JP7597640B2 - Vertical support structure for partitions - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the technical field of vertical support structures for partitions that are erected to separate the interior space of a building, such as partition panels for constructing toilet booths.

Nowadays, when a partition is installed to separate the interior space of a building such as a building, for example to form a toilet booth (a small room (private room) for a toilet), a pair of left and right front panels (front panels) are supported on vertical posts, and in such cases, it is common to arrange a coping board or ceiling rail on the upper side of the front panel. If this is, for example, a coping board, the left and right edges of the coping board are attached and supported by the vertical posts (the so-called "coping board fit"). For this reason, mounting brackets are provided on the upper edges of the vertical posts for attachment to the coping board, and the left and right coping boards are attached and supported by the vertical posts via the mounting brackets.
However, in recent years, in order to provide a variety of indoor spaces, the wall on which the toilet booth is to be installed is not flat, but is configured to have a non-flat shape such as an arc or polygon as shown in Figures 2 and 11, and multiple toilet booths are installed adjacent to each other along the non-flat wall. In such cases, the left and right front panels supported by the vertical supports are arranged in a state where they are bent at an angle other than 180 degrees (for example, 150 degrees, 210 degrees, etc. when viewed from the front) in order to accommodate the non-flat wall, rather than being flat (flush) with 180 degrees in between, and the left and right capping boards are also arranged in a state where they are bent at an angle other than 180 degrees, just like the front panels, and therefore the mounting brackets must be angled to accommodate the bent left and right capping boards.
Incidentally, a method has been proposed for attaching the left and right front panels to the vertical supports in a bent manner, in which multiple sets of locking protrusions are provided on the vertical supports and the left and right front panels are attached to the vertical supports in a bent manner by selectively attaching the locking protrusions (see, for example, Patent Document 1). It is proposed to adopt this technology and attach the left and right fascia boards to the vertical supports in a bent manner via mounting brackets that lock onto the selected locking protrusions.

Special Publication No. 7-91874

However, when multiple toilet booths are installed adjacent to each other in an indoor space with non-planar wall surfaces, the non-planar shape of the wall surfaces often differs from site to site, and there is a problem that a standardized product with mounting brackets attached to vertical posts, as in the conventional technology described above, cannot be used to alleviate this problem and lacks versatility.
In response to this, it has been proposed to prepare vertical posts equipped with mounting brackets suitable for each site, but in this case, a wide variety of different ones would have to be prepared for each site, which is not realistic. Furthermore, even if such a thing could be provided, there would be problems such as the mounting brackets not fitting due to errors that occur when assembling the partitions at the installation site or errors in the construction of the main body, and these are the issues that the present invention aims to solve.

The present invention was created in consideration of the above-mentioned actual situation and with the aim of solving these problems. The invention of claim 1 is a vertical support structure for a partition comprising a vertical support erected from the floor surface and a pair of left and right panel bodies whose left and right end edges are supported by the vertical support, in which a plurality of mounting pieces extend laterally from at least one of the upper and lower end edges of the vertical support and are arranged at any position around the vertical axis for mounting and supporting another member, the vertical support is hollow and tubular with a cylindrical hole formed therein, the mounting pieces extend from a cylindrical portion provided on a support member, and the plurality of support members are nested such that the cylindrical portions are adjacent to each other and rotatably fitted together, and the outermost cylindrical portion is rotatably fitted within and supported by the cylindrical hole of the vertical support.
The invention of claim 2 provides a vertical support structure for a partition as described in claim 1, characterized in that the support member has cylindrical portions with different diameters so that adjacent cylindrical portions fit together in a nested manner.
The invention of claim 3 is a vertical support structure for a partition described in claim 1, characterized in that the support member is configured so that the cylindrical portion is cut vertically and adjacent cylindrical portions can expand and contract to different diameters so that they can fit together in a nested manner.
The invention of claim 4 provides a vertical support structure for a partition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support member has an attachment piece portion attached to a capping provided on the upper side of the panel body.
The invention of claim 5 is a vertical support structure for a partition as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support member has an attachment piece attached to a rail material provided on at least one of the ceiling surface and the floor surface.
The invention of claim 6 is a vertical support structure for a partition described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the support members whose cylindrical portions are adjacent to each other and fit together are arranged so that the mounting surfaces of the mounting piece portion extending from the outer cylindrical portion are flush with the mounting piece portion extending from the inner cylindrical portion.
The invention of claim 7 is a vertical support structure for a partition described in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the support members are a pair, and the mounting piece portion extends laterally while protruding from the upper edge of the cylindrical portion, so that the mounting surfaces are flush with each other.
The invention of claim 8 is a vertical support structure for a partition described in any one of claims 1 to 5 or 7, characterized in that a spacer is arranged so that the mounting surface of the mounting piece extending from the outer cylindrical portion is flush with the mounting surface of the mounting piece extending from the inner cylindrical portion between the support members whose adjacent cylindrical portions fit together.

