Waffle furniture system

Claim 1

A furniture system for assembly into various architectural office furniture components including desks, drafting tables, cubicles, stands, and crates, comprising a plurality of longitudinally extended generally rectangular work panels for work surfaces, desk tops, panels, and structural members; a plurality of end panels having means for receiving an edge of said work panels at a plurality of horizontally and vertically spaced apart places on said end panel whereby the end panels receive and maintain the work panels in a chosen, fixed, spatial relationship to the end panels, the relationship being changeable by engaging said work panels at different locations with said end panels; and wherein said means for receiving an edge of the work surfaces includes means for receiving an edge of the work surface adjacent an edge of said end panel; a plurality of longitudinally extended shelf panels having ends formed for engagement with said receiving means in said end panels in a chosen spatial relationship to the work panels and end panels whereby said shelf panels are mountable with said end panels as a shelf or lateral brace; means for fixing said work panels and said shelf panels to said end panels in a chosen spatial relationship, whereby said panels may be assembled into a variety of furniture components; and, wherein the means for receiving an end of said work panels and said shelf panels comprises a plurality of spaced apart grooves formed in one side of said end panels for engaging the edge of said work panel and the end of said panel; and, wherein said end panels have a plurality of holes formed therethrough for receiving bolts for connecting the end panels to the work panels and shelf panels, said holes in the end panels being located adjacent said grooves whereby a bolt through the hole may engage and retain a work panel or shelf panel in said groove; and, wherein said shelf panels have at least one hole formed in the end thereof for receiving a bolt situated through said end panels when the shelf panel is engaged with the groove in said end panel and wherein the shelf panel has at least one second hole formed therethrough in the end thereof communicating with the hole formed through said end panel, and wherein the means for connecting said shelf panel to said end panel comprises at least one bolt through said end panel and through said hole formed in the end of said shelf panel and engaging a threaded body mounted in the second opening in said shelf panel.