Portable partition

Portable partitions are rolling mobile folding partitions which provide temporary walls in place of traditional non mobile products such as operable walls, accordion partitions, cubicles, pipe and drape, and shoji screens. They fold and are on wheels enabling mobility and ease of storage.

The portable wall partition has two full panel end members which provide support, rigidity, privacy, and noise reduction. As claimed in United States patent 6009930

How are portable partitions used?

Portable partitions have many uses, of which three common uses are listed below:

1. Portable partitions are used to divide space quickly where non mobile permanent room dividers may be unavailable or unpractical.
2. Portable partitions are used as a cost effective way to create a classroom or meeting room in existing space.
3. Portable partitions are used as a convenient sight divider to conceal door openings to restrooms, commercial kitchens, and other backroom areas.

Where are portable partitions Used?

Portable partitions are commonly used in:

• Arena’s
• Churches/houses of worship/funeral homes
• Conference/convention centers
• Government/corporate offices
• Hotels/restaurants
• Residences
• Salons and spas
• Schools of all levels

How are portable partitions used in each of the different environments?

Arenas

Arena’s use portable partitions to hide food service area’s, direct traffic, public displays, bulletin boards, and create smaller meeting rooms.

Churches/houses of worship/funeral homes

Portable partitions are used to create temporary classrooms for religious education in large open rooms such as fellowship halls, multi-purpose rooms or gymnasiums. Since the rooms were designed originally to be open for large gatherings, the most common type of room divider is a portable partition on casters which can easily be moved from place to place. After class, the portable partition is rolled back into its storage area for future use.

Conference/convention centers

Conference & convention centers, by their very nature, are large facilities with wide open internal spaces. Consequently, they often need to be broken down into smaller areas. Portable partitions provide a quick and efficient means to accomplish this. Some recently build convention centers have used a form of portable partition and other flexible materials to divide their space.

Governmental facilities/corporate offices

Portable partitions in governments and corporate facilities often use office cubicles for their staff and employees. However, due to the required flexibility of some government facilities, Portable partitions often are used to create backdrops for meeting spaces that take place in small government buildings. They often have multiple heights and lengths and are set up in a line. Others have hinges and allow for flexibility of shapes. These hinged portable partitions can create rooms of virtually any size or shape to make several meeting or training rooms within one large space.

Hotels/restaurants

Hotels and restaurants use two different types of dividers. Commonly, you will see floor-to-ceiling partitions such as operable or accordion walls in banquet halls and meeting spaces. These fixed dividers can be used to divide a banquet room into smaller more quaint facilities. In areas needing more flexibility, Hotels and restaurants might use portable partitions. Portable partitions are also used to conceal doors to kitchens or restrooms for the viewing public.

Residences

Houses, apartments and other residences, use portable partitions to divide the space more effectively or as a decorating focus point.

Salons and spas

Salon’s and spa’s use portable partitions for creating privacy areas for massage, physical therapy, and other services required reduced visibility.

Schools

In schools, portable partitions primarily are used to create temporary classrooms for education in large open rooms, such as libraries, media centers, cafeterias or gymnasiums. Since the rooms were designed originally to be open for other purposes, the most common type of room divider is a portable partition on casters which can easily be moved from place to place. After class, the portable partition is rolled back into its storage area for future use.

Another method portable partitions are used in schools is to create testing areas with privacy for concentration of students.

Other portable partitions uses

Portable partitions have been used creatively in many other situations including, but not limited to:

• Privacy for bussing area.
• Security for luggage storage or coat check areas.
• Hide construction debris.
• Use as a backdrop for speakers.
• Mazes and other fun areas.
• Creating private areas for donating blood.
• Filling out personal paperwork at public places.
• Voting during elections.
• Queue management.

References

• US patent 6,009,930, Robert Jantschek, "Portable wall partition with full panel end members", issued 1999-4-12