Spring-Loaded Drawer Partition

This invention relates to a spring-loaded drawer partition, and particularly provides such a partition in which plate members adapted to slide along side walls of a drawer are yieldably biased against the side walls in a fashion such that none of the spring-loading structure is mechanically exposed.

Spring-loaded drawer partitions are known. The following U.S. patents are representative:

All of these patents utilize spring-loading mechanisms which are mechanically exposed and which may hence be interfered with by the contents of the file drawer.

In the present invention, a spring-loaded drawer partition is utilized in which none of the spring-loading mechanism is mechanically exposed, thereby simplifying the operation of the partition in a drawer. Further, the partition uses only three parts, two of which are identical, and hence the partition is easily and inexpensively fabricated.

The invention will be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drawer incorporating a partition embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, to an enlarged scale, taken along the section 2--2 in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views respectively of plate and box members useful in forming a partition presently preferred and embodying the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a file drawer 10 is shown having opposed side walls 12. A spring-loaded drawer partition 13 is included within the file drawer, and is spring-loaded to move easily along the side walls 12.

The drawer partition 13 is formed from two plate members 16 adapted to slide along the side walls 12 and a box member 14 extending between the plate members 16.

The two plate members 16 are identical and are shown in FIG. 3. Referring to that figure, the plate member 16 includes a first planar portion 20 which bears against the side wall 12. The upper edge of the planar portion 20 is terminated by a flanged section 22 extending at right angles to the planar portion. The flange 22 rides over flange 12a of the side wall, as shown in FIG. 2. The plate member 16 includes two tabs 24 integral therewith and extending therefrom toward the inside of the drawer. The tabs 24, which extend inwardly by differing distances (see FIG. 2), may be terminated by end portions 24a. The plate member 16 is preferably made of spring metal, so that the tabs 24 constitute spring members, (FIG. 2), corresponding to the different distances by which the tabs 24 extend inwardly.

One half of the box member 14 is shown in FIG. 4. It is rectangular in cross section, open at each of its ends and bottom, and closed at its top. One the inside of each of the open ends there is included stop members 14a, located different distances from the adjacent end. These stop members preferably are integral with and formed from the material of the box member 14 by suitable cutting and bending of the side wall 14b of the box member.

FIG. 2 shows the interengagement of the box member 14 and the plate members 16. In particular, the box member 14 is positioned so that the open ends thereof are adjacent the plate members 16, and the tab extensions 24 of the plate members are housed inside the open ends of the box member 14. The tab extensions 24, constituting spring members, bear against the stop members 14a so that the plate members 16 are yieldably biased against the side walls of the file drawer. In this fashion the partition 14 may be easily moved along the side walls, while at the same time being biased into any one position. Because the tab extensions 24 and stop members 14a are positioned inside the box member 14, all of the spring-loading structure of the file drawer partition is housed inside the box member, thereby preventing interference with the structure by any of the contents of the file drawer. Because the lower tabs 24 extend inwardly greater distances than the upper tabs, the partition 13 may be easily positioned in place by first placing the plate members 16 against side walls 12, lowering the open-bottomed box member 14 over the tabs 24 (the lower stop 14a passes by the upper tab 24 without contact) until associated tabs and stops make contact.

It will be appreciated that modifications of the preferred embodiment described above may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, while spring members 24 constituting extensions of the plate members 16 have been disclosed, it would be possible to utilize a stop member that forms an extension of the plate member, with the spring member being included on the inside of and carried by the box member 14. Accordingly, the invention should be taken to be defined by the following claims.