US1870553A - Work support for articles of furniture - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 9, 1 F LLEN WORK SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE Filed June 1, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 9, 1932.

R. F. BULLEN WORK SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 1, 1929 Patented Aug. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH I. BULL, O1 JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ART METAL CONSTRUC- TION COMIPANY, OI JAMES'IOWN, NEW YORK -WOBI SUPPORT 1'03 ARTICLES OF FURNITURE Application fled June 1, 1929. Serial No. 867,775.

This invention relates-to improvements in articles of furniture, and more articularly to slides or elements which can e moved to a position extending out of said article of 5 furniture for use as a work support.

In articles of furniture such as desks, there have heretofore been provided slides or elements of this character which when drawn out to an operative position, can be used as a work support or rest for stenographers note books and other objects. Such rests, however, serve no further purpose, being usually composed of a slab or plate of wood, or in some instances are made of sheet metal I formed to produce a flat rigid top surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide an article of furniture having an improved and novel work support.

Another object is to provide a work suport which is movable into and out of a guide m an article of furniture, and which is preferably made of sheet metal and the interior ofwhich can be used as a receptacle for arti cles, and which is provided with a part which 2 normally closes said receptacle to serve as a flat work support when the slide is drawn out.

Other objects of this invention are to construct a slide of this character which, when moved outwardly of its guide, can be used either as a substantially horizontal work support or as an inclined or upright copy support; also to provide said article of furniture and said slide withcooperating parts whereby the slide can be moved to a definite outward position such that a part of said slide can be raised to form a copy support and which in such position will be firmly supported; also to provide a slide or work support of tray-like form having walls or partitions separating the same into a plurality of compartments, and a cover or member, which when the cover is resting upon the body of the slide, acts as a work support and is braced by said partitions against buckling.

It has become established practice to form the wood slides or work supports of desks of an approximately standard or uniform thickness, and a further object of the inventionis to provide a slide having all of the foregoing advantages, and which can be constructed of sheet metal, so as to thereby retain said features in a slide of normal or standard thicknciass while having requisite strength and rigi ity.

Other objects are to improve slides or work supports in the other respects hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of an article of furniture provided with my improved slide or work support showing the cover thereof raised to copy holding or supporting position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the work support showing adjacent portions of the article of furniture in broken lines, and the cover of the work support raised to copyholding position;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the work support removed from its guide and with the cover in its lower position;

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional elevations, on an enlarged scale, showing two diiferent positions of the work support with reference to an article of furniture; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse cross section of the work support on line 6-6, Fig. 3.

Work supports or slides constructed in accordance with this invention can be used with different articles of furniture, but in the embodiment of the invention illustrated the work support or slide is shown in connection with a desk in which the slide is arranged to slide in and out of grooves in one of the desk pedestals immediately beneath the desk top.

In the portion of the desk illustrated in the drawings, A is the flat desk top, the front edge 10 of which overhangs the front of a pedestal B of usual form, and which latter is provided with horizontal rearwardly extending guides 11 in which the work support C is slidably arranged. Beneath the work support C is a transverse stationary part 12 which in the present instance is a strike bar for a drawer, not shown.

In the particular embodiment of the invention shown, the slide or work support C includes a sheet metal body member 14 of shallow rectangular tray-like form having a bottom wall 15, opposite parallel side walls 16, and front and back walls 17 and 18 respectively. Extending transversely across the tra or body 14 intermediate of its front and baclx walls 17 and 18 is a bridge or member 20 having a horizontal top flange 21, to the front edge of which a cover member 22 is pivotally connected by a hinge 23. This cover member, as shown, is in the form of a substantially flat metal sheet provided with opposite parallel side flanges or walls 26 and. a transverse end wall 27.

When the work su port or slide C is in its inoperative rearwar position in its guides 11, the cover member 22 lies flatwise upon the tray member 14 with its side walls 26 and front wall 27 extending downwardly about the walls 16 and 17 of said tray or body member, as shown in Fi 3 and 5. If the slide or work support C is moved outwardly in its guides to a osition in which the cover 22 is exposed, see ig. 5, the flat outer face of the cover then forms or provides a nonobstructed flat work support or surface.

Preferably the interior of the tray or body member 14 is divided into a plurality of compartments 30 by means of upright partitions 35, see Figs. 2 and 4.

preferably provided for firmly and releasably holding the work or copy on the face 32 31, the upper ed es of these partitions 31 preferably exten in the same plane as the corres onding upper edges of the side walls 16 an front walls 17 of the tray, so that when the cover is in its normallower position as just described, its inner face 32 engages the top ed es of the artitions 31 as well as with the si eg'walls o the tray. In this way the cover is prevented from buckling from downward pressure upon its outer face when in use.

