US2963332A - Drafting board cabinet - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 6, 1960 F. c. BREUNING DRAFTING BOARD CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14, 1957 Fla. 2.

m m E V W.

FRANK C. BREUNING m p n w a w 3 N F Dec; 6, 1960 F. c. BREUNING 2,953,332

4 DRAFTINGBOARD CABINET Filed Oct. 14, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 9

INVENTOR.

FRANK C. BREUNING BYW a ATTORNEYS DRAFIING BOARD CABINET Frank C. Brenning, 410 S. Hanser Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Oct. 14, 1957, Ser. No. 689,976

2 Claims. (Cl. 312-231) This invention relates generally to drafting operations and more particularly to a novel drafting structure and associated working implements in combination with a cabinet.

Drafting boards and stools are often provided as completely constructed units and require a relatively large space in a room. While many drafting tables include drawers and the like, some of the bulkier instruments such as T-squares cannot be readily accommodated therein. Further, these tables usually include a fluorescent type lamp which is clamped to a side edge of the table. The entire assembly is relatively bulky and hardly aesthetic. For persons who draft as a hobby or who conduct their business at home, conventional drafting tables and associated equipment now on the market are hardly satisfactory.

It is a primary object of the present invention, accordingly, to provide a neat appearing cabinet which may be completely closed and is of the size of a conventional buffet, and yet which may be opened up to provide a complete drafting table which may be folded out therefrom together with all associated equipment including a light and stool.

Another object is to provide a composite drafting board cabinet which further includes various features for accommodating different drafting instruments and facilitating drafting operations in general.

These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention are attained, briefly, by providing a cabinet structure including a rear wall, a floor, and two forwardly projecting side walls secured to the floor and provided with a cover member hinged to the top edge of the rear wall. A pair of half doors are hinged, respectively, to the forward front edges of the side walls to swing towards each other into co-planar position to close the cabinet.

Within the cabinet, there is provided a drafting board coupled to the rear wall by a bracket locking means whereby the board may be swung from a substantially vertical position to an inclined working position. Also, included within the cabinet is a folding stool structure which may be swung outwardly from the floor into a working position with respect to the drafting board. A suitable light is coupled to the underside of the cover and arranged to be folded outwardly upon opening of the cover and arranged to be folded outwardly upon opening of the cover to provide proper illumination. The inside surfaces of the front half doors include suitable miniature folding tables and shelves which may be swung outwardly to provide an increased working area. The shelf portions include pockets and the like for receiving ink bottles and some drafting instruments. A further feature of the cabinet is the provision of magnetic means for holding the front half doors in open position so that all drafting instruments are readily available to one using the table.

A better understanding of the various features of the drafting table cabinet will be had by referring to a pre- 2,963,332 Patented Dec. 6, 1960 ferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the cabinet in open position with some of the components illustrated in phantom line;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the cabinet with the cover eliminated to illustrate interior portions thereof;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the locking bracket mechanism in position for supporting the drafting board;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the locking bracket mechanism for the drafting board;

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the bracket structure illustrated in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of part of the lamp structure secured to the cover of the cabinet of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a plan view of a portion of the structure illustrated in Figure 6;

Figure 8 illustrates a folding structure for the stool employed with the drafting board of this invention; and.

Figure 9 illustrates the stool of Figure 8 in folded position.

Referring first to Figure 1, the drafting board cabinet comprises a rear wall 10 and first and second forwardly projecting side walls 11 and 12. The lower edges of the rear wall and side walls are secured to a floor 13. A cover 14 is hinged at 15 to the upper edge of the rear wall 10 as shown.

Also included in the cabinet structure are first and second half front doors 16 and 17 hinged to the front vertical edges of the side walls as at 18 and 19 for swinging movement into a co-planar position to close the front of the cabinet. Secured to the rear wall of the interior of the cabinet are first and second locking brackets 20 and 21 supporting a tie rod 22. These locking brackets and tie rod are adapted to co-operate with a pair of support arms 23 and 24 pivoted to pivot blocks 25 and 26 in turn secured to the rear wall 1% respectively below the first and second locking brackets 20 and 21. The supporting arm 23 and corresponding pivot block 25 is best seen in Figure 2. Also provided are diagonal braces 27 and 28 extending from the arms 23 and 24 to be secured there The inside of the front half doors 16 and 17 are provided with miniature folding tables 30 and 31 supported by collapsible braces 32 and 33. The miniature table 30 is hinged to a shelf 34 which may include a slot for supporting a T-square 35. The miniature table 31 is hinged to a shelf 36 which may include suitable openings or pockets 37 for receiving ink bottles and the like. Also illustrated on the inside of the half door 17 is a receptacle 3% defining an upper opening 39 for receiving one or more drafting triangles.

As best seen with respect to the half door 17, there is provided a magnet 40 in the adjacent front edge portion of the side wall 12 and an iron slug 41 imbedded in the rear edge of the half door such that when the door is swung to a completely open position such as illustrated for the half door 16, the door will be held in this position by attraction of the iron slug 41 and magnet 40.

