US782838A - Folding table. - Google Patents

Description

No. 782,838. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905. A. N. POOUE.

FOLDING TABLE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 16, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented February 21, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR N. FOQUE, OF MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS. ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO JOSEPH R. GREEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,838, dated February 21, 1905.

Application filed March 16, 1903. Serial No. 147,893.

To all 1071 0771 7T2; may concern/:

Be it known that LARTHUR N. FOQUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Medford, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massa 5 chusetts, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Folding Tables, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention has for its object an improve- IO ment in folding tables.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part hereof.

The novel features are pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a table embodying my invention, certain portions beingin section for clearness. The dotted lines at the right of the figure indicate the position of the top when the table is folded. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thetable extended, but showing the top in the position which it occupies when the table is folded. Fig. 3 is a top view of the table folded. Fig. 4: is a detail showing the arrangement of the hinge and the slot in the table-top.

Having reference to the drawings, the four 3 legs of the table are shown at 1, 2, 3, and L, respectively. The top of the table is marked 22 and is hinged to the legs 2 and 3 at 23, as will be described hereinafter. The legs 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 are rigidly connected at their upper ends by means of the cross-pieces 5 and 6, respectively. The legs 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 are connected by means of two-part hinged cross-pieces 7 and 8, respectively. The crosspieces 7 and 8 are both of the same construc- 4 tion that is, they are formed in two parts of equal length, the proximate ends of the said parts beingsecured together by hinges 9 and 10, respectively. The opposite ends of the cross-pieces 7 and 8 are secured by means of hinges (shown at 11, Figs. 3 and 4) to the adjacent top portion of one of the legs.

For the purpose of preventing the table from collapsing when extended and also of rendering it more rigid and stable when in use I provide locking- bars 12 and 13. In Fig. 3 these bars are shown in the position which they occupy when the table is extended, at which time they lie directly inside the cross-pieces 7 and 8, as shown, their ends being received in recesses 14, one of said recesses being formed in the top of each of the table-legs. When it is desired to fold the table. the locking- bars 12 and 13 are raised out of the recesses 14 and are placed in corresponding recesses or holders 15, secured to the adjoining faces of the tops of the legs, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The recessed holders 15 are simply for convenience in storing and holding the locking- bars 12 and 13 when they are not in use. l/Vhen the table is extended, as

shown in Fig. 2, the ends of the locking- bars 12 and 13 are directly above the hinges 11, which secure the side pieces 7 and 8 to the legs of ,the table, and in consequence these hinges do not show in the top or plan view, Fig. 2.

For the purpose of providing ashelf below the table-topand also for rendering the table more stable and rigidwhen it is extended I employ the following construction: A shelf 16 of the desired size is employed which is formed in two parts, said parts being joined along a line 17, which is parallel with the rigid crosspieces 5 and 6. The two parts 16 of the shelf are secured by hinges 18, secured to the under side of the said shelf. The shelf is supported and secured in place by four horizontal supports, each of the same construction and each designated 19. (See Fig. 2.) The inner ends of these supports are securely fastened to the shelf, as at 30, in any desired manner, and the outer ends are secured to pir ots 20, which pass through the legs of the table at the height from the floor which it is desired to locate the shelf 16. Each of the pivots 20, of which there is one for each of the supports 19, may, if desired, be formed integral with the support 19, and they are preferably provided at their outer ends with nuts 21, which may be, as shown, in the form of ornamental knobs. The pivots 20 are parallel with the rigid side pieces 5 and 6.

The top 22 is hinged to one pair of the rigidly-connected legs 2 and 3, the hinges being shown at 23. These hinges 23 each consist of a leaf of usual construction, which is secured to the top of the leg, while the other. leaf of the hinge is provided with a projection or stud 24, having an enlarged head. The studs 24 project into slots 25, which are formed across the table at right angles with the sides between the fixed pairs of legs. This arrangement allows the table-top to slide upon the studs and assume, as will be described later, the compact form which is desirable in folding tables. The construction of the hinge, stud, and groove in the table-top is clearly shown in Fig. 4. In practice I find it convenient to face the groove with a metalstrip, as shown at 26 in Fig. 4.

\Vhen it is desired to fold the table, the top 22 is turned upon the hinges 23 until in a vertical position, when the studs 24: of the hinges 23 are allowed to slide in their slots 25 until the top is in the position shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The locking-bars 12 and 13 (shown in Fig. 5) are then removed from their locking positions and placed in the holders 15, Where they will be at hand for use when further required. The hinged side pieces 7 and 8 are then swung inwardly, as will be clear from Fig. 3, permitting the rigid side pieces 5 and 6 to be moved toward each other, and at the same time the supports 19 and the halves of the shelf 16, to which each pair of supports'19 is attached, are moved upwardly on the pivots 20 until the two halves of the shelf 16 are folded upon each other, as is permitted by the hinges 18. The frame portions of the table then assume the position shown in Fig. 3. By reversing the movements of the parts the table will be again extended, and the insertion of the locking-bars l2 and 13 in position serves to lock the table rigidly in its extended position.

A table embodying my invention is compact when folded and very firm and rigid when extended, and it may be provided with a shelf of relatively large capacity, which is a desirable feature in tables of this class.

What I claim is 1. In a folding table, the combination of a top, four legs rigidly connected in pairs, corresponding legs of said pairs being connected by two-part side pieces hinged to each other at their proximate ends and to the legs at their other ends; a shelf divided into two parts along a line parallel to the rigidly-connected pairs of legs, and four supports rigidly connected to the said shelf at their inner ends and pivoted at their other ends to the legs, substantially as described.

2. In a locking device for folding tables, the combination of four legs of which adjacent members are rigidly connected by integral side pieces to form two pairs, integral connecting members therefor, hinged two-part side pieces connecting said pairs, a lockingbar whose ends when in operative position rest in slots in an opposite and corresponding pair of flexibly-connected legs and when in inoperative position rest in slots in a pair of rigidly-connected legs, and slots as aforesaid suitably located for the reception of said locking-bar in its two positions, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR N. FOQUE.

Witnesses:

, WM. A. MAoLnoD, GEORGE P. DIKE.

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