US1129429A - Caster raising and lowering device. - Google Patents

Description

o.. .1.9111151313 L B. SALVAGE.

GASTER RAISING AND LOWEBING DEVICE,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. 1912.

Patented 11811.23, 1915.

0. A. SKIBBB & B. SALVAGE.

GASTER RASING AND LOWERING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1912.

LMQSAQQ., v Patented P91123, 1915 l 2 s'HBBTs-SHEBT 2.

'disturbing the machine Aor base embodying our invention.

OTTO A. SKIBBE AND BERT' SALVAGE, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO WILLIAM It. MANIERRE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 'y

CASTER RAISING AND LOWE-RING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters atent. ,l Patented Fel). 23, I9I5.

Application tiled time 17, 1912. Serial No. 704,059.

T0 allai/10m 'it may' concern i Be it knoivn that we, OTTQ A. SKIBBE and Baur Sinn-ien, citizens of the United States, and residing in Chicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Caster Raising and Lowering Means, of which the following is a specification.

Our inventin relates to lattachments for supporting tables, machine bases and the like, and has more particular reference to portable or movable apparatus of this character.

The primary object of our invention is to provide an improved.structure of this character, which will be simple, durable and reliable in construction, and effective and eilicient in operation.

Agfurther object of our invention is t provide an improved attachment for a base' or stand, more especially but not necessaril adapted for calculating machines and theA like, whereby the base or stand may be used as a stationary structure but which maybe quickly and conveniently converted into a; portable structure capa-ble of being readily shifted about from place to place without or apparatus supported thereby.

A further object of our invention is .to provide improved mechanism which Will restrict theI movenicntof the base or stand to a definite path of travel or allow it to be shifted about indiscriminately.

The above and other new and useful objects hereinafter appearing are accomplished by, and our invention consists in tire features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts lherein described and shown in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of our invention, and moreparticularly set forth in the appended claim.

In the drawings: Figure l is ayiew in side elevation of an adding` machine stand Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof on the line Q-Q of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail plan section on line 3,-3 of Fig. l. `Fig 4 is a bottom plan View of one of the supporting casters or rollers illustrating the means for locking them in definite position..

Office machinery such as calculating hdd,

stands with rollers, casters, Wheels or other suitable supporting members which will enable the stands and their machines to 'be conveniently moved or shifted about With the least physical exertion. The use'of castters or such supporting members has been found to bea great source of annoyance and inconvenience to this extent; the operation of the machinesby their usual operating levers tends to shift the machine stand around to -varying positions, making the work of the operator difficult and tiresome and considerable time is lost 1n returning the machine and stand to its proper position.

Our inventionis 'intended to o vercome these objections in a, simple and efficient, yet satisfactory manner.

IVe have illustrated our invention as being embodied in a supporting stand or base A of a type which is intended more particularly-for use with adding and calculating machines and the like, and while our invention is not restricted or limited to a stand structure of this kind, vve have illustrated the' invention in conneetionivith this stand for the'sake of clearness and in order that an" understanding can be readily obtained of our "invention The stand illustrated is generally rectangularinshape and is built upof. a number of tubular members suitably fastened together to form a rigid structure. This stand has av vertical member A1 at each corner and these'verticals are connected by upper and loiver horizontals or cross bars ido' A2 and A3 respectively` in such manner as to `form a rigid or solidly braced structure.

The lower front horizontal or cross brace A4 extends from side to side of the stand and is set back from the front of the frame, as clearly shown in Figs. l uand, 2, `for the purpose of providing room for the operators feet when the operator is manipulating the machine from a sitting position.

Thelower ends A5 of the verticals form legs or supports therefor, and constitute the rpoints of contact with the floor upon which the stand rests. These supporting points 5 are preferably made in Such form, for instance as shown in the drawings, that when j l the stand rests upon the Hoor, it 'cannot be easily moved, and to increase the frictional 1.o ends of the legs may be provided with some sort of non-sliding or frictional devices, if desired. ln apparatus of this character it is extremely desirable that the stand be capable of being shifted about the oiice for various obvious reasons but the weight of the maj chine and the stand prohibits the apparatus from being lifted or carried by the operator from place vto place, and to drag the stand along the floor would scratch or mar the contact thereof `with the`fioor, the lower 2o floor or tear the carpet, as the case may be.-

Stands of this character have usually been f provided with permanent casters or rollers on their legs to permit them being readily moved about, but the use of these"` permanent attachments destroys the stability of the stand since the effort required to operate the machines is usually sufficient to mo\'e the stand and the work of the operator is rendered extremely tiresome and diilicult. l, Our invention enables the stand to be usel either as a permanently fixed structure or as a portable structure, as desired, and we provide mechanism whereby the weight of the machine and stand may be quickly and 35, conveniently shifted or transferred either to supporting rollers or casters or to itspermanent supports, as desired.

