Modular structure for modular partition walls formed of juxtaposed panels

#The present invention generally relates to the field of office furnishings and, in particular, to the construction of sectional partition walls consisting of juxtaposed panels of the kind used in offices for the purpose of dividing and defining an office space into independent zones.

#According to the known art, the construction of partitions of the aforementioned kind generally makes use of a supporting structure comprising interconnected uprights and cross members which rest on the floor of a space to be furnished and act as support for the panels in order to frame the same within the uprights and the cross members of the supporting structure. The panels are made from wooden, synthetic or composites materials or the like, and may exhibit a covering made of an aesthetically valuable material.

#Such a construction has, however, some disadvantages which limit the applicability thereof, unless provision is made for relatively expensive measures. As a matter of fact, with a supporting structure made according to the conventional art of the kind described above by the assembly of uprights and cross members, the variety of available measures for the partitions to be erected is limited, for both the uprights and the cross members are generally produced with a limited number of measures. Moreover, a conventional supporting structure exhibits a serious disadvantage, viz. its rigidity tends to decrease when the dimensions of the walls to be erected exceed certain limits, and this sets a more stringent restriction to the measures of the walls which can be erected.

#The invention will now be described in more detail in relation to a preferred embodiment thereof, illustrated by way of example only and not limited thereto, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is an isometric projection view of a sectional partition wall formed of juxtaposed panels and made with the modular supporting structure according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an isometric projection view of the modular supporting structure in the assembled condition;

#FIG. 1 of the drawings illustrates a sectional partition wall member 10 intended to be joined together with other similar members, not shown in the Figure, in order to form a wall adapted to subdivide an interior space to be used as an office according to specific functional and aesthetical criteria. Such a partition wall member is formed in a manner known per se, by juxtaposing several decorative panels 11.

#For supporting the panels 11 of the sectional partition wall member 10, according to this invention, there is provided an improved modular supporting structure, generally designated by 20 in FIG. 2. This supporting structure 20 comprises a lower cross member 21, one or more intermediate cross members 22, an upper cross member 23 and a plurality of upright spacers 24. The lower cross member 21, the intermediate cross members 22, the upper cross member 23 and the upright spacers 24 are joined together at their point of concurrence in a manner which will be described hereunder, in order to form a framework intended to frame the juxtaposed decorative panels 11 which form the modular partition wall 10. In virtue of the fact that the cross members 21,22,23 and the spacers 24 are joined together in order to form a framework consisting of a plurality of rectangular elementary cells having measures which are independent from the overall dimensions of the sectional partition wall 10, the modular supporting structure 20 of the present invention exhibits a greater rigidity than the known supporting structures for forming sectional partition walls.

#With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, there are illustrated two possible variants of the modular supporting structure 20 in accordance with the present invention. By observing these variants, one can see that they differ in that the length and width of the cross members 21,22,23 and the number of spacers 24 are different. It is possible to erect supporting structures of different dimensions by suitably choosing the length and width of the cross members and the number of spacers while maintaining unchanged however the characteristics of rigidity of the supporting structure which are given by the interconnecting of the cross members and the spacers to form a plurality of rectangular elementary cells.