Rigid mobile cabinet for audio-visual aids

A mobile utility cabinet for audio-visual aids, adaptable to house and transport video tape, recording, projection and like materials and equipment, and for use as a learning center, said cabinet having a plurality of removable and adjustable interior and exterior shelves and components, all supported by means formed integral with the walls of the cabinet and having vertically adjustable means for selectively supporting said audio-visual aids, the said cabinet being rigidly constructed and having means in its frame cooperating with said adjustable means to resist impact and damage during transport and storage.

Utility cabinets of the type hereby disclosed are particularly useful to 
support, store and transport various audio-visual aids used in modern 
classroom teaching situations, and are particularly useful for housing 
relatively expensive equipment in a fixed, yet mobile arrangement. 
Heretofore, such cabinets lacked structure to permit adjustment of the 
interior and exterior shelf arrangements to accommodate specific equipment 
and accessories as well as to provide means for secure, yet mobile, 
installation of expensive audio-visual equipment, such as videotape and 
educational television equipment, reading and teaching machines, 
projection apparatus and the like, while being sufficiently rigidly 
reinforced to withstand impact and damage associated with transport and 
storage of the cabinet, particularly when handled by unskilled personnel 
and students. 
The present cabinet is constructed from sheet metal, such as steel, and has 
novel means integral with its walls for selectively mounting a number and 
combination of shelves and supports within the cabinet, as well as means 
for securely mounting drop-in apparatus on its top side, and also includes 
novel vertically adjustable and collapsible exterior support means for 
supporting audio-visual equipment, and the support means, in association 
with framing components of the cabinet impart rigidity to the assembled 
unit to resist impact during transport and storage. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a utility cabinet of 
the character referred to. 
Another object is to provide a utility cabinet with novelly constructed 
framing members and cooperating adjustable means in the cabinet to impart 
rigidity to the assembled unit during transport and storage of equipment. 
Another object is to provide a cabinet with novelly mounted shelves and 
support surfaces. 
Another object is to provide a cabinet of the character described which is 
easy and not expensive to manufacture, simple to assemble, with versatile 
interior arrangements, and which is very efficient and durable in use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring particularly to FIG. 1, the cabinet 11 preferably comprises a 
sheet metal bottom wall 13, end walls 14 and back wall 15, with a wood or 
plastic laminated top 12. The open front of the cabinet is normally closed 
by swinging doors 16, and castors 17 are provided on the cabinet bottom. 
Each end walls 14 may be provided with vertically spaced apart pairs of 
aligned slots 18, which are selectively used to mount a shelf 19 
exteriorly of the cabinet, which is hingedly connected to a mounting plate 
(not shown) having ears struck therefrom for selective engagement in one 
of the pairs of slots, and the exterior shelf may be lower or raised by 
means of toggle braces 20, to support a device on the shelf, such as a 
television set 21. 
The interior of the cabinet is fitted with a pair of upstanding stringers 
on each end wall 14, one 29 at the front and one 30 at the rear of each 
wall, having spaced therealong aligned front and rear shelf support means 
or lugs 31 and 32, respectively. The stringers 29 and 30 are welded to 
their respective side walls. Louvers 22 may be formed in the rear wall 15 
of the cabinet. Centrally of the cabinet is a vertically upstanding 
divider wall 35. 
On the door 16 of the cabinet may be mounted a cord bracket 36, preferably 
on the reinforcing panel 37 of the door. The doors may be opened and 
closed and locked by means of a handle 38 connected to a cam 39 adapted to 
fit into a slot 40 on the other door. The cam 39 is also connected to a 
pair of rods 41, which are reciprocated with movement of the handle and 
cam for moving the rods in and out of slots 42 provided in the cabinet, 
and the door has reinforcing guides 43 for containing the rods. 
One side of the divider wall 35 has spaced apart aligned lugs and stringer 
identical to the aligned stringers 29 and 30 and lugs 31 and 32, and a 
shelf 28 may be selectively mounted between aligned pairs of lugs. As 
shown in FIGS. 2-5a, spanning each side edge 45 of the shelf 28 are 
reinforcing girders 46, and the edges of the shelf also have a pair of 
tongues 47 formed by notches 48, the rear notch 48a of each edge 45 being 
enlarged to permit pivoting of the shelf in a vertical arc, allowing 
engagement of the shelf tongues in their associated stringer lugs, as 
shown in FIG. 5a. The end walls 14 have a return flange 49 which is 
securely welded to the rear wall 15, so that when the shelf is engaged as 
shown in FIG. 5a, the entire cabinet is tied together by the combination 
of the rear and end walls and shelf and supporting structure into a rigid 
unit, without affecting the versatile adjustment of the shelves. Where a 
single shelf 28 with the locking features described is used to span the 
end walls, the divider wall 35 may be omitted, without affecting the 
rigidity of the structure. 
With reference to FIG. 5, the top 12 is mounted on beam 50 formed across 
the open front of the cabinet, and at the rear and ends may be seated on 
return flanges formed on the rear and end walls. This beam 50 has a lower 
flange 51 which acts as a stop for the doors when closed, and an extended 
upper flange 52 for supporting the top 12. Centrally struck from the upper 
flange 52 may be a tab 53 for securing the divider wall 35, by means of 
connecting means 54, such as a nut and bolt arrangement, and the divider 
wall should also be secured to the rear wall 15 by conventional means, 
such as a vertical upstanding angular flange on the divider wall for 
connection with the rear wall by means of aligned apertures through the 
flange and rear wall with nuts and bolts connecting the same. As shown in 
FIG. 6, a front vertical rail 55 is provided on each end wall 14, into 
which is placed an angular reinforcement member 56 for securing the beam 
50 to the end wall 14. 
At the bottom of the the vertical rails 55 the floor or bottom wall 13 is 
secured to the end walls 14 by means of a flange 57, into which is also 
bent a lower stop 58 for the doors 16. Within this flange 57 and along the 
bottom of the end and rear walls, 14 and 15 there is secured a channel 59, 
having supporting legs 60 and 61, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The front 
channel is notched, at 62, as is the side channel 63, to provide means for 
connecting the castor brackets 67. These bottom channels 59 and 63, with 
their upper and lower flanges 60 and 61 and 64 and 65, form a rigid frame 
for the cabinet. The castors are mounted to this rigid frame at each 
corner by castor brackets 67, each having extensions 68, for rigid joinder 
with and reinforcement of the frame, connected at frame notches 62 and 66 
by means of anchors 69. 
The mobile cabinet may be used to permanently mount audio-visual apparatus 
on the top thereof, such as a video tape recorder, or tape or player deck, 
and the drop shelf may be used as a top extension or for use by a teacher 
in sitting or standing position. The compartment within the cabinet may be 
used to house classroom and audio-visual materials of various sizes and 
shapes, and may be selectively fitted with shelves, trays, bins, drawers 
and the like. In this way, each cabinet is a self-contained versatile 
mobile learning center, capable of storing and transporting necessary 
equipment for a selected program, and for utilizing the equipment during 
teaching of selected subjects, without substantial modification of the 
cabinet. 
Although I have described a preferred embodiment of the invention in 
considerable detail, it will be understood that the description thereof is 
intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details of 
the structure may be modified or changed without departing from the spirit 
or scope of the invention.