IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING, UPHOLSTERING, AND GIMPING CHAIRS, SEATS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER FURNITURE MADE OF MAHOGANY OR OTHER WOODS OR OF IRON OR OTHER METALS, OR OF WOOD AND METAL PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Reilly, of the New Globe Mahogany Chair
Works, Pomona, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING, UPHOLSTERING, AND GIMPING CHAIRS,
SEATS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER FURNITURE MADE OF MAHOGANY OR
OTHER WOODS OR OF IRON OR OTHER METALS, OR OF WOOD AND METAL
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Reilly at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th June 1880.
JAMES REILLY, of the Now Globe Mahogany Chair Works, Pomona, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING, UPHOLSTERING,
AND GIMPING CHAIRS, SEATS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER FURNITURE MADE OF
MAHOGANY OR OTHER WOODS, OR OF IRON OR OTHER METALS, OR OF WOOD
AND METAL COMBINED, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
First. This Invention consists in making the backs of wooden chairs, seats, sofas,
and couches soparate from the fronts, and substituting in chairs the lower back rails
of the backs for hind rails in the fronts; and also in fastening the backs and fronts
by screws or bolts, thus enabling the second or loose seats to be entirely dispensed
with, and the fronts and backs of chairs, seats, sofas, and couches to be upholstered
separately or together.
Secondly. In improved machinery or apparatus for cramping the several parts of
the fronts, and also the several parts of the backs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and
other furniture tightly together.
Thirdly. In improved machinery or apparatus for levelling the bottoms of the
legs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other furnituro; and for boring vertical
holes in the bottoms of the legs of chairs and other furniture for the reception of
the central studs or pins of the improved furniture castors for which Letters Patent
were granted to James Reilly, dated 23 October 1878, No. 4220.
Fourthly. In improved arrangements and apparatus for enabling the fronts and
backs of chairs, seats, sofas, and couches to be upholstered with correctness and
dispatch; and, fifthly, in the manufacture and employment of metallic gimp for
chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other furniture; and in improved constructions of
D

page_text: chairs, seats, and other furniture made of iron or other metal, or of wood and metal
combined. In chairs made of mahogany or other woods, instead of making the
back parts of what are called in the trade small chairs, and also the back parts of
easy chairs, each with a top rail, two back legs, and one cross piece or splath, and a
lower back rail; or with a top rail, two back legs, one or more banisters or small
spindles, and a lower back rail, I entirely do away with the lower back rails in
the backs, and substitute for them rails in the hind parts of the seat frames or
fronts; and instead of using steam or other power for bending the wood from
which the chairs are made, I saw the parts out of the solid and put them together
in any desired manner, and I apply this method of sawing out from the solid to
seats, sofas, couches, and other furniture.
Instead of making the seat-frames or fronts of the chairs by using for each front
one front rail, two side rails, and two legs tenoned or dowelled together, and
framing the two back ends of the side rails into the two back legs by tenons,
mortises, or dowels, I entirely do away with the tenons or dowels for fastening
the backs to the fronts, and make each front with a front rail, two sido rails, two
legs, and a back rail of one or more pieces, thus making the front an entire piece of
furniture in itself.
For cramping tightly together the tenoned, dowelled, and glued parts of the
fronts and backs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other pieces of furniture,
whether square, dec-shaped, or curvilinear, I employ an improved cramping
machine constructed as follows:-To strong framework or standards is fixed an
iron table, having in it number of holes in which there are stationary and moveable
studs with large heads; the table being sufficiently large, and the holes and studs
in such positions as to suit the shapes of the fronts and backs of the chairs, scats,
and other pieces of furniture. Through the heads of the studs I pass screws, each
having at the outer end a lever or handle, and at the inner end a swivel block or
shoe, and when the several parts of the front or back of the chair or other piece of
furniture have to be cramped togethor, I hold them on the table within the shoes
by a board and bolt, and turn the screws by the levers, and as the joints are being
tightened some of the studs move in their holes and adjust the shoes to the angles
of the joints of the rails, and after the screws are strongly turned by the levers all
the parts of the fronts and backs are effectually cramped and fastoned. To fasten
the backs of the chairs to the fronts I bore holes through the backs after they have
been fitted to their places, for the purpose of having iron or other metal screws or
bolts passed through them, in order to secure them to the fronts; but before putting
in the screws or bolts I countersink the outsides of the holes to enable the heads
of the screws or bolts to be level with the outsides of the backs; or I bore the
countersinks a little deeper and fill up the spaces with plain or ornamental plugs;
and this method also applies to easy chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other pieces
of furniture.
