IMPROVEMENTS IN LIBRARY. TABLES OR DESKS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Drew, of Back Hill, in the County of Middle-
sex, Cabinet Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIBRARY.
TABLES OR DESKS."
Sealed the 5th May 1857, and dated the 15th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Drew at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th November
1856.
I, JOHN DREW, of Back Hill, in the County of Middlesex, Cabinet Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LIBRARY TABLES OR DESKS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a new arrangement of flap or slope, and in a hinge
lock connected therewith, and communicating with a set of bolts on one or both
sides thereof, which bolts lock and unlock a nest or nests of drawers, as may
be required, at the back of the table, and on one or both sides of the slope.
I form the slope with a hinge at or about the centre thereof, which, on being
hinged back, and the whole slope turned up, exposes fittings immediately in front
of the writer or user, containing papers, envelopes, and the necessary accessories
for writing. The main hinges to the slope while it is being turned back bring
down a bolt or bolts on each side thereof, and allow of the drawers above men-
tioned being opened; the return of the hinged flap to its original position acts
upon the bolts and locks the drawers.

page_text: In the arrangement just described the writing surface of the table is flat;
but where it is desired to be sloping, the main hinges before alluded to arc
connected to a flap flush with the table, in such manner as, on the hinged flap
being thrown back. to cause the flush flap to rise at the back, and afford a
sloping surface or desk for writing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Drew in the Great Seal Patent Offico on the
15th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. I. JOHN
DREW, of Back Hill, in the County of Middlesex. Cabinet Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS 1er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Drew, Her special licence that I, the said John Drew, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Drew, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIBRARY
TABLES OR DESKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Drew, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to bo filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Drew, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to
say:-
My Invention consists in a new arrangement of flap or slope, and in a hinge

page_text: lock connected therewith, and communicating with a set of bolts on one or
both sides thereof, which bolts lock and unlock a nest or nest of drawers, as
may be required, at the back of the table, and on one or both sides of the slope.
I form the slope with a hinge at or about the centre thereof, which, on being
hinged back, and the whole slope turned up, exposes fittings immediately in
front of the writer or user, containing papers, envelopes, and the necessary
accessories for writing. The main hinges to the slope while it is being turned
back bring down a bolt or bolts on each side thereof, and allow of the drawers
above mentioned being opened; the return of the binged flap to its original
position acts upon the bolts and locks the drawers.
In the arrangement just described the writing surface of the table is flat;
but where it is desired to be sloping, the main hinges before alluded to are
connected to a flap flush with the table, in such manner as, on the hinged flap
being thrown back, to cause the flush flap to rise at the back, and aflord a
sloping surface or desk for writing.
Figure 1 is a front view of a library table or desk with my improvements.
applied thereto, and Figure 2 is a section of the same through the line a, b of
Figure 1. A, A³, are nests of drawers attached to the top of the table or desk,
one set to each of the back corners. These nests of drawers are of such a size
as to leave a space between them sufficient to allow the main or outer slope B
to fold into it, as shown in Figure 1, and in dotted lines B', B", in Figure 2.
When this slope is folded back into the position described, a series of pockets
C, C, formed in the under part, are exposed to view; pigeonholes D are
likewise exposed; they are formed on the part E, to which the slope B
is hinged. The slope B is made in two parts B', B", and hinged together
at c, so that the front portion B' may be folded up close to B before they are
turned up in the position shewn in the Drawings annexed. When the slope 13
is turned down in a position to be used as a writing desk, as shewn in
Figure 2, a series of mechanical appliances has acted on different sets of
bolts or locks in such a manner that they have been projected simultaneously
into notches or recesses, one or more of which notches may be formed in
any convenient part in each drawer and thus lock them so long as the
slope B is kept in that position. A lock and key is applied to the slope as in
ordinary desks, and thus one key secures the whole of the drawers and recep-
tacles in the table or desk. In Figure 2 the front drawers F, F, F", F¹
are represented locked by the bolts d, d', d", d, and the back drawer G by
a bolt e; the turned-up ends of these bolts which enter notches in the bottoms
of the drawers may be tapered from one side, as shown, so that when they are
shot into the notches their angular faces will press against the corresponding.

