US3340799A - Filing drawer for address printing plates - Google Patents

Description

R. F. OBERGEFELL FILiNG DRAWER FOR ADDRESS PRINTING PLATES Filed Jar m. 18, 1965 Sept. 12, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5: INVENTOR. fFo/vALo f OBERGEFELL W v Q ATTORNEY.

Sept 12, 1967 R. ROBERGEFELL I FILING DRAWER FOR. ADDRESS PRINTING PLATES FiledJan 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. RONALD EOEE/PGEFEL L ATTORNE).

United States Patent 3,340,799 FILING DRAWER FOR ADDRESS PRINTING PLATES Ronald F. Obergefell, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 426,281

7 Claims. (Cl. 10147) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plate drawer having a pair of followers therein for retaining between them embossed printing plates or the like has side walls each provided with two spaced apart, inwardly facing open channels, and the followers are each provided with a pair of runners, one on each side, and both extending normal to the respective follower and in the same direction therefrom. The runners are slidable within a pair of opposed channels to guide the movement of their respective follower. Each follower has its runners associated with its own pair of channels distinct from that of the other follower, and when the followers are arranged with their runners directed towards each other, they may be brought into close proximity since the runners, being in independent channels, cannot interfere. Spring members are provided between the runners and the channels to afford a frictional drag to the followers.

The present invention relates to filing drawers and more particularly to filing drawers for storing or retaining address printing plates.

In drawers of this kind, the plates are positioned or stacked on edge within the drawers and the plates are transferred, a complete drawer at a time, to the magazine of an addressing or printing machine. The drawer thus emptied is then placed at the plate discharge station of the machine where it receives the plates after they are fed through the various stations of the printing machine. The plates discharged from the machine drop on edge into the drawer at the rear thereof, and each succeeding discharged plate drops in behind the last plate in the drawer to thereby stack the plates from the rear to the front of the drawer. A plate follower is positioned in front of the plates in the drawer to support the stack and prevent the plates from falling over, and the follower is frictionally moved along toward the front of the drawer as the plates continue to drop into the drawer.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing arrangement maintains the plates in sequential order, i.e., the plates discharged into the receiving hopper are positioned in the same order they assumed within the drawer prior to being fed through the printing machine. In this way, no further sorting or selecting operations of the plates are required, and the drawer of plates removed from the machine may be placed in a storage cabinet for subsequent use.

Plate drawers of this general nature have been in use for many years. However, while they have met with a certain amount of success, they still have some shortcom ings and objectionable features resulting in operator inconvenience and, in some instances, damage or distortion to the plates. Thus, since conventional plate drawers utilize only a single plate follower positioned at the front of the stack of plates, in those cases where less th-ana full drawer of plates are to be stacked, it is necessary to retain the plates at the rear of the drawer, i.e., between the rear wall of the drawer and the follower. Accordingly, when the drawer is stored in a file cabinet and it is required to add, remove or replace certain plates within the drawer, it is difficult and inconvenient to perform these functions unless the drawer is almost com pletely withdrawn from the storage cabinet.

While it might appear that this situation in present day drawers can be corrected merely by incorporating a second plate follower at the rear of the stack, this is not the case. A plate follower necessarily requires a pair of rather long runners or guiding surfaces, to prevent. the follower from cocking and binding when it is moved within the drawer, and thus causing a plate jam. If a second plate follower were used, either these long runners would (1) interfere to prevent bringing the followers close to each other in case only a few plates were to be stored, (2) abut the drawer ends and waste valuable plate storage space in the drawer, or some of each,

In addition to the above, plate followers in present drawers are generally provided with means to lock the follower in place against the stack of plates as, for example, in those instances where the drawer is only partially filled with plates. Although the follower locking or retaining means take on several different forms, usually they are of a friction type such as a cam member adapted to be manually rotated into binding engagement with the bottom surface of the drawer. Since a follower lock of this kind must afford at least a moderate degree of resistance to prevent the follower from accidentally working loose, it is often times difficult to readily effect locking and unlocking of the follower. This condition is somewhat aggravated by the fact that the lock is rather small and not too accessible because of the comparatively small cross section of the drawer.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved plate drawer, including plate follower means, which substantially avoids the above mentioned disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pair of followers to permit stacking the plates at either the front or the rear of the drawer, as well as at any intermediate position within the drawer.

