US2115389A - Filing device - Google Patents

Description

April 26, 1938. .1, R. JONES ET-AL FILING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed M ay 19, 1936 April 26, 1938.

J. R. JONES Er Al. 2,115,389

FILING DEVICE Filed May 19, 193s 4 sheets-sheet 2 7 A @fr /4 f f7( W April 26, 1938. J. R. JONES Er Al.

FILING DEVICE Filed May 19, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 y Elk" Nm. MN NN.,

April 26, 1938. J. R. JONES f-:T Al.

FILING DEVICE Filed May 19, 1936 '4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ail@ am w m J w A fro/@NE y.

Patented Apr. 26, 1938 UNITED s'm'rasv FILING DEVCE A James R. Jones and Victor A. Gronberg, Jamestown, N. Y.; assignors to Art Metal Construction Company, Jamestown. N. Y.

Application May 19, 1936, Serial No. 80,542

12 Claims.v (Cl. 12928) This invention relates to record files, and more particularly to improvements in drawer les, in which a drawer mounted to move in and out in a case or cabinet, is provided with a follower which is adjustable for engaging and holding the drawer contents or records upright close together in the drawer irrespective of the number of the records therein, and for permitting the spreading or separation of the records for examination and their insertion into and removal from the drawer.

'I'he objects of the invention are to provide a desirable and practical drawer le of this type, which is of novel, strong and durable construction and by which the follower may be readily operated to hold the records firmly together in compact upright position, and to release them for examination or for the insertion of the records into or their removal from the drawer; which is of a construction particularly adapted for filing circular record disks, such as used in phonographs, and holding` the disks upright firmly together so as to prevent the warping or injuring of the disks; in which the compression follower for the disks is operated automatically to apply pressure to hold the records compactly together by the closing of the drawer, and to relieve the pressure on the records when the drawer is opened to permit their separation and the insertion of the records into and their removal from the drawer; and which has the other features of advantage and improvement hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation on line I--I, Fig. 3, of a drawer file embodying our invention, showing the drawer closed.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, transverse vertical I section thereof on line 2 2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof on a reduced scale.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, vertical section, similar to Fig. 1, but with the drawer partially open.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, taken approximately on line 5 5, Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a transverse, vertical vsection through a portion of the drawer and the follower carriage, on line 66, Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentaryside elevation of related portions of the case, drawer and follower carriage, with the drawer partially open.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary, vertical section, on an enlarged scale, of the latch means for releasably holding the follower carriage from move- .posite sides of the drawer opening.

ment relatively to the drawer, showing the same in released position.

Fig. 9 is a. similar View of the same with the parts in a dii-ferent position.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the latch bolt and associate parts, detached.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary, horizontal section of a modified arrangement of the means for moving the follower forwardly when closing the drawer.

Fig. 12 is a. fragmentary, horizontal section of the carriage guide means and the means for locking the follower to its carriage.

Fig. 13 is a longitudinal', vertical section thereof, on line I3-I3, Fig. 12. l

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary, transverse section, on an enlarged scale, of the follower carriage and follower guide means.

Fig. 15 is a side elevation, on a reduced scale, showing a. drawer equipped with spring means for shifting the follower and its carriage rearwardly when the drawer is opened.

A represents the case of the ling cabinet `and B the file drawer, of which any number, one or more, may be provided inthe case, each drawer being mounted to slide in and out vin the case on suitable guides i0 which are preferably of the progressive cradle suspension type commonly employed in drawer filing cabinets to ensure free, easy movement of the heavily loaded drawers and maintain the drawers horizontal when pulled out so as to project a considerable distance out of the cabinet. A single drawer cabinet is shown in which the sheet metal case is made with upright side walls il which are connected at their rear ends by a rear wall i2 and are formed at their front ends with laterally and rearwardly bent anges embracing channel-formed upright posts I3, which are rigidly secured, as by welding, between said inturned anges and the inner faces of the side walls at the front of the case. The hollow posts thus formed stien and strengthen the side walls and constitute strong rigid front frame members for the case at op- Vertical flanged supporting strips I4 and l5 for the drawer guides are also shown welded to the inner faces of the side walls. The top and bottom of the case may be formed and arranged as shown, or may be of any other suitable construction.

