US1780287A

US1780287A - Office desk

Info

Publication number: US1780287A
Application number: US106812A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clem E Wheeler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1926-05-05
Filing date: 1926-05-05
Publication date: 1930-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 1947-11-04

Description

Nov. 4, 1930. E E WHEELER 1,780,287

v OFFICE DESK Filed May 5. 1926 Patented Nov. 4, 1930 PATENT YOFFICE:

Y CLEM E. WHEELER, E OAK PARK, ILLINOIS OFFICE DESK Application med May 5,

The purpose of this invention is to provide a desk for oiiice use and designed for clerical and routine work which shall effect maximum economy ot' `loor area in an office in which a considerable number of such desks are rewhich he has completed his work are to be passed on to other desks for additional work with or upon them or for ling or compiling.

In such oiiices containing, in many instances, scores or even hundreds of desks which are most conveniently arranged in rows and with aisles between them, each square toot ol Hoor area which can be savedby any expedient for reducing the horizontal dimensions of the desk effects a saving ot rent which in many such offices devoted to nation-wide business such as insurance, investments and the like, will amount to thousands of dollars annually. Another purpose of the invention is to enable the worker to have the entire working area of the work table of his desk available for the particular papers at any moment requiring` his attention to the exclusion ot the preceding papers with which he has tinished, and the succeeding papers awaiting his next attention, thus avoiding liability of confusion by commingling of papers belonging to diferent liles. An additional ,purpose or advantage of the construction hereinafter described consists in reducr ing to the minimum the number ofpapers at any time exposed upon the surfaces of the desks in use and thereby liable torbe swept into confusion or destroyed by flame in case of lire. v

These purposes and the advantages vare secured by constructing the desk for economiaing the area of the working table thereof by the provision at the head ot' the work table of a receptacle in which the papers to require the attention of the worker may be deposited substantially or approximately in edgewise upright position, and from which they may be taken one by-one as required'by the work to be done on or with them; and providing also a receptacle below the work- 1926. Serial N'o. 106,812.

ing table to which the papers may be passed one by one as the work on them is completed, the entrance to said receptacle being also at the head of the working area of the work table and adapted to occupy minimum desk area by being arranged for insertion of the papers therethrough ledgewise into the receptacle below; so that substantially the entire work area ofthe work table available to accommodate the papers at any moment requiring the workers attention.

A second feature contributing to the same purposes and advantages consists in not only utilizing the space below the working area of the work table for containing the papers which have passed the workers hand, and retaining them until they are required and taken out for the next work upon or with them, but also providing that they may be thus taken out without disturbing or'requiring the attention of the worker who has passed them, this supplementary purpose being accomplished by providing access to the' receptacle otherwise than at the surface of the work table from which they were passed into the receptacle and from some side of the desk other than the .front side at which the worker is seated.

The invention, therefore, consists in the features and elements above indicated and others herein shown and described and their combinations as indicated in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the desk embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation.

Figure l is a detail section showing an expansible construction for a file pocket.

Figure 5 is adetail front eleva-tion of a locking bolt for the pocket Figure 6 is a vertical detail section taken as indicated at line, Gf, on Figure 3.

As shown in Figure 1 the desk chosenfor purposes of illustration is of the sin le pedestal type having a substantially at work table, l, with vertical walls'on three sides extending downwardly from the work table and with drawers, 2 and 3, arranged adjacent one of these Vertical Walls, 4, leaving a clear space between the drawers, 2 and 3, and the opposite corner leg, 5, as knee space for the worker, a shallow drawer, 6, being sometimes included above this knee space. In desks et this type the drawers, 2 and 8 seldom extend as far as the rear vertical wall of the desk, but for my purpose I; make them somewhat shorter than usual and insert back of these drawers a vertical partition indicated in dotted lines at 7 on Figure 1. This partition may extend from one sidet`o"the other of the desk if desired, and the -space under he rear portion of the work tablefl, may be sub-divided by one or more additional line, 8, on Figure 1, and by lines, 8 and 9, on Figure 3. A bottom wall, 10, is inserted under these spaces and in the work table of the deskl form slots, 11, opening into the respecive compartments at the rear portion ot' the' desk. As the desk worker disposes of papers which are to be picked up by a. messenger or le clerk, he will insert them in one or the other of the slots, 1 1, and they will drop into the compartments below these slots. lVhen the messenger arrives he will open one of the doors, 12 and 13, and remove the contents of the compartment; This avoids the use of unsightly file trays onthe' desk and leaves the upper surface free for other purposes;

