 |
Description  |
|
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is an improvement over the tray disclosed in the co-pending
application Ser. No. 546,280, filed Feb. 3, 1975 and entitled DOCUMENT
HANDLING SYSTEM of which this and that application have common assignees.
In the above-said patent application the basic support panels on which the
trays of this invention are to be hung is disclosed. Furthermore the said
co-pending application discloses a multitude of different sizes of trays
for handling the various documents with which the system is to be used.
One drawback of the system as disclosed in the above application is the
number of trays that have to be kept in stock and on hand in order to
obtain the versatility of the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a specially designed tray with an insert
specially designed for the tray so as to reduce the number of trays
required to be kept in stock and on hand.
The particular tray of this invention with its insert provides for the
changing of the size of the tray for handling different sizes of
documents.
The present invention also provides a tray having a simple means for
mounting the insert on the tray.
This invention also provides for a means for mounting the insert on the
tray in a way that it will be locked in position while it is mounted on
the panel support but which can be easily removed once the tray is removed
from the panel support.
The present invention makes for a much wider variety of different shapes of
trays for different size documents that can be arranged on the panel in
different arrangements so as to give efficient use of the trays and the
panel support.
Having described very briefly the various objects and advantages of the
present invention, reference is now made to the drawings wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a panel with some of the various
shapes and sizes of trays made possible by this invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a section of a panel with one tray
mounted thereon;
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of one tray mounted on a panel and
illustrating in greater detail the insert sheet locked in place;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the plane IV--IV of
FIG. 3; and
FIG. 5 is a side elevational, cross-sectional view of a tray showing the
insert sheet member in position just previous to it being locked into
position.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Before referring more specifically to the drawings, it should be understood
that the tray of this invention is intended to be used in conjunction with
the document handling system of co-pending application Ser. No. 546,280
filed Feb. 3, 1975 and entitled DOCUMENT HANDLING SYSTEM. Therefore, the
entire disclosure of that patent application is intended to be
incorporated by reference within this application.
Referring to FIG. 1, it will be noted that the system like that referred to
in the above identified co-pending application includes a panel assembly
10 and trays 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, all of which extend vertically
from and are hung on the tray support panel 10. It will be noted that the
trays are of various shapes and sizes. Specifically, trays 20, 21 and 22
are left-handed trays and trays 23, 24 and 25 are right-handed trays.
Further, trays 21, 22, 23 and 25 are two horizontal modules (4 inches)
wide, while trays 20 and 24 are each one horizontal module (2 inches)
wide. It will also be noted that trays 21 and 25 are two vertical modules
(10 inches) high while trays 20, 22, 23 and 24 (without considering the
insert which will be described hereinafter) are one module (5 inches)
high. It should be understood that a module size can be any dimension
rather than 2 inches and 5 inches. For reasons which will be explained in
greater detail hereinafter, these trays as shown are sufficient for
handling all documents in an average office. Therefore, only six trays of
different sizes and shapes are required to be stocked whereas in the
system described in the above identified co-pending application, eight
different sizes and shapes of trays were required to be stocked. In fact,
in accordance with this invention, it is quite plausible to use only four
different trays. This is made possible by the combination of the specially
designed tray, such as tray 20, with an insert sheet member 30 which will
now be described in greater detail.
Referring to FIG. 1, the insert sheet members 30 are shown mounted in the
trays 20, 22, 23 and 24. All of these insert members are of exactly the
same construction. Further, each of the trays 20, 22, 23 and 24 are of
substantially the same construction, the difference being in their width
and whether they are right-handed or left-handed. In each of these trays
the construction for mounting the insert sheet 30 is identical and
therefore only the construction of tray 20 in conjunction with the insert
member 30 will be described.
Referring to tray 20 in the drawings, it will be noted that the tray
includes a bottom wall 27, a side wall 28, a back or end wall 29 and a
retaining lip 26. As will be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom wall 27,
from back to front, is sloped upwardly from the horizontal plane "P" and
as viewed in FIG. 1 is sloped upwardly from side 28 to lip 26 (FIG. 1).
