JP7513485B2 - Desk partition device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the technical field of desk partition devices that can be easily placed on desks used for study, office work, etc. to separate the desk from the surrounding area.

Recently, attempts have been made to separate people from their neighbors by placing partition devices to prevent infection with pathogens such as coronaviruses. For example, in a school where many people sit at desks to study, partition devices may be placed on the top of each desk to separate them. As such a partition device, a device that has a front panel and left and right side panels that can be foldably connected and placed on the desk panel has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2008-301925 A JP 2014-46193 A

However, in the above-mentioned conventional devices, the partition device is simply placed on a base plate or externally engaged with the edge of a desk plate, and therefore is unstable and has the problem that it can tip over or fall off the desk plate if a person touches it lightly.
For example, it has been proposed to fix the front panel to the desk base via a fixing device; however, in this case, the screen device's panel remains in an upright position even when not in use, meaning that when moving the desk, for example to clean the room, the upright panel gets in the way, making it difficult to move the desk. To avoid this, it is necessary to release the fixing device each time and remove the screen device from the desk base, which results in poor workability and is a problem that the present invention aims to solve.

The present invention has been created in view of the above-mentioned circumstances and with the objective of solving these problems. The invention of claim 1 provides a desk comprising a front panel, side panels disposed on at least one of the left and right sides of the front panel, a first swinging means for connecting the front panel and the side panels so that the side panels can swing and change shape from an unfolded position in which they are unfolded in an angular shape relative to the front panel to a folded position in which they are folded in a layered manner, and a fastener provided on either the front panel or the side panel for detachably fixing the panel on the side provided to an edge of the desk panel. In a screen device for a desk, the fixing device is provided with a second swinging means for swingably supporting the panel on the side on which the fixing device is provided so that the double-sided panels in the folded position can be transformed into an upright position in which they stand up relative to the desk board and a lying position in which they lie down, the second swinging means swingably supporting the lower panel in the folded, lying position so that it is spaced upward from the desk board, and the lower panel is provided with a support member that abuts against the desk board to fold it and support it in the lying position .
The invention of claim 2 is a desk partition device comprising a front panel, side panels arranged on at least one of the left and right sides of the front panel, first swinging means connecting the front panel and the side panels so that the side panels can swing and change from an unfolded position in which they are unfolded into an angular shape relative to the front panel to a folded position in which they are folded in a stacked manner, and a fastener provided on either the front panel or the side panel for detachably fixing the panel on the side on which the fastener is provided to an edge portion of the desk board, wherein the fastener is provided with a second swinging means for swingably supporting the panel on the side on which the fastener is provided so that the folded double-sided panels can be transformed into an upright position in which they stand up against the desk board and a lying position in which they lie down, and wherein at least one of the front panel and the side panel is provided with an intermediate material to prevent the two from abutting when in the folded position.
The invention of claim 3 is a desk partition device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the side panels are provided on the left and right sides of the front panel, and the sum of the lengths of the left and right side panels is set to be less than the length of the front panel so that the side panels do not overlap when in the folded position.
A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a desk partition device according to any one of the first to third aspects, characterized in that the fixing device is provided at the lower edge of the front panel.
The invention of claim 5 is a desk partition device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the side panel is provided with a retaining member that abuts against the desk top when in an unfolded or upright position to hold the side panel in the unfolded or upright position.
The invention of claim 6 provides the desk screen device according to claim 5 , characterized in that the holding member is provided so as to be freely changed from a holding position in which it abuts against the desk board to a storage position.
The invention of claim 7 is a desk partition device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the front and side panels in the folded, lying-down position are set to a size that does not protrude from the desk base.

