GB448216A - Improvements in or relating to filing or storage devices - Google Patents

Abstract

448,216. Endless chain elevators. PARENT, E. H. A., 83, Rue des Pyrenees, Paris. Oct. 7, 1935, No. 27689. Convention date, Oct. 8, 1934. [Class 78 (i)] [See also Groups XV, XIV, and XVIII] A filing or storage device comprises a number of drawers each constrained to slide horizontally on a carriage, each carriage being pivoted to a vertical endless conveyer and being rigidly attached to a guide arm which is inclined to the horizontal, and the end of which engages with a track so arranged that each carriage is maintained horizontal at every point in the travel of the conveyer, and each drawer is thereby maintained horizontal both when closed and when opened. As shown, a number of vertical endless conveyers are arranged side by side and totally enclosed in a large cabinet 30 provided with a number of metal curtains 31 which can be rolled up on to rollers 34 to expose the conveyers. Each conveyer carries a number of metal drawers 5 divided into compartments for the reception of index cards 6, and each drawer has a depression in the front, and a handle mounted within such depression. Each drawer 5 is rigidly but detachably mounted on a pair of arms 8<111> (not shown) which slide horizontally on ball bearings within a second pair of arms 8<11> which in turn slide horizontally on ball bearings within a third pair of arms 8<1>. Each drawer is maintained in its inner closed position by a catch comprising a spring-pressed ball adapted to pass into two apertures in the arms 8<11>, 8<111> when the apertures coincide. The arms 81 are pivotally mounted at their centres 32 (which coincide with the centre of the drawer 5 when pushed in to its fullest extent) on a pair of arms 23 which are cross-braced and rigidly secured at their opposite ends to two endless conveyer chains 26. A further pair of arms 22 are fixedly mounted at an angle to the arms 81 at the centres 32, their opposite ends being provided with grooved guide rollers 15 which run along guide rails 14 to ensure correct displacement of the drawer 5 and maintain it horizontal in all positions. The two chains 26 move in U-shaped guides 17, and are mounted on sprocket-wheels, the top pair 25 being driven by an electric motor through a train of gearwheels including a worm-reduction unit. An electromagnetic brake acts on the motor when the current is switched off. The control buttons 2 of the motor are inaccessible if a drawer 5 is pulled out for inspection immediately above a table 1. The device can be used for receiving articles other than index cards, and the cabinet 30 may be so constructed so that articles can be inserted i n the drawers 5 when the latter are in the extreme top or bottom positions, or at the back of the cabinet.