An Improved Tray or Receptacle for Plate.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 15th June, 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Tray or Receptacle for Plate.
I, JACQUES AUGUSTIN SERPIN, of 126, Boulevard Haussmann, Paris, in the
Republic of France, Butler, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying drawing, (that is to say):-
My invention relates to a case or chest for holding silver plate in such manner
that each piece is kep: separate during a dinner or service at table, so as to prevent
them from rattling together and to preserve their polish and surface, crests or design,
and with a little care in cleaning to keep them as good as new. The case may be
used both for carrying and for storing the plate.
The chest or case is rectangular and is provided on its inner sides with supports
on which rest shelves composed of thin boards connected by cords as hereinafter
described. The number of shelves will vary with the size of the chest, and may
be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or more.
In the accompanying drawing, which is in illustration of my invention, figure 1
represents in front view a chest having two jointed shelves A and D. The shelf A is
shewn pushed forward to the end of the chest, that is to say is closed, and its front is
only about half the height of the others, or about twenty-five millimetres.
The second jointed shelf D is shewn stretched out to the full depth of the chest,
so as to be open and ready to receive the different articles of plate. All the jointed
shelves are pushed to the back of the chest, and they are drawn out and opened one
by one, as required for the service of the table.
For cleaning, each jointed shelf is pushed forward and shut up when empty, so
that access can be had to the articles in the shelf below, and so on in succession. The
several hinged boards or plates are separated about six millimetres from each other
and from the front of the shelf or drawer, and between the vertical back and the
innermost hoard of each shelf is an empty space of about twenty millimêtres.
The lateral supports or strips on which the ends of the boards rest and move are
fixed at a distance of about forty two millimêtres from the bottom M and from each
other. Their breadth is about eight, and their length two hundred and ninety nine
inillimetres, that is to say six millimetres less than the width and depth from front to
back of the chest, this space being left in the front so that when the shelf is drawn
out the ends of its front are stopped by lateral stops forming part of the front of
the case (as shewn in figure 3).
The front of the shelf consists of a vertical board connected at two millimêtres
from its lower edge, with a horizontal one, the two millimêtres projecting below
forming a stop against the front ends of the lateral supporting strips to hold it when
it is drawn fully out.
Its upper corners at each end have notches eight millimêtres deep by nine and a
half wide in order that it may be raised slightly and then pushed forward to close it,
without touching the supporting strips above.
When the shelf is opened by means of the handle its front should strike against
the stops J upon the front H of the chest. The front of the lower drawer or shelf is
also notched on its upper edge as f, to receive the handle of a soup ladle if it be
required that one should be placed in it.
Four holes K are made in the vertical back of the chest or case, at the same height
as the lateral supporting strips, to receive the cords by which the boards which form
the shelves are articulated together, the outer ends of these cords having stops d.
Any letters or designs may be stamped on the vertical back of the cise, and a handle P
i feed an ach side

page_text: figure 1.
Figure 4 is a vertical section shewing on a larger scale the manner in which the
separate boards forming the articulated shelf are connected together by ineans of
cords passing through holes in them.
Figure 5 is a separate view of the external case or chest, and figure 6 a similar view
of the lower articulated shelf D.
The cords a, b, (figure 4) are interlaced together by means of the holes e and are
knotted together between the boards so as to keep the latter separate and in the right
position to allow them to fold together. The front ends of the cords are fixed to the
horizontal board at the front of the shelf or drawer. This board may if desired, be of
metal, and is thirty five millimêtres wide and connected strongly to the front of the
shelf at right angles.
The inner edge of this plate or board is bevilled down on its upper side so that when
the drawer or shelf is closed the edges of the separate boards pass over it as they
are folded together. The jointed transverse boards have the shape in section shewn
in figure 3, which shews the upper shelf closed and the lower one opened. The
stops at the inner ends of the cords fit into the holes K and are provided with outer
discs or stops d which prevent them from being drawn through.
With five of the drawers or shelves described, silver for a dinner of twelve covers
may be easily provided for, without contact between the pieces. The dimensions may
be varied more or less according to the requirements for which the improved chest or
case is to be used, and by its means a very large part of the ordinary work is
economized, and in appearance it is far better than an ordinary plate basket into
which the articles are heaped together.
If the silver is to be cleaned during the dinner, cases having two drawers or
shelves only are sufficient, the upper one being strong enough to support a pile of
plates, whilst the silver is on the lower one and in the bottom. Two of the chests
should in this case be used, one where the washing or cleaning is done, and the other
in the dining room.
The improved case or chest may be made of any suitable material, and may be
varied in its form and dimensions as may be found advisable, according to the
circumstances in which it is to be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The outer chest or case, in combination with the articulated shelves or drawers,
substantially as described and shewn.
2. The articulated shelf or drawer, consisting of transverse boards of the section
shewn, jointed together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described
and shewn.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.