Asheet metal drawer B is shown, constructed with a bottom and upright opposite side, rear and front walls. Except that the bottom is preferably formed with a depressed, longitudinal central channel i6', and that the upper portions of having a downturned inner edge. the inner strip 26 is arranged with its upper edge the side walls are formed as presently described, the drawer may be of usual or any suitable construction, rbut preferably the upright drawer front I8 is of greater height than the side walls and rear wall |9 and is of usual hollow or double wall formation.

Each side wall I1 of the drawer is preferably formed byv a metal plate having its upper edge portion bent, as best shown in Fig. 6, to provide an inturned, top flange witha downturned,V

inner edge, and an inwardly opening channel or guideway 2| extending lengthwise below said top flange. The bottom of the channel forms a downwardly facing, external shoulder 22 on the outside of the side wall.` This formation of the upper portions of the side walls provides horizontal guides for a longitudinally movable follower-supporting frame or carriage comprising opposite side rails or bars 23 which extend lengthwise at opposite sides of the drawer and are connected at their rear ends by a cross bar 24, which is preferably of the hollow shape shown, rigidly attached by welding or otherwise, to the rear4 ends of the side bars 23. Each carriage side bar is preferably formed by an outer sheet metal strip 25 and an inner sheet metal strip 26 rigidly attached, as by welding, to the inner face of the outer strip above the top flange of the side wall. vThe outer strip 25 is formed at its lower edge with a flange 21 extending inwardly beneath the shoulder 22 of the side wall and with an inturned top flange 28 preferably Preferably,

against the underside of the top flange of the outer strip, and at its lower edge is formed with a. flange 29 extending inwardly over the top flange 20 of the side wall and having an inner edge depending beside the inner edge of the top ange 20 of the side wall. Inwardly opening channels or guideways 38 are thus formed on the carriage'side bars between the anges 28 and 29.

The side bars of the follower carriage are thus held inv connection with the channel-formed upper edges of the side walls of the drawer and are adapted to slide forwardly and rearwardly relatively to the drawer. Preferably, rollers 3| having stud axles 32 secured to the carriage side bars are arranged to travel in the channel guideways 2l of the sides of the drawer, the roller axles extending through elongated slots 33 in the vertical walls of the drawer channels 2|. These rollers are adapted to roll on the bottoms of the drawer channels 2| and provide rolling supports or guides for the follower carriage in its forward and rearward movements on the drawer,

' thus insuring a smooth, free movement of the the main follower plate and vertical reinforcing bars 46a at the rear face of the main plate. Coil or compression springs 4| surrounding the guide rods 39 between the follower main and face plates yieldingly press the face plate forwardly or away from the main plate and permit the face plate to yield rearwardly against the pressure ofthe springs 4|. The forward movement of the face plate is limited and the guide rods 39 prevented from disengagement from their guide holes in the follower main plate by suitable means, s'uch as cotter pins extending through the holes in the rear ends of the guide rods back of said main plate.

The follower is mounted on its sliding carriage so that it can be adjusted thereon relative to the carriage to diierent desired positions forwardly and rearwardly in the drawer, according to bulk of records in the drawer, and can be locked to the carriage to partake in a limited longitudinal vmovement with the carriage relatively t'o the drawer for compressing the drawer contents and relieving the pressure thereon. For this purpose, in the construction shown, the main follower plate 35 is secured at its opposite side portions to arms 45 extending transversely from supporting members or plates 46 arranged to slide forwardly and rearwardly in the guideways in the side bars of the carriage. As shown, the arms 450i the slides are secured in a transverse channel-41 formed in the main follower plate, whereby the slides are held rigid with the plate perpendicularly thereto. The supporting members 46 are adapted to be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly in the channels -30 of the carriage side bars which thus serve as guideways for the supporting members whereby the follower is heldin upright or vertical position in the drawer. Rollers 41a mounted on the supporting members 46 to roll on the guides 30 ease the adjustment of said members inthe guides 3|).

