A filing cabinet (or sometimes file cabinet in American English) is an item of office furniture for storing paper documents in file folders.[1] In the most simple context, it is an enclosure for drawers in which articles are stored. The two most common forms of filing cabinets are vertical files and lateral files. A vertical file cabinet has drawers that extend from the short side (typically 15 inches or 380mm) of the cabinet. A lateral file cabinet has drawers that extend from the long side (various lengths) of the cabinet. These are also called side filers in Great Britain. There are also shelf files which go on shelves. In the United States, file cabinets are usually built to accommodate 8.5 × 11 paper, and in other countries, filing cabinets are often designed to hold other sizes of paper, such as A4 paper.
A wooden filing cabinet, with rollers for mobility.
Office filing cabinets are typically made of sheet metal or wood. The drawers usually use a drawer slide to facilitate opening the drawer which includes an "outstop" to prevent the drawer from being pulled completely out of the cabinet. To open a drawer on most metal filing cabinets, a small sliding mechanism known as a "thumblatch" must be pressed to release and open the drawer. Each drawer has a handle to grip and pull the drawer with. On the front face of each drawer, there is usually a label holder to allow the user to identify the contents of the drawer.
Many file cabinets incorporate a keyed lock to prevent unauthorized access to the documents being stored. There are two types of locks. A "cam lock" is activated with a key that rotates the lock. A "plunger lock" is opened with a key but can be closed by merely depressing the body of the lock. The plunger lock allows a user to quickly close and lock several cabinets in a short amount of time.
Some file cabinets have a metal plate or wire structure at the back of each drawer which is known as a follower block. The follower block can be adjusted forward to reduce the length of the drawer so that the file folders contained within remain upright and at the front of the drawer for easier access.
Horizontal file
Henry Brown, an American inventor, patented a "receptacle for storing and preserving papers" on November 2, 1886. This was a fire and accident safe container made of forged metal, which could be sealed with a lock. It was special in that it kept the papers separated.
Vertical file
A wooden filing cabinet with drawer openA DNC filing cabinet from the Watergate office building, damaged by the burglars
The invention of the vertical file remains an unsolved mystery. The Vertical Filing Cabinet section in the Early Office Museum website[2] begins with a discussion of the erroneous conclusions by highly credentialed “secondary sources", concerning the origin of vertical filing. The secondary sources claimed that a gold medal was presented at the World’s Fair of 1893 for a vertical file. The Early Office Museum found no evidence to substantiate those claims. Nevertheless, the information presented in the Early Office Museum’s discussion of vertical filing cabinets suggests that the commercial introduction of vertical filing may have occurred in 1900 when a company named the Library Bureau (founded in 1876, later a division of Remington Rand) published a catalog that included a vertical filing cabinet. A US patent was filed in 1902 by the Library Bureau that credited David E. Hunter as the inventor.[3]
Research by Ester Ellen-Poe[4] validated The Early Office Museum's findings, and suggests that the most credible claim to the invention of vertical filing, as we know it today, appears to have been by the Library Bureau. The Library Bureau’s 1903 pamphlet titled "Library Bureau Systems of Vertical Filing with Interchangeable Unit Cabinets", begins with: "Vertical filing, as originated [emphasis added] and perfected by the Library Bureau, is the most complete, accurate and practical method ever invented [emphasis added] for taking care of correspondence, catalogs, reports, invoices, orders, duplicate bills, and loose sheets, or papers of any kind for any business—large, small or peculiar."[5]).
