EP0204716B1 - Evolutive synoptic table - Google Patents

Abstract

Method enabling to modify the classification of superposed cards. The device enabling to implement such method is comprised of vertical slides consisting of a bottom (14) and two flanges (15) carrying pins (16) on which the cards (17, 26) are bearing. The cards have a head such that when a card (25) is inserted between two other cards it spaces apart the card which is under (26) from its bearings (16) thereby initiating the fall of the card which will cause the following card to fall and so on all cards which are under will fall down by one space in cascade until they find available bearings (16). Fields of utilization: bureautics (evolutive plannings); sports: continuous display of classification with successive performances.

Description

• - des fichiers et plannings à colonnes de classement verticales ;
• - des tableaux d'affichage à vocation évolutive.

The present invention relates to a process in accordance with the preamble of claim 1, in particular in the fields:

• - files and schedules with vertical filing columns;
• - bulletin boards with an evolving vocation.

In the devices known in the field of files and schedules displayed in contiguous vertical columns, the elements to be viewed, called cards, are introduced one above the other in superimposed slots. They are held in place by a larger part at the head resting on the ends of the slits (heel file).

If you want to insert a new sheet in a packed column, you must manually move a notch and one by one all those located below or above the chosen one to release a slot.

On other models of updatable files, independent elements support the same stub files. They are stacked on top of each other in vertical slides.

To remove an element from a column it is necessary to lift the stack located above with one hand, with the other to extract the carrying element, leaving an empty space which will be immediately reoccupied by the descent of the elements above.

To insert a new element, you must also lift the stack above with one hand, and insert the new element with the other.

The change of place of a file requires each time these two successive handling operations.

In a file with evolving vocation these frequent handling are slow and tedious. An example is illustrated by the schedule of French patent no. 1,529,767 (FIG. 4), in which the plugs 3 are suspended on pegs 9. In such a schedule, it is obviously impossible to insert a plug in a continuous tiering of sheets without making room for the newly introduced sheet, and therefore without lowering all the sheets located below by a notch, which is a long and tedious operation. In addition, if the order of the files is important, there is then a risk of errors.

• - Dans celui des fichiers fréquemment évolutifs modifiant le classement des fiches visualisées.
• - Dans les planning, de commande de travail, de livraison, etc..., qui s'organisent à mesure de l'arrivée des ordres ou des. commandes. Les documents : bons de travail, bons de livraison, devant être visualisés et rendus mobiles, et leur ordre actualisé facilement.
• - Dans le domaine des panneaux visibles à distance, d'affichage de classement modifié par séquences successives. Résultats d'épreuves sportives individuelles, par exemple.
• - Dans des jeux de manipulation de chiffres et de lettres.

The aim of the method and the device according to the invention is to remedy these drawbacks in various fields:

• - In that of frequently evolving files modifying the classification of the files viewed.
• - In the planning, work order, delivery, etc., which are organized as orders or orders arrive. orders. Documents: work orders, delivery notes, to be viewed and made mobile, and their order easily updated.
• - In the field of visible panels from a distance, classification display modified by successive sequences. Results of individual sporting events, for example.
• - In games of manipulation of numbers and letters.

To do this, a classification process in accordance with the invention is characterized in that by inserting an element between two others or at the head of the column, the head of this element separates from its supports the head from that of the bottom, causing thus its fall, the head of the latter in turn triggering the fall of the next and so on, all the elements below it descending one notch automatically in cascade until finding available supports.

As for the device for implementing such a method, it will be characterized in that it comprises at least one slide having two flanges, each of which is provided on the one hand with projections directed towards the inside of the slide, for guiding the elements in their fall, and on the other hand a series of supports for the head of the elements.

Other characteristics of such a device are defined in the following claims 3 to 11.

• - Des éléments indépendants et mobiles à visualiser, et des éléments fixes pouvant être appelés coulisses supportant les premiers.

In other words and in general, the device according to the invention is characterized in that it consists of two kinds of distinct elements, namely:

• - Independent and mobile elements to view, and fixed elements which can be called slides supporting the first.

• - Les éléments fixes sont composés d'une façon générale de bandes verticales ou inclinées, formant une coulisse comportant un fond et deux rebords, pouvant être appelées coulisses.

