THIS INVENTION relates to storage and display mechanisms. More particularly the invention has reference to a novel mechanism whereby an object such as a drawing board may be selectively held in stored relationship to a table, desk, workbench or the like, or may be brought to a retrieved attitude for display, the word "display" being understood to embrace also all other purposes and utilisations to which the object might be put once it has been retrieved and is viewable and available for use.

The invention in its simplest application relates to a mechanism whereby a drawing board may be concealed beneath any table, desk, workbench or the like and then moved when required to an efficient working disposition. While the preferred practical constructions described herein are directed to improvements in relation to the concealing and retrieving of drawing boards according to this popular and typical application of the invention, it is to be understood that numerous other uses may be made of the invention which has been designed to meet the needs of many people having different basic requirements.

BACKGROUND ART At the present time, many people do not wish to purchase or find room for a purpose-built drawing board assembly for one or more of a number of reasons. While such assemblies may incorporate every feature which could be commercially desirable, they can have the disadvantages of being too big and bulky, mostly too expensive, and often sophisticated beyond normal or small-usage requirements, while in other cases they may be limited as to adjustability to suit different working angles. In consequence, independent boards are purchased according to size requirements and used in more or less "loose arrangement on whatever table, desk or the like is available, with resultant storage and retrieval

difficulties or inconveniences due to the table being required to be cleared at other times for its other intended purposes.

Various types of writing desks have been devised in the past, incorporating store-and-retrieve mechanisms for drawing boards, but these have all required provision for pivotally or otherwise moving the desk top to allow either retrieval of the board or use of the retrieved board without fouling the desk top. In any event, such combinations as shown for example in British Specifications Nos. 998339 and 1066270 are expensive and do not address the needs of a person who wishes to use a board with an existing desk or table having a top which always remains rigid. My invention has been devised with the foregoing problems of the prior art in mind, and it accordingly has for its principal object the provision of a storage and display mechanism whereby an average user may store a chosen size of board closely beneath the top of a selected table or the like in concealed attitude, and then quickly and efficiently retrieve the board by movement thereof to a set or preferred working disposition on the table top for display and use, while remaining restrained by the said mechanism. Another object of the invention is to provide a storage and display mechanism of the type described which lends itself to use with boards within a wide range of horizontal widths, and enabling the working disposition of the retrieved board to be one in which the board overlaps the edge of the table in conveniently inclined relationship. More particularly, I aim to provide such a mechanism whereby two simple successive manual actions only are required, the first acting to bring the board from under the table, and the second acting to tilt the board to a predetermined working angle.

Thus, the invention aims to provide a system which can

be designed for users who do not have the space for a more professional board and who wish to combine a board of any desired size with a convenient table, desk or benchtop of a work bench, with easy storage and retrieval capabilities and with the efficiency of operation normally associated with more expensive or permanent stands.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a storage and display mechanism of the type described which has wider uses, such as for use by a person who has a back or neck disability and who will be able to avoid the need for bending over a drawing on the board, the person also being able to read a book, magazine or other material placed on the board without bending over. Thus, a person will be able to draw sitting upright with the work facing him to allow adoption of a more comfortable sitting posture. The invention will be particularly suitable for a person in a wheel chair for reading or drawing sitting in an upright position, and who will find the actions required for "return to storage" very simple after usage. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become clear from the embodiment later described.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides broadly, in one aspect, in a storage, retrieval and display mechanism for mounting a drawing board beneath a table top of the type which in use remains rigidly disposed horizontally, said mechanism including a pair of guide track assemblies adapted to be disposed horizontally closely beneath the under-surface of the table top in a front to rear direction in parallel relationship to one other and spaced apart a pre-determined distance to accommodate a selected board therebetween when the latter is in a rear location in stored horizontal disposition; a pair of board-mounting assemblies each adapted to be secured to a respective opposite end edge of the board to be movable therewith and each having a pivot connection to

a respective stabiliser member mounted for guided movement along a respective said guide track assembly, the board being slidable guidedly in horizontal disposition from said rear location in a direction forwardly from beneath the table top to a retrieved location in which said pivot connections are clear of the adjacent front edge of the rigid table top at a pre-determined distance in front of and below the said adjacent front edge, the parts being so made and arranged that the retrieved board may be hinged from its horizontal disposition by raising its foremost edge through an angle greater than ninety degrees past and back over the front edge of the board so that the lower face of the stored board becomes the top inclined face of the retrieved board in display and use attitude. Preferably each stabiliser member is suitably mounted on rotatable wheels movable along guide tracks of the respective track assembly, and more particularly each stabiliser member is an elongate bar extending in the direction of motion of said wheels, the latter being provided at or towards the rear part of the stabiliser bar, while the front end of the stabiliser bar has said pivotal connection and is adapted to project forwardly of the front edge of the table top when the board is in display and use attitude. Suitably stop means are provided to limit the forward travel of the stabiliser bars whereby the angular disposition of the board in display and use attitude may be pre-determined, while additionally detent means are associated with the board to ensure effective engagement of the board with the front edge of the table top when the board is in display and use attitude.

