AN IMPROVED ADJUSTABLE OFFICE TABLE OR DESK
Year: 1884

page_text: I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for AN IMPROVED
ADJUSTABLE OFFICE TABLE OR DESK a communication to me from abroad by
Wilhelm Weishaupt, of Engers, through his agents Wirth and Company, of
Frankfort on the Main, both in the Empiro of Germany to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a table or desk for office use which is adjustable and
can be employed with equal facility as a drawing or a writing table etc., as it can
be raised or lowered to suit the person working at it by a simple adjusting
arrangement. By this means a horizontal table can be raised and lowered with
ease and certainty, so that there is no necessity to first clear the table of the work
on it
.
The table or desk top is supported by folding or collapsible frames formed of
two pairs of knee jointed or toggle lege pivoted at their upper ends to cross bars at
the underside of the top, and at their lower ends to the base frame. The cross bars
of the top are furnished with studs carrying rollers which run in vertical guide
slots in an upright frame, whereby the table when being raised or lowered is
guided vertically.
The lower members of the toggle legs are guided laterally by quadrant shaped
guide standards concentric with the pivots on which these members work at their
lower ends and at the middle or knee joint the legs are furnished with rollers
which run on the curved edges of the guide standards. These quadrant standards
are each constructed of two members at a distance apart to form slots for the
toggle legs to work in; and the two standards at one side for guiding the front and
back legs, cross one another, and at the point of crossing their adjacent members
are bolted together, the standards at opposite sides being braced by suitable cross
stays.
The toggle legs are connected in front and back pairs by cross rods or stays
which form the joint pins of the knee joints and to these cross rods are attached

page_text: chains which respectively pass, those from the front pair of legs forwards, and
those from the back pair of legs backwards, over the cross stays of the quadrant
standards and are made fast to hooks on the frame when the height and (if
desired) the inclination of the table is adjusted.
In lowering the table the toggle legs bend or fold inwards at the middle that is
to say the front pair of legs bend backwards and the back pair of legs forwards
the quadrant guides being correspondingly arranged and the one pair of legs
passing between the other pair, until the lower members assume a nearly
horizontal position if required.

page_text: I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lano, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for AN IMPROVED
ADJUSTABLE OFFICE TABLE OR DESK (a communication to me from abroad by
Wilhelm Weishaupt of Engers through his Agents Wirth and Company of
Frankfort on the Main, both in the Empire of Germany,) and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:—
This Invention relates to a table or desk for Office use which is adjustable and
can be employed with equal facility as a drawing or a writing table etc, as it can
be raised or lowered to suit the person working at it by a simple adjusting
arrangement. By this means a horizontal table can be raised and lowered with
ease and certainty, so that there is no necessity to first clear the table of the work
on it
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification in which figures 1 and 2 show side and front elevations of a desk or
table at its full height. Figure 3 shows details of the connection of the two
quadrant guide standards at their crossing point. Figure 4 is a plan of the
quadrants. Figures 5 and 6 are side and front views of the table or desk at its
lowest height. Figure 7 is a plan of one of the cross bars beneath the table top.
The table or desk top is supported by folding or collapsible frames formed of
two pairs of knee jointed or toggle legs ff¹ pivoted at their upper ends / to cross
bars b fixed to the underside of the top, and at their lower ends g to the base
frame. The cross bars bare furnished with studs k carrying rollers which run in
vertical guide slots in uprights i whereby the table when being raised or lowered
is guided vertically.
The lower members f¹ of the toggle legs are guided laterally by quadrant shaped
guide standards o o¹ concentric with the pivots g on which these members work at
their lower ends, and at the middle or knee joint e tho legs are furnished with
rollers which run on the curved edges of the guide standards o o¹. These quadrant
standards are each constructed of two members at a distance apart to form slots
for the toggle legs f¹ to work in, as shown in figure 3, and the two standards o o¹
at one side for guiding the front and back legs cross one another, and at the point
of crossing their adjacent members are bolted together as shown at a figures 1
and 3. The standards o o¹ at opposite sides are braced by suitable cross stays p p¹.
The toggle legs are connected in front and back pairs by cross rods or stays
which form the joint pins of the knee joints e and to these cross rods are attached
chains c and d which respectively pass forwards and backwards over the cross
stays p p of the quadrant standards and are made fast to hooks on the frame
when the height, and if desired, the inclination of the table is adjusted.
In lowering the table the toggle legs ff' bend or fold inwards at the middle,
that is to say the front pair of legs bend backwards and the back pair of legs
forwards, the quadrant guides being correspondingly arranged and the one pair of

page_text: legs passing between the other pair, until the lower members assume a nearly
horizontal position if required, as shown in figure 5.
The table may be constructed of any desired dimensions and of wood or iron or
both.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
A table or desk for office use adjustable as to height and position by means of
toggle or knee jointed legs ff1 pivoted thereto and to the frame, and of quadrant
shaped slotted guide standards o o' arranged as shown and described, the legs
being provided with rollers working on the quadrants and the desk or table top
being guided by a vertical guide standard, all substantially as herein described and
shown in the drawings.