Different variants concerning these elements, and pertaining to the present invention make it possible to adapt to the field of use and to the particular application needs.

• - The fixed elements are generally composed of vertical or inclined bands, forming a slide comprising a bottom and two edges, which can be called slides.

Depending on the application, these slides can be permanently fixed and contiguous to constitute a wall painting.

They can also be independent, or belong to the same support on which they hang while remaining removable, which makes it possible to modify their position in relation to the others.

• - Les éléments mobiles sont composés :
  • d'une surface plane destinée à recevoir les inscriptions. Celles-ci resteront visualisées dans la partie supérieure et cachées pour la partie introduite derrière l'élément positionnée en dessous.

These slides serve both as a guide and as support for the mobile elements. For this purpose, the slide edges carry projections called teeth, cleats or lugs. These are arranged one below the other, the spacing of the supports determining the displayed width of the elements which take position there.

• - The mobile elements are composed:
  • a flat surface intended to receive the inscriptions. These will remain displayed in the upper part and hidden for the part inserted behind the element positioned below.

The inscriptions can be written on the surface even on the condition of being easily erasable to ensure the continuous reuse of the element, or be attached to independent supports applied to the flat surface, either adhesive, or pinched at the head, or retained by slides integral with this element.

When they are carried by vertical slides, the upper part of the surface of these elements is notched below the head to allow it to move away without being retained by the lug which guided it to to this support. This is not necessary when the slides are inclined, they do not carry a lug.

• Que si l'on écarte la tête du fond de la coulisse on provoque la chute de l'élément jusqu'au taquets situés au-dessous.
• Que s'il se trouve déjà un élément positionné sur ceux-ci la tête rencontrant celle d'en dessous qu'elle écarte pour atteindre les appuis sur lesquels elle va s'arrêter, et provoque la chute de l'élément qui s'y trouvait.

A head which can either be formed from the same material as the fixed part, or be an attached and secured part. This head allowing the movable element to bear on two cleats, lugs, or teeth of the same level and whose essential characteristics obtained by the shapes which are given to it are:

• If you move your head away from the bottom of the slide, the element will fall to the tabs located below.
• That if there is already an element positioned on them the head meeting the one below that it spreads to reach the supports on which it will stop, and causes the fall of the element which is there found.

According to the essential characteristic of the invention when in a column of superimposed elements one adds a head or that it is inserted between two others of this column, the added element will separate the head from the one below which will cause his fall. The latter will in turn trigger the fall of the next and so on, all the files located below will descend one notch automatically in cascade. until you find an available position.

According to another characteristic of the invention if the column reaches the lowest position, the last discarded element will leave the last supports and fall into a receptacle; this receptacle can contain several mobile elements and also serve as a reserve for others available.

In the description which follows, the elements to be displayed which may be, depending on the field of application, files, documents, tables, maps, etc. will be systematically called files.

According to a first variant, the device is characterized by slides, the projections of which consist of a toothing cut in its edges. In this variant, the plugs are of the heel or strip type, the lateral overhangs of the head resting on the teeth, these plugs are also easily reassembled by sliding them manually from one tooth to the other by simple pressure towards the top. In this arrangement, the slides must be spread apart at the bottom so that the moving plugs fall by gravity onto the teeth below.

According to a feature added to this device, making it possible to obtain the same result with perfectly vertical slides, the edges of the toothed slides also carry lugs preventing the plugs from being ejected from the vertical slide when their head is moved away from it, and guides until the next press. The cards must then have under the head two notches allowing them to escape the pins to initiate their next movement.

According to a new characteristic varying with the previous one, the teeth have a horizontal part forming a cleat, serving both as support and as guides for the plugs, thus replacing the lug necessary in the previous embodiment.

According to a variant concerning the sheets (or mobile elements of another application) their head carries a clamp to support an independent element to be viewed. For this purpose the head can be formed to form an oval tube and open longitudinally to release a lip forming a clamp, another tube also oval contained in the first is secured to a lever protruding forward. Its movement causes the rotation of the inner tube, and the lifting of the lip forming a clamp under which the document will be introduced, it will suffice to return the lever to its first position so that it is pinched there.

