IMPROVEMENTS IN DESKS OR EASELS FOR READING, WRITING, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DESKS OR EASELS FOR READING, WRITING, AND OTHER PURPOSES." A com-
munication from abroad by Auguste Emmanuel Eliaers, of Paris, France,
Sealed the 13th October 1877, and dated the 30th April 1877,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th April 1877.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DESKS OR EASELS FOR READING, WRITING, AND
OTHER PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Auguste Emmanuel Eliaers,
of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to improvements in reading easels and desks for various
purposes, provided with appliances for fixing them to folding or other chairs and
seats, bedsteads, sofas, pianos, and other articles of furniture.
The desks or easels of this Invention are so constructed as to be capable of being
adjusted at any inclination for reading or writing purposes, or placed horizontally
for use as a table or stand.
The desk or easel is mounted directly or through a jointed arm or bracket on a
standard or support provided with means for adjusting the desk or easel at a
convenient height.
The standard is made tubular, and is fitted in sockets connected by a screw stud
to plates, which are screwed to the chair or other article of furniture.
The plates may be made either flat or curved, to suit the form of the chair-leg or
other article to which they are to be affixed, and the sockets may be free to pivot
upon the screw studs which connect them to the plate.
The standard is free to slide up and down in the sockets, and is secured at the
height desired by a set screw on the lower socket, entering one of a series of holes
made in the standard; or, instead of a set screw, I may use a spring bolt.
The standard supports at top a horizontal jointed arm or bracket having a tubular
pivot at one end fitting in a socket in the top of the standard, and at the other end
a socket to receive a vertical pivot attached to the desk, so as to admit of the desk
[Price RI

page_text: 4
being turned round on the standard and on its own pivot as centres, and thus be
readily adjusted in any position desired, or the arm being jointed at the middle of
its length, may be folded back until the desk pivot coincides with and enters the
tubular pivot of the arm, in which position it may be secured by a binding screw.
When the arm is in the extended position a second folding arm may be pivoted
in the tubular pivot of the principal arm as a socket to carry a sconce or lamp stand.
In the latter case this second arm (which is not quite horizontal but inclined slightly
upwards) would be folded back until the lamp stand is directly over the pivot of
the arm, and the two are then connected together by a screw rod screwing into
sockets in the said pivot, and in the under side of the lamp stand, the said screw
rod forming a sort of continuation of the standard, and serving as a firm support
for the lamp stand.
The desk may be arranged in various ways; for example, the book board may
have a bracket at back and be hinged at the bottom to the front end of a horizontal
bar or base frame, to the under side of which the desk pivot is attached. To the
lower edge of the book board a narrow ledge is hinged, the hinges being so disposed,
that their knuckles will not project above the surface of the desk when it is hori-
zontal. The desk is supported at any angle by a strut at back, jointed at the lower
end to the base frame, and provided at the upper end with a hinge, one leaf of
which slides along the bracket above mentioned, and is secured by a nut on a
binding screw, sliding in a slot in the said bracket; or the strut may be jointed to
the bracket, and the adjusting screw slide in a slot in the base frame.
When the desk is to be used as a table the nut is unscrewed and the desk is
folded down, the strut being received in a slot in the base or the bracket, according
as the one or other arrangement is adopted. The front edge of the desk is sup-
ported on a three-leaved hinge so as to lie flush with and form a continuation of
the surface of the desk when it is placed horizontally.
When the desk is to be placed on a table the horizontal bar or base above
described is replaced by an open frame in which the book board is jointed.
In another arrangement the base is of box-like form, and the book board forms
the cover, a hinged ledge being provided as before. In this case the strut is formed
of an iron frame, whose projecting ends engage with racks along the sides of the
box-like base.
These several arrangements of desks may be provided with certain accessories,
which will facilitate their use for various purposes. For example, the hinged ledge
.described may have book holders of peculiar form to retain the leaves of books or
music placed upon the desk, which when not in use, fold down into recesses in the
ledge. These holders are held in either position by springs fixed on the under side
of the ledge.
Similar holders may also be applied near the top edge of the book board, which
will serve as hooks on which to suspend a looking-glass or other article, or folding
hooks may be substituted for the holders, they being in either case received in
recesses in the book board when the latter is placed horizontal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th
October 1877.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DESKS OR EASELS FOR READING, WRITING, AND
OTHER PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Auguste Emmanuel Eliaers,
of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to improvements in reading easels and desks, and in
appliances for fixing them to folding or other chairs and seats, bedsteads, sofas,
pianos, and other articles of furniture, and adapting them to various uses.

