US1978381A - Filing device - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 23,1934.A LE Rol E. HUTcHlNGs 1,978,331

FILING DEVICE Original Filed April 17, 1926 v HISTORY OF GREECE U Dascm pTloN U DESCRIPTION 480 PP '1918 A UA] Q HISTORY oF 6R" c i Patented Oct. 2.3, 1934 PATENT oFF-ler.`

FILING DEVICE Le Roi E. Hutchings, Builalo, N. Y., assigner to Remington Rand Inc., Builalo, N. Y.

Original application April 17, 1926,V Serial No.

102,655. Divided and this application Fehmary 24, 1930, Serial No. 430,962

3 Claims.

This invention relates to iiling devices, and has particular reference to a filing system in which a plurality oi inter-linked index cards are grouped on a holder or frame assembled Witha number of like holders in a readily accessible manner.

The subject matter of the'present invention has been divided from my prior and copending application, Serial No. 102,655, iiled April 17,'

in the following description of the embodiment of the invention herein claimed.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a file tray having holders containing improved iiling'cards,

Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the improved file cards ready to be installedin the card holder,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary iront view of a strip of the improved file cards after developing the sensitized paper and before severing the cards one from the other,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view on a large scale, oiv a pair of the cards joined together-1n overlapping position to form a chain or series of cards, l

Fig. 5-is a iront view of one of the holders which is adapted to support the photographic cards in lng' position,

Fig. 6 is a rear view of one of the holders with several of the photographic cards in position,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail view on a large4 scale of the top oi one of the holders and photographic ille cards, y

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the trays which supports the holder frames and holders, and Y Fig. 9 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view throughone of the file trays.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10--10 ot Fig. 9.

As pointed out in detail in the mentioned prior application, the reproducing process provides a strip oi paper 20' having the reproduced characters imprinted thereon, which strip is also punched with receiving portions or slots 22 and 23 and openings 24 to tormattaching portions or tabs 25. After exposure of the photographic.

apparatus and developed in the usual way. The resulting strip of photographic iile cards shown in Fig. 3, then is severed across dotted line 26 to form individual finished file cards 27 as shown in Fig. 2. These ille cards are preferably smaller than` the original from which they Were photographed, so that they occupy a very small space. If some of the printing has been reduced to such a small scale in photographing that it can not be easily read with the naked eye, it is contemplated to employ an ordinary reading glass so that thev inscriptions and reading matter I28 can be clearly seen.

It should be understood that these photographic file cards may be placed pn edgein a file tray in the usual manner without linking the cards one to the other. However, the preierred form of the invention contemplates the use of the photographic file cards linked together to form a chain or series of cards so that a considerable number of cards can be seen at a glance thus `making the filing system very fast and elcient and the labor required in reference work is reduced to a minimum. The linking of the cards together to form a chain or series is accomplished by inserting the tab 25 of onecard in a slot 22 of another card, then" bending the upper edge of the card and inserting the opposite tab 25 in the opposite slot 22 of the adjacent card. Upon release of the card, it iiattens out and the two cards are -thenlinked together as shown in Fig. 4. 'Il'iis operation is repeated until a chain or series oi cards 29 is formed, each card overlapping the card next to it. When it is desired to remove a card from the chain, this operation is reversed and a new card can then be inserted in its place. Thus a ille having these chains o! cards can be easily kept up to date by quickly inserting new cards to replace old ones. In some cases the-` notations imprinted on the photographic ille card will be so brief that only the upper `part of the card will be filled with inscriptions 28. In order to use the filing system in the molt-eilicient way, it is preferred to have a plurality o! slots 22 and 23 so that the tabs 'of the adjacent card can be inserted in the appropriate pair of slots, thus exposing to view only the portion of the card actually containing inscriptions 28 while the blank part ci the card is covered up by the adjacent card.

These chains of photographic ille cards may be supported in any one oi a variety of illing cabinets of different form Vso as to be readily accessible for reference. In the preferred form of filing cabinet, a series oi card holders 30 is provided of reasonably strong material such as heavy paper, cardboard or the like. Each holder 30 has a card retainer or transparent sheath 31 folded over the top edge so that the fold 32 on the front of the holder is somewhat longer than the fold 33 on the back of the holder. This sheath is preferably secured to the holder 30 by staples 34 although any other form of fastening device for the sheath may be used. At the bottom of the holder 30, a semi-flexible strip 35 is preferably attached by means of staples 36 so that each end of the strip 35 extends beyond the holder 30, thus forming tongues 37.

