GB2501228A

GB2501228A - Access flooring systems including pedestals with rigid support plates and floor panels.

Info

Publication number: GB2501228A
Application number: GB1202377.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Thirkell
Original assignee: ACCESS CONSTRUCTION Ltd
Current assignee: ACCESS CONSTRUCTION Ltd
Priority date: 2012-02-10
Filing date: 2012-02-10
Publication date: 2013-10-23
Also published as: GB201202377D0

Abstract

The support plate 20 is provided for a support pedestal 10 for use in supporting floor panels 80. The plate has a number of rigid locating tabs located at or towards the periphery of the plate and projecting out of the main plane of the plate from a support surface 40 of the plate. The locating tabs are sized and positioned such that, when the support plate is supporting floor panels 80 on the support surface of the plate, one of the locating tabs is positioned. between opposed side faces 90 of respective adjacent pairs of floor panels to locate said adjacent floor panels with respect to each other. Also claimed is a support plate which includes protrusions which extend from the plate in the main plane of the plate. Also claimed is a plate with a recess to receive a gasket that locates between a floor panel and the plate. Also claimed is a stringer rod for connecting adjacent pedestals comprising a plate together. The stringer rod may include a flexible coating. Also claimed are access flooring system comprising floor panels, pedestals, stringer rods and the described versions of the plate.

Description

ACCESS FLOORING SYSTEM, PEDESTAL, SUPPORT PLATE. STRINGER ROD AND METHODS

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an access flooring system, a support pedestal, a support plate, a stringer rod and a method of manuflicturing a support plate.

Backaround

Access flooring systems are commonly used in places such as offices, call centres, scrvcr rooms and other spaces, particularly where a lot of elcctrical equipment is used. A typical access flooring system uses pedestals to support access floor panels above a "hidden" sub floor to create an under-floor chamber below the access floor. The under-floor chamber can be used to run wires and cables lbr the electrical equipment in the room. Often, there can be hundreds of wires and cables and other equipment within the chamber and thus the chamber is required to be quite large, often 30cm to 90cm or so high. The chamber can also be used to help cool electrical equipment in the room, with cool, air-conditioned air being pumped into the chamber and then passing up through special grid-like or peribrated floor panels to pass over the equipment.

Access to the chamber is generally required on a frequent basis, lbr example wcekly or daily even, and thus the pedestals used to support the access floor panels are commonly designed such that the floor panels simply rest on the pedestals. The floor panels can thereibre be easily lifted off and are thus readily removable when access to the chamber is required, for example to allow cabling to be changed or re-muted. An example of a typical pedestal can be Ibund in WO-A2-2007/007306.

The pedestal described in WO-A2-2007/007306 has a support plate onto which a pedestal cap is fitted. Most common pedestals have similar pedestal caps, which are typically made of plastics. In general, the pedestal caps typically comprise Ibur upwardly projecting tabs, which are arranged to extend radially away from the centre of the cap so that floor panels can be located on a pedestal such that a corner portion of each of Ibur floor panels is supported by each pedestal and the floor panels are aligned correctly. In use, movement on the access floor, such as foot traffic, can cause the floor panels to move and vibrate against the pedestals, which can cause significant levels of noise. Thus, the pedestal caps are provided and arranged so that the floor panels bear only on the pedestal caps and are not in contact with the pedestals so that the pedestal caps can help to dampen this noise. However, this has two problems, as follows.

First, for safety reasons and to prevent static electricity build up, which might affect the electrical equipment on the access floor, the floor panels (which are generally metal clad) must be carthed. However, when a pedestal cap is used, the floor panels are insulated from the pedestal by the pedestal cap. To get around this problem, pedestal caps are often provided with metal inserts which pass through the pedestal cap from its top surface to its bottom surface to provide an electrically conductive connection between the floor panels and the support plate of the pedestal, thus earthing the floor panels. Producing pedestal caps with metal inserts is however relatively expensive and such pedestal caps can often make up a significant proportion of the total cost of the pedestal.

Secondly, the top surfaces of pedestal caps often have a smaller area than the top surfaces of the support plates of the pedestals onto which they fit. This may be, for example, to provide recesses so that lateral support bars can be fitted to the support plates. An example where a pedestal cap is recessed in this way is shown in WO-A2-2007/007306. Thus, when the floor panels bear directly onto such a pedestal cap, some of the area of the support plate is "wasted" because it does not bear any of the weight of the floor panels (and their load).

Various aspects and embodiments of the present invention address one or more of the problems identified above.

Summary

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rigid support plate for a support pedestal for use in supporting floor panels, the rigid support plate comprising a plurality of rigid locating tabs located at or towards the periphery of the plate and projecting out of the plane of the plate from a support surface of the plate, the locating tabs being sized and positioned such that, when the support plate is supporting a plurality of floor panels on the support surface of the plate, one of the locating tabs is positioned between opposed side faces of respective adjacent pairs of floor panels to locate said adjacent floor panels with respect to each other.

The locating tabs can be used to locate floor panels on the support surface of the support plate in an optimum position. The tabs can also be used to keep floor panels in position while one or more other floor panels are removed from an access floor in order to gain access to the chamber below. Further to this, in specific embodiments the locating tabs are integrally formed with the support plate such that, if the pedestal begins to topple, the tabs are in general strong enough and rigid enough to push against the floor panels between which they fit, helping to prevent the pedestal from toppling over. The amount of deflection experienced by a panel when under load depends at least in part on the bearing area between that panel and the pedestals that support it. In this case, when floor panels are supported by a support plate according to the present invention, the panels can bear directly on the support surface of the support plate, which means that in specific embodiments all or most of the support surface of the support plate is used to support the floor panels. Thus, the bearing area of a support plate is maximised.