Another object of the invention is to provide guide means to insure smooth and positive movement of the followers and at the same time permit positioning of the followers either in closely spaced relationship, or at positions very near the ends of the drawer.

Another object of the invention is to provide at least one of the followers with locking or retaining means to permit it to be locked at any desired position within the drawer, with no danger of causing damage or distortion to the plates and without obstructing visibility of the plates in the drawer.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plate drawer which is attractive in appearance, easy to fabricate and assemble and economical to manufacture.

In general, the above objects and others may be attained in accordance with the practice of the present invention by providingn a plate drawer having a double guide channel disposed on each side of the drawer. This double channel arrangement affords a separate parallel guide channel pair for the runners of each plate follower, thereby permitting close positioning of the plate followers with no interference of the runners. The follower locking means associated with one of the followers comprises a slidable latch member which coacts with spaced protuberances provided in the bottom surface of the drawer to effect locking of the plate follower at any selected location within the drawer.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by Way of illustration, show the preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what is now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a condensed side elevation of a filing drawer for address plates constructed in accordance with the present invention, and shows the plates positioned between a pair of followers;

FIG. 2 is a condensed plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the filing drawer alone;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 in FIG. 2, but with the plates removed;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the filing drawer alone;

FIG. 6 is a section partially broken away taken on line 66 in FIG. 4 showing a follower locking device;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective detail view of a friction element associated with the followers;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 88 in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is a section taken on line 99 in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plate drawer is of rectangular configuration and comprises spaced apart parallel sides 12 and 12a, a rear wall 16 and a front section 18, a bottom 20, and a pair of followers 22 and 24. The followers are positioned in tracks or channels provided in the sides and are adapted for movement within the drawer between the front and the rear thereof. Preferably, the sides and the bottom of the drawer are made of thin sheet metal and the front and the rear are made of molded plastic to keep the weight of the drawer at a minimum. The construction of the drawer is such that the sides 12 and 12a provide interlocking connections with the rear wall 16, front section 18 and bottom 20, and the bottom is also interlocked with the front and the rear as will be described hereinafter.

With reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, it will be seen that the sides 12 and 12a of the drawer are identical in construction. Accordingly, only one side will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, side 12 is provided at its base With an outwardly formed flange 2 6 and at its upper portion with outwardly formed ribs 28 and 30 which afford a pair of vertically spaced inwardly facing parallel tracks or channels. Each end of side 12 is also provided with a substantially U-shaped extension which provides an inwardly turned tab 32 which engages in openings 31 and 311' in the front section and the rear wall respectively for attaching the side of the drawer thereto as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 8 in the drawings. Additionally, the body of the side 12 is providedadjacent each end with an inwardly formed spring latch tongue 34 which is formed integral with the side as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 8, and which serves to latch the side in engagement with the front and the rear of the drawer. It will be understood that the side 12a comprises similar parts identified with the same reference characters with the suflix a appended.

The bottom 20 of the drawer is best shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5 and is provided with folded edges 36 at its longitudinal sides which snugly engage the flanges 26, 26a thereby affording a rigid connection between the sides and the bottom of the drawer. The ends of the bottom section are provided with upwardly formed flanges 38 each having an inwardly turned tab 40 provided thereon, and spaced apart spring latch tongues 42 are formed from the bottom adjacent each of the flanges 38. The tabs 40 cooperate with openings 41 in the front of the drawer and 411 in the rear of the drawer and provide a rigid connection between each of them and the bottom (see FIG. 9), and the spring tongues 42 serve to maintain the bottom in locked engagement with the front and the rear of the drawer in the same manner that the tabs 32 and spring tongues 34 provide for interlocking the side walls with the front and the rear of the drawer.