In Figure 1 at the left hand side of the desk I have shown an opening, 14;, in the work table, 1, somewhat larger than the slots, 11, and in Figure 2 I have indicated a curved bottom, 15,for the space below the opening, 14. This space is thus adapted to serve as a temporary tray or receptacle for papers which the worker expects to refer to later, the opening, 14, being large enough so that h'e' he can readily insert his hand to take out the papers at will. However, a door, 16, may give access to this compartment at the rear of the desk so that the papers may be removed or filing if it is desired to make such use of this compartment. Vith the bottom wall, 15, in place, there remains a considerable space at 17 which may be 'utiliZed simply as a storage compartment in any convenient manner. i

For the reception of papers which are for the workers attention I mount on the work table, 1, a box or cabinet, 18, secured in place by hinges at 19 so that when desired it may be folded down onto the work table, 1, as shown inFigure 2. Vhen in upright position the cabinet, 18, isopen toward the worker, and hinged front walls, 20, may be swung forwardly to inclined positions as shown in Figure 1, forming upwardly open pockets for the reception of papers or other articles. These oblique front walls, '20, are connected to the side walls and to the partition, 21', of the cabinet, 18.by fan-like structures, each Consisting-"of Asieveital vtriangular leaves at 22.

All these leaves are attached to the cabinet, 18, by a common pivot, 28, and are connected to each other by headed pins or rivets, '2st, engaging arcuate slots, 25, which permit the leaves to be slidably swung upon each other to form the expanded side walls shown in Figure 1 for the pockets. Then the worker wishes to leave the desk or is through wort: for the day, these pockets may be compressed by swinging the 't'ront walls, 20, toward and into the cabinet, 18',- and securing them in such a position by ordinary sliding bolts, 26, suoliA as that indicated in Figure 5. The cabinet, 18, may then be swung downwardly vertical partitions, as indicated at the dotted about its hinges, 19', into horizontal position on the work table, 1, ol the desk in which position it serves as a closure- 'tor the slots, 11, and the opening, 14. For steadyingthe cabinet, 18, in its upright position I provide diagonal brace arms, 27which pass through slots, 28, in the work table, 1, and whose hooked ends at 29, en-gage suitable pins, 30, in the work table, 1,1501" holding them in bracing position. `These arms are readily released when the cabinet, 1S, is to be closed down and they will then assume the vertically depending position indicated at 31 in Figure 2.

It may be understood that the slots, 11, andthe opening,14, are placed back from the -fron-t edge of the desk beyond a point ordinarily utilized by the worker for papers or material upon which he is directly engia-ged, so that the location of these slots does not actually reduce the available workingl space, and if the papers should overlap the slots there is very little danger of their becoming caught or lost in them.` It desired, the desk may be fitted with flush-top inlwells at 32 located back of th'e slot,` 11, and forwardly of the cabinet, 18. The cabinet, 18, itselt' is placed on a portion of the 'desk top which is seldom used for anything, but by reason of the fact that it accommodates papers on edge in its pockets, this cabinet will take care of a large volume of material. Obviously the papers which accun'iulatc in the compartments below the slots, 11, might easily occupy the entire top of the desk il stored in trays in the usual manner. It is evident, therefore, that the use of this type oi desk will result in marked economies in ioor space, while at the same time providing ttor neat and orderly distribution of material which is at all times readily acc-cssible, and protected lfrom lire risks.

It will be understood of course, that the particular arrangement of` compartments shown is only Aillustrative and may be varied through wide lin'iit-S within the scope of this invention.

l Claim 1,. An office desk comprising a substantially flat work top vand fili-ng compartments,- certain of sai-d compartments being located within ,the desk beneath the top thereof, a

receptacle hingedly connected to the desk and containing certain other of said filing compartments, the slot in the desk top communicating with the interior compartment and arranged in co-operative relation to the compartments in said receptacle, a front member hinged at the lower edge and adapted to be limitedly tilted forwardly to present an open entrance into the receptacle, end members carried by the front member of the receptacle for inter-lapping the fixed ends of the receptacle and accommodating the opening and closing movement of said front member, said end members comprising a plurality of respectively inter-lapping sectors totaling when extended, a width greater than the fore-and-aft depth of the receptacle, and being individually in width less than said fore-and-aft depth.

2. An oiiice desk having a top affording a relatively large unobstructed work area, a tiling receptacle hingedly secured to the desk top and including a movable front wall, extensible connectors extending between the front wall and the rece )tacle andq limitino` D the movement of the former with respect to the latter, the receptacle being movable to an upstanding open position for tiling and to a closed, down folded position on the desk top when not in use, the front wall being retained by the extensible connectors with its upper end in a forwardly protruding position when the receptacleis in upstanding position whereby to expose the upper end of the contents of the receptacle beyond the contines thereof.

