IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF LIKE MANU- FACTURE.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Harris, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Smith, and Daniel Normington, of Birmingham, afore-
said, Fitter, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF
METALLIC BEDSTEADS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF LIKE MANU-
FACTURE.
"
66
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Harris and
Daniel Normington at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 7th February 1872.
We, JOSEPH HARRIS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Smith, and DANIEL NORMINGTON, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Fitter, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE JOINTS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADs, Sofas, Couches, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF LIKE
MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
the construction of the joints of metallic bedsteads, sofas, couches, and
other articles of like manufacture, that is to say, the construction of

page_text: the parts whereby the pillars or vertical supports of the said bedsteads
and other articles are jointed to the angle bars or horizontal framing of
the said bedsteads or other articles.
Instead of the she and he dovetails cast or formed on the pillars and
on the ends of the angle bars respectively, we make the junction pieces
in the following way :-On the end of the angle bar we cast a block
consisting essentially of two branches, one horizontal and the other
vertical, the said branches being respectively parallel on their outer faces
with the horizontal and vertical webs of the angle bar, but projecting a
short distance beyond the faces of the bar. The said branches also
project below or within the ends and inner faces of the angle bar. The
inner horizontal and vertical faces of the said block pass into one
another by a curve; the front and back faces of the said block, that is,
the faces situated in planes at right angles to the angle bar, are not quite
parallel, the said faces inclining slightly to one another towards the
bottom of the vertical branch of the said block, and similarly inclining
towards the free end of the horizontal branch. On the pillar we cast a
corner block having recesses of a shape corresponding to the shape of
the blocks on the ends of the angle bar. The corner block contains two
of these recesses at right angles to one another.
In connecting the angle bars to the corner blocks it is only necessary
to insert the blocks described on the ends of the angle bars into the
recesses in the corner blocks by a vertical motion, when the said blocks
reaching the bottoms of the said recesses the connection is complete.
The joints made according to our Invention are very strong and very
steady. The engagement of the vertical branch of the block in the recess
in the corner block gives great steadiness and rigidity in a vertical plane,
while the engagement of the horizontal branch of the block in the
recess in the corner block gives great steadiness and rigidity in a
horizontal plane.
Joints made according to our Invention are not liable to the fracture
which is so great an inconvenience in joints of the ordinary kind.
Our Invention is not only applicable to metallic bedsteads, sofas, and
couches, but also to other articles of like manufacture, that is, articles
the parts of which are jointed together by joints of a like kind.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Harris and Daniel Normington in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
HARRIS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Smith, and DANIEL
NORMINGTON, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Fitter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Harris and
Daniel Normington, Her special licence that we, the said Joseph Harris
and Daniel Normington, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Joseph Harris and Daniel Normington, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,'
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE JOINTS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER ARTICLES
OF LIKE MANUFACTURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Joseph Harris and Daniel Normington, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Harris and Daniel
Normington, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to
say:-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
the construction of the joints of metallic bedsteads, sofas, couches, and
other articles of like manufacture, that is to say, the construction of the

page_text: parts whereby tlie pillars or vertical supports of the said bedsteads and
other articles are jointed to the angle bars or horizontal framing of the
said bedsteads or other articles.
Instead of the she and he dovetails cast or formed on the pillars and
on the ends of the angle bars respectively, we make the junction pieces
in the following way:-On the end of the angle bar we cast a block
consisting essentially of two branches, one horizontal and the other
vertical, the said branches being respectively parallel on their outer faces
with the horizontal and vertical webs of the angle bar, but projecting a
short distance beyond the faces of the bar. The said branches. also
project below or within the ends and inner faces of the angle bar. The
inner horizontal and vertical faces of the said block pass into one another
by a curve; the front and back faces of the said block, that is, the faces
situated in planes at right angles to the angle bar, are not quite parallel,
the said faces inclining slightly to one another towards the bottom of
the vertical branch of the said block. On the pillar we cast a corner
block having recesses of a shape corresponding to the shape of the blocks
on the ends of the angle bar. The corner block contains two of these
recesses at right angles to one another.
In connecting the angle bars to the corner blocks it is only necessary
to insert the blocks described on the ends of the angle bars into the
recesses in the corner blocks by a vertical motion, when the said blocks
reaching nearly the bottoms of the said recesses the connection is
complete.
The joints made according to our Invention are very strong and very
steady. The engagement of the vertical branch of the block in the
recess in the corner block gives great steadiness and rigidity in a vertical
plane, while the engagement of the horizontal branch of the block in
the recess in the corner block gives great steadiness and rigidity in a
horizontal plane.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan the joint of a metallic bedstead or other
article of metallic furniture constructed according to our Invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same; and Figures 3 and 4 are vertical.
sections of the same, the section Figure 3 being taken on the line a, a,