The bottom surface is further provided with a plurality of upwardly facing protuberances 44 formed in a row longitudinally of the drawer as shown in FIG. 2. The protuberances are embossed in the bottom surface, are positioned in closely spaced relation to each other and are elongate laterally of the drawer. These protuberances coact with a locking device on one of the followers and permit locking the follower at any position along the row. While the spacing between the protuberances and the number of protuberances provided in the drawer is not critical, it will be understood that the closer the spacing and the greater the number of protuberances provided in the bottom surface, the more locking positions of the follower will be available and vice versa.

A pair of spaced apart ribs or beads 46 are also provided in the bottom 20, formed upwardly therefrom as by embossing, in the same manner as the protuberances 44. The beads are positioned adjacent the side walls and parallel thereto, extend approximately the same distance as the row of protuberances and are embossed to a height at least as great as that of the protuberances. In use, printing plates such as P are stacked on edge in the drawer and rest on the ribs 46. This, of course, reduces to a minimum friction between the bottom edge of the plates and the bottom of the drawer and, since the ribs are no lower than the protuberances 44, they prevent the plates from interfering with the protuberances when the plates are moved within the drawer.

The plate followers 22 and 24 of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. Except for the presence or absence of a locking device 25, as hereinafter explained, the followers are alike, preferably being die cast or made of molded plastic, and each comprising an upwardly projecting portion 50 which serves as a finger grip to facilitate moving the follower within the drawer, and a pair of runners 52 extending parallel to each other and normal to the body of the follower. The pair of runners 52 is adapted for sliding movement in one of the pairs of channels 28, 28a or 30, 30a to guide and support the follower in its travel within the drawer.

The upwardly facing surfaces of the runners 52 are each provided with a recess 54 for retaining a leaf spring 56, see FIG. 7, which is arcuately formed to afford a moderate degree of friction "between the runners and the channels. This arrangement is such that it provides sufiicient friction normally to prevent inadvertent movement of the follower and at the same time to allow the follower to be moved either manually or by the plates P as they are stacked in the drawer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the runners 52 of the follower 22 are positioned in channels 28, 28a and runners 52 of follower 24 are positioned in channels 30, 30a. It will be apparent, with the runners of each follower positioned in separate channels at different levels and turned away from the drawer ends, the followers may be moved toward each other into closely spaced relation in those instances where only a few plates are to be stacked between the followers, and may move apart far enough to lie adjacent the drawer ends to provide maximum drawer capacity.

The locking device 25 for the follower 22 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 6 and comprises a body 60 having a pair of depending legs 62 forming an opening 64 therebetween. The upper edge of the body is provided with a pair of right angle ears 66 which engage the underside of a projecting rib 68 on the follower to maintain the lock in proper position on the follower. Positioned between the ears 66, and extending upwardly from the body 60, is a member 70 which is also provided with a handle or ear 72 to facilitate grasping the lock to effect movement thereof. The locking device is supported and guided in its movement as a result of the back surfaces of the body 60 and the member 70 bearing against a pair of pads or bosses 74 and 76 respectively, provided on the follower as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. Follower 22 is further provided with an opening 78 intermediate the pads 74 and 76 which permits placing the lock in position on the follower. In this regard, it will be noted that the upper portion of the lock 25 comprising the member 70, the ears 66 and handle 72 is generally C-shaped, and the lock is assembled to the follower merely by tilting the lock 25 and inserting ear 72 into opening 78 between rib 68 and pad 74 from the side of the follower which does not engage the plates, and then guiding the car 72 upwardly and outwardly in a curved path through the opening 78 between rib 68 and pad 76 to the position shown in FIG. 6. It will be appreciated, this manner of assembling the lock to the follower eliminates the need for any fastening devices or tools to install or remove the lock, thereby affording convenience and economy and, at the same time, an effective locking device.