According to a second variant, the device is characterized by slides, the projections of which consist of lugs supported by the flanges, these lugs serving both as support and as guides for the plugs; and by plugs whose head of the same width the flat part, slides entirely between the edges. The head of the plugs has an almost horizontal surface, which rests on the pins, surface slightly inclined towards the rear to better ensure its support, and a surface inclined opposite to the first having the role of separating the head from sheet she will meet; two lateral notches at the ends of this surface allow it to avoid, at the end of the fall, the pins on which the first surface will bear; In this device, the holes intended for the pins can be superabundant and at regular intervals, and the pins easily displaceable, to allow the user to choose himself the spacing of the supports, therefore of the visualized surface of the cards in place, and even to vary these spacings on the same slide.

The various devices that are the subject of this description comprising fixed slides and mobile elements that together make up a module, can be the subject of different forms of presentation; either in autonomous modules, or in a succession of contiguous fixed modules grouped in a table, or of several removable modules attached to the same support on which they are easily movable. This possibility makes it possible to adapt to different uses and different fields of application.

• La figure 1 représente un module autonome, du type à dentures, porteur de fiches à réglette.
• La figure 2 est une coupe horizontale du module.
• La figure 3 montre une denture à taquets.
• La figure 4 est une coupe horizontale de ce module.
• La figure 5 est une coupe montrant l'action des fiches à réglette en mouvement.
• La figure 6 montre une fiche à réglette.
• La figure 7 montre une fiche du même type munie d'une pince.
• La figure 8 est une coupe verticale de la réglette portant la pince.
• La figure 9 montre un tableau constitué de modules à ergots supportant des fiches sans débord.
• La figure 10 est une coupe horizontale de ce tableau.
• La figure 11 représente une fiche de largeur constante.
• La figure 12 est une coupe verticale d'un module du tableau représenté figure 9 montrant l'action des fiches en mouvement..

The device according to the invention is represented by the drawings which follow, giving the embodiment of two variants which are objects of the description, applicable to the evolving files.

• FIG. 1 represents an autonomous module, of the toothed type, carrying strips with strips.
• Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the module.
• Figure 3 shows a serration.
• Figure 4 is a horizontal section of this module.
• FIG. 5 is a section showing the action of the plugs in movement.
• Figure 6 shows a strip card.
• Figure 7 shows a plug of the same type fitted with a clamp.
• Figure 8 is a vertical section of the strip carrying the clamp.
• Figure 9 shows a table consisting of lug modules supporting plugs without overhang.
• Figure 10 is a horizontal section of this table.
• FIG. 11 represents a sheet of constant width.
• FIG. 12 is a vertical section of a module of the table shown in FIG. 9 showing the action of the moving plugs.

FIG. 1 represents a module comprising a toothing (1) cut in the flanges (5) of the slide; the sheets (3) are supported on the teeth by the edges of the strip constituting their head. The module is shown in a vertical position which requires the pins (2) avoiding the cards to be ejected out of the slides during their movements.

Figure 2 shows the slide in horizontal section.

Figure 6 shows the cards suitable for this use. They include a slide head (10) two notches (6) allowing them to be released from their supports by escaping the pins, and a flat surface intended to receive the inscriptions (7).

This module can also be used in an inclined position. In this case the pins (2) of the slides and the notches (6) of the cards are useless, the displaced cards fall naturally on the teeth by gravity.

Figure 3 is a variant to the teeth of Figure 1 in that each tooth carries a cleat (4) projecting towards the inside of the slide (see Figure 4 section BB). These cleats have both the function of supporting sliders and moving plug guides, thus replacing the pins. The same sheets shown in Figure 6 are suitable for this use.

Figure 5 shows, in vertical section of the module of Figure 3, the dynamic process of the cards; we see the plugs (3) in a static position, then a plug (8) during the descent, guided by the overhang of the cleats (4), and whose head strip moves aside that of the plug (9 ). The latter will be removed from its tabs (4) triggering its fall in turn, guided by the tabs (4) of the next tooth, which thus prevents it from being ejected outside the slide. The dynamic process is put into action, the falling card (9) will in turn cause that of the next one of a space, and so on, in cascade, of all those located below.

