US2054977A

US2054977A - Automatic furniture leveling device

Info

Publication number: US2054977A
Application number: US24577A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herve Alexandre
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1935-06-01
Filing date: 1935-06-01
Publication date: 1936-09-22
Anticipated expiration: 1953-09-22

Description

pt 936- A. HERVE 2,054,977

AUTOMATIC FURNITURE LEVELING DEVICE Filed June 1, 1955 Patented Sept. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES 2.054.917 AUTOMATIC FURNITURE LEVELING DEVICE Alexandre Herv, Cllchy, France .1 Application June 1, 1935, Serial no: 24,511

5 Claims. (01. 45-139 It often occurs, either because the floor isun-- even, or because the legs of a piece of furniture are not all exactly of the same length, that said piece of furniture does not rest simultaneously upon all of its feet. In this case it was necessary, up to the present time, to make use of wooden shims, which had to be out exactly of the height of the unevenness, which constituted a delicate, tiresome, and in some cases frequent work.

There also exists a device for automatically leveling the feet of a piece of furniture, which is intended to be fitted in a recess at the end of these feet themselves. This device includes a steel ball or roller, which can move and wedge between two superposed inclined guiding surfaces, the upper inclined surface beingrigid with the foot of the piece of furniture and the other one being rigid with a packing piece slidable vertically with respect to said foot. This ball or roller wedges automatically between the two in- The object of the present invention clined surfaces when the packing pieces project from the under surface of the foot of jthe piece of furniture a distance equal to that necessary in order that the piece of furniture may rest simultaneously on all of its feet.

is to provide a device of this kind including means for keeping the ball at the upper end of the inclined surface of the packing piece on which it rests when the foot of the piece of furniture is slowly moved downwardly until it comes into contact with the ground. The provision of these means is necessary for the good working of the device; otherwise the ball would run down to the lower end of the inclined surface on which it rests and the subsequent wedging of the ball between the two inclined surfaces could no longer take place. The means in question include a horizontal or hollow part provided at the top of the lower inclined surface, that is to say the inclined surface carried by the packing piece, forming a kind of housing for the ball, and a part, at the top of the upper inclined surface (which is rigid with the foot of the piece of furniture), inclined in a direction opposed to that of said last mentioned inclined surface, so as to push the ball out from the housing above mentioned onto the lower inclined surface, where it will be able to wedge in proper position.

Other features of the device according to the I present invention will result from the following detailed description of some specific embodiments thereof. I

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example, and in which:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of the foot of the leg of a piece of furniture provided with a a, leveling device according to-the present invention, in the position occupied by this device when the foot is not in contact with the ground;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view analogous to Fig. 1,

showing the leveling device in the position it 10 occupies when the packing piece comes into contact with the ground, when the foot of the piece of furniture is allowed to bear upon the u d; 1'

Fig. 3 is an analogous sectional view, showing 15 the position of the parts at the end of the downward movement of the foot of the piece of furniture; I

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the ball wedged between the two inclined surfaces; 9 Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Y

Figs. 6 and '7 are diagrammatical views explaining in what manner a piece of furniture can be. caused to rest evenly upon all of its feet. 25

to 5, the foot'l of the piece of furniture is recessed at 2 and the automatic leveling device is engaged in thisrecess 2. This device includes a cup-shaped member 3 the bottom 3 of which is inclined and con- 3 stitutes the upper inclined surface above referred to. The lateral edges of member 3 are fixed to the foot I of. the piece of furniture by means of screws 4. In this member 3 is engaged a packing piece 5 adapted to slide vertically there- 35 in. Theupper face 5 of this piece 5 is inclined in the same direction as surface 3 when the foot I rests upon the ground (Figs. 3 and 4) The inclination of surface 5, which constitutes the lower inclined surface above referred to, is 40 smaller than that of surface 3'. In other words, the two inclined surfaces 3* and 5 make with each other, in the position of Figs. 3 and 4, a certain angle a which must be relatively small, for instance averaging 10". A ball 6 can move -46 between these two inclined surfaces.

The packing piece 5 is maintained in member 3 (Fig. -1) when the foot of the piece of furniture is lifted off the ground owing to the provision of flanges or

projections

3 and 3 50 upon which rest the

ends

5 and 5 of inclined surface 5.

