US2945599A - Bookcase having vertically adjustable shelves - Google Patents

Description

July 19, 1960 H. A. SIMPSON, JR 2,945,599

BOOKCASE HAVING VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SHELVES Original Filed Jan. 24, 1958 FIG. I.

1N VENTOR H A SIMPSON, JR

B Y r ATTORNEYS United States Patent BOOKCASE HAVING 1 SHELVE Original application Jan. '24, 1958, Ser. No. 711,109. Divided and this application Nov. 13, 1958, Ser. No. 777,807

g 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-147) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described hereinafter may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to furniture and particularly to furniture for use aboard navalships and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to ready-made modular, as contrasted with custom built, furniture for use aboard naval ships.

The instant application is a divisional application of applicants copending application Serial No. 711,109, filed January 24, 1958.

-As is well known, furniture space aboard a naval vessel is generally at a premium, particularly on a ship conversion job, with a result that heretofore there has had to be a compromise between available space, utility and comfort. This in turn has resulted in custom-built furniture, or where ready-made furniture has been used, a large inventory of various shapes and sizes has had to be stocked.

An object of this invention is to provide ships furniture incorporating novel features that overcome inherent disadvantages in existing ships furniture.

A further object of this invention is to provide readymade sectional furniture for use aboard naval ships.

A further object of this invention is to provide a utility locker incorporating a novel bookshelf having means thereon to prevent books or the like from being tossed about in rough seas.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a utility locker which incorporates several unique features. In addition to drawer stowage for small items such as underwear, handkerchiefs, socks, etc., it is provided with a novel adjustable shelf for stowage of books or the like. This shelf has a hinged ledge that can be dropped down for easy removal of books, magazines, etc., or it can be locked in place by means of a spring latch to prevent books or the like from being tossed around in rough seas.

The invention, together with the above and other objects and advantages, thereof, is set forth in more technical detail in the following description and accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views and wherein:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged front elevational view, partly in vertical section, of a utility locker made in accordance with this invention;

VERTKSIALLY ADJUSTABLE Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a locker shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of an invisible hinge for connecting parts of the shelf of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows 7 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a utility locker having side and rear walls, top and bottom members and a base, all flanged, reinforced and provided with fixed and movable detents (Fig. 1). Each of the pair of utility lockers includes a book compartment 92, closed by a pair of doors 94, (Fig. 1), and beneath the book compartment is a pair of drawers 120. The doors are shown in open position in Fig. 1 and for clarity of illustration are omitted from Fig. 2.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the book compartment 92 includes a vertically adjustable book shelf 96, which shelf comprises a fiat bottom 96a, upturned sides 96b and an upturned front or ledge 96c. A movable ledge 97 is pivotally mounted on ledge 96c by a pair of concealed hinges 98, the latter shown in broken lines in Fig. 5, and one such hinge is shown in full lines in Fig. 7. Any conventional, concealed or invisible hinge may be used for connecting the movable ledge 97 to the relatively fixed ledge 96c. Thepurpose of the fixed and movable ledges is to secure the books upon the shelf and still have them readily accessible.

The book shelf, 96 is mounted for vertical adjustment on three pairs of channel members 100, 102 and 104 (Figs. 2-4), mounted as by welding on opposite side walls of the locker. Each of the channel members is provided with vertically spaced openings 100a, 102a and 104a, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. A pair of U-shaped bails 106 are pivotally mounted, as by stirrups 107 (Fig. 4) to the undersurface of the book shelf at each side thereof, with the free ends 106a of the bails adapted to enter desired openings 100a and 102a of the channel members 100 and 102, respectively, for adjustably supporting the shelf in the locker.

The movable ledge 97 is formed with a rolled or tubular portion 97a at the top thereof (Fig. 6), which tubular portion forms a smooth surface for holding books or the like in place on the shelf and it also forms a housing for a pair of spring pressed bolts 108, located one within each side of the tubularportion 9711 (Fig. 5). Each of the bolts 108 (Fig. 4) includes a plunger 110 snugly fitted in the tube 970. The plunger has a pin or operating handle 112 extending radially therefrom for movement. in a slot 97b in the tube 97a. A pin 114 extends axially from the left end of the plunger for engagement within an appropriate opening 104a in channel member 104, while a second pin 115 extends axially from the opposite end of the plunger and carries a compression spring 116, which spring is held on the pin by a disk 117 and a rivet 118. The arrangement is such that by moving the handle 112 to the right (Fig. 4) pin 114 is removed from its opening in channel 104, whereupon the ledge 97 may be moved from the upper or broken line position (Fig. 2) to the lower or full line position.

To change the adjustment of the book shelf, it is necessary only to move the shelf upward until the ends 10611 of the bails 106 are withdrawn from the openings in the channel members 100 and 102, whereupon, the shelf may be moved upwards or downwards as desired and until the ends of the bails enter other openings in the channel members corresponding to the new position of the shelf. Prior to so adjusting the book shelf, however, it is necessary to withdraw the spring pressed bolts 108 from engagement with the openings 104a in channel members 104, after which the ledge 97 may be moved to the open and lower position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and the shelf may then be adjusted, as just described. As shown in Fig. 4, the channel 104 is provided with a beveled portion 10 1b for guiding the pin 114 toward the opening in the channel.

Patented July, 19,1960 1 formed with a flanged opening 121a, shaped to receive a mating portion, not shown, formed on the outer end of the drawer.

Thus it is seen, in accordance with this invention, there is provided a low cost utility locker particularly adapted 'for use aboard naval ships. The novel bookshelf arrangement of the locker provides features which are particularly adapted to keeping books or the like in place even though the ship may be pitching and rolling in heavy seas. The shelves are adjustable in height to provide a simple means for making the most use of available space and is useful wherever space is at a premium. Although the locker is designed for use particularly aboard ship, it is obvious that it may find utility in other and different environments.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A bookcase comprising opposite side walls, a pair of channel members mounted in spaced relation on each of said sidewalls, said channel members being formed with vertically spaced and horizontally aligned openings therein; a bookshelf including a ledge extending across the front thereof formed of a lower portion fixed to the shelf and an upper portion hinged to the lower portion, and securing means for releasably securing the upper portion of the ledge in vertical alignment with the lower portion thereof to allow access to books on said shelf while holding the books in place when said ledges are in position; said securing means including a channel member mounted on each of the side walls in line with the ledge and formed with a plurality of spaced openings therein, a tubular member formed on the upper portion of the upper ledge and a pair of spring pressed bolts mounted in opposite ends of the tubular member and having outer ends thereof adapted to engage selected openings in the last named channel members; means mounting said bookshelf on the first named channel members for vertical adjustment relative to said side walls, said mounting means including a pair of U- shaped members pivotally mounted on an under surface of the shelf at each side thereof and each of said U-shaped members having free ends thereof adapted to enter selected openings in the first named channel members for adjustably supporting the shelf thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 388,066 Murphy Aug. 21, 1888 890,986 Jones June 16, 1908 1,219,715 Eiseman Mar. 20, 1917 1,280,114 Williams Sept. 24, 19l8 2,473,508 Collins June 21, 1949 2,631,808 Isaac d. Mar. 17, 1953

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