By using the invention as defined in claim 1, the installation positions of multiple mounting pieces for supporting and attaching to other components such as a coping can be freely set by rotating and adjusting the cylindrical portion provided on the support member relative to the vertical support.As a result, in a partition in which adjacent panel bodies are not flush but are bent, even if the bending angles between other components differ from site to site, it is possible to easily install mounting pieces corresponding to this, which not only improves workability but also allows the support members to be used for multiple purposes, eliminating the need to form mounting pieces corresponding to each site.
By adopting the invention of claim 2, the multiple support members on which the mounting piece portions are provided have a different diameter structure in which the cylindrical portions fit together in a nested manner, so that the installation positions of the mounting piece portions can be freely adjusted while the support members on which the mounting piece portions are provided can be formed as simple in structure.
By adopting the invention of claim 3, the cylindrical portions of multiple support members are made different diameters by cutting the cylindrical portions vertically so that they can be fitted together in a nested manner to create different diameters. As a result, one type of support member can be used for multiple support members with cylindrical portions of different diameters, thereby reducing the number of parts.
By adopting the invention as defined in claim 4, when the partition is fitted with a capping board, it becomes possible to easily attach the vertical posts in accordance with the angle between adjacent capping boards.
According to the invention as defined in claim 5, the vertical partition posts can be easily attached to rails provided on the ceiling or floor surface even if these rails are bent.
By adopting the invention of claim 6, the extension positions of the mounting surfaces of the mounting pieces, where the cylindrical portions are fitted together in a nested manner, can be made flush by extending from the edge portion of the outer cylindrical portion and extending from the upper end portion of the outer circumferential surface of the inner extension portion, making it easy to align the mounting to other components at the same height.
By adopting the invention of claim 7, when a pair of support members are used, the mounting pieces are at the same height when the support members are nested together, so that the mounting surfaces can be easily made flush by nesting the support members together.
By adopting the invention of claim 8, when the extending positions of the mounting pieces from the cylindrical portions where the cylindrical portions are nested together are the same, it becomes possible to easily make the mounting surface flush by using a spacer provided on the mounting piece extending from the inner cylindrical portion.