page_text: The reading desks or easels of this Invention are so constructed as to be capable
of adjustment at any inclination for reading or writing purposes, or of being placed
horizontally for use as a table or stand, and the standard or support on which they
are mounted is provided with means for varying their height at pleasure.
The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which,-
Figure 1 represents the reading desk or easel adapted to a folding arm-chair.
Figure 2 is a plan of the reading desk separately.
Figures 3, 4, and 5 show cross sections, and Figure 6, a face view on a larger
scale of different arrangement of reading desks to be mounted on standards fixed
to chairs or other articles of furniture in the manner shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 7 is a cross section of a reading easel to be placed on a table instead of
on a standard as in the preceding cases.
Figures 8 to 25 are detailed views of the various parts employed in mounting and
fitting the desks or easels.
Referring to Figures 1, 2, 8, and 9, A is a hollow standard fitted to slide in
sockets B, B¹, which are pivoted upon the screw studs v, v', that connect the
sockets B to their plates C, C', the said plates being screwed or otherwise attached
to the chair or other article of furniture.
When applied to a folding arm-chair, as in Figure 1, an additional rail D to carry
the lower socket B¹ is hinged at a to the back leg of the chair, and secured by
a pin or screw b to the front leg.
The plates C, C¹ may be made either flat or curved to suit the form of the
chair-leg or other article, as shown by the full and dotted lines in Figure 9.
The standard A is fixed at the height desired by a set screw b₁ passing through
the socket B¹ into one of a row of holes in the side of the standard A; or, instead of
a set screw, a spring bolt may be employed.
At the top of the standard there is a horizontal jointed arm or bracket E, E¹,
Figures 1, 2, and 10, having at one end a tubular pivot e, fitting in a socket in the
top of the standard, and at the other end a socket to receive a vertical pivot-p at
the under side of the desk. The latter can thus be turned round on standard A,
and on its own pivot as centres to bring it to any desired position. The arm E, E¹,
is jointed at the middle of its length, and the part E¹ may be folded back upon the
part E as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 10, until the pivot p coincides
with the socket o in the pivot e; the pivot p can then be pushed down into the
socket o and secured in this position by a binding screw e¹.
When the arm E, E, is in the extended position seen in Figures 1 and 2, a second
folding arm F, F¹, Figures 1, 2, 11, and 12, to hold a candle or lamp, may be pivoted
in the socket o. In the case of a lamp the part F¹ is turned back over part F, as
seen in Figure 12, and the two connected together by a screw rod f, which thus
forms a sort of prolongation of standard A, and affords a firm support for the
lamp.
I will now proceed to describe different arrangements of desks that may be
adapted to the standard and support above described.
Figure 3 shows one in which the book board T has a bracket G at back, hinged
at g to a horizontal bar or base H. A narrow ledge t is also hinged to the bottom
edge of the book board, the hinges being so disposed that their knuckles will not
project from the surface of the desk when it is placed horizontally. The desk is
supported at any angle by a strut J at back, jointed at i to the bar H, and provided
at the upper end with a hinge, one leaf of which may slide along the bracket G,
and is clamped in the desired position by a nut k and screw K, whose head slides
in a slot in said bracket.
When the desk is to be laid down in a horizontal position to form a table, the
nut is unscrewed to allow the desk to fall, the strut J, which is of less width than
the base H, lodging in the recess formed in the latter. The desk pivot p is fixed to
a plate p¹ screwed to the under side of the base H.
The book board T and ledge t can only occupy two
positions relatively to each

page_text: other, that is to say, the ledge may either be in the same plane with the book board
to form a table, or at right angles thereto to form a desk.o
The ledge is retained in the latter position by a spring latch L, shown separately
in Figures 13 and 14, hinged to a plate & screwed to the book board T, and notched
at the free end to form a catch, which enters a recess behind a metal plate p screwed
to the under side of ledge t, and the lug at its extremity falls into a slot in said
plate, when the ledge t is exactly at right angles with the book board, and is there
retained by the pressure of the spring x. To turn the ledge t down level with the
book board, the latch L is pressed back to disengage the lug 1, and the ledge then
folded down, the latch sliding farther into the recess behind the plate p.
To ensure the proper action of the above arrangement, the meeting edges of the
book board and ledge should be bevelled as shown in the several Figures, in order
that when the book board T is raised to the inclined position, the point of connection
between the two shall rise and describe an arc of a circle, of which the centre is
that of the hinge g.
In Figure 7 the desk is constructed as above described, except that it is intended
to be placed upon a table, the bar H being replaced by an open frame M, between
the side bars, of which the book board T is pivoted at m by means of screw studs.
The desk shown at Figure 4 differs from that shown in Figure 3 only so far that
the strut J is jointed at i to the bracket G, and is provided at its lower end with
a binding screw K¹ and nut k (shown detached in Figures 15 and 16), adjustable in
a slot in the bar H. In this case the strut J is received in a recess in bracket G,
when the desk is shut down.
In Figure 5 the base N is of box form, the book board T provided with a hinged
ledge t forming the cover. In this case the strut J is formed of an iron frame (seen
detached in Figure 17) whose projecting ends j engage with racks K along the sides
of box N. The book ledge t is connected to the book board T, and the latter to
box N by a three-leaved hinge g, shown detached in Figures 24 and 25.
These several arrangements of desks may be provided with certain accessories
which will facilitate their use for various purposes. For example, the hinged ledge t
may have two metal book holders R of peculiar form (see Figures 4 and 6) to retain
the leaves of books or music placed upon the desk, and which, when not in use,
fold down into recesses in the ledge. These holders are held in either position by
means of flat steel springs (see detached views, Figures 18 and 19) fixed on the
under side of the ledge t..
Similar holders may also be applied near the top edge of the book board T, as
shown in Figure 20, to serve as hooks on which to suspend a looking-glass or other
article, or they may be replaced by hooks V, Figures 21, 22, and 23, pivoted on
plates X screwed to the edges of the book board, both the hooks and holders being
arranged to fold down flush with the surface of the book board, when the latter is
placed horizontally.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the several improvements in reading desks
or easels, and in the means of fixing them to chairs and other articles of furniture,
and adjusting them in any position desired, all substantially as herein shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.