US1026615A - Account-register. - Google Patents

Description

Patented May 14,1912.

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A. F. STAPLES.

ACCOUNT REGISTER,

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, 1911.

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oted or hinged at the bottom UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT F. STAPLES, 0F CANISTEO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 SUPERIOR REGISTER COMPANY, OF OANISTEO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ACCOUNT-REGISTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 1, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT F. STAPLES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Canisteo, in the county of Steuben and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Account- Registers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to account-registers or filing-cabinets of the type in which a plurality of frames are pivotally mounted at the bottom upon supports, these supports being located within a cabinet and bein angularly movable so as either to permit the frames to stand within the cabinet with their edges in alinement, or to raise the frames into a position in which they may conveniently be swung from upright to horizontal position and vice-versa. In such a device it has previously been proposed to provide the cabinet with a front door pivand so connect ed with the frame-supports that the opening of the door causes the supports to be raised for the purpose just described.

One object of the present invention is to produce a device of the kind in question in which novel and simple means are employed for operatively connecting the door and the frame-supports.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the automatic counterbalancing of a part at least of the weight of the frames so as to assist the operation of raising the supports and the frames; and a third object of the invention is to provide means for retaining the supports in raised position, said means being operative automatically by the movement of the door.

To the foregoing end the invention consists in the account-register hereinafter described, as it is defined in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side-elevation of an account-register embodying the present invention, one side of the cabinet being removed to show the inte rior mechanism. In this figure the accountregister is shown in inoperative position, with the cabinet closed; Fig. 2 is a similar view, except that the account-register is shown in operative position; Fig. 3 is a partial front-elevation, on a larger scale, showing the door of the cabinet in section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 4; and Fig. 4 is a section on the line H in Fig. 3.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in an account-register having seven billholder frames, of which the general construction is familiar to those skilled in the art. Each of these frames comprises a flat sheet-metal body '5 upon which the billholding clips may be mounted, and stiffening strips 6 at the lateral edges are secured to both the front and the back of the bodyportion in the usual manner. The bill holding clips are not illustrated, as they may be of any ordinary or suitable form. The lower edge 7 of each bill-holder frame is doubled over to stiffen it, and at each lower corner of the frame a metal strap 8 is fastened, having its ends secured between the strips 6 and the body-portion. Between its ends the strap 8 is bent into a loop which constitutes a pivot-bearing for the frame. The loops 8 are pivoted upon studs 9 projecting inwardly from two frame-supports 10. These supports are in the form of arms, which are ivoted, at their forward ends, upon pins 1 so that the frame-supports may occupy either horizontal or inclined positions.

The bill-holder frames and their supports are mounted within a cabinet which comprises a vertical back 11, a base 12, and two side-members 13. The cabinet is provided also with a front door 19, and with a top or cover 23, which closes the top of the cabinet when the account-register is not in use.

The pivot-pins 17 upon which the frame-- supports 10 are mounted are fixed in U- shaped lugs 18 which are mounted at the forward corners of the bottom of the cabinet. The pivot-pins 17 serve also as pivotal connections between the bottom of the cabinet and the door 19. The door is provided at its lower corners with metal plates 20 pivoted upon the pins 17, so that the door may be swung from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2 when the account-register is to be used. In addition to serving normally as a closure for the cabinet the door performs the further function of raising the frame-supports 10 when the account-register is to be used. For this purpose the plates 20 are provided with rearwardly-projecting extremities or lugs 21, and the supports 10 are provided with outward projections or lugs 22. When the door is swung forward and downward through approximately 90, the lugs 21, after an idle movement of approximately e5 engage the lugs 22, so that during the last part of the movement of the door the lugs 22 are swung upwardly and forwardly, thus raising the supports, through approximately 15, to the position of Fig. 2, in which position they are held by means hereinafter described. By this movement the pivotal axes of the bill-holder frames are brought into an inclined plane, which renders it possible to swing theframes forwardly and downwardly to a horizontal position in using the account-register. The raising of the supports also causes the bill holder frames, particularly those at the rear, to assume the slightly-inclined position of Fig. 2, a position which is more convenient in the use of the device than a strictly vertical position. lVhen the door is raised and closed the bill-holder frames and supports fall through the action of gravity, and the frames thus assume the more compact relation of Fig. 1, in which their edges are substantially in alinement.

