US2556943A - Supplementary table top - Google Patents

Description

A. REISMAN v SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE TOP June 12, 1951 Filed May 1, 1948 2 Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BY j WK ATTORNEY June 12, 1951' A. REISMAN SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE TOP Fild May 1, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 myE -rOR flaoJM/yamarz BY J WM ATTORNEY Patented June 12, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE TOP Adolph Rcisman, New York, N. Y.

Application May 1, 1948, Serial No. 24,521

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in supplementary table tops and more particularly to supplementary table tops which may be securely fixed over the top of a table of smaller dimensions.

Presently, supplementary table tops for use with bridge tables and the like are employed to extend. the useable surface area thereof. However, they ordinarily contain on their underside means which do no more than restrict the lateral movement thereof when in place on a table but do not impede or prevent vertical movement such as might result when an individual sitting at the table brings his knee up against the table top.

An object of my invention is to provide a supplementary table top which may be employed to extend the useable surface area of a table and which may be affixed thereto so as to prevent or impede upward movement of the supplementary table top with reference to the table.

A further object of my invention is to provide a supplementary table top which will require only a relatively small storage space.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a supplementary table top of variablesurface area.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustrates preferred embodiments thereof, it being understood that the foregoing statement of the objects of my invention is intended to generally explain the same without limiting it .in any manner.

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an embodiment of my invention showing the supplementary table top in place atop a table.

Fig. 2 is another view in perspective of the said supplementary table top in place upon a table with only one of the sections engaging the sides of the table while the other is raised.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the said supplementary table top showing the same in position upon a table with one of the sections engaging the table and the other completely folded back.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the underneath side of the said supplementary table top.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged detail in elevation of one corner of the said supplementary table top.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view thereof in cross-section taken along the line 'l-'l in Fig. 5, and showing the spring leaf and stop.

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of another embodiment of my invention in place atop a table.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic underneath plan view of still another embodiment of my invention showing multiple sections.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to the preferred embodiment of my invention as shown in Figs. 1 through 7 thereof, it comprises identical sections A and B hingedly connected at their adjoining edges by hinge [0 (see Fig. 3), each such section comprising, respectively, top members I l and I2 and depending therefrom side members respectively I3 and Is, and I5 and I6 and pivotly mounted along its longer axis on each such side member a clamping member, the clamping members on section A being respectively numbered 11 and I8, and the clamping members on section B being respectively numbered l9 and 20.

Mounted on each such side members so as to urge the said clamping members in a downward direction is a spring leaf 2|. Underneath each such spring leaf is a stop 22 so positioned as to prevent the spring leaf from pushing the clamping member associated therewith lower than a predetermined position. Cleats 23 and 24 are mounted on the underneath side of top members l I and I2 of sections A and B respectively so as to restrict the horizontal play of the supplementary table top or the sections thereof along its or their length.

Each of the said sections are preferably made of a light material such as plywood or the like. Each of the clamping members I'l-Zil are pivotly mounted at their ends upon pins 25 (see Fig. 6) which pins are integral with or attached to the cutaway ends 26 of the side members and are adapted so as to pass through any one of three holes 21 in the end pieces 28 of the said clamping members. Three holes are employed instead of one in order to provide a means of adjusting the clamping members to different size table tops. The inside surfaces of the clamping members may be provided with a covering 29 which is preferably of rubber or the like and which serves the dual purpose of protecting the table and of increasing the degree of frictional engagement between the said inside surfaces of the said clamping members and the side of the table 30. The spring leaf 2! is preferably located at about the center of the clamping member with which it is associated. It is understood, of course, that any means which tends to urge the clamping member in a downward direction may be used in lieu of the spring leaf shown.

The stop 22, preferably located underneath the spring leaf, may be for-med of a block of wood and as will be seen most clearly from Fig. '7, the clamping member is cut away in the vicinity of the stop so as to enable the said clamping member to be brought to a lower position before engaging the stop. Cleats 23 and 25 may be positioned so as to be the width of a standard bridge table apart or they may be positioned at a slightly greater distance so as to provide for minor variations in the size of such tables.

In setting the supplementary table top upon a table 30, it is first placed upon the table in the position shown in Fig. 2. It may be brought to this position by merely pushing it down upon the table or if it is desired to avoid rubbing of the inside surfaces of the clamping members against the sides of the table then before placing the section upon the table the clamping members I1 and I8 may be pushed upward manually, thus producing an increased clearance between them. Section A is then placed over the table 38 as shown, with the cleat 23 against the edge of the said table. If clamping members ll and 58 have been pushed upward manually, the manual pressure may then be released and the inside surfaces thereof will engage the side of the said table 30. The spring leaf 24 by maintaining downward pressure on the said clamping members increases the thrust of said members against the sides of the table. Section B is then folded downward and put into place in a similar fashion. The supplementary table top is then in the position shown in Fig. 1.

The lateral pressure thus exerted by the clamping members on either sides of the table will firmly secure the supplementary table top and sections A and B thereof to the table. Should there then be an upward pressure exerted against the said sections or either of them, then by reason of the eccentric location of the holes 22 with relation to the arcuate inside surfaces of the clamping members, such pressure will be translated into an increased lateral pressure and thus serve to more tightly secure the said sections to the sides of the said table 3%. Hence, if an individual sitting alongside such supplementary table top should accidentally bring up his knee against the table top, it would not disengage the same from the table but would serve to more tightly retain the same in place on the table.