In addition to the Library Bureau, early manufacturers of vertical filing cabinets included Globe-Wernicke,[6] Yawman and Erbe Manufacturing Company,[7] and the Art Metal Construction Company.[8]
Prior to the introduction of commercial vertical filing cabinets businesses kept papers in envelopes in turn stored in arrays of pigeonholes often lining a wall. Finding and opening envelopes and unfolding papers was troublesome and inefficient. However, the concept of vertical filing was clearly practiced as early as 1895 when a U.S. patent (533053) was issued to W.A. Cooke, Jr. for A Receptacle for Letters or Other Papers.[9][10]
After World War II, the Home-O-Nize Company was established in Muscatine, Iowa to provide returning veterans with jobs. Founded to produce steel kitchen cabinets, the company soon encountered the reality of the limited availability of steel. So the company began to make products for others. Finally a small amount of steel was secured and the company started manufacturing steel index card boxes. Soon after, larger cabinets began to be produced including filing cabinets. By designing to minimize the amount of steel, the product was an extremely cost-effective design and had huge commercial success. Home-O-Nize never did make kitchen cabinets and in 1961, the company name was changed to HON. Today, The HON Company, a division of HNI Corporation is the predominant North American manufacturer and marketer of filing cabinets.
The demand for filing cabinets was greatly expanded as a result of the commercial distribution of Xerography machines starting in 1950. This event enabled office workers to "have their own copy" of printed materials. Another influence is the expansion of government regulations that require businesses to create and keep forms and other documents. Some prognosticators have suggested the future of the filing cabinet is in doubt as electronic filing systems proliferate and become lower in cost. Nevertheless, most businesses are still purchasing computer systems with printing capabilities. Unless this trend is reversed, filing of paper is still a viable practice.
In the US, these come in two sizes: for letter-size paper and legal-size paper. Most modern commercially oriented vertical filing cabinets in the US are manufactured in two-, three-, four-, and five-drawer versions in depths of 25,26+1⁄2, and 28 inches (640,670, and 710mm). The drawers are typically supported on a three-member suspension system that allows the drawer to be fully extended for complete access.
The four-drawer vertical file, letter width, is the version purchased by most businesses. The two-drawer file is sold mostly for use alongside a desk. The five-drawer file is mostly purchased by Federal, State, and Local governments (in a 28-inch-deep or 710mm version), as it typically provides the lowest cost per filing inch. Three drawer files, the least popular version, have the advantage of being at "countertop" height so end users can easily retrieve files and use the top of the cabinet as a work area to examine file contents.
The drawers of most vertical filing cabinets are engineered to accept hanging file folders, as these have come to dominate the way most users store information. Some files still have a "follower block" in each drawer. This is a device that adjusts the apparent depth of the drawer interior so that files are kept upright in the drawer. These are the legacy of a time when most filing was done with manila folders rather than hanging files.
For home offices or lighter use applications, vertical files are manufactured in 18-inch-deep (460mm) versions. These typically have two-member suspensions and the drawers do not fully extend.
Lateral file
Lateral files
Lateral files are typically 20 inches (510mm) deep and manufactured in 30,-36,-and-42-inch (760,910, and 1,070mm) widths and 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-drawer versions. The 30-inch-wide (760mm), two-drawer version is popular for use inside cubicle workstations, as it is engineered to fit under or alongside the cubicle work surfaces. Logic for the use of 3-, 4-, and 5-drawer files is similar to that of vertical files. Unlike vertical files, most lateral files allow for side-to-side or front-to-back filing.
For letter-size files arranged front-to-back, the 30-and-42-inch-wide (760 and 1,070mm) files are the most effective, as the maximum amount of filing per cabinet is enabled. A 36-inch-wide (910mm) file, with letter-width filing front-to-back has no more capacity than a corresponding 30-inch-wide (760mm) file, as the additional space would be wasted.
Some users prefer side-to-side filing, as they can search index tabs from a seated position. All-width lateral files can accommodate this configuration, though the capacity of the file is somewhat diminished.
An advantage for lateral files is that access and view of all files can be easier than with a vertical file because the drawers do not extend as far.
In most instances, the top "5th drawer" of a five-drawer lateral file is a flipper door with pull-out shelf, as most people would not be able to access the top of a drawer at this height.
Shelf file
Filing clerk at work. (1992)
A shelf file is a cabinet designed to accommodate folders with tabs on the side rather than on the top. The cabinet has no drawers, only shelves. Some shelf files come with doors that recede into the cabinet. These cabinets are typically 12 inches (300mm) or 18 inches (460mm) deep, for letter or legal size folders respectively. Like lateral files, they are made in 30 inches (760mm), 36 inches (910mm), 42 inches (1,100mm), and 45 inches (1,100mm) widths but are usually only installed in 5-high and 6-high applications.
