FireFly Flip-top Mechanism for DSA

An industry standard used by Haworth, OFS, Kimball, HBF, JSI, Arcadia, and more.
In many organizations, training tables are stored in one location and moved to different rooms as the need arises. The table tops typically pivot 90 degrees to allow them to roll through doorways easily and to reduce the amount of space needed to store them. We originally designed the patented FireFly mechanism for these so-called flip-top tables in 2007. Since then we have redesigned it several times in order to reduce costs, increase performance, and appeal to different customers. However, the original mechanical design of the internal components and catch geometry has remained unchanged. It is widely considered to be the best and most durable flip-top table mechanism on the market. Along the way, we designed an elegant handle for releasing the mechanism (see below).

We designed the die-cast aluminum release handle for the FireFly mechanism to be non-handed and to provide generous leverage so that people with limited hand strength could still operate it. The handle itself can be mounted to the X-shaped base plate facing either direction. Using die-cast aluminum also allows the release handle to be powder coated in the same colors as the mechanism itself, something that off-the-shelf plastic release handles can’t accommodate.

The original version of the FireFly mechanism (above) utilized an extruded aluminum base that attached to the top of the table legs. It provided built-in wire management.