In order to level the bottoms of the legs of chairs, sofas, couches, tables, bodsteads
and other furniture I employ a levelling machine, consisting of a level table on
strong standards and a circular saw, which revolves horizontally, the upper edge of
the saw being about level with the surface of the table, so that when the legs are
brought in contact with the revolving saw the inequalities of the legs are sawn off,
and their bottom ends made perfectly level with each other.
In chairs, sofas, couches, tables, and other articles of furniture in which my before
inentioned patent castors are used, it is very important not only that the castors
should be firmly fixed, but that their central pins, and the holes in which they are
placed, should be vertical with the levelled ends of the legs and the surface of the
Hoor, and to attain this object I place on the levelling table before described, or on
a separate one, a right and left handed screw chuck for holding each leg-concentric
with a vertical boring bit fitted to a vertical spindle, which can be made to revolve
by a pulley and strap, and be moved up by a treadle and descend by its own
weight; and when the leg is held by the chuck, and the bit made to revolve and
pressed up, the vertical hole is made concentric with the log to receive the long

page_text: central pin of the castor after the hole and the pin have been coated with glue or
cement.
For upholstering the fronts and backs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other
pieces of furnituro in a more efficient and expeditious manner than has hitherto
been obtained, I employ strong framework or standards supporting a table of any
required size, and having on it one or more frames with sides of the same shapes as
the sides of the intended seats or cushions, there being held to each frame or formed
in it one or more hollow dishes or concave moulds of any required shape, and in
one or more pieces, it being understood that the numbers and shapes of the moulds
correspond with the desired shapes of the tops of the seats and the insides of the
backs or other articles to be cushioned or upholstered, the articles being tufted,
pleated, plain, or otherwise; and in combination with each frame I employ an upper
plate or presser, which can be moved up and down by hand or by steam or other
power. The horsehair cloth, leather, rep, or other covering material of which the
cover is mado, is placed in the frame with its mould or moulds, the buttons being
placed below the material and the tightening twine passed through it whenever
they are used.
The upholstering material is placed in the interior of tho cover and pressed or
pushed down by hand or otherwise, and afterwards by the pressing plate, the
canvas bottom being placed on the material and the twino brought through it
before the pressing plate is used; or the plate, after its first pressure, is raised to
allow the canvas and webbing to be passed below it, but in either case, after the
pressing plate has given its final pressure, it is held or nipped for enabling the
horsehair, leather, or other cover, and the canvas bottom and webbing to be tacked
or otherwise fastened to the rails or frames of the fronts and backs of the chairs
and other articles of furniture.
For covering the heads of the tacks and the uneven parts or edges of the
upholstered furniture, I employ metallic gimp perforated, cut, or embossed to any
desired pattern, and fastened by nails in the ordinary way, there being in the centre
of the gimp a part sufficiently pliable for enabling it to be turned or bent as may
be required.
In my improvements in connection with chairs, seats, or other furniture made of
iron or other metal, or of wood and metal combined, I make the back and front
of each article of furniture separate, and scrow or bolt them together; and to form
the seats and backs I use continuous lengths of round, oval, flat, or other shaped
wire, laced or worked in the same way as cane; and wherever the wire arrives at
the back legs, rails, or spindles, it is stretched tightly round them similar to the
lashing of scaffolding poles, thereby obtaining a strong fastening of the parts, in
addition to the screws or bolts, or without them.
Or I weave wire netting to the required shape of tho seat, back, or other piece
of furniture, and bore holes to receive the ends, which are fastened under or behind
the frames.
When it is desired to make the seats elastic, I form grooves in the tops of the
rails and place in them bands of india-rubber, or plates and metallic springs, and
pass or coil the wire over them at every opportunity, thus obtaining elasticity as
well as strength and lightness.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Reilly in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
December 1880.
JAMES REILLY, of the New Globe Mahogany Chair Works, Pomona, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING, UPHOLSTERING,
AND GIMPING CHAIRS, SEATS, SOFAS, COUCHES, AND OTHER FURNITURE MADE OF
MAHOGANY OR OTHER WOODS, OR OF IRON OR OTHER METALS, OR OF WOOD
AND METAL COMBINED, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
First. This Invention consists in making the backs of mahogany or other wooden
chairs, seats, sofas, and couches separate from the fronts, and substituting in chairs
the lower back rails of the backs for back rails in the fronts, and also in fastening
the backs and fronts by screws or bolts, with their heads placed externally, or
embedded in the chair back, thus enabling the second or loose seats to be entirely
dispensed with, and the fronts and backs of chairs, seats, sofas, and couches to be
upholstered separately or together, and all or any part of the backs or fronts of
the chairs may be fastened with bolts and nuts previous to fastening the back to
the front.