Suitable llocking means are employed for releasably locking the follower in adjusted positions to the carriage side bars against movement relatively thereto. 'I'he means shown for this purpose in the drawings comprise a rock shaft or rod 48 which is arranged transversely at the rear of the main follower plate to rock in bearings 49 on the back of the follower plate 35 and extends through slots in bearing plates 50 at opposite edges of ther follower. shaft is formed outwardly beyond the side bearing plates 50 with crank'arms 5|, the outwardly extending extremities of which engage dogs or latches 52 arranged to engage in slots 52a in the bottoms of the g'uideways 30 of the carriage side bars for locking the follower thereto. As shown, each dog 52 is pivoted at one end to the adjacent supporting member 46 by a lateral lug 52h on the dog projecting into a round hole 52o in the adjacent member 46. And, at its free end, the dog has a tooth adapted to enter one or another of the s lots 52d..v The dog tooth has a bevelled bottom edge and an abrupt rear edge so that it will positively hold the follower against The rock rearward movement relative to its carriage but will allow the follower to be readily adjusted forwardly on its carriage by forward pressure on thefollower; Fixed to the middle portion of the rock shaft is a plate 53 forming arms projecting upwardly and downwardly from the rock shaft. A spring 54 bearing against the lower arm rocks the shaft to a position to engage the dogs 52 in the slots 52a and thereby lock the follower to the carriage against rearward movement relative thereto. The spring 54 shown consists of a spring tongue fixed at one end to the follower plate 35 and pressing at its free end against the lower end of the plate 53 on the rock shaft.

anni

Lil

Thevrock shaft is adapted to be rocked against the action of the spring 54 to lift the dogs out of engagement with the slots 52a, Ito unlock the follower from the carriage, by an operating lever or member 56 which, as shown, consists of a plate pivoted between its ends on a pivot pin 51 secured in lugs on the rear of the follower plate 35, and having a finger or thumb piece projecting upwardly from its pivot and an arm projecting downwardly from the pivot and hinged, as by a pin 59 to the upper end of a lever 60, which is suitably pivoted at 60a on the rear of the follower plate 35 and is suitably pivoted at its. lower end at 6| to the upper 'end of plate 53 fixed on the rock shaft 48. Thus, by pressing the upper end of the operating member 56 forwardly or towards the follower, the rock shaft is rocked against the action of the spring 54 to disengage the dogs from the slots 52a and free the follower so that it can be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly in the drawer relative to its sliding carriage.

The follower carriage with the follower locked thereto is movable forwardly and rearwardly on the side walls of the drawer for a distance-which is limited by suitable means, such as front and rear cushioned stops 62 on the drawer which the carriage rollers are adapted to engage. The follower is adjusted on the carriage and locked thereto in a position, depending upon the bulk of records in the drawer, such that it is adapted to compress the records or drawer contents the desired amount by forward movement of the carriage on the drawer, within said limits of the carriage movement, when the drawer is closed. When the drawer is opened or pulled out, it is desirable to relieve this pressure on the flle contents or records, whereby they can be separated to the extent permitted by the rearward movement of the follower, to facilitate examination or manipulation of the records and the insertion of the same into or their removal from the drawer.

For the purpose of automatically moving the carriage forwardly on the drawer, to compress the records by the act of closing the drawer, actuating members 65 are provided on the carriage. These members may be in the form of hooks fixed on the under sides of the outer channel strips 25 of the carriage in position to engage stationary abutments 66 which may be studs fixed to the upright front frame member I3 or other suitable portion of the case at opposite sides of the drawer. When closing the drawer, the hooks 65 will engage the abutments 66 before the drawer is completely closed and will hold the follower carriage and follower against rearward movement during the further inward movement of the drawer to its closed position, and thereby compress the records or drawer contents between the follower and the front of the drawer, this action occurring automatically, due to the closing of the drawer.

