US4545168A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Interconnecting wall panels
Assignee: ALMA DESK COMPANY A NC CORP
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Filing: 1984-04-03
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Granted: 1985-10-08
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Expires: 2004-04-03
Abstract
Abstract Modular wall panels are provided which are interconnected by pairs of upper and lower side connectors and which are rigidly interconnected together in substantial alignment to form a wall construction. The wall panels are provided with a vertically arranged bracket supporting means adapted for receiving brackets and accompanying shelves or furnishings at desired locations.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert F. Dalton, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 11:18
CPC Classifications
E; E04; E04B; E04B1/00; E04B1/38; E04B1/61; E04B1/6108; E04B1/612; E04B2/00; E04B2/74; E04B2/7401
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
250 words
A wall panel for interconnection with other correspondingly constructed wall panels to form walls of predetermined size and arrangement, said wall panel being generally rectangular in overall shape and having opposing vertical sides, opposing horizontal ends, and opposing vertical faces, upper and lower connectors carried by each of said vertical sides, the upper connector on one side of said panel being a female connector and adapted to interconnect with a male connector on the upper side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, the upper connector on the opposite side of said panel being a male connector and adapted to interconnect with a female connector on the upper side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, the lower connector on one side of said panel being a female connector and adapted to interconnect with a male connector on the lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, and the lower connector on the opposite side of said panel being a male connector and adapted to interconnect with a female connector on the lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, each said upper and lower connector on each side of said panel being symmetrically disposed along a vertical line passing through the midpoint of the side of the panel so that the opposing vertical faces of adjacent panels when assembled to form a wall are in substantial alignment.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
250 words
A wall panel for interconnection with other correspondingly constructed wall panels to form walls of predetermined size and arrangement, said wall panel being generally rectangular in overall shape and having opposing vertical sides, opposing horizontal ends, and opposing vertical faces, upper and lower connectors carried by each of said vertical sides, the upper connector on one side of said panel being a female connector and adapted to interconnect with a male connector on the upper side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, the upper connector on the opposite side of said panel being a male connector and adapted to interconnect with a female connector on the upper side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, the lower connector on one side of said panel being a female connector and adapted to interconnect with a male connector on the lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, and the lower connector on the opposite side of said panel being a male connector and adapted to interconnect with a female connector on the lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, each said upper and lower connector on each side of said panel being symmetrically disposed along a vertical line passing through the midpoint of the side of the panel so that the opposing vertical faces of adjacent panels when assembled to form a wall are in substantial alignment.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
56 words
The wall panel of claim 1 wherein the upper and lower connectors on one side of said panel are each female connectors and wherein the upper and lower connectors on the opposite side of said panel are both male connectors such that adjacent wall panels may be readily positioned in the desired orientation and interconnected thereto.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
67 words
The wall panel of claim 1 or 2 including vertical channels of predetermined width along each vertical side, said upper and lower male and female connectors being positioned in said channels with at least two of said connectors having a width generally the same as the width of the channels so that the channels thereby aid in obtaining and maintaining the positional location of said two connectors.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
90 words
The wall panel of claim 3 wherein the upper connectors are placed in the vertical channels with the uppermost portion of at least one upper connector being substantially aligned with the top horizontal end of the wall panel and wherein the lower connectors are placed in the vertical channels with the lowermost portion of at least one lower connector being substantially aligned with the bottom horizontal end of the wall panel so that the opposing horizontal ends of adjacent panels when assembled to form a wall are in substantial alignment.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
95 words
The wall panel of claim 1 or 2 including an elongate vertically arranged bracket supporting means connected to and carried by one of said vertical sides of said panel, said bracket supporting means having a series of vertically spaced openings therein adapted for selectively receiving a bracket therein for mounting the bracket at the desired horizontal level, said bracket supporting means being spaced inwardly from the horizontal ends of said panel, and one end of said bracket supporting means being hollow and serving as one of said female connectors on one side of said panel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
The wall panel of claim 5 wherein said bracket supporting means is a hollow rectangular tube with vertically spaced openings in opposite sides of said tube with said tube oriented with the sides of said tube containing the openings parallel to the opposing vertical faces of the wall panel so that brackets may be supported from said wall panel extending from either or both vertical faces thereof.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
49 words
The wall panel of claim 1 or 2 wherein said upper connectors are provided with vertical bores for receiving means for fastening each said upper connector to a connector on the upper side of an adjacent wall panel so as to interconnect said wall panel with adjacent wall panels.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
216 words
A wall panel for interconnection with other correspondingly constructed wall panels to form walls of predetermined size and arrangement, said wall panel being generally rectangular in overall shape and having opposing vertical sides and opposing horizontal ends, upper and lower connectors carried by each of said vertical sides, the upper and lower connectors on one side of said panel each being a female connector and adapted to interconnect with respective male connectors on the upper and lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, and the upper and lower connectors on the opposite side of said panel each being a male connector and adapted to interconnect with respective female connectors on the upper and lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, said upper connectors having vertical openings therein and being adapted to receive fastening means for securing each said upper connector to an upper connector of an adjacent wall panel so as to interconnect the wall panel with adjacent wall panels, and at least one of the upper connectors and at least one of the lower connectors having tapered surfaces for facilitating the guiding of the connectors into interconnecting relation with connectors on adjacent panels when panels are assembled to form a wall.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
