The selection of filing equipment has been greatly simplified by the manufacturers, who have studied the filing problem with the view to supplying the demand for equipment to accommodate every business paper. As new problems have presented themselves, new equipment has been designed. The needs of the smallest office, as well as those of the largest corporation, have been studied and met. Heavy cabinets of solid construction have given way to cabinets built in sections, any one of which can be carried by the office boy. The man who has but a half-dozen letters a day to file finds a section exactly suited to his requirements; as his business grows, he adds other sections; the cabinet grows with the business, making one complete system, no matter how small or how large.
The most universally used of all filing devices is the vertical file. As has been explained in the preceding pages, it adapts itself to almost all of the papers found in a business office. Vertical files are made with drawers in three standard sizes: letter size, for ordinary correspondence, or papers up to 9½"×11" in size; legal or cap size, for legal blanks, reports, and other large papers up to 10"×15" in size; invoice size, for invoices, orders, credit reports, and all papers not larger than 5¼"×8". Papers 8"×10" can be filed in the invoice size by folding once.
Styles of Construction. Two standard styles of construction are used for vertical files, horizontal sections and upright sections or units. The horizontal section is made one vertical file drawer high and either two or three drawers wide. Upright units are one drawer wide, four drawers high for letter and cap sizes, and five drawers high for the invoice size.
The upright unit is the newer and preferred style of construction; it is more substantial, and for either large or small filing systems occupies less floor space. Upright units are put together as shown in Fig. 28. Each section is built with skeleton ends, and at each end of the cabinet—whether one or a dozen sections—end panels are used, making one complete cabinet. The sections are locked together, and can be separated at will. Fig. 29 shows three upright sections, in the three standard sizes, joined together to make a complete cabinet. This gives some indication of the possibilities offered by this style of construction in building a cabinet to meet every requirement.
Fig. 29. Three Upright Sections
in Standard Sizes
Browne-Morse Co.
Upright units are also made with combinations of drawers for different purposes. For a small business, an assortment of files for different purposes is frequently desirable. An entire section filled with files of one kind may not be needed, but a combination section offers a solution. The combination illustrated in Fig. 30 contains one cupboard, six shallow storage blanks, two double card-index drawers, and three document files. A vertical file drawer can be substituted for the cupboard unit.
If vouchers, or other folded documents are to be filed, the document drawers shown in the combination unit can be used, or provision can be made for filing these papers in the vertical file. The vertical file drawer is divided lengthwise by partitions into compartments of the same width as the document file. Each compartment is equipped with a follower block and countersunk rod for holding guides.
