Improvements in School Desks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1892- Accepted, 11th Mar., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in School Desks.
I, CYRENIUS SOBASKI BARNES, of Elba, in the County of Howard and State of
Nebraska, United States of America, Gentleman, 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:-
The invention relates to improvements in school-desks.
The object of the present invention is to provide a school-desk in which the top
may be elevated to form a book-rest to obviate the necessity of leaning over the
desk in studying and enable a pupil to sit upright and have a book supported by
the desk in convenient position for reading.
The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrange-
ment of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings
and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.
In the drawings :-
-:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a desk constructed in accordance with this
invention.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation, the top of the desk being raised.
Fig. 3 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view, the top being lowered.
Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line - of Fig. 2.
Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the
drawings.
1, 1, designate feet from which rise end standards 2, connected across their front
edges by boards 3, forming the back of the seat next in front.
4 designates a seat having brackets pivoted at 6 to the end standards and
adapted when the seat is let down into a horizontal position to bear against the
block 7.
8 is a flat board connecting the end standards just in rear of the back of the seat,
and on this board is arranged an ink-well 9.
10 is a cylindrical casing depending from the board and having an extension 11
at one side with a notch 12 and at the other side an ear 13 to which is pivoted a
plate 14 having a lip 15 adapted to enter said notch when the plate is turned on its
pivot.
16 is a paper ink-well which is passed upwardly into the casing after which the
plate is turned to close the lower end of the casing and hold the ink-well in place.
17 is a spring secured to the board 8 and 18 is a stopper having an ear 18¹ provided
with a square corner, the interior of the stopper being bored out and provided with
a rubber ball 19.
When the stopper is raised around its pivot or when it is lowered, the spring
bears the square corner down so as to hold it in this position, and the rubber ball
will tightly close the mouth of the paper ink-well, as will be clearly understood.
The ink-well described is especially useful because it will not freeze and burst,
and yet as it is air-tight the ink cannot evaporate.
At the inner sides of the standards at their upper ends are arranged walls 20
which are connected at their lower edges by a board 21 forming the bottom of the
desk while the top 22 of the desk extends over the walls and out over the standards
and adapted to be raised and lowered by a system of levers located between the
standards and the walls 20. An operating lever 23 is pivoted at 24 to the right-
hand standard and is provided with a longitudinal slot 25 and it has its outer end
forming a handle 26 and extending through an opening 27 in the rear edge of the
right-hand standard and carrying a resilient pawl 28 which is adapted to engage
notches 29 in the wall of the opening 27. An L-shaped lever 30 is arranged at the

page_text: right-hand side of the desk and is rigidly mounted at its angle on a rod or rock-
shaft 31 which is journaled in suitable bearings of the standards and which extends
across the desk beneath the bottom board 21 and is provided at the left-hand side
of the desk with an arm 30° and it will be seen that the latter and the inner arm
of the L-shaped lever move in unison.
The outer arm of the L-shaped lever is provided with a pin 32 which is arranged
in the slot 25 of the operating-lever 23 and is adapted to move in the said slot.
The arm 30 and the inner arm of the L-shaped lever are pivotally connected by
links 33 with arms 34, which are provided with slots 35 and which receive therein
and move over pins 36 of the standards.
The arms 34 are provided at their front ends with pins 37 which are arranged in
guides 38 of the standards and which pivotally connect triangular brackets 40 to
the arms 34. The triangular brackets 40 support the desk-top and are provided
with depending loops 41 which slide over pins 42 of the standards.
When it is desired to have the desk-top level, the handle 26 is raised, the catch
being disengaged from the notch 29, and this raising of the handle turns
the L-shaped lever and the arm 30%, so that the links 33 are caused to draw the
arms 34 downward around the pivots 36 and the pins 37 move down in the guides 38
and correspondingly draw the desk-top down with them to the, position shown in
Figs. 1 and 3.
When it is desired to form an elevated book-rest to avoid bending over the desk,
the operating-lever is depressed and produces a reverse movement of the parts to
that just described and raises the desk-top as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the
accompanying drawings. By engaging the catch in a central notch the desk-top is
locked at an intermediate position.
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 combination with a desk, of a cylindrical casing depending therefrom and
having at one side an extension with a notch and at the other side an ear, a plate
pivoted to the ear and having a lip adapted to enter the notoh, and a paper-ink-well
adapted to pass upwardly through said casing and through a hole in the top of the
desk, and to be supported in place by said plate, substantially as described.
2. The combination with a desk, a cylindrical casing depending therefrom, a plate
removably closing the lower end of the casing, and a paper ink-well adapted to pass
upwardly through the casing and through a hole in the top of the desk, of a spring
secured to the latter and having a bifurcated free end, a stopper having an ear with
a square corner, the ear being pivoted in said bifurcation and the body of the stopper
being bored out, and a rubber ball secured in said body and closing the mouth of
the well, substantially as described.
3. In a desk, the combination of desk-standards provided with guides, a desk-top,
brackets supporting the desk-top and provided with pins arranged in said guides,
arms pivotally connected to the brackets and having a limited movement on the
standards, and means for raising and lowering the arms, substantially as described.
4. In a desk, the combination of desk-standards provided with guides, a desk-top,
brackets supporting the desk-top and provided with pins arranged in said guides
and adapted to move therein, arms pivotally connected to the brackets and provided
with longitudinal slots, pins projecting from the standards, and arranged in the
slots of the arms, and means for raising and lowering the arms, substantially as
described.
5. In a desk, the combination of a standard provided with a guide, a desk-top, a
bracket supporting the desk-top and provided with a pin arranged in said guide, an
arm pivotally connected to the bracket and having a limited movement on the
standard, an L-shaped lever fulcrumed at its angle and having one end connected to
said arm, and an operating-lever connected to the other end of the L-shaped lever,
substantially as described.

page_text: 6. In a desk, the combination of standards provided with guides, a desk-top,
brackets supporting the desk-top and provided with pins arranged in said guides,
arms 34 pivotally connected to the brackets and having a limited movement on the
standards, a rod journaled in the standards and provided at one end with an arm 30%,
rigidly connected to it, an L-shaped lever rigidly secured at its angle to the other
end of the rod, links connecting the inner ends of the L-shaped lever and the
arm 30 with the arms 34, and an operating-lever connected with the outer end of
the L-shaped lever, substantially as described.
7. In a desk, the combination of a standard provided with a guide, a desk-top, a
bracket supporting the desk-top and provided with a pin arranged in said guide, an
arm pivotally connected to the bracket and having a limited movement on the
standard, an L-shaped lever fulcrumed at its angle and having its inner end
connected with said arm and provided at its other end with a pin, and an operating-
lever fulcrumed on the standard and provided with a longitudinal slot receiving
the pin of the L-shaped lever, substantially as described.
Dated this 18th day of October 1892.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.