In operation, the locking device 25 is adapted for sliding movement from right to left as viewed in FIG. 4, between any adjacent pair of proturberances 44 formed in the bottom of the drawer. As shown in FIG. 4, lock 25 is in an unlocked position with the opening 64 positioned in line with the protuberances and the legs 62 straddling the same. However, when the locking device is moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 4, one leg 62 will enter a trough formed between an adjacent pair of protuberances, thereby restricting movement of the lock and, of course, the follower.

With reference to FIG. 1, it will be observed that follower 22 is positioned closer to the bottom 20 than is follower 24 because the runners 52 of follower 22 are positioned in the lower channels 28 of the drawer. This, however, does not impede the functioning of the unit in any way and, in fact, is beneficial in that both followers are identical in construction and can be fabricated from a common die or mold.

The front 18 of the drawer, as seen in FIG. 3, is provided with a rectangular window 15 having a pair of flanges 17 for retaining a label which identifies the contents of the drawer. A finger hole 19 may also be provided to facilitate removal of a label when, for example, it is desired to alter or replace the same.

From the foregoing description of the drawer and followers of the present invention, it will be understood that in those instances where less than a full drawer of plates are stacked in the drawer, the plates may be stacked at the front, at the rear, or at any intermediate position such as indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Although follower 24 is not provided with a locking device, it has been found that the springs 56 provided between the runners 52 and the channels 30 afford enough friction or drag to prevent the follower from inadvertent movement. Also, when an empty drawer is placed at the discharge station of an addressing machine, follower 22 is moved to the extreme rear of the drawer and follower 24 is moved into closely spaced relation with the follower 22. As the plates drop into the drawer between the two followers, follower 24 is caused to be moved gradually toward the front of the drawer, as a result of the build up of plates exerting a force on the follower which overcomes the frictional resistance of the springs 56. When the drawer is removed from the machine, and if it is not filled to capacity, the plates are manually moved toward the front of the drawer and follower 22 is moved against the rear of the stack of plates and locked in place by positioning the locking device 25 between an adjacent pair of protuberances 44. In this way, the drawer may be stored in a file cabinet and the plates are readily accessible for viewing, replacing and the like, since they are stacked at the front end of the drawer.

In order that the simplicity of the drawer construction may be fully appreciated and understood, the procedural steps in assembling the drawer are outlined hereinbelow:

(l) The flanges 26 of the sides 12, 12a are slid into position within the folded edges 36 of the bottom 20 which snugly engage the flanges and form a channel.

(2) The follower lock 25 is threaded through the opening 78 in one of the followers, as described hereinbefore.

(3) The followers 22 and 24 are placed in the drawer by positioning the runners 52 in opposed channels 28, 28a and 30, 30a, with the runners of each follower facing toward each other.

(4) The rear wall is placed within the channel and moved toward the end until it snaps over the spring tongues 34, 34a and 42 and into interlocking relation with the tabs 32, 32a, of the sides and tab 40 of the bottom which engage the openings 31 31r and 41r respectively in the rear wall.

(5) The front of the drawer is then assembled in the same manner as the rear wall described in (4) above.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a drawer which is low in cost, and easy to fabricate and assemble, as a result of the parts being made of sheet metal stampings, die castings or molded plastic which do not require any machining operations. The novel interlocking means provided for assembling the drawer are such that no welding, brazing or the like operations are required, nor are any separate fastening elements required, thereby further reducing the cost and simplifying the assembly of the drawer.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification,

and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drawer of generally rectangular configuration comprising: a pair of side walls each having two longitudinal inwardly facing channels formed therein; a bottom secured to the side walls; a front section and a rear wall both secured to the bottom and the side walls; a pair of followers adapted for movement within the drawer, each follower including a body and a pair of runners, the latter guided in a respective pair of opposed channels different from the channels engaged by the runners of the other followers.

