AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBES AND RODS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Walter Winfield, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Merchant and Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBES AND RODS USED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE."
Sealed the 3rd April 1855, and dated the 19th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Walter Winfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1854.
I, ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchant and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBES AND RODS USED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE" to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in coating the iron rods and tubes used in the
construction of metallic furniture with zinc, tin, or other metal or alloy, and
afterwards passing the said coated tubes through a draw plate, whereby the
surface of the coating is rendered smooth. Tubes and rods thus made have a
better appearance than uncoated rods and tubes of iron, and the said coating
defends the said iron from rust. The smooth surface produced by drawing is
also better for japanning upon (where the articles are to be japanned) than the
rough surface of the iron rod or tube.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Walter Winfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WALTER WINFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant
and Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Walter Winfield, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Walter
Winfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Walter Winfield, 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IN-
PROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBES AND RODS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Walter Winfield, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 Robert Walter Winfield, 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 said Invention consists in treating the iron rods and tubes used in the
construction of articles of metallic furniture in the following manner:-I
coat or cover the said rods and tubes with zinc, tin, copper, or other metal or
alloy, and afterwards pass the said tubes and rods through a draw plate, such
as is used for drawing metallic tubes; or I pass the said coated rods and tubes
through a collar of any suitable metal or material, the metal .or material of
which the said draw plate or collar is composed being varied to suit the metal
or alloy with which the rods and tubes are coated; a hard draw plate or collar

page_text: being used with a hard metal or alloy on the coated rods and tubes, and a soft
draw plate or collar being used with a soft metal or alloy on the coated rods
and tubes; the said draw plates and collars being made, by preference, and
where practicable, of a material harder than the metal or alloy on the rod or
tube to be drawn through the said draw plates and collars.
By this drawing process, a smoothness is given to the coated rod or tube,
which has a better appearance when the rods or tubes are made into furniture
than the rough surface of uncoated iron tubes and rods, or coated tubes or
rods the surface of which has not been smoothed. I sometimes improve the
smoothness given by drawing, by afterwards polishing the surface of the coated
rods or tubes with rotten stone, or by any of the other well-known 'methods of
polishing metals. I use the rods and tubes made according to my Invention
in the manufacture of bedsteads, couches, chairs, and such other articles of
furniture as are or may be made of metal.
My Invention is applicable to rods and tubes of a cylindrical, prismatic, or
other figure, as well as to conical or taper tubes, whether the said conical or
taper tubes are fluted with plane, convex, or concave, or other flutes, or any
combination of the said flutes.
My Invention is also applicable to twisted tubes and rods, and to reds and
tubes of all such forms as are or may be produced by the process of drawing.
The coating of the said rods and tubes with zinc, tin, copper, and other metals
and alloys is effected by processes well known and commonly practised, and as
the said coating processes constitute no part of my Invention, I do not con-
sider it necessary to describe the same. Where it is thought desirable, the
rods and tubes made according to my Invention may be lacquered or varnished
for the purpose of preserving the polish; or they may be painted or japanned,
the smooth surface of the said rods and tubes being better adapted for painting
or japanning upon than the uncoated and rough iron tubes usually employed
in the construction of articles of metallic furniture.
Having now described the nature of my said 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, as the same may be varied without
departing from the nature of, my said Invention; but I claim as my said
Invention, manufacturing tubes and rods used in the construction of articles
of metallic furniture in the manner herein explained; that is to say, by coating
tubes and rods of iron with zinc, tin, copper, or other metal or alloy, and
giving a smooth or polished surface to the said coated tubes by drawing the
same through draw plates or collars, which said tubes and rods may have a

page_text: higher polish given to them by any suitable polishing process, and be lacquered,
varnished, painted, japanned, or otherwise ornamented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Walter Winfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
THOS SIMPSON,
Accountant.
ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD. (L.S.)