In an embodiment, at least one of the locating tabs has narrow side edges arranged such that, when the support plate is supporting two floor panels on the support surface of the plate with said locating tab therebetween, each side edge opposes a side face of a respective floor panel. In this embodiment, if the pedestal begins to topple under a normal load, the side edges of the locating tab are narrow enough to dig into one of the side faces of the opposed floor panels between which it fits. This both helps prevent the pedestal from toppling further and also helps prevent the floor panels that are supported by that support plate from sliding off the support plate.

In an embodiment, the locating tabs arc arranged around the support surface such that adjacent pairs of locating tabs subtend an angle of substantially 900 at the centre of the support plate. When the support plate is supporting four square or rectangular floor panels, a corner portion of each of the floor panels is located between two adjacent locating tabs. This means that the floor panels can be located such that a corner of the uppermost faces of each of the floor panels is located above, or substantially close to, the centre of the support plate. This means that each corner portion of the floor panel bears onto an equal area of the support plate and, corrcspondingly, thc support plate provides the same support arca to each floor panel that it is supporting. This is the most stable arrangement. In other embodiments, different angles may be used in order to accommodate floor panels of different shapes. If for example the floor panels are hexagonal, adjacent pairs of locating tabs will subtend an angle of substantially 120° at the centre of the support plate such that one corner portion of a floor panel can fit between two adjacent locating tabs.

In an embodiment, the support plate comprises at least one rigid protrusion projecting outwardly in the plane of the support plate such that a support surface of the protrusion is coplanar with the support surface of the support plate and such that, when said rigid support plate is supporting a floor panel, the protrusion protrudes in a direction along an edge of a said floor panel. When the support plate is supporting a floor panel, both thc support surfacc of thc support plate and thc support surface of the protrusion support the floor panel. Therefore, the protrusion maximises the bearing area and also reduces the unsupported span of the floor panel. This in turn reduces the amount of deflection or bending experienced by the floor panel when under load, and thus increases the load that can be safely supported by the panel and the pedestal.

This in turn allows thinner floor panels to be used in order to support a certain load, which can result in a very large saving in costs as floor panels form the major cost of such access floors.

In an embodiment, at least one locating tab is positioned on the at least one outwardly projecting protrusion to project out of the plane of the protrusion. The locating tabs can conveniently be formed by bending a part of the protrusion upwards during manufacture of thc plate.

In an embodiment, the rigid support plate has a recess in the support surface for receiving a gasket. When a gasket is accommodated in the recess and the support plate is supporting one or more floor panels, the gasket can dampen noise caused by vibration or other movement of the floor panels.

In an embodiment, the recess is formed by compressing a portion of the support surface of said rigid support plate. It will be understood that the shape of the recess could be any shape provided that when a gasket is located in the recess and the support plate is supporting floor panels, at least a portion of the gasket contacts each of the floor panels. In one embodiment, the recess is formed by compressing a central portion of the support surface of the support plate. In another embodiment, the recess is formed by compressing an annular portion of the support plate centred about the centre of the support plate. in another embodiment, there is provided a plurality of recesses in the support surface of the support plate, the recesses being positioned on the support surface of the support plate such that, when each of these recesses accommodates a gasket and the support plate is supporting floor panels, each floor panel will contact at least a portion of at least one gasket. Again, in one example, each of these recesses is formed by compressing portions of a surface of the support plate. A support plate with one or more recesses formed by compression is substantially stronger and more rigid than a support plate with one or more recesses that has been moulded into or cut out from the support plate for example. The gasket or gaskets are typically provided as separate parts. However, a gasket could be attached to the underside of a floor panel, such that when the floor panel is installed in an access flooring system comprising support plates with recesses as described above, the gasket will fit into a recess in a support surface of a support plate.

In an embodiment, the rigid support plate comprises a through hole located between the centre of the rigid support plate and the locating tab for receiving the end of a stringer rod. Thus, a stringer rod can be held in position by the through hole whenitissupportedatornearitsendbyalocatingtabofthesupportplate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support pedestal for use in supporting floor panels, wherein said rigid support plate comprises at least one rigid protrusion projecting outwardly in the plane of the support plate, such that a support surface of the protrusion is coplanar with a support surface of the support plate and such that, when said rigid support plate is supporting a floor panel on the support surface of the support plate, the floor panel is in contact with the support surface of the protrusion and the protrusion protrudes in a direction along an edge of a said floor paneL In an embodiment, the support plate comprises a plurality of said rigid protrusions projecting outwardly in the plane of the support plate and arranged such that adjacent pairs of outwardly projecting rigid protrusions subtend an angle of substantially 90° at the centre of the support plate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rigid support plate fbr a support pedestal fbr use in supporting floor panels on a support surface of the support plate, wherein the rigid support plate has a recess in the support surface, said recess being shaped to receive a gasket such that an outermost surface of the gasket is substantially level with the support suite of the support plate.

Thus, when a support plate according to this third aspect of the invention is used to support a floor panel, the floor panel bears directly on both the gasket and the support surfkce of the support plate, meaning that the bearing area between the pedestal and a corner portion of the floor panel is unaltered by the inclusion of a gasket and can still be maximised, even when a noise-reducing gasket is present.

