US615788A - Charles p - Google Patents

Description

No. 65,738. Patented D80. l3, I898. I

c. F. BIBLE.

SHOW CASE.

(Application filed Supt. 17, mos.

(No Model.) 4

w/nmsrs ATTORNEYS.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. BIELE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOW-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,788, dated December 13, 1898.

Applioatloil filed $eptemher 17, 1898. Serial No. 691,131. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. BIELE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Show- Oases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in that class of show-cases known as all-glass show-cases, or show-cases in which the wooden or metal frame for holding the front, side, and top plates in position is entirely dispensed with and these plates held firmly and reliably in position by fasteningscrews which are passed through holes drilled into said plates; and the invention consists of a show-case comprising bottom, front, side, and top plates, means for connecting said front, side, and top plates, sliding rear doors, guide-rails for said doors, anchors connecting the top plate with the top guide-rail, and screw-bolts for attaching said anchors to said top guide-rail, and, further, in certain details of construction and combinations of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical transverse section of my improved show-case. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of a portion of the same on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the angular corner-bracket by which connection between the front, side, and top plates is made. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of an intermediate connecting-bracket for the front and top plates and side and top plates; and Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views showing, re spectively, the socket in the top plate and the anchor for connecting the top plate with the top rail of the rear frame of the showcase.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the bottom of my improved show-case, which is preferably made of wood in the usual manner. The inner and outer front rails a and a and side rails may be made of wood or of wood sheathed with metal and are preferably secured by screws a, which pass through openings a near the lower edges of the front and side plates. The rear part of the showcase is preferably made of wooden doors B B, which are provided with mirror-plates cl on their inner sides, said doors being guided in suitable top and bottom rails of a rear frame H, which is formed of sheet metal bent in U shape and fitted over the edges of the top and side plates and bottom of the case. Guiderails for the doors B B are formed by the raised portions h of the metallic rear frame, said raised portions extending at the sides as well as at the top and bottom of the case, as indicated by the cross-section horizontal view, Fig. 2. The front, sides, and top of the showcase are preferably made of glass plates of suitable thickness, the top plate E being preferably rounded off at its front and side edges, as shown in Fig. 1.

The connection of the upper corners of the front, side, and top plates 0 D E is accomplished by angular brackets or corner-pieces F, one of which is shown in perspective in Fig. 3, and which are composed of three quadrant-shaped plates or wings, two of which, f f, are united with each other at right angles, while the third, f a horizontal portion, is united at right angles to the two side plates of the bracket. Each wing of the'corner-bracket F is provided with an interiorly-threaded ap erture g, that is engaged by a connecting screw-bolt g, that passes through holes drilled in the glass plates near their edges. The screw-bolts g are preferably provided with cylindrical heads 9 which fit into a corresponding countersink or socket in the glass plates, at the outer ends of the bolt-holes in the same, so that when the fastening-bolts g are screwed home into the tapped openings in the corner-brackets F their heads 9 will be even with'the outer surface of the front, side, and top plates of the show-case. To produce the proper connection of the cornerbrackets and fastening-bolts, suitable washers of flexible material may be interposed between the heads of the fastening-screws and the bottom of the sockets provided for the screw-heads or between the outer surface of the corner-brackets and the inner surface of the glass plates, as may be found most con- Venient. By these yielding washers the detaching of the fastening-screws from the cornerpieces is prevented and a tighter connection between the plates obtained. When a case ICO of considerable length is to be made, it is necessary to connect the front and top plates at points intermediate between the end plates. For this purpose plain angular brackets are used, one of which is shown in Fig. 4. This bracket is fastened to the front and top plates by fastening-screws in the same manner as the corner-brackets.

For the purpose of producing a reliable connection between the rear edge of the top plate E and the top rail of the rear frame II it is preferable to employ an anchor K, which is shown in perspective view in Fig. (3. This anchor is formed of a cylindrical head 7.:, that is equal in height with the thickness of the top glass plate E, and of a semicircular shank 7t and a T-shaped head 7.: at the end of said shank, said head being provided with a tapped hole k for a fastening-screw 7c", the conical head of which is seated in an opening in the metallic top rail of the rear frame. The cylindrical portion 7a of the anchor K is fitted into a corresponding hole 6, which is drilled in the top plate E, while the shank is fitted into a semicircular recess 6, that connects the cylindrical opening e with the edge of the plate, as shown in Fig. 5. \Vhen the anchor is dropped into the openings or sockets in the top plate E and the head 70 placed in position adjacent to the rear edge of said plate, connection with the top rail is made by the screw 7.3, as shown at the upper right-hand side of Fig. 1. A strip of felt or other flexible filling material is interposed, preferably, between the edge of the top plate E and the top rail, so as to actas a cushion for the top plate and prevent breakage as a result of too hard a tightening of the connection.

The advantages of my improved all-glass show-case are that the parts can be shipped in detached or knocked-down condition and can be readily assembled when the show-case is to be put up for use. Owing to the simple construction of the connecting corner and intermediate brackets for the front, side, and top plates,the show-case can be manufactured at a very low price, and by use of elastic washers the strain on the glass plates is reduced, so that the breaking of the plates is prevented and unequal strains avoided.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A show-case, consisting of bottom, front, side and top plates, means for connecting said front, side and top plates, sliding rear doors, guide-rails for said doors, anchors connecting the top plate with the top guide-rail, and screw-bolts for attaching said anchors to said top guide-rail, substantially as set forth.

2. A show-case, consisting of bottom, front, side and top plates, means for connecting said front, side and top plates, sliding rear doors, guide-rails for said doors, an anchor connecting the top plate with the top guide-rail, and means for adjusting said top guide-rail relatively to said top plate and anchor, substantially as set forth.

3. An anchor for connecting the top plate with the top rail of a show-case, said anchor consisting of a cylindrical portion, a shank, and a head at the rear end of the shank, said head being provided with a tapped hole, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. BIELE.

Vitnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, M. HENRY WURTZEL.

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