Telephone directory binder support and storage apparatus

Abstract

A device for storing a telephone directory, in a binder, beneath a shelf as in a telephone booth and permitting the directory to be easily moved between a use position above the shelf and the storage position. The binding is mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis to permit the directory to be swung between the use position above the shelf and a position suspended beneath the shelf, and for rotation about a generally vertical axis to permit the directory and its binding to be pivoted by gravity to a storage position out of the way of a person using the telephone.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to book supporting and storage apparatus and more particularly to an improved apparatus for holding and storing a book, such as a telephone directory for easy access and use, particularly in a confined area such as in a telephone booth.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It is well-known to store books such as large telephone directories in a binding which, in turn, is mounted for easy access, particularly in public telephone booths or the like. The binding is made from a suitable material for protecting the book, both against abuse and against the elements, with the binding normally being mounted for movement between a face up use position permitting easy access to the contents of the book, and a storage position wherein the book is hanging face down in a less accessable and less exposed position. For example, both U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,028,701 and 3,275,279 illustrate a telephone directory supporting and storing apparatus including a binding for protecting the directory, with the directory and binding being supported by a suitable bracket mounted on the back edge of the binding for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal axis between a position below and the use position above a shelf surface at a telephone booth. These patents also illustrate mechanisms for further moving the directory after it is pivoted to the position below the shelf. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,275,279, this mechanism comprises a carriage mounted on an inclined track so that the telephone directory and its binding roll, by gravity, from an intermediate position into a more retracted storage position, with the directory and binding being disposed in a plane extending substantially perpendicular to a mounting wall of the telephone booth.

In U.S. Pat. No. 3,028,701, a gear drive drive mechanism is provided to swing the book and its supporting arm about a vertical axis as the book is pivoted about its horizontal axis between the use and storage position. This arrangement permits the telephone directory to be stored in a position substantially parallel to the supporting wall, thereby occupying minimum space in the telephone booth; however, the gear drive mechanism is relatively complex and expensive to manufacture and is subject to damage from abuse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved telephone directory binder support mechanism which occupies a minimum of space, especially in a telephone booth, when in the storage position, is automatically returned from the use position to the storage position, and which is both simple and economical to manufacture and maintain.

In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects of the present invention, an important feature resides in the construction and arrangement of the mounting structure for supporting the telephone directory and its binding on the undersurface of a shelf structure such as is commonly found in public telephone booths. This mounting structure includes a mounting bracket adapted to be supported on the undersurface of the shelf. The bracket includes a tubular sleeve bushing member rigidly fixed with its axis in a vertical line. The open top end of the sleeve is contoured to provide a pair of cam surfaces adapted to engage the protruding ends of a horizontal pin mounted in the end of a shaft extending upwardly through the sleeve, with the telephone directory and binding being supported on the lower end of the shaft. The back of the book binding is hingedly connected to the lower end of the shaft by a hinge bracket so that the book binding can readily be swung in a vertical plane to position the telephone directory above the shelf.

The cam surfaces on the rigidly mounted sleeve permit the book binding and its support hinge bracket to readily be manually rotated from a normal storage position with the book disposed in a vertical plane parallel to the front edge of the shelf to a position in a plane perpendicular to the front edge of the shelf, with the protruding ends of the pin moving upward along the inclined cam surfaces during this rotary movement. The book can then be pivoted about its hinged bracket to a use position above the shelf permitting ready access to the book. The hinged bracket is mounted on the binding back in such a position that, upon release of the book in the use position, gravity will cause the book and binding to be hinged back to a position below the shelf, and the weight of the book, binding and bracket, acting through the pin on the inclined cam surfaces, will cause the book and its binding to automatically turn itself to a position parallel to and slightly spaced beneath the front edge of the shelf.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a telephone directory and binding in the storage position beneath a shelf associated with a public telephone;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the book binding in an alternate position beneath the shelf;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the book binding and book pivoted above the shelf in position for use;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 3, with the telephone directory and binding shown in an open position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 5, with certain elements shown in an alternate position;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the structure shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the book binding and support assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the directory supporting and storing apparatus according to the present invention is illustrated as being mounted on a horizontal shelf 10 projecting outwardly beneath the familiar public telephone 12. A book binding 14 having a rigid back section 16 is hingedly mounted by a pair of generally right-angled connecting links 18 joined, as by screws 20, one to each side of the rigid binding back 16.