Still referring to Figure 1, the cabinet also incorporates a folding stool structure including a pivot bar 42 mounted for rotation between a pair of journal blocks 43 and 44,

secured to the floor 13. A guide rod 45 extends from the central portion of the pivot rod 42 and is connected at its other end to an axle rod 46. Axle rod 46 may include rollers or small wheels 47 and 48. A pair of support rods 49 and 50 arranged to rotate on the ends of the axle rod 46 extend upwardly to support a stool seat shown in phantom line at 51. A suitable diagonal brace 52 extends from the seat 51 down to a collar 53 adapted to slide on the guide bar 45. The arrangement, as will be described in detail subsequently, is such that the pivot bar 42 may be rotated within the journal blocks 43 and 44 to fold the stool structure Within the cabinet.

Secured to the underside of the top cover 14 is a lamp supporting structure comprising a bracket member 54 and guide bracket 55 horizontally spaced for supporting a lamp illustrated in phantom lines at 56.

Referring now in detail to the various features of the invention, the tie rod 22 illustrated best in the plan view of Figure 2 includes a pair of plates 57 and S rigidly secured to the tie rod in corresponding spaced relationship with respect to the locking brackets Zil and 21. As shown, these plates 57 and 58 include laterally projecting pins 59 and 60 running substantially parallel to the tie rod 22. The locking brackets 20 and 21 themselves each include a pair of forwardly projecting flanges such as illustrated at 20' and 20" for the locking bracket 20 having transverse bores passing therethrough in directions parallel to the rear wall 10. As shown, the tie rod 22 passes through the aligned bores closest to the rear wall in each of the brackets whereas the pins 59 and 69 are adapted to pass through the second one of the corresponding bores. The tie rod is thus mounted for horizontal longitudinal movement through the brackets. Suitable stops 61 and 62 are provided on the tie rod 22 and bufiing springs 63 and 64 are positioned between the stops and the corresponding brackets such that the horizontal movement of the tie rod 22 is limited.

Such horizontal movement of the tie rod 22 is effected by means of an operating rod 65 running forwardly and rearwardly adjacent the left side wall of the cabinet terminating in its free end in a handle 66. The inner end of the operating rod 65 is coupled through a connecting link 67 to the tie rod 22. The arrangement is such that upon rotation of the operating rod 65 in a clockwise direction as viewed from the front, the tie rod 22 will be moved horizontally to the right to cause the pins 59 and 60 to project into the second pair of aligned bores in the brackets 20 and 21 as shown in Figure 3.

As best illustrated in the detailed views of Figures 4 and 5, it will be noted that with the tie rod 22 and pins 59 and 60 in the position illustrated in Figure 2, the drafting board 29 may be swung upwardly such that the supporting arm 23 passes in between the flanges 20' and 20" of the locking bracket 20. It will, be noted in Figure 4 particularly that the supporting arm 23 is provided with a transverse bore 69 positioned to register with the outer bores in the bracket 20 such that when the drafting board is moved to the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 4, the supporting arm 23 is received between the flanges and the bore 69 registers with the bores in the flanges. In such position the horizontal tie rod 22 may be moved horizontally to the right such that the pin 59 passes through these registered openings to securely lock the supporting arm 23 in the dotted line position. In such position, the drafting board 29 is at a properly inclined working angle. The butting springs 63 and 64- illustrated in Figure 2 tend to bias the pins 59 and 60 into the registered openings.

To fold down the drafting table 29, it is necessary to exert manual pressure to rotate the operating rod 65 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 5 to pull the tie rod 22 to the left and thus remove the pins 59 and 60 from the registered bores. While manually held in this position, the drafting table may be folded downwardly about the pivot blocks 25 and 26. The en- 4 tire arrangement is extremely sturdy and simple to operate.

Referring now to Figure 6, the coupling bracket member 54 for supporting the light 56 to the underside of the cover 14 will be described. As shown, the bracket member 54 includes a forwardly projecting flange 7 0 having a transverse bore 71 and a square laterally projecting ledge 72. This ledge 72 is illustrated in Figure l in perspective. A lamp support rod 73 as shown in Figure 6 extends from the lamp 56 towards the bracket member 54 and is thence turned in inwardly as at 74 to project through the bore 71. A portion of this supporting rod 73 adjacent the bent end is arranged to rest on the top surface 75 of the ledge 72 as illustrated in Figure 6 when the cover is open whereby the lamp 56 is held in a convenient position for providing proper illumination.

When it is desired to fold the lamp out of position, the entire lamp structure and support rod 73 may be moved to the left as illustrated in Figure 1 or out of the plane of the drawing of Figure 6 until the pin 74 is moved partially outwardly through the bore 71. The far end of the lamp 56 includes an end rod which simply slides back and forth in the support bracket at the right of the lamp in Figure l. The distance that the lamp is moved horizontally need just be sufiicient to enable the portion of the support rod 73 to clear the top 75 of the projecting ledge 72 after which the lamp may be swung downwardly about the bent portion 74 as a pivot. After the lamp is swung downwardly to the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 6, the pin 74- may be urged back into the opening 71 whereby a portion of the support rod 73 now rests against the inner side 76 of the ledge .and thus the structure is held against the underside of the cover 14 when the latter is in closed position. By this arrangement, it is a simple matter to swing the lamp outwardly upon opening of the cover to position it well over the drafting board and thus insure proper lighting.

