New and Useful Improvements in Drawers or File-Boxes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 7th Oct., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New and Useful Improvements in Drawers or File-Boxes.
A communication from THE CANADIAN OFFICE & SCHOOL FURNITURE COMPANY
LIMITED, of the Village of Preston, Province of Ontario, Canada, Manu-
facturers.
:
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, 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 an improvement in drawers or file boxes in which
spring-compressors are employed to hold the sheets in layers flat against the
bottom of the drawer.
The object of the invention is to provide convenient facilities for filing and
ready access to letters or such papers
as are filed therein. This object is
attained by the mechanism and construction as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Figure 1, is a vertical section of the drawer, showing the right-hand inner
side. Figure 2 is a top view of the right-hand rear corner, showing the com-
bined coiled spring and hinge of the compressor. Fig. 3 is a perspective view
of the drawer withdrawn from the cabinet or receptacle to a position ready to
receive letters or papers or for the examination of those filed therein.
Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several views.
Cabinet letter or paper files are usually made with a number of compartments
or receptacles to receive drawers or file boxes. A A A represents the walls of
one of these compartments or receptacles, 13 B the side walls of the drawer,
and C the back wall.
Up to the present time cabinet letter-files generally in use are provided with
some kind of spring compressor and indexed leaves in the drawers, and these it
is also proposed to use, as without them the drawers would not be considered
complete for the purpose intended.
Wherein the invention differs from others is that the spring-compressor is
hinged and secured at the back wall of the drawer instead of at the front wall,
and the index-leaves are inserted, having their letter-index tabs at the front wall,
and may be hinged or otherwise secured at the back wall. The front wall is
hinged at or near its lower edge, and in connection with the intermediate rods
and levers the compressor is operated with the movement of the hinged front.
As will be seen in Fig. 3, this arrangement with the indexed leaves toward the
operator permits of convenient access to the contents of the drawer, and letters
or papers may be readily filed therein without the drawer being entirely with-
drawn or removed from the cabinet. A suitable stop may be arranged to pro-
hibit the further withdrawal of the drawer when in this position.
With a file drawer such as described the operator can with one hand with-
draw and prepare it while his other hand is holding the papers he desires to file.
D represents the loop of the spring-compressor, and EE its coiled springs.
which also act as hinges to the compressor and are secured to the back wall of

page_text: the drawer near its upper edge by the brackets FF, and pins from these
brackets pass through the coiled springs and are secured to the side walls of
the drawer. Preference is given to this construction, although it can be
modified in various ways.
The operation of the compressor is particularly shown in Fig. 1.
The ends of the wire used in the construction of the spring-compressor, pro-
jecting from the coiled springs, near the side walls, extend back from the coils,
one end being shown in the several views. The loop D of the compressor bears
upon the contents of the drawer and also forms the connection between the
coils E E. To the projecting end H, from the coils of the compressor, is
hinged or jointed the rod a and to this the rod or lever b and the latter secured at
its lower end to the side wall of the drawer by a pivot or pin c. The connecting-
rod I, is connected with the rods or rod and lever a and b and at that end is jointed
to them at or near d and its other end jointed and secured to the inner side
of the hinged front J. The front J, when raised to an upright position,, as in
Fig. 1, by the action of the rods and lever I, b, and a in connection therewith,
will force the loop of the spring-compressor down upon the contents of the
drawer, and the compressor will remain locked in that position until released
by the outward motion of the hinged front J. The outward motion of the
front J does not only release, but will also raise, the compressor-loop D, as shown
by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, permitting access to the contents of the drawer,
as shown in Fig. 3.
The coils E E should be made to provide for sufficient flexibility to the com-
pressor-loop D to allow the contents of the drawer to be of various thicknesses
when the compressor is forced down upon them by the rods and lever in con-
nection with the front J.
In forcing down the compressor-loop upon the contents of the drawer by
the action as above described a corresponding pressure is retained at the extended
wire end from the coils at H down upon the rods or rod and lever a and b, and
as these are forced back somewhat out of line with the joints at H and c,, at
joint d by the rod I, when the drawer is being closed or the front J placed
upright, a complete lock is formed by the rods and lever in this position to the
compressor, which can only be removed by the reverse motion of the front J
in connection with the rod I.
The front J, after being placed in an upright position, will be held there
against the ends of the side walls of the drawer to the extent of the tension
of the springs upon the rods in connection therewith.
The invention is not confined strictly to the arrangement of the rods and lever
and the direction from the coils and the extension of the projecting wire end H,
as the combination can be modified in various ways and have the same or a
similar effect upon the compressor and the hinged front J.
The rods and lever may be recessed into the side walls of the drawer or may
be completely concealed within these walls, so as not to be of any obstruction
to the contents of the drawer.
In Fig. 3, we show a downwardly extending loop of wire K, having coil
spring connections with the compressor-loop which tend to maintain it in the
position shown, but at the same time permit it to be pulled forward so that
papers as lifted up may be tucked under it and so held out of the way while
those thus exposed are being examined.
Prior to this invention drawers for the cabinet letter or paper files have been
made with spring-compressors and drawers with loose or hinged fronts, there-
fore this combination is not broadly claimed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is:-
1. In a drawer for cabinet letter or paper files, the rod 1 in connection with

page_text: the hinged front J, the rod a in connection with the spring-compressor, and
the rod or lever 6 in connection with the rods 1 and a forming a combination
of connecting-rods between and arranged to act upon, the spring-compressor
and the hinged front J, substantially as and for the purpose described and set
forth.
2. The spring-compressor and hinged front in combination with operating
connections between the same substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, and for the purpose set forth.
3. The combination with a spring-compressor such as described of a down-
wardly extending loop of wire having coil spring connections with the com-
pressor substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 18th day of August 1899.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.