IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BIRD CAGES AND OTHER CAGES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Ford, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Pattern Maker, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF BIRD CAGES AND OTHER CAGES."
Sealed the 4th August 1871, and dated the 16th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Ford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th February 1871.
I, RICHARD FORD, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Pattern
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BIRD CAGES AND OTHER CAGES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing the said cages by the pro-
cess or combination of processes herein-after described, whereby great
facility in the manufacture of bird and other cages of an ornamental
character is secured.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the manufacture of a bird
cage. I take a series of the wires which in the finished cage constitute

page_text: the vertical bars or sides of the cage, and I lay the ends of the wires in
moulds, that is to say, I take two moulds, in one of which one end of
each wire of the series is placed, and in the other mould the other end of
each wire of the series is placed. The said moulds have the ornamental
figure which it is intended the upper and lower beadings or framework
of the cage shall have, and the said moulds are made, by preference,
of cast iron or other hard metal. Into the said moulds I pour the
melted metal or alloy of which the beadings are to be made. In this
way the series of wires are secured at the proper distances apart in
portions of the top and bottom ornamental beadings. By connecting
together a series of the pieces or sections thus made the vertical sides of
the cage are produced, the portions of the lower beading being con-
nected to the bottom plate of the cage and the portions of the upper
beading being connected to the dome or top of the cage. The said
cast portions of the beadings are also connected together end to end
by soldering or otherwise, so as to give continuity to the beadings.
Where the lower part of the cage is to he made unperforated I effect
the junction of the pieces of which the said unperforated part is
made by inserting their edges in moulds and casting junction pieces
in the said moulds so as to join the pieces together. When in place of
straight wires the vertical sides of the cage have to be made of wire or
lattice work or perforated metal, I insert the top and bottom edges of
the same in moulds and cast thereon portions of the top and bottom
beadings in the manner herein-before described with reference to wires.
By my Invention great facility in the production of bird and other
cages of a variety of ornamental patterns is obtained, for example, the
pieces or sections made as described may have a convex figure or a
plane figure, or a concave figure. In the first case the body of the cage
may either have a cylindrical figure or a cylindrical or other figure with
convex flutes, in the second case it will have a prismatic figure, and in
the last case it will have a cylindrical or other figure with concave
flutes.
Other shaped sections or pieces made and combined according to my
Invention may be employed to produce cages of a different ornamental
character.
The holders for the seed and water vessels may be made by the process
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Ford in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
FORD, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Pattern Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Ford, Her special
licence that I, the said Richard Ford, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Ford, my exe-
cutors, 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 MANUFACTURE OF BIRD CAGES AND OTHER CAGES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Ford, 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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Ford, 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:
My Invention consists in manufacturing the said cages by the process
or combination of processes herein-after described, whereby great facility
in the manufacture of bird and other cages of an ornamental character
is secured.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the manufacture of a bird
cage. I take a series of the wires which in the finished cage constitute
the vertical bars or sides of the cage, and I lay the ends of the wires in

page_text: moulds, that is to say, I take two moulds in one of which one end of
each wire of the series is placed, and in the other mould the other end
of each wire of the series is placed. The said moulds have the orna-
mental figure which it is intended the upper and lower beadings or
framework of the cage shall have, and the said moulds are made by
preference of cast iron or other hard metal. Into the said moulds I
pour the melted metal or alloy of which the beadings are to be made.
In this way the series of wires are secured at the proper distances apart
in portions of the top and bottom ornamental beadings. By connecting
together a series of the pieces or sections thus made the vertical sides
of the cage are produced, the portions of the lower beading being con-
nected to the bottom plate of the cage, and the portions of the upper
beading being connected to the dome or top of the cage. The said cast
portions of the beadings are also connected together end to end by
soldering or otherwise, so as to give continuity to the beadings. I also
effect the junction of the pieces or sections of which the body of the
cage is made by inserting their edges in moulds, and casting junction
pieces in the said moulds so as to join the pieces or sections together.
When in place of straight wires the vertical sides of the cage have to
be made of wire or lattice work or perforated metal I insert the top
and bottom edges of the same in moulds, and cast thereon portions of
the top and bottom beadings in the manner herein-before described
with reference to wires.
By my Invention great facility in the production of bird and other
cages of a variety of ornamental patterns is obtained. For example, the
pieces or sections made as described may have a convex figure or a
plane figure or a concave figure. In the first case the body of the cage
may either have a cylindrical figure or a cylindrical or other figure with
convex flutes; in the second case it will have a prismatic figure, and
in the last case it will have a cylindrical or other figure with concave
flutes. Other shaped sections or pieces made and combined according
to my Invention may be employed to produce cages of a different
ornamental character. The holders for the seed and water vessels and
other parts may be made by the process described.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in perspective a bird cage manufactured according