page_text: sides of the notches, and not only lock them but be inclined to draw them in
a little, and so keep them firm as well as locked. The bolts d, d, d", d
and are formed on one stem f, which is common to all of them; the stem f
has a hole formed in its upper end into which the end of the lever g works,
and by which it and its bolts are worked up or down and locked or unlocked,
as the case may be. ff","", are guides or keepers, screwed or otherwise
secured to the partition f, through which the stem f works to keep it in
place. The lever g has its fulcrum at h, and has its end turned up, as at g',
where it is acted on on one of its sides by a pin or peg i when the drawers or
receptacle are to be locked, as shewn. When it is necessary to unlock them,
the lock on the slope B is unlocked by its key, and turned up on its pivot j
into the position of the dotted lines B', B", when the pin or peg k will be
brought into contact with the opposite side of the bent end g' of the lever 9.
and so reversing the locking action of the lever g. stem f, and bolts d, d', d", d
and e, and thus withdrawing the bolts from the notches formed in the drawers,
allows of the whole of them being opened. Similar apparatus to that above
described is connected with the hinge of the slope B for locking and unlocking
the drawers II, H', H", H, and a back drawer, similar to the drawer G. but
is not seen in the Drawings. To lock and unlock the nests of drawers A, a
stem with bolts m, shewn in dotted lines, are provided; these bolts and their
stem are made in like manner to the stem fand bolts d, d', &c., but they are
so placed that the bolts stand at right angles to those already described, and
shewn in Figure 2. Near the lower end of the stem la curved piece I is
formed on or secured to it; in the interior or concave side of the curved pieco!
a pinn takes; this pin is fixed in the brass or metal mounts of the flap, or
slope joint, or hinge, at such a distance from the centre j on which the slope B
is hinged as to give a suflicient up or down motion to the stem 7 and bolts m,
by acting against the upper or lower sido of the concavity of the curved part I.
Parts of the lower drawers in the nest A and the drawer G are represented
as broken away, so that one of the joints with the parts connected thereto may
be more clearly shewn. Apparatus similar to that described for locking and
unlocking the nest of drawers A is employed to lock and unlock the nest of
drawers A'. When it is desired to have the writing surface J of the table or
desk sloping, I connect it at its back edge to a series of levers by a rod or
strap, and which levers are in turn connected to the flap or slope B by means
of a rod or strap and pin, which takes into an eccentric slot in the metal plate
which forms the main part of the hinge. o is the eccentric slot formed in the
hinge plate; p is the pin or peg over which the eccentric curve o traverses.
The pin p is fixed in a short connecting rod or strap 9, jointed at r to the

page_text: levers; this lever may have its fulcrum on the same pin h with the lever g;
the other end of the lever s takes into a hole formed in the end t of another
lover u, which with part of its connections are seen in Figure 3 on an enlarged
scale, taken at right angles to that shewn in Figure 2. The lever u is set at
right angles to the lever s, and has formed in or near its centro a slotted hole v,
through which a pin w is passed to serve as its fulcrum; the slotted hole allows
it to have a lateral motion, corresponding to the curve and angle through
which it moves when put in motion by the lever s; the opposite end of the
lever is rounded, and takes into a notch, or between two teeth or pro-
jections w', w, formed on the connecting rod or strap x; the upper end of the
strap & is connected or jointed to the writing surface or platform by a pin y
passing through the rod and fixed in the platform. Apparatus exactly similar
is applied to the opposite end of the platform or writing surface, so that their
united action may raise the surface equally at the same time. The writing
surface is represented as lowered by the dotted lines J, and when in a raised
position by the dotted lines J. Beneath the surface a receptacle is formed for
bolding papers and other necessary articles, and is covered over by the writing
platform, which serves for a lid or cover; the same can be easily raised by
laying hold of the latch, catch, or tab K, seen in Figure 1.
When desired to have the writing surface flat the raising and lowering
apparatus may be dispensed with. In Figure 2, I have shewn a receptacle L
at the back of the desk or table; this receptacle is closed by a door M, which
may be locked or unlocked if desired by apparatus acting in the same manner
to that already described and represented in the Drawings annexed. Although
only one of these is shewn, there are two, one below each nest of drawers.
Instead of locking and unlocking these doors in a manner similar to that of
the drawers, they may be secured by means of an ordinary lock and key.
It will be understood by what has been already described, that by shutting
down the flap or slope B the drawers are locked, the pockets in the flap or
slope B are closed, and the writing surface J lowered simultaneously, and, by
locking the flap down in the manner of an ordinary desk the whole is secured;
and on opening the same, and folding the part B' of the slope B close up
to B, and turning them both into the position shewn in Figure 1, and in
dotted lines in Figure 2, the pockets C, C, and pigeonholes D are exposed,
the whole of the drawers and receptacles are unlocked; by this means the
necessity of locking and unlocking each drawer or receptacle singly is done
away with. I do not strictly confine myself to the description and Drawings
hereunto annexed so long as the nature of my Invention is not departed from.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in library tables or desks,―
First, the particular arrangement and construction of slope or flap herein-
before described, whether employed alone or in combination with the locking
hinges.
Second, the particular construction, arrangement, and action of hinges fitted
to the slope or flap, and the arrangement of apparatuses connected with the
hinges, whereby drawers may be locked and unlocked by the motion of the
slope, as berein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Drew, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this. Fifteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
JOHN DREW. (L.S.)
JOIN DREW. (L.S.)