GB2131395A

GB2131395A - Portable workstation

Info

Publication number: GB2131395A
Application number: GB08223375A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Robert Holt
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-08-13
Filing date: 1982-08-13
Publication date: 1984-06-20

Abstract

A portable workstation comprises aboard (11) which is fixed to a lidded box (12) in a manner such that the box extends along one edge (11b) of the board to leave a substantially unobstructed square working surface, and such that the lid of the box can be opened and closed at will when the board (11) is placed, working-surface uppermost, on a generally flat horizontal supporting surface such as a tabletop. The undersurface of the board may be faced with slip-resistant material, and the box lid, when closed, may slope towards the working surface of the board. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Portable workstation The invention relates to a portable workstation, in particular to a workstation which is suitable for use or intended to be used on a generally flat horizontal supporting surface such as a tabletop.

The invention is particularly applicable to toy workstations intended to facilitate the use by children of artistic media such as modelling clay or coloured pencils. Traditionally, such media are sold in individual packs and it is left to the purchaser to supply the working surface on which the media operate. A child buying a box of coloured pencils, for example, will provide a pad or sheet of drawing paper. Similarly another child buying a pack of modelling clay will need a tabletop or other surface on which to mouid the clay.

In many cases, worksurfaces such as tabletops which lend themselves to use with artistic media can be damaged, or at least temporarily disfigured by the media in use. This is especially the case where children are concerned, since their levels of skill may be immature.

The invention seeks to provide a combined material-container and worksurface which will overcome the drawbacks arising from the hitherto separate purchase or provision of these two items.

According to the broadest aspect of the invention, a portable workstation for use on a tabletop comprises a board which is fixed to lidded box in a manner such that the box extends along, or adjacent, an edge of the board and such that the box can be opened and closed at will when the board is placed, working-surface uppermost, on the tabletop.

Such a workstation provides a readily-used self-contained means for children to use artistic media such as coloured pencils or modelling clay, without disfiguring the tabletop itself, and to store the artistic materials in the box after use without the box first having to be found and brought from another part of the room in which the workstation is being used. Because the box is fixed to the board, the danger of board and box being lost is minimised, as they constitute a sizeable unit.

By the same reasoning, preferably the lid is fixed to the box, to minimise the risk of losing it temporarily or even permanently. The lid may be a sliding lid or a hinged lid. If it is a sliding lid, it may be a rigid lid or it could be the kind of lid traditionally used on pencil boxes and which follows a curved track.

The undersurface of the board, and of the box base, may conveniently be coplanar. This gives the workstation a firm seat on the tabletop in use. It also makes the workstation simpler, and hence cheaper, to construct. The undersurface of the board, and of the base of the box, may for instance be formed integrally from the same sheet of material, and then the board can effectively constitute an extension of the box base sheet.

For practical purposes, the working surface of the board will be abrasion-resistant, and it may be made non-liquid-absorbent so that it can be used repeatedly and wiped clean after use.

The undersurface of the board may be faced with slip-resistant material, again to give the workstation a firm seat on the tabletop when in use. The slip-resistant material need not necessarily cover the entire undersurface of the board. For example, rubber feet may be spaced one at each corner of a square or rectangular board.

The board itself may conveniently be square or rectangular, but the use of the term "board" is not intended to restrict the invention to workstations having a square or rectangular worksurface. The board may be any shape conveniently sized to fit on to a conventionally-sized domestic tabletop.

Similarly the term "board" is not intended to restrict the invention to workstations having wooden worksurfaces. The working surface of the board will be substantially flat over most if not all of its area, but the undersurface could be ribbed or otherwise contoured to suit individual requirements.

Because the box extends along, or adjacent, an edge of the board, most if not all of the working surface of the board remains unobstructed by the box and is put to maximum use. To increase further the ease of utility of the workstation, the lid, when closed, preferably lies parallel with the working surface of the board, or slopes towards it.

The artistic materials are then most readily transferred from the box to the working surface of the board, and back again, especially by young children using the workstation as an educational aid and with limited skills of their own.

One workstation embodying the invention is shown, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings. It is currently the best way known to the applicant of putting the invention into practice. It will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows the workstation in side elevation; Figure 2 shows the box of the workstation in plan; and Figure 3 shows the workstation in perspective and viewed from above.

The workstation illustrated is a portable workstation, for use on a tabletop, and comprises a board which is referenced 11 and which is fixed to a rectangular lidded box 12. In this particular embodiment of the invention, the board 11 is formed integrally from the same sheet of material as the base of the box 12, and constitutes effectively an extension of the box base.