The pressure of the records or drawer contents against the follower tends to move the follower carriage rearwardly on the drawer, and when the drawer is closed, if such rearward movement of the carriage is not restrained, it will, through reaction against the stationary abutments 66 or other part of the drawer case, tend to open the drawer or cause it to protrude from the drawer case unless the drawer is latched or locked in closed position.

Preferably, means are provided, whereby the act of opening the drawer will cause limited rearward movement of. the follower in the drawer for relieving the pressure of the follower on the drawer contents to permit the separation thereof, and whereby the follower will be positively held in its compressing position against rearward movement while the drawer is closed, and also will be positively held against moving forwardly from its pressure-relieving position when the drawer is open. The following means are shown in the drawings for this purpose.

61 represents latch bolts arranged at each side of the re end of the carriage to move vertically in guide slots in the carriage side bars and carriage cross bar 24. Each of these latches is connectedvat its upper end to an angle-shaped bar or plate 68 above the carriage cross bar 24 and pivoted thereto at its inner end, as by an angle lug 69 extending loosely through a hole in the top of the cross bar. A spring 10, which may consist of a springstrip fixed to one end of the cross bar and bearing at its free end against the latch bar 68, yieldingly holds the latch in its lowermost position in which it is adapted to engage either the front or rear face of the rear wall of the drawer, depending upon the relative position of the carriage and drawer. The upbent, free end of the latch bar 68 is provided with a lateral extension having forwardly and rearwardly projecting, upwardly inclined wings 1 I, so positioned that when opening or closing the drawer, said winged extension will engage and ride over a stationary stud or projection 'l2 suitably fixed, as by a stationary bracket 13 at the rear portion of the side of the case. When the drawer is open, the follower carriage will project rearwardly beyond the drawer, and when closing the drawer, the winged extensions of the latch bars will engage and ride over the studs 12, thus lifting the latches 61 so that they will pass over the top edge of the rear wall of the drawer, as indicated in Fig. 8.` The winged extensions of the latch bars will clear the studs 12 when the drawer is fully closed and the latches will be lowered by their springs in front of the rear wall of the drawer, as shown in Fig; 1, so as,` by engagement with the rear wall, to hold the follower carriage against rearward movement on the drawer and thus positively hold the follower in its forward pressing position. In opening the drawer, the carriage will move therewith until the winged extensions of the latch bars engage and ride over studs 'l2 and thus liftl the latches out of engagement with the rear wall of the drawer. The pressure of the drawer contents on the follower will then shift the follower carriage rearwardly on the drawer, and when the latches clear or pass beyond the rear wall of the drawer, they will be lowered by their springs back of the rear wall, and by engagement therewith, will prevent the forward shifting of the follower carriage on the drawer until the drawer is again closed and the latches actuated as before explained. The upper rear corners ofthe drawer are preferably reinforced by angle corner plates 1l for engagement of the latches.

This latching mechanism operating as described, avoids the necessity.for providing the drawer with a lock or catch which otherwise would be necessary to hold the drawer closed against its tendency to open under reaction from the pressure of the drawer contents against the follower. With the described latch mechanism there is no tendency for the drawer to open and the objection of having the drawer stand partially open or protruding from the case by failure to fully close the drawer so that it will be held by its catch, in a construction requiring a catch to hold the drawer closed, is avoided. The drawer A essary to ,prevent the drawer from being parf plate, as described, exerts a yielding pressurev tially opened so as to protrude from the case by the action of the compression follower.

'I'he follower having the spring pressed face against the records or contents of the drawer and holds them firmly in compact condition face to face against each other while the drawer is closed, and upon the opening of the drawer, the yielding pressure between the contents and follower aids in causing the rearward movement of the follower in the drawer to relieve the pressure on the contents or records and permit the separation thereof.