2. A drawer as set forth in claim 1 in which spring members are provided between the runners and the channels to afford a frictional drag to the followers as they are moved within the drawer.

3. A drawer as set forth in claim 1 in which the runners are parallel to each other, normal to the body, and extend in the same direction therefrom, said followers positioned within the drawer with the runner pairs extending toward each other to permit positioning of the followers either in closely spaced relation, or at positions adjacent the front and the rear of the drawer.

4. A drawer as set forth in claim 1 in which the bottom is provided with a plurality of protuberances, and in which there is provided on at least one of the followers a slidable member manually positionable between an adjacent pair of protuberances to effect locking of the follower, and a position withdrawn from between the protuberances to effect unlocking of the follower; and mounting means for the slidable member on the one follower comprising: an opening in the follower, a rib spanning the opening on one side thereof, the rib and the opening forming a space therebetween for the reception of the slidable member, the slidable member comprising a C-shaped element insertable in the opening by a curved path insertion movement about the rib.

5. A drawer as set forth in claim 4 in which the slidable member is provided with an ear and a depending leg which engage the rib and the bottom of the drawer respectively to maintain the slidable member against displacement and a handle on said slidable member to permit moving of the slidable member between locked and unlocked positions.

6. A method of making a drawer which comprises: providing a pair of side walls each having an outwardly formed flange, an inwardly turned tab ateach end of the side walls, and inwardly formed spring latch tongues formed integral with the side walls adjacent the ends thereof;

providing a bottom section having folded edges along two parallel side margins, upwardly bent flanges along the other side margins, an inwardly bent tab on each of the flanges, and upwardly inclined spring latch tongues formed integral with the bottom section adjacent the flanges;

providing a rear wall and -a front section having openings therein for receiving said tabs on the side walls and on the bottom flanges; positioning the flanges of the side Walls within the folded edges of the bottom to form a channel;

positioning the rear Wall within the channel at one end thereof, and snapping it over the spring latch tongues in the bottom and side walls, while interlocking the tabs with the openings in the rear wall; and

placing the front section of the drawer within the channel at the other end thereof, and snapping it over the spring latch tongues in the bottom and side walls while interlocking the tabs with the openings in the front section.

7. A drawer which comprises:

a pair of side walls each having an outwardly formed a bottom section having folded edges along two parallel side margins;

said flanges of the side walls positioned within the folded edges of the bottom to form a channel;

an inwardly turned tab at each end of the side walls, and inwardly formed spring latch tongues formed integral with the side walls adjacent the ends thereof;

said bottom section having an upwardly bent flange along each of the other side margins, an inwardly bent tab on each of the flanges, and upwardly inclined spring latch tongues formed integral with the bottom section adjacent the flanges;

a rear wall and a front section having openings therein for receiving said tabs on the side walls and on the bottom flanges;

said rear wall and front section positioned within the channel, one at each end thereof, with the tabs interlocked with the openings in the rear wall and front section, and with the latch tongues retaining the rear wall and front section in such position that the tabs and openings are maintained in interlocking relation.

References Cited WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A DRAWER OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR CONFIGURATION COMPRISING: A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS EACH HAVING TWO LONGITUDINAL INWARDLY FACING CHANNELS FORMED THEREIN; A BOTTOM SECURED TO THE SIDE WALLS; A FRONT SECTION AND A REAR WALL BOTH SECURED TO THE BOTTOM AND THE SIDE WALLS; A PAIR OF FOLLOWERS ADAPTED FOR MOVEMENT WITHIN THE DRAWER, EACH FOLLOWER INCLUDING A BODY AND A PAIR OF RUNNERS, THE LATTER GUIDED IN A RESPECTIVE PAIR OF OPPOSED CHANNELS DIFFERENT FROM THE CHANNELS ENGAGED BY THE RUNNERS OF THE OTHER FOLLOWERS.

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