US3346315A

US3346315A - Cabinet construction for office equipment

Info

Publication number: US3346315A
Application number: US564602A
Authority: US
Inventors: Romeo T Proulx
Original assignee: VISIRECORD Inc
Current assignee: VISIRECORD Inc
Priority date: 1966-07-12
Filing date: 1966-07-12
Publication date: 1967-10-10
Anticipated expiration: 1984-10-10

Description

Oct. 10, 1967 R. T. PROULX CABINET CONSTRUCTION FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT Filed July 12, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ROMEO T. PROULX Z v z W f wwo msvs R. T. PROULX Oct. 10, 1967 CABINET CONSTRUCTION FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 12, 1966 FIG. 3b

XNVENTOR ROMEO T. PROULX FIG. 30

Oct. 10, 1967 PRQULX 3,346,315

CABINET CONSTRUCTION FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT Filed July 12, 1966 5 SheetsSheet 3 INVENTOR ROMEO T. PROULX FIG. 3

BY f7 lfg k l fig 6 ATTORNEYS United States Patent F 3,346,315 CABINET CONSTRUCTION FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT Romeo T. Proulx, Copiague, N .Y., assignor toVISIrecord, Inc., Copiague, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 12, 1966, Ser. No. 564,602 6 Claims. (Cl. 312-255) This invention relates to the construction of metal fumiture, and more specifically to the construction of a vertical filing system cabinet to afford a high degree of structural rigidity and ease of assembly in a manner that is compatible with modern concepts of office furniture des1gn.

Present day design concepts require that office furniture be functional, simple, and streamlined. Certain types of office furniture, such as filing cabinets, storage units, desks and cabinets for some ofiice machines have surfaces composed predominantly of slab-like elements, and it is often diflicult to preserve the clean, unbroken lines sought by the designer while assuring that the structure is sufiiciently rigid and strong for its intended purpose. The problem is further compounded when the requirements of economical construction and easy assembly are added to those of style and structural rigidity.

Although the present invention may be used in the construction of various types of office furniture and equipment, I have found that it is particularly useful in the construction of filing cabinets for vertical-visible filing systems. A vertical-visible filing system is one in which one or more trays or tubs in an open topped cabinet are divided into sections by means of a series of movable, upstanding main and intermediate dividers. The dividers ordinarily rest on the bottom of the tray and may be flipped back and forth to present file cards in the various sections to view. The cabinet is customarily supported on a stand at a convenient working height, and the stand may be provided with casters so that the unit is mobile.

Such file cabinets often contain 100 pounds or more of dividers and file cards. As the dividers are flipped to present different cards of the file to view, the weight load shifts repeatedly, thus giving rise to stresses in the cabinet structure which will, if sufficient structural rigidity is not provided, cause movement of the legs of the stand relative to the cabinet as well as distortion of the cabinet itself. The resulting unsteadiness of the unit is highly undesirable and distracting to the operator. Additionally, as the unit is moved from place to place, stresses are set up which cause deformations of the various parts of a unit of conventional structural design. Thus, prior to the present invention, it has been extremely dilficult to engineer a filing cabinet which can rigidly sustain the static and dynamic loads imposed on such cabinets in normal use unless the cabinet has been provided with more cross-bracing and structural re-enforcement than is compatible with the spare appearance of contemporary design requirements.

Most modern office cabinetry is constructed essentially of sheet metal, which is inherently flexible. Although rigidity of sheet metal structures may be increased by using very heavy gauge materials, this is not a practical solution to the problem of constructing structurally rigid office furniture and equipment of contemporary design, for the heavier material increases the cost of manufacture, makes the equipment heavier, and greatly complicates fabrication.

I have invented structural means for joining the legs to the cabinet in a certain manner such that an especially strong and rigid connection results which is sufficient to sustain the heavy static and dynamic loads imposed on cabinets used in vertical filing system. When this novel joint is utilized as described herein, a unit results which 3,346,315 Patented Oct. 10, 1967 is strong, rigid, economical and compatible with modern design requirements.