If a follower not having a spring pressed face plate is used, it may be desirable to employ spring means for shifting the follower rearwardly when the drawer is opened. Fig. 15 shows such a' means consisting of springs 16 at opposite sides of the drawer attached at one end to the drawer and at the opposite end to the side bars of the carriage.

As above described, the stationary abutments 66 for moving the follower forwardly when closing the drawer, are located at the front of the vdrawer case and engage the actuating members or hooks 65 at the front portion of the follower carriage. A different arrangement of these abutments is illustrated in Figs. 11 and 15, in which the abutments 66a are fixed to brackets 11 secured at the sides of the drawer case between the vertical reinforcing bars I4 and I5 for the side walls of the case. These abutments cooperate with actuating members or hooks 65a fixed to the undersides of the rear portions of the side bars of the follower carriage.

When using the described flle for filing circular record disks, such as mentioned, each disk may be placed in a paper or other suitable envelope or cover and the envelopes placed on edge in the drawer one behind another. The bottom edges of the envelopes bear on the drawer bottom at opposite sides of the central bottom drawer channel, and thus the bottom edges of the disk are prevented from injury or mutilation by striking or bearing on the metal drawer bottom.

We claim as our invention:

1. 'Ihe combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out therein, a follower in said drawer, a carriage for said follower comprising side bars mounted to slide lengthwise on the side walls of said drawer at the outer sides thereof, follower-supporting members movable longitudinally on said carriage side bars for adjusting the follower in the drawer relatively to the carriage, means for securing the follower in adjusted positio-ns on the carriage,xed abutments at the front portion of the case, and parts on the front end portions of said carriage side bars which are caused to engage said abutments and move the carriage and follower longitudinally of the drawer by the closing of the drawer.

2. The combination of, a le case, a drawer movable in and out therein, a follower in said drawer, a carriage for said follower comprising side bars mounted to slide lengthwise at opposite sides of the drawer, follower-supporting members movable longitudinally on said side bars for adjusting the follower in the drawer relatively to said side bars, means for securing the follower in adjusted positions on the carriage, fixed abutments at the side portions of the case at opposite sides of the drawer, and parts which are lcarried by the side bars'of said follower carriage and located at the outer sides of the drawer and are caused to engage said abutments and move the carriage and follower longitudinally of th drawer by the closing of the drawer.'

3. The combination of a ille case, a drawer movable in and out therein, a follower in said drawer, a carriage for said follower comprising side bars mounted to slide lengthwise at opposite sides of the drawer and having portions disposed at the outer sides of the side walls of the drawer, follower-supporting members Y movable longitudinally on said carriage side bars for adjusting the follower in the drawer relatively to the carriage, means for securing the follower in adjusted' positions. on the carri-age, parts which are fixed to said portions of said carriage side bars at the outer sides of the side walls of the drawer, and stationary abutments with which said parts are caused to engage and move the carriage and follower longitudinally of the ,drawer by the closing of the drawer.

4. 'I'he combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out therein and having upright side walls formed with inwardly opening longitudinal guideways at their upper portions, a follower in said drawer, a carriage for the follower comprising side bars arranged to move longitudinally at the upper portions of the sides of the drawer and having inwardly opening longitudinal guideways disposed above the said first mentioned guideways, carriage-supporting rollable in said second-mentioned guideways for.

adjusting the follower relatively to the carriage, means for locking the follower in adjusted positions on the carriage, and means for limiting the longitudinal movement of the carriage relatively to the drawer.

5. The combination of a le case, aI drawer movable in and out therein and having upright side walls formed with inwardly opening longitudinal guideways at their upper portions, a follower in said drawer, a carriage for the follower comprising side bars arrangedto move longitudinally at the upper portions of the sides of the drawer and havingrinwardly opening longitudinal guideways disposed abovefthe said irst mentioned guideways, carriage-supporting rollers arranged to travel in said first mentioned guideways, slides secured to the follower and adjustable in said second mentioned guideways for adjusting the follower relatively to the carriage, means for limiting the rearward movement of the carriage relatively to the drawer, and parts on the case which are caused to engage parts on the follower carriage and move the carriage forwardly relatively to the drawer by the closing of the drawer.