This is a front view of the toilet booth. FIG. 1A, 1B, and 1C are an exploded front view, a longitudinal sectional side view, and a plan view of the front panel portion. 13A and 13B are a plan view and an expanded longitudinal sectional front view of the upper end portion of the vertical support. 1A and 1B are exploded perspective views of the upper end portion of the vertical support and a perspective view of the assembled state. 1A and 1B are a bottom view and an expanded longitudinal sectional front view of the lower end portion of the vertical support. 1A and 1B are a plan view and a front view of a first support member, and 1C and 1D are a plan view and a front view of a second support member. 1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of the vertical support portion showing an embodiment in which the angle between the two top rails is changed in various ways, and FIG. 1D is a plan view of the vertical support portion showing an embodiment in which three support members are incorporated. 13A and 13B are a plan view and an exploded sectional front view of a vertical support portion according to a second embodiment. 1A, 1B, and 1C are a plan view, a front view, and an expanded longitudinal sectional view of a support member of a second embodiment, showing a pair of support members assembled into a vertical support, and (D) and (E) are a plan view of a support member showing a modified example of the second embodiment, and an expanded longitudinal sectional view showing a pair of support members assembled into a vertical support. FIG. 13 is a plan view of another example of a toilet booth.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a toilet booth, which is built in a state in which a plurality of toilet booths 1 are adjacent to each other in the left-right direction on an arc-shaped wall surface W, and is partitioned by a depth panel 3 provided between the wall surface W and a vertical support 2, and a front panel 4 provided on the left and right of the vertical support 2. A toilet bowl T is disposed within the partitioned toilet booth 1, and an entrance E formed between the left and right front panels 4 is provided with an arc-shaped hanger-type door body 5, and the door body 5 is guided by an arc-shaped hanger rail 5b provided inside a front decorative panel portion 5a to open and close, and other basic configurations are adopted that are conventionally known.
Incidentally, in this embodiment, a sliding door type door body 5 having an arc shape is adopted, but the door body 5 is not limited to this, and it is possible to use a flat door body as a sliding door or a hinged door, or even a folding door, etc., and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented by adopting any commonly known door body.

The vertical support 2 is constructed using a cylindrical column with a circular inner and outer periphery, and the depth panel 3 and the left and right front panels 4 have a vertical frame 6 attached to the edge portion on the side where they are attached to the vertical support 2. The lower edge portion of the vertical support 2 is attached upright to a floor rail 7 laid on the floor surface F, and the upper edge portion is attached and supported by a fascia 8 arranged on the upper surface of the front panel 4, forming a so-called fascia fit.

The depth panel 3 and front panel 4 are constructed to be attached to the vertical support 2 via vertical frame material 6, but both panels 3, 4 use the same mounting structure, so we will now provide an outline of the structure for mounting the front panel 4 to the vertical support 2.
A vertical frame material 6 is attached to the edge of the front panel 4 facing the vertical support 2 via a screw 6a, while a channel material 6c is attached to the portion of the vertical support 2 where the front panel 4 is attached via a screw 6d. The front panel 4 is configured to be assembled to the vertical support 2 with the vertical frame material 6 fitted externally onto the channel material 6c.

In this case, the left and right front panel bodies 4, together with the fascia 8, are arranged so as to form an angle other than 180 degrees, for example an angle of 150 degrees, around the axis of the vertical support 2 in correspondence with the arc-shaped wall surface W, and the fascia 8 is also configured to be attached to the vertical support 2 at an angle formed by the front panel bodies 4 corresponding to this.
In addition, the floor rail 7 is U-shaped and is fixed to the floor surface F via screws (or anchor bolts) 7a, and the floor rail 7 is also attached to the floor surface F at an angle corresponding to the angle formed by the left and right front panels 4.
The front panel body 4 has a U-shaped baseboard 4a attached to its lower end via a screw 4b, and the baseboard 4a is assembled in a state where it is fitted onto the floor rail 7.
Furthermore, a U-shaped adjuster portion 7b is fitted into the floor rail 7, and an adjustment bolt 7c threaded into the adjuster portion 7b is adjusted up and down so that the bolt head comes into contact with the upper edge of the baseboard 4a, thereby enabling the front panel 4 to be installed with its height adjusted.