Moreover, because the floor panel is still in contact with the support plate, the floor panel can still be earthed directly to the support plate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a rigid support plate for a support pedestal for usc in supporting floor panels, the method comprising: producing a generally planar rigid support plate; and compressing a portion of one surfitce of the rigid support plate to produce a recess in said surface of the rigid support plate that is suitable for receiving a gasket.

In an embodiment, there is provided an access floor support pedestal co' up' ising any of thc support plates as described above.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stringer rod for use with two pedestals as described above, the stringer rod being shaped and sized such that it can be supported at or near each end portion on a locating tab of the support plate of a respective one of said two pedestals such that, when said two pedestals are supporting two adjacent floor panels, the stringer rod runs between the opposed sides faces of the two adjacent floor panels. Positioning the stringer rod between opposed side faces of adjacent panels can impede the flow of air through the gap between the adjacent floor panels. This is particularly useful when cool, air- conditioned air is pumped into the chamber below the access floor, and special grid-like or perforated floor panels are installed in the access floor at desired locations in order to allow this cool air to pass through these panels and cool nearby electrical cquipmcnt. In particular, thc stringcr rods can rcduce thc amount of cool air leaking through any gaps between the floor panels meaning cool air can be targeted at and through these special panels more effectively. The stringer rod is ideally sized such that, when the two pedestals are supporting two adjacent floor panels with the stringer rod mounted therebetween, the stringer rod contacts the opposed side faces of both of the two adjacent floor panels.

In one embodiment, the elongate stringer rod has a flexible coating along at least a portion of its length. Such a coating assists in forming an air seal between the stringer rod and that side face of the floor panel to (lather help prevent air leaking through gaps between the floor panels. The coating is preferably also resilient.

S

There is also provided an access flooring system comprising a plurality of floor panels supported by a plurality of support pedestals, each support pedestal having a rigid support plate at or towards the top of the pedestal, each support plate comprising a plurality of rigid locating tabs located at or towards the periphery of the plate and projecting upwardly out of the plane of the plate from a support surface of the plate, each floor panel having recessed or bevelled side faces, and comprising a stringer rod as described above, the stringer rod being connected at its ends to two adjacent pedestals which arc supporting two adjacent floor panels, the stringer rod bcing supported on locating tabs of said two adjacent pedestals so as to be located between and be in contact with opposed side faces of said two adjacent floor panels.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an access flooring system comprising a plurality of floor panels supported by a plurality of support pedestals, each support pedestal having a rigid support plate at or towards the top of the pedestal, each support plate comprising a plurality of rigid locating tabs located at or towards the periphery of the plate and projecting upwardly out of the plane of the plate from a support surface ofthe plate, each floor panel having recessed or bevelled side faces, the support plates and floor panels being constructed and arranged such that when two adjacent floor panels are supported by a support plate of one of the support pedestals, a corner of each of said two adjacent floor panels is located substantially above the centre of said support pedestal and a locating tab of the support plate of said support pedestal is located between the two opposed side faces of said two adjacent floor panels.

In an embodiment, the access flooring system comprises at least one gasket received in a recess in the support surface of one of the support pedestals such that the contact area of the underside of a floor panel that is in contact with the gasket and the support plate is substantially equal to the area of the support plate that the underside of the floor panel overlies.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only, which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a pedestal for supporting access floor panels according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a floor panel supported by the pedestals of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a perspective view of an example of a support plate for a pedestal according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 shows a cross-section through an example of two adjacent floor panels; Figure 5a shows a perspective view and a detailed perspective view from below of a floor panel supported by pedestals of Figure 1; Figure Sb shows schematically the bearing area between a corner portion of the floor pancl and the pedestal of Figure 5a; Figure 6a shows an exploded perspective view of the support plate of Figure 3 andagasket; Figure 6b shows a perspective view of the support plate of Figure 6a with the gasket accommodated in a recess of the support plate; Figure 7 shows a perspective view of an example of an embodiment of the present invention wherein stringer rods are connected between adjacent pedestals; and, Figure 8 shows a cross-section through an example of two adjacent floor panels with a stringer rod and a locating tab therebetween according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

As discussed above, access flooring pedestals are used to support access floor panels above a "hidden" sub floor in order to create a chamber between the access floor and the sub floor. The chamber can have a variety of uses, including storage space, spacc to run wircs and cabling, and to allow air conditioned air to flow, which is particularly useful in offices, call centres, data centres, server/computer rooms, etc. Fig. I shows an example of an access flooring pedestal 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The pedestal 10 comprises a support plate 20, which may be used to support one or more floor panels of an access flooring system.

The support plate 20 is fixed to a screw threaded colunm 25 of the pedestal 10, such as by welding br example, though the support plate 20 may alternatively be integrally formed with the upper part of the screw threaded column 25. The screw threaded arrangement of the column 25 allows the overall height of the pedestal 10 to be adjusted and set as required, as is known per se.

Thc support plate 20 has four rigid locating tabs 30 projecting out of thc plane of the uppermost support surface 40 of the support plate 20 and located at or towards the periphery of the support plate 20. The support plate 20 also has four outwardly projecting protrusions 50, which project outwardly in the plane of the support plate 20 such that their uppermost surfaces are flush with the uppermost surface of the remainder of the support plate 20. In this example, the locating tabs 30 are provided on respective protrusions 50, practically at the radially outermost portion of the protrusions 50, to project upwardly in use. The support plate 20 of this example also has (at least) four through holes 60 and a recess 70 in the uppermost support surface of the support plate 20, as will be discussed further below.

