Improvements in the Construction of Nests of Drawers and Analogous Articles of Furniture.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 28th May, 1886.
Complete Left, 28th Feb., 1887.
* Complete Accepted, 29th Mar., 1887.
Improvements in the Construction of Nests of Drawers and
Analogous Articles of Furniture.
THEODORE FREDERIC SANDBACH TINNE of the Beeches, Hawkhurst, in the County of
Kent Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be as follows:-
It is well known that drawers, as ordinarily constructed, are very inefficiently
supported when opened or drawn out, and that the great leverage speedily causes the
slips to wear away, and also severely strains the drawer itself, and that the latter
cannot be fully drawn out for want of adequate support.
Now the object of my invention is to remedy such defect, and to provide suitable
supports to sustain drawers in a horizontal position when partially or fully
drawn out.
One method of carrying out my invention consists in fitting a pair of doors in front
of the drawers, on vertical hinges. These doors are so fitted that they may be closed
and locked, to secure all the drawers, when desired. When the doors are opened,
means are provided to prevent their positions exceeding right angles to the fronts of
the drawers.
The inner sides of the doors are fitted with supporting slips, the upper edges of
which are in line with the bottom edges of the drawers; or the slips may be on the
drawers and grooves in the doors-The slips may be the projecting edges of the
bottom of the drawer. But such slips and grooves may be otherwise placed as to
their position on the drawer and door respectively. When, therefore, any of the
drawers are opened or drawn out, they rest upon and are partially or entirely
supported by, the supporting slips fitted to the insides of the doors; and the drawers
may be entirely drawn out from the nest, if so required, and as readily replaced,
without being in danger of falling, or causing undue strain on the guides in the nest.
In some cases I fit skeleton doors, consisting merely of a frame of wood or metal
and suitable supports or slips.

page_text: Another method of carrying out my invention, consists in forming the auxiliary
supports to the drawers, so that they may be capable of sliding in and out, on each
side of the nest instead of being mounted on hinges; each drawer may have its own
slide independently of the rest of a set.
In some cases, when it is inconvenient to have the auxiliary supports on both sides
of the nest, one side only is so fitted, and the drawers are then only supported at one
end, so far as they are drawn out of the nest.
My invention is applicable also to single drawers, drawers in wardrobes, and other
positions and to sliding shelves.
My improvements can be fitted to existing drawers or sliding shelves.

page_text: Analogous Articles of Furniture.
I, THEODORE FREDERICK SANDBACH TINNE, of The Beeches, Hawkhurst, in the
County of Kent, Engineer, 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 :-
It is well known that drawers as ordinarily constructed, are very inefficiently
supported and guided, when opened or drawn out, and that the great leverage speedily
causes the slips to wear away, and also severely strains the drawer itself, and that the
latter cannot be fully drawn out for want of adequate support.
Now the object of my invention is to remedy such defect, and to provide means
whereby a drawer or shelf, when partially or wholly drawn out from the nest or recess
into which it slides, may receive such support and guidance when so drawn out as
shall sustain and guide it in a horizontal position..
One method of carrying out my invention consists in fitting a pair of doors in front
of the drawers, on vertical hinges. These doors are so fitted that they may be closed
and locked, to secure all the drawers, when desired. When the doors are opened,
means are provided to prevent their positions exceeding right angles to the fronts of
the drawers.
The inner sides of the doors are fitted with supporting slips, the upper edges of
which are in line with the bottom edges of the drawers; or the slips may be on the
drawers and grooves in the doors. The slips may be the projecting edges of the
bottom of the drawer. But such slips and grooves may be otherwise placed as to
their position on the drawer and door respectively. When, therefore, any of the
drawers are opened, or drawn out, they rest upon, and are partially or entirely
supported by, the supporting slips fitted to the insides of the doors, or equivalent
supports and the drawers may be entirely drawn out from the nest, if so required,
and as readily replaced, without being in danger of falling, or causing undue strain
on the guides in the nest.
In some cases I fit skeleton doors, consisting merely of a frame of wood or metal
and suitable supports or slips.
Another method of carrying out my invention, consists in forming the auxiliary
supports to the drawers, so that they may be capable of sliding in and out, on each
side of the nest, instead of being mounted on hinges. Also (if preferred) each drawer
may have its own slide independently of the rest of a set.
In some cases, when it is inconvenient to have the auxiliary supports on both sides
of the nest, one side only is so fitted, and the drawers are then only supported at one
end, so far as they are drawn out of the nest.
My invention is applicable also to single drawers, drawers in wardrobes, and other
positions, and to sliding shelves.
My improvements can be fitted to existing drawers or sliding shelves,