The embodiment of my invention shown in Fig. 8 differs from the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-7 only in that sections C and D are, in outline, halves of an oval instead of halves of a rectangle. This embodiment is shown merely to demonstrate that my invention may be applied to a variety of shapes of supplementary table tops.

Although in the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1-7, sections A and B are connected at their adjoining edges by a hinge ill, such hinge is not necessary to the successful practice of all forms of my invention. Since each section has an independent set of clamping members, each could be individually affixed to the table. Nor need the sections of a supplementary table top made in accordance with my invention be only two in number. There may be only one large section. Again, a supplementary table top made in accordance with my invention may con sist of the embodiment shown in Fig. 9 where three sections, E, F and G- are shown. Since each of these have associated therewith a set of clamping members, they could be independently amxed to a table. The provision of multiple sections enables the user to employ combinations of them and hence the size of the supplementary table top which may thus be applied to a table may be varied.

While in the embodiment shown in the drawings and those described above, it has been indicated that there should be two clamping members on each section, it is obvious that a section may be applied to a table which has only one of such clamping members on its underside. In such case, one side member would be in direct contact with a side of the table 39 while the other would have mounted thereon a clamping member which would exert pressure against the opposite side of the said table. In the claims, the term blocking member is employed to designate generically any member, whether it be for example, a side member or another clamping member, which is oppositely disposed from a clamping member and could serve to retain an interposed table in place against the thrust of the said opposite clamping member.

Nor is it necessary to all forms of my invention that side members be employed. Manifestly without departing from the spirit of my invention, clamping members, spring leafs and the like may be affixed directly to the underside of a top member, Since the clamping members exert sufficient force to retain the sections of the supplementary table top in place, it is not necessary that cleats 23 and 2d be employed. They are used in connection with the preferred embodiment of my invention merely as a supplementary means of preventing horizontal play along the length of the said supplementary table top. In the preferred embodiment of my invention shown, the clamping members extend the length of the section with which they are associated but they need not do so. They may be made a fraction of the length of such section. In such event, the side members might also be correspondingly reduced in length or a different means of mounting the said clamping members may be employed.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous additional changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without transcending the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A supplementary table top intended to be superimposed upon a table top comprising a fiat top member, a blocking member secured to said top member and dependent therefrom and a clamping member dependent from said top member positioned opposite said blocking member and including a longitudinally extending element having an arcuate surface presented toward said blocking member, said element being greater in longitudinal extent than in width, said element being eccentrically pivoted about a longitudinal axis thereof, the radial distances between said axis and the upper portions of said arcuate surface being greater than the radial distances between said axis and the lower portions of said arcuate surface, whereby a relative downward movement of said arcuate surface with respect to said top member will result in a reduction of the distance between a vertical tangent to said surface and said blocking member so that a table top disposed between said surface and said blocking member may be tightly engaged between said surface and said blocking member,

2. A supplementary table top intended to be superimposed upon a table top, as described in claim 1, and resilient means engaging said clamping member to maintain a downward pressure on said longitudinally extending element, tending to move said arcuate surfaces thereof in a downward direction.

3. A supplementary table top intended to be superimposed upon a table top, comprising at least two sections, each such section including a substantially flat top member, longitudinally extending side members depending from a pair of opposite sides of each top member and at least one clamping member mounted on the inner side of each said end members extending substantially parallel to the opposite clamping member, each such clamping member including a longitudinally extending element having an arcuate surface presented toward said opposite clamping member and being greater in longitudinal extent than in width, said element being eccentrically pivoted about a longitudinal axis thereof by coacting means on said element and said side member to which it is mounted, the radial distances between said axis and said upper portions of said arcuate surface being greater than the radial distances between said axis and the lower portions of said arcuate surface, whereby a relative downward movement of said arcuate surface with respect to the top member under which it is mounted will result in a reduction of the distance between the vertical tangents to each pair of oppositely disposed arcuate surfaces, so that a table top disposed between said oppositely disposed surfaces may be tightly engaged therebetween.

4. A supplementary table top intended to be superimposed upon a table top, as described in claim 3, and resilient means engaging each said clamping member to maintain a downward pressure on each said longitudinally extending element, tending to move said arcuate surfaces thereof in a downward direction.

5. A supplementary table top intended to be superimposed upon a table top, as described in claim 4, said elements being sufficiently close to the bottom portions of each said side member upon which it is mounted to permit a user to manually touch said elements and exert an upward pressure thereon thus enabling direct manual disengagement of said clamping members.

ADOLPI-I REISMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 388,924 Smith Sept. 4, 1888 1,203,752 LeClaire Nov. 7, 1916 1,425,868 LaPoint Aug. 15, 1922 1,904,897 Kahrs Apr. 18, 1933 1,983,138 Lehman Dec. 4, 1934 2,008,613 Hernes July 16, 1935 2,278,414 Carlson Apr. 7, 194.2

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