Fig. 2 shows an example of a particular embodiment where four pedestals 10 arc supporting a squarc-shapc floor pancl 80, with a pcdcstal 10 locatcd undcr cach corner of the floor panel 80. In general, each pedestal 10 will support a corner portion of four adjacent floor panels 80 and each floor panel 80 will be supported by four pedestals 10 (except at edges of the room, etc., as will be understood by the person skilled in the art) to provide a grid of floor panels 80. In this particular example, a corner of a floor panel 80 fits between two adjacent locating tabs 30 such that two side faces 90 of that floor panel 80 that meet at that corner each abut a locating tab 20.

Fig. 3 shows thc support plate 20 in more detail. In this cxamplc, thc support plate 20 of a pedestal 10 comprises four rigid locating tabs 30, which project out of the plane of the uppermost support surface 40 of the support plate 20, i.e. upwardly in use. As can be seen from Fig. 2 and discussed further below, each locating tab 30 is sized and positioncd such that, whcn thc pedestal 10 is supporting two or morc floor panels 80 on its support surface 40, the locating tab 30 is positioned between opposed side faces 90 of two adjacent floor panels 80. The locating tab 30 can be used to locate adjacent floor panels 80 with respect to each othcr. In one particular example, when adjacent floor panels 80 are located correctly with respect to each other, the locating tab 30 contacts at least one of the side faces 90 of the two adjacent floor panels 80 and preferably contacts the opposed side faces 90 of both adjacent floor panels 80.

In a preferred example, the support plates 20 and the locating tabs 30 are made from a strong and rigid material that is also electrically conductive, such as a metal for example. In a preferred example, the locating tabs 30 are integral with the support plate 20, and may be formed for example by bending up these tabs 30 when the support plate 20 is initially formed such as by stamping. Locating tabs 30 that are integral with a support plate 20 in this manner arc strongcr and morc rigid than thosc providcd scparatcly of thc pcdcstal or its support platc, such as thosc providcd by a removable pedestal cap as in the prior art discussed above.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-section through an example of two adjacent floor panels in which the side faces 90 of the floor panels 80 are bevelled or recessed such that the upper edges 100 of the panels 80 extend outwardly of the panels 80 further than the lower edges 110 of the panels 80. Thus, in one example, when the floor panels 80 are arranged in an access flooring system, the upper edges 100 of the opposing side faces 90 of two adjacent floor panels 80 can contact each other, but the lower edges of the side faces 90 do not. This provides a gap 120 between adjacent floor panels 80 into which a locating tab 30 of the support plate 20 can fit in order to locate or at least assist in locating the adjacent floor panels 80 with respect to each other. In thc example shown, the locating tabs 30 are arranged on the support surface 40 of the support plate 20 such that an adjacent pair of locating tabs 30 subtends an angle at the centre of the support plate 20 that is substantially equal to the angle between side faces 90 of a floor panel 80 at a corner of the floor panel 80. This enables the corner portion of a floor panel 80 to fit between two adjacent locating tabs 30 such that the corner of the floor panel 80 is above, or substantially close to, the centre of the support plate 20. In one example, where the side faces 90 of a floor panel 80 are recessed or bevelled, the corners of the uppermost face of the floor panel 80 extend outwardly of the floor panel 80 further than the corners of the lowermost face of the floor panel 80. In this case, the locating tabs 30 are arranged such that the floor panel 80 will be positioned with each corner of its uppermost face substantially above the centre of a support plate 20. This means that each corner of the floor panel 80 bears onto an equal area of a respective support plate 20 and, correspondingly, each support plate 20 provides the same support area to each floor panel 80 that it is supporting.

This is the most stable arrangement. A person skilled in the art will understand, however, that a corner of the floor panel 80 may be positioned above a point on a support plate 20 that is near to, but not exactly at the centre of the support plate 20 without there being any significant difference in the stability of the flooring system.

In this example, if the floor panels 80 are square or rectangular, for examp'e, adjacent pairs of locating tabs 30 will subtend an angle of substantially 90° at the centre of the support plate 20. As another example, if the floor panels 80 are hexagonal, adjacent pairs of locating tabs 30 will subtend an angle of substantially 120° at the centre of the support plate 20.

Locating tabs 30 may be used during installation of the access flooring system to locate the floor panels 80 in an optimal position on the support surface 40 of the support plate 20. As mentioned above, in one example, where the floor panels 80 are square or rectangular say, an optimal position may be when the top corners of the floor panels 80 all meet above the centre of the support plate 20. In this example, the pedestals 10 will be arranged in a square or rectangular grid pattern and the floor panels 80 tessellate so as to cover the floor area with their upper edges 100 abutting to leave practically no gaps between the floor panels 80 at their upper surfaces and all floor panels 80 bearing onto an cqual area of the support plates 20 that support them.

In one particular example, the locating tabs 30 enable an installer to fit the panels 80 into place in an access flooring system without having to carry out a significant number of measurements. As an example, the installer may fit the floor panels 80 by sliding the panels 80 along the support surfaces 40 of the support plates 20 until at least one of the side faces 90 of the floor panels 80 and the locating tabs 30 abut. The locating tabs 30 can also assist in keeping remaining floor panels 80 in position when one or more panels 80 are removed from the access floor to gain access to the chamber below the access floor.