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate in detail the folding structure for enabling the stool or seat to be folded within the cabinet. As shown, the upper ends of the supporting arms such as the arm 49 of Figure 8 terminates in a flat plate 77 hinged to an upper plate 78 as at 79. The seat 51 itself is secured directly to the upper plate 78. By this arrangement, it will be noted that by releasing a small catch 80, the collar 53 on the end of the diagonal brace 52 may be moved along the guide bar 45 to partially collapse the seat structure as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 8. Further movement of the diagonal 52 and collar 53 to the inner end of the guide bar 45 then positions the seat to enable the entire structure to be pivoted with the pivot rod about the journal blocks such as the block 43 to the position illustrated in Figure 9. The provision of the hinged plates 77 and 78 enables the seat 51 to in turn assume a flat position against the rear wall it) as illustrated in Figure 9.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that the present invention provides a rugged and simply operated portable drafting board cabinet combination in which all of the essential elements for executing drawings are readily available to the user. When not in use, on the other hand, the completely closed cabinet presents a pleasing appearance and will not appear out of place in a residential dwelling.

Various modifications that fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art. The invention is, therefore, not to be thought of as limited specifically to the detailed structures set forth for illustrative purposes.

What is claimed is:

1. A drafting board cabinet comprising, in combination: a rear wall; two side walls projecting forwardly from the vertical edges of said rear wall; a floor secured to the bottom edges of said rear and side walls; a cover hinged to the top edge of said rear walls; a pair of front half doors hinged to the respective front vertical edges of said walls for swinging movement towards each other into a co-planar position to close the front of said cabinet; a drafting board disposed in said cabinet in a substantially vertical position; locking support means coupling said drafting board for arcuate swinging movement from said vertical position to an inclined working position after said front half doors have been swung to open position, said locking support means comprising first and second locking brackets secured to said rear wall in horizontally spaced relationship, each of said brackets including a pair of forwardly extending flanges having first and second aligned bores passing therethrough in a direction parallel to said rear wall; a horizontal tie rod passing through two first corresponding bores in said flanges whereby said tie rod is guided for horizontal longitudinal movement paral lel to said rear wall; first and second plates secured to said tie rod at corresponding spaced positions with respect to said first and second brackets; pins projecting in directions parallel to said tie rod from said plates in spaced positions with respect to said tie rod to be received into and out of the two second corresponding bores in said flanges upon horizontal movement of said tie rods; first and second pivot blocks secured to said rear wall at respective positions below said first and second brackets; and support arms pivoted at their rear ends to said pivot blocks and secured at their forward ends to the underside of said drafting board, said support arms having transverse bores passing therethrough and positioned to be received between said first and second pairs of flanges and register with the two second corresponding bores in said flanges upon swinging movement of said arms upwardly about said pivot blocks, said pins being adapted to pass through the register bores whereby said drafting board is locked in working position.

2. A drafting board cabinet comprising, in combina tion: a rear wall; two sidewalls projecting forward from the vertical edges of said rear walls; a floor secured to the bottom edges of said rear and sidewalls; a cover hinged to the top edge of said rear wall; a pair of front half doors hinged to the respective front vertical edges of said walls for swinging movement towards each other to a co-planar position to close the front of said cabinet; a drafting board disposed in said cabinet in a substantially vertical position; locking support means coupling said drafting board for arcuate swinging movement from said vertical position to an inclined working position after said front half doors have been swung to open position, said locking support means comprising first and second locking brackets secured to said rear wall in horizontally spaced relationship, each of said brackets including a pair of forwardly extending flanges having first and second retaining openings passing therethrough in a direction parallel to said rear wall; first and second pivot blocks secured to said rear wall at respective positions below said first and second brackets; support arms pivoted at their rear ends to said pivot blocks and secured at their forward ends to the underside of said drafting board, said support arms being positioned to be sandwiched between said first and second pairs of flanges; and transverse retaining means cooperating with said arms and flanges so that said retaining means can be registered with said retaining openings in said flanges upon swinging movement of said arms upwardly about said pivot blocks, whereby said drafting board is locked in working position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 164,141 Stahl July 31, 1951 1,055,884 Davidson Mar. 11, 1913 1,568,498 Caliver Jan. 5, 1926 2,087,695 Miller July 20, 1937 2,514,927 Bernhard July 11, 1950 2,547,808 Burrage Apr. 3, 1951 2,552,434 Klapman May 8, 1951 2,678,252 Swearingen May 11, 1954 2,739,863 Ferris Mar. 27, 1956 2,758,900 Marchand Aug. 14, 1956 2,808,308 Papelian et al. Oct. 1, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 806,138 Germany June 11, 1951

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