By adopting the invention of claim 1 or 2 , in a screen device comprising a front panel and a side panel connected via a first swinging means so that the screen device can be transformed into an unfolded position and a folded position, a second swinging means is provided in the fixing device for fixing the screen device to the desk board, which changes the position of the double-sided panels between an upright position and a lying-down position. As a result, by folding the double-sided panels into a lying-down position, the screen device can be easily prevented from getting in the way when moving the desk, while the screen device remains fixed to the desk board, thereby improving operability.
Furthermore, by adopting the invention of claim 1, when the table is folded and in a lying-down position, the lower panel is separated from the desk board by a gap, which prevents the panel or desk board from being damaged, while the support member provided on the lower panel can support the panel in the separated state, thereby stabilizing the lying-down position.
Furthermore, by adopting the invention of claim 2, a spacer is provided between the front panel and the side panel so that they do not come into contact with each other when the folding position is adopted, thereby effectively preventing the front panel and the side panel from coming into contact with each other and being damaged.
By adopting the invention of claim 3 , while the side panels are provided on both the left and right sides of the front panel, when the left and right side panels are in the folded position, the leading edges of the side panels do not overlap with each other, so that the left and right side panels can be folded flat and can be effortlessly placed in a compact lying position.
By adopting the invention of claim 4 , the fixing device is provided on the front panel and fixed to the tip edge portion of the desk board, thereby effectively preventing the fixing device from getting in the way when the desk is in use.
By adopting the invention of claim 5 , when the side panel is unfolded and in an upright position, the retaining member provided on the side panel abuts against the desk board to maintain the unfolded and upright position, thereby stabilizing the unfolded and upright position of the side panel.
By adopting the invention of claim 6 , the holding member provided for stably holding the side panel in the unfolded and upright position can be stored in a storage position, so that the holding member does not get in the way when performing the work of transforming the side panel, and thus it is possible to avoid impairing workability.
According to the invention of claim 7, the front panel and side panel are designed so that they do not protrude from the desk board when folded and laid down, so that they do not get in the way when carrying and moving the device in that position.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the partition device showing the deployed and standing position. FIG. FIG. FIG. FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the partition device showing a folded and standing position. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the partition device showing a folded, lying-down position. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line (A)-(A) in FIG. 7. 7B-B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7B-B in FIG. This is a view taken along the arrows (C)-(C) in FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line (D)-(D) in FIG. 7.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, 1 is a screen device for a desk D, which is composed of three panels 2, 3: a front panel 2 and side panels 3 arranged on the left and right of the front panel 2. The front panel 2 and the side panels 3 are connected to be freely swingable between an expanded position in which they are expanded (spread out) at a right angle (this does not necessarily have to be a right angle (90 degrees) in the present invention, but can be an angle of, for example, 80 degrees, 100 degrees, etc.) via a pair of first hinges 4 at the top and bottom (corresponding to the "first swinging means" of the present invention) in an upright position described below, and a folded position in which they are folded in a stacked (overlapped) state with the side panels 3 positioned at the base end side relative to the front panel 2 (the definition of "base end side" will be described later).

Hereinafter, in explaining this embodiment, the front-to-rear direction will be described based on the desk base 5 of the desk, with the front side of the desk base 5 (the side where a chair is normally placed) being defined as the "base end side" and the tip side (the side opposite the side where a chair is normally placed) being defined as the "tip side".
Furthermore, with regard to the front panel 2, as described below, the directionality is defined when it is in an upright position at the tip end portion of the desk board 5, and with regard to the side panel 3, as also described below, the directionality is defined when it is in an unfolded and upright position at both the left and right end portions of the desk board 5; however, it goes without saying that such definitions of directionality are for convenience, and the present invention is not limited to these definitions of directionality.