The side wall 28 of tray 20 is sloped to the left and the angle between
the side wall 28 and the bottom wall 27 is less than 90.degree.. It should
be understood that on a right-hand tray such as tray 24, its side wall 28a
is sloped to the right. In addition, as best shown in FIG. 3, the back
wall 29 is sloped forwardly from the top to bottom. It should also be
observed as shown in FIG. 2, the top edge 41 of the side wall 28 is
inclined downwardly and the front edge 42, from bottom to top is inclined
rearwardly. As pointed out in the co-pending application referred to
above, this slope or inclination of the edges 41 and 42 provides an open
area on the sides of the document so that the document can be grasped more
easily when inserted and removed from the tray. It should be understood
that although the specific size and slope for the sides of tray 20, as
shown in the drawings are decribed, the same general slope of the sides of
the other trays are the same.
At the back of the tray near the back wall 29 are mounted the hooks 44 and
44a. These hooks fit over corresponding hooks 18 provided on the panel 10.
These hooks are formed by the elongated protruding members 70 having a
slanted top wall in which spaced slots are cut. The hooks 44 and 44a
extend into these slots. It will thus be seen that the trays are hung on
the panels by hooking the hooks 44 of the trays over the hooks 18 of the
panels.
Each of the trays as illustrated by tray 20 has a cutout 50 best shown in
FIG. 4. This cutout is in the back wall 29 at the juncture of the side
wall 28 and the bottom wall 27. Although these trays can be constructed of
many different materials, they are presently constructed of metal sheeting
and accordingly the cutout 50 not only provides the opening 51 for
purposes as will be described hereinafter, but also is useful in the
painting technique of the tray since it permits the paint to run out of
the corner.
It will be noted that at the front of the tray a downturned flange 45 is
provided. The flange can be a matted surface to accept pencil write-on in
order to identify the documents in the tray, or in the alternative a
gummed label or tape can be used for such identification.
Insert sheet member 30 is a flat sheet of material which is of the same
length as the tray 20 but is two modules (ten inches) high. This insert
sheet member is of a specific configuration which includes a bottom edge
32 having a portion 33 inclined upwardly from the remainder portion 34.
The purpose of the shape of the edge 32 is to provide a means for tipping
the insert sheet member in a manner which will be described in greater
detail hereinafter.
The back edge 35 of the insert 31 is cut or shaped to provide a hook 36 at
its lower end and a recess 37 immediately above the hook 36. The recess is
provided to receive the back wall 29 of the tray when the hook 36 is
locked into position. The other edges 71 and 72 of the insert member 30
are sloped to correspond with the edges 41 and 42, respectively, of the
tray side wall 28.
FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 best illustrate how the insert member 30 is mounted or
secured to the tray 20. Starting with FIG. 5, it will be seen that the
hook 36 formed at the lower end of the back edge 35 is positioned for
insertion into the opening 51 by tipping the insert about fulcrum 38
formed at the juncture of the portions 33 and 34 of the bottom edge 32.
This tipping is also made possible by the cutout 37 of the back edge 35 of
the insert. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, hook 36 can be inserted through the
opening 51 when the portion 33 of the bottom edge is flat against the
bottom wall 27 of the tray. Once the hook 36 is inserted through the
opening 51, the insert is tipped upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 3
which causes the hook 36 to hook the back wall 29 of the tray which
secures the insert in place against the side wall 28 of the tray.
The dimensions and placement of hook 36 of insert 30, the hooks 44 and 44a
of the tray and the edge 37a of the insert 30 are such that when the tray
with the insert mounted thereon is hung on the panel 10, the edge 37a
substantially abuts against the panel 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). As a result,
the insert 30 is held in place and cannot be removed from the tray since
any tipping action downwardly such as to the position in FIG. 5, is
prohibited. Further, opening 51 is shaped to provide a surface 52 which
prohibits the insert 30 from tipping away from the wall 28 of tray 20.
Accordingly, insert 30 is locked in place so long as the tray is mounted
on the panel 10.
It will be seen from this construction that a tray such as trays 22, 23 and
24 can be expanded in size for accommodating larger size documents by
merely mounting the insert in the tray as has just been described.
Further, it will be seen that a tray of one vertical module (5 inches) can
be modified to a two module sized tray.
Having described my invention, it should become obvious that although I
have shown a preferred embodiment, other embodiments and modifications can
be utilized without departing from the scope of this invention. Therefore,
the scope thereof shall be construed only as limited by the following
claims.
* * * * *
|
|
 |
|
 |
Description |
|