Secondly. In improved machinery or apparatus for cramping the fronts and also
the several parts of the backs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other furniture
tightly together.
Thirdly. In improved machinery or apparatus for levelling the bottoms of the
legs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other furniture, and for boring vertical holes
in the bottoms of the legs of chairs and other furniture for the reception of the
central studs or pins of the improved furniture castors, for which Lotters Patent
were granted to James Reilly, dated 23 October 1878, No. 4229.
Fourthly. In improved arrangements and apparatus for enabling the fronts and
backs of chairs, seats, sofas, and couches to bo upholstered with correctness and
dispatch, and
Fifthly. In the manufacture and employment of metallic gimp for chairs, seats,
sofas, couches, and other furniture, and in improved constructions of chairs, seats, and
other furniture made of iron or other metal, or of wood and iron combined. In
chairs made of mahogany or other wood, instead of making the back parts of what
are called in the trade small chairs, and also the back parts of easy chairs, each
with a top rail, two back legs, and one cross piece or splath, and a lower back rail
or rails, or with a top rail, two back legs, one or more banisters or small spindles,
and a lower back rail, I do away with the lower back rails in the backs, and
substitute for them rails in the hind parts of the seat frames or fronts; and instead
of using steam or other power for bending the wood from which the chairs are made,
I saw the parts out of the solid, and put them together in any desired manner; and
I apply this method of sawing out from the solid to seats, sofas, couches, and other
furniture. Instead of making tho seat frames or fronts of the chairs by using for
each front, one front rail, two side rails, and two legs tenoned or dowelled together,
and framing the two back ends of the sido rails into the two back legs by tenons,
mortises, or dowels, I entirely do away with the tenons or dowels for fastening the
backs to the fronts, and make each front with a front rail, two side rails, two legs,
and a back rail, each of one or more picces, thus making the front an entire piece of
furniture in itself.
For cramping tightly together the tenoned, dowelled, and glued parts of the fronts
and backs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other pieces of furniture, whether
square, dee-shaped, or curvilinear, I employ an improved cramping machine

page_text: constructed as follows:-To strong framework or standards is fixed an iron table
having in it a number of holes, in which there are stationary and moveable studs
with large heads, the table being sufficiently large and the holes and studs in such
positions as to suit the shapes of the fronts and backs of the chairs, seats, and other
pieces of furniture. Through the heads of the studs I pass screws, each having at
the outer end a lever handle, and at the inner end a swivel block or shoe, and when
the several parts of the front or back of the chair or other piece of furniture havo
to be cramped together I hold them on the table within the shoes by a board
and bolt, and turn the screws by the levers, and as the joints aro boing tightened
some of the studs move in their holes and adjust the shoes to the angles of the
joints of the rails, and after the screws are strongly turned by the levers all the
parts of the fronts and backs are effectually cramped and fastened. To fasten
the backs of the chairs to the fronts I bore holes through the backs after they havo
been fitted to their places for the purpose of having wood, iron or other metal
screws or bolts passed through them; in order to securo them to the fronts, but
before putting in the screws or bolts I countersink the outsides of the holes to
enable the heads of the screws or bolts to be level with the outsides of the backs,
or I bore the countersinks a little deeper, and fill up the spaces with plain or
ornamental plugs, and this method also applies to all descriptions of easy chairs,
seats, sofas, couches, and other pieces of furniture, or I use bolts having their heads
passed from the inside to an internal chamber, and their shanks passing through
slots.