page_text: to my Invention; and Figures 2 and 3 represent some of the sections
or pieces of which the vertical sides of the cage are made. The series
of sections or pieces of which the sides of the cage are made are marked
respectively a, a, b, b, in Figure 1. Each of the sections a, b, consist
of a number of wires the ends of which are embedded or fixed in
ornamental beadings. The beadings at the top and bottom of the
section a are marked a², and those of the section are marked b² in
Figures 2 and 3. The said sections or pieces a, b, have a convex figure,
but the said sections may be flat or concave, and the beadings may have
a different ornamental character from that represented.
In manufacturing the sides of a cage by the use of the sections or
pieces Figures 2 and 3, I arrange or combine the said sections side by
side so that they alternate with one another, and I connect the upper
beading of each of the said sections to the dome or top g of the cage,
and the lower beading of each section to the lower plate h of the cago,
the said beadings being also connected together end to end to give
continuity to the beadings. I prefer to connect the beadings of the
several sections a, b, end to end, and to the top and bottom of the cago
by soldering; but I do not limit myself thereto, as the said sections may
be pinned or otherwise fastened together and to the cage. The body of
the cage thus produced has a cylindrical figure with convex flutes.
I make the sections or pieces a, b, Figures 2 and 3, of which the sides
of the cage are made by a casting process, the casting being effected in
metal moulds. The metal moulds which I use for this purpose are
represented in plan in Figure 4 of the Drawings, the said moulds being
represented separated from one another. The two pairs of moulds for
forming the section or piece a, Figure 2, are marked c, c², d, d³, and the
two pairs of moulds for forming the section or piece b, Figure 2, are
marked e, e, f, f. The fixed half moulds c, d, e, f, of the pair of
moulds are secured to the beds or bars i. The pairs of moulds c, c³, d, d³,
have the figure proper to produce the upper and lower beadings a³, a²,
of the section a, and the pairs of moulds e, e, f,f, have the figure
proper to produce the upper and lower beadings of the section b. In
making the section or piece a I lay the ends of the wires k in the fixed
lower half moulds c, d, and having placed and fixed the upper half moulds
c, d, thereon I pour into the said moulds at the gets the melted metal
or alloy of which the beadings of the sections are to be made. After
the metal has solidified the upper half moulds c, d, are lifted from the

page_text: lower half moulds, when the cast section or piece may be removed,
the wires k being embedded and fixed in the metal of the upper and
lower beadings a³, a³. The section or piece b, Figure 3, is made in the
moulds e, e, f, ƒ³, in a similar way.
When instead of wires the sides of the cage are to be made of wire- t
work or latticework, or perforated metal, the top and bottom edges
of the same are laid in the moulds, Figure 4, and the metal or alloy
to form portions of the top and bottom beadings is cast thereon, as
described and illustrated with reference to wires.
I make the door m, Figure 1, of the cage in the manner described
with reference to the sections or pieces a, b, that is to say, I lay the
ends of the wires in moulds, and cast thereon the beadings at the top
and bottom of the door. The holders n, n, for the seed and water vessels
are made in a similar manner.
Instead of connecting together the sections or pieces of which the
sides of the cage are made by soldering or pinning the ends of the
beadings of the said sections, the joining together of the said sections
may be effected by casting junction pieces upon the ends of the said
beadings. This part of my Invention is illustrated in elevation of the
full size in Figure 5, and plan in Figure 6, the said Figures 5 and 6
representing a portion of the bottom edge of a cage. a, b, are the two
sections or pieces to be joined together end to end. In effecting the
junction of the said parts a, b, I place their ends in a pair of metal
moulds, and cast the ornamental junction piece c upon them.
addition to joining the sections together end to end a foot d, when
required, may at the same time be cast upon the joined pieces or
sections.
In
Although in the accompanying Drawings I have only represented
one pattern of a cage manufactured according to my Invention, yet I
wish it to be understood that cages of various ornamental patterns or
designs may be made by my Invention by substituting for the moulds
represented others having such shapes as will produce the desired
sections or pieces of which the sides of the cage are to be made, the
said cast sections being convex or concave or flat, and so combined
together as to produce a cage of the required ornamental pattern or
design.
In place of making the door and the holder for the seed or water
vessel of cages separate and at different parts of the cage, I make the

page_text: door and the holder for the seed and water vessels combined. A com-
bined door and holder is represented in front and side elevation of the
full size in Figure 6, p being the door turning on a hinge in the usual
way, and q
the holder for the seed and water vessels. By using a com-
bined door and holder of this kind one of the ordinary openings in the
sides of the cage is dispensed with.
Besides bird cages my Invention is applicable to the manufacture of
rat cages, mouse cages, cages for squirrels, and other animals, and cages
generally.
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 illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in the
manufacture of bird cages and other cages herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making the
said cages by building up their vertical sides of a series of sections or
pieces, the said sections or pieces being made and combined and con-
nected together and connected to the cage, substantially as described
and illustrated; also the application of the said method of manufacture
to the doors and holders for the seed and water vessels of cages, as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Ford, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
RICHARD FORD. (L.S.)