IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING PICtures and MirrORS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Sydney Smith, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Medical Practitioner, for the Invention of
"
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING PICtures and MirrORS, AND
FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 13th February 1874, and dated the 1st September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Sydney
Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st September 1873.
I, CHARLES SYDNEY SMITH, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Medical Practitioner, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING PICTURES
AND MIRRORS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the suspending of pictures, mirrors,
and such other articles as are or may be suspended from a wall, in such
a manner that the said pictures or articles may be inclined at any
required angle to the wall, and the angle of inclination readily changed
at pleasure.

page_text: I will describe my Invention in connection with the suspending of a
picture.
Instead of suspending the picture by means of rings fixed to the back
of the frame, I suspend it by means of apparatus constructed in the
following manner:-The said apparatus consists of two parts made of
metal and alike in construction, the said two parts being respectively
fixed to the back of the vertical sides of the frame.
Each of the said parts of the apparatus is constructed as follows:—
A fixing or base plate is secured by screws or otherwise to the back of
the frame. To the middle of this fixing plate a knuckle is jointed, the
said knuckle being capaple of rotating or swivelling on the said plate.
To this knuckle two other knuckles situated on the end of a short arm
are jointed, the joint resembling that of an ordinary hinge. To the free
end of the said short arm another arm is jointed, the joint being formed
like that of an ordinary hinge. The last named arm tapers towards its
unjointed end and terminates in one or more sharp points. To the
joint which connects the two arms together a metal loop is jointed, the
pin or axis of the joint by which the two arms are jointed together con-
stituting the axis on which the said loop is fixed and turns. To this
loop the cord by which the picture is suspended is attached.
When it is wished that the picture shall hang flat against the wall or
with only such inclination as it takes in consequence of its being sus-
pended from the back, the two arms are folded upon one another, the
pointed arm being outwards, and the folded arms make the same angle
as the cord with the vertical side of the frame in consequence of the
power which the said arms have of rotating or swivelling upon the base
or fixing plate.
When it is wished to incline the picture forward at a greater angle
the folded arms are turned or swivelled so as to bring the loop to its
lowest position. By then raising the folded arms vertically in a plane
perpendicular to the back of the frame, and at the same time opening
out the pointed arm or separating it from the other arm, the point of the
pointed arm may be placed against the frame at any required distance
above the fixing plate. In proportion as the distance between the fixing
plate and the place where the point of the tapering arm is placed
increases the angle which the two arms make with each other becomes
greater, and the suspending loop is brought proportionately nearer to

page_text: the back of the frame. The loop from which the picture is suspended
may thus be adjusted to any required distance at the back of the frame
by simply changing the position of the point of the tapering arm; the
more distant the suspending loop is from the back of the frame the more
the upper part of the picture will incline from the wall. The pointed
end of the tapering arm fixes itself against any part of the frame at
which it is placed, the whole weight of the picture tending to fix the
said taper arm in its place.
I prefer to fix the two parts of the apparatus at the back of the frame
at a point distant from the top of the frame about one third the length
of the vertical side of the frame. I do not however limit myself to this
position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance
of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Sydney Smith in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 25th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
SYDNEY SMITH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Medical
Practitioner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her, most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Sydney Smith,
Her special license that I,. the said Charles Sydney Smith, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Sydney Smith, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUSPENDING PICTURES
AND MIRRORS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Sydney Smith, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of thıcir
hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Charles Sydney Smith, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object the suspending of pictures, mirrors,
and such other articles as are or may be suspended from a wall in such
a manner that the said pictures or articles may be inclined at any
required angle to the wall, and the angle of inclination readily changed
at pleasure.
I will describe my Invention in connection with the suspending of a
picture.
Instead of suspending the picture by means of rings fixed to the back
of the frame I suspend it by means of apparatus constructed in the.
following manner :— -The said apparatus consists of two parts made of
metal and alike in construction, the said two parts being respectively
fixed to the back of the vertical sides of the frame.
-
Each of the said parts of the apparatus is constructed as follows :- -A
fixing or base plate is secured by screws or otherwise to the back of the
frame. To