To insure the normal upright position of the bill-holder frames, and also to assist their movement to this posit-ion from horizontal position, springs are provided, as shown particularly in Fig. 3. Each spring comprises a coiled portion 14: which is mounted upon the inwardly-projecting extremity of one of the pivot-studs 9. One end 15 of the spring is bent to engage a slot in the inner end of the stud, while the other end 16 0f the spring projects upwardly into engagement with the front of the bill-holder frame. The end 16 is engaged by the end of the folded lower edge 7 of the body of the frame, and the spring is thus retained upon the pivot-stud. If one of the springs breaks and requires renewal, it may be easily disengaged and removed from the stud and a new one substituted without dismembering any portion of the account-register. Owing to the torsional effect of the springs upon their pivot-studs they not only tend to hold the frames in upright position, but they also assist the upward swinging movement of the frame-supports 10, thus partially counterbalancing the weight of these members and of the frames, so that the door may be more easily swung downward, and its weight may be sufficient to maintain the parts in raised position. For additional security in this respect, however, catches may be employed to maintain the frame-supports in raised position. One of these catches is employed at each side of the cabinet, and as illustrated each catch consists of a resilient metal strip 30 which is fixed, at one end, to the side of the cabinet. A. lug 32 on the upper edge of the strip 30 springs into engagement with the lower edge ofthe corresponding frame support 10 when the latter is in raised position. At the free end of the catch is a camshaped head 31, and when the door is swung either upwardly or downwardly the lug 21, in its first movement, engages this flange so as to swing the catch outwardly and permit the support 10 to pass the lug 32.

The frame-supports 10 are connected, near their rear ends, by a rod 28 to support them against lateral movement, and buffers 29, of rubber or other suitable material, are placed within the cabinet in position to be engaged by the supports when in horizontal posit-ion, so as to prevent slamming in case the door 19 is quickly raised.

To close the top of the cabinet when the account-register is not in use a top or cover 23 is provided. This cover is connected with the door by means of links 24: pivoted to the respective parts. These linkspermit the cover to be swung around to the position of Fig. 2 when the door is opened, thus providing a support for the free'end of the door, while'conveniently disposing of the top. When the door is closed the topis swung back to the position of Fig. 1, and at this time a groove in itsrear edge engages the rabbeted upper edge 25 of the back, while the cover is retained in position by means of a spring-catch 2 6 of ordinary form engaging a knob 27 on the edge of the cover.

To facilitate transportation of the account-register a strap-handle 38 is fixed to the cover, being mounted in a recess therein so as to permit the cover to be folded be-' neat-h the door as in Fig. 2.

My invent-ion is notlimited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in Various other forms within the nature of the invention, as it is defined in the following claims.

I claim k p 1. An account-register having, in combination, a plurality of bill-holder frames pivotally mounted at the bottom, a cabinet, in which the frames may stand in upright position, provided at the front with a door pivoted at the bottom, a support for the bottoms of the frames pivoted at its forward end, the support lying in substantially hori- Zontal position within the cabinet when the account-register is not in use, and cooperating abutments on the door and the support whereby the support is swung upwardly when the door is swung downwardly to open position, so as to raise the bottoms of the frames intoan inclined plane and permit the frames to be swung forwardly and downwardly into substantially horizontal position upon the door. p

2. An account-register having, in combination, a plurality of bill-holder frames pivotally mounted at the bottom, a cabinet in which the frames may stand in upright position, a support for the bottoms of the frames which lies in substantially horizontal position when the account-register is not in use, so as to support the frames with their edges substantially in horizontal alinement, and springs connected with the support and tending to raise it into inclined position so as to support the bottoms of the frames in an inclined plane.

3. An account-register having, in combination, a plurality of bill-holder frames pivotally mounted at the bottom, means for sustaining the frames normally in uprightposition, a support for the bottoms of the frames, said support being normally in horizontal position when the account-register is not in use but being movable into inclined posit-ion, a catch for retaining the support in one of said positions, and a single means for moving the support to said position and for operating the catch to release the sup- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

port and permit it to move to the other of said positions.

4. An account-register having, in combination, a cabinet provided with a front door pivoted at the bottom, a frame-support piv- Eoted, at its forward extremity, coaXially with the door, a plurality of bill-holder frames pivoted, at the bottom, on the framesupport and standing normally upright in the cabinet, and a catch mounted in the cabinet and adapted to retain the frame-support in raised, inclined position, the door being provided, adjacent its pivotal axis, with a lug adapted to engage and raise the frame-support when the door is moved to open position, and to engage the catch and disengage it from the frame-support when the door is moved to closed position.

ALBERT F. STAPLES.

Witnesses:

FARNUM F. DORSEY, D. GURNEE.

Washington, D. G.

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