US2887115A - Card tray - Google Patents

Description

y 9, 1959 A; R. RUDDELL ETAL 2,887,115

CARD TRAY Filed Aug. 8, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTORS' y 1959 A. R. RUDDELL ETAL 2,887,115

CARD TRAY 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1957 INVENTORS ,4, ,Q, Q1/0015. LL. K H, W/LMEQ May 19, 1959 A. k. RUDDELL ETAL 2,837,115

cm) TRAY Filed Aug. 8, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 .IIIII INVENTOI KS Ag 11005 163/7. W/LMfi/Q I I P I I Il- HHHHHA H "q III HHHGHHII CARD TRAY Allison R. Ruddell and Rudolph H. Wilmer, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The General Fireproofing Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application August 8, 1957, Serial No. 677,119

1 'Claim. (Cl. 129-26) This invention relates to card trays.

Trays for holding record cards are usually removably mounted side by side, that is, transversely of storage drawers, and include a slidable compressor with a fixed rearward inclination and a front plate which cooperates with the compressor to keep the cards compactly in the tray. 1

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a tray with a simple and practical embodiment of a front plate which may be readily operated by the user of the tray through the medium of a control lever to release or look the plate in relation to the cards.

A further object of the invention is to provide a one piece release lever for the front plate which may be readily assembled thereto.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a detail fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner of mounting and operating the front plate and also indicating how the trays may be stacked without interference from fixed handles at the ends of the trays.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the tray shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the end of the drawer of Fig. 2 having the front plate therein.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be observed that the card tray is designated generally as A and includes the opposite end walls 1-1, side walls 2 and bottom wall 3. The opposite end walls 1-1 are provided with the upstanding lugs 4 intended to fit in the mating openings 5 in the bottom wall 3 of a superposed drawer, for stacking purposes. It will thus be understood that each tray has lugs and slots.

Also, each of the end walls 1-1 is provided with a fixed handle 6 which enables the tray to be readily lifted from the storage drawer B (Fig. 3). The handle portions 6 projecting outwardly of the end walls rest on the upper beads 7 of the sides of said drawer B and thus suspend the tray across the drawer when it is intended to be stored in a suitable cabinet. A tiltable front plate 8 is mounted on a carrier or insert for cooperation with a conventional compressor C.

As will be more particularly observed from Figs. l-4, the part of the drawer which constitutes the front and which receives the insert has the front plate 8 hinged as at 9 to the bottom flange 10 of the vertical wall 11 of said insert designated generally as 12.

The insert includes the bottom flange 10, vertical wall 2,887,115 Patented May 19, 1959 11 and the top flange 13 disposed in a direction opposite the bottom flange 10. This bottom flange is shorter in length than the wall 12 and flange 13 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 to enable the wall to snap behind the indentations 14 on the tray bottom when the flange 13 is placed beneath the lip 14 on the front end wall 1 of the drawer and at the bottom of the finger clearance recess below the handle 6.

The front plate 8 is provided at its rear side, that is, the side facing the insert 12, with a pair of guide strips 8 which may be extruded out of the plate to provide guides. The primary purpose of this feature is to provide proper slidable relationship between the plate and the lifting or control lever L.

The control lever, as will presently appear more in detail may be conveniently assembled to the front plate 8 and wall 11.

The control lever L is preferably in the form of a Wire or rod of sufiicient rigidity to enable it to be permanently bent into a pair of laterally disposed spaced parallel bail arms 15 having rearwardly disposed journal portions 16 offset in the same direction and intended to fit into pivot eyes 17 struck out from the wall 11. The opposite ends of said arms 15 adjacent the plate extend transversely of the drawer and include inturned plate-bearing members 18, having medially therebetween, a U-shaped handle or loop 19 readily accessible to a finger of the tray users hand. This handlle lies entirely within the space between the rear face of the plate and the vertical wall of the insert to be freely accessible at all times to avoid awkward manipulation of the handle and at no time presents the hazard of pinched fingers. If it is desired to move the locking lever to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 to free up the cards, it is only necessary to lift the loop. Of course, it is optional whether the tray user manipulates the locking lever while lifting the tray, but in any event the purpose of the loop 19 is to permit the entire locking lever to be raised or elevated so as to permit the horizontal portions 18 to freely slide beneath the strips 8 with the parts 16 and 17 in pivoting relation, thereby to positively move or actuate the plate backwardly to the dotted line position of said Fig. 3.

The compressor C may be slidably moved to any desired position in accordance with customary practice to support the cards at a convenient viewing angle. When it is desired to lock or clamp the cards between the follower or compressor C and the front plate, it is simply necessary for the tray user to push and thereby rock the front plate 8 on the hinge 9 to move it to the full line position shown, for example in Fig. 3. As will be observed from this figure, the offset portions 16 of the locking lever which fit in the pivot eyes 16 are disposed at a higher elevation than the bottom of the guides or slots provided by the strips 8*. Therefore, when the front plate 8 is forcibly tilted rearwardly to compact the cards against the follower or compressor C, the said front plate will be locked in position because the inturned portions 18 of the locking lever are below the center or aXis of the offset portions 16 of the lever.

The control lever may be conveniently assembled to the front plate by threading the same beneath the strips 8 until the loop 19 has room to shift laterally, and, since the journal or foot portions 16 are angularly disposed in the same direction, they may be readily inserted in the eyes 17.

From the foregoing it will now be apparent that the present invention carries out the objects heretofore indicated by providing a pivoted front plate 8 tiltably or swingably mounted on hinge 9 and controlled by a lever L in such a way that when the lever is pulled upwardly the front plate will tilt backwardly, and when the front plate or the lever is moved forwardly, the lever will firmly lock or hold the front plate against the cards to maintain them against the follower or compressor.

Also, the invention provides within its scope variations in the trays for mounting them in drawers of different depth.

We claim:

In a card tray having a bottom wall, opposite side walls, and front and rear end walls; a lip projecting horizontally inwardly from the front end wall, an indentation projecting upwardly from the bottom wall adjacent each side thereof and in equally spaced relation to said front end wall, an insert fitted into the front end of the tray, said insert comprising a vertical wall disposed in spaced parallel relation to said front end 'wall and having a horizontal flange extending forwardly from the upper edge thereof and terminating in a free edge removably engaged with said front end wall, an outer portion of said flange being removably engaged with the lower face of said lip, said wall having a free lower edge portion adjacent each of said side walls engaged with a respective one of said indentations, a flange projecting rearwardly from the lower edge of said vertical wall intermediate said free lower edge portions and resting on said bottom wall of the tray, an upright plate disposed rearwardly of said vertical wall and having its lower edge pivotally connected to the free edge of said last flange, on an axis parallel with said vertical wall, said vertical wall being provided with a pair of laterally spaced pivot eyes adjacent the junction of the wall with said first flange, said upright plate being provided with a pair of laterally spaced guide ways elongated in a direction normal to said axis, and a control lever for moving said upright plate about said axis forward and away from said vertical wall, comprising a pair of laterally spaced parallel arms having off-set ends rotatably received in said pivot eyes, a pair of co-axial bearing members in right angular relation to said arms slidably disposed in said elongated guide ways, and a U-shaped handle projecting from adjacent ends of said bearing members between said guide ways and extending in a direction toward said vertical wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,653,937 Welk Dec. 27, 1927 1,695,257 Ohnstrand Dec. 11, 1928 1,978,381 Hutchings Oct. 23, 1934 1,982,504 Elliott Nov. 27, 1934 2,015,460 Rand Sept. 24, 1935 2,692,811 Page Oct. 26, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 645,805 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1950

Images