Extension-table.

(Application filed Oct. 15, 1901.) (No Model.)

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THE NORRIS PETERS PHOTO-UTHO., WASHINGTON. D. C.

United States Patent Office.

CHRIS N. SMITH, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

EXTENSION-TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,376, dated September 30,1902.

Application filed October 15,1901. Serial No. 78,712. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Ϊ, Chris N. Smith, residing at Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved 5 Extension-Table, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in that type of extension-tables having detachable leaves and means for sustaining to the leaves under the fixedly-held top section when not in use; and said invention primarily seeks to provide a table of this type of a very simple and economical construction, capable of being folded up in a very compact 15 form, and in which the several parts have such correlative arrangement as to provide a very stable and convenient construction easily manipulated and especially designed to maintain a rigid and strong position when 20 folded up and partly or wholly extended.

My invention comprehends generally a central solid top section having pendent sides and open ends square in plan view—that is, its sides beingof the same width as the length of 25 thefixedtop—and havinglongitudinal fixedlyheld pendent slide members adapted to cooperate with the runners or slides on the extensible members, suitable cross guards or braces being also included, which, in addition to 30 their bracing function, act as supports for the detachable top sections, the extensions being also equipped with pendent ends, which form continuations of the drop sides when the several parts are closed in, said ends also hav35 ing a special construction and adapted to cooperate with the cross-brace members that support the detachable top sections, whereby to maintain said sections in a substantially rigid position when folded in under the table40 top and reduce rattling or endwise movement of said sections to the minimum.

In its more subordinate features my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and peculiar combination of 45 parts, all of which will hereinafter be fully described, and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanj-ing drawings, in which—

Figure 1 is an inverted perspective, view of 50 my improved table, the parts being in their folded position to form a small table having continuous side and end drop members. Fig.

is a longitudinal section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal 55 section of the table with its ends extended and the detachable cover-sections or leaves in place. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the extensible end sections. Fig. 6 is a crosssection of a modified construction of my im- 60 proved table.

In its practical construction my improved table comprises a solid fixedly - held top 1, having pendent side members l^a, said top being of a square shape, whereby its sides and 65 ends have the same length, the reason for which will presently appear, and at the opposite ends the top 1 has dowel-pins 1 to engage the recesses in, end pieces of the extensions, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. 70

2 designate the stationary runner or slide guides, one of which is disposed on the under side of the top 1 near the pendent sides 1% and each guide 2 is in the nature of a T-strip, the head portions 2^a 2^a of which have longi- 75 tudinal grooves 2^b 2” in their slide-surfaces 2^C 2^C. The guides 2 2 are securely fastened to the top by screws 3, and said guides 2 2 are of less depth than the sides l^a, whereby to permit of the cross members 4, presently 80 again referred to, to seat with their under or bottom sides in a plane with the lower edge of the sides l^a, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

A B designate the two extensible end sections, each of which consists of a pair of run- 85 ner or slide bars 5 5^a and end or cross members 6 6^a, having the same external shape as the sides l^a of the stationary top 1, whereby when the end sections are closed in the members 6 6^a will form continuations of the sides 90 l^a l^a, as shown. The slide-bars 5 of member A are disposed to enter between the guides 2 and the pendent sides l^a, and said bars 5 are of a width to snugly fit the space between said guides 2 and the sides 1“ and have slide- 95 faces a^x to engage the contiguous slide-face 2^C of the member 2, said faces 5^s also having a tongue 5^y extending lengthwise thereof to engage the groove 2^b in the face 2°, which it engages. The slide-bars 5“ of the member B 100 are formed similar to bars 5, but are spaced apart to engage the inner sides of the guides 2, they having slide-faces and tongues to engage the opposing slide-faces and grooves of

710,376 the members 2 2, as best shown in Fig. 3, by reference to which it will be noticed that the bars 5^a have bearing at one side only against the guide 2. Now to provide for keeping the 5 bars from undue lateral strain or warping laterally in the direction of the central longitudinal line of the table the several parts constituting the entire table are correlatively arranged so that the distance between the io two bars 5^a 5^a is substantially equal that of the width of the detachable top sections C O', held in the space between the bars and which when the table is folded up have their edges c c' act as abutments or slide-surfaces for the 15 inner face 5^X of the bars 5^a to engage, such arrangement of parts providing, as it were, slidesurfaces for both sides of the bars 5^a, the same as is provided for the bars 5 by the guides 2 and the pendent sides l^a. It will also be noticed 20 by reference to Fig. 3 that the lower edges of the slide or runners and’the guides 2 2 lie in the same plane and some distance above the lower edge of the sides l^a. This arrangement of parts is provided to permit of using cross25 bars 4, which extend entirely across and have their ends abut the pendent sides l^a and made to be flush with the said sides, and to further brace the end sections and also provide a suitable means for attaching the end legs D D' 30 each section A and B has a bottom piece d d', made fast to its respective runner or slide bars 5 5^a by screws, as shown, and held in a plane with the cross-bars 4. In closing in the extensions A and B the bottom pieces lap 35 over the ends of the guides 2, the detachable top sections C C', and the ends of the opposing bars 5 and 5^a and abut the end ones of the cross-bars 4. By thus arranging the several partsit is manifest the entire thickness of 40 the table when folded will equal that of the pendent end and sides, and as all of the bottom members lie in a like plane without projections it follows the lower part of the table h as the same smooth or clear surface as the top. 45 This makes the packing of the table easy and compact and in such manner that all of the parts are practically rigidly held.

The leg-attaching sockets S, of which two are secured to the bottom bar of each end sec50 tion and one centrally on the central brace or cross-bar 4, are each countersunk in their respective bars and formed with threaded sockets to receive the threaded ends of the legs D D' D³, as shown. Any approved leg-re55 ceiving-socket members may, however, be used, as they form no part of my invention.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,it is thought the advantages and manner of operation of my 60 improved table will be readily understood.

I am aware that tables that break in the center of main top provided with pockets to receive the detachable leaves or sections have heretofore been provided. My invention dif65 ferentiates from what has heretofore been accomplished in this line of tables, so far as I know, in the peculiar manner in which the several parts constituting my complete table are cooperatively arranged, whereby the detachable leaves or sections are held from rat- 70 tling, and said leaves form a means for holding the inner sliding bars or rails from lateral displacement, and whereby the entire table minus the legs is folded with its top, bottom, sides, and ends in smooth planes and with- 75 out projecting parts.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a slightly-modified form of my improved table, in which the same cooperative arrangement of the several parts shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is to be fonnd, 80 with the exception that the detachable leafsections are of less width, whereby to provide space between the inner slides and the sides of the leaf-sections to admit of placing in said spaces longitudinally-extending par- 85 titions P, the outer sides p of which serve as guide-surfaces for the inner sides of the inner slides 5^a 5^a to hold them in proper engagement with the slide-guide. The inner sides p' of said partitions have longitudinal 90 grooves p² to receive the dowels x on the detachable leaf - sections. Thus the leaf-sections will be held separated and sidewise immovable in the packing-space under the tabletop· 95

To limit the outward pull of the slide members 5 and 5^a, stop-lugs 8 are fitted in their grooves, as shown in Fig. 4, to engage with the stationary stop or screws 7 7, that extend up through the cross-pieces 4 4, as shown. 100