Furthermorathe inclined surface .i is provided; at its upper end, with a recess or housing 1 in which ball 6 can-remain when the foot I of the piece of furniture is moved downwardly (Fig. 2) and packing piece comes to bear upon the ground. Finally, at the upper end of the inclined surface 3*, there is provided a portion 8 which is inclined in the opposite direction with respect to inclined surface 3. This part 8 is adapted to act upon ball 6 and to push it in the direction of arrow 1', out from its housing I (Fig. 3), when the foot of the piece of furniture is moved downwardly. The ball then comes into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, that is to say at the upper 5, ready to be wedged between inclined surfaces 3* and 5* if the piece of furniture does not rest evenly upon all of its feet.

In order to obtain a satisfactory stability of a piece of furniture such as table 9 (Figs. 6 and 7) that is to say if the under surfaces of the four clined. surfaces 3' feet of the table are located in the same plane,

' the leveling devices are in the position of, Fig. 3,

the balls being located at the upper parts of the inclined surfaces, in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. If either the table or the ground is out of true, so that one of the feet is located at a slight distance above the ground (for instance foot I), the inclined surface 3 which is rigid with the foot moves upwardly relatively to inclined surface 5*, so that the ball is allowed to roll downwardly along said surface 5' until it is wedgedbetween inclined surfaces 3 and 5 (position of Figs. 4 and 6).

If, when the table is said table rests only upon three feet, for instance I, I, I, the fourth foot I is pushed vertically against the ground, as if it were desired to cause the table to pivot about the diagonal :c-a: by

moving foot l downwardly and foot I upwardly. This brings the device carried by foot I into the position illustrated by Fig. 3, the ball 6 being driven out from its seat I by the inclined part 8 and engaging between the two inandisoastocomeinthe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. If now the diagonally opposite foot I is pushed downwardly, so as to apply it against the ground, thus lifting foot l off the ground, the packing piece 5 is allowed to slide downwardly in membet '3 until it comes to rest upon the ground. In e course of this movement the ball- 6 has ,rolled downwardly upon inclined surface 5' .until it is'wedged between surfaces 5- and 3. The table then bears evenly through its four' feet upon the ground. In case of subsequen warping modifying this relative position of v, e parts, the correct adjustment is automatically obtained.

'Of course the two leveling devices according to the present invention miglfi be disposed differently, for instance symmetrically, that is to say arranged in opposite directions in the front feet or the rear feet (arrow F). I when the piece of furniture is not provided with feet, the leveling devices according to the present invention are fitted under the front or rear edges of said piece of furniture.

part of inclined surface to be able to placed on the ground,

in said member from In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be a practical and efllcient embodiment of the present invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited'thereto, as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the type described for use in connection with pieces of furniture and similar articles which member rigidly a piece slidable member, adapted to bear upon the ground, said parts being so shaped that the under surface of said member and the upper surface of said piece are both inclined in the same direction with respect to the ground and make a predetermined sharp angle with each other when said piece is resting upon the ground, a rolling element interposed between these two inclined surfaces so as wedge between them, and means for maintaining said rolling element at the upper end of the second mentioned inclined surface when the piece carrying said last mentioned surface is resting upon the ground without the weight of the piece of furniture being transmitted thereto.

2. A device of the type described for use in connection with pieces of furniture and similar articles which comprises, in combination, a member rigidly fixed to said'piece of furniture, a piece adapted to bearupon the ground slidflxed to said piece of furniture,

able vertically with respect to said member, said respect to the ground and make a predetermined relatively small angle with each other when said piece is bearing upon the ground, a rolling ele-,

ment interposed between these two inclined surfaces so as to be able to wedge betweenthem, a seat for said rolling element for maintaining it at the upper end of the second mentioned inclined surface when the piece carrying said last mentioned surface is resting upon the ground without the weight of the piece of furniture being transmitted to said piece, and means carried by said first mentioned member for driving said rolling element out from said seat when the weight of the piece of furniture is transmitted to said piece. I

3. A device according to claim 2 in which the last mentioned means consist of an inclined surface carried by said member, said surface being inclined in a direction opposed to that of the first mentioned inclined surface carried by said member.

4. A device according to claim 2 further including means for preventing said piece movable dropping out from said member.

5. A device according to claim 2 further including inwardly extending projections carried by the lower part of said first mentioned member, and outwardly extending flanges carried by said piece movable insaid member adapted to cooperate with said projections for preventing said piece from dropping outfrom said member.

ALExANDRE HERVE.

comprises, in' combination, a

vertically with respect to said