According to my invention, in a metal furniture construction having a generally polyhedric working unit adapted to be supported above floor level by at least one leg member, I provided the improvement which comprises an assembly disposed at a first corner of said working unit and including a supporting leg having a cavity therein and formedwith a substantially fiat strip portion extending along the corner. The strip portion has an exterior surface facing the interior of the working unit, an interior surface bounding at least a portion of the cavity, and a longitudinally extending slot providing access to the cavity. This assembly further includes a hearing surface on the working unit adjacent the first corner and disposed to engage the leg along the exterior surface of the strip portion adjacent to the slot. In addition, strip portion engaging means is provided, fixed to the working unit adjacent the bearing surface and having a hooksl'iaped portion constructed and arranged to extend through the slot to engage said interior surface. Additionally, means may be provided rigidly joining the leg to the working unit for preventing relative axial rotation between the leg and the working unit. A further bearing surface may be provided which is formed by an extension of one of the sides forming said corner and which is disposed to contact the leg outwardly of the strip portion. Two or more such assemblies may be provided at respective corners of the working unit, and bracing means may be provided for rigidly joining pairs of legs of such assemblies for preventing relative axial rotation between them. Thus, each leg is firmly held in position by means of the slot and the first and second bearing surfaces, while the cross braces joining pairs of legs, in conjunction with the further bearing surface, prevent rotation of the individual legs about their respective vertical axes. A strong rigid construction results, which is simple and economical to manufacture and assemble. A particular embodiment of my invention is described in the following. specification in the course of which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the -drawings- FIG. 1 is an exploded view, in perspective, of a cabinet for a vertical-visible file system;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing in detail how the tile housing is attached to the legs;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partially exploded, of a vertical file unit constructed according to this invention; and

FIGS. 3a and 3b are vertical cross sectional views of the end and front panels, respectively.

FIG. 1 shows a rectangular file cabinet 1 into which a card tray and divider assembly 2 is set, and a pair of leg assemblies '3. Divider assembly 2 may be of any of the types known to the art. Both the file housing and the leg assemblies are preferably formed of sheet metal. It is satisfactory to use .035 gauge sheet metal for the cabinet portion and .074 gauge sheet metal for the legs, although the gauge may be varied according to the desired use, cost limitations, and other considerations and is by no means critical.

The rectangular file housing may be formed in part initially as four pieces; two sides 4, 4a and two end pieces- 5, 5a. These may be fastened together by welding, for instance, at the tabs 6, or by any other convenient means.

As will be apparent from the detail of FIG. 2, at least the lower portions of the sides 4, 4a which extend to form tabs 6, include bearing surfaces 7 in the vicinity of each end of the housing. Each bearing surface faces outwardly and toward the end of the housing nearest it.

These bearing surfaces may be formed by merely bending the sheet metal of the sides at the proper angle. A

perpendicular drawn through any bearing surface should point inwardly toward the central region of the file housing, defined loosely as the region of space about the geometrical center of the rectangular housing. The angle of these perpendiculars are not critical; however, if they lie parallel to the sides or ends of the housing rectangle, the overall structural rigidity of the unit will be somewhat less than if, for example, they bisect the corner angles, as will become clear later. A vertical wall 8 isfastened (preferably welded) to the side of the housing adjacent each such bearing surface. Each wall is of hook-shaped cross section and forms a second bearing surface 9 parallel to the first-mentioned bearing surface.

Again referring to FIG. 1, the leg assemblies 3 each include a pair of legs 10 rigidly joined together at their lower ends by a bracing crosspiece ll. The legs as well as the crosspiece may be of rectangular cross section, and hollow. The crosspiece 11 may be welded to the legs. The

innermost side 12 of each leg, that is, the side facing the interior of the'housing unit, is provided with a slot 13 which extends downwardly from the top of the inner side to some point such that the length of the slots ordinarily at least equal to the height of the hook-shaped member 8.

The rectangular file housing is joined to the leg assemblies by sliding the hook-shaped members 8 in each corner into their, respective slots 13 provided in the legs 12, as i1- lnstrated in FIG. 2. It will be evident that this joint effectively prevents displacement of each leg in a horizontal plane, and also prevents rotation in the clockwise direction about a pivot point defined by slot 13 (see FIG. 2). In order to completely prevent rotational movement of the legs, each leg is joined to another leg at their respective lower ends by the aforementioned crossbraces 11, and in addition, the end walls 14 extend to form bearing surfaces 15 which contact the legs outwardly of slots 13. In the embodiment illustrated, the bearing surface 15 is an extension of an outer'end panel 14, which is fastened to end member 5 as illustrated in FIG. 3a. In addition to outer end panels 14, FIG. 3 shows front and

rear panels

16 and 17 which are fastened to the sides 4, 4a of the housing for structural reinforcement and for appearance. The front side panel assembly is illustrated in FIG. 3b.

The outer portions of the legs 10 may extend upwardly further than load surfaces 18 so that they reach approxi- .mately the level of the top of the file housing when the unit is assembled. A molding 19 is fastened to the upper ends of these leg extensions; this molding also fits over the top of the housing in order to hold the unit together. In addition, side brackets 20 and a rear bracket 20a may be fastened to the legs beneath the file housing to support a drawer 21, which may be used for additional storage of inactive file materials or of accessory items. A top 22 is also provided in the embodiment shown, and is hinged to the molding at the rear of the unit.

