US1967765A - Cabinet - Google Patents

Description

C. R. CROSNO July 24, 1934.

CABINET Filed NOV. 27, 1933 V 5 Sheets-Sheet l C'. 7?.C'1 osno g uwm C. R. CROSNO July 24, 1934.

CABINET Filed Nov. 27, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor C. 7? Crosno flllomey C. R. CROSNO CABINET Filed Nov. 27. 1933 5 Sheets- Sheet 3 flllorney C. R. CROSNO July 24, 1934.

CABINET Filed Nov. 27, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 lnqenlor C 7? C'l'osno flllorney- C. R. CROSNO 5&11 7'24, 1934a CABINET Filed NOV. 27. 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ [nvenior flllorney C. R. Crosno Patented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in cabinets and has for its primary object to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a cabinet embodying a novel construction,

combination and arrangement of parts through the medium of which said cabinet may be expeditiously converted into a table with a minimum of effort.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a cabinet of the aforementioned character embodying a plurality of swingingly mounted shelves which may be swung outwardly and downwardly to the front or rear of the cabinet in a manner to provide a table when desired.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide novel resilient means for maintaining the shelves in any position and for assisting in swinging said shelves to raised position.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a cabinet of the character set forth which will be comparatively simple in construction,- strong, durable, highly efficient and reliable in use, compact, attractive in appearance and which may be manufactured at low cost.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of the invention will become ap parent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a view in front elevation of a cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention with the shelves in raised position and the doors closed.

Figure 2 is a view in rear elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the cabinet, with the upper portion removed, showing the doors in opened position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but in rear elevation.

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section through the cabinet, showing the shelves in lowered position in full lines at the front of the cabinet to provide a table, said shelves being indicated in broken lines in their table forming position at the rear of the cabinet.

Figure 6 a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a detail view in perspective of the belt connected rolls.

Figure 8 is a detail view in perspective of the removable shelf which is mounted in the lower portion of the cabinet.

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Figure 6.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view in vertical section, taken substantially on the line l0-10 of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a detail view in perspective of one of the arm locking dogs.

Figure 12 is a detail view in perspective of the hood which is mounted over the rolls shown in Figure '7.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the embodiment of the invention which has been illustrated comprises a cabinet which is designated generally by the reference numeral 1, said cabinet being open at its front and rear and comprising side walls 2, a top 3 and a bottom 4. The cabinet 1 further includes upper and lower pairs of front doors 5 and 6, respectively, and a pair of rear doors 7, all of said doors being hingedly mounted on the side walls 2, as at 8.

Recessed in the side walls 2 of the cabinet are removable bearing blocks 9 having inwardly projecting pins 10 mounted therein. Journaled on the pins 10 are rolls 11. Fixed off center on the ends of the rolls 11 are pairs of arms 12 between which pivotally mounted bars 13 extend at spaced points. Shelves 14 are mounted on the bars 13. The uppermost shelf 14 projects beyond its supporting bars 13 and has its ends substantially flush with the outer faces of the arms 13 in a manner to provide handles to facilitate swinging the shelves upwardly to raised position.

A belt 15 passes back and forth between the rolls l1 and is wrapped tightly therearound for connecting said rolls with each other for rotation in unison, the ends of said belt being anchored to said rolls. The opposed edges of the pairs of swingable arms 12 have formed thereon spaced projections 16 which interfit when said arms are in horizontal position, as illustrated to advantage in Figure 5 of the drawings. The shelf supporting bars 13 are journaled on the projections 16, as also illustrated to advantage in Figure 5 of the drawings. It will thus be seen that the arms 12 are maintained in parallelism at all times and it will further be seen that the shelves 14 are in a horizontal position at all times.

Coil springs 1'7 are connected, as at 18, to the rolls 11 for balancing the shelves 14 and for yieldingly urging said shelves toward raised position. 105 The lower ends of the springs 17 are connected to the bottom 4 of the cabinet 1 by means ineluding turn buckles 19 through the medium of which the tension of said springs may be adjusted as desired. As will be seen from Figure 5, the 11 attaching points 18 of the springs to the rollers are located in a plane substantially the same as the horizontal diameter of each roller, when the parts are in a position forming the table. This manner of attaching the springs to the rollers provides a graduated pull of the springs as the arms and shelves are lowered and thus the pull of the springs more nearly balances the changing torque of the swinging assembly as it is lowered than would be the case if the springs were attached elsewhere. The purpose of the belt 15 is two-fold; first, the belt distributes the unequal pull of the springs practically equal to the two sets of arms and second, throughout the complete arc of 180 which the mechanism is capable of swinging, the two sets of arms are maintained parallel to each other by the action of the belt, and buckling at the extreme positions of the swing is prevented. The arms 12 are positively locked in horizontal position by dogs 20 which are loosely mounted in recesses 21 provided therefor in the side walls 2 of the cabinet 1, the free ends of said dogs being engageable on the uppermost arms 12, as best seen in Figure 9 of the drawings. When in inoperative position, the locking dogs 20 are engaged behind the end portions of metallic strips 22 which are mounted on the inner sides of the walls 2 and which project over the recesses 21.

