US267585A - Trunk - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

P. M. PIPER.

I TRUNK. No. 267,585.. P atented Nov. 14, 1882.

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FRANCIS M. PIPER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE L. DRAKE, OF SAME PLACE.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,585, dated November 14, 1882.

' Application filed April 12, 1882. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. PIPER, of Lynn, in the county'of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and'useful Improvement in Trunks, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing one end and the front of the trunk with the drawercovers open. Fig. 2 is a section. Fig.3 is a perspective of the frame. Fig. 4 is a detail showing tenoned sill-piece arranged to slide in grooved frame-piece. a

My improvement relates to trunks containing drawers, or what are known as bureautrunks and it consists chiefly in the construction of such a trunk with a drawer frame or case placed directly inside the shell of the trunk, and which affords a strong and secure resting-place for the drawers.

It has been common heretofore to construct trunks with drawers, thedrawers opening from the front or back ofthe trunk; and in order, in such trunks, to provide a support for the drawers, on which they could slide when being opened or closed, the end pieces of the trunk were made of heavier material than the sides, and were grooved or partially cut away to form ledges for the reception of the drawer ends. In order for the proper working of the drawers, these end pieces must remain in exactly the position in which they were originally set, or substantially so, for if they vary from that position the drawer will bind and cannot bereadily opened. 1n the wear and tear of travel these endpieces were found frequently to change their relative positions, and this was more frequently the case than with the end pieces of the common box-trunks, since the ends are held in position by the side parts of the shell, and in bureau-trunks a large part ofthe side is cut away to accommodate the drawers, thus weakening the part which held the end pieces in position. To avoid this and gain a perfectly strong and durable drawer-trunk, I constructa drawer-frame consisting of four uprights and suitably-placed cross-pieces, (see Fig. 3,) in and on which the drawers rest, and.

which protects them and allows oftheir being set so as to open from either the ends or sides of the trunk. I construct this frame of wood in any well-known manner, and I prefer also to secure the shell of the trunk directly to this frame, thus securing a very strong, durable, and inexpensive bureau trunk, the drawerrests of which are not liable to get out of position in traveling, and the drawers of which are thereforeal ways readily opened and closed.

In the bureau-trunks hitherto known to me the drawer-front covers have been arranged to slide up or down inside the ends or sides of the trunk, or have been hinged at the sides and arranged to open like doors. In place of these devices, I arrange the end covers, H, of my improved trunk to swing down by hinging them at the lower edge, h, tothe end Jot the trunk, and secure them, when closed, by look at the upper edge. These covers, when open, hang down close to the end of the trunk, and are not in the way. The cover F for the drawers in the front of the trunk is also arranged to swing down on hinges in opening. Itwas necessary, however, to devise some method of concealing this cover when open, as otherwise it would be in the way when the drawers are in use, and would be liableto bebroken. Itherefore place the lower drawer, A, so as to leave a space, K, between the bottom of the trunk and the drawer-bottom. In this spaceIplace a sliding sill-piece, E, which is so arranged that it may slide in this space from the back to the front of the trunk, butis preventedfrom coming out. To do this the piece E is provided at either end with tenons T,which slide in grooves P in the frame-pieces K. To this sliding piece the front cover, F, is hinged at its lower edge. At its upperedge it is secured, when closed, by lock to the upper front ofthe trunk. When, therefore, it is desired to use the front drawers the cover is unlocked, swung down, and shoved back, with the sliding piece E, to which it is hinged, into the space between the drawer and the bottom of the trunk. By this arrangement the cover is protected when not closed, takes up no extra space, and at the same time is in a convenient place, and not in the way.

I disclaim all that was secured to me by Patenb No. 242,556, dated June 7, 1881.

hat I claim is The combination, in a bureau-trunk, of a 5 skeleton drawer-frame arranged to receive and support a series of drawers, with a trunk body or shell secured to said frame and provided with removable drawer-covers which admitof access to the drawers, and which cover them when not in use.

FRANCIS M. PIPER. Witnesses:

N. A. MAGLEOD, ROBERT WALLACE.

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