page_text: And in order that my said invention may be particularly described and ascertained,
reference is hereby made to the accompanying drawings shewing several modifications
of my invention; in which drawings similar letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2 a side elevation; Fig. 3 a top view and Fig. 4
is a perspective view of a nest of drawers fitted with folding doors, Fig. 5 is a
horizontal section on the line a- of Fig. 1, shewing the means whereby the doors
when open maintain a position at right angles to the nest.
c and d are the doors hinged to the nest at e e, in such a manner that, when open,
they form continuations of the sides, and are, on their inner surfaces, flush with the
inner surfaces of the sides. Two rods y, 9, are pivotted at one of their ends to the
bottoms of the doors, and their other ends are pivotted together; the pin which unites
them and on which they turn, being prolonged downwards to form a pintle as shewn
in detail in Fig. 6.
This pintleg slides in a groove gl cut in the bottom of the nest, and so keeps the
doors at all times in an equal relative position to each other, and prevents the doors
opening more than in a position parallel with each other, and at right angles to
the nest.
On the inner faces of the doors 1 fix strips or runners s, in such positions that they
form continuations of, and take positions in line with, the runners on which the
drawers rest in the nest. It will thus be seen that when a drawer is drawn out as at
h, it is maintained in a horizontal position, and would be so even if drawn much
further out than it is shewn in the drawing. In some cases I cut grooves in the
doors instead of affixing strips; in which cases I attach or form strips on the sides of
the drawers to run in such grooves; or I allow the bottom of the, drawer to project
at each side, or I affix slips or strips to the drawers, or form grooves in the sides of
the drawers, by planing them out of the solid, so as to engage in the grooves and
form the runners.
The hinges e, e, are set out in such a manner that, when the doors are closed, there
is room between the doors and the drawer fronts for the strips, as shewn at j by dotted
lines in Fig. 5; the rods g, g, then assume the position shown by dotted lines.
Eig. 7 is a front elevation, and Fig. 8 is a side view, partly in elevation and partly
in section, shewing another method of carrying out my invention. In this arrange-
ment the inner sides of the nest, and the outer sides of the drawers are grooved or
channelled correspondingly as shown, and strips or slips of wood or metal are so
fitted that the lower edge of each rests on the lower edge of a groove in the nest,
while the upper edge of cach bears against the upper surface of a groove in a drawer.
The strips have also in each of them two grooves, the one on the outside the other on
the inside, these grooves being of a definite length, that is to say, a little more than
half the total distance the drawer has to travel in order to become quite open. In
each groove a pin or stop runs. The outer pins & are fixed to the chest, and stop
the slip coming more than half its length out of the chest, the inner pins'll are fixed
to the drawer, and prevent the drawer releasing itself from its slip guides, and
also forcibly draw the slips out from the chest to their required limit. The
drawer is thus maintained in its horizontal position, even though its whole area is
outside the nest. In some cases it may be desirable to give the slips and channels
a dovetail form as shewn at m (Fig. 7) in order to keep the slips more effectively in
their places.
Fig. 9 is a front elevation: Fig. 10 a side elevation, partly in section; and Fig. 11.
a horizontal section, shewing another method of carrying out my invention; being
mainly a modification of Figs. 7 and 8. The chief difference being that the side
strips are yoked together at the rear end, to ensure their travelling together with
greater rigidity. This construction will be more readily understood by means of the
perspective detail views Figs. 12 and 13, where n is the drawer and o the attached side
slips and yoke. It will be seen that this arrangement resolves itself into what might
be termed a telescopic form of drawer, the length of travel of each part shewn
being governed by stops, the action of which is as follows:Figs 14 and 15 shew on

page_text: a large scale the construction of the metal stops which are shown in position
at p, p, in Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12. When the stop is turned as shewn in Fig. 15 the
drawer can be completely withdrawn from it place in the yoke. But when the
drawer is put into the yoke, and the stops is opened or turned as shewn in
Figs. 12 and 14, the stops then project across the recessed sides of the drawer at
tt (Figs. 11, 12 and 13) so that the drawer can only be drawn half its length out of
the yoke, when in its form is capable of being drawn half its length from its place in
the nest. The yoke is similarly kept from being drawn more than half its length
out of the nest by similar stops, one of which is shewn at w, where it is pivotted
on to the runner fixed inside the chest, in such a manner that it can be
set up
shewn at w, Figs. 10 and 12, when it will arrest the yoke; or it may be " set
down" out of the way as shewn by dotted lines at w, in Fig. 10, when the yoke can
pass freely over it, so as to be withdrawn from the chest.
{
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as
Fig. 16 shews another modification of Fig. 8, in which the several slips, which may
be made of wood or metal, (and in any of the forms shewn or in any other form found
more suitable) are joined at their ends to vertical pieces which have castors or rollers
at their feet. All the slips can thus be drawn out together, and the drawers may
then be singly drawn out onto them.
The drawers in any of the arrangements shewn may if desired, have rollers set
in the under surface of their running edges to reduce friction and facilitate their
travelling.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The method of, and means and appliances for supporting and guiding drawers,
sliding shelves, and analogous articles, when partially or wholly drawn out, sub-
stantially as herein before described and shewn on the drawings.
2. The general construction and arrangement of the several and respective parts,
and the several combinations of the same, constituting my improvements in the
construction of nests of drawers and analogous articles of furniture, substantially
as and for the purposes herein before described and shewn on the drawings.
Dated 28th February 1887.
GEO. DOWNING,
Agent for Applicant.