Elevated floor assembly with releasable tie means connecting the panel sides

An elevated false floor assembly of panels comprising a plurality of square panels arranged side-by-side in rows and supported on pedestals at their corners to leave a plenum below said floor assembly, said panels each having sides with releasable tie means connecting neighboring sides of adjacent panels together and said tie means being located intermediate the corners of the panels, said panels being load-bearing with spaced apart upper and lower metal sheets which are joined together at the outer perimeters of said panels, at least some of said panels having a bracket with projection means at each of its sides, and said projection means comprising spaced apart vertically elongated flanges that extend between adjacent panel sides and afford load bearing supports to said panels intermediate their corners, said tie means extending through said brackets and releasably securing the sides of adjacent panels together, whereby both vertical and horizontal deflections of one panel are resisted and shared by neighboring panels, said plenum being readily accessible by disconnecting said tie means at the upper surface of said floor assembly, and said panels being liftable from surrounding assembled panels and removable.