6. The combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out in the case and having upright side walls formed with channel-shaped upper portions providing longitudinal shoulders at the outer sides of said walls and inwardly facing longitudinal guideways, a follower in said drawer, a follower supporting carriage comprising side bars embracing said shoulders and the upper edges of said channel portions at the outer sides of said sidewalls, and havinginwardly facing guideways, rollers mounted on said carriage side bars and arranged to travel in said first mentioned guideways, slides secured to said follower and arranged to move in said second mentioned guideways for adjusting the follower in the drawer 75 relatively to the carriage, means for locking the follower in adjusted positions on the carriage, and means for limiting the longitudinal movementl of the follower carriage relatively to the drawer.

7. The combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out in the case, a follower-supporting carriage having limited longitudinal movement on the drawer, a follower carried by and partaking in the longitudinal movement of the carriage and adjustable longitudinally to different positions relative to the carriage, follower actuating means which shifts the follower for compressing the drawer contents when closing the drawer, and latch means having cooperating members on the drawer and carriage which holds the follower from shifting out of its compressing position while thedrawer is closed.

8. The combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out in the case, a follower-supporting carriage having limited longitudinal movement on the drawer, a follower carried by and partalsing in the longitudinal movement of the carriage and adjustable longitudinally to different positions relative to the carriage, follower actuating means operated by the movement of the drawer in the case which shifts the follower carriage and follower for compressing the drawer contents when closing the drawer, and latch means having cooperating members on the follower carriage and drawer for holding the carriage and follower from shifting out of their compressing position while the drawer is closed.

9. The combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out in the case, a follower-supporting carriage having limited longitudinal movement on the drawer, a follower carried by and partaking in the longitudinal movement of the carriage and adjustable longitudinally to different positions relative to the carriage, follower actuating means operated by the movement of the drawer in the case which shifts the follower for compressing the drawer contents when closing the drawer, and latch means having cooperating members on the follower carriage and drawer which holds the follower from shifting in the direction to compress the drawer contents after the drawer has been opened and pressure of the follower on the drawer contents relieved.

10. The combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out in the case, a follower-supporting carriage having limited longitudinal movement on the drawer, a follower carried by and partaking in the longitudinal movement of the carriage and adjustable longitudinally to different positions relative to the carriage, follower actuating means which shifts the follower for compressing the drawer contents when closing the drawer, latch means which holds the follower from shifting out of its compressing position while the drawer is closed, and means operated by the opening of the drawer to release the latch for relieving pressure of the follower on the drawer contents. i

l1. The combination of a file case, a drawer movable in and out in the case, a follower-sup-V porting carriage having limited longitudinal movement on the drawer, a follower carried by and partaking in the longitudinal movement of the carriage and adjustable longitudinally to different positions relative to thecarriage, means for shifting the follower to hold the drawer contents under pressure when the drawer is closed and for relieving the pressure on the contents when the drawer is open, latch means which normally holds the follower from shifting, and means which actuates said latch means upon the opening or closing of the drawer to allow the shifting of the fouower.

12. The combination of a. le case, a drawer movable in and out in the case, a follower-supporting carriage having limited longitudinal movement on the drawer, a follower carried by and partaking in the longitudinal movement of the carriage and adjustable longitudinally to different positions relative to the carriage, follower actuating means which shifts the follower carriage and follower for compressing the drawer contents when closing the drawer, a latch on said carriage arranged to engage the drawer for securing the follower to hold the drawer contents under pressure when the drawer is closed and to prevent pressure of the follower on the drawer contents when the drawer is open, and means which actuates the latch upon the closing and opening of the drawer to allow the shifting of the follower to apply pressure to and relieve the pressure on the drawer contents.

JAMES R. JONES. VICTOR A. GRONBERG.

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