US1346976A - School-desk - Google Patents

Description

. G. L. RANKlN.

SCHOOL DESK. APPLICATION FILED AUG-I8. 1"'919. 1,346,976, Patented July 20,1920.

GEORGE L. RANKIN, OF MUNHALL, PENNYLVANIA.

SCHOOL-DESK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' I Patented July 20, 1920.

Application led August 18, 1919. Serial No. 318,071.

'To all 107mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. RANKIN, residing at Munhall, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in School-Desks, oi' which improvements the following is a specification.

rhe object of my invention is to provide a combined school desk and chairs whereby a larger number of pupils may be comfortably seated and adequately provided with desk facilities than is possible by vthe use of the usual types of desks and chairs, and also to provide a school desk which may be adjusted to the requirements of different sized pupils, and which affords opportunity for j anitors to properly clean a school room floor.

y invention is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings which form part of my speciiication. Figure 1 is a side view of the desk and chairs, Fig. 2 a plan view thereof, a portion of the top being broken away; and Fig. 3 a detail sectional view n taken on the line IIL-III, Fig. 1.

rlhe desk which I provide has a plurality of sides and a top so constructed that a pupil may work from each side of the desk. In the illustrative embodiment or' the invention the desk is square, having four sides 1, 1a, 1b and 1c, and the top 2 has four working faces 3, 3a, 3l and 3C, each of which may slope upwardly, as indicated. The space between the top 2 and bottom l of the desk is divided by partitions 5 into book compartments 6, one of which is open at the right hand portion of each side of the desk. If desired, the bottom 4 may be made of screen-like metal, such as a perforate plate, so that dust and other 'foreign and unsanitary matter will not readily accumulate in the book compartments.

The desk is supported by vertically adjustable legs, arranged one at each corner, and a chair is pivotally mounted on each leg so that it may swing horizontally. Preferably, each leg consists of a cylindrical tube 7 having oppositely threaded ends engaging flanged sleeves 8 and 9, the flanges of the sleeves 8 being attached to the desk bottom 4, and those of the sleeve 9 being adapted to be attached to a supporting floor 10. To hold tubes 7 in their adjusted positions, the sleeves 3 may be provided with set screws 11.

Each chair preferably consists of a wire back 15 and a comfortable saddle seat 12 attached to the outer end of a bracket 13, at the inner end oi which there are formed two sleeves 14 and 14a. Between these sleeves there is a spring for holding the chair yieldingly toward a side of the desk. The spring preferably comprises oppositely coiled sections 16 and 16FL having their outer ends looped over, or otherwise secured to, the top and bottom of the bracket 13. Between the coil sections a pin 17 engages the loop in the spring and extends into the tube 7. The bracket 13 is supported by a pin 18 extending through the tube 7 just below the sleeve 14B.

In Fig. 2 one of the chairs is shown in its outward position, that is to say, the position it occupies when a pupil is working on the desk, and the other seats are shown in their inward positions adjacent to the sides or" the desk. That the spring 16, 16a may not eXert pressure upon a chair when in such outward position, the bottom of the sleeve 1-1-u may be provided with a groove 19 adapted to receive the pin 1S as shown in Fig. 3. For limiting the inward position ofthe chair, the lower side of the bracket 13 may be provided with a lug 2O adapted to engage the outer end of the pin 13. The chairs are, however, not limited to the two positions indicated. Each may swing through an arc of about 180D, so that, when desired, all the pupils may face in one direction.

By equipping school rooms with the combined desks and chairs which I provide, a large economy of school room space is effected, thus making it possible to accommodate more pupils in one room, or to arrange the desks so that each room will have ample free floor space for physical exercises. Each desk may, by turning the leg sections 7, be vertically adjusted to best meet the needs of different sized pupils; and with respect to such adjustment, it will be observed that the vertical movement of the 'desk and chairs, is effected simultaneously,

the chairs being raised or lowered just half as much as the desk, assuming, of course, equal pitches of the threads at the opposite ends of the tubes 7. It is also characteristic of my invention that the supports for desks and chairs offer a minimum of obstacles to the proper sweeping' or other cleaning of the ioor. In effect, there is but a single support for the desk and chair oi each pupil.

According to the' provisions of the patent statutes, I have desci'ibed thepiinciple and operation of my invention together with the construction which I now consider to repre-V sent the best embodiment thereof. However,v

I desire to have it Vunderstood that, within the scope o1 the appended claims, my invention may be practised by other forms of construction than that specifically shown and described.

I claim as my invention: l. The combination of a school desk having a plurality of sides and a top affording a working face from each of said sides,l a

2. The combination of a school desk hav-'VY ing a plurality oi' sides and a topV affording aworking face from each of said sides, a

leg at each corner of the desk,V each leg' including a section having opposite screw threads at its endsjand chairsipivoted on said leg sections whereby the turning of said ilegsections simultaneously adjusts the desk and chai-rs dillerent relative amounts7 each of said chairs being spring pressed toward one side of said'desk.

soV

3. The combination of a school desk having a plurality of sides and a top affording a workingface from each ofsaid sides, a leg at each corner cfa-the desk, each leg includ-V ing a section having opposite screw threads at its end, and chairs pivoted on said legV sections, wherebythe turning of said leg sections simultaneously adjusts the desk and Y chairs different relative amounts. Y

v Inl testimony whereof I have hereunto set Y my hand.

e GEORGE L.Y RANKIN.

Witnesses: l

PAUL VN. CRrrCHLow, Fnaiyois J. ToMAssoN.

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