US3748008A

US3748008A - Storage cabinet

Info

Publication number: US3748008A
Application number: US00233118A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Pryor
Original assignee: NUPERM Inc
Current assignee: NUPERM Inc
Priority date: 1972-03-09
Filing date: 1972-03-09
Publication date: 1973-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 1990-07-24

Abstract

This invention relates to a filing cabinet and to a drawer therefor of the type which is made from paperboard as the principal construction material. The file drawer of the cabinet is provided with a pair of support rails respectively extending along the upper edges of the side walls of the file drawer. The rails can include an upwardly faced channel portion extending laterally into the box so that hanging folder type files can be placed in the drawer with the hangers of the files being protected from contact with the shell of the cabinet as the drawer is moved in and out. The rails may also provide a slide portion extending downwardly along the upper part of the drawer''s side walls so as to slide along the inside of the shell and therefore, to some degree, prevent the sides of the drawer from rubbing on the shell.

Description

United States Patent [1 1- Pryor STORAGE CABINET [7 5] lnventor: James T. Pryor, Dallas, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Nuperm, lnc., Ducanville, Tex.

[22] Filed: Mar. 9, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 233,118

[52] US. Cl 312/184, 312/261, 312/330 [51] Int. Cl A47b 63/00 [58] Field of Search 312/184, 183, 330,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,647,101 7/1972 l-lensch et al. 312/184 3,429,632 2/1969 Simon et al 312/359 3,456,994 7/ 1969 Sullivan 312/184 3,614,185 10/1971 Splain 312/184 Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Attorney-Willis H. Taylor, lr., Merton S. Neill et al.

[' July 24, 1973 57 ABSTRACT This invention relates to a filing cabinet and to a drawer therefor of the type which is made from paperboard as the principal construction material. The file drawer of the cabinet is provided with a pair of support rails respectively extending along the upper edges of the side walls of the file drawer. The rails can include an upwardly faced channel portion extending laterally into the box so that hanging folder type files can be placed in the drawer with the hangers of the files being protected from contact with the shell of the cabinet as the drawer is moved in and out. The rails may also provide a slide portion extending downwardly along the upper part of the drawers side walls so as to slide along the inside of the shell and therefore, to some degree, prevent the sides of the drawer from rubbing on the shell.

5 Clalins, 4 Drawing Figures Patented July 24, 1973 In a conventional steel filing cabinet, the drawer is provided with a mechanical guide within the shell which assures that the drawer will remain centered in the shell and that its sides will not rub against the sides of the shell. Therefore, hanging type file folders can be placed in the drawer with the ends of the hangers for the files extending over the sidewalls of the drawer into a space between the sides of the drawer'and shell. The maintenance of this space is at a constantvalue so that the hangers of the files do not contact the shell is assured by the guide means for the drawer.

In many types of economy filing cabinets made of paperboard, a guide means is not provided for the drawer and the sides of the drawer are free to rub on the sides of the shell as the drawer is moved inwardly and outwardly. Hence even though the drawer may be sufficiently narrower than the shell so as to theoretically provide a space to either side thereof for permitting the use of hanging type file folders, there is nothing to insure the maintenance of this space as .the drawer in practice will move against the sides of the shell thereby interfering with the use of the hanging type file folders.

It is an object of this invention to provide a filing cabinet and a drawer therefor formed primarily of paperboard and which has support rails on each side of the drawer which permit the use of hanging type file folders without also requiring the use of a guide means to keep the drawer centered in the shell.

Another object is to providesuch a filing cabinet and drawer in which the rails also provide surfaces along the sides of the drawer which can slide against the interior surfacesbf the side walls of the shell so as to minimize or 'even eliminate rubbing of the side walls of the file drawer against the side want-'0; the shell;

Other objects, advantages .andffeatures of the invention will be apparent from th 'sp ecification, the claims,

and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the filing cabinet of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view, partially in section, takenalong the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; 3

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a filing cabinet constructed primarily of paperboard and which comprises a shell and a pull out file drawer l1 slidable into and out of the shell. The shell has four walls (of which only 100 and 10b are shown) and an end wall (not shown) constructed of paperboard. The open end of the shell may have a metal strengthening member 12 as is conventional.

