Desk for physically handicapped persons

Claim 2

A desk for handicapped persons confined to wheel chairs comprising: an upright generally planar support member having retaining means extending generally vertically for adjustably receiving connectors; a generally planar narrow elongate work table having two lateral end edges and two longitudinal side edges substantially longer than the end edges; connectors secured to a first end of the table and constructed to engage the retaining means on the support member for vertical adjustment thereon to support the table at variable levels in a substantially horizontal attitude and to disengage the retaining means on occasion; a recess formed centrally in the second, free end edge of the table to accommodate the torso of a person occupying a wheel chair and to define at each side of the recess an arm rest for the occupant; the table arm rests being so located as to overlie the arms of a wheel chair when the occupant is in working position and stabilize the table with respect to the wheel chair.

Claim 3

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the table is in the form of a thin panel with the space beneath the panel being substantially free of obstructions to facilitate the locating of a wheel chair in proper selected position with respect to the work table.

Claim 4

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the interengagement of the connectors and the retaining means provides limited pivotal movement of the table about a lateral axis adjacent to the support member to facilitate raising of the free end of the table and lowering of the arm rests into contact with the arms of the wheel chair to stabilize the table and to restrain the wheel chair against unintentional displacement.

Claim 5

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the retaining means comprise a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending support rails and the table is provided with a pair of similarly spaced connectors, each engaging one rail; and interacting means are provided between the connectors and the rails to retain the connectors in selected positions on the rails.

Claim 6

A desk as claimed i claim 4; in which the rails are provided with vertically spaced apertures and the connectors are provided with projections to engage selected apertures in the rails.

Claim 7

A desk as claimed in claim 5; in which each connector is provided with at least one hook to engage and interlock with a selected aperture in its corresponding rail.

Claim 8

A desk as claimed in claim 5; in which each rail is in the form of a C-shaped channel having a continuous open passage in its forward face and a series of vertically spaced apertures in its rear wall; each connector has a neck portion to slide in the passage and a head provided with a plurality of vertically spaced rollers to be located within the channel for free vertical movement of the connector; the rollers being smaller than the fore and aft depth of the channel to permit limited pivotal movement of the connector about a lateral axis; and a locking pin projecting from the head and located to engage a selected aperture in the rear wall with the table in substantially horizontal position and to disengage the aperture in response to upward tilting of the table.

Claim 9

A desk as claimed in claim 4; in which each rail is in the from of a C-shaped channel having a continuous open passage in its forward face and a series of vertically spaced apertures in its laterally spaced side walls; each connector has a neck portion to slide in the passage and a head provided with a plurality of vertically spaced rollers to be located within the channel for free vertical movement of the connector; and a locking pin is provided to pass through selected apertures in the side walls and engage the head to support the connector at a selected elevation.

Claim 10

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the support member is in the form of a panel, and a generally horizontal base is provided to support the panel in vertical position; vertically extending retaining means are provided on both faces of the panel; and a work table is mounted on each face of the panel.

Claim 11

A desk as claimed in claim 9; in which the base is mounted on rollers to facilitate movement of the desk to a location adjacent to a wheel chair.

Claim 12

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the support member is in the form of a panel, and a generally horizontal base is provided to support the panel; the panel extends laterally across the base from side to side and is rigidly secured thereto in vertical attitude; and the base is formed with a recess at each side cooperating with the panel to define a gap at each side of the base to receive the arm rests of a dismounted work table to facilitate stable storage of the table on the base in an upright attitude adjacent to the panel.

Claim 13

A desk as claimed in claim 11; in which the panel is provided with retaining means on both vertical faces and is mounted to extend across the central portion of the base; and the recesses in the sides of the base extend to both sides of the panel to define a pair of gaps at each side of the panel to store two work tables on the same base with the support member panel extending vertically upward between them.

Claim 14

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the support member is in the form of a panel, and a generally horizontal base is provided to support the panel the base includes a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending primary support bars; the panel extends laterally across the central portions of the bars and is rigidly secured thereto in vertical attitude; and a cross bar extends across the longitudinal bars at each side of the panel and in a position spaced from and parallel to the bottom of the panel and is secured to the longitudinal bars to produce a rigid base structure; the total length of the base being only a minor portion of the length of the work table so as to provide a totally unobstructed floor area beneath the outer portion of the work table.

Claim 15

A desk as claimed in claim 13; in which a roller is provided at each end of each longitudinal bar to facilitate movement of the desk to a location adjacent to a wheel chair.

Claim 16

A desk as claimed in claim 13; in which the distance between the outer margins of the longitudinal bars is less than the width of the recess in the work table to provide a gap at each side of the base between the cross bar and the bottom of the panel to receive the arm rests of a dismounted work table to facilitate stable storage of the table on the base in an upright attitude adjacent to the panel.

Claim 17

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the retaining means comprise a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending support rails and the table is provided with a pair of similarly spaced connectors, each engaging one rail; and interacting means are provided between the connectors and the rails to retain the connectors in selected positions on the rails; each rail is in the form of an elongate channel having a continuous open passage facing the continuous open passage of the opposite rail; each connector is in the form of an L-shaped link having a first leg extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the work table and pivotally connected thereto at its free end for rotation about a horizontal axis and a second leg extending laterally into the channel and provided at its free end with a roller to travel vertically in the channel; each channel has a plurality of vertically spaced apertures in its side walls; and the interacting means comprise a pair of locking pins to pass through selected apertures in the rails and serve as abutments to engage the rollers and support them at a desired elevation.

Claim 18

A desk as claimed in claim 16; in which the underside of the table adjacent to the connectors is provided with abutments to engage the confronting faces of the rails and prevent excessive downward tilting of the free end of the table.

Claim 19

A desk as claimed in claim 17; in which the rails are arranged in a general plane spaced from the plane of the support member of define a storage pocket between them and the support member; stop means are provided at the upper end of each channel to prevent release of the rollers; and the free edge portions of the channels at their upper ends are cut away to provide clearance for the table end and its abutments to swing over the cutaway portions and descend into the storage pocket.

Claim 20

A desk as claimed in claim 18; in which the stop means are removable to permit the rollers to leave the channels and to disconnect the table from the rails.

Claim 21

A desk as claimed in claim 1; in which the length of the work table is in the range of 150 to 200 percent of the width of the table.