US1279621A - Case for filing systems. - Google Patents

Description

S. E. WEBBER.

CASE FOR FlLING SYSTEMS.

1 now FILED MAR. 29. I915 APL A 1,279,621'. Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

UNITED STATES rarnntronnion.

sILAsE. WEBBER, or OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

CASE FOR FILING SYSTEMS.

' and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,

forming a part of this SpeClfiCEtUOIL.

My invention relates to improvements in cases for filing systems.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a filing case particularly adaptable to serve in a system embracing both live and dead storage. 1

Further objects of my invention are to provide such a filing case that makes possible very great economy in time, labor and expense of use and one that is economical to manufacture, especiall in view of systems using vast quantities 0 filing receptacles.

Additional objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the appended claims.

I have described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, a filing case constructed in accordance with my invention, it being understood that changes maybe made'in the form, ar-

rangement and construction of the parts without departing from the spirit of the in-' vention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims, the form of the invention herein described being one preferred embodinient thereof.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the case with slide follower in place;

Fig. 2 is across-sectional view, the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, look ing in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 3. is a similar view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings the filing case is in the general form of a topless rectangular box. It is made up of two side pieces 5, a rear end piece 6, front piece 7 and bottom 8, all formed from thin sheet metal such as sheet tin. 'The bottom piece 8 has a flange or flap 9 on either side which is turned back upon itself (Fig. 2). The side pieces 5 each have a flange 10 which is turned inwardly, up and back upon itself, around the back turned flange 9 of the bottom so that the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24,1918.

Application filed March 29, 1915. Serial No. 17,660.

flange 9 is held between the two turns of the flange 10 and the last turn of the latter is.

it is light and strong.

The front piece 7 is cut away along the top, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the first card or paper may readily be recognized when the cases are filed'one upon another or set in pigeon-holes and the like. It also has a knob or handle 11 soldered or otherwise secured -to the case by which the case may readily be drawn out from its recess or pigeon-hole if so. placed.-

All the top edges are beaded over as shown at 12. to provide rounded non-cutting edges.

A11 ad ustably movable slide follower is provided for use with the case when the latter is utilized'for live filing, or in fact, for any use when the case is to hold less than substantially its total capacity of cards or papers. This follower comprises a piece 13 angular position. It is beaded over as at 14 of thin sheet metal suchas tin, about as high at the top to present a rounded edge and at the bottom a portion of the sheet is turned .out at substantially right angles to form a supporting foot 15 which slldes along the bottom of the box as the follower is moved.

One function of this slide follower is to serve as a rigid back for the cards or papers filed when there is less than approximately full capacity. To perform this function the follower may be locked, in a multitude of positions, by means of lockin bars 16, These are formed from strips 0 thin sheet metal and slide through fiat staples 17 which .are formed by punching out the metal of the follower 13, in the manner'of an ordinary bolt. The metal strips formin these locking bars, at the inner ends of the bolt portions, are bent outwardly at an angle of substantially to form handle portions 18. It

will be seen that these handles18 face each other, the locking bars extending outwardly at either side, and between the handles, to force the locking bars outwardly into locking position, is a coiledspring 19, each end of which is secured to one of the handles 18. The outward movement of the locking bars,

with a block 20 formed by punching out the.

nietalof the follower.

The locking bars 16, which under the force of'the spring 19, normally extend somewhat beyond the sides of the follower, en-

gage teeth to normally prevent backward movement of the follower. These teeth are formed in the sides of the case. At close intervals, from end to end, the metal is cut, as

shown in-Fig. 1, so that a vertical rectangular piece may be bent inwardly to form a forward facing tooth, 21, the teeth on one side being alined respectively with those on the other.

It will be seen that the locking bars 16 engage, at each side, the edges of one of these teeth, thus normally preventing backward movement of the follower so that a rigid back is provided to keep cards or papers in proper upright position. When it is desired to move the follower back, to admit more cards or paper, or for other reasons, the handles are grasped and pressed together. This withdraws the locking bars out of engagement with the teeth and the follower may in consequence be moved back as far as desired, and release of the handles will cause the locking bars to spring into normal locking position a ain. The teeth 21 have relatively great vertical length so that, when engaged by the relatively wide locking bars 16, although provided out .of thin sheet metal',gf:--they have proper strength for performingitheir functions. At the same time, the engagement of'the broad locking bars with these long verticallteeth gives a contact of considerable l ehgth so that the slide follower maintains its proper vertical position under pressure of the contents of the cases-i"v 'Above and below the row of teeth on each side the metal of the side member 11 ispunched inwardly to form longitudinal ribs 22 which extend inwardly slightly farther than do the teeth 21. These ribs serve as a strengthening element for the case. They also provide means for keeping the slide follower body and the case contacts away from the teeth. When the slide follower is moved backward in the case, if it happens to be slightly to one side or the other of the center, it will engage the ribs and consequently its movement is not hindered by catching on the teeth. Similarly, the edges of the paper or cards engage the "ribs on either side and are prevented from becoming caught on the teeth or jammed up'in'to the corners of the same and consequently torn.

The slide follower, for purposes hereinafter more particularly set forth, is readily metal.

jomy in manufacture] and quickly removable. It will be seen that it is held in place by no catches, locking members or other fastening elements, the locking connection between the follower and the teeth of the case being directed toward sliding movement of the follower in the case. There is nothing therefore to prevent the ready and quick removal of the follower merely by grasping it and withdrawing it from the case. The upper ribs 22 offer no ;obstruction as the spring pressed locking of carrying on the filing system through saving in timev and labor; and in amount of space utilized.