An important feature of the present invention is the ease of assembling a file unit constructed in accordance with it. File units are packed for shipment in a disas:

sembled state, since this greatly reduces shipping costs. It is therefore important that the unit be capable of assembly at distant points by untrained personnel. This entails minimizing the number of parts and the number and complexity of fasteners required to hold the unit together.

It will be apparent from FIGS. 1 and 3 that this requirement will be fully met by a file unit constructed in accordance with this invention. To assemble the file, one need only assemble divider unit 2 and fasten it in the housing, slide the leg assemblies 3 onto their associated corner joints at respective ends of the housing, fasten end and

side panels

14, 16, 17, and screw down the molding placed over the housing to each of the legs by means of screws 23. Assembly may then 'be completed by attaching side and rear brackets 20, 20a and the top 22. It will be v 4 7 Still another advantage of the construction described herein is the use of removable side and end

panels

14, 16

V and 17, allowing replacement of these panels to change the color scheme of the cabinet construction as desired.

Thus, a change in ofiice decor does not require purchase of new filing cabinets, but merely necessitates replacing the panels with others of a different color. Alternatively,

the original side panels may be removed, painted in a new I color and replaced on the cabinet. 7

As will be clear from the embodiment illustrated, the construction described lends itself well to modern design requirements and provides a structurally rigid unit with a minimum of cross bracing. By directing the long horizontal axis of each leg towardthe central region of the unit, rather than squaring the legs off with the corners of the housing, the effective width of the leg in each direction is increased, thus providing increased resistance to deforfloor level by at least one leg member, the improvement 7 which comprises an assembly disposed at lafirst corner of said working unit and including (a) a supporting leg having a cavity therein and formed with a substantially flat strip portion extending along said corner, said strip portion having (i) an exterior surface facing the interior of said 7 working unit,

(ii) an interior surface bounding at least a portion 3 of said cavity, and (iii) a longitudinally extending slot therein providing access to said cavity;

(b) a'bearing surface on said working unit adjacent said first comer and disposed to engage said leg along the exterior surface of said strip portion adjacent to said slot; and t (c) strip portion engaging means fixed to said working unit adjacent said bearing surface and having a hook-' shaped portion constructed and arranged to extend through said slot to engage said interior surface; 2. In a metal furniture construction as defined in claim 1, means rigidly joining the leg to the working unit for preventing relative axial rotation between them.

'3. In a metal furniture construction as defined in claim 2, said assembly including, as the means rigidly joining the leg to the working unit, a molding fixed to the working unit and engaging the leg toprevent relative axial rotation between the leg and the Working unit. 7

- 4. In a metal furniture construction as defined in claim 1, a further bearing surface formed by an extension of one of the sides forming said corner and disposed to contact I the leg outwardly of said strip portion.

5. In a metal furniture construction as defined in claim 1, a second assembly substantially identical to said assembly, disposed at a second corner of the working unit; and first bracing means rigidly joining the legs of said assembly and said second assembly to prevent relative axial rotation between them.

. 6. In a metal furniture construction as defined in claim 5, said first and second comers being adjacent corners and said' working unit having four sides, third and fourth assemblies substantially identical to the first and second as semblies disposed at third and fourth corners of the working unit; and second bracing means rigidly joining the legs of the third and fourth assemblies for preventing relative axial rotation between them. i

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited 2,569,117 9/1951 Schade 312-255 X 3,087,768 4/ 1963 Anderson et a1 312-257 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,637,503 8/ 1927 Wege 312--255 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. 2,141,954 12/ 1938 Jones 312 5 5 JAMES T. MCCALL, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A METAL FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION HAVING A GENERALLY POLYHEDRIC WORKING UNIT ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED ABOVE FLOOR LEVEL BY AT LEAST ONE LEG MEMBER, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES AN ASSEMBLY DISPOSED AT A FIRST CORNER OF SAID WORKING UNIT AND INCLUDING (A) A SUPPORTING LEG HAVING A CAVITY THEREIN AND FORMED WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT STRIP PORTION EXTENDING ALONG SAID CORNER, SAID STRIP PORTION HAVING (1) AN EXTERIOR SURFACE FACING THE INTERIOR OF SAID WORKING UNIT, (II) AN INTERIOR SURFACE BOUNDING AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID CAVITY, AND (III) A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOT THEREIN PROVIDING ACCESS TO SAID CAVITY; (B) A BEARING SURFACE ON SAID WORKING UNIT ADJACENT SAID FIRST CORNER AND DISPOSED TO ENGAGE SAID LEG ALONG THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF SAID STRIP PORTION ADJACENT TO SAID SLOT; AND (C) STRIP PORTION ENGAGING MEANS FIXED TO SAID WORKING UNIT ADJACENT SAID BEARING SURFACE AND HAVING A HOOKSHAPED PORTION CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO EXTEND THROUGH SAID SLOT TO ENGAGE SAID INTERIOR SURFACE.