US321164A - Rack for newspaper-files - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. D. WEST.

RACK FOR NEWSPAPER FILES.

N0..321,1.64. gggatented hne 30. 1,88 5.

Winwses:

UNITED STATES ATENT Fries.

HORATIO D. \VEST, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

RACK FOR NEWSPAPER-Fl LES.

.JPECIFICATION fOrmin-g part of Letters Patent No. 321,16 dated June 30, 18.85.

Application filed January 22, 1885. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HORATIO D. \VEST, of St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Racks for Newspaper- Files, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a rack for newspaper-files; and it consists in a series of bars secured to the under side of a suitable support and grooved or cut away on their side faces to receive and support between them the back bar of a paper file or holder, space being left between the lower edge of the bars for the papers to pass between and hang down.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a file-rack constructed in accordance with myinvention and made in the form of a desk; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse section of the same; Fig. 3, an end view of the rack proper, and Fig. 4 a similar View showing the bars made of sheet metal.

Heretofore it has been customary to provide newspaper-files with rings or eyes and to hang the same upon hooks, or to lay them flat upon a table or shelf. Such plans are inconvenient, require considerable space, do not permit a given file to be readily selected or taken from the rest, and involve rapid destruction of the papers in handling the files.

My invention is designed to obviate these difficulties, and to permit the files to be selected, taken from, and returned to the rack with the same facility that a book may be taken from abook-case. Thefiles and their respective places are numbered or otherwise marked to insure the return of the files to their places, and there is preferably provided a catalogue or index to guide the user in withdrawing or replacing a file. The form of the case is immaterial, and in fact it is not essential that any case be employed, a shelf or upper support being sufficient. I prefer, however, to employ a case or cabinet, and to make the same in the form of a desk, in order to protect the papers from dust and to afford a convenient place to lay the papers upon while reading them or making extracts therefrom.

A indicates such a desk, and B the rack combined therewith, the desk being shown with an inclined top and with a raised back bearing a list of papers with the numbers of the files and of their places in the rack. The rack consists of a series of parallel bars, a, each having substantially the form of an inverted T in cross-section, or each grooved in its side faces and wider at 1135 lower than at its upper side, said bars being securely fastened to the under side of a board or support, 0, beneath'the desk-top, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The bars are placed with their lower edges a short distance apart, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, thus leaving space between them for the papers to pass between and hang down, while above said. lower edge the space is considerably wider by reason of the peculiar form of the bars, and is consequently adapted to receive the files D, which may be of any common pattern or construction.

In practice the form of file or holder shown is preferred; but said file constitutes no part of my invention.

The bars a are preferably made of wood, but may be made of sheet metal or any other suitable material, or grooves maybe cut in asolid plank instead of using separate bars. If made of sheet metal, a number of bars can be formed of a single sheet by folding the same in either of the forms indicated in Fig. 4.

The bars, formed in either of the ways explained and applied to the support 0, produce a series of grooves or guides, b, which are numbered or otherwise marked, as shown in Fig. 1, and serve each to receive and hold a file, D, which may be inserted and withdrawn longitudinally.

The files are numbered to correspond with their respective grooves or places, and, if desired, an index, E, may be employed to show where a given paper may be found or belongs. Such index may be conveniently placed upon a back, F, rising above the desk-top, as shown in Fig. 1.

Two racks may be placed back to back in one case, or the case may be made of circular or polygonal form, the bars being arranged in pairs and. the pairs being arranged radial to the center of the cabinet. In other words, the

form and arrangement of the case or cabinet is wholly immaterial, the invention consisting in the means for supporting the files rather than in the design or arrangement of the case.

It is essential to the practical use of this rack for newspapers that the grooves and bars occupy a substantially horizontal position, in order to permit the paper to be hung down between them without interference.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A rack for newspaper-files having one or more substantially horizontal grooves, each formed with a narrow longitudinal opening at its lower side and a wider opening or space above said lower side, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A rack for paper-files provided with a series of substantially horizontal bars arranged in pairs, the two bars of each pair being parallel to each other, and said bars being set closer together at their lower edges than at a point above the same, substantially as shown and described.

3. The herein described rack forpaper-files,

consisting of a desk or case, A, provided with a board or support, 0, and with a series of bars, a,-secured to said board, with their lower edges closer together than the upper portion of the bars, substantially as shown.

4. In combination with bars a and intermediate grooves or spaces, 1), each bearing a distinguishing mark, a series of files, D, each marked to correspond with one of the grooves or spaces.

5. In combination with the grooves or spaces 1) and the filcs D, each bearing a distinguishing mark, an index, E,- bearing the names of the papers contained. in the files, together with the distinguishing marks of the respective files and grooves.

HORATIO D. VEST. Witnesses:

CHAS. W. AMES, WVM. L. STRONG.

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