US873555A - Provision-safe. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907 0." E. KEARNS.

PROVISION SAFE.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 5, 1907.

VE/V TOR;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OSCAR E. KEARNS, OF HIGH POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR TO KEARNS FURNITURE COMPANY, OF HIGH POINT, NORTH CAROLINA.

PROVISION-SAFE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

Application filed July 3, 1907. Serial No. 382.046.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR E. KEARNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at High Point, in the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Provision-Safe, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to knock-down furniture and more particularly to provision safes or similar articles of furniture.

The object of the invention is to provide a' device of this character which can be quickly set up or taken apart and which has joints of novel form whereby the panels of which the device is constructed will be self-centering.

I-Ieretofore in the construction of knockdown furniture it has been customary to use the ordinary tongue and groove joints but these have been found objectionable because should the furniture be twisted or partly folded after the panels are assembled but before the shelves or bottom of the device are placed in position the tongues are liable to break off within the grooves. Inasmuch as furniture of this character is designed to be set up by inexperienced persons it will be understood that this objection is an important one.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate this objectionable feature by providing joints for the panels which permit said panels to change their angles to one another without danger of becoming cracked or broken, the bottom and shelves of the device being depended upon to hold the panels at the proper angles.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

. raised.

In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of the invention.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a provision safe embodying the present improvements, the top of the safe being removed and one of the side panels partly Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the upper portion of the safe. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the joints, one of the positions which may be assumed by one of the panels being indicated by dotted lines.

Referring to the figures by'characters of reference, 1 designates the front panel of a Fig.

safe the same havin side strips 2 which eX- tend below the pane to form leg sections 3. The rear panel 4 of the safe also has side strips 5 extending therebelow to form leg sections 6. Each of the strips 2 and 5 is provided in its inner face with a longitudinal groove 7 which is substantially semicylindrical in transverse contour. Interposed between the strips 2 and 5 are side panels 8 each having side strips 9 which extend below the panels 8 to form leg sections 10. The outer longitudinal edge of each strip 9 is rounded so as to fit snugly within the adj oining groove 7, as shown particularly in Fig. 3. Each side panel is provided with a plurality of cleats 10 designed to support the shelves 11 and the bottom'of the safe.

In order that the front and rear panels head 13 at one end and suitable means such as a thumb nut 14 at its other end so that by tightening the nut the panels 1 and 4 can bev drawn against the rounded edges of the side panels. A top 15 is disposed to be secured in any suitable manner upon the safe, said top having guard strips or flanges 16 extending therearound and designed to lap the upper portions of the panels.

An article of furniture such as herein described is designed to be shipped and placed upon the market with the parts disconnected. The purchaser can readily assemble the parts by first inserting the rods 12 through the front and rear panels and placing the nuts thereon. The side panels are then moved downward between the front and rear panels and with their rounded edges in the grooves 7. The nuts are then tightened so that the front and rear panels will be firmly clamped upon the side panels. Inasmuch as the edges of the side panels are rounded and fit within correspondingly shaped grooves itwill be apparent that if the side panels should not be properly centered when placed in position the rods, when tightened, will cause the panels to shift into their proper positions. Moreover, if, by any chance the side panels should be forced out of position at right angles to the front and rear panels as SllOWIl by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and prior to the placing of the shelves and bottom of the safe, there will be no danger of the panels splitting at the joints as would be the case should ordinary tongue and groove connections be employed in lieu of the oints disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. An article of furniture having front, rear and side panels, said side panels having rounded edges, and said front and rear panels having rounded grooves designed to receive said edges, and means for binding the front and rear panels upon the side panels.

2. An article of furniture having front and rear panels each of said panels having longitudinal grooves curved in crosssection, side panels interposed between the first mentioned panels and. having rounded longitudi nal edges disposed to fit and turn within the grooves, and tie rods engaging the front and rear panels and disposed to bind them upon the side panels.

3. An article of manufacture having front and rear panels, each of said panels having longitudinal grooves substantially semi-circular in cross section, side panels interposed 7 between the first mentioned panels and having rounded longitudinal edges conforming in contour with and disposed to fit within panels, and means engaging the rods for binding the grooved panels upon the side panels.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I- have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

OSCAR E. KEARNS. Witnesses G. H. KEARNS, L. L. BEST.

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