A series of perforated slots 37A is provided in the holder 30 to form a bend line so that said holder may be bent back upon itself along this bend iine.- 'Ihe strip and holder may then be bent somewhat in the middle, and the tongues 37 slipped under retaining angle clips -38 extending along each edge of frames 39. When the holder is then allowed to flatten out, the strips and holders are held in alignment with the strips 35 in abutting position, edge to edge, and the upper edges of the holders overlapping andexposing to view the series of transparent sheaths 31.

On the front of the holders 30, the upper edges of the file cards in a given chain are inserted under the fold 32 of the sheath 31 so that the inscription on the top of each file card can be seen through the transparent fold 32, as shown in Fig. 7. Thus, the file card becomes self-indexing and the fold 32also holds the upper end of the chain of file cards in position on the holder 30. In order to hold the bottom end of -the chain of cards in position on the holder 30,

supplementary card-retaining means or ears 40 are cut from the holder 30 near the strip 35 and the lower end of the chain of ille cards is inserted under this ear. A plurality or vertical series of these ears 40 may be provided so that the bottom of the chain of cards may be held in position on the holder 30 regardless of the length of the chain of cards.

In order to attach chains of le cards to the lbacl'; of the holders 30 as shown in Fig. 6, slots 37B are provided in the holder adapted to receive the tabs 25 of the top le cards in the chains. The bottom edge of the bottom card of each chainis then slipped under the short fold 33 of the transparent sheath 31.

The frames 39 are preferably supported in a vertical position in a metal trayv or box 41 having angle strips 42 along the inside of each side wall 43. A roll 44 is formed at the bottom of each frame 39 and the end 45 of the roll extends under the angle strip 42 thus permitting the frame 39 to be tilted at a considerable angle but still be retained in the box 41. A hinge member 46 is pivotally mounted on each end 47 of the tray, this hinge member being adapted-to engage a clip 48 on the end frame 49 when in one position and to be swung outwardly and downwardly into an open position when it is desired to remove frames from the tray 41 or to refer to holders amasar mounted on frames near the center of the tray 4l. 'I'he angle strip 42 extends within some distance of the end 47 of the tray 41 thus permitting frames to be removed by sliding toward one end of the tray 41 until the roll ends 45 are cleared from the end of the angle strip 42. In reference to the cards on the back of holders 30, the holders are bent forward almost to a horizontal position.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examples constitute a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself precisely to the details herein described, since manifestly the same can be considerably modified Without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:-

1. In a filing device, a tray, a plurality of vertically arranged frame members pivotally mounted in the tray and being adapted for hinging movement relative to each other, a group of card holders on each frame member, means for mounting the group of card holders on each frame member in substantially vertical position to form an overlapping series of card holders, said card holders on each frame member being adapted for hinging movement relative to each other, cardretaining means on each holder and a card removably attached to each holder by the retaining means thereon.

2. In a filing device, a tray, a plurality of vertically arranged frame members pivotally mounted in the tray and being adapted for hinging movement relative to each other, a group of card holders on each frame member, means for mounting the group of card holders on each frame member in substantially vertical position to form an overlapping series of card holders, said card holders on each frame member being adapted for hinging movement relative to each other, a plurality of cards on each card holder, interlocking means on each card for connection to a similar card to form an imbricated series of cards, and card-retaining means on each holder for removably mounting the series of cards.

3. In a ling device, a tray, a. plurality of vertically arranged frame members pivotally mounted in the tray and being adapted for hinging movement relative to each other, a group of card holders on each frame member, means for mounting the group of card holders on each frame member in substantially vertical position to form an overlapping series of card holders, said card holders on each frame member being adapted for hinging movement relative to each other, a plurality of cards on each card holder, each card having a plurality of tabs and a plurality of openings, the tabs of one card being adapted to register with and enter into the openings of another similar card to form an interlocking imbricated series of cards, and card-retaining means on each holder for removably mounting a series of cards.

LE ROI E. HUTCHINGS.

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