US2530115A - Desk pad structure - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 14, 1950 A. COHN DESK PAD STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 19, 1946 Nov. 14, 1950 A. COHN 2,530,115

DESK PAD STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 14, 1950 DESK PAD STRUCTURE Arthur Cohn, New York, N. Y. Application August 19, 1946,, Serial No. 691,563

This invention relates to improvements in desk pad structures.

In its broadest aspect the present invention aims at the combination of several desk items (telephone register, appointment book, calendar, i

memorandum pad, and other accessories) with a desk pad, which items are so coordinated to the latter that convenient and easy conduct of ofiice business will be facilitated and manipulation of at least some of said items needed at one end the-same time may be had by one hand only of a person.

It is knownthat many inconveniences result "from the fact that such desk items are often scattered over oifice desks. Sometimes, one hand of i a person is holding the telephone receiver while the other hand of said person must reach for notes or other papers, which mostly do not lie at their usual locations on the desk.

As a further disadvantage may be considered that telephone index devices and similar usually small desk articles or accessories now in use, are likely to be removed from, misplaced or arranged on the desk so that it is difficult to grasp those .small articles, when needed, to keep the same all the time in their proper place on the desk, to allow manipulation of the pages of an item, such :as a book, a loose leaf index or the jotting down of telephone numbersappointments, etc.

The present invention eliminates these and other disadvantages and proposes a desk .pad which is constructed in a new and clearly arranged manner.

It is therefore one of the'objects of this invention to provide means affording easy and quick operation of the desk pad made in accordance with this invention, permitting production thereof at relatively low cost and contributing to maintaining the desk pad in orderly condition and aesthetic appearance.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means rendering possible easy interchangeability of the items used in connection with the new desk pad.

Still another 'objectof the present invention is toprovide means allowing the operation and use of the desk pad in the usual manner, although improving the same to such a degree that its usefulness will be considerably enhanced bymaking available for ready employmentall the items or "accessories ordinarily considered desirable inconnection with an office desk.

' Yet, a further object of the invention is t o provide means assuring simple:and-dnrable construction of the desk'padcwhose capacity to .hold' papers, memoranda and other stationery items is increased without producing unsightly and bu'lky structures and substantially maintaining neat and well arranged disposition of the usually need,-

ed items, which may be'hidden from view at any time, if desired.

These and other objects and advantage will become more clear fromthe ensuing specification and drawings, in which:

Fig. '1 is a top plan view of the desk pad made in accordance with this invention and shown in open condition;

Fig. 2 is -a cross-sectional view taken along line 22 ofFigl; g

' Fig. tie a cross-sectional View on an enlarged scaletakenalong line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the deskipadshown in Fig. 1 in closed condition;

Fig. 5 isaperspectiveview of one of the accessories .used in connection with the desk pad;

Fig. 6jis a'perspective view of another of the accessories employed in "the desk pad of this invention. 1

Referring now more particularly to the .attached drawings, there is disclosed in Figsjl and 4 a desk pad I0 in open and closed condition, respectively. Desk pad Ill has a flat backing or support II preferably made of cardboard, paste boardor similar massgwhichmay be lined with asoft textile material '(not shown) as it is conventional.

Desk pad II] has a median .portion I2 and end portions I4 and I5, said median portion carrying on its upper face blotter means I3. End portions I4 and I5, respectively, consist of fixed frame sections I6, I8 and flap sections 1 I, I9, which are hinged at 20, 2| so that sections 1 1 and I9 may be swung into superposed position .and juxtapositionwith respect to fixed sections I6, I8.

Fixed sections 16, I8 are provided with upper loopsZZ, 23 and with lower loops 24, 25 and further with pockets 26, 21. The aforesaid loops and pockets 22 to 21 are either directly mounted on support II or respectively bymeans of an intermediate base 28 adhesively fixed or glued on the top surface of support II.

As can be seen from Figs. 1 and 3, base 28 of each of the fixed sections I6, I8 provides opposed pockets 3!), -3I with respect to support H for the-insertion of the lateral ends of the blotter efiect one end of each leather hinge 20a, am is fixed on support I I (either by adhesives or stitching), whereas the opposite ends 201), Mb of said leather hinges extend over the outer surface of the respective flap sections l1, l9 and form the outermost leather binding or cover therefor, so that when flaps ll, I9 are respectively swung into closed positions of the desk pad H], the leather binding or layer Ila, l9a come to lie on top of end portions I4 and I5.

