent each end of the channel whereby an appliance cord may be laid in the channel means and the cover closed to leave the cord extending into and out of the channel through the notches.

2. A desk as defined in claim 1 wherein the pedestal comprises spaced inner and outer panels and the channel means is formed by the vertical ends of the spaced panels.

3. A desk as defined in claim 1 wherein the cover means comprises a block member applied to the end of the table top adjacent the pedestal and a shaped nose molding removably secured to a vertical edge of the pedestal.

4. A desk as defined in claim 3 wherein a cap member is secured to the top of the pedestal and abuts the block member at their top surfaces and a removable knockout is provided in one of said members to normally close the notch at the top end of the channel.

5. A desk as defined in claim 1 wherein the pedestal comprises a peripheral inner frame, a pair of opposed panels covering the frame on the inside and outside end faces and projecting beyond the frame at one vertical edge of the pedestal, the panels having reentrant inwardly facing flanges lying adjacent the frame at the channel-forming edges thereof, and a U-shaped spring clip screwed to the frame and overlapping the panel flanges to hold them in position against the frame, the clip also having yielding ends engaging and holding the cover means for the channel.

6. A desk as defined in claim 5 wherein the lower one of said notches is located in the projecting edge of one of the panels.