page_text: Figure 1, and the section Figure 4 being taken on the linc, b, b,
Figure 1.
'
Figure 5 represents a plan of the corner block without the angle bars;
Figure 6 represents in end elevation and plan of upper side the joint end
of one of the angle bars; and Figure 7 represents a side elevation and
plan of upper side of the same. The same letters of reference indicate
the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
t
:
c is the corner block cast in the usual manner upon the pillar d;
e, e, are the angle bars constituting the horizontal framing of the bed-
stead or article of furniture. On the end of each of the angle bars e, e,
is an angular block consisting essentially of two branches marked
respectively ff, the branch f being horizontal and parallel on its outer
face with the horizontal web of the angle bar e, and the branch fª being:
vertical and parallel on its outer face with the vertical web of the
angle bar e, the said branches projecting a short distance beyond the
faces of the said bar e. The inner horizontal and vertical faces of the
block ff, pass into one another by a curve, as represented. The four
vertical faces of the said block ff, are slightly inclined to one another,
that is to say, the two opposite faces marked h, h², are not quite parallel,
but incline towards. one another from above downwards, and the two,
opposite faces marked h³, h*, similarly incline towards one another from
above downwards. The inclination of the faces h,, h², of the angular;
block ff is best seen in Figures 2, 3, and 6, and the inclination of the.
faces h³ and h* is best seen in Figures 4 and 7. The front face of the
vertical branch f³ of the angular block is furnished with a taper rib or:
projection f³. The corner block c has recesses i, i, made in. it at right.
angles to one another of a shape corresponding to the shape of the
angular blocks on the ends of the angle bars e, e, the taper recesses to
receive the taper ribs f³ on the blocks being marked. 2, 2. Each of the
angular blocks f, f, f, on the ends of the. angle bars e, e, is engaged
with its recess i, i², in the corner block ċ by a vertical motion, the four
inclined faces of the angular block entering and nearly filling up the
angular recess in the corner block in the manner shown in Figures 2, 3,
and 4, the taper rib f³ also accurately fitting in its taper recess .. In
Figure 5 the tapering of the several recesses is best seen.
,،
It will be seen by an examination of the Drawing that the engagement
of the vertical branch f* of the angular block in the recess i in the corner
block gives great steadiness and rigidity to the joint in a vertical plane,

page_text: while the engagement of the horizontal branch of the said block in the
said recess i gives great steadiness and rigidity to the joint in a horizontal
plane. The rib f³ by its wedging action gives increased steadiness to
the joint.
The joints made according to our Invention are very strong and very
steady, and are not liable to the fracture which is so great an incon-
venience in joints of the ordinary kind.
Our Invention is not only applicable to metallic bedsteads, sofas,
and couches, but also to other articles of like manufacture, that is,
articles the parts of which are jointed together by joints of of a like
kind.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention, the improvements in
the joints of metallic bedsteads, sofas, couches, and other articles of like
manufacture, herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say, making the block on the end of the angle. bar,
and the recess in the corner block with which it engages, of an angular
figure, one branch of the angular block being vertical, and the other
branch horizontal, the vertical faces of the said branches of the block
tapering towards one another from above downwards, the said angular
block when fitted into the recess in the corner block giving great
steadiness and rigidity to the joint, both in a vertical and horizontal
plane, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Harris and Daniel Nor-
mington, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand, eight
hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOSEPH HARRIS.
(L.S.)
DANIEL NORMINGTON. (L.S.)