US2731968A

US2731968A - A cellini

Info

Publication number: US2731968A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1956-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1973-01-24

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet l 7/ni0f: dzezz yam Jase J. A. CELLINI Jan. 24, 1956 FILING CABINET DRAWER AND FOLLOWER BLOCK THEREFOR Filed Feb. 28, 1952 J. A. CELLlNl Jan. 24, 1956 FILING CABINET DRAWER AND FOLLOWER BLOCK THEREFOR Filed Feb. 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 d, UeZZz'ni s ymw d gyat' United States Patent ice FILING CABINET DRAWER AND FOLLOWER BLOCK THEREFOR Joseph A. Cellini, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 28, 1952, Serial No. 27 4,009

1 Claim. (Cl. 129-30) This invention relates to filing cabinet drawers and is more particularly concerned with the provision of drawers embodying compressors or follower members adapted to engage and maintain the contents of a drawer, such as files, cards, papers, etc., in a compact, upright condition.

This invention further contemplates the provision of a drawer having a compressor or follower member adapted to be manually moved to adjusted position within the drawer to facilitate the examination, insertion, or removal ofthe files.

' This invention further contemplates the provision of a drawer and follower construction embodying means to maintain the follower in an upright condition and in a plane normal to the sides of the drawer during adjustment of the follower longitudinally of the drawer.v

T This invention further contemplates the provision of ariimproved latch means operable to normally secure the follower in fixed position within a drawer and manually operable to permit movement of the follower longitudinally of the drawer.

This invention embodies other novel features, details of construction, and arrangement of parts which are hereinafter set forth in the specification and claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 2 illustrating a filing cabinet drawer embodying features of the present invention, only one side of the drawer being shown as the opposite side is identical in construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 4, showing a modified form of the invention, only one side of the drawer being shown as the opposite side is identical in construction.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, the filing cabinet drawer is shown as formed from sheet metal and comprising a bottom 2, side walls 4-4 and end walls 6-6. Each side wall is formed with vertically spaced webs 8 and 10 and a connecting web 12 which define a channel 14 adapted to receive a rack member 16 of channel-shaped cross section.

Each rack member 16 comprises a base 17 and vertically spaced upper and lower flanges 18 and 20, the flange 20 being perforated at spaced intervals to serve as a rack for meshing engagement with a gear 22 secured to the adjacent end of a shaft 24. Each rack member 16 is secured in fixed position within the upper end of its respective channel 14 by means of rivets, spot welding, or other fastening means.

A compressor or follower member 26 is disposed within the drawer between the side walls thereof and is shown as blanked and formed from sheet metal to provide a front wall 28, a top wall 30 and side walls 32-32, the side walls being formed with apertures 34 to receive the ends of the shaft 24. A guide member 36 is spot welded 2,731,968 Patented Jan. 24, 1956 orotherwise secured to the outer side of each side wall 32 and is formed with vertically spaced, horizontally disposed

flanges

38 and 40 for engagement with the inner opposing surfaces of the flanges 18 and 20, respectively, of the rack member 16. Each guide member 36 is also formed with an aperture in registry with the apertures 34 formed in the side walls 32-32 to receive the shaft 24.

A latch housing 42 is blanked and formed from sheet metal and is shown as comprising a bottom 44, side walls 46-46 and end walls 48-48, the side walls being provided with flanges 50-50 adapted to be spot welded, riveted, or otherwise secured to the front wall 28 of the compressor or follower 26.

A latch 52 is enclosed within the housing 42 and is shown as comprising a base 54 having a pair of spaced, vertically projecting arms 56-56. The upper end of each arm is bifurcated toprovide a slot 58 to receive the adjacent flattened portion 60 of the shaft 24. Each slot 58 is defined for a portion of its length by parallel walls 62-62 which merge at their upper ends with upwardly diverging walls 64-64.

i A helical compression spring 66 is interposed between the base 54 of the latch 52 and the adjacent end wall 48 of the housing 42 to yieldably resist downward movement of the latch. A latch release member 68 is provided on the compressor or follower26 to engage the latch 52 and is preferably formed from a length of strip metal bent at its ends to provide a latch engaging flange 70 and a hand engaging flange 72. The inner portion of the member 68 is enclosed within the latch housing 42 and has its upper portion projecting through elongated apertures formed in the end wall of the housing 42 and the top wall 30 of the follower 26.