The file drawer 11 has a front wall 11a, a rear wall and bottom wall (not shown) as well as side walls 11b and llc. All of these walls are constructed primarily of paperboard. Also in this particular embodiment, the file drawer merely slides into and out of the shell without any guide means to keep it centered in the shell and its sidewise movement in the shell is limited only by contact of the sides of the file drawer assembly with the side walls of the shell.

scribed;

.A pair of

support rails

13 and 14 are provided to respectively extend along the upper edges of

theside walls

11b and 11c of the drawer. Inthe preferred embodiment, the two rails are identical to each other except that one is installed to be the mirror image of the other. Accordingly, only one of them need be de- The support rail as shown has an upwardly open channel shaped section shown here to comprise

side walls

15 and 16 and a bottom wall 17. With this construction and as best shown in FIG. 3, the hook ends 18 of hanging type files 19 can rest on the wall 15 with the hooks extending into the channel to maintain the hanging file in its proper operative position.

The rails can also have a slide portion 20 which ex- 7 tends downwardly along theputer face of the

side walls

11b and 11c of the drawer. This slide portion, together with the wall or flange when the latter is arranged to be coplanar with slide portion 20, provides a surface for sliding engagement with the inner faces of the side walls of the shell. Thus, the support rail can be de- 1 18 thereof will not contact the shell and to serve as a portion of the sliding guide as mentioned above. It will be seen that while the file drawer has a certain degree of freedom of sidewise movement, not having any guide means for keeping it centered, nevertheless when'it is moved so that it engages a side wall of the shell, the

. hook ends'of the hanging files will not contact the side 'walls so as to interfere with proper operation of both the drawer and the hanging files. Also, the slide portion will tend to keep the paperboard side walls 11b and llc out of rubbing engagement with the shell.

Means are provided for fixing the support rails'in position along the upper edges of the side walls of the'file drawer. This such means can include flange 21 depend-- ing from the horizontal leg of the rail and cooperating with slide portion 20 to provide achannel therebetween for-receiving the upper edge of a side wall. The

slide portion 20 is provided with an inturnedshoulder to engage a flap 23 turned down from the upper edge of the side wall of the drawer, all as shown in FIG."3. The clearance between the inner edge of shoulder 22 and flange 21 is about twice the thickness of the side wall 11b of the drawer. With this construction, the rail can be pushed down over the upper edge of the side wall until it is in the FIG. 3 position at which time the flap 23 will spring outwardly to be engaged by the shoulder 22. Alternatively, the rail can be slid lengthwise onto the side wall in which case the flap will remain in the FIG. 3 position while the rail is being slid into place.

TI-Ie end walls of the drawer have a plurality of paperboard plies and' the entire end walls are folded into position along their lower edges as at 11d in FIG. 1. In order to hold the end walls in their upright position and also to give added rigidity to the structure, the rails are connected to the end walls by a tab 24 and a connector 25 which can be either threaded to the rail or have a frictional fit therewith. The tab 24 in turn is rigidly connected to a metal plate 26 disposed between the

plies

27 and 28 of theend walls. The plate has an edge 26a .(FIG. 4) adjacent to the attachment together of the plies 27 and 28 (such as the folded section 27a joining the ends of the plies 27 and 28). This limits turning movement of the plate so that tab 24 is in a relatively fixed positiondespite any torque that may be applied to it.

One of these tab and plate combinations can be provided for each end of each rail and each can be constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

With the foregoing construction, it can be seen that hanging folder type files can be placed in the drawer in such a manner that the hook ends 18 will be maintained out of engagement with the side walls of the shell. This assures that the drawer can be readily moved in and out of the shell without causing the hanging files to be dislodged from their operative hanging position and also without having to provide a guide means for centering the drawer in the shell so as to assure maintaining'a space between the drawer and the side walls of the shell as the drawer is moved in and out.

