IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTORS FOR FURNITURE ANDOTHER ARTICLES."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gibson, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER ARTICLES."

page_text: I will describe my Invention with reference to a socket castor. I
make the horn of the castor of two parallel arms or parts connected or
bridged by a nearly flat cross plate. In the middle of the flat top of the
horn and projecting therefrom is a screw box, which fits closely in an
axial hole in the bottom of the socket of the castor. The upper part of
the said hole in the socket is made into a circular seat for the head of
the screw peg herein-after described to work upon. In connecting the
said horn to the socket of the castor the screw box on the said horn is
passed into the hole in the bottom of the socket, and a screw peg having
a flat broad head is screwed from the inside of the socket into the screw
of the said screw box. The projecting end of the screw peg is next
rivetted to the under side of the bridge or cross piece of the horn, a
washer being interposed between the said socket and born. By this
means the horn is connected very strongly to the socket by a swivel
joint, the broad flat head of the peg of the horn supporting the said
horn by seating itself upon the circular seat at the head of the axial

page_text: The improvements described are applicable to plate castors, as well as
to socket castors, and when the last described part of my Invention is
applied to plate castors the centre screw usually made on the said plate
is dispensed with, and the splitting of the wood, which so commonly
happens, is avoided.
filed by the said William Gibson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GIBSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Gibson, Her special license that I,
the said William Gibson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Gibson, my 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND
OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Gibson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Gibson, do hereby

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
connecting the horn of the castor to the socket or plate of the castor,
and in securing the said socket or plate to the leg of the furniture or
other article with which the castor is to be used.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a socket castor. I
make the horn of the castor of two parallel arms or parts connected or
bridged by a nearly flat cross plate. In the middle of the flat top of
the horn and projecting therefrom is a screw box, which fits closely in
an axial hole in the bottom of the socket of the castor. The upper part
of the said hole in the socket is made into a circular seat for the head of
a screw peg herein-after described to work upon. In connecting the
said horn to the socket of the castor the screw box on the said horn is
passed into the hole in the bottom of the socket, and a screw peg having
a flat broad head is screwed from the inside of the socket into the screw
of the said screw box. The projecting end of the screw peg is next
rivetted to the under side of the bridge or cross piece of the horn, a
washer being interposed between the said socket and horn. By this
means the horn is connected very strongly to the socket by a swivel
joint, the broad flat head of the peg of the horn supporting the said
horn by seating itself upon the circular seat at the head of the axial
hole of the socket.
I secure castors to the legs or pillars of furniture or other articles by
forming at the top of the castor socket above the flange a series of three
or other number of ears or portions of a ring, separated from one another
by equidistant spaces. In each or some of the said ears a hole or holes
are made, which are tapped or plain. By means of screw pins passed
through the said holes the castor is securely fastened to the leg or pillar
of the furniture or other article.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in back elevation
a socket castor made according to my Invention; Figure 3 is a vertical

page_text: section of the same; and Figure 4 represents the horn detached from
the socket. a is the socket; b, the horn; and c the bowl or roller
carried by the horn. The said horn 6 consists of two parallel arms or
parts connected or bridged by a nearly flat cross plate (see Figure 2).
In the middle of the flat top of the horn is a screw box d, the outer part
of which passes into the hole e in the bottom of the socket a of the
castor. At the top of the axial hole e is a circular seat f, upon which
the head of the screw peg 9 works. The said screw peg 9 has a broad
head of the form represented. In connecting the horn 6 to the socket a
the screw box d is passed into the hole e in the socket, and the screw
pegg is screwed from the inside of the socket into the said screw box.
The projecting end of the screw peg is then rivetted to the under side of
the horn of the castor. Before the horn is fixed in its place a washer h,
shown detached in Figure 5, is placed around the projecting part of the
screw box d and between the horn and the bottom of the socket as
represented. The horn 6 is thus connected to the socket a by a swivel
joint, the broad head of the peg g seating itself upon and being sup-
ported by the circular seat ƒ of the hole e in the socket a, as best seen in

page_text: socket is dispensed with, and the lateral extension of the horn is con-
siderably diminished.
In Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 my method of connecting the castor to the
leg or pillar of the furniture or article is represented. For this purpose
I form at the top of the castor socket a above the flange a³ a series of
ears or portions of a ring i. In some of the ears or projecting parts i
holes are made, through which the fastening screws are passed.
In applying my Invention to metallic or tubular bedstead pillars I
give to the bottoms of the said tubular pillars the form represented in
Figure 4, and connect therewith horns in the manner described and
represented with respect to the socket of a castor.
The improvements described and represented are applicable to plate
castors, as well as to socket castors, and when the method of fastening
the castor to the leg of the furniture, represented in Figures 6, 7, 8, and
9, is applied to plate castors the centre screw usually made on the said
plate is dispensed with, and the splitting of the wood, which so commonly
happens, is avoided.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improvements in
castors for furniture and other articles,-
First. The improvements in constructing the horns of castors herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The construction and combination of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing of a swivel joint
for connecting the horn to the socket or plate of the castor, that is to
say, connecting the horn to the socket or plate of the castor by making
in the said socket or plate a circular seat, upon which the broad head of a
a screw or plain peg secured to the horn is supported, substantially as
described and illustrated.
Thirdly. The method herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the accompanying Drawing of securely fastening

page_text: socket and plate castors to the legs or pillars of the furniture or other
article.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gibson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM GIBSON. (L.S.)