Side tabbed files often use color codes that represent an alpha-numeric filing system. This methodology is a way to ensure files which are frequently retrieved and returned are easy to find and do not get lost. Finding a file is easy as to color-coded tabs easily lead the human eye to the appropriate location in the filing system. Similarly, a misfiled folder is obvious as an out-of-sequence color code is obvious to the user.
Businesses such as doctors, dentists, veterinarians, police, and government agencies use shelf files and end-tabbed folders to manage large filing systems.
Variations on traditional shelf files, designed to offer increased capacity for a given floor area, include Rotary Storage systems.
Specifications
Within the United States, the primary standard for vertical filing cabinets is the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA) Standard X5.3.[11] BIFMA used to maintain a separate Standard X5.2 for lateral filing cabinets, but that standard has been withdrawn. The standards provide requirements for cabinet stability, durability, and strength, among others. The General Services Administration (GSA) also maintains standards for vertical and lateral steel filing cabinets, A-A-3186[12] and A-A-3187[13] respectively. The GSA standards define two grades of filing cabinets, medium- and heavy-duty. They reference the BIFMA standard for the medium-duty cabinets, and provide additional performance requirements for the heavy-duty cabinets. The GSA is also responsible for maintaining the standards for filing cabinets and security containers for storing classified materials; more information on that subject may be found in the article on classified information in the United States.
In the United Kingdom the dimensions and certain aspects of rigidity, construction, and safety are covered by BS 4438:1969 and BS EN 14073-2:2004.[14] The safety standards revolve particularly against stability with drawers fully open. Interlocking mechanisms to prevent opening two drawers at once are not mandatory, but the employer's responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act makes them advisable. In other EU states the EN 14073-2:2004 harmonised standard will be endorsed by the relevant standards agency, such as DIN in Germany.
In Australia filing cabinets should be to AS 5079[15] a modified version of ANSI BIFMA X5.2-1997.
Filing outside the US
Non-US firms offer filing cabinets that permit A4 paper to be used in addition to letter-size. Double file cabinets have drawers which can each accommodate two racks for folders side by side.
Many European companies engineer filing systems that accommodate hanging folders only; there are no drawer bottoms. In the US, most file drawers still have bottoms in the drawers so materials of any sort can be stored.
UK filing cabinets are slightly different from US in the width of the rails which support the suspension files, the US ones being narrower; the UK sizes are known as A4, foolscap and A3.
Decline
As some offices have tended towards paperless operation - i.e. storing more and more information on computers, rather than on paper - filing cabinets, and indeed other office furniture for long-term archival storage, have been less in demand.[citation needed]
Benefits of a filing cabinet
Filing cabinets are important in modern offices because offices have to deal with large volumes of paperwork and files on a daily basis.[16]
File cabinets are the most reliable way to store important paper documents.
File cabinets save time and energy during work by offering files and papers stored in a designated place.
The file cabinet is a useful tool for any office as paper used clutter desks and other places.
Filing cabinets reduce the chance to loss of company information and papers.
A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is 19 inches (482.6 mm) wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or ears that protrude from each side of the equipment, allowing the module to be fastened to the rack frame with screws or bolts. Common uses include computer servers, telecommunications equipment and networking hardware, audiovisual production gear, professional audio equipment, and scientific equipment.
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of 22.5 inches (57 cm). Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid–compact formats.
Paper size standards govern the size of sheets of paper used as writing paper, stationery, cards, and for some printed documents.
A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers, compartments, or pigeonholes to store items such as office supplies and papers. Desks are usually made of wood or metal, although materials such as glass are sometimes seen.
A pedestal desk or a tanker desk is usually a large, flat, free-standing desk made of a simple rectangular working surface resting on two pedestals or small cabinets of stacked drawers of one or two sizes, with plinths around the bases. Often, there is also a central large drawer above the legs and knees of the user. Sometimes, especially in the 19th century and modern examples, a "modesty panel" is placed in front, between the pedestals, to hide the legs and knees of the user from anyone else sitting or standing in front. This variation is sometimes called a "panel desk". The smaller and older pedestal desks with such a panel are sometimes called kneehole desks, they were intended for small spaces like boudoirs and were usually placed against a wall. The kneehole desks are also known as bureau tables.