The locating tabs 30 may additionally or alternatively be arranged so as to help prevent the pedestals 10 toppling. When a load is applied to a floor panel 80, deflection and/or bending of that floor panel 80 can apply a torque to a supporting pedestal 10 about its base. Ifthe load is substantial and/or if the pedestal lOis tall, this torque may be significant. In the case of the known pedestal having a separate pedestal cap with locating tabs as discussed above, if the pedestal begins to topple, one or more of the locating tabs can push against one or more of the surrounding floor panels between which they fit. This can initially provide a counter-torque to prevent the pedestal from toppling. However, when the toppling torque applied to the pedestal is large, these locating tabs readily snap off the pedestal cap (because the pedestal cap is made from plastics), or the pedestal cap can be pulled off the support plate, allowing the pedestal to topple and the floor to collapse.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the locating tabs 30 are integrally formed with the support surface 40 of the support plate 20, and in preferred examples they are made from a strong material such as metal. Thus, the locating tabs of the present embodiment are significantly stronger and more rigid than locating tabs provided by a separate plastics pedestal cap. This means, when they push against surrounding floor panels 80, the locating tabs 30 of the present embodiment can provide a significantly larger counter-torque without bending, breaking or detaching..

In one embodiment, the locating tabs 30 have substantially narrow side edges, i.c. thc edges that arc opposcd to the side faces 90 of the surrounding floor panels 80.

If a pedestal 10 begins to topple, at least one narrow edge of a locating tab 30 of a support plate 20 of that pedestal 10 can dig or bite into a surrounding side face 90.

This prevents the pedestal 10 from toppling more effectively than if the locating tab were to just push against a surrounding side face 90, and also helps prevent the floor panel 80 sliding off the pedestal 10. The side edges of the locating tabs 30 are therefore sufficiently narrow to be able to dig into surrounding side faces 90 when the pedestal 10 is toppling under normal load. Furthermore, with this arrangement, the locating tabs 30 are oriented such that their two largest faces are perpendicular to a direction extending radially from the centre of the support plate 20. This may be compared to prior art arrangements where the locating tabs 30 are oriented with their largest faces extending along a radial direction. Orienting the locating tabs 30 with their two largest faces perpendicular to the radial direction of the support plate 20 means that the locating tabs 30 are less likely to snap off the support plate 20 if they push against or bite into a surrounding panel 30 if the floor panel 30 is deflected or the pedestal 10 begins to topple.

In the present embodiment, the locating tabs 30 are integrally formed with the support plate 20 and thus the floor panels 80 can bear directly onto the support surfaces 40 of support plates 20. Fig. 5a shows in inset a close-up view from below of a pedestal 10 supporting a corner portion of a floor panel 80 on the support plate 20 of the pedestal 10. As can be seen, the underside 130 of the corner of the floor panel 80 contacts the support surface 40 of the support plate 20. Thus, in this example, the area of the support plate 20 that bears or supports the corner portion of the floor panel 80 is equal to the area of the support surface 40 that the corner portion of the lowermost face 130 of the floor panel 80 overlies. The inset in Fig Sb indicates the bearing area more clearly, the floor panel 80 being shown transparent for this illustration. In this example, when the support plate 20 is used to support a corner portion of four square or rectangular panels 80, each corner portion is supported by an area that is substantially equal to a quarter of the total area of the support surface 40 of the support plate 20 (it being understood that if the side faces 90 of the floor panels 80 are recessed or bevelled as described above, then the support area will bc slightly less than a quarter of the total area of the support surface 40).

This is in contrast to the known arrangements where pedestals have separate and discrete pedestal caps fitted onto the top surface of a support plate of the pedestal.

In these prior art arrangements, the floor paneLs bear only on these pedestal caps, and not on the support plate onto which the caps fit. The amount of bending or deflection experienced by a floor panel when under load depends (amongst other things) on the bearing area between the floor panel and the pedestals: the larger the bearing area, the less deflection experienced by the floor panel. As discussed above, pedestal caps generally have a smaller surface area than the surface area of the support plate onto which they fit. Thus the bearing area of a pedestal cap is often significantly smaller than the surface area of the support plate onto which the cap fits. Thus, in this prior an, part of the support plate is "wasted" as it does not support any floor panels. By supporting floor panels 80 directly on support plates 20 as in the present embodiments, the bearing area of a support plate 20 is maximised.

Supporting floor panels 80 directly on support plates 20, rather than on pedestal caps has a further advantage. As discussed above, for safety reasons and to prevent the build-up of static electricity, floor panels 80 for access floors are generally metal-clad and have to be earthed. By supporting the floor panels 80 directly on support plates 20 or metal (or other electrically conductive material), any static that builds up on the metal cladding of the floor panel 80 can be conducted to the ground via the metal support plate 20 and in turn via the metal pedestal 20. In contrast, in the known pedestals of the type discussed above, the floor panels bear only onto an electrically insulating plastics pedestal cap. In order to earth the floor panels, the pedestal caps are provided with small metal inserts passing through their thickness from top to bottom to provide an electrically conductive connection between the floor panels and the pedestal in order to ground the floor panels. Such a pedestal cap is difficult and expensive to produce.