'
•
In order to level the bottoms of the legs of chairs, sofas, couches, bedsteads, and
other furniture I employ a levelling machine, consisting of a level table on strong
standards and a circular saw which revolves horizontally, the upper edge of the saw
being about level with the surface of the table, so that when the legs are brought
in contact with the revolving saw the inequalities of the legs are sawn off and
their bottom ends made perfectly level with each other. In chairs, sofas, couches,
tables, and other articles of furniture in which my before-mentioned patent castors
are used, it is very important not only that they should be firmly fixed, but that
their central pins and tho holes in which they are placed should be vertical with
the levelled ends of the legs and the surface of the floor; and to attain this object I
place on the before-mentioned levelling table, or on a separate one, a right and left
handed screw chuck for holding each leg concentric with a vertical boring bit fitted
to a vertical spindle, which can be made to revolve by a pulley and strap, and be
moved up by a treadle and descend by its own weight, and when the leg is held
by the chuck, and the bit made to revolve and pressed up, the vertical hole is mado
concentric with the leg to receive the long central pin of the castor after the hole
and the pin have been coated with glue or cement: For upholstering the fronts
and backs of chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other pieces of furniture in a more
efficient and expeditious manner than has hitherto been attained, I employ strong
framework or standards supporting a table of any required size, and having on it
one or more frames with sides of the same shapes as the sides of the intended seats
or cushions, there being held to each frame, or formed in it, one or more hollow
dishes or concave moulds of any required shape, and in one or more picces, it being
understood that the numbers and shapes of the moulds correspond with the desired
shapes of the tops of the seats or the insides of the backs or other articles to be
cushioned or upholstered, the articles being tufted, pleated, plain, or otherwise; and
in combination with each frame I employ an upper plate or presser, which can be
moved up and down by hand, or by steam, or other power. The horsehair-cloth,
leather, rep, or other covering material of which the cover is made, is placed in tho
frame with its mould or moulds, the buttons being placed below the material, and
the tightening twine passed through it whenever they are used. The upholstering
-material-is-placed-in-the-interior of the cover and pressed, first, by hand or other-
wise, and afterwards by the pressing plate, the canvas bottom being placed on the
material and the twine passed through it before the pressing plate is used, or the

page_text: "
plate after its first pressure is raised to allow the canvas and webbing to be passed
below it, but in either case, after the pressing plate has given its final pressure, it
is held or nipped by small cramps and pads bofore releasing the pressure for
enabling the horsehair, leather, or other cover, and the canvas bottom and webbing
to be tacked or otherwise fastened to the rails or frames of the fronts and backs of
the chairs or other articles of furniture.
For covering the heads of the tacks and the uneven parts or edges of the
upholstered furniture I employ metallic gimp perforated, cut, or embossed to any
desired pattern, and fastened in the ordinary way, there being in the centre of the
gimp a part sufficiently pliable for enabling it to be turned or bent as may be
required.
In my improvements in connection with chairs, seats, or other furniture made of
iron or other motal, or of wood and metal combined, I make the back and front
of each article of furnituro separate, and screw or bolt them together with wood or
iron screws; and to form the seats and backs I use continuous or separate lengths
of round, oval, flat, or other shaped wire plain or galvanized, and laced or worked
to the shape required, and as a remedy for the many complaints of moths destroying
the upholstered parts of chairs and other furniture I entirely dispense with
upholstering, and substitute galvanized or plain strong steel wire made of any
required strength and shape, and in one or more pieces. In one arrangement I
take a round frame for a chair, seat, or other piece of furniture without the back
part, and commence by coiling steel spring wire first in a small circle, and then
coiling continually until the shape is not unlike an upholstered scat, each coil of
the wire being held to its neighbour until it has reached the required size, after
which it is fastened all round to the chair front, a proper recess being made for the
purpose, and when the fasteners are hidden by gimp, and the seat covered with
any material that does not attract moths, a comfortable seat is made without
upholstering, and when desired the spring scat may have a layer of curled hair
covered with Morocco leather or other material buttoned and tufted in the ordinary
way, thus doing away with the ordinary stuffing, and affording no. harbour for
vermin of any description; and I also adopt this system of coiling, bending, or
shaping steel spring wire for the seats of chairs or other pieces of furniture of a
rectangular, curvilinear, or other shape. In another arrangement I use a metallic
ring measuring, for example, three inches internally and five inches externally or
thereabouts, and bore through the metal small holes closo to cach other and
pointing to the centre, and pass pieces of steel spring wire through the holes until
they make their appearance in the inner circle, after which the wires are bent to
the required upholstered shape, and have their outer ends passed through holes
bored through the frame of the chair seat or other piece of furniture, so as to form
a regular upholstered shape, and after the wires are mado equal I fasten cach end
to the frame, and when the chair is sat on the ends of the wires work through the
holes in the ring, and allow a springing corresponding with the centre hole in the
ring. I also bend the inner ends or points of the wires to prevent a heavy weight
from going through and pushing the ring out, and this ring or rim is made in one,
two, or more parts of round, oval, square, or of any shape to suit the piece of
furniture for which it is required, and this mode applies to any shape or form of
chairs, seats, sofas, couches, and other articles of furniture. In another arrangement
I weave wire netting to the required shape of the seat, back, or other picce of
furniture, and bore holes to receive the ends, which are fastened under or behind
the frames; or I stamp or cut out the seat from wiro netting and have a ring or
rim at the edges. When it is desired to make the seats clastic I form grooves in
the tops of the rails, and place in them bands of india rubber or plates and metallic
springs, and pass or coil the wire over them at every opportunity, thus obtaining
elasticity as well as strength and lightness.
