US3233612A

US3233612A - Filing case for business forms

Info

Publication number: US3233612A
Application number: US175222A
Authority: US
Inventors: John H Logan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-02-23
Filing date: 1962-02-23
Publication date: 1966-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 1983-02-08

Description

! Feb. 8, 1966 J- H. LOGAN FILING CASE FOR BUSINESS FORMS Filed Feb. 23, 1962 INVENTOR. \Am W A T TORIVEYS United States Patent 3,233,612 FILING CASE FOR BUSINESS FORMS John H. Logan, Feelrs Lane, Locust Valley, N.Y. Filed Feb. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 175,222 Claims. (Cl. 12916) This invention relates to filing equipment for cards, and more especially to equipment in which cards are filed between separators and with provision for rocking the cards to open a space in front of any card in the file to make that card visible for inspection or to facilitate the removal of the card for copying.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved filing case of the character indicated, and more especially to provide an improved filing case which is especially compact and suitable for use as a portable file.

One feature of the invention relates to end walls of the filing case with provision for swinging the end walls into diverging relation with one another to permit a wider angle of swinging movement of the cards and their separators when the filing case is in use. This wall construction folds to reduce the dimensions of the filing case when in closed condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified construction for a filing case, and one in which similar guide units are assembled to make up a composite inside construction for holding rows of cards with the cards of the different rows separated from one another.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a portable filing case made in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view on the plane 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the plane 33 of FIGURE 1, but showing the file in its open condition;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentaiy sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

The filing case shown in the drawing has a flat bottom and front and back walls 11 and 12. The front wall 11 has a lower portion .14 which slopes forwardly at an acute angle to the bottom 10; and has an upper portion 16 which is preferably at right angles to the plane of the bottom 1d when the filing case is in closed condition, as shown in FIGURE 1.

The back wall 12 has a lower portion 18 which slopes rearwardly at an acute angle to the bottom 10. Thus the

lower portions

14 and 18 of the front and back walls 11 and 12, respectively, diverge from one another. In the preferred construction this angle of divergence is within the range of about 40 to 46 and in the illustrated con struction is approximately 40 degrees. The back Wall 12 has an upper portion 20 which corresponds to the upper portion 16 of the front wall 11. The filing case has end walls 22. The

lower portions

14 and 18 of the front and back walls, respectively, and the end walls 22 and part of the bottom 10 are preferably of one-piece construction and made of sheet metal.

The filing case has a top 24 connected to the upper portion 29 of the back wall 12 by a hinge 26 (FIGURE 3) which is preferably a piano-type hinge. The top 24 swings on the hinge 26 to a wide open position that leaves the upper part of the filing case completely unobstructed, as shown in FIGURE 3.

The upper portion 16 of the front wall 11 is connected with the lower portion 14 by a piano-type hinge 28; and the upper portion 20 of the back wall 12 is similarly connected to the lower portion 18 by a piano-type hinge 30. These

hinges

28 and 30 are located on the inside of the front and back walls 11 and 12, respectively, and the lower edges of the upper portions of the walls swing into contact with the upper edges of the

lower portions

14 and 18 to limit the outwardly-swinging movement of the

upper portions

16 and 20. This limited movement leaves the upper portion of the walls in substantial alignment with the lower portions, as illustrated in FIGURE 3.

The upper portion 16 of the front wall 11 has a flange 32 at one end, as shown in FIGURE 4. This flange 32 overlaps the outside of the end wall 22. Another flange 34, comprising one leg of an angle 36, overlaps the inside surface of the end wall 22. The spacing between the

flanges

32 and 34 is slightly greater than the thickness of the end wall 22 to provide free running clearance between the

flanges

32 and 34 and the surface of the end wall 22.

There are

similar flanges

32 and 34 at the other end of the front wall 11, and on both ends of the back wall 12. These flanges extend for substantially the full height of the

movable portions

16 and 2% of the front and back walls between the hinges 2.8 and 3i) and the bottom edge of the cover 24.

There is a skirt portion around all four sides of the cover 24 and this skirt portion overlaps the upper ends of the front walls 11 and I2 and the end wall 22-. In the illustrated construction, there are offset edge portions 42 at the upper ends of the two walls ll. and I2 and both of the end walls 22 to facilitate the closing of the cover 24- over the walls of the filing case.

There is a latch and lock .6 located partly on the front wall 11 and partly on the cover 24 for holding the cover in closed position. This latch and lock are of conventional construction and no further description of them is necessary for a complefe understanding of this invention. There is a handle 4-8 attached to the cover 24 by brackets having pivots 4). This construction is also conventional.