When the support plate 20 is supporting a corner portion of one or more floor panels 80, the outwardly projecting protrusions 50 project along the edges of these floor panels 80. As the support surfitccs of thc protrusions 50 arc coplanar with thc support surface 40 of the support plate 20, the protrusions 50 provide extended support for the floor panels 80. This increases the bearing area provided by the support plate 20 and also reduces the unsupported span of the floor panels 80 between adjacent pedestals 10. Decreasing the span of the floor panels 80 reduces the tendency of the floor panels 80 to bend or deflect under load and thus increases the maximum load they can bear. This in turn allows Thinner floor panels 80 to be used in order to support a certain load, which can result in a very large saving in costs as floor panels fbrm the major cost of such access floors.

It will be understood that there can be any number of outwardly projecting protrusions 50. In general, the number of outwardly projecting protrusions 50 of a particular support plate 20 will be equal to the number of floor panels 80 supported by that support plate 20.

In one example, the outwardly projecting protrusions 50 of a pedestal 10 are shaped and arranged to help prevent the pedestal 10 from toppling when a torque is applied to the pedestal 10. If a pedestal 10 begins to topple, one or more of the outwardly projecting protrusions 50 push on the underside 130 of the corresponding floor panel(s) 110 to provide a counter-torque to help prevent toppling. The longer the outwardly projecting protrusion 50, the larger the counter-torque provided by that outwardly projecting protrusion 50.

Further to this, the locating tabs 30 and the outwardly projecting protrusions also work in combination to prevent the pedestal 10 from toppling over when under load by pushing against surrounding floor panels 80. In one particular example, the locating tabs 30 and the outwardly projecting protrusions 50 are able to prevent the toppling under normal load of pedestals 10 that are in excess of 0.8m tall and thus access flooring systems up to 0.8m in height can safely be used without having to use lateral support bars between the pedestals 30. This is a significant improvement over current pedestals, which, in one example, require the use of lateral support bars fbr all floors above 0.4m.

Fig. 6a shows an exploded perspective view of the support plate 20 of Figure 3 and a gasket 150. In this example, the support plate 20 has a recess 70 in the uppermost support surthee 40 of the support plate 20. In one example, this recess 70 is sized and shaped to accommodate a gasket 150 such that, as shown in Fig. 6b, the uppermost surfitce of the gasket 150 is substantially level or flush with the uppermost support surface 40 of the support plate 20.

Whenthesupportplate20withthegasket ls0sittingintherecess7Oareused to support a floor panel 80, the floor panel 80 bears directly on both the gasket 150 and the support surfhce 40 of the support plate 20. This means that the bearing area between the pedestal 10 and a corner portion of the floor panel 80 is unaltered by the inclusion of a gasket 150, and also that the floor panel 80 can still be earthed by contact with the support plate 20. The gasket 150 however still acts to reduce noise caused by movement and/or vibration of the floor panels 80. The gasket 150 can be relatively thin and does not require any metal inserts or the like to achieve earthing of the floor panels 80, and thereibre is relatively inexpensive to produce.

Tn one particular example, the support plate 20 is manufactured by initially producing a generally planar rigid support plate 20, such as by stamping. A central portion of one surface of the rigid support plate 20 is then compressed to produce the recess 70 in the surface of the rigid support plate 20 that is suitable fix receiving a gasket 150. This compression of the plate 20 provides a substantially stmnger and more rigid support plate 20 than a support plate 20 with a recess 70 that has been cut out or moulded for example.

Itwillbeunderstoodthattherecess7oneednotbecentral,butcouldbe shapedandpositionedinanywaysuchthat,whentherecess70inasupportplate2o is used to accommodate a gasket 150 and the support plate 70 is supporting a number of floor panels 80, at least a portion of the gasket 150 contacts each supported floor panel 80. As an example, the recess 70 may instead be formed by compressing an annular portion of a surlhcc of the support plate 20. Such a recess 70 would accommodate a ring-shape gaskct 150 and could, in one example, be ccntred about the centre of the support plate 20 such that each floor panel 80 contacts an equal area of the gasket 150.

As another example, there could be a plurality of recesses 70 in the support surface 40 of the support plate 20, each recess 70 being positioned such that when the support plate 20 is supporting floor panels 80, each floor panel 80 is above at least a portion of one recess. In a particular example, each of these recesses 70 is lbrmed by compressing portions of a surface of the support plate 20. Thus, when each of these recesses 70 is accommodating a respective gasket 150, each supported floor panel 80 contacts at least a portion of one gasket.

Thc gasket or gaskcts 150 are typically provided as separate components.

Nevertheless, in one example, a gasket 150 could be pre-attached to the underside of a floor panel 80, such that when the floor panel 80 is installed in an access flooring system comprising support plates 20 with recesses 70 as described above, the gasket will fit into a recess 70 in a support surface 40 of a support plate 20.

Fig. 7 shows an exploded perspective view of an example of an embodiment of the present invention wherein stringer rods 160 are connected between adjacent pedestals 10. The stringer rods 160 can be used initially to support pedestals 10 in position when an access floor system is being assembled, prior to floor panels 80 being fitted. The stringer rods 160 also help prevent pedestals 10 toppling when the floor panels 80 are subject to excessive load as discussed above.