When the directionality is defined in this manner, one of the mounting plates 4a of the first hinge 4 is attached to the front panel 2 via a screw 4b screwed from the base end side surface 2a toward the tip side surface 2b, with one of the mounting plates 4a abutting both left and right end edges of the base end side surface 2a, and the other mounting plate 4a of the first hinge 4 is attached to the side panel 3 via a screw 4b screwed from the left-right inner side surface 3a toward the outer side surface 3b, with the other mounting plate 4a of the first hinge 4 abutting against the tip side portion of the left-right inner side surface 3a.
In this way, the side panel 3 is connected to the front panel 2 via the first hinge 4 so that it can be folded and pivoted freely. As a result, when the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 are in the folded position, the opposing base end side surface 2a and the left-right inner side surface 3a of the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 are separated by a gap (crevice) corresponding to the shaft portion 4c.
In addition, in this embodiment, the face plates 2 and 3 are both formed from colorless transparent plates, but this is not limited to this, and they can be opaque or translucent as necessary, or even colored (including achromatic colors).
In this embodiment, since the panel panels 2, 3 are made of transparent plates, objects on the other side of the panel panels 2, 3 can be seen through them and are perceived in the same way as objects in front. If this were to be drawn in the drawings as it is seen, it would be difficult to determine which side of the panel 2, 3 the drawn object is on, which could lead to misinterpretation. Therefore, in the drawings, the panel panels 2, 3 are assumed to be opaque plates, and objects on the other side of the panel panels 2, 3 are not visible and are drawn with dashed lines (virtual lines) where necessary.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the left and right side panels 3 are all of the same size (shape), and when in the folded position, the tip edges of the left and right side panels 3 (the edges opposite the edge to which the first hinge 4 is attached) are configured to face each other with a small gap in the left-right direction without stacking (overlapping) with each other. In order to configure the tip edges of the left and right side panels 3 so that they do not stack (overlap) with each other in this folded state, if the left and right side panels 3 are the same size, then in theory the left and right lengths of the left and right side panels 3 should be set to a length (horizontal length) that is less than half the left and right length of the front panel 2.
On the other hand, if the left and right lengths of the left and right side panels 3 are different, the sum of the left and right lengths of the left and right side panels 3 is set to be less than the length of the front panel 2, so that the tip edges of the left and right side panels 3 do not overlap each other, and the present invention can be implemented in this manner as well.

A fixing device 6 is provided on the lower edge 2c of the front panel 2 for removably attaching and fixing the front panel 2 to the tip edge of the desk board 5. The fixing device 6 is in the form of a thick plate that is long in the left-right direction and has a base portion 6a that is placed on the upper surface of the tip edge side of the desk board 5, and is configured so that a clamp portion 7 and a second hinge (corresponding to the ``second swinging means'' of the present invention) 8 are provided on the base portion 6a.
Incidentally, the lower edge portions 2c, 3c of the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 are set so that when in the upright position, they are higher than the upper surface of the base portion 6a by the thickness of one of the mounting plates 8a of the second hinge 8. As a result, when in the folded, lying-down position, the both lower edge portions 2c, 3c are configured to face the base end side surface of the base portion 6a with a gap on the base end side.

The clamp portion 7 is configured to include an upper half portion 7a having an inverted L shape, an L-shaped lower half portion 7b, and a pressing portion 7c provided on the lower half portion 7b.
The upper piece 7d of the upper half 7a is fixed to the base portion 6a via screws 7e in a state in which it is fitted into the groove portion 6b formed so that the underside of the base portion 6a is open (in this embodiment, the upper piece 7d is fitted into the groove portion 6b so that it is flush with the underside of the base portion 6a), while the vertical piece 7f of the upper half 7a is fixed to the base portion 6a via screws 7e in a state in which it abuts (overlaps) the vertical piece 7g of the lower half 7b at its tip side. With this configuration, the clamp portion 7 has a U-shaped configuration with an open base end, consisting of the upper piece 7d of the upper half 7a, the vertical pieces 7f and 7g abutting in the tip-base direction, and the lower piece 7h of the lower half 7b. Furthermore, the vertical pieces 7f, 7g of the upper half 7a and the lower half 7b can be fixed to each other in a manner that allows them to be adjusted vertically (for example, by making the screw hole for the screw 7e in the vertical piece 7g of the lower half into a long hole), thereby making it possible to adjust the gap between the upper piece 7d and the lower piece 7h.
A screw shaft 7i constituting the pressing portion 7c is screwed into the lower piece 7h of the U-shape in a vertically penetrating manner, with an operating tool 7j provided at the lower end of the screw shaft 7i and a pressing body 7k provided at the upper end.
Then, with the lower pressing body 7k and the upper piece 7d (base portion 6a) externally fitted onto the tip edge portion of the desk board 5, the operating tool 7j is turned to move the pressing body 7k upward so that the desk board 5 is clamped between the pressing body 7k and the upper piece 7d (base portion 6a) in a pressing manner, allowing the partition device 1 to be attached and fixed to the desk board 5 in a freely detachable manner via the fixing device 6.

