Supports – Easel; book – copy or music score holder – Knockdown or collapsible
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-03
2004-06-08
Chan, Korie (Department: 3632)
Supports
Easel; book, copy or music score holder
Knockdown or collapsible
Reexamination Certificate
active
06745988
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a workstation attachment for a portable easel, more particularly, to a so-called French easel of the type which has a drawer and a workstation attachment which fits onto that drawer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A common portable easel, primarily for use outdoors, by painters, water colorists and other artists is known variously as the “French easel”, the “Jullian easel” or the “box-type easel”. This widely-used easel has the advantage of being compact, since the legs of the easel and the artwork support fold into the frame which is rectangular and has a box configuration. The easel usually also has a drawer which is pulled out in the direction of the artist once the easel is erected and is in use. Such easels have been described and illustrated in commercial literature and, reference may be had to the May 2002 issue of American Artist, which shows a metal shelf which is attached laterally to the easel and is marketed by G. Hemson Fine Art of Manitou Springs, Colo. 80829. That surface, laterally of the easel, serves to support a palette, towels, supplies, etc.
Another system for increasing the surface area available for use by the artist is that which has been described as the “French Companion” or “French Mistress” which is a folding tray which rests upon the aforementioned easel drawer and has surfaces above the drawer and laterally of the drawer to either side.
The side shelf, while providing a substantial area, is predominantly at a location which cannot readily be reached by an artist in front of the easel and the folding tray which rests upon the drawer obstructs the interior of the drawer and thus provides additional work surfaces but only at the expense of the storage capacity of the drawer. Various other solutions to problems with French easels are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,149,463, 5,337,996 and 6,012,696. Reference may also be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,372,630 and 5,860,318.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a workstation attachment for a French easel which can have augmented work surfaces without detracting from the utility of the drawer.
Another object of this invention is to provide a workstation for a French easel which can be simply attached thereto, which will provide additional working surfaces and facilities, and which when removed, is itself compact and easy to handle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the present invention, in a workstation attachment for a French easel which provides a platform for a palette on one side and, on the other side, brush racks, a support for a paper towel holder and space for jars, solvents and other accessories useful to the artist.
Key to the invention is that this workstation has a pair of slides which engage the sides of the drawer from the exterior so that the workstation underlies the drawer between those slides and therefore does not obstruct the drawer. The workstation can project toward the artist forwardly of the drawer and there provides a shelf for the storage of additional paraphernalia useful to the artist. More particularly, the easel assembly of the invention can comprise:
a box-shaped casing;
a plurality of folding legs mounted on and extendable from the casing for supporting the casing upon a surface;
an artwork support structure mounted on and erectable from the casing for supporting an artist's work surface;
a drawer receivable in the casing and extendable therefrom in a direction transverse to the surface and toward a user of the easel, the drawer having a pair of longitudinal sides extending in the direction; and
a workstation attachment for the easel comprising:
an elongated tray dimensioned to extend below the drawer and beyond the sides, and
a pair of slides on the tray engaging the sides of the drawer and supporting the tray on the drawer.
As noted, a pair of brush racks can be mounted on one end of a tray to one side of the drawer while another end of the tray forms a palette receiving surfaces of the opposite end of the drawer.
The tray itself can have two parts and thus can fold at a hinge between those parts.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2586524 (1952-02-01), Dussardier
patent: 2739863 (1956-03-01), Ferris
patent: 2808308 (1957-10-01), Papelian et al.
patent: 3202471 (1965-08-01), Wilson
patent: 3476456 (1969-11-01), Canavan
patent: 3669227 (1972-06-01), Alford
patent: 4149763 (1979-04-01), Delahaie
patent: 4372630 (1983-02-01), Fuhri
patent: 4723821 (1988-02-01), Montgomery
patent: 4856856 (1989-08-01), Winstone
patent: 5337996 (1994-08-01), Kalish
patent: 5860518 (1999-01-01), Axelrod
patent: 5899429 (1999-05-01), McCloud
patent: 6012696 (2000-01-01), Borie
patent: 6394567 (2002-05-01), Welch
Chan Korie
Dubno Herbert
Wujciak A. Joseph
LandOfFree
Workstation attachment for french easel does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Workstation attachment for french easel, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Workstation attachment for french easel will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3313558