In one example of the present embodiments, the stringer rods 160 are supported at or near their ends by sitting on respective locating tabs 30 of the support plates 20 of the pedestals 10 between which they are connected. When the pedestals are used to support floor panels 80, the stringer rods 160 are located between opposed side faces 90 of adjacent floor panels 80. In one particular example, the stringer rod may fit in a gap formed bctwecn two bevelled or recessed side faces 90 of two adjacent floor panels 80. As an example, Fig. 8 shows a cross-section through an example of two adjacent floor panels 80 with a stringer rod 160 located therebetween.

The stringer rod 160 is shown to be sitting on or supported by a locating tab 30, and both the stringer rod 160 and the locating tab 30 are located in a gap between the opposed edges of two adjacent panels 80. As mentioned, the stringer rod 160 is supported by the locating tabs 30 of the two adjacent pedestals 10, and thus the stringer rod 160 spans the whole distance between the two adjacent pedestals 10 and therefore runs along substantially the whole length of the opposed side faces 90 of two adjacent panels 80. In one example, the locating tabs 30 support the stringer rod at such a height that the stringer rod 160 contacts one or more preferably both of the opposed side faces 90 of the adjacent floor panels 80 between which it fits.

The stringer rod 160 can be used to impede the flow of air through any gaps between adjacent floor panels 80 by at least partially obstructing the gap between adjacent floor panels 80. As mentioned above, in one example, the stringer rod 160 contacts one or both of the opposed side faces 90 of the adjacent floor panels 80 between which it fits. This provides a reduction in the airflow through the gaps between the adjacent panels 80. Also, in one particular example, the stringer rod 160 is coated with or has a sleeve of material that is preferably flexible and resilient to improve the air seal between the side faces 90 of the panels 80 and the stringer rod 160. This helps prevent air conditioned air that is passing through the chamber below the access floor leaking between the floor panels 80, improving the flow of the air conditioned air to the desired locations (such as the perforated or grid-like panels especially provided for this purpose), thus enabling the cool air to be better directed at certain targets such as specific pieces of electrical equipments supported on the access floor. Suitable materials for the coating or sleeve include PVC, polyolefin, polyethylene, fluoropolymer, such as fluorinated ethylene propylene, neoprene, silicone rubber, nylon, etc. In the particular examples shown in Figs. 1 and 7, each of the support plates has a through hole 60 located between the centre of the support plate 20 and each locating tab 40. The through holes 60 can be used to accommodate an end of a stringer rod 160. In one particular cxample, the cnds 170 of each stringer rod 160 are bent or otherwise formed at substantially 90 to the length 180 of the stringer rod 160.

When installed in an access flooring system, the vertical end portions 170 can be received in through holes 60 of the support plates 20 to fix the stringer rods 160 to the pedestals 10, with the horizontal portion 180 resting on locating tabs 30 of the support plates 20. In this way, the stringer rods 160 can be secured and supported at their ends by the through holes 60 and locating tabs 30 of adjacent pedestals 10. The resilient or flexible coating of the stringer rod 160 mentioned above need only be provided along the main length 180 of the stringer rod 160.

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples of the invention. Further embodiments of the invention are envisaged. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one embodiment may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other of the embodiments. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