A hole punch, also known as hole puncher, or paper puncher, is an office tool that is used to create holes in sheets of paper, often for the purpose of collecting the sheets in a binder or folder. A hole punch can also refer to similar tools for other materials, such as leather, cloth, or sheets of plastic or metal.
Ruled paper is writing paper printed with lines as a guide for handwriting. The lines often are printed with fine width and in light colour and such paper is sometimes called feint-ruled paper. Additional vertical lines may provide margins, act as tab stops or create a grid for plotting data; for example, graph paper is divided into squares by horizontal and vertical lines.
Ring binders are large folders that contain file folders or hole punched papers. These binders come in various sizes and can accommodate an array of paper sizes. These are held in the binder by circular or D-shaped retainers, onto which the contents are threaded. In North America, the rings themselves come in a variety of sizes, including 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 inches, though other sizes are also available. The rings may be secured by lever arch mechanisms or other securing systems. The binders themselves are typically made from plastic with metal rings. Early designs were patented during the late 19th century.
A loose leaf is a piece of paper of any kind that is not bound in place, or available on a continuous roll, and may be punched and organized as ring-bound or disc-bound. Loose leaf paper may be sold as free sheets, or made up into notepads, where perforations or glue allow them to be removed easily. "Leaf" in many languages refers to a sheet or page of paper, as in Folio, as in feuille de papier (French), hoja de papel (Spanish), foglio di carta (Italian), and ルーズリーフ.
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a type of cabinet that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers generally stacked one above another.
A file folder is a kind of folder that holds papers together for organization and protection. File folders usually consist of a sheet of heavy paper stock or other thin, but stiff, material which is folded in half, and are used to keep paper documents. They are often used in conjunction with a filing cabinet for storage. File folders can easily be purchased at office supplies stores.
Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integrated into kitchen cabinetry. There are many options for cabinets available at present.
A countertop, also counter top, counter, benchtop, worktop or kitchen bench, bunker is a raised, firm, flat, and horizontal surface. They are built for work in kitchens or other food preparation areas, bathrooms or lavatories, and workrooms in general. The surface is frequently installed upon and supported by cabinets, positioned at an ergonomic height for the user and the particular task for which it is designed. A countertop may be constructed of various materials with different attributes of functionality, durability and aesthetics, and may have built-in appliances, or accessory items relative to the intended application.
A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of furniture that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinets, chests of drawers (bureaus), desks, and the like.
Grammage and basis weight, in the pulp and paper industry, are the area density of a paper product, that is, its mass per unit of area. Two ways of expressing grammage are commonly used:
A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, schools, transport hubs and the like. They vary in size, purpose, construction, and security.
Contact paper is an adhesive paper used as a covering or lining.
An adjustable shelf is a shelf that can be adjusted according to needs. The most common variant is that the height intervals can be adjusted to accommodate various items. This allows more flexible use to hold items of value for storage, display or sale. Like fixed shelves, the horizontal planes are normally made of strong materials such as wood or steel, but their vertical positioning can be varied –usually through small, exact holes into which the supporting brackets have been inserted, or in an older method, slots which are an integral part of the cabinet itself into which the shelves are inserted.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high-pressure decorative laminate commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
The cultural property storage typically falls to the responsibility of cultural heritage institutions, or individuals. The proper storage of these objects can help to ensure a longer lifespan for the object with minimal damage or degradation. With so many different types of artifacts, materials, and combinations of materials, keepers of these artifacts often have considerable knowledge of the best practices in storing these objects to preserve their original state.
References
↑ "Filing cabinet". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
Chapter 3, "A Brief History of Vertical Filing," Get Organized at Home! How to Always Find What You Are Looking For, By Ester Ellen-Poe, Kindle Edition, 2014. ASINB00LBMY7WI.
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