' As to cost of manufacture, it will be seen that a case constructed in accordance with my invention may be produced with the utmost economy. It is constructed of thin sheetmetal, such as tin-,so that the material costs little and at the same time no strength or effectiveness is'sacrificed. The parts arev put together to form the case without the necessity of utilizing extra fastening parts or employing time and labor involving soldering processes.

The locking teeth are formed,in a very simple nann'er, in the sides of the case itself. The slide follower and its supporting foot are formed from thin sheet metal also and are of extremely simple construc'tion. locking bars are pieces punched out of the metal of the follower andthe bars and their The staples which embrace the handles are simple angle strips'of thin sheet It will be seen, therefore, that the construction throughout is of great simplicity, devoid of a number'of extra and intricate parts, all of which goes to make econ- The saving in time, labor and space utilized is of particular importance where the filing system embraces both liveland dead storage of large quantities of cards or papers.

In systems using filing cases as heretofore known the procedure has been something as follows: As more and more cards or papers;

are added to one case the follower is moved farther and farther back until the case is full. When this particular lot becomes dead the cards are removed, wrapped up, labeled and stored away. If papers instead of cards are involved, pasteboard ends or other reinforcement is ordinarily used. The

case is then put back for live work. It may be that frequent searches are necessary through the dead files. After the proper package is located it must'be unwrapped and subsequently rewrapped. All this procedure entails time and labor and other expense that may be immaterial when only a small number of cards or papers are involved; but increase in this amount increases these expenses and other objectionable features, until in systems where perhaps fifty thousand cards or papers are filed each day the time, labor and material items become extremely burdensome.

- When cases embodying my invention are used in such a system much ofthis cost oftime, labor and materials is done away with. When a case is filled and ready for dead storage, the slide follower is removed as bethem up and marking them. Searches are conducted very quickly and easily as the first card or paper in a case may be recognized fore described and the case is then stored; away. There is no time, labor and expense involved in removing the papers, wrapping by means of the cut away portion of the front and after the proper case is located the sought for card or paper is readily and quickly found. When the contents of a case can be destroyed the case is again available for a repetition of the procedure described. But notwithstanding. t e fact that a case may be used for a long time for dead storage the case itself can be manufactured so cheaply that there is a decided saving.

It will be noted that there is no structural connection between the case and the slide follower so that they can be produced separately. dead category the follower is removed and placed in another case for (live filing.

Consequently, no matter howmany hundred or thousand cases are used, it is necessary to have only enough followers for the live cases. V

Another great saving is effected by the use of my cases because they occupy a: minimum amount 'ofspace. They are light, compact and made of thin sheet metal. As the bot- 7 tom, sides andrear end are plane surfaces, 45

forming a simple rectangular box, with no. protruding parts, the case may be inserted,

in the nature of a drawer, in pigeonholesoccupying minimum amount of space, or'a number of cases may be placed side by side pact relation.

and one on top of another in extremely com-' It is to be understood that the lists filing cases just outlined are chosenymerely by way of illustration and that they may be used in various systems and procedures equally well.

Having thus described Letters Patent is;v v

1. A thin sheet metal filing andfstorage case for cards, papers and the like, having an open portion in the front end to expose the identifying data on the first .card or paper in the case, longitudinal raised ribs on the inside of the two opposite sides of the When the case is placedin thelongitudinally extendin projecting teeth punche my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by case, a row of 'inwardly'and forwardly projecting teeth punched from the metal of the side of the casevand located between said longitudinal ribs, a'thin sheet metal adjustably movable slide follower having punched out portions therein forming staples, and slidable locking bars embraced by said staples for engaging said teeth.

2. A thin sheet metal filing and storage case for various papers and the like having longitudinal raised ribs on the insideof two 3. A filing case having a longitudinally extending row of teeth projecting inwardly from the sides of the case and having a longitudinally extending raised rib adjacent said row of teeth and extending alongside thereof for preventing papers from getting caught in said teeth, and a vertically arranged slide follower movable in said case having a latch for selective engagement with said teeth, said latch being withdrawable inwardly far enough to permit the follower to lie-lifted vertically upward out of said case.

4. A thin sheet metal filing case having a row of inwardly from the metal of the sides of the case and-having a longitudinally extendin rib adjacent said row of teeth and exten ing alongside thereof stamped from the side of the case for pre venting papers from getting caught in said teeth, and a slide follower movable in said case having a latch for selective engagement with saidteeth.

5. Afiling case having sheet metal sides having a row of teeth from the metal of the sides, each of said teeth having an elongated edge, a follower movable in said casing and two slides nonrotatably mounted on said follower, each ofsaid slides having-a broad portion'for engagement with said elongated edge to prevent tipping of the follower.

6. A filing case having sheet metal sides having a row of teeth punched inwardly from the metal of 'the sides, each of said teeth having .an' elongated edge, a sheet metal follower movable in said case and havingtwo strips struck up therefrom, two broad sheet metal slides each slidable in one of said strips and having a broad portion for engagement with said elongated edge to prevent tipping of the follower,

punched inwardly 7. An elongated sheet metal filing case having a longitudinally extending row of teeth on each of the two vertical sides of the case, said teeth being vertically elongated, asheet metal removable vertical slide follower adjustable longitudinally between said sides to any position in said case, said follower carrying broad-faced latching members corresponding to said teeth and engageable therewith on either side of the case to hold it Vertically and in any position longitudinally to which it may be adjusted, said latch members being withdrawable from said teeth and sides sufficiently to perniit the follower to be readily lifted vertically upward out of the case, and rearwardly extending thumb and finger grips on said latch members for readily operating the latter for adjusting-the follower longitudinally in the case and for lifting it out of or placing it in the case, the lower edge of said follower extending slightly rearward to form a supporting foot slida-ble along the bottom of said case.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

SILAS E. WEBBER.

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