US164824A - Improvement in folding work-tables - Google Patents

Description

B. FAIRCHILD;

Folding Work-Table.

Patented June 22,1875.

Witnssieg: c. 4 QM,

THE GRAPHIC CO.PHOTO LlTH.39 &4-1 PARK PMCLN.

NITED STATES PATENT Orrro.

BENJAMIN FAIROHILD, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING WORK-TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 164,824, dated June :22, 1875; application filed February 1, 1875. a

To all whom it may concern Be it known, that I, BENJAMIN FAIROHILD, of Washington City, in the County of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladies Folding Work-Table; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan of the under side with the legs folded. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, on line a: x, of Fig. 2. Fig. at is an edge'view of the jointed brace and hinges, detached.

My invention relates to folding tables, for ladies work-tables or for other uses; and the invention consists of the devices for folding,

' opening, and bracing the legs of the table, as

hereinafter described and as shown in the drawings.

A represents the table-top and B the legs. 0 G are rails, each connecting two end legs. The upper ends of the legs are halved, forming the shoulders a a Ct a, and the halved ends b I) b b projecting above the top of the rails. D D are brace-cleats extending across and fastened on the edge to the lower side of thetable-top a proper distance from the ends of the top. And the width of these cleats is made the same as the length of the halved ends I) of the legs, which are attached to the top of the table by the hinges c screwed to the inside of the ends I) and to the table-top, so that when the legs are opened the halved ends rest against the inside of the cleats and the shoulders a of the legs bear against the bottom of the cleats, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. E F represent jointed braces connected in the middle by a hinge, cl, and provided at the ends with hinges cl 6.

A brace of two equal sections, of a length to operate properly when attached at one end to the table-rail, would necessarily be too short to afford the requisite bracing. strength, because the" length of the sections of such a brace could not be more than about threefourths of the width of the rail. But by making the arms of different lengths, a brace of any length may be made to operate and fold together, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, provided the short arm is made the right length, which is required to be one-half of the length of the hypotenuse of a rectangular triangle, the two sides of which are equal in length to the width of the rail to which one end of the brace is attached.

The middle hinge d is made with a shoulder, c, forming a stop to the brace, so that when the legs are opened out into proper position for use, the braces are thrown a little beyond a straight line, to prevent them from being sprung back by pressure on the table or against. the legs, and by the shoulder c are held 1 in that position, bearing the shoulders at of the legs against the bottom of the cleats D,,thus holding the legs firmly in position. And when the legs are to be folded, the braces are sprung outward by a slight pressure of the hand, and are folded together, as described and shown.

The hinges and braces may be made of malleable cast-iron, costing but a small sum for each table, and, constructed and adjusted as described, are not in the way of the operator when the table is in use. 7

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with a folding table or 7 lap board, a jointed brace having a long arm, E, hinged to the cross plate or rail,and a short arm, F, attached to the table-top, the said arms arranged to fold outwardly and to lie fiat against each other and against the under surface of the table, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a folding table or lapboard, a jointed brace having a long arm, E, and a short arm, F, connected by a hinge, cl, having a stop-shoulder, c, on the outside of the hinge, the lower end of the brace attached to the rail 0 and the upper end to the table-top, and the brace adjusted to fold outwardly from the rail, substantially as described and shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own invention, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJ. FAIROHILD, Witnesses:

LoUIs BAGGER. WM. BAGGER.

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