216 words
A wall panel for interconnection with other correspondingly constructed wall panels to form walls of predetermined size and arrangement, said wall panel being generally rectangular in overall shape and having opposing vertical sides and opposing horizontal ends, upper and lower connectors carried by each of said vertical sides, the upper and lower connectors on one side of said panel each being a female connector and adapted to interconnect with respective male connectors on the upper and lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, and the upper and lower connectors on the opposite side of said panel each being a male connector and adapted to interconnect with respective female connectors on the upper and lower side of an adjacent panel when panels are assembled to form a wall, said upper connectors having vertical openings therein and being adapted to receive fastening means for securing each said upper connector to an upper connector of an adjacent wall panel so as to interconnect the wall panel with adjacent wall panels, and at least one of the upper connectors and at least one of the lower connectors having tapered surfaces for facilitating the guiding of the connectors into interconnecting relation with connectors on adjacent panels when panels are assembled to form a wall.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
101 words
The wall panel of claim 8 including a vertically arranged hollow rectangular tube connected to and carried by one of said vertical sides of said panel, said tube having a series of vertically spaced openings in opposite sides of said tube with said tube oriented with the sides of said tube containing the openings parallel to the opposing vertical faces of the wall panel so that brackets may be supported from said wall panel extending from either or both vertical faces thereof and the lower end of said tube serving as the lower female connector on one side of said panel.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
187 words
A wall construction formed of correspondingly constructed wall panels each wall panel being generally rectangular in overall shape and having opposing vertical sides, opposing horizontal ends and opposing vertical faces therebetween, upper and lower connectors carried by each of said vertical sides, the upper connector on one side of each panel being a female connector, the upper connector on the opposite side of each panel being a male connector, the lower connector on one side of each panel being a female connector, the lower connector on the opposite side of each panel being a male connector, the upper and lower female connectors of each panel interconnecting with male connectors of adjacent panels, the upper and lower male connectors of each panel interconnecting with female connectors of adjacent panels, and fastening means cooperating with said interconnected upper connectors to maintain the panels in their interconnected relationship, said upper and lower connectors on each side of said panels being symmetrically disposed along a vertical line passing through the midpoint of the side of the panel so that the opposing vertical faces of adjacent connected panels are in substantial alignment.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
187 words
A wall construction formed of correspondingly constructed wall panels each wall panel being generally rectangular in overall shape and having opposing vertical sides, opposing horizontal ends and opposing vertical faces therebetween, upper and lower connectors carried by each of said vertical sides, the upper connector on one side of each panel being a female connector, the upper connector on the opposite side of each panel being a male connector, the lower connector on one side of each panel being a female connector, the lower connector on the opposite side of each panel being a male connector, the upper and lower female connectors of each panel interconnecting with male connectors of adjacent panels, the upper and lower male connectors of each panel interconnecting with female connectors of adjacent panels, and fastening means cooperating with said interconnected upper connectors to maintain the panels in their interconnected relationship, said upper and lower connectors on each side of said panels being symmetrically disposed along a vertical line passing through the midpoint of the side of the panel so that the opposing vertical faces of adjacent connected panels are in substantial alignment.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
63 words
The wall construction of claim 10 wherein the upper and lower connectors on one side of said panel are each female connectors and wherein the upper and lower connectors on the opposite side of said panel are both male connectors such that adjacent wall panels may be readily positioned in the desired orientation and interconnected thereto to facilitate formation of the wall construction.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
95 words
The wall construction of claim 11 further comprising an elongate vertically arranged bracket supporting means connected to and carried by the side of said panel carrying the female connectors, said bracket supporting means having a series of vertically spaced openings therein adapted for selectively receiving a bracket therein for mounting the bracket at the desired horizontal level, said bracket supporting means being spaced inwardly from the horizontal ends of said panel, and one end of said bracket supporting means being hollow and serving as the lower said female connector on one side of said panel.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
67 words
The wall panel of claim 12 wherein said bracket supporting means is a hollow rectangular tube with vertically spaced openings in opposite sides of said tube with said tube oriented with the sides of said tube containing the openings parallel to the opposing vertical faces of the wall panel so that brackets may be supported from said wall panel extending from either or both vertical faces thereof.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
68 words
The wall panel of claim 10 or 11 wherein said upper connectors are provided with vertical bores for receiving said fastening means, said fastening means having a threaded end and said vertical bores of adjacent male and female upper connectors of adjacent wall panels being in substantial alignment with the vertical bore of the female upper connector being threaded to receive the threaded end of said fastening means.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1988-10-07 | 1989-04-08 | 1989-10-08 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1992-10-07 | 1993-04-08 | 1993-10-08 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1996-10-07 | 1997-04-08 | 1997-10-08 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |