Article holding device

• US 4,512,480 A
• Filed: 08/11/1983
• Issued: 04/23/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/1983
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rubbermaid Office Products Inc.
• Original Assignee: Eldon Industries Incorporated (Newell Brands Inc.)
• Inventors: Evenson, Mel
• Primary Examiner(s): Britts, Ramon S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johnson, Blair M.
• Application Number:
  US06/522,406
• Time in Patent Office: 621 Days
• Field of Search: 211/11, 211/184, 211/50, 211/51, 211/55, 211/52, 108/60, 108/61, 108/64, 312/111, 312/193, 248/454, 248/450
• US Class Current: 211/11
• CPC Class Codes: B42F 17/12 Dividing means

Abstract

A device for organizing papers, files and the like for use in a business environment or other similar situations has a base on which one or more tilt plates are located. The tilt plates are capable of being oriented with respect to the base in a tilting mode and in a locked mode. In the tilting mode the tilt plates rotate about a bottom edge to tilt forward and backward. In the locked mode, the tilt plates are fixed in a set orientation with respect to the base. The tilt plates are easily shifted between the tilt mode and the locked mode by simply sliding them sideways a short distance on the base. Tabs on the bottom of the tilt plate maintain the tilt plate on the base and interact with a stop and lock member on the base to determine which of the modes the tilt plate is in.

Claims

1. A device which comprises:

a base module;

said base module including a support surface, said support surface having a top side and an under side;

said support surface including at least one elongated opening extending through said support surface between said top side and said under side;

at least one tilt plate, said tilt plate having peripheral edges, one of said edges including at least one tab means located thereon, said tab means sized and shaped so as to be positionable in said opening with at least a portion of said tab means extending beyond the underside of said support surface, said tab means movable within said opening along the elongated dimension of said opening in response to movement of said tilt plate along said elongated dimension and when said tab is so positioned in said opening at least a portion of said one edge of said tilt plate being located against said support surface so as to support said tilt plate on said support surface;

at least one stop means located on said under side of said support surface in association with said opening, said portion of said tab means which extends beyond said under side of said surface abutting against said stop means when said tilt plate is oriented at an acute angle to a line which is perpendicular to said support surface, said abutting of said tab means and said stop means maintaining said tilt plate from tilting beyond said acute angle while allowing said tilt plate to freely move between said acute angle and a position wherein said tilt plate is perpendicular to the support surface;

at least one lock means located on said underside of said support surface in association with said opening, said lock means for engaging with and locking said tab means, said tab means moving between an unlocked position and a locked position with respect to said lock means as said tab means moves back and forth within said elongated opening in response to movement of said tilt plate along the elongated dimension of said opening, said lock means locking said tab means when said tab means is in said locked position so as to inhibit movement of said tilt plate between said perpendicular position and said acute angle and when said tab means is in said unlocked position said tilt plate freely movable between said perpendicular position and said acute angle.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein:

said stop means includes a first portion and a second portion, both said first and said second portions associated with said opening and located on said underside of said support surface in positions so as said tab means abutts against said first portion when said tilt plate is oriented at an acute angle to said perpendicular line when said tilt plate is on one side of said perpendicular line and said tab means abutting against said second section when said tilt plate is oriented at an acute angle to said perpendicular line on the other side of said perpendicular line.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said opening including a periphery,

said periphery of said opening includes two elongated sides connected at their ends by two foreshortened sides;

said first portion of said stop means located in association with one of said two elongated sides and said second portion of said stop means located in association with the other of said two elongated sides.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein:

said lock means is located in association with one of said foreshortened sides.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein:

said first portion of said stop means comprises a first flange located on the underside of said support surface and positioned in association with one of said sides of said opening, said second portion of said stop means comprises a second flange located on the underside of said support surface and positioned in association with the other side of said opening.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein:

said lock means comprises a third and a fourth flange located on the underside of said support surface and positioned in association with one of said foreshortened sides of said opening, a portion of said tab means located between and fixedly held by said third and said fourth flange when said tab means is in said locked position.

7. The device of claim 6 including:

said support surface having at least one set of two of said openings with said two of said openings of said set aligned along a line passing through the elongated dimension of each of said openings of said set, each of said two of said openings in said set including a stop means and a lock means associated with the respective openings;

said tab means comprising said tilt plate having two of said tabs located thereon and spaced with respect to each other on said one of said edges of said tilt plate such that said one of said tabs is positionable in one of said openings of said set when the other of said tabs is positionable in the other of said openings of said set, each of said tabs interacting with said stop means and said lock means at said respective openings.

8. The device of claim 7 including:

a plurality of said sets of two openings each, said plurality of said sets of openings spaced apart one from the other along said support surface in an array.

9. The device of claim 8 including:

a plurality of said tilt plates.

10. The device of claim 9 further including:

each of said tabs on each of said tilt plates having a first area and a second area, said first area located adjacent to said one of said edges of said tilt plate and said second area connecting to said first area with said first area interspaced between said second area and said tilt plate, said first area being of a smaller dimension than said second area.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein:

each of said tabs is elongated and is essentially planar, said second area having first and second ends both of which extend outwardly beyond said first area so as to form first and second undercuts on the sides of said tab adjacent to said one edge of said tilt plate, a portion of said support surface located adjacent to said foreshortened side of said opening wherein said third and said fourth flanges are located fitting into one of said undercuts when said tilt plate is in said locked position.

12. The device of claim 11 further including:

connecting flanges associated with each of said openings, said connecting flanges connecting said first flange to said third flange and said second flange to said fourth flange.

13. The device of claim 12 including:

guide flange located at the other of said foreshortened sides of said opening wherein said lock means is not located and extending between said first and said second flanges connecting said first and said second flanges together, one of said ends of said second area of said tab sliding against said guide flange as said tilt plate tilts between said acute angle and said perpendicular line.

14. The device of claim 1 including:

said support surface having at least one set of two of said openings with said two of said openings of said set aligned along a line passing through the elongated dimension of each of said openings of said set;

said tab means comprising said tilt plate having two tabs located thereon and spaced with respect to each other on said one of said edges of said tilt plate such that one of said tabs is positionable in one of said openings of said set when the other of said tabs is positionable in the other of said openings of said set.

15. The device of claim 14 including:

a plurality if said sets of two openings each, said plurality of said sets of openings spaced apart one from the other in an array on said support surface.

16. The device of claim 1 further including:

a first connecting means and a second connecting means located on said base module, said first connecting means of a first of said devices connectable to said second connecting means of a second of said devices so as to temporarily connect said first of said devices to said second of said devices.

17. The device of claim 16 wherein:

said first connecting means comprise mortise means and said second connecting means comprises tenon means each positioned on said base so as said mortise means on said first of said devices is connectable to said tenon means on said second of said devices.

18. The device of claim 17 wherein:

said base module has at least three sides with each of said sides including an edge oriented essentially perpendicular to said support surface, said mortise means located along one of said edges and said tenon means located along a further of said edges.

19. The device of claim 18 wherein:

each of said mortise means and said tenon means is dovetailed in shape and sized so as to allow said tenon means to lock in said mortise means.

20. The device of claim 16 wherein:

said first and said second connecting means are identical in shape and further including a connecting member, said connecting member interlocking with both said first and said second connecting means so as to temporarily connect said first of said devices to said second of said devices.

21. The device of claim 18 including:

a third of said sides having a third connecting means located thereon;

and further including a connecting member capable of interlocking with two of said third connecting means wherein one of said third connecting means is located on a first of said devices and the other of said third connecting means is located on a second of said devices, said connecting member temporarily connecting to each of said third connecting member.

22. The device of claim 21 wherein:

said connecting member includes a first and a second further mortise means and said third connecting means comprising a further tenon means, said further mortise means temporarily connecting to said further tenon means to temporarily connect said connecting member to said first and said second of said devices.

23. The device of claim 8 including:

a first connecting means and a second connecting means located on said base module, said first connecting means of a first of said devices connectable to said second connecting means of a second of said devices so as to temporarily connect said first of said devices to said second of said devices.

24. The device of claim 23 wherein:

said first connecting means comprise mortise means and said second connecting means comprises tenon means each positioned on said base so as said mortise means on said first of said devices is connectable to said tenon means on said second of said devices.

25. The device of claim 24 wherein:

said base module has at least three sides with each of said sides including an edge oriented essentially perpendicular to said support surface, said mortise means located along one of said edges and said tenon means located along a further of said edges;

each of said mortise means and said tenon means is dovetailed in shape and sized so as to allow said tenon means to lock in said mortise means.

26. The device of claim 25 wherein:

a third of said sides having a third connecting means located thereon;

and further including a connecting member capable of interlocking with two of said third connecting means wherein one of said third connecting means is located on a first of said devices and the other of said third connecting means is located on a second of said devices, said connecting member temporarily connecting to each of said third connecting member.

27. The device of claim 26 wherein:

said connecting member includes a first and a second further mortise means and said third connecting means comprising a further tenon means, said further mortise means temporarily connecting to said further tenon means to temporarily connect said connecting member to said first and said second of said devices.

28. The device of claim 6 wherein:

a first connecting means and a second connecting means located on said base module, said first connecting means of a first of said devices connectable to said second connecting means of a second of said devices so as to temporarily connect said first of said devices to said second of said devices.

29. The device of claim 7 wherein:

a first connecting means and a second connecting means located on said base module, said first connecting means of a first of said devices connectable to said second connecting means of a second of said devices so as to temporarily connect said first of said devices to said second of said devices.

30. The device of claim 29 wherein:

said first connecting means comprise mortise means and said second connecting means comprises tenon means each positioned on said base so as said mortise means on said first of said devices is connectable to said tenon means on said second of said devices;

said base module has at least three sides with each of said sides including an edge oriented essentially perpendicular to said support surface, said mortise means located along one of said edges and said tenon means located along a further of said edges;

a third of said sides having a third connecting means located thereon;

and further including a connecting member capable of interlocking with two of said third connecting means wherein one of said third connecting means is located on a first of said devices and the other of said third connecting means is located on a second of said devices, said connecting member temporarily connecting to each of said third connecting member.