The working surface 11 a of the board is square, as Figure 3 shows, and the box 1 2 extends along one edge 11 b of that working surface. The box lid 12a is hinged along its rear longitudinal edge, the hinges being indicated at 13 and 14 respectively, and when the lid 1 2a is closed, it lies parallel with the working surface 1 a of the board.

A brass hook 1 5 is pivotted to the front longitudinal outer wall of the box 12. The hook 1 5 cooperates with a brass eye 1 6 which is screwed into the front longitudinal edge of the box lid 1 2a, to hold the lid 1 2a shut and to enable it to be opened.

As Figure 1 shows, the lid 1 2a opens through very nearly 1 800 for maximum ease of access to the contents of the box 12.

The board 11 and box 12, including the lid 1 2a, are made in this instance of wood. The board 11 would be ply, either varnished or covered with a non-liquid-absorbent material such as plastics or one of the laminates sold under trade marks such as FORMICA. The box 12 and its lid 1 2a may be pine, again preferably varnished or otherwise treated to resist abrasion and damp.

The interior of the box may be lined, or may be divided into compartments, to suit the artistic materials being stored. The particular box illustrated has been dimensioned and proportioned to take sticks of modelling clay such as that sold under the trade mark PLASTICINE.

In this embodiment, the undersurface of the board is ieft in its natural state. Normally this particular workstation would be used on a tabletop which had previously been covered, for example with felt. The undersurface may however be faced itself with felt, or with felt strips spaced about the undersurface, or other slip-resistant material.

In use, sticks of modelling clay are initially stored in the box 12 with the lid 1 2a held shut by the cooperating hook and eye 15, 1 6. To use the modelling clay, the workstation is placed, working-surface 11 a uppermost, on a domestic tabletop. The hook and eye 15, 1 6 are unfastened to allow the lid 1 2a to be opened. Individual sticks of modelling clay can then be taken out of the box 12, with the lid either remaining open or being against closed temporarily whilst the clay is then worked on the working surface 1 a.

After use, the modelling clay can be put back in the box; the lid fastened shut; and the working surface 1 a wiped clean. The workstation and its modelling clay can then be stored safely until next ready for use.

In a development of the embodiment shown, the working surface incorporates a clip to hold a sheet, or a pad of sheets, of drawing paper; and the box 12 is so dimensioned and proportioned as to hold pencils.

In another development, not shown, the working surface 11 a takes the form of a so-called "magic slate", i.e. it incorporates a pressure sensitive carbon sheet which allows the surface to be marked and then "erased" by sliding the sheet back and forth within a holding card. Again, the box 12 is sized and dimensioned, and internally partitioned to hold pencils or other marking instruments.

Further modifications within the scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in this field.

Claims

1. A portable workstation, for use on a generally fiat horizontal supporting surface such as a tabletop, the workstation comprising a board which is fixed to a lidded box in a manner such that the box extends along, or adjacent, an edge of the board and such that the box can be opened and closed at will when the board is placed, working-surface uppermost, on the tabletop.

2. A workstation in accordance with Claim 1 and characterised in that the lid is fixed to the box.

3. A workstation in accordance with Claim 1 or Claim 2 and in which the lid is hinged to the box.

4. A workstation in accordance with Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the lid is a sliding lid.

5. A workstation in accordance with Claim 4 and in which the lid slides around a curved track.

6. A workstation in accordance with any of the preceding Claims and characterised in that the undersurface of the board, and of the box base, are coplanar.

7. A workstation in accordance with Claim 6 and characterised in that the undersurface of the board, and of the base box, are formed integrally from the same sheet of material.

8. A workstation in accordance with any of the preceding Claims and characterised in that the working surface of the board is substantially nonliquid-absorbent.

9. A workstation in accordance with any of the preceding claims and characterised in that the lid, when closed, lies parallel with the working surface of the board.

10. A workstation in accordance with any of Claims 1 to 8 and characterised in that the lid, when closed, slopes towards the working surface of the board.

11. A workstation in accordance with any of the preceding claims and characterised in that the undersurface of the board is faced with slipresistant material.

12. A workstation in accordance with Claim 11 and in which the undersurface of the board has resilient feet spaced about the board.

13. A workstation in accordance with Claim 11 and in which the undersurface of the board is faced with elongate strips of slip-resistant material.

14. A portable workstation, for use on a tabletop or similar generally flat horizontal supporting surface, the workstation being substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.