FIG. 7 shows a card with a strip, the variant of which compared to that of FIG. 6 consists in its possibility of pinching a document to be viewed against its flat face. In this example, the clamp is produced by an ovalized rod (12) contained in the middle part of the strip (10) secured to the lever (11).

Figure 8 is a section CC of Figure 11 showing the device produced. The strip is partly of ovalized tubular shape, open longitudinally in its middle part to release the lip (13). The operation of the lever (11) pivoting the rod (12) causes the spacing or the lowering of the lip intended to pinch the document introduced.

This type of toothed design allows easy raising of the bar files by simple upward manual pressure.

FIG. 9 represents a table made up of modules coming under the second variant which is the subject of the description. In this embodiment the slides consist of vertical strips assembled to form the bottoms (14) and the sliding edges (15). The edges support lugs (16) which will serve both to support the sheets (17) and guides to prevent them from being ejected outside the slides in their movements.

FIG. 10 is a horizontal section of the device showing a means of producing this table with contiguous modules.

FIG. 11 shows a continuous width sheet comprising a flat surface (18) intended for the inscriptions, a surface close to the horizontal (19) slightly inclined towards the rear by a certain angle (22) intended to bear on the lugs (16); another surface (20) joining the two preceding ones (18 and 19) inclined at a certain angle (23), intended to separate the plug behind which it slides during its descent, and of reduced width to provide two notches (21 ) enabling it to avoid the lugs (16) on which the horizontal surface (19) will rest at the end of the falls.

Figure 12 shows the dynamic process according to the invention, identical to that described above; namely that a plug (25) slides down behind the plug (26). The head of the first discarding at the end of the fall the one below, engaging the cascade descent of the following. The plug located on the lowest tabs will end up falling into the receptacle (24) located in the lower part of the slide.

In the device shown in FIG. 9, the edges of the slides are provided with numerous closely spaced holes intended to receive the pins; these being removable, the user can choose or modify the spacing of the supports by placing or moving these lugs (16).

Claims (11)

1. Process for the vertical classification of independent elements such as cards (3, 8, 9, 17), positioned one above the other in accordance with a column and each having on the one hand a header (10, 19, 20) permitting a sliding support on a support (1, 4, 16) and on the other hand a planar portion (7, 18) able to carry inscriptions, characterized in that by inserting an element (8, 18) between two other elements or at the head of the column, the head of said element moves aside from its supports the head of that located below (9-19), thus bringing about the dropping thereof, the head of the latter in turn bringing about the dropping of the following element and so on, all the elements located below the same dropping automatically by one notch in cascade until available supports are found.

2. Apparatus for performing the process according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least one slide having two edges (5, 15), each of which is provided on the one hand with projections (2, 4, 16) directed towards the interior of the slide for guiding the elements during their fall and on the other hand a series of supports (1, 4, 16) for the head of the elements.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said supports are constituted by the substantially horizontal bearings of a tooth system (1) (Fig. 1).

4. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said projections are constituted by lugs (2, 16) (Figs. and 9).

5. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said supports are constituted by the flanges (4) of a tooth system, which are directed towards the interior of the slide and whereof the rear edge serves as a projection for guiding the elements (Fig. 3).

6. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the projections directed towards the interior of the slide for guiding the elements are constituted by lugs (16), which at the same time serve as supports for the heads of the elements (Fig. 9).

7. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the card head (3) integral with the planar portion (7) is constituted by an ovalized, downwardly tapered bar (10) so that it can be inserted between the edges of the slide (1) and the head of the lower card (9) and can remove the same from its supports (4, 1).

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the bar (10) is integral with a clip (13) for fixing a document to the displayed and a handle (11) opening and closing said clip.

9. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the card is provided with two notches (6) freeing the card from the guidance system of the lugs of flanges so that it can slide outwards.

10. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the header (19) of card (17) is of the same width as the planar portion of the body (18) of said card so that it slides between edges (5,15).

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the header of the card has, so that it can bear on the lugs, a surface (19) substantially perpendicular (22) to the planar portion (18) of the vertically suspended card body, said surface (19) being connected to the planar part by surface (20) inclined (23) relative to said planar part of the card body and at the end of the fall moving the lower card from its supports, said inclined surface also being provided with two notches (21) to avoid the lugs.

Images