A coping 8 is attached to the upper edge of the front panel 4 by means of screws 8a. The present invention is embodied in the attachment structure of the coping 8 to the vertical support 2. Next, this attachment structure will be specifically described.
The cap board 8 is attached to the vertical support 2 using first and second support members 9, 10 provided on the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2, and the first and second support members 9, 10 are configured to include cylindrical portions 9a, 10a and mounting piece portions 9b, 10b extending laterally from the upper edge portions of the cylindrical portions 9a, 10a.
The cylindrical portion 9a of the first support member 9 (hereinafter referred to as the "first cylindrical portion") is sized to be rotatably fitted into the cylindrical bore 2a of the vertical support 2, while the cylindrical portion 10a of the second support member 10 (hereinafter referred to as the "second cylindrical portion") is sized to be rotatably fitted into the first cylindrical portion 9a in a nested state, that is, to have a smaller diameter (different diameter) than the first cylindrical portion 9a by at least the plate thickness. In this embodiment, the diameter is smaller than the plate thickness to allow free rotation.

The first and second support members 9, 10 are assembled to the vertical support 2 in a nested state in which the first cylindrical portion 9a on the larger diameter side is rotatably fitted into the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2, and the second cylindrical portion 10a on the smaller diameter side is rotatably fitted into the first cylindrical portion 9a. As a result, the first and second support members 9, 10 have the first cylindrical portion 9a as the outermost shell (outside), and the second cylindrical portion 10a is fitted into the inside of the first cylindrical portion 9a in a nested state.
The first and second support members 9, 10 thus fitted together in a nested state have first and second mounting piece portions 9b, 10b extending laterally from the upper edges of the first and second cylindrical portions 9a, 10a. These first and second mounting piece portions 9b, 10b are configured so that they can be freely positioned at any desired position by adjusting the first and second cylindrical portions 9a, 10a separately about their vertical axes relative to the vertical support 2, and in this way the angle between the first and second mounting piece portions 9b, 10b can also be freely adjusted to any desired angle.

Furthermore, in the first and second support members 9 and 10 of this embodiment, the first mounting piece 9b provided on the first support member 9 extends laterally from the upper edge 9c of the first cylindrical portion 9a, while the second mounting piece 10b provided on the second support member 10 extends laterally from the upper end of the outer circumferential surface 10c of the second cylindrical portion 10a. As a result, when the first and second support members 9 and 10 are assembled in such a state that the lower surface of the first mounting piece 9b abuts against the upper edge of the second cylindrical portion 10a, the first and second mounting surfaces 9d and 10d, which are the lower surfaces of the first and second mounting pieces 9b and 10b, are flush with each other. The left and right caps 8 are then placed from below against the first and second mounting surfaces 9d and 10d that are flush with each other, and are attached and supported by the screws 8a.

Meanwhile, in this embodiment, the structure for attaching and supporting the lower edge of the vertical support 2 to the floor rail 7 is similar to that of the upper edge, with the cylindrical portions 9a, 10a of the first and second support members 9, 10 being fitted and assembled into the lower edge of the vertical support 2 in a nested state (fitted and assembled upside down compared to the upper edge), and the first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b extending laterally to the left and right are set to abut against the floor rail 7 after being positioned around the vertical axis, and are configured so that they can be attached and supported to the mounting member, the floor surface F, via the screws 7a in a state where they penetrate the floor rail 7.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b extend laterally from the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2 and support the left and right fascia boards 8. The first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b extend laterally from the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2 and support the left and right fascia boards 8. The first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b extend laterally from the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2 and support the left and right fascia boards 8. The first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b extend laterally from the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2 and support the left and right fascia boards 8. The first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b extend laterally from the upper edge portion of the vertical support 2 and support the left and right fascia boards 8.
As a result, in a partition in which adjacent front panels 4 are not flush but are folded, the arrangement of the first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b corresponding to the angle between the left and right fascia boards 8 arranged above the front panel 4 so as to follow the front panel 4 can be easily adjusted to different folding angles, even if the folding angle differs depending on the assembly site, which not only improves workability but also reduces the number of parts and enables the support members 9, 10 to be used for multiple purposes, without having to create different ones each time to correspond to the folding angle.

In this case, the first and second support members 9, 10 are formed with different diameters, with the first cylindrical portion 9a having a large diameter and the second cylindrical portion 10a having a small diameter, so that the first and second cylindrical portions 9a, 10a fit together in a nested manner. This allows the positions of the first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b to be freely adjusted to correspond to the positions of the left and right cap rails 8, while allowing the first and second support members 9, 10 to have a simple structure on which the first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b are provided.