In the structure shown in the drawing, we have providedeaeh leg or vertical, near 40 its lower end or point of contact A5, with a lever 1. These levers are pivoted near the lower ends A5 of the verticals A1 and each lever consists of a short and a long arm 2 and 3, respectively, and in order to provide a., convenient method of pivoting these levers upon the legs A1" of the stand, we rigidly join the two arms 2 and 3 of each lever by means of a loop 4 of metal, preferably formed integral with the lever arms. These loops, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2 and.3, embrace the legs A1 of the stand and pivot bolts 5 are passed through the loops and legs (F ig. 3). The short arms 2 of the levers project preferably horizontally from the legs and on their outer ends are provided with swiveled casters or roller members 6 of any suitable type best adapted to the particular requirements.4 The arms 3 of these levers on corresponding sides of the frame rise a-ngularly upward for a short distance and project horizontally toward each other. `heir corresponding inner ends 7 are pivotally connected together, preferably by means of a slotted connection 8 (Figs. 1 and 2) so that the levers may be tilted or l of the legs A1.

2 thereby transferring or shifting the weight of the machine and table to the rollers or casters 6. The stand may then be run around the oliice to any place desired, and when that place is reached, the reverse operation of the levers will return the stand to vits normal resting position with the lower ends A5 of the legs upon the floor, or in other words, the weight of the machine and stand may be rctransferred to the lower ends ln order that this mechanism may be conveniently operated in unison we pivot a bail member 10 'on two lower side bars A3 adjacent to and extending from side to side of the frame parallel with the lower cross bar A4 as clearly7 seen in Figs. 1 and Q. From this bail. adjacent each side of the frame, we extend the vertical links e 11 to the pivotal points of connection bctween corresponding arms 3 of the levers 1. These links'11 are pivot-ally connected both to the bail member 10 and to the ends 7 of the lever arms 3, so that in elect a toggle is formed at each side of the stand, the knuckle or knee of which is formed by the pivotal connection between the arms 3 of the levers 1. Hence, it will be seen that by rotating thebail 10 about its pivotal points 12, thc toggles may be operated through the medium of the links 11, thus swinging thc levers 1 about their pivotal points and rela.- tiwely raising or lowering the stand and casters, as the case may be. In order that the bail may be conveniently operated by hand, we provide a rigid arm or lever '14 thereon adjacent one side of the stand. This lever 14 has a horizontally turned end 141 which rests upon the side bar A3, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, and which forms a convenient operating handle. lt is dcsirable, when the weight of the stand has been transferred to the casters. to lock thc mcchanism in such position. ln order to accomplish this in a simple and effective manner, we so proportion the operating parts that the pivotal points 111 of the links 11 will be carried slightly past the center lines X drawn between the pivotal points 12 of the bail and the pivotal points S of the operating levers 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

'llius, when the bail is rotated to elevate the stand and tra nsfer the weight thereof to the casters, the turned end 111 of the arm 14.

incense will allow the pivotal points 111 of the linlrs` y a powerful system of multiplying levers which. enable the machine stand and machine thereon, even though of comparatively i f great weight, to be raised or lowered as 'the casegfmay be by a slight amount of manual effort exerted on the operating arm 14.

As previously mentioned we prefer to use swiveled castersG, so' that the machine may be indiscriminately moved about and readily turned as desired. It is voftentimes desirable, however, tp move or transport the stand along a definite line of travel, say, in

` a straight line, and in order that this may be accomplished in a simple manner, we.

providemeans by which the swiveling action of the casters may be restricted or blocked.

Referring more particularly to Figs. '1, 3V

and 4, it will'be seen that the outer ends of the arms 2 of the levers 1 maybe provided with small substantially 'L-shaped members 15. These locking members 15 are preferably pivoted to the ends of the levers 2 and provided with some means, such 'as a frictional washer 151, for frictionally holding the members 15 in any position to which they maybe rotated. Thus, they may be swung down or rotated into a position so that the bend I152 in said members will engage the caster supports or yokes 61 and prevent or lock the casters against swivel- 'ing.` These lockingmembers', however,l do

'not interfere with the free running of the` casters themselves but merely prevent the castcr. yokes' frbm turning on the ends of the arms 2 of the operatinglevers. In this manner the frame may be caused to follow -a definite straight line of travel. The hori- "'zontallyextending portions 153 of the lockf ying members serve the purpose of forming means by which the locking members may be conveniently actuated by the feet.A We usually provide short stop lugs 16 on the locking member which are intended to stop e the rotationof the locking members in theirl proper locking position, as clearly shown in It will be obvious to fone skilled in the art, after having obtained an understanding of our invention from t e disclosures herein made, that our invention may be readily applied t0 or embodied in any suitable stand or structure wherein these requirements and conditions are to be met, all'without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. lVe do not desire to be understood, therefore, as being limited or restrict ed to the particular structure shown in thel drawing.

What we claim is In a stand, the combination of a plurality of legs normally resting on the Hoor; a lever pivoted to each leg and having a short arm and a long arm, the short arms of two of the levers being in alining relation with each other, and in parallel relations `with the short arms of the other levers, f' the long arms of the levers at one .end of the stand being off-set toward the long arms of the levers at thc other end of the stand, and the.

long arms of each of thelevers being off-set upwardly; a caster at the' free end of each of the short arms of the levers; a manually operable lever pivotally mounted on Vthe stand; and connecting links connecting the free ends of the long arms of the levers with said manually operable lever, the latter when in one of its positions being adapted to cause the casters to support the stand.

In testimony whereof welhave signed our nameslto this specification, in the presence of two 4eubs.cribing witnesses, on this 15th day of June A. D. 1912.

` OTTO A. SKIBBE.

BERT SALVAGE. Witnesses: f

CHARLESy H. SEEM, EDGAR FRANCIS BEAUBIEN.

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