My next improvements relate to solid bottom chairs made of mahogany or other
wood, the object being to prevent the loosening of the parts, which frequently tako

page_text: place in this class of chairs. I first turn the seat in an eccentric or other lathe to
the required shape or design, and bore and tap holes to receive the front legs; I
then turn the legs to the required form and cut threads on their tops to suit the
screw threads in the seat, and afterwards gluo and screw the parts tightly together,
thus forming very strong chair fronts. I now mortice two small holes to receive.
two nuts, and bore two corresponding holes in the back of the seat, thus completing.
the front ready to receive the back, and this seat may be made of one solid piece,
or framed together in as many pieces as may be required to form the desired
shapes. I now make the back part by forming two backs of any required shape,
and frame or bolt to them a top rail and also a splath when desired. The bolts,
which are single or double at each side, pass through holes in the backs and
through holes in the top rail and splath, when used, into nuts, and as the bolts
have notched or screwdriver heads the backs and rail and splath can be bolted
tightly together and make a very strong back part, and by boring two or more
holes to correspond with the fronts, and passing screws or bolts through the two
backs into the corresponding holes in the front, and screwing them tightly together,
a very strong substantial chair is made, and these back parts may be made of any
required shape and in as many pieces as the pattern may require, and the scrows
or bolts are galvanized, japanned, or electro plated with copper, zinc, or other
suitable metal.
On the accompanying Sheets of Drawings I represent various illustrations of my
improvements in chairs, and in Sheet 1, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are front views of
chair backs without the lower back rail or rails, and Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8'are plans
of my improved seat frames, each forming an entire piece of furniture in itself, the
back parts marked a being the substitutes for the lower back rails of the backs of
ordinary chairs, and the backs are bolted to the fronts by bolts b, Figs. 5, 6, 7,
and 8, passed through holes c, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4; or they may be fastened by
screws made of wood or other hard material. The legs connected to the seat frames.
are either strengthened by glued braces e, Figs. 5 and 6, or. by bolts and nuts, as
shewn in Fig. 7, and the backs of the seat frames may also have internal braces
dowelled and bolted to them, as shown in Fig. 7, one of the braces being marked d,
and the seat frames may bo moulded in any desired way, one example being shewn
in Fig. 9.
On Sheet 2, Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, are front views of half of the backs of
chairs having no lower back rails in the backs, but various forms and arrangements
of banisters. Fig. 15 is a front view of the upper part of a plain, strong, and
useful back part of a chair without a lower back rail, and Fig. 10 is a plan of a
chair scat shewing how long bolts may be used from back to front for firmly
bolting the joints together, and in this Figure I shew the heads of the bolts
embedded in the chair backs. Fig. 17 is a front view of the upper part of a
two-banister chair, and Fig. 18 a plan of a chair seat showing the back rail in tho
chair front notched and dowelled to the back end of the two side rails and also to
the two back legs, this back rail showing a mock or dummy back rail in one or
more pieces, which may be put in when cross framing, or made fast as shewn.
Fig. 19 is a front view of the upper part of the back of a three-banister chair back,
and Fig. 20 is a plan of the soat of a spoonbacked chair having five legs marked
and two wings g, the back and back legs being bolted to tho seat framo by bolts
and nuts h, and this chair is admirably adapted for heavy and unwieldy persons;
Fig. 21 is a side view of an easy chair with a dee-shaped or square seat, the back
having no lower back rail, and the banisters corresponding with those in some of
the small chair backs, and in this chair the back and front are bolted, as shown;
Fig. 22 is a side view of a cheap and strong chair suitable for out or in-door
purposes, having a hollow seat formed of bars, the back and front being bolted
-firmly-together, ns-shewn, and this seat may be round, square, or-oval-;-and-Fig-23-
represents a couch having flat banisters corresponding with the banisters of some of
the chairs, so as to form a part of a suite, and the back and body of the couch are

page_text: bolted or screwed together, according to my improvements, and the upholstering is
performed by one or other of the methods herein before described, and I desire it to
be understood that none of these improvements apply to cane or bent wood chairs.
In witness whereof, I, tho said James Reilly, havo hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.