From the foregoing description of one embodiment of this invention by way of example, it'will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus and structure.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A filing cabinet for use with hanging folder-type files comprising:

a. a shell having an open end;

b. a pull-out file drawer slidable into the shell through the open end thereof, said drawer having two side walls each of which includes a turned-down flap extending along its upper edge, said flap being normally biased away from the side wall portion adjacent thereto;

c. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of the drawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within the drawer;

d. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventing said suspended files from shifting laterally beyond the respective side wall of the drawer; and

e. attachment means for fixing the rail means in position along the respective side wall of the drawer, said attachment means including:

i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap and said adjacently disposed side wall portion, said channel being defined by a pair of downwardly depending flanges carried by the respective rail means, said flanges being disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship to each other with the distance separating said flanges being greater than about twice the thickness of the respective side wall; and

ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from the flange positioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edge of said shoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flange by a distance equal to about,

twice the thickness of the respective side wall, said shoulder being adapted to engage the edge of said flap in underlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold the respective rail means in place along the upper edge of the respective drawer side wall.

2. The filing cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the a. two spaced apart upright side walls each having a turned-down flap extending along its upper edge,

said flap being normally biased away from the side wall portion adjacent thereto;

b. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of the drawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within the drawer;

c. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventing said suspended files from shifting laterally'beyond the respective side wall of the drawer; and

d. attachment means for fixing the rail means in position along the respective side wall of the drawer, said attachment means including:

i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap and said adjacentlydisposed side wall portion, said channel being defined by a pair of downwardly depending flanges carried by the respective rail 'means, said flanges being disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship to each other with the distance separating said flanges being greater than about twice the thickness of the respective side wall; and

ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from the flange positioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edge of said shoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flange by a distance equal to about twice the thickness of 'the respective side wall,

' said shoulder being adapted to engage the edge of said flap in underlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold the respective rail means in place along the upper edge of the respective drawer side wall.

5. The drawer according to claim 4 wherein each of said side walls is made of paperboard and wherein each of said flaps is defined by a folded-over marginal portion of the respective side wall whereby said flap is naturally self-biased away from said adjacently disposed side wall portion into engagement with said shoulder as aforesaid.

sass:

Claims

1. A filing cabinet for use with hanging folder-type files comprising: a. a shell having an open end; b. a pull-out file drawer slidable into the shell through the open end thereof, said drawer having two side walls each of which includes a turned-down flap extending along its upper edge, said flap being normally biased away from the side wall portion adjacent thereto; c. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of the drawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within the drawer; d. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventing said suspended files from shifting laterally beyond the respective side wall of the drawer; and e. attachment means for fixing the rail means in position along the respective side wall of the drawer, said attachment means including: i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap and said adjacently disposed side wall portion, said channel being defined by a pair of downwardly depending flanges carried by the respective rail means, said flanges being disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship to each other with the distance separating said flanges being greater than about twice the thickness of the respective side wall; and ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from the flange positioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edge of said shoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flange by a distance equal to about twice the thickness of the respective side wall, said shoulder being adapted to engage the edge of said flap in underlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold the respective rail means in place along the upper edge of the respective drawer side wall.

2. The filing cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the flange positioned immediate adjacent to said flap is disposed outwardly of said other flange to thereby define a guide surface adapted for slidably engaging the inner surface of the shell.

3. The filing cabinet according to claim 2 wherein each of said side walls is made of paperboard and wherein each of said flaps is defined by a folded-over marginal portion of the respective side wall whereby said flap is naturally seLf-biased away from said adjacently disposed side wall portion into engagement with said shoulder as aforesaid.

4. A drawer for a filing cabinet comprising: a. two spaced apart upright side walls each having a turned-down flap extending along its upper edge, said flap being normally biased away from the side wall portion adjacent thereto; b. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of the drawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within the drawer; c. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventing said suspended files from shifting laterally beyond the respective side wall of the drawer; and d. attachment means for fixing the rail means in position along the respective side wall of the drawer, said attachment means including: i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap and said adjacently disposed side wall portion, said channel being defined by a pair of downwardly depending flanges carried by the respective rail means, said flanges being disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship to each other with the distance separating said flanges being greater than about twice the thickness of the respective side wall; and ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from the flange positioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edge of said shoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flange by a distance equal to about twice the thickness of the respective side wall, said shoulder being adapted to engage the edge of said flap in underlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold the respective rail means in place along the upper edge of the respective drawer side wall.