Meanwhile, one mounting plate 8a of the second hinge 8 is attached to the upper surface of the base plate 6a via a screw 8b, while the other mounting plate 8a of the second hinge 8 is attached to the front plate 2 via a screw 8b screwed from the tip side toward the base end side in a state of abutting against the tip side surface 2b of the front plate 2. In this embodiment, the second hinges 8 are attached at two locations on both left and right end edges of the base plate 6a and one location in the center in the left-right direction, for a total of three.
The second hinge 8 supports the front panel 2 so that it can swing freely between an upright position in which it stands vertically (perpendicularly) relative to the desk plate 5, and a lying down position in which it is lying down horizontally. When the front panel 2 is in a lying down position (folded, lying down position) with the side panel 3 in a folded position relative to the front panel 2 as described above, the front panel 2 is in a horizontal position parallel to the top surface of the desk plate 5, and the side panel 3 arranged between the front panel 2 and the desk plate 5 is arranged so that there is a gap between them and the upper front panel 2 and the lower desk plate 5.
Moreover, when the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 are folded in this manner and placed in a lying-down position, the dimensions of the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 are set so that they do not protrude from the desk board 5, that is, so that they are fitted within the desk board 5.
Incidentally, the numbers of the first hinges 4 and the second hinges 8 are not limited to those in this embodiment, and needless to say, can be set to any appropriate number as required.

When the side panel 3 is deployed and in an upright position, the tip end edge is supported by the front panel 2 via the first hinge 4, and the bottom edge 3c is cantilevered away from the top surface of the desk plate 5. A holding member 9 is provided at the base end corner of the bottom edge 3c of the side panel, which abuts against the desk plate 5 to hold the side panel 3 in the deployed and upright position. In this embodiment, the holding member 9 is disposed on the inner surface 3a of the side panel 3 in the left-right direction, and is pivotally supported via a support shaft 9a so that it can be freely changed between a holding position in which it abuts against the desk plate 5 and a storage position in which it is stored so that it is flush with the bottom edge 3c of the side panel 3.

Furthermore, in this case, when the side panel 3 is folded and in a lying-down position, the outer surfaces 3b in the left and right directions are separated from the desk board 5 with a gap, and therefore, in this embodiment, consideration is given to filling this gap.
In other words, support members 10 are provided on the left and right outer surfaces 3b of the side panel 3 at the tip end portion where the mounting plate 4a of the first hinge 4 is attached, and at the upper and lower corner portions on the base end portion, which abut the upper surface of the desk plate 5 when folded and in a lying down position, and these support members 10 are configured to provide support that fills the gap between the side panel 3 and the desk plate 5.
Incidentally, the support member 10 provided at the portion where the mounting plate 4a of the first hinge 4 is attached also serves as a cover member 12 provided to cover (conceal) the screw holes of the screws 4b for fixing the mounting plate 4a on the outer side surface 3b in the left-right direction.

