IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS AND LEGS OF FURNITURE
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
BENJAMIN GEITIINER, of Camden Strect, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of
November (One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one), in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederick Benjamin Geithner, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Frederick Benjamin Geithner, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Benjamin Geithner, my exors, adññors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS
AND LEGS OF FURNITURE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
that I, the said Frederick Benjamin Geithner, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Frederick Benjamin Geithner, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:
My Invention consists, first, of moulding or forming the rollers for castors
of china or earthenware, as herein-after described; and I finish them in
the ordinary manner of manufacturing other articles of china and earthen-
ware.
And, secondly, my Invention consists of forming the legs of furniture of
china and earthenware when the same are constructed suitable for receiving
castors.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
I employ suitable moulds according to the size and character of the rollers
for casters, or I otherwise form them in like manner to making or shaping
other articles of china or earthenware, such rollers of castors being suitable for
moving on axes, and when partially dry and in a proper state, I place them in
a lathe and turn off or shape any parts thereof, in like manner to that in
which other articles of china and earthenware are shaped from plastic clay
into the forms desired, and such rollers are finished by fire and glazing,
as usual and in like manner to other articles made of china or earthenware,
all which processes are well understood, and in themselves are not claimed by
me; or, in place of shaping such like rollers of clay or material when in the
plastic state, as above explained, what is called "the dry process" may be
employed in moulding the clay or materials into the proper shapes for rollers
of castors, in which case metal moulds are to be formed in like manner
to similar moulds when employed in making other articles of china and
earthenware by the dry process, all of which is well understood; and the clay
or material in the state of powder is forced into the moulds, by which means
very dense rollers of china and earthenware may be made, which when glazed
and finished in the ordinary manner of manufacturing other articles of china
and earthenware, will be found very suitable for rollers of castors, and such
rollers for castors, whether moulded or formed from clay or material in the
plastic or dry state, may be ornamented by painting or otherwise, as other
articles of china and earthenware have heretofore been ornamented. In place
of making rollers wholly of china or earthenware, they may be made partly of
china or earthenware and partly of metal; thus, supposing rollers to be cast

page_text: or formed of metal of ordinary forms, but hollow at the sides, so as to admit of
discs of china or earthenware or other material being introduced into the
hollow sides, such discs having holes through them for the passage of the axis,
the disc thus introduced at the sides may be made more or less ornamental, and
may be fixed in any suitable manner, but I prefer to turn the metal down over
the circumference or edge of each of such dises, which may readily be done
by placing a roller in a chuck of a lath and pressing a smooth tool or
burnisher to the edge, so as to press down the metal over the outer edge of
the disc, as the chuck with the roller is caused to revolve and thus to hold it
securely, and in this manner may similar discs of other material be fixed, so as
to make the rollers more ornamental and to appear solid.
In carrying out the second part of my Invention, I mould the legs of
furniture (in such manner as to have castors applied thereto), of china or
earthenware, and I mould or shape the legs to the forms desired of plastic
clay, whether the same be plain or ornamental; and where the pattern will
admit of it, the legs thus formed and sufficiently dry are placed in a lathe and
turned in like manner to what has heretofore been practised in manufacturing
other articles of earthenware or china. And such legs are to be finished and
glazed in the ordinary manner of making other articles of china, and the same
may, when desired, be ornamented by painting and otherwise, as when making
other articles of china and earthenware.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a china leg for a piece of furniture, which is suitably
constructed according to my Invention, to have combined therewith a castor.
Figure 2 is a section thereof. The leg is formed hollow, so as to receive the
stem a of a castor through it; c is a collar or disc fixed on the spindle
or stem a. The upper part of the spindle or stem a is formed with a male
screw, which serves to fix the leg to the piece of furniture; and also by means
of a nut d and suitable washers the castor is fixed to the leg.
Figure 3 shews a roller, the hollow sides of which are filled up by discs, as
described, of china or otherwise.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the details herein described, so long as the peculiar character of
either part of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the manufacturing of rollers for castors by moulding or forming them
of plastic or dry materials, as herein explained, and the manner of filling up
the sides with suitable discs, as described.

page_text: And, secondly, I claim the forming of legs of furniture of china and
carthenware, in such manner as to have castors combined therewith.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Benjamin Geithner, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
FREDERICK BENJAMIN (L.S.) GEITHNER.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Frederick Benjamin
Geithner, in the presence of
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Frederick Benjamin Geithner came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.