US470050A

US470050A - Letter-file

Info

Publication number: US470050A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 1909-03-01

Description

(No Model.)

0. E. JEWEL-L.

v LETTER FILE. No; 470,050. Patented Man-1, I892;

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CIIARLEs EDWIN JEwELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIs, ASSIGNOR To THE OFFICE SPECIALTY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, on NEW YORK.

LETTER-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 470,050, dated March 1, 1892. Application filed November 6, 1890. Serial No 370,509- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES EDWIN JEW- ELL, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements in Letter-Files, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of letterfiles in which there are upright arches or arched wires to receive the perforated edges of the sheets and in which each arch is composed of two parts separable at will in order to permit the application and removal of the sheets. As these files are ordinarily constructed the arches are secured in an upright position to a base plate or support occupying considerable room and rendering it impossible to pack the file in compact shape for storage or transportation.

My invention relates to an improved construction which admits of the arches being folded down bodily upon the base-plate and also includes means for automatically looking the arches when they are turned upward to a positive position.

I am aware that a file has been constructed in which the two parts of each arch were independently hinged and arranged to turn down in different directions upon the base,

and this I do not claim. Under my improved construction each arch as a whole is adapted to fold downward without separation of its members. This feature, as well as the'production of an automatic locking device to hold the arch or a member of an arch in an upright position, I believe to be original with myself.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is aperspective view of an arched letter-file containing my improvement, one arch being shown in operative and the other in its folded position. Figs. 2 and 3 are side views of an arch in different forms adapted to co operate with the locking device. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are perspective views showing various equivalent ways of mounting and sustaining the arch. Fig. 7 is a cross-section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents a fiat baseplate, of metal or other suitable material, and B B the two filing-arches. These arches may be constructed of one or more parts united in any suitable manner, provided they present, essentially, the form herein-shown, and are adapted to be opened to. permit the application and removal of the sheets. In the form shown each arch consists of a single wire having a horizontal base portion 1), the vertical filing-arm rising at one end, and the transferwire I) rising from the opposite end and returnedin a downward direction, so that its end may interlock at b with the upper end of the filing-arm. One of the ends may be pointed and seated in a cavity in the other, as shown, or they may be arranged to interlock in any other manner which will permit their ready separation, this feature being common in the art in various forms. Each arch has its horizontal portion or journal I) seated in a sleeve or bearing a, lying across the end of the basepiate, so that the arch may be turned to anupright position, as shown on the left hand in Fig. 1, or folded down, as shown on the right hand in the same figure. The arches thus mounted may be used without a locking device to retain them in position; but I prefer to provide means for holding them erect.

Fig. 1 represents the preferred means for this purpose, consisting of elastic tongues (J, punched upward out of the bed-plate and perforated to engage projections 6 formed on the journals of the arches. These projections may be produced by bending the wire of the arch, as shown in Fig. 2, orby applying astud or pin to the wire, as shown in Fig. 3, or oth erwise formed, the only essential requirement beingthat the arch and the spring shall engage or interlock when the arch is raised to the operative position. The sleeves a, in which the arches are mounted or journaled, are preferably formed integral with the baseplate by curving its ends inward in the manner shown in the drawings.

In the form shown in Fig. 4 the arch is of essentially the same construction as in Figs. 1 and 2 and is mounted in the sleeves a on the end of the base-plate, so that it may fold down sidewise. Instead of being locked by means shown in Fig. l the journal of the arch is arranged to slide endwise through the sleeves, which are provided with notches a so that when the arch is pushed to one side the projection a will enter one of the notches shown in Fig. 4, and the arch will be held firmly in position.

In Fig. 5 the arch, instead of being made in one piece, has its horizontal journal divided at the middle and the two ends bent laterally, as shown at a The sleeves ct are provided with notches a and the arch made of elastic material under tension, so that when turned to an upright position its lower ends will spring apart and cause the arms a to engage in the notches of the sleeves and thus hold the arch in an erect position, as shown. By compressing the arch edgewise, as indicated by the arrows, the ends a are carried out of the notches, thus releasing the arch so that it may be folded down in the same manner as in the preceding examples.

In Fig. (3 the arch is made in one piece, as in Figs. 1 and 2, but without the projection on its journal. The journal is mounted in the sleeve on the base-plate, as in the preceding examples, and is locked by a spring-(log C, fixed to the outside of the sleeve, having one end at rightangles to pass through a hole in the sleeve and in the journal of the arch, as shown in Fig. 7. By withdrawing the end of the spring the arch is released, so that it may be folded, as shown in dotted lines.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim is- 1.. In aletter-lile, the combination of a base or support, a filing-arch hinged thereto to fold down bodily, and an automatic locking device to sustain the arch in an upright position.

2. In a letter-file, the combination. of a base or support, a filing-arch having'a supportingjournal mounted on the base-plate to admit of the arch being folded down, and a springlatch engaging said journal to maintain the arch in an operative position.

3. In a letter-file, the combination ofa filingarch having a journal I), with projection b", and a base-plate having one portion clasped around the journal to serve as abearing therefor and another and elastic portion to engage said projection and lock the arch in position.

4. In a letter-file, the combination, with a base or support, of two filing-arches hinged to opposite ends thereof and means for automatically sustaining them in upright operative positions, substantially as described.

5. In a letter-file, a base-plate, in combination with two filing-arches hinged to its opposite ends to fold down flatwise, each as an entirety.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 11th day of September, 1890, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

CHARLES EDWIN JEWELL.

\Vitnesses:

W. E. GALLANT, II. G. Looms.