Furthermore, in this case, the first and second support members 9, 10, in which the first and second cylindrical portions 9a, 10a are adjacently fitted together in a nested manner, have the first mounting piece portion 9b extending from the outer first cylindrical portion 9a positioned higher than the second mounting piece portion 10b extending from the inner second cylindrical portion 10a by an amount equivalent to the plate thickness so that the first and second mounting surfaces 9d, 10d are flush with each other, and therefore, attachment to the cap board 8 can be easily achieved by simply fitting them together in a nested manner, thereby aligning them to the same height.
Furthermore, the first and second mounting surfaces 9d, 10d are flush with each other because the first mounting piece 9b extends laterally from the upper edge 9c of the first cylindrical portion 9a, and the second mounting piece 10b extends laterally from the upper end of the outer circumferential surface 10c of the second cylindrical portion 10a, so that the structure does not become complicated.
In this embodiment, the lower surfaces of the first and second mounting pieces 9b, 10b are the first and second mounting surfaces 9d, 10d, but this is not limited to this, and the upper surfaces can also be the first and second mounting surfaces.

Furthermore, this structure is not only implemented in which the upper edge of the vertical support 2 is attached and supported to the capping board 8 via the first and second support members 9, 10, but also in which the lower edge of the vertical support 2 is attached and supported to the floor rail 7, thereby simplifying the attachment structure and improving assembly ease.
The attachment and support of such vertical posts 2 is not limited to attachment and support to the coping 8 and floor rails 7, but can also be performed in the same manner for ceiling rails provided on the ceiling surface H.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the vertical support may be a hollow cylindrical member having a cylindrical hole into which the cylindrical portion of the support member is rotatably fitted, and the outer circumferential surface does not have to be an arc-shaped one. And, of course, the mounting surfaces 9d, 10d for mounting to other members such as the cap board 8 may be the upper surfaces of the mounting pieces 9b, 10b, rather than the lower surfaces.
In addition, when implementing the present invention, the number of support members used may of course be three or even more than two as in the above embodiment. Specifically, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 8(D) in which cappings 8 are provided on three sides of the vertical support 2, the present invention can be implemented by using a third support member 11 having a cylindrical portion 11a and an attachment piece portion 11b in the same manner as in the first and second support members 9 and 10.
Furthermore, when the coping is fitted as in the above embodiment, the upper end edge of the vertical support 2 does not reach the ceiling surface H, and there is a gap between the vertical support 2 and the ceiling surface H that is not connected. In this case, if it is required to connect the vertical support 2 and the ceiling surface H, for example, to increase the strength, an auxiliary vertical support can be further fitted into the innermost cylindrical portion 10 (or 11) and the upper end edge of the auxiliary vertical support can be attached to the ceiling surface H side.

Furthermore, the support member is not limited to that in the above-described embodiment, but may be as in a second embodiment shown in FIGS.
The support member 12 in the second embodiment is a plurality of support members 12 in which the cylindrical portions 12a are nested together, and unlike the previously described embodiment, the cylindrical portions 9a, 10a have the same diameter, and the mounting piece portion 12b extends laterally while protruding upward from the upper end edge 12c of the cylindrical portion 12a, and the lower surface serves as a mounting surface 12d. However, in this embodiment, a cutout portion 12e is formed in the cylindrical portion 12a by cutting it vertically.
In this device, the inner cylindrical portion 12a is forcedly fitted into the outer cylindrical portion 12a, causing the inner and outer cylindrical portions 12a to elastically deform and shrink or expand, thereby allowing the two portions to fit together freely and rotate in a nested state with different diameters.In this way, the same support member 12 can be used as multiple support members, thereby reducing the number of parts.
Incidentally, in the case of this second embodiment, the mounting piece portion 12b extends laterally, protruding upward from the upper edge 12c of the cylindrical portion 12a by an amount equal to the plate thickness, so that when a pair of support members 12, 12 are fitted together in a nested manner, the lower end surface of the second mounting piece portion 12b of the inner second support member 12 abuts the upper edge 12c of the outer first support member 12, and the upper edges 12c, 12c of the first and second support members 12, 12 are fitted together at the same height. As a result, the first and second mounting piece portions 12b extend out at the same height, which has the advantage that installation can be carried out using support members 12 of the same shape as is.
In contrast, in the case where the mounting piece portions 12b extend from the upper end portion of the circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 12a as in the second support member 10 of the first embodiment (see Figures 10(D) and (E)), when the support members 12 are fitted together in a nested manner, a difference in height between the mounting piece portions 12b will be created equivalent to the plate thickness. To address this, care must be taken to adjust the height (position) of the mounting surfaces by using spacers 12f, for example. However, even in this case, the support member 12 can be used for multiple purposes.

