US2501879A - Tray chest - Google Patents

Description

Mavrch 28, "1?50 R, D, SULENTIC 2,501,879

TRAY CHEST Filed Aug. 19, 1948 Patented Mar. 28, 1950 TRAY CHEST `Rtwm'ond D. Sulentic, Waterloo,` Iowa, assignor to Waterloo Valve? Spring Compressor-Company, a

corporation of Iowa Application August 19, 1954s-, serial Ntgfispso* This invention relates to tray chests, and has for its principal object to provide simple means for automatically moving the tray backward as the lid is opened and forward as the lid is closed, and which permits the tray to be raised and lowered with the lid in opening and closing. This automatically gives access to the chest below the tray by merely raising the lid and permits the lid and the tray to be raised to make the chest wide open when desired.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the chest with the lid open and the tray moved back to afford access to the body of the chest beneath the tray;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar cross-section with the lid closed;

Fig. 4 is an end view showing diagrammatically an intermediate position of the lid and tray; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the hinge -for the lid.

The body of the chest includes a front wall III, a back wall I I, end walls I2, and a bottom I3.

The lid includes a front wall IA, a back wall I5. end walls I6, and a top I1.

The back wall I5 is hinged to the back wall I I of the chest body by a piano hinge IB, modified by notching the movable parts 20, as indicated at 2 I, to provide a shoulder to strike the fixed parts 22 and thereby form a positive stop to limit the swinging movement of the lid with respect to the chest, which is preferably on the order of 90 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. I2 and back again.

The end walls I2 are provided with transverse tray supports 24 along their upper portions upon which the tray may rest. Those walls are also offset inwardly above the tray supports 24 to form extensions 25, and the front Wall I0 is oifset inwardly to correspond and form an extension 2E, with the result that the tray supports 24 and eX- l tensions 25 and 28 form a tray seat open upwardly and rearwardly.

The tray includes a front wall 21, a back wall 28, end walls 29, and a bottom 30, the corners betweenthe bottom and the front and back walls being curved as indicated at 3l.

As will appear best in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the tray is somewhat narrower fore and aft than the lidapproximately the height of the walls of the tray. Its normal closed position is forwardly shown in Fig. 3. Its normal open position is rearwardly shown in Fig. 2.

To automatically move the tray with the lid between the positions indicated in the drawings,

2 claims. (ol. aia- 18er it isf connected to tlit'op' 'ofthe lid by hinges 32, here shown as riveted, respectively, to the top of the lid I1 and the back wall 28 of the tray with the axes 33 adjacent t'o the upper edge of the back wall 28 of the tray and removed from the rear edge 34 of the lid. Compare Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

With this arrangement, merely swinging the lid upwardly from its position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. '2 automatically shifts the tray backwardly to the position shown in Fig.

l. In d'oing so, the rear portion of the lid is rst raised, as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 4, while the whole tray is moved backwardly, and then the rear portion of the tray is brought down during the further backward movement of the tray as a whole to the position shown in Fig. 2.

In closing, the operation is reversed, and during both 'opening and closing the front rounded corner 3| of the tray moves along the tray supports 24, land the tray is guided by the extensions 25 on the end walls of the chest body.

When it is desired to have the chest wide open, the lid can be iirst moved from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4, and then, by inserting the hand, the tray is swung upwardly and held against the lid in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, in which position it will remain or may be held when the lid is fully open.

By providing limiting stops to prevent the lid from going much beyond upright position, shown in Fig. 2, the chest as a whole remains balanced, and there is no danger of its falling over backward, even though the tray is loaded heavily.

When the chest is made of sheet metal, the tray supports and extensions 25 may be made by bending and folding the end wall sheets and extensions 26 by bending and'folding the front wall sheet.

In the interest of clearness, locks, latches, and handles have been omitted, but their use is contemplated, and is deemed obvious without detailed illustration.

I claim:

1. In a chest, a chest body including front, back and end walls and transverse tray supports dening a plane along the upper portions of the end walls and disposed at substantially right angles thereto, a lid hinged to the back wall in substantially the plane of said supports and including front, back and end walls corresponding to the walls of the chest body, a tray freely supported on the tray supports and including front, back and end walls, and a bottom of less dimensions front and back than the top of the lid, and a hinge connection between the top of the lid and the upper edge portion of the back wall of the tray, said tray being free from the tray supports and capable of being turned on its hinge connection and folded towards the lid.

2. A chest of the character described, comprising a box body open at its top and provided at opposite ends with inner horizontal ledges extending from front to rear of the chest and dening a plane,'a tray having its bottom freely supported on said ledges and slidable thereon, said tray being of less width than the body from front to rear thereof, a lid hinged to the back of the body in substantially the plane of the ledges and also hinged to the top edge portion of the back of the tray, said tray4 being movable slidably along the ledges longitudinally of the latter when the lid is swung on its hingev connection with the body of the chest, said tray also being free to be swung upon its hinge connection with the lid out of supporting engagement with the ledges and towards the lid when the lid is open.

RAYMOND D.SULENTIC;

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

- UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 475,617 Seward et al May 24, 1892 1,586,319 Meyerson May 25, 1926 1,973,825 Pratt Sept. 18, 1934 l 2,209,091 Piker July 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 158,782 Switzerland Feb. 16, 1933 1 '139,037 France Jan. 4, 1933

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