Improvements in Attaching French Castors to Metallic Bedsteads and Cots and to other Articles of Metallic Furniture.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Feb., 1891-Accepted, 28th Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL, SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Attaching French Castors to Metallic Bedsteads
and Cots and to other Articles of Metallic Furniture.
I, THOMAS KENDRICK, of Summer Lane, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows :-
In order that my invention may be the more readily understood I remark that
castors of the kind commonly called French castors have bowls of much larger
diameter than the bowls of ordinary castors.
The said French castors have the advantage of greatly facilitating the motion of
the articles provided with them and their use is attended with less injury to the
carpet or floor on which they rest than that attendant on the use of ordinary castors.
But the size of the, bowls of the said French castors renders it inconvenient to
attach them on the bottoms of the legs of furniture and they are usually fixed more
or less underneath the bedstead or other article of furniture.
The methods usually employed for attaching French castors to metallic bedsteads
and the like are attended with certain inconveniences and the object of my invention
is to remedy these inconveniences that is so to attach or fix French castors as to-
secure the advantages of castors of that kind without the inconveniences usually
attending their employment.
I will describe my invention in connection with a metallic bedstead.
In attaching a French castor to a metallic bedstead according to my invention I
attach it more or less directly to the pillar of the bedstead instead of to the angle
iron of the framing as is usual. To effect this I form the corner block which is cast
upon the pillar in the following way.
Between the two branches of the corner block I cast in one piece with the said
block a quadrant shaped piece connecting the two branches of the corner block.
This connecting piece has a deep recess on its upper face extending over nearly its
whole surface. The underside of the said connecting piece has a smaller recess.
The French castor is carried by a bracket the end of the arm of which is provided
with projections of a size and shape suited to fit in the recess in the upper and lower
The end
faces of the connecting piece between the branches of the corner block.
of the bracket is fixed to the connecting piece by means of one or more screw bolts
and nuts and the castor situated behind the pillar acts very nearly as it would if it
were fixed to the bottom of the pillar while it exerts no strain on the framing of the
bedstead.
Or the French castor may be attached by means of a dovetail junction. In this
case 1 make in the connecting piece and the end of the bracket carrying the French
castor a dovetail junction similar to that ordinarily employed to connect the angle
bars of the framing to the pillar excepting that the dovetail is inverted that is the
ends of the said dovetail of largest diameter are undermost. When the connection
of the French castor is effected in this way the parts do not require to be fixed by
screw bolts and nuts.
Or the connection of the French castor with the bedstead may be effected by
being connected with the corner block of the pillar and with the pillar itself. In
this case the bracket carrying the French castor has at top a plate having pro-
jections fitting in corresponding recesses either in the connecting piece or corner
block the said plate being fixed to the said connecting piece or corner block by
screw bolts and nuts. The said bracket is also supported near its bottom by means
of a bar or stay fixed at one end to the bracket and at the other end to a collar on
the pillar or to the foot block of the pillar.

page_text: The application of my invention to metallic cots and other articles of metallic
furniture differs in no essential respect from its application to a metallic bedstead as
hereinbefore described.
33134 7 1-1
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Attaching French Castors to Metallic Bedsteads
and Cots and to other Articles of Metallic Furniture.
I THOMAS KENDRICK, of Summer Lane, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
In order that my invention may be the more readily understood remark that
castors of the kind commonly called French castors, have bowls of much larger
diameter than the bowls of ordinary castors. The said French castors have the
advantage of greatly facilitating the motion of the articles provided with them and
their use is attended with less injury to the carpet or floor on which they rest
than that attendant on the use of ordinary castors. But the size of the bowls of
the said French castors renders it inconvenient to attach them on the bottoms of
the legs of furniture and they are usually fixed more or less underneath the bedstead
or other article of furniture.
The methods usually employed for attaching French castors to metallic bedsteads
and the like are attended with certain inconveniences and the object of my invention
is to remedy these inconveniences, that is, so to attach or fix French castors as to
secure the advantages of castors of that kind without the inconveniences usually
attending their employment.
I will describe my invention in connection with a metallic bedstead.
In attaching a French castor to a metallic bedstead according to my invention I
attach it more or less directly to the pillar of the bedstead instead of to the angle
iron of the framing as is usual. To effect this I form the corner block which is cast
upon the pillar in the following way. Between the two branches of the corner
block I cast in one piece with the said block a quadrant shaped piece connecting
the two branches of the corner block. This connecting piece has a deep recess on
its upper face extending over nearly its whole surface. The underside of the said
connecting piece has a smaller recess. The French castor is carried by a bracket
the end of the arm of which is provided with projections of a size and shape suited
to fit in the recesses in the upper and lower faces of the connecting piece between
the branches of the corner block. The end of the bracket is fixed to the connecting
piece by means of one or more screw bolts and nuts and the castor situated behind
the pillar acts very nearly as it would if it were fixed to the bottom of the pillar
while it exerts no strain on the framing of the bedstead.
Or the French castor may be attached by means of a dovetail junction. In this
case I make in the connecting piece and the end of the bracket carrying the French
castor a dovetail junction similar to that ordinarily employed to connect the angle
bars of the framing to the pillar excepting that the dovetail is inverted; that is,
the ends of the said dovetail of largest diameter are undermost. When the con-
nection of the French castor is effected in this way the parts do not require to be
fixed by screw bolts and nuts.
'Or the connection of the French castor with the bedstead may be effected by
being connected with the corner block of the pillar and with the pillar itself. In
this case the bracket carrying the French castor has at top a plate having pro-
jections fitting in corresponding recesses either in the connecting piece or corner
block, the said plate being fixed to the said connecting piece or corner block by

page_text: screw bolts and nuts. The said bracket is also supported near its bottom by means
of a bar or stay fixed at one end to the bracket and at the other end to a collar on
the pillar or to the foot block of the pillar.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawing the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation one of the arrangements constituting my invention
for connecting a French castor to the pillar of the bedstead; Figure 2 represents
in elevation and Figure 3 in plan the corner block, pillar and portions of the angle
bars of the bedstead with the French castor removed, the elevation Figure 2
being taken in a plane at right angles to that in which the elevation Figure 1 is
taken.
As
The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2 and 3: a is the pillar of
the bedstead; b, b the corner block and c c the angle bars of the framing. Between
and connecting the two branches of the corner block and cast in one piece
therewith is a quadrant shaped piece to which the French castor is attached."
seen in Figure 1 the said quadrant shaped connecting piece has a deep recess in
its upper face and a recess of less depth in its under face; the said connecting
piece has also made in it two vertical holes e, e. The French castor which is
fixed to the bedstead pillar through its corner block as represented in Figure 1, is
carried by the bracket f, the arm f2 of which has projections of a shape and size
proper to fit in the recesses in the upper and lower faces of the connecting piece d
as seen in the said Figure 1.
The said arm of the castor bracket ƒ is also provided with holes for receiving
the fixing screw bolts.
In attaching the French castor to the pillar, the arm 2 of the castor bracket is
engaged with the quadrant shaped connecting piece d on the corner block and
screw bolts are passed from the upper face of the said arm through the holes in
it and also through the coincident holes e, e in the connecting piece d and on the
projecting ends of the screw bolts g, on the underside of the said piece d, screw
nuts are screwed as represented in Figure 1. The French castor thus fixed
behind the pillar through its corner block exerts no strain on the framing of the
bedstead and acts very nearly as if it were fixed to the bottom of the pillar.
Instead of the quadrant shaped recessed connecting piece d Figures 1, 2, and 3
the connecting piece between the branches b, of the corner block may have the
construction represented in elevation in Figure 4 and plan in Figure 5 and marked d²,
the said connecting piece having cast in it the horizontal screw pins i, i. In this
case the arm f of the castor bracket has the form represented in elevation and plan
in Figure 6 the vertical part of the said arm f being provided with holes k, k In
connecting the castor Figure 6 to the connecting piece of the corner block,
Figures 4 and 5, the holes in the arm 3 of the French castor are passed onto
the fixed screw pins i, i of the piece and screw nuts are then screwed on the said
screw pins.
Figure 7 represents in elevation and Figure 8 in plan my arrangement for
attaching the French castor to the connecting piece on the corner block by a
dovetail junction: Figure 9 represents in elevation and plan the French castor
detached. In this arrangement the connecting piece & cast between the
branches b, of the corner block, is furnished with a she or hollow dovetail Z and
the arm 3 of the castor bracket is provided with a he-dovetail m.
It will be seen
by an examination of the drawing that an inverted dovetail junction 1, m is used
that is the ends of the he and she dovetails are of largest diameter undermost, the
connection being effected by placing the narrow end of the he-dovetail m on the
bracket arm into the wide end of the she-dovetail 7 in the connecting piece d² and
engaging the two parts together by an upward vertical movement of the castor
bracket, the castor so connected to the pillar requiring no fixing screw bolts and
nuts.
Figure 10 represents the arrangement of my invention in which the French
castor is connected with the corner block of the pillar and with the pillar itself, the

page_text: P.
said arrangement Figure 10 being especially applicable to the corner blocks of
bedsteads fitted with extended foot rails.
In this arrangement the castor bracket f
is provided at top with a plate » passing under the corner block & the inner end of
the plate being turned up or having projections or flanges at which clip the
corner block at two points and thereby prevent the displacement of the said plate.
The castor top plate n is fixed to the corner block by screw bolts and nuts at
Fixed screw pins may either be cast in the corner block or loose screw bolts may
be used for fixing the long plate to the corner block; and instead of connecting
the plate to the corner block it may be secured to a connecting piece between the
branches of the corner block of either of the kinds represented in Figures 3 and 5.
The bracket of the castor Figure 10 is also supported near its bottom by means
of the horizontal bar or stay q fixed at one end to the bracket fand at the other
end to the collar cast upon or otherwise attached to the pillar. Or an oblique
stay may be used connected at bottom to the foot block of the pillar a.
Figures 11 and 12 represent modifications of the last described arrangement in
which modified arrangements the necessary support is given to the castor bracket
without the use of a separate stay.
In the arrangement Figure II the bottom arms of the castor bracket takes
under the foot of the pillar a a hole in the said arm s passing onto a screw pin cast
in the foot of the pillar in place of the usual castor peg. By means of a screw
mutt screwed on the pin at the foot of the pillar the bottom arms of the castor
bracket is secured to the pillar. The upper arm or part 2 of the castor bracket is
secured to the connecting piece g² on the corner block by screw bolts and nuts at g
as hereinbefore described with respect to Figures 1, 2 and 3.
In the arrangement Figure 12 the same object is attained by means of the
cranked connecting pin which serves to connect the bracket to the connecting
piece on the corner block and to the pillar a. That is to say, the bottom of the
pin is bent or cranked at ² and passes under the foot of the pillar the bent
or cranked pin being of such a length that it extends a little above the corner
block.
In applying the pin u, u² to the castor bracket its straight part is passed from
the bottom through an eye in the arm on the bracket and a screw nut y passed
onto it. The straight part of the pin is then passed through the arm on the
bracket and through the connecting piece on the corner block. The pin is
finally fixed at top by the screw nut ³ screwed on the end of the pin above
the block and by the screw nut screwed onto the pin at the foot of the
pillar.
Instead of casting the connecting piece between the branches of the corner block
in one piece with the corner block as described and represented it may be made of
a separate piece of malleable iron or wrought iron bolted or otherwise connected to
the corner block.
Instead of connecting the upper part of the bracket arm of the French castor to
the pillar of the bedstead by means of a projection cast with or attached to the
corner block as before described, connecting pieces of the kinds represented may
be secured to or cast upon the pillar below the corner block but I prefer to
carry my invention into effect in the ways I have represented in the accompanying
drawing.
The application of my invention to metallic cots and other articles of metallic
furniture differs in no essential respect from its application to a metallic bedstead as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim
as my invention of "Improvements in attaching French castors to metallic
bedsteads and cots and to other articles of metallic furniture"
First Attaching French castors to the pillars of metallic bedsteads and other
articles of furniture either at the corner blocks or at connections on or below the

page_text: corner blocks in the several ways or by the use of the combinations of parts
substantially as herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
and 9 of the accompanying drawing.
Secondly The modified arrangements or combinations of parts hereinbefore
described and illustrated in Figures 10, 11, and 12 of the accompanying drawing in
which the French castors are attached both to the corner blocks or connections on
the corner blocks on the pillars and to the pillars at points below the corner
blocks.
Diko Olot doar of Wohmar 1801
THOMAS KENDRICK.