Incidentally, the present invention is particularly effective when the toilet booth 1 is provided on a wall surface W that is not planar. The present invention can be implemented on wall surfaces W of any shape, including not only the shape shown in FIG. 2 but also the shape shown in FIG. 11, including concave and convex shapes, or even on a mixture of these shapes, and even on wall surfaces W of various shapes, such as not only arcuate but also angular shapes, and it goes without saying that the present invention can also be implemented on planar wall surfaces W.

The present invention can be used for the support structure of vertical columns in partitions that are erected to separate the interior space of a building, such as partition panels that form toilet booths.

Reference Signs List 1 toilet booth 2 vertical support 2a cylindrical hole 4 front panel 7 floor rail 8 cap 9 first support member 9a first cylindrical portion 9b first mounting piece portion 9c upper edge 9d first mounting surface 10 second support member 10a second cylindrical portion 10b second mounting piece portion 10c outer circumferential surface 10d second mounting surface W wall surface

Claims (8)

A partition comprising a vertical support erected from a floor surface and a pair of left and right panel bodies whose left and right end portions are supported by the vertical support,
A plurality of mounting pieces are arranged at any positions around the vertical axis to extend laterally from at least one of the upper and lower end edges of the vertical support for mounting and supporting another member,
The vertical support is a hollow cylinder having a cylindrical hole formed therein,
The attachment piece portion extends from a cylindrical portion provided on the support member,
A vertical support structure for a partition, characterized in that the multiple support members are rotatably fitted together in a nested state with their cylindrical portions adjacent to each other, and the outermost cylindrical portion is rotatably fitted within and supported by the cylindrical hole of the vertical support. The vertical support structure for a partition as described in claim 1, characterized in that the cylindrical portions of the support member have different diameters so that adjacent cylindrical portions fit together in a nested manner. The vertical support structure for a partition as described in claim 1, characterized in that the cylindrical portion of the support member is cut vertically and adjacent cylindrical portions are configured to expand and contract to different diameters so as to fit together in a nested manner. A vertical support structure for a partition as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support member has an attachment piece attached to a coping provided on the upper side of the panel body. A vertical support structure for a partition as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support member has an attachment piece attached to a rail material provided on at least one of the ceiling surface and the floor surface. A vertical support structure for a partition as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the support members whose cylindrical portions are adjacent to each other and fitted together are provided so that the mounting surfaces of the mounting piece portion extending from the outer cylindrical portion are flush with the mounting piece portion extending from the inner cylindrical portion. A vertical support structure for a partition as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the support members are a pair, and the mounting pieces extend laterally while protruding from the upper edge of the cylindrical portion, so that the mounting surfaces are flush with each other. A vertical support structure for a partition as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 or 7, characterized in that a spacer is arranged so that the mounting surface of the mounting piece extending from the outer cylindrical portion is flush with the mounting surface of the mounting piece extending from the inner cylindrical portion between the support members whose adjacent cylindrical portions fit together.

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