To manually adjust the position of the compressor or follower 26 longitudinally of the drawer, the latch actuating member 68 is pressed downwardly to move the latch 52 toward the adjacent end wall 48 of the latch housing 42 until the axis of the shaft 24 is disposed between the upwardly diverging edges 64-64 of the slots 58 formed in the arms 56-56. The latch is thus moved to its inop erative position to permit free rotational movement of the shaft 24 and manual adjustment of the compressor or follower 26 longitudinally of the drawer. Upon release of the member 68, the compression spring 66 acts to move the latch 52 upwardly to engage the shaft 24 against further rotational movement. When the latch 52 is in its upper position it will be noted that the flat surfaces 60-60 on the shaft 24 are snugly engaged by the parallel edges 62-62 of the slots 58 to prevent rotational movement of the shaft 24 relative to the latch. It will also be noted that the guide members 36-36 serve to support the compressor or follower 26 in an upright condition, and further that the shaft 24, gears 22-22 and rack members 16-16 serve to maintain the follower 26 in a plane normal to the side walls dun'ng adjustment of the follower longitudinally of the drawer.

Figs. 3 and 4 in the drawings illustrate a modified form of the invention in which the filing cabinet drawer is shown as comprising a bottom 2a, side walls 4a-4a and end walls 6a6a, each side wall having vertically spaced

parallel webs

8a and 10a and a connecting web 12a defining a channel 14a to receive a rack member 16a of generally channel-shape cross section.

Each rack 16a comprises spaced upper and

lower flanges

18a and 20a joined together by a base 17a spot welded to the inner face of its related connecting web 12a, the lower flange being perforated at equally spaced intervals to serve as a rack for meshing engagement with a gear 27a keyed to a shaft 24a.

A compressor or follower member 76 is mounted within the drawer in a plane normal to the side walls 4a-4a and comprises a sheet metal blank formed to provide a ing a dependingflange 80,- the side Walls having aper tures 81-81 to rotatably receive the shaft 24a. The upper flange 18a of each rack member 16a is spaced from its related top web'fliz todefine a recesstoslida'blywa ceive= a tongue 82' on a guide member" 83 spot welded to-its relatedside wa11 7S; It'willbe' noted that the guide members 83-8-3 serve to support the compressor 76' in an upright position within thedrawer, and that-the racks 16'a-16a; gears 22a-22a and shaft- 24a" act' to maintain the compressor 76in aplane normal to the side Walls 411-411" during and after movement of the compressor'longitudinally of'the drawer.

Means for locking the compressor 76 in fixedposition within the drawer is'shown' as comprisingian elongated latch 84'preferably blanked fromsheet' metal to provide a pair of depending tongues 85'S5formedanddisposed for vertical movement'into and out of the perforations of their" respective rack members 16z'116a; The latch 84 hasits end portions disposedforvertical' movement within' sl'ots 86-86 formed in the side walls78-78 of the compressor, the medial portion of the latch being spot welded at 87 tothe-lower end'of a latch actuating arm 88 disposed in flush engagement against the back surface of the front wall 77.

The upper end of the arnr 88 is bent to provide a horizontal web-89- and a vertical fiange' 90" slidably'engaging the inner surface of the depending fiange80, and a compression spring 91 is interposed between the web 89 and the top wall 79 0f the'compressor to yieldably resist up= ward movement of the-latch 84 and its actuating arm 88'.

To adjust the position of the compressor 76 longitudinally of the drawer, the latch actuating arm 88isfirst manually engaged bythe'fingers of the operator under the horizontal web 89' to' raisethe" latch 84' and move its tongues 35--85- out of the apertures inthe" rack flanges 20a20a. The compressor 76 is then manually moved to adjusted position longitudinally of the drawer and secured in position by the latch 84. The compression spring 91' normally holds the latch in engagement with therack members 16a16a;

While this invention has been shown in but two forms, it is-obvious-to-those skilled in-the art that it-is-notso limited but is susceptible of various changes and modifications Without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.

I claim as my invention:

In a file drawer having spaced side walls and a bottom, a follower disposed within the drawer, a rack provided on each side wall, a shaft journaled on the follower and extending between the side walls, gears fixed on the ends of the shaft in meshing engagement with their respective racks, a latch supported on the follower for reciprocative movement transversely of said shaft-betweena shaft-locking position and a shaft release position and having two spaced upwardly projectingbifurcated' arms providing U- shaped recesses to receive said shaft, the upper ends of said recesses being enlarged to rotatably receive said shaft when the latch is in its shaft release position, portions of said shaft adjacent each arm' having diametrically opposed flat surfaces to be'slidably and non-rotatively'engaged within the lowerends of said recesses when the latch is disposed in its normal shaft locking position; a latch actuating member 'on the follower-operable to move the latch downwardly from its' shaft locking positionto its shaft release-position; said member having a'portion engaged against the upper' endsof said arms to close the recesses therein; and resilient means to yieldably resist movement of said latch from its shaft locking position to its shaftrel'ease position;

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,064,382 Sampson June 10,1913 l,l11,4,081- Weiss' -t Oct; 2.0, 191.4 l-,787,4l0 Smiley Dec. 30,1930 1-,874,367 Seyl Aug. 30,. 1932. 2,013,153 Hunter Sept. 3,} 1935 2,187,118; Ficklin Jan. 16; 1940 2,585,612 Abrahamson Feb. 12,v 1952,