FIGURES 3 and 5 show the construction of the bottom 10. Part of it is formed by flanges 56 which extend inwardly from the front, back and end walls of the case. The remainder of the bottom It) is formed by a panel 58 which overlaps the flanges 56 and which is integrally connected to these flanges, preferably by spot welding. The ends of the panels 5% are turned up to form side guides 60. There is an angle 62 having its horizontal leg secured to the bottom panel 58 and having its vertical leg formed with saw-toothed extensions 64. The depressions between these saw teeth reach all the way to the horizontal leg of the angle 62 and the angles between confronting faces of adjacent saw-tooth extensions are preferably equal to the angle of divergence of the front and back Walls 11 and 12 from one another.

Separators 66 have end portions 68 which extend down into the depressions between the saw-tooth extensions 64. Each of the separators 66 has a flange 7%) at both ends and these flanges 7t? have studs '72 which serve as axles for rollers '74 located in position to strike against the face of the next adjacent separator 66. In simplified constructions of the invention, the rollers 74 may be fixed so that they are knobs on the axles 72 but not capable of rotation.

These rollers '7 or knobs hold the upper ends of the separators 66 at the same spacing from one another as the spacing at which the lower ends of the separators 66 are held by the saw-tooth extensions 64.

The flanges 7t) of the separators 66 fit between the sawtooth extensions 64 and the side guides 6%. This clearance, best shown in FIGURE 5, is only slightly more than the thickness of the flanges 'itl so that the side faces of the saw-tooth etxensions 64, and the confronting face of the side guide 69, hold the flanges "it? parallel to the side guides 69. This prevents transverse bending of the separators 6-6.

Within the filing case there are card holders 80 consisting of bottomless boxes, each having a front wall 81, a rear wall 82, a side wal 83 (FIGURE and another side wall 84. The

walls

81 and 82 diverge from one another at the same angle as the

lower portions

14 and 18 of the front and back walls, and these

walls

81 and 82 contact with the inside surfaces of these front and back Walls and are connected to them, as by spot welding.

In the filing case illustrated in the drawing, there are four card holders 843. Each of the side walls 84 has a turned-over upper edge portion 85 that covers the upper end of the side wall 83 when there is another card holder 8t) next to the Wall 84. The lower ends (FIGURE 5) of the side walls 83 and 8d are bent outwardly and these outwardly-bent ends contact with one another to space the lower ends of the card holders 83 from one another. The

side walls

83 and 84 of adjacent card holders can be secured to one another by spot welding but this is not ordinarily necesary when the front wall 31 or the rear wall 82 is secured to a front or rear wall of the filing case.

The walls $1, 82, 83 and 34 of the card holders can be made to reach to the bottom panel 53, but in the preferred construction, illustrated in the drawing (FIGURE 5), these walls 81, S2, 83 and 84 terminate a short distance above the panel 58.

Cards (shown in broken lines in FIGURES 2 and 3), rest on an element 92 that covers the panel 58 at the bottom of each of the card holders 89. The purpose of this element 92 is to provide a rough surface at the bottom of each card so that the card will swing angularly, as difference separators and cards are swung to open the contents of the file at ditfercnt places, without having the card slide on the bottom of the filing case.

This element 5*2 preferably consists of flocked fibers or rayon velour. Usually the flocked fibers or velour are held in place by adhesive 94 or a sheet having both its upper lower surfaces coated with adhesive. The element 92 is of a thickness sufficient to support the bottom edges of the cards at the same level as the bottom edges of the separators so that the axes about which the separators and the cards move, as they swing angularly, are in the same plane. This results in minimum wear of the cards during extended use of the filing case.

The separators as have cut-outs 96 that provide ample clearance for the sides of the card holders and throughout the entire range of angular movement of the separators. The

sides

83 and 84 of adjacent card holders form partitions extending for the full front-to-back inside dimension of the filing case. These partitions terminate below the level of the

hinges

28 and 3%).

Above the cut-outs 9d, the separators 66 are continuous in extent from one side of the filing case to the other, and the flanges 7d at both sides of each of the separators has a running clearance from the flanges of the angles 35.

The preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as described in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable filing cabinet having front, back, bottom and side walls enclosing a chamber of substantially greater width from side-to-side than depth from front to back, each of the front and back walls having upper and lower portions, partitions extending from the lower portion of the front wall to the lower portion of the back wall and extending upward from the bottom for a distance greater than one-half of the fore-and-aft dimension of the chamber, each of the front and back walls having their lower portions in fixed relation to the partitions and to the bottom and side walls and extending upwardly and outwardly from the bottom for substantially the height of the partitions and being at an angle to the bottom within the range of about to 113, the upper portions of each of the front and back walls being hinged to the upper end of the lower portion of that wall and being angularly movable between a vertical position and an outwardly flaring position in substantial alignment with the fixed lower portion, means limiting the angular movement of said upper portions between said positions, a cover hinged to the top of the back wall, and a handle on the cover extending in the direction of the longer dimension of the cabinet.

2. The portable filing cabinet described in claim 1 characterized by the partitions being at transversely spaced locations across the chamber and dividing the chamber into a group of card compartments, the partitions that are at opposite sides of the group of card compartments being spaced from corresponding side walls of the cabinet by distances substantially less than the widths of any one of the card compartments and forming with the side walls side compartments, separators for location between groups of cards, the separators being continuous across the width of the plurality of card compartments and across said side compartments at a level above the partitions, said separators having different portions extending downwardly into the different card compartments, and terminating above the bottoms of the card compartments, supports for the separators located in the side compartments and having notched edge portions with the bottom surfaces of the successive notches providing bearings for separators, said separators having other portions beyond the portions that extend into the different card compart ments, that extend downward into said side compartments and into contact with the bottom surfaces of the notches, said bottom surfaces of the notches being at the level of the bottoms of the card compartments on which the cards are supported, said other portions of the separators having angular movement in the notches and being confined against other movement by sides of the notches.

3. The filing cabinet described in claim 2, and in which the supports have saw tooth notches and the bottom surfaces are in the spaces between the saw teeth, and there are abutments at the upper ends of the separators for spacing the card-contacting areas of the separators from one another by the same distance as the lower ends of the separators are spaced from one another by the spacing of the saw teeth.

4. The filing cabinet described in claim 3, and in which the saw teeth are formed on an upwardly extending leg of an angular section that has another and horizontally extending leg attached to the bottom of the cabinet, and there are rough coverings over the bottom under each card compartment supporting the bottoms of the cards in the holder at the same level as the surfaces in the saw tooth depressions on which the separators rest and on which the separators swing angularly forward and aft to expose different groups of cards to View.

5. The portable filing cabinet described in claim 1 characterized by the upper portions of the front and back walls having lower edges in position to abut against the upper edges of the lower portions of the front and back walls to limit the extent to which said upper portions swing away from one another when moving into their diverging relationship, said lower edge constituting the means limiting the angular movement of said upper portions as they move toward their outwardly flaring positions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Scoville 129-16 JEROME SCHNALL,

Berndt 129-16 Thompson 129-16 Bellis H 129-16 Bosse 129-16 Weston 129-16 Nabholz 129-26 X FOREIGN PATENTS Australia. France.

Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Germany. Switzerland.

Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A PORTABLE FILLING CABINET HAVING FRONT, BACK, BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS ENCLOSING A CHAMBER OF SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER WIDTH FROM SIDE-TO-SIDE THAN DEPTH FROM FRONT TO BACK, EACH OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS HAVING UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS, PARTITIONS EXTENDING FROM THE LOWER PORTION OF THE FRONT WALL OF THE LOWER PORTION OF THE BACK WALL AND EXTENDING UPWARD FROM THE BOTTOM FOR A DISTANCE GREATER THAN ONE-HALF OF THE FORE-AND-AFT DIMENSION OF THE CHAMBER, EACH OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS HAVING THEIR LOWER PORTIONS IN FIXED RELATION TO THE PARTITIONS AND TO THE BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY FROM THE BOTTOM FOR SUBSTANTIALLY THE HEIGHT OF THE PARTITIONS AND BEING AT AN ANGLE TO THE BOTTOM WITHIN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 110* TO 113*, THE UPPER PORTIONS OF EACH OF THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS BEING HINGED TO THE UPPER END OF THE LOWER PORTION OF THAT WALL AND BEING ANGULARLY MOVABLE BETWEEN A VERTICAL POSITION AND AN OUTWARDLY FLARING POSITION IN SUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE FIXED LOWER PORTION, MEANS LIMITING THE ANGULAR MOVEMENT OF SAID UPPER PORTIONS BETWEEN SAID POSITIONS, A COVER HINGED TO THE TOP OF THE BACK WALL, AND A HANDLE ON THE COVER EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGER DIMENSION OF THE CABINET.