Swingable flap sections 1'! and I9 are also provided with upper loops 32, 33 and lower loops 34, 35 and with suitable pockets 36, 31. As can be seen from Fig. 1, opposed loops 22, 32 and 23, 33, as well as 24, 34 and 25, 35 may be located in alignment with each other, respectively, and are preferably employed for the insertion of bookor folderlike units, such as telephone register or index devices 36, 31, and ringbook device 38.

As can be seen from Fig. 5, the folderlike telephone register device 31 consists of carrier sheet 39 terminating into outwardly extending reduced portions 40, 4| and of pages 42, 43 connected with said carrier sheet 39. As can be realized from Fig. 5, page 42 is hinged at 44 to page 43 of the telephone register device.

. The pages 42 and 43 are co-extensive with each other, while the outwardly extending portions 40 and M are so shaped (preferably tapered) as to facilitate insertion of the device 31 within up per and lower end loops 22 and 24. It is well .understood that the structure of the telephone register device 36 is similar to that of the just described register'device 31 and is inserted by means of its extensions 50, within upper and lower loops 32, 34.

Ringbook device 38 consists of the two carriers or. supports 52, 53 having the upper extensions 52a, 53a and the lower extensions 52b, 5311, respectively. Carriers 52 and 53 are hingedly connected with each other by means of a spiral wire element 54 threaded through perforations (not shown) of the carriers 52 and 53.

Element 54 threadedly engages the sheets 55 of a memorandum pad 56, so that the sheets may be moved in a ring binder fashion about the element 54.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, device 38 may be removably connected to the desk pad by inserting extension portions 53a and 53b, respectively, intoupper and lower loops 33 and 35 and by further inserting the extension portions 52a and 521) into upper and lower loops 23 and 25 said upper loops 23, 33 and lower loops 25, 35 being respectively disposed adjacent the upper and lower ends of said fixed section [8 and said flap section l9.

It wi l be observed, that extensions 52a and 52b are shorter in width than the loops 23 and 25, and that they are al o shorter in width than the extensions 53a and 53b. This structure is necessitated in order to bring about actuation (opening and closing) of the ringbook device 38, while the swingable flap section 19 is moved relatively to the fixed section I8.

Thus a sliding movement of the extensions 52a and 52b lengthwise of the respective loops 23 and 25 will be had, so that in closed position, indicated by dot-dash lines in Fig. 3 of the swingable flap E9, the pages 55 of the structure 38 will assume a position within the boundary of the closed end portion l5, as may be also realized from Fi 4. V

As indicated in Fig. 1, pockets 26 and 2? may 7 be used for receiving loose notes, business cards, and the like. Pocket 31, in this instance, is employed to hold a paper pad 51, whereas pocket 35 is provided with a window 58 to expose to view a calendar 59.

As may be seen from the above explanations, the outside appearance of the desk pad made in accordance with this invention is substantially the same as that of the conventional desk pads. However, the commonly known end portions on the opposite sides of the pad, which generally are employed to retain the sheet of blotting paper, have been advantageously improved by means of a new construction which permits the new desk pad to be provided with means for carrying and making accessible many desirable desk accessories, which may be hidden from view in closed position of the new desk pad. The result achieved by this invention is that the aesthetic appearance of the desk pad is maintained and that the same neither becomes bulky nor unsightly.

When the end portions of the desk pad are employed to carry a telephone register, the latter is preferably composed of several independent folders (Fig. 5), on which blank spaces and/or lines for telephone numbers, addresses etc. may be provided according to the needs of the user.

Register devices 36 and 3'! are constructed so that they may be moved in opposite directions when flap section I! assumes a superposed position relatively to fixed section H5 in closed condition of end portion 4. The aforesaid register devices may be easily folded and moved without interference with each other, If desired, these register devices 36 and 3! may be reinforced by cardboard or other stiffening means which facilitate convenient handling and ready replacement of the folders and reduces further the wear thereof to a high degree.

The above mentioned ring-binder device 38 is held at its upper and lower ends in a similar manner as the aforesaid register devices 36, 31.

If the device 38 is to be used as an appointment book, in which case it will have necessarily more than 52 pages, the same must be opened and closed without any inconvenience when movements of the flap section .19 occur. Such book must also be retained in position within fixed section l8 and movable flap section I5.