Extending between the side walls 2 of the cabinet 1, adjacent the blocks 9, are bars 23 and 24 upon which the lowermost arms 12 rest when said arms are swung to horizontal position at the front or rear of the cabinet. Brackets 25 are provided on the bars 23 and 24 for supporting a removable substantially inverted U-shaped casing or plate 26 which covers the rolls 11 and the belt 15.

Extending between the bottom 4 of the cabinet and the rear bar 24 is a fixed panel 27. The reference numeral 28 designates a removable shelf which is slidably supported in the lower portion of the cabinet 1 between uprights 29 having facing strips 30 on their forward vertical edges. The elements 29 and 30 conceal the springs 17 but permit access to be readily had to said springs for adjusting the same. Suitable latches 31 are provided on the bars 23 and 24 for the pairs of doors 5, 6 and '7.

Briefly, the operation of the device is as follows:-

The shelves 14 are normally maintainer in raised position within the cabinet 1 by the springs 17. When a table is desired, the front or rear doors 5 or '7 are opened and the uppermost shelf 14 is gripped and pulled outwardly and downwardly until the arms 12 are in a horizontal position. The spacing and width of the shelves 14 are such that the longitudinal edges of said shelves will be substantially in abutting engagement with each other when the arms 12 are in horizontal position for providing a substantially unbroken surface. If desirable or necessary any suitable latch means may be provided for looking the pairs of arms 12 in engagement with each other in horizontal position. When the table is no longer desired the shelves are swung upwardly to raised position within the cabinet 1 by engaging the projecting end portions of the uppermost shelf as handles and exerting an upward and inward pull thereon.

When the arms 12 are in horizontal position, the dogs'20 at the front or rear of the cabinet, depending upon which way said arms extend from the cabinet, are disengaged from behind the metallic strips 22 and engaged on the uppermost of the arms 12, as hereinbefore explained, for positively locking the shelves in lowered or table forming position. Of course, when the shelves are to be swung upwardly the dogs 20 are returned to inoperative position within the recesses 21 and behind the metallic strips 22, as will be understood. If desired, the device may be mounted in an opening in a wall between two rooms, thereby providing a cabinet and a table for both rooms.

It is believed that the many advantages of a cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention will be readily understood, and although a preferred embodiment of the invention is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to which will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a cabinet open at its front and rear, a pair of rolls journaled in the cabinet, a belt operatively connecting the rolls together for rotation in unison, arms fixed on the rolls, horizontal shelves pivotally mounted between the arms and springs connected with the rolls and tending to move the rolls in a direction to raise the arms to a vertical position.

2. A device of the character described comprising a cabinet open at its front and rear, a pair of rolls journaled in the cabinet, a belt operatively connecting the rolls together for rotation in unison, arms fixed on the rolls for movement therewith, cross members pivotally connected, at their end portions, to the arms for maintaining said arms in parallelism with each other, shelves mounted on the cross members, a. projection on each roll, and a spring having one end connected to said projection and its other end to a bottom part of the cabinet.

3. A device of the character described comprising a cabinet open at its front and rear, doors mounted on the front and rear of the cabinet, a pair of rolls journaled horizontally in the cabinet, a belt operatively connecting the rolls together for rotation in unison, an arm fixed to each end of each roll, each arm of one roll having an edge contacted by an edge of the adjacent arm of the other roll and said edges having spaced recesses therein forming projections between them, the projections of one arm fitting in the recesses of the adjacent arm, cross members, each pivoted to one projection of one arm and to the adjacent projection of the adjacent arm, horizontal shelves connected to said cross members, a lateral projection on each roll and arranged horizontally when the arms are in horizontal position, and a spring having one end connected to each projection and its other end to a bottom part of the cabinet, and latch means for holding said arms in a horizontal position.

CHARLES R. CROSNO.

Images