US3169812A

US3169812A - Drawing filing arrangements

Info

Publication number: US3169812A
Application number: US221823A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gronkvist Lars Roland; Ornlinde Isidor Teodor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-09-07
Filing date: 1962-09-06
Publication date: 1965-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 1982-02-16
Also published as: DE1429637A1; NL282939A; CH400485A; GB948236A

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet l L. R. GRONKVIST ETAL F l G. 2

DRAWING FILING ARRANGEMENTS Feb. 16, 1965 Filed Sept. 6, 1962 F 1965 1.. R. GRONKVIST ETAL 3,169,812

DRAWING FILING ARRANGEMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 6, 1962 1965 L. R. GRGNKVIST ETAL 3,169,312

DRAWING FILING ARRANGEMENTS Filed Sept. 6, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.7

FIG.8

United States Patent 3,169,812 DRAWING FILING ARRANGEMENTS Lars Roland Grtinkvist, Vedevagsslingan 12, Bandhagen,

Sweden, and Isidor Teodor Ornlinde, Horningsholmsvagen 1, Alvsjo, Sweden Filed Sept. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 221,823 Claims priority, application Sweden, Sept. 7, 1961, 8,897/ 61 1 Claim. (Cl. BIZ-U0) This invention is concerned with shelf arrangements for filing drawings or the like, such as drawing filing cabinets.

It is known in the art to provide drawing filing cabinets with horizontal drawers or compartments in which the drawings are stacked flatly upon each other. This arrangement is awkward in use, especially when many drawings have to be stacked upon each other in order to economize with space, as the weight of the overlying drawings in a drawer or compartment will make it difiicult to extract an underlying drawing, and still more difficult to put it back without creasing or otherwise damaging the paper.

According to another known arrangement, the drawings are filed in vertical folders suspended in filing cabinets. By that arrangement the drawings tend to curl and to sink to the bottom of the folders so that they may be damaged or even spoilt.

Both these types of filing arrangements furthermore have a rather limited capacity for a given floor area.

The invention has for its object to overcome the disad vantages of the horizontal as well as the vertical filing systems by providing a novel drawing filing arrangement which permits the filing of a very great number of drawings within a relatively small floor area without rendering their handling any more difficult, but on the contrary facilitating it, said novel arrangement being also such that the risk for damaging or destroying the drawings is eliminated.

According to the invention shelves for stacking the drawings are disposed with an inclination of about 45 backwards-downwards, and folders are provided for the filing of the drawings on said shelves, said folders being made of a thin and comparatively stiff material, such as cardboard or pasteboard which may be coated with a protective layer.

By the relatively steep inclination of the shelves, of about 45 the weight by which the drawings rest on each other will be materially reduced. That will facilitate the extraction and refiling of the drawings. The handling properties of the arrangement are also greatly improved by the provision of the folders. A folder even at the bottom of a stack of folders on a shelf may easily be extracted without disturbing the overlying folders, and is also easily replaced, as it will slide by itself or with only light assistance into its proper position, owing to the chosen inclination of the shelves. The reduced frictional resistance will make the filing of more drawings on each shelf possible which means an increased filing capacity for any given floor area. The drawings do not tend to crumble down in the folders, as they are secured against that by being sandwiched between the folder covers, which are made of a thin, relatively stifi sheet material.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the annexed drawings.

In the drawings- FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation view of the supporting structure and shelf arrangement of a filing cabinet according to the invention,

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views of a shelf front support, on a greater scale,

FIGS. 4 and 5 are corresponding views of a shelf rear support,

FIG. 6 is a vertical section through the webs of a front and a back structural member with shelves and folders,

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a shelf, and

FIG. 8 is a view from above of the interior of the filing cabinet as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The drawing filing arrangement according to the invention is intended, in the first place, for building-in in cabinets of sheet steel or wood which may be of a general construction well known in itself, and which need not be more closely described, therefore. In FIG. 1 the diagrammatically illustrated frame structure for a steel cabinet is denoted 1, and shelves 2 are disposed therein with an inclination of about 45 with the forward edge uppermost and the rear edge lowermost. Drawings which are put on the shelves slide downwards against the cabinet rear wall on account of the rather steep inclination which is clearly illustrated in FIG. 6 wherein also are shown folders 3 of a comparatively stiff sheet material such as cardboard. The folders 3 are used for accommodating the drawings which being made on paper or like material have no inherent stiffness of their own. The drawings to be filed are of relatively large size as can be seen in FIG. 6 from a comparison between the size of the folders 3 and the human hand shown. In FIG. 6 also are illustrated leaf springs 4 which are secured by one end to the underside of the shelves 2, and are curved in such a manner as to lightly press the folders 3 together. The other end of the spring slides freely on the underside of the shelf, and the spring accordingly may readily adapt itself to the thickness of the stack of folders on any given shelf.

At the front and rear edges the shelves rest upon vertical channel members 5 and 6 (FIGS. 1 to 5). The channel members 5 supporting the front edge may have flanges of unequal width, as illustrated, and the wider flange 5a may be recessed as at 7 for the front edge eleent 8 of the lattice-work shelf 2 (FIG. 7) made of metal wire, such as steel Wire, while the rear edge element 9 is pivotally supported by one flange of the rear channel members 6. By virtue of this arrangement each shelf is easy to elevate somewhat at the front edge (as far as the overlying shelf permits) which facilitates the handling of the drawing folders 3 (FIG. 6). The metal wire forming the shelves may be coated with a protective layer of paint, synthetic resin, or the like.

Modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, and thus, for instance, may the shelves be made in other forms than latticework and thus, for instance, may be made of boards with edge fittings for the engagement with the supporting structure. The folders 3 may be provided at the front edge with tag holders of plastic or metal (not illustrated) which may also be formed with finger grips for handling the folders.

What We claim is:

In a cabinet for filing relatively large size drawings made on paper and like material having no inherent stiffness characteristic, the combination comprising a supporting structure of vertical channel members at the front and the back of the cabinet, respectively, and filing shelves formed as lattice-work, there being recesses in the front channel members for taking up the front member of said 1,416,288 /22 Harrah 129-46 shelves and pivotal connections between the aft member 7 1,983,577 12/34 Straubel 12916 of said shelves and the back channel m mbers, said 2,233,938 3/41 Jones 129' 16 shelves being supported by said channel members With 2 392 771 11 42- H b- 124 a backward-downward inclination of about 45, and being 5 2,334,633 9/45 Markowski X adapted to be tilted about said pivotal connections when 2 950 541 8/60 Dement X raised at the front edge, and folder means for the drawings 3023907 3/62 ROSS of a relatively stiff sheet material, adapted to accommodate the drawings when filed upon said shelves.

i I l l v I. 10 FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited by the Examiner 5 230 /562 Great i i UNITED STATES PATENTS FRAN, B SHERRY P E r 502,733 3/93 Staley 211-51 k mmme" 1,350,186 8/20 Straubel 1295 43 5 CHANCELLOR EL HARRIS, Examiner.