Improvements in Cabinets and other Articles of Furniture.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Mar., 1890-Accepted, 3rd May, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cabinets and other Articles of Furniture.
I, WILFRED IGNATIUS OMMER, of Dayton, in the County of Montgomery, and State
of Ohio, United States of America Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of
my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN CABINETS, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying drawings:
This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cabinets, and
more particularly to those having pigeon hole compartments, the particular portion to
which this invention relates being to the novel manner of securing the sliding doors
or covers for covering the pigeon holes in place.
The object is to produce a cabinet, or pigeon hole compartment, having vertically
sliding doors, which may be locked at any desired point, with facility and ease, and
which shall possess in point of simplicity, durability and cheapness of construction.
With these objects in view, the invention consists broadly of a cabinet having a
series of vertically sliding doors or covers, and rests or supports in the cabinet for
engaging the said doors, whereby they may be raised to any desired point, and by
being brought in contact with said rests or supports, held securely in place; the
invention further consists in the improved construction and novel combination of the
parts of a cabinet, as will hereinafter be fully described in the specification, illustrated
in the drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which
like reference letters indicate corresponding parts, I have illustrated one form of
cabinet with modifications embodying the essential features of my invention, although
the same may be carried into effect in other ways without in the least departing
from the spirit thereof, and in these drawings,
Figure 1, is a vertical sectional view of a cabinet, showing the relative position of
the stops, rests and shelves;
Figure 2, is a perspective view showing the interior arrangement of the stops or
rosts for holding the doors or covers in a raised position ;
Figure 3, is a vertical sectional view, showing another way of securing the doors
in a raised position;
Figure 4, is a perspective view of the same, showing the position of the doors when
locked in place;
1.
Figure 5, is a longitudinal, sectional view, taken on the line x, a, of figure 3,
showing the peculiar construction of the upright portions of the cabinet, and of the
door;
Figure 6, is a perspective view of another form of cabinet, showing the upright
portions provided with a series of recesses, and the doors with projections or dowels
for engaging the said recesses;
Figure 7, is an enlarged detail view of a portion of figure 6, showing the particular
configuration of the recesses, and one of the dowel pins for engaging the same;
Figure 8, is a detail view in vertical section, of a portion of the cabinet, showing
the shelves arranged to catch and retain the door in a raised position;
Figure 9, is a similar view, showing the doors beveled on their lower edges to
prevent their dropping back when closed, so that an outer smooth face will be
presented to the eye;
Figure 10, is a perspective, detail view of the door shown in figure 9, showing the
beveled lower edge, and recesses formed at each end for engaging with the rests or
supports in the cabinet;
Figure 11, is a vertical sectional view taken on the line v, v, of figure 5, showing
more particularly the construction of the door shown in figure 3, and

page_text: Figure 12, is a detail view of a portion of a cabinet, showing still another way of
securing the doors in a raised position.
Referring to the drawings, A, designates a cabinet, which may be of any
construction, and made of any material desired. B designates the front of the
cabinet, and C, the back. The sides D, of this cabinet are provided with vertical
grooves E, (one only being shown), and in these grooves move vertically sliding
doors F, which may be made of any suitable material, as, for instance, wood, glass,
metal, papier-mache, rubber, etc. The rear portion G, of the groove is cut away, as
shown at H, to form rests or supports 1, upon which one of the doors F, rests, when
in a raised position, as is shown at J, in figure 1.
In this instance, the doors are locked in a raised position by simply moving the
lowest one in, allowing its lower end to rest upon the resis or supports as before
described, but if desired, the front portion of the groove may be formed with recesses,
as shown at K, in figuro 3, and in that event, the door would have to be pulled
outward, so as to bring its lower end in contact with the rest, instead of pushing it
in as shown in figure 1. In the latter case, the door is rabbetted as shown at Lin
figure 5, so that when drawn outward, it will bear against the bead M, of the groove,
as clearly shown. This is done to prevent the entrance of dust to the interior of the
cabinet, which would inevitably follow, should the outer surface of the door be left
ungrooved, for it will be readily seen that the doors would have to be very loosely
mounted within the groove E, in order to allow their being pulled forward a sufficient
distance to bring their lower ends in contact with the rests. The groove L, does not
extend the same depth throughout the entire height of the door, but is deeper at the
bottom than at the top, as clearly shown in figure 11, so that only the bottom can be
brought in contact with the rests, while the top portion acts as a guide when the
doors are resuming their normal position after having been released.