Furthermore, when the side panel 3 is in the folded position, the side panel 3 and the front panel 2 are separated by a gap as described above, and the tip side of the side panel 3 and the left and right edge sides of the front panel 2 are connected to each other via the first hinge 4 in a cantilevered state, and therefore, in this embodiment, consideration is given to filling this gap.
First, when the side panel 3 is in the folded position, the retaining member 9 faces the lower edge portion 2c of the left-right center of the base end side surface 2a of the front panel, and thus this retaining member 9 also serves as an intermediate material 11 to be placed in the gap between the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 when in the stored position.
In this embodiment, a counterpart intermediate material 11a that abuts against the intermediate material 11 when the front panel is in the folded position is provided on the base end side surface 2a of the front panel 2 at a position facing the intermediate material 11 (retaining member 9). In this case, a cover member 13 is provided on the base end side surface 2a of the front panel 2 to cover, on the base end side surface 2a side, the screw holes of the screws 8b for fixing the other mounting plate 8a of the second hinge 8, and the counterpart intermediate material 11a also serves as the cover member 13 that covers the screw holes for mounting the second hinge 8 at the center portion in the left-right direction.

Furthermore, an intermediate material 11b having the same thickness as the retaining member 9 is provided at the upper end side portion of the left-right center of the base end side surface 2a of the front panel, while an intermediate material 11c is provided at the upper end corner portion of the inner left-right side surface 2a of the side panel, which abuts against the intermediate material 11b when the side panel is folded. In this way, the side panel 3 in the folded position has the intermediate materials 11 (9) and 11a, 11b and 11c that abut against each other between the front panel 2 and the base end portion that is the free edge, and can support the side panel 3 in the folded position against the front panel 2. Note that the intermediate materials in this embodiment are provided on both the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 that face each other and abut against each other, but they may be provided on either the panel 2 or 3 and abut against the other panel 3 or 2.
In this embodiment, an opposing plate 14 is provided at a portion on the tip side surface 2b corresponding to the intermediate material 11b provided at the upper edge portion of the left-right central portion of the front panel base end side surface 2a.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the screen device 1 placed on the desk board 5 comprises a front panel 2 and a pair of side panels 3 arranged on the left and right of the front panel 2. The front panel 2 and the side panels 3 are connected via a first hinge 4 so that the side panels 3 can swing between an unfolded position in which they are unfolded at right angles to the front panel 2 and a folded position in which they are folded in layers. The screen device 1 is also configured to comprise a fastener 6 for removably fixing the front panel 2 to the leading edge of the desk board 5. This prevents the screen device 1 from accidentally coming off the desk board 5 even if a person touches it. While preventing the screen device 1 from falling off the desk, the fixing device 6 is provided with a second hinge 8 that changes its shape from an upright position standing on the desk board to a lying position when the side panel 3 is in a folded position stacked against the front panel 2. As a result, the double-sided panels 2 and 3 can be folded and laid down while still fixed to the desk board 5, allowing it to be stored compactly on the desk board 5. This makes it easy to prevent the screen device 1 from getting in the way when moving the desk D, while the screen device remains fixed to the desk, improving workability.

In this case, the pair of left and right side panels 2 are set so that the sum of the lengths of the left and right side panels 3 is equal to or less than the length of the front panel 2 so that the side panels 3 do not overlap when in the folded position. As a result, the left and right side panels 3 can be folded flat against the front panel 2, allowing for a natural, compact, lying-down position. In this case, the fixing device 6 is provided on the lower edge 2c of the front panel 2, so that the fixing device 6 is fixed to the leading edge of the desk board 5, effectively preventing the fixing device 6 from getting in the way as it would be if it were fixed to the left and right edges of the desk D.

In addition, the side panel 3, which is supported by the first hinge 4 so as to be freely swingable, is supported in a cantilevered state with the lower edge 3c spaced upward from the upper surface of the desk plate 5 when in the unfolded, standing position. For this reason, a retaining member 9 which abuts against the upper surface of the desk plate 5 is provided at the base end lower edge 3c of the side panel 3. As a result, the side panel 3, which becomes cantilevered when in the unfolded, standing position, can be retained, thereby stabilizing the side panel 3.
Moreover, the holding member 9 can be swung and transformed from a holding posture in which it protrudes from the lower end edge 3c of the side panel 3 to a storage posture, so that by putting it into the storage posture, the holding member 9 does not get in the way when performing the work of folding and laying down postures, and it is possible to avoid impairing operability.

