Wood Lateral File Cabinet

Office File Cabinet- Types

Offices store records in files and keep the files in filing cabinets. An office file cabinet is a piece of equipment that you cannot do without whatever the nature of work you may be doing in your office. It can be used for both temporary and permanent storage. It can be used to store files laterally or vertically. The former is known as the lateral file cabinet whereas the latter is known as the vertical file cabinet.

A lateral file cabinet is used to store files mostly in side-to-side fashion whereas a vertical file cabinet is used to store files solely front-to-back. A lateral file cabinet has drawers that extend from its long side. On the contrary, a vertical file cabinet has drawers that extend from its short side.

The horizontal file cabinet was invented by Henry Brown, an Afro American on November 2, 1886. It was a fire and accident safe cabinet that stored papers in a sealed container made from forged metal. It was equipped with a lock and key. The vertical file cabinet was invented by Edwin G Seibels in 1898.

Office filing received a boost with the introduction of photocopying machines in 1950. It led to the expansion of the office file cabinet industry. Although today, offices are fervently trying to move towards a paperless entity, it has still not materialized on a scale that would make the office file cabinet a rarity. One of the reasons it has not materialized is that the laser and inkjet printer industry does not want to become extinct.

Office file cabinets in the US are made to store paper of letter size and legal size. Vertical type office file cabinets made there come in the range of up to five drawers in depths of up to 28 inches. Most of these file cabinets are equipped with drawers supported on a 3-member suspension system. The system allows full pull-out of drawers so as to facilitate complete access.

The most bought vertical office file cabinet in the US is the one with four drawers and in letter width. This is followed by the five drawer vertical file cabinet. It is preferred by Local, State, and the Federal government departments and agencies. The reason they all prefer it is that it provides the lowest cost per filing inch.

Three-drawer file cabinets of the vertical type are the least popular. On the other hand, their countertop height makes it convenient for users to easily retrieve files and examine them by keeping them open on the top.

The lateral type office file cabinet is preferred by those users for whom office space is at a premium. This is because the footprint of the lateral file cabinet is quite less in comparison with the huge storage space it accommodates.