US248627A - Portable writing-desk - Google Patents

Description

H. o. WHITE.

PORTABLE WRITING DESK. 180.248.827. Patented 081;. z5, 1881.

m m N.. o .E Z w M 8., 8 om Niran STATES HAWLEY O. YVHITE, OF NORTH BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

PORTABLE WRITING-DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,627, dated October 25, 1881.

Application led January (i, 1879.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAWLEY C. WHITE, of North Bennington, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, have invented certain Improvements in Portable /Vriting-Desks g and I do hereby declare that the following is a clear and concise description ot' the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a eonstituentpart ofthis speciiication.

This invention relates more especially to the mode of covering and hinging the leaves or lids of portable folding writing-desks and analogous articles.

Figure l presents a view of a folding desk laid open ready for use with one lid or leaf partially raised or opened, and having the central portion of the hinged parts cut away in crosssection, so as to expose toview the construction of the hinged joints. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the lids of the desk. The heavy black lines shown in cross-section are the edges of the cloth or material with which the surface of the leaves is covered, and which constitute one portion of the hinge. Fig. 3 shows a vertical transverse section of the whole desk, taken on line 3 4 of Fig. 1.

As i'oldin g writing-desks have heretofore been constructed the cloth or other material with which the tops oi' the leaves have been covered has solely been relied on to form the hinge by which such leaves or lids have been attached to the body portion or case of the desk in cases where butts have not been employed. This style of construction is objectionable because after a little usage the cloth adjacent to the joint where the leaf ishinged to the body will loosen or detach itself from the leaf and strip up, and is frequently liable to be torn oft entirely. My improvements guard against these imperfections.

I construct my desk in two sections, A and B, Figs. l and 3, so as to present an inclined surface to write upon when opened for use. Each section is inclosed by a leaf, the upper surface of which constitutes the writing-table of the desk. The contour of the leaves D and E is nicely itted to the interior of the case, as seen in Fig. l, and the leaves rest in jambs or rabbets formed in the edges of the case to receive them, or, as in this case, they rest on small posts or studs k k lr, so disposed as to support them. The inner or hinge edge of each leaf is kerl'ed or grooved, either diagonally or otherwise, as seen at a, Figs. 1, Z, and 3. For a distance equivalent tothe breadth of the cloth between the butts with which the two sections ofthe desk are hinged together, and as near the joint-edge of the lid as is practicable, I kerf or groove the edge of each section of the desk, as seen at b b, Figs. l, 2, and 3. The upper or exposed edges ot' grooves a and b are designed to be as close to each other as may be, so as not to impair the strength of the structure. These kerfs or grooves are of a width suflicient to receive two thicknesses of the cloth designed to be forced into them, as hereinafter stated.

My improvements are carried out substantially as follows: The kerfs or grooves b b in the adjacent edges of sections A and B are cut as hereinbefore stated. In the construction of the hinge proper I employ a strip of any thin,

flexible, non-elastic material, like strong, thin linen duck or canvas, of the same length as the distance between the butts of the desk. This hinge-strip is then sized with glue on one side and laid over the parallel grooves of the leaves of the desk, into which it is to be forced. With a thin blade I then force the margin of the hinge-strip It into the kerf a of one of the leaves. Keeping the hinge-strip taut meanwhile, I next proceed in a similar manner to crowd the hinge-strip into the next parallel slit or kerf, b, which is in the body of the desk, and I thus proceed consecutively to force the strip into each kert' provided to receive it until I have bridged all the hinge-joints or connected both leaves to the body ofthe desk, as Well as each section with the other. If there should be a surplus in widthof the hinge-strip left protruding from the first and last groove or slit, it is carefully trimmed down, so as to present an even, smooth surface over which to lay the snperposed covering d. This mode of hinging together with a tough, tlexible,non elastic material the leaves and the two sections of the desk assists Ato greatly strengthen the main connection between the two halves of the desk, and materially relieves the small metallic butts from the excessive wrenches and strains to which they are often subjected by reason IOO of the pressure required to close the desk when it is overtilled. The edges ofthe strip, being inelosed within the groove and firmly held therein with glue, cannot be peeled up nor easily started from their fastenings, as is the ease when the hinge-piece is simply pasted or glued to the exterior surface of the parts to be connected. Both the lids and the body portions may he grooved to receive thehinge-pieee, as in Figs. 1 and 3, or either alone, as seen at b c in Fig. This mode of stretching the eovering across both lids and the intervening hingejoints continuously possesses several advantages. The opened desk presents an even, continuously-smooth surface upon which to Write. The gluing ofthe covering-piece to the hinging-strip of cloth 7L reent'orces such piece and materially enhances the strength ot' the hinges. It makes two less edges of cloth to peel up and fray than when the lids are each finished with a veneered margin against the interior edge of which the raw edges of the cloth abut. It is much more cheaply and conveniently constructed.

In the foregoing description I have treated the stationary portions C U of the desk to which the lids D E are attached as analogous to the jambs ot' a door.

I claim- A portable Writing-desk having the two halves thereof and the two lids united by a compound hinge, made of eloth or analogous llexible material,tueked in grooves in both the two halves ot' the desk and in the edges of the two lids, substantially' in the manner described and set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereto subscribed my name, at North Bennington, Vermont, this 2d day of January, 1879.

IIAWLEY C. WHITE.

In presence of- FRANKLIN. Soo'rr, M. B. Soo'r'r.

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