3. An office desk having a substantially flat top providing a work area extending rearwardly from the forward edge of the desk, a compartment in the desk beneath the top, a filing slot in the work top affording communication to said compartn'ient, and a iile receptacle pivotally secured to the desk top foldable down onto the top over the slot to f cut olf communication to the compartment,

said receptacle beingl dimensioned relative to the. desk top to leave a substantial part of the work top between the receptacle and the forward edge of the desk unobstructed when the receptacle is in its folded position.

d. An office desk having a substantially flat top providing a work area extending rearwardly from the forward edge thereof, a compartment in the desk beneath the top, a tiling slot in the work top affording com-v munication to said compartment, and a. tiling receptacle hingedly secured to the desk top foldable down onto the. top over the slot to cut off communication to the compartment, and means associated with the receptacle for retaining the contents thereof against displacement when the receptacle is so folded, the receptacle being dimensioned relative to the desktop to leave a substantial part of the work area betweenthe receptacle and the forward edge of the desk unobstructed when in its folded position. y

5. A desk comprising a substantially fla unobstructed work top, and a plurality of filing compartments, certain of said filing compartments being located within the desk beneath the top, a forwardly opening receptacle hingedly connected to the desk top at a point beyond the work area of the top and provided with certain other filing compartments, the desk top being provided with tiling slots communicating with the interior compartments and opening through the desk top in cooperative relation with the filing compartments of the receptacle, said receptacle adapted to be folded down upon the work top over the slots therein whereby to effectively close all compartments of the desk, the receptacle being dimensioned with respect to the desk top to leave a substantial part of the work top unobstructed when folded down thereon.

6. A desk comprising a substantially fiat unobstructed work top, and a plurality of filing compartments, certain of said filing compartments being located within the desk beneath the top, a forwardly opening receptacle hingedly connected to the desk top at a point beyond the work area of the top and provided with certain other filing compartments, thedesk top being provided with filing slots communicating with the interior compartments and opening through the desk top in cooperative relation with the filing compartments of the receptacle, said receptacle adapted to be folded down upon the work top over the slots therein whereby to effectively close all compartments of the desk, and means associated with the receptacle for automatically exposing tlie contents thereof beyond the confines of the receptacle when the same is opened and for automatically retaining the contents of the receptacle against displacement when said receptacle is folded down onto the desk top, the receptacle being dimensioned with respect to the desktop to leave a substantial part of the work top unobstructed when folded down thereon.

7 An olice desk having a top affording a relatively large unobstructed work area, a filing receptacle secured to the desk top between the work area Vthereof and the rear edge of the desk, a movable front wall carried by the receptacle and swingable outwardly at the top for the purpose of filing papers in an edgewise upright position in the receptacle, a filing compartment within the desk and beneath the top thereof, said desk top being provided with a slot communicating with the inner tiling compartment and cooperatively positioned with respectrto the filing receptacle mounted on the desk top so that both the slot and the filing receptacle are within reach of an operator seated at the front of the desk, said filing receptacle being ElOO mounted Vto fold down onto the desk top to cover said tiling slot, the movable front Wall of the receptacle being mounted to swing Within the receptacle to prevent displacement of the contents thereof When the receptacle is folded down onto the desk top, the receptacle being` dimensioned With respect to the desk top to leave al substantial part of the work area thereof unobstructed when so folded.

8. An office desk having a top affording a relatively large unobstructed Work area, a filing receptacle secured to the desk top between the Work area thereof and the rear edge of the desk, a movable front Wall carried by the receptacle and movable outwardly at the top for the purpose'of iling papers in edgewise upright position in the receptacle, a filing compartment Within the desk and beneath the top thereof, said desk top being' provided with a slot communicating with the inner filing compartment and cooperatively positioned with respect to the filing receptacle mounted on the desk top so that both the slot and the filing receptacle are Within reach of an operator seated at the front of the desk, said filing receptacle being mounted to fold down onto the desk top to cover said tiling slot, the movable front Wall of the receptacle being' mounted to recede within the receptacle to prevent displacement of the contents thereof when the receptacle is folded down onto the desk top.

9. An office desk having a top'aff-ording a relatively large unobstructed Work'area, an upstanding filing receptacle adjustably connected to the desk top between said Work area and the rear edge of the desk, said receptacle including a movable Wall section arranged when in one position to expose the upper edges of the papers tiled therein to be individually accessible from the top, said receptacle being foldable down forwardly onto the desk when closed and being dimensioned with respect to the desk top to leave a substantial part of said Work area unobstructed when so folded, the movable Wall section of the rereptacle being arranged for movement within the receptacle when the same is folded down upon the desk whereby to retain the contents of the receptacle against displacement.

CLEM E. WHEELER.