As best seen in FIG. 9, the links 18 have an opening 22 in their lower end which is received on the end of a hollow tubular shaft 24 extending through the rigid back portion 16 of the binding 14. A washer 26 positioned on the screws 20 overlies the end of the brackets 18 to provide support for the binding and telephone directory while permitting free pivotal movement of the binding about the horizontal axis of the shaft 24.

As seen in FIGS. 6 and 9, the upper ends of the angled links 18 are also provided with apertures 28 which are mounted for free rotation on the ends of a tubular shaft 30. Shaft 30, in turn, is supported in a bore 32 extending horizontally through the enlarged head 34 of a vertically extending pivot shaft member 36. Spacer members 38 and washers 40 maintain the upper ends of the arms 18 in their proper spaced relation, with screws 42 threadedly engaging the ends of the shaft 30 retaining the elements in their assembled relation with the links 18 being free to pivot about the horizontal axis of the shaft 30.

The headed shaft member 36 is supported for pivotal movement about its vertical axis by a short tubular sleeve bushing member 44 having an outwardly extending flange member 46 rigidly welded to its outer surface. The flange 46 is provided with a pair of threaded openings 48 for receiving the screws 50 to firmly secure the bushing member on the surface of a sheet metal mounting bracket 52. The top end of the bushing 44 is contoured to provide a pair of upwardly spiralling cam surfaces offset circumferentially approximately 180.degree. from one another. A horizontally extending bore 56 formed adjacent the top end of the cylindrical body 51 of shaft member 36 receives a support pin member 58 in tight friction contact, with the opposed ends of the pin 58 protruding laterally from the sides of the pivot shaft and engaging the cam surfaces 54 when the pivot shaft 36 is positioned in the tubular bushing 44. Thus, when assembled, the entire weight of the directory, its binding and its support apparatus is supported by the ends of the pin 58 resting on the cam surfaces 54. In this position, the bracket 52, which is provided with upwardly offset flange portions 60, is rigidly secured, as by spot welding, to the bottom surface 62 of the hollow-core metal shelf 10 adjacent the front edge thereof. An aperture 64 in the bottom surface 62 is provided to receive the top portions of the cam surfaces 54 as well as the top end portion of the cylindrical body 57 and the pin 58.

As seen in FIGS. 5 and 9, the axis of tubular shafts 24 and 30 and the support pin 58 are always parallel to one another and extend generally perpendicular to the vertical center plane of the book binding, or to the centerline of the rigid back portion thereof. Further, by rigidly connecting the flange 46 to the sheet metal mounting bracket 52, and orienting the bracket 52 on the bottom surface 62 of shelf 10 so that the lowest portions of the cam surfaces 54 are aligned in a direction perpendicular to the front edge 66 of shelf 10, the axis of shafts 24 and 30 will be perpendicular to the vertical plane containing the edge 66 when the pin 58 is supported on this lower portion of the cam surfaces. In this position, the book binding 14 will hang, face down, in a plane parallel to the front edge 66 of the shelf and slightly recessed therebehind so as to be completely out of the way of a person using the telephone 12.

To use a telephone directory mounted in the binding 14, it is only necessary to grasp the top end of the binding and pull it outwardly from beneath the shelf, thereby rotating the cylindrical body 57 within the tubular bushing 44 and causing the ends of the pin 58 to slide upwardly on the cam surfaces 54 from the broken line position to the solid line position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Once the directory is pivoted outward to a position perpendicular to the front edge of the shelf as shown in FIG. 2, the top of the binding is then pivoted upward about the axis of shafts 24 and 30 to the position shown in FIG. 3. In this position, the rigid back 16 of the binding will engage the top forward edge of the shelf 10 and the right-angled links 18 will engage the bottom edge of the shelf. The position is such that the telephone directory, when opened to the position shown in FIG. 4, will be inclined slightly toward the user so that the average person using the directory will be looking substantially perpendicular to the open pages of the directory. Since shaft 24 is located on the transverse centerline of the binding back, and since the edge 66 of shelf 10 keeps the binding and directory from pivoting up to a position with the rigid back in a horizontal plane, slight finger pressure is required to retain the directory in this use position and there is always a tendency for the directory to pivot back to the position shown in FIG. 2.