In some instances it may be desirable to extend the shelves C, flush with the
groove as shown in figure 8, thereby giving the door or cover a support across its
entire width, instead of at its corners, as shown in figures 1 and 3.
In figure 6, I have illustrated another way in which the doors may be held in their,
raised position. This consists in providing one or both of the upright portions O,
with a series of recesses P, which recesses may be of any configuration, but that
shown is preferred, that is, having a square base Q, and a curved rear wall R. The
doors F, are provided with projections or dowels T, having their lower face cut or
rounded off, as shown at U, so as to prevent the stoppage of the doors in descending,
should the end of the said dowel enter the recesses. In this instance the door is
locked by pushing it laterally, so as to bring the dowel in contact with the recess.
The same result may be accomplished however by cutting the side wall of the groove,
as shown at X, in figure 12, to form rests or supports Y. The lower end of the door
is brought into contact with said supports by a lateral thrust, as in the form shown in
figure 6.
Instead of forming the doors square on their lower edges, as shown in all of the
figures, they may be beveled from their inner sides outward, as shown at V, in
figure 9, with recesses W, formed at each end for engaging with the stops or supports I,
when in a raised position. This latter form of door will be found very desirable,
from the fact that when closed down, the outer surface will present an unbroken line,
while with the doors shown in the other figures, there is a tendency of one door
settling behind or in front of the one immediately below it, thus presenting an uneven
surface. But if desired, a beveled shoulder or lug may be secured to the door, and
extend above its upper or below its lower edge, and will be found to perform the
same function as the beveled edge before described.
It will be readily seen from the foregoing description, that the peculiar construction
involved in this invention is in having a rigid stop or support, and a sliding door or
doors which are brought into engagement with the stops by pushing in, pulling out,
or sliding to one side. I would have it distinctly understood however, that I do
not limit myself to the construction herein illustrated, but may vary widely there-
from in carrying my invention into practice, so long as the broad idea above stated

page_text: is involved. If desired, I may provide the doors with springs to throw them into
engagement with the respective stops, but this I do not illustrate in this case, as I
reserve the right to make this form the subject matter of another application if I
so desire; moreover, I do not limit this invention to be used on cabinets having
pigeon hole compartments alone, but may apply the same to any article of furniture
where its use may be desirable and necessary. The rests or stops referred to in this
description may also be formed by securing a strip of corrugated metal or a rack
plate upon the upright portions of the cabinet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the saine is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1st. A cabinet having its upright portions provided with a series of supports or
rests, and vertically moving doors or covers mounted between said portions, and
adapted to engage said supports or rests.
2nd. In a cabinet, the combination with the upright portions thereof, having a
series of supports or rests at intervals, of vertically movable doors or covers
mounted between the said portions, and adapted to be moved upon and from said
supports or rests.
3rd. In a cabinet, the combination with the upright portions thereof, and shelves
between the said portions, of interior rests or supports, and vertically movable
doors or covers mounted between the upright portions, and adapted to be moved
from and upon said rests or supports.
4th. In a cabinet, the combination with the upright portions thereof, of grooves
formed with rests or supports, and vertically sliding doors adapted to engage said
rests or supports.
5th. In a cabinet, the combination with the upright portions thereof, of vertical
grooves, having one of their sides cut away to form rests or supports, and vertically
sliding doors moving in said grooves, and adapted to engage said rests.
Gth. In a cabinet, the combination with the upright portions, of a series of
superincumbent vertically movable doors mounted between the same, and having
beveled portions adapted prevent one door dropping back or in front of those
above or below it.
Dated this 10th day of March 1800
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchestor, Agents.