In a preferred embodiment, each guide track assembly includes a guide channel, and each board mounting assembly includes a guide rail adapted to be closely accommodated slidably in the respective channel of the respective guide track assembly. Most suitably, the engaging guide rails

and channels are shaped to provide clearance for the pivoting action when the forwardly extended position of the board is reached.

The invention also embraces a table top fitted with a drawing board therebeneath and with a mechanism as broadly described above for storage retrieval and display of the drawing board, the spaced parallel guide track assemblies being secured to the under surface of the table top by releasable fastener means. The releasable fastener means suitably comprises a plurality of screws secured through flange means of the guide track assemblies to the under- surface of the table top.

Other features of the invention will be hereinafter apparent. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Fig. 1 shows in perspective or isometric view one form of storage and display mechanism according to the invention, shown in use with a rectangular drawing board storable beneath a table top, the components being shown in the usage disposition of the board;

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically in front view the components of the mechanism at the left side and the right side, namely for each a main track assembly, a sub-frame or board-mounting assembly, a stabiliser bar and ancillary components;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the main track assemblies, showing the angle location holes;

Fig. 3A shows further details of one main track assembly and with an adjacent illustration of the wheel stopper and stopper screw fittings;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the board- mounting sub-frames for securing along one of the side edges of the board;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the stabiliser bars;

Fig. 6 shows the mechanism components diagrammatically in end elevation when in the usage attitude of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 7 is a partial diagrammatic plan view of some of the components shown in Fig. 6.

It will be seen from the drawings that the mechanism indicated generally by the numeral 10 has corresponding left and right main tracks 11 and 12 for securing by screws to the underside of a table or work bench 31 so as to be spaced apart a distance determined by the horizontal

"length" of the selected drawing board 17. The latter has at each end a respective sub-frame 13 or 14 having a pivot pin connection 29 to respective stabiliser bars 15 and 16 provided with ball-bearing wheels 20 and 21 rotatable closely in correspondingly shaped channels of the tracks, closeness of sliding being assisted by the provision of track rails or flanges 25 and 26 on the sub-frames adapted to be constrained by guide rails 18 and 19 of the respective main track once the board 17 has been brought to extended horizontal disposition so that it can be moved back and under the table top.

The nature of each of the stabiliser bars will be clear from Fig. 5 which shows one bar 15 having at one end a hole 27 for the pivot pin 29, as well as wheel axle position holes 35 at the middle and at the end opposite the hole 27. The nature of each of the tracks and sub-frames will be clear from Figs. 3 and 4, the sub-frame 13 being shown as having screw holes 34 for top fitting purposes, as well as screw holes 33 for side fitting, an integral guide rail 18, and a hole at 28 for the aforementioned pivot pin

29 which permits the board to be tilted when it reaches extended position. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the main track 11 has pre-determined screw holes 22 for fixing beneath the table

top, the track rail 25 also being clear, as well as the angle location holes 32 which permit a nylon wheel stopper 24 to be located by means of a stopper screw 23 so that the stabiliser bars cannot travel on their wheels beyond a selected position when pulled forwards, whereafter the tilted board continues to be restrained and the angle of tilt is correspondingly maintained. Figs. 6 and 7 show the components so that the tilted operative disposition of the board as in Fig. 1 will be better understood so far as the stabiliser bars (see numeral 15) are concerned, as well as the sub-frame 14 having the pivotal connection 29, and the two ball-bearing wheels 21 which are shown with their securing nuts 30. The sub-frame 14 is shown having a detent 36 in its guide rail 18 to register with the top edge of the board at the overhang as seen in Fig. 6.

As apparent from the front view of Fig. 2, the tracks and other components may be for convenience efficient aluminium extrusions, but press-formed steel fittings could be used where practicable and desirable. The said Fig. 2 best illustrates the relationship of all components in the horizontal disposition of the board when beneath and parallel to the table top, while Fig. 3 shows a main track 11 having its rail 25 cut away at the outer end adjacent the area of the angle location holes 32 so that the mating rails 25 and 18 will be clear of one another for the pivoting action.

The manner of operation will be as aforedescribed so that any of a large number of different sized boards can benefit from the corresponding track spacing, with any selected table or the like to suit the particular person's needs. The mechanism is a practical space saver since it allows for easy and effective storage when the board is not required to be used. Other applications will be obvious, such as the provision of a book rest rather than a board support, and including simple use by a handicapped person or by a wheelchair user, the latter being able to read or

draw sitting in an upright position, and when he has finished he simply pulls the top of the board towards him, pivots it down and pushes it under the table. The invention is particularly suitable for art class tables in schools, or for that matter in the provision of multi¬ purpose desks in all classroom situations.

In a practical design for a board 16mm thick, the mechanism need be no more than 3cms thick overall, so that there is minimum protrusion under the table, there being no arms or levers to interfere with leg room while the board is in place. Any of a wide range of boards may be used regardless of table depth and width, typical boards ranging from 350mm to 600mm for example.

While mechanisms as described and illustrated will therefore be found very effective in achieving the objects for which the invention has been devised, it will be apparent that the embodiments have been given by way of illustrative example only and may be subject to numerous modifications of constructional detail and design. The invention is to be understood to embrace all variations as will be obvious to persons skilled in the art, without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.