Relatively stiff material for the carriers 52, 53 (pressboard, heavy acetate sheets, etc.) assure suitable support for such appointment book and simultaneously an appropriate connection between parts l8, 19 of the end portion 15, so that the swinga'ble flap section l9 will be kept taut and straight without causing any warping o distortion for said flap section or fixed section.

On account of the particular construction the cover or carriers of said ring-binder book are prevented from being shifted from their positions and hold the book in proper place, so that when th flap is opened, the book presents itself in open condition, while its pages can be turned over very easily and facilitate writing thereon.

The desk pad is so constructed that its parts, which are to be carried by it, are interchangeable and can be easily replaced and attached at the right or left flap section and vice versa, following the individual habits of the user.

As a particular advantage of the new desk pad is to be mentioned the fact that it assumes in open condition a substantially flat unit (Fig. 2) which extends throughout its whole length over a table or desk surface and which is devoid of any overhanging parts which would otherwise lead to deformation, warping and unsightliness of the said pad.

It can thus be seen, that there has been achieved in accordance with this invention a desk pad structure which consists of a substantially fiat support having two lateral end portions and an intermediate or median portion for carrying the blotter in sheet formation, said lateral end portions being each provided with a fixed section and a flap section, ends of said fixed sections facing each other forming lips on said median portion and being engageable with said blotter sheet to retain the same in position on said median portion, hinge means connecting each flap section with a respective fixed section, whereby said flap sections may be swung to juxtaposition and superposed position relatively to said fixed sections, respectively, said hinge means being made of leather material, said material extending from below said fixed sections to the surface of said flap sections, respectively, and forming a top cover for said flap sections, whereby said hinge means in juxtaposition of said fixed sections with said fla sections extend substantially in alignment with and at the level of said fiat support, and loop means for retaining fiat articles dis-posed at said fixed sections and at said fiap sections, respectively, said retaining means being hidden from view in superposed position of said fiap sections with said fixed sections.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the above embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the desk pad illustrated and its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention What is claimed asinew and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, having a lateral end with a fixed section and a fiap section, means hingedly connecting said flap section to said fixed section, whereby said fiap section may be swung into superposed position and in juxtaposition to said fixed section; an upper loop and a lower loop arranged on each of said fixed section and of said flap section, carrier means supporting paper sheets, each carrier means being provided with a pair of extensions projecting beyond said paper sheets, upper extension and lower extensions, respectively, said upper extension being, respectively, engageable with said upper loops, said lower extensions being, respectively, engageable with said lower loops,

whereby said carrie means may be removably and interchangeably disposed on said flap section and. on said fixed section, and means swingably connecting said paper sheets to one another and to said carrier means, one pair of said extensions of said carrier means being smaller in width than the width of each of said upper and lower loops, whereby said one carrier means may slide within their respective loops relatively to r the other pair of said extensions, said other pair of extensions being engaged by said upper and lower loops of said flap section and being movable with the latter to open and closed position of said carrier means, respectively, when said flap section is moved to said juxtaposition and said superposed position, respectively.

2. In a device of the character described having a fixed section and a flap section, hinge I means connecting said flap section with said fixed section, whereby said flap section may be swung to juxtaposition and superposed position relatively to said fixed section, respectively, a book structure having cover means, extensions on said cover means, leaves connected through a spiral wire element with said cover means, and means for engaging said extensions of said cover means and respectively disposed at said fixed section and at said flap section, said extensions being smaller in width than said engaging means, whereby said cover means of said book structure are slidably coupled with said sections and will follow the movement of said flap section to said juxtaposition and superposed position, respectively.

ARTHUR COHN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 282,702 Caldwell Aug. 7, 1883 329,348 Whitney Oct. 27, 1885 708,525 Buskirk Sept. 9, 1902 962,798 Swarin June 28, 1910 990,211 Richardson Apr. 18, 1911 1,089,557 Henderson Mar. 10, 1914 1,278,185 Malsch Sept. 10, 1918 1,331,995 McMullen Feb. 24, 1920 1,528,400 Busch Mar. 3, 1925 1,709,450 White Apr. 16, 1929 1,750,022 Pick Mar. 11, 1930 1,856,160 Gutberlet May 3, 1932 2,276,463 Buxton Mar. 17, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 272,105 Great Britain June 9, 1927

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