C LA! MS 1. A rigid support plate for a support pedestal for use in supporting floor panels, the rigid support plate comprising a plurality of rigid locating tabs located at or towards the periphery of the plate and projecting out of the plane of the plate from a support surface of the plate, the locating tabs being sized and positioned such that, when the support plate is supporting a plurality of floor panels on the support surface of the plate, one of the locating tabs is positioned between opposed side faces of respective adjacent pairs of floor panels to locate said adjacent floor panels with respect to each other.
2. A rigid support plate according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the locating tabs has narrow side edges arranged such that, when the support plate is supporting two floor panels on the support surface of the plate with said locating tab therebetween, each side edge opposes a side face of a respective floor panel.
3. A rigid support plate according to claim I or claim 2, wherein the locating tabs are arranged around the support surface such that adjacent pairs of locating tabs subtend an angle of substantially 900 at the centre of the support plate.
4. A rigid support plate according to any of claims I to 3, wherein said rigid support plate comprises at least one rigid protrusion projecting outwardly in the plane of the support plate such that a support surface of the protrusion is coplanar with the support surface of the support plate and such that, when said rigid support plate is supporting a floor panel, the protrusion protrudes in a direction along an edge of a said floor panel.
5. A rigid support plate according to claim 4, wherein at least one locating tab is positioned on the at least one outwardly projecting protrusion to project out of the plane of the protrusion.
6. A rigid support plate according to any of claims I to 5, wherein said rigid support plate has a recess in the support surface for receiving a gasket.
7. A rigid support plate according to claim 6, wherein said recess is formed by compressing a portion of the support surface of said rigid support plate.
8. A rigid support plate according to any of claims I to 7, wherein the rigid support plate comprises a through hole located between the centre of the rigid support plate and the locating tab for receiving the end of a stringer rod.
9. An access floor support pedestal comprising a support plate according to any of claims Ito 8.
10. A rigid support plate for a support pedestal for use in supporting floor panels, wherein said rigid support plate comprises at least one rigid protrusion projecting outwardly in the plane of the support plate, such that a support surface of the protrusion is coplanar with a support surface of the support plate and such that, when said rigid support plate is supporting a floor panel on the support surface of the support plate, the floor panel is in contact with the support surface of the protrusion and the protrusion protrudes in a direction along an edge of a said floor panel.
11. A rigid support plate according to claim 10, comprising a plurality of said rigid protrusions projecting outwardly in the plane of the support plate and arranged such that adjacent pairs of outwardly projecting rigid protrusions subtend an angle of substantially 90° at the centre of the support plate.
12. A rigid support plate according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein said rigid support plate has a recess in the support surface for receiving a gasket.
13. A rigid support plate according to claim 12, wherein said recess is formed by compressing a portion of the support surface of said rigid support plate.
14. An access floor support pedestal comprising a support plate according to any of claims 10 to 13.
15. A rigid support plate for a support pedestal for use in supporting floor panels on a support surface of the support plate, wherein the rigid support plate has a recess in the support surface, said recess being shaped to receive a gasket such that an outermost surface of the gasket is substantially level with the support surface of the support plate.
16. A rigid support platc according to claim 15, whcrcin said rccess is formcd by compressing a portion of the support surface of said rigid support plate.
17. An access floor support pedestal comprising a support plate according to claim or claim 16.
18. A method of manufacturing a rigid support plate for a support pedestal for use in supporting floor panels, the method comprising: producing a generally planar rigid support plate; and compressing a portion of one surface of the rigid support plate to produce a recess in said surface of the rigid support plate that is suitable for receiving a gasket.
19. A stringer rod for use with two pcdcstals according to claim 9, thc stringer rod being shaped and sized such that it can be supported at or near each end portion on a locating tab of the support plate of a respective one of said two pedestals such that, when said two pedestals are supporting two adjacent floor panels, the stringer rod runs between the opposed sides faces of the two adjacent floor panels.
20. A stringer rod according to claim 19, wherein the stringer rod has a flexible coating along at least a portion of its length.
21. An access flooring system comprising a plurality of floor panels supported by a plurality of support pedestals, each support pedestal having a rigid support platc at or towards the top of the pedestal, each support plate comprising a plurality of rigid locating tabs locatcd at or towards thc pcriphery of thc platc and projecting upwardly out of the plane of the plate from a support surface of the plate, each floor panel having recessed or bevelled side faces, and comprising a stringer rod according to claim 19 or claim 20, the stringer rod being connected at its ends to two adjacent pedestals which are supporting two adjacent floor panels, the stringer rod being supported on locating tabs of said two adjacent pedestals so as to be located between and be in contact with opposed side faces of said two adjacent floor panels.
22. An access flooring system comprising a plurality of floor pancis supportcd by a plurality of support pedestals, each support pedestal having a rigid support plate at or towards the top of the pedestal, each support plate comprising a plurality of rigid locating tabs located at or towards the periphery of the plate and projecting upwardly out of thc plane of thc plate from a support surfacc of thc platc, cach floor panel having recessed or bevelled side faces, the support plates and floor panels being constructed and arranged such that when two adjacent floor panels are supported by a support plate of one of the support pedestals, a corner of each of said two adjacent floor panels is located substantially above the centre of said support pedestal and a locating tab of the support plate of said support pedestal is located between the two opposed side faces of said two adjacent floor panels.
23. An acccss flooring system according to claim 22, whercin for at least one of the support pedestals, the locating tabs are located at or towards the periphery of the support plate of the support pedestal.
24. An access flooring system according to claim 22 or claim 23, wherein for at least one of the support pedestals, the locating tabs have narrow side edges arranged such that whcn the support pedestal is supporting two adjaccnt floor pancls, cach narrow side edge opposes a side face of a respective floor panel such that if the support pedestal begins to topple, at least one of the narrow side edges engages the opposed side face of the respective floor panel.
25. An access flooring system according to any of claims 22 to 24, wherein for at least one of the support pedestals, the rigid support plate comprises at least one outwardly projecting rigid protrusion projecting from the edge of the rigid support plate in the plane of the support plate to underlie an edge of a floor panel supported by said pedestal.
26. An access flooring system according to claim 25, wherein for said at least one of the support pedestals, at least one of the locating tabs is positioned on the outwardly projecting protrusion to project upwardly out of the plane of the protrusion.
27. An access flooring system according to any of claims 22 to 26, comprising at least one gasket received in a recess in the support surface of one of the support pedestals.
28. An access flooring system according to claim 27, wherein said recess is formed by compressing a portion of the support surface of said rigid support plate.
29. An access flooring system according to claim 27 or claim 28, wherein the contact area of the underside of a floor panel that is in contact with the gasket and the support plate is substantially equal to the area of the support plate that the underside of the floor panel overlies.
30. An access flooring system according to any of claims 22 to 29, comprising at least one stringer rod connected between two adjacent support pedestals and supported on a respective locating tab of each of said two adjacent support pedestals so as to be positioned between opposed side faces of two adjacent floor panels supported by said two adjacent support pedestals.
31. An access flooring system according to claim 30, wherein the stringer rod has a flexible coating that forms an air seal between the stringer rod and a side face of a floor panel when said stringer rod contacts said side face.
32. An access flooring system according to claim 30 or claim 31, wherein each rigid support plate of thc said two adjacent support pedestals comprises a through hole located between the centre of the rigid support plate and the locating tab that is supporting the stringer rod, the through holes accommodating the respective ends of the stringer rod.
33. A support plate for a pedestal for an access floor system, substantially in accordance with any of the examples as described herein with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
34. A pedestal for an access floor system, substantially in accordance with any of the examples as described herein with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
35. A stringer rod for linking pedestals of an access floor system, substantially in accordance with any of the examples as described herein with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
36. An access flooring system, substantially in accordance with any of the examples as described herein with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.