In addition, when this product is folded and laid down, there is a gap between the lower side panel 3 and the desk plate 5, which is designed to prevent accidental damage that would occur if they were to come into contact. In this case, the outer left and right surfaces 3b of the side panel 3 are provided with support members 10 that come into contact with the desk plate 5 when the product is folded and laid down, so that the side panel 3 can be stably supported when separated from the desk plate 5, stabilizing the folded and laid down positions.

In addition, when this product is folded and laid down, a gap is also provided between the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 to prevent damage that would occur if they were to come into contact. In order to prevent the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 from coming into direct contact with each other when the product is folded up, the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 are provided with intervening materials 11 (9), 11a, 11b, and 11c that come into contact with each other. As a result, the front panel 2 and the side panel 3 can be stably maintained at a distance from each other.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the side panel 3 does not have to be provided on both the left and right sides, but can be provided on either side, and the present invention can be implemented even if the fastener 6 is provided on the side panel 3 instead of the front panel 2.

The present invention can be used as a desk partition device that can be easily placed on a desk used for study, office work, etc. to separate it from the surrounding area.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 partition device 2 front panel 2a base end side surface 2b tip end side surface 2c bottom end edge portion 3 side panel 3a left-right inner side surface 3b left-right outer side surface 3c bottom end edge portion 4 first hinge 5 desk panel 6 fixing device 6a base portion 7 clamp portion 8 second hinge 9 holding member 9a support shaft 10 support member 11, 11a, 11b, 11c interposing member

Claims (7)

A desk partition device comprising a front panel, side panels disposed on at least one of the left and right sides of the front panel, a first swinging means for connecting the front panel and the side panels so that the side panels can swing and change from an unfolded position in which they are unfolded in an angular shape relative to the front panel to a folded position in which they are folded in a layered manner, and a fastener provided on either the front panel or the side panel for detachably fixing the panel on that side to an edge of the desk panel,
The fixing device is provided with a second swinging means for swingably supporting the face plate on the side where the fixing device is provided so that the double-sided plates in the folded position can be transformed into an upright position in which they stand up relative to the desk plate and into a lying position in which they lie down ;
The second swinging means supports the lower panel so that it can swing freely upward relative to the desk board when in the folded, lying-down position, and the lower panel is provided with a support member that abuts against the desk board when folded and supports the lying-down position . A desk partition device comprising a front panel, side panels disposed on at least one of the left and right sides of the front panel, a first swinging means for connecting the front panel and the side panels so that the side panels can swing and change from an unfolded position in which they are unfolded in an angular shape relative to the front panel to a folded position in which they are folded in a layered manner, and a fastener provided on either the front panel or the side panel for detachably fixing the panel on that side to an edge of the desk panel,
The fixing device is provided with a second swinging means for swingably supporting the face plate on the side where the fixing device is provided so that the double-sided plates in the folded position can be transformed into an upright position in which they stand up relative to the desk plate and into a lying position in which they lie down;
This desk screen device is characterized in that at least one of the front panel and the side panel is provided with an interposing material to prevent the two from abutting against each other when the device is in a folded position. A desk partition device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the side panels are provided on the left and right sides of the front panel, and the sum of the lengths of the left and right side panels is set to be less than the length of the front panel so that the side panels do not overlap when in the folded position. 4. The desk screen device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing device is provided at a lower edge of the front panel. A desk screen device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 , characterized in that the side panel is provided with a retaining member which abuts against the desk top when in the unfolded or upright position to hold the side panel in the unfolded or upright position. 6. A desk screen device according to claim 5 , wherein the holding member is arranged so as to be freely changed from a holding position in which it abuts against the desk board to a storage position. A desk partition device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the front and side panels in the folded, lying position are set to a size that does not protrude from the desk top.

Images