Once the directory and binding are released and permitted to pivot back toward the intermediate position below the shelf as shown in FIG. 2, the weight of the structure will be shifted to the shaft 58, causing the shaft to slide down the cam surface 54, thereby automatically pivoting the directory and binding to the stored position shown in FIG. 1. Thus, it will be seen that the disadvantages of the prior art structures discussed above are overcome by an extremely simple, inexpensive, yet rugged structure for automatically returning the telephone directory to an out-of-the-way storage position.

While I have disclosed and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it understood that I do not intend to be restricted solely thereto, but rather that I do intend to include all embodiments thereof which would be apparent to one skilled in the art which come within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a telephone directory holding and positioning apparatus of the type including a binding having a rigid back and hinge means connected to said rigid back for supporting the directory and binding for movement in a vertical plane extending substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal edge of a shelf between a storage position below and a use position above the shelf, and mounting and storage means for moving the directory and binding from said vertical plane to a storage position beneath the shelf, the improvement wherein said mounting and storage means comprises, in combination, a support bracket including a tubular sleeve having its axis extending in a generally vertical direction rigidly mounted beneath said shelf and spaced from said longitudinal edge, fixed cam means on said tubular sleeve and having at least one upwardly directed and upwardly spiraling cam surface thereon, a hanger assembly operably connected to said hinge means and said mounting bracket, said hanger assembly including a cylindrical shaft journaled in said sleeve and carrying cam follower means engaging said at least one cam surface and supporting said hinge means, said binding, and the directory thereon while permitting relative rotation between said hanger and said mounting bracket about a generally vertical axis, said cam means and said cam follower means cooperating to raise the structure supported thereon upon forced rotation of said binding in one direction from said storage position and to automatically rotate the structure in the opposite direction by action of gravity on the supported structure upon release thereof following such forced rotation to return the structure to said storage position, said hinge means including angle bracket means having one end pivotally connected to the rigid back of said binder substantially at the transverse centerline thereof and its other end pivotally connected to said cylindrical shaft with the pivotal axes of said angle bracket being generally parallel, said cam surfaces and said cam follower means being arranged so as to position the directory, binding and hanger means beneath said shelf with said binding extending generally parallel to said longitudinal shelf edge when said directory is in said storage position, said angle bracket projecting outwardly and upwardly around said longitudinal edge when said directory is in said use position.

2. The telephone directory holding and positioning apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said tubular sleeve has a pair of upwardly spiralling cam surfaces formed thereon spaced 180.degree. from one another, said support bracket being mounted so that a line connecting the low points of said pair of cam surfaces extends substantially perpendicular to a vertical plane containing said longitudinal edge, and wherein said cam follower means comprises a rod member mounted in and extending through an opening in said cylindrical shaft with the ends of said rod member projecting laterally from said shaft and engaging said pair of cam surfaces.

3. In a telephone directory holding and positioning apparatus of the type including a binding having a rigid back and hinge means connected to said rigid back for supporting the directory and binding for movement in a vertical plane extending substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal edge of a shelf between a storage position below and a use position above the shelf, and mounting and storage means for moving the directory and binding from said vertical plane to a storage position beneath the shelf, the improvement wherein said mounting and storage means comprises, in combination, a support bracket, including a tubular sleeve having its axis extending in a generally vertical direction rigidly mounted beneath said shelf and spaced from said longitudinal edge, cam means on said tubular sleeve and having a pair of upwardly directed and upwardly spiraling cam surfaces thereon and spaced 180.degree. from one another, a hanger assembly operably connected to said hinge means and said mounting bracket, said hanger assembly including a cylindrical shaft carrying cam follower means engaging said cam surfaces and supporting said hinge means, said binding, and the directory thereon while permitting relative rotation between said hanger and said mounting bracket about a generally vertical axis, said cam follower means cooperating to raise the structure supported thereon upon forced rotation of said binding in one direction from said storage position and to automatically return the structure to said storage position by rotating the structure in the opposite direction by action of gravity upon release thereof following such forced rotation, said cam surfaces and said cam follower means being arranged so as to position said directory substantially parallel to said longitudinal shelf edge in said storage position, said hinge means including a pair of angle brackets each having one end pivotally connected one to each side of the rigid back of said binding along the transverse centerline thereof and each having its other end pivotally connected to said hanger means one on each side thereof, the pivotal axes of said angle brackets being generally parallel to one another.