When the work support or slide C is drawn outwardly as described, the cover 22 can be swung on its hinge 23 to a substantially up right position in which it is available for use as a copy support. See Figs. 1, 2, and 4. When in this position the inner face 32 of the cover 22 faces forwardly and forms a backing against which sheets and other copy or matter can lie in a convenient position for use. Preferably a rest is rovided against which the bottom edges of t e cop can rest, so as to be maintained in an order y manner and be prevented from slipping into the tray. In the construction shown, that portion 34 of the h' e 23 which is connected to the cover is utilize for this purpose, being extended substantially across the cover with its outer straight edge formin an abutment or rest uitable means are also of the cover and against the rest 35, such for example, as a spring clip or bar 36. This bar 36 may be mounted on the ends of springs 37 which are coiled about the pin 38 of the hinge 23 and act to urge the bar towards the face 32 of the cover. The bar bears against the part 340i the hinge 23 with its free edge projecting above the so as to engathe co y. Any other suitable means may'fi providhd for this purpose.

Anysuitable means may be provided for maintaining the cover in u right position when the cover 22 is to be use port.

The tray or bod 14 is provided with a latch or detent 40 w 'ch is loosely pivoted on a bracket 41 within the tray at the rear of the member 20 and has its forward end dependin through a hole or slot 42 in the bottom w of the tra so that when the latter is moved outward y, said detent 40 will engage the strike bar or abutment 12 and arrest t e movement of the tray in proper position for use as a work support and prevent it from being accidentally withdrawn entirely from its guides, see F 4. Preferably the detent 40 is also utilize to so position the slide C that when the cover 22 is raised for use as a copy support, the latter will swing backwardly against and be arrested and supported by a part of the article of furniture, as for example, the front edge 10 of the desk top A.

The cover 22 is thus held at a convenient angle to enable the copy or work to be readily viewed.

Other suitable means, however, could be provided for supporting the cover 22 in its upright position.

The novel sheet metal slide or work support enables desks or other articles of furniture to be provided with more eflicient and useful slides than those heretofore employed, at sli ht additional cost. The slide is practical, and serves as a work support in the ordinary way, and in addition provides 'space or storage for small articles, such as clips, pens and the like, as well as enabling the cover to serve as a copy support; thus eliminating many separate receptacles, and a separate copy support.

It will be ap )arent from the drawingsand the foregoing description that by makin the slide of sheet metal it can be formedo the thickness of the ordinary slides now in use, and that its usefulness is greatly increased. At the same time the nary strength and rigidity is imparted to the slide by the narrow upright side and end walls and partitions. These elements also reinforce the cover or work support in its horizontal operative position, while said support is stiffened when in its upright operative position by its end and side flanges.

This construction would not be possible in a slide made of wood or the like without so increasing its size as to render it impractical as a desk slide.

Furthermore, the improved slide can be instantly substituted for an ordinary slide in a desk already made or in use. i

as a copy sup- Ill I claim 1. A. sheet metal slide for an article of furniture having a guide in which said slide is supported to move in and out said slide comprising a shallow tray, 2. fiat sheet metal cover which normally rests upon and extends across the top of said tray with one of its faces forming a horizontal working surface, a hinge disposed transversely across and sew cured to said tray and having a flat leaf extending parallel to and secured r en the opposite face of said cover with an edge thereof forming a shoulder, and said cover being movable about said hinge to an upright position in which said shoulder acts as a rest, whereby sheets of copy engaging against said second face of said cover can be supported on said cover by the engagement of their lower edges with said rest.

2. A sheet metal slide for an article of furniture having a guide in which said slide is supported to move an and out, said slide comprising a shallow tray, a flat sheet metal cover which normally rests u on and extends across the top of said tray wit one of its faces forming a horizontal working surface, a hinge disposed transversely across and secured to said tray and having a flat leaf extending parallel to and secured upon the opposite face of said cover with an edge thereof forming a shoulder, said cover being movable about said hinge to an upright position in which said shoulder acts as a rest, whereby sheets of copy engaging against said second face of said cover can be supported on said cover by the engagement of their lower edges with said rest, a pivot pin extendin through said hinge, coil springs secured a out said pivot pin with an end of each projecting over said second face of said cover, and a clip member secured to said ends of said sprin s and which bears upon and is yieldingly he d by said springs against said sheets on said cover to retain them in place.

RALPH F. BULLEN.

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