US1838562A

US1838562A - Visible index system

Info

Publication number: US1838562A
Application number: US249525A
Authority: US
Inventors: Matthes Harold Louis
Original assignee: WEIS Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: WEIS Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1928-01-26
Filing date: 1928-01-26
Publication date: 1931-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 1948-12-29

Description

Dec. 29, 1931. H. L. MATTHES VISIBLE INDEX SYSTEM Filed Jan. 26, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet N 3? fig N W N N h fcwoldlou/jsjlljthzs Dec. 29,1931. H. 1.. MATTHES VISIBLE INDEX SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1928 Patented Dec. 29, 1931 UNITED?! STATES HAROLD LOUIS MAT-mans; on rzonnon-l mrcnrean; nssrsnon means were racrnnrnd COMPANY, or Manson MICHIGANQA, coaronarron on M-Icnjr'em VISIBLE" INDEX sYsTEM drawers, adapted to slide into-'andout: eta

cabinet, and more particularly toxthose which are so proportioned and arranged: that: they: are especially adapted: forause-'iniconnection v with what is commonly called aavisible' index system, in'whichllatten the. sliding trays or drawers, arranged one above another, are" providedwvithioverlappin-gindexcards which ar 'eeasily accessible for1 inspection-by. merely pulling"-the tray or drawer outward; and" then allowing it to hang downwardstofacili tate inspection ofthe cards or" similar; means held therein;

Generally stated, the obj ectof the inven= tionzis to provide a' novel and 'improwedrconstruction for; permitting the'tray or drawer torpu'llout-and then hangadownward iIbpOSi tion to permit easy inspection ofthe cards; or; other things therein, involving; a follower fore the rear end of vthe. tray or drawer, ,to which the rear end of the tray; or drawer is:- detachably connected, havingmeans foriperj mitting the easy removal of the followerr from:the-cabinet, (if such :is' desirable or necessary. 7

It is also an object to *provideicertaindetails and features of improvement and rcom loinations tending; to lIlCI'QflSBwtllB general efficiency and the desirability;oflaetrayor' drawer: and follower construction f this particularcharacter;

In certain respects,- therefore theconstruo tion herein shown and described lS lIli the na ture of an improvement on that shown and 3 described in prior application No2 58,993,filed I September l2, 1925, for a visible index system which applicationresultedin 1 Patent No. r 1,765,568. V 7

To the foregoing and other; useful; ends: the invention consists in thematters hereinafter set 'forthand claimed, and shown; inthe accompanying drawings, in which,.

Fig. 1 isawplan view of a'cabinet-tray "or drawer having a follower embodying the principles of the invention,ishowingthe' ca-hi net in horizontal section, showing one'vt'rayf and its follower in'istorage positionin the cabinet, and showing the tray and follow-en 51 below withdrawn to: A a position to permit inspe'ct-ioni ofi the things in the tray beingtw section on line=1i11of FigiQ; l v

.Figi2 is a vertical section on line' Q/--2 in Figr3 isan enlarged plan-view of one of 5* the traysgshowing the follower therefor, r-vpor-' ti'ons i of the tray beingibroken away;- for 'convenience of illustration; this-view beingso'n a" larger: scale than said; previous; views:

Fig-n 4 is: a transverseverticalsection on linen-e l'in-Fig. I,

V F detaibsection on line- 5,-+5-' in Fig-.1 6 ds a' similar View showing; the tray in a adifi erentposition;= l

As:thusillustrated;' the cabinet Imay; be of: any; saitableform or construction, beingipro vided with horizontal walls or partitions 2"to form'compartmentstherein for the trays and followers. Eaclr'compartment isproVided with horizontal-lateral guides '3, as'shown'.

,Each tray l is of any suitable formo'r character,being preferabl-yprovided at its%front end with apnll knobor handle '5,'- anda-titsrear end with the sheet-metal hooks-6, as 76 shown. The tray.or-'drawer: thus: formed m be supplied with: overlapcpingwvisible' indencards-asis common in cabinets of this kind, or the tray-ordrawer-maybe adapted to; contain otherthin g sr Obviously, how-- ever, the-tray or: drawer mast contain things which are held in place, as the tray-is adapted to be-pulled-out: and swung down into -a vertical position, as shownin Fig =6= of thedrawings. v V 1 8K The follower towhich the-rear end 1 of th-e' tray is connected com-prises a sheet metal body 7 adapted to slide ?on' the horizontal p'ar tition 2 behind the tray, and provided-with loops 8 for .detaehably engaging-the hooksji 6 B previousiymentioned; The loops 18' have theirend portions journaled bearings-don" the ends of 'the hinge members -10, which are" hin'ge connected to V the plates 11, and i pro vided with springs-12 onthe'pintles of -sai'd' hinges thus provided, the portions- 11 being '2 rigid with the metal bod-y portionfi -of the fol lower; Normally the hinges thus provided are in thdpositionshown-in liig: 5 of the' drawings; but when the tray; is withdrawn-- 109 and allowed to hang down, these hinges then assume the position shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. This permits of lost motion, so to speak, between the tray and its follower, because of the capacity for forward movement of the loops 8, thus increasing the space or distance between the tray and its follower under certain conditions. For this purpose, therefore, the follower is provided with stop rods 13 for engagement with the stationary stops 14 when the drawer is pulled out as far as possible and then allowed to hang down. These stop rods are mounted in outer bearings formed by the side portions of the follower body and in bearings 15 provided on the fiat top of the follower. The inner end portions 16 of the two rods are bent around parallel with each other, as shown, and arranged to slide toward and away from each other under a guide 17 provided on the follower. A coiled spring 18 is provided under the guide 17, between the two parallel end portions 16 of the two rods, and this spring tends to keep the outer end portions of the rod 13 in the position shown, so that these end portions will engage the stops 14 when the tray or drawer is pulled out. However, should it become desirable to remove the follower from the cabinet, the two end portions 16 of the rods can be moved toward each other, using these two end portions as handles to be engaged by the thumb and fingers, and in this way the end portions of the rods will be disengaged from the stops 14 and the follower can be removed from the cabinet. Of course, the tray hooks 6 can be easily unhooked or disengaged from the loops 8, without the necessity of removing the follower from the cabinet, but the follower can then also be removed if such is desirable or necessary.

When the tray and its follower are pushed back into the cabinet, the hinge springs 12 will then operate to space the follower and the tray the normal distance apart, as they are in Fig. 5. But with the invention thus shown and described the tray or drawer is easily pulled out, and the hinges by which the loops 8 are connected to the follower body 7 then serve as lost-motion connections to permit movement of the tray after the follower has stopped, so that the tray or drawer can then hang down to facilitate the inspection of things carried or held therein.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a visible index system, the combination of a cabinet, a tray slidable therein, a follower for the inner end of the tray, removable as hereinafter stated from the cabinet, the cabinet having means to provide guides for said tray and follower, and to keep the tray and follower in the same plane, means to limit the outward movement of the follower, a lost motion connection between the follower and the tray having means permitting movement of the tray away from the follower,

after the follower reaches the limit of its outward movement, means whereby the tray may swing down and hang vertically, together with manually operable means on the follower for rendering inoperative said means to limit the outward movement of the follower to permit disconnection and removal of the follower from said cabinet.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said means to limit the outward movement of the follower comprising movable stops on the follower, and stationary stops on the cabinet, said stops all in a horizontal plane, and said manually operable means being adapted to move the movable stops horizontally toward each other to disengage them from said stationary stops.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said means to limit the outward movement of the follower comprising movable stops on the follower and stationary stops on the cabinet, and said manuall operable means being adapted to move the movable stops toward each other to disengage them from said stationary stops, together with a spring acting on said movable stops to yieldingly keep them in operative position.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, said means to limit the outward movement of the follower comprising movable stops on the follower and stationary stops on the cabinet, and said manually operable means being adapted to move the movable stops toward each other to disengage them from said stationary stops, and said manually operable movable stops and means for operating them comprising rods having their outer ends disposed in position to engage the stationary stops and having their inner end portions bent parallel into longitudinal position to form handles constituting the operating means therefor, together with a compression spring between said parallel portions to keep the movable stops normally pressed outward in operative position.

5. In a visible index system, the combination of a cabinet, a tray slidable therein, a follower for the inner end of the tray, the cabinet having means in a horizontal plane to provide guides for said tray and follower, and to keep the tray and follower in the same plane, means to limit the outward movement of the follower, a lost motion connection between the follower and the tray permitting movement of the tray away from the follower, after the follower reaches the limit of its outward movement, means whereby the tray may swing down and hang vertically, said lost motion connection comprising spring controlled hinges on the follower, and means connecting said hinges to the inner end of the tray.

6. A structure as specified in claim 5, said spring hinges having loops forming the said connecting means therefor to the tray, with hooks in the tray to detachably engage said loops, whereby the tray can be unhooked from said loops when the tray from the cabinet.

7 A structure as specified in claim 5, said 7 spring hinges each comprising a member pivoted on a horizontal axis to which the tray is connected, operative about a horizontal axis, the spring of each hinge acting to normally keep said movable member thereof in raised position but permitting such member to yieldingly swing downward when the tray is withdrawn and allowed to swing downward.

Specification signed this 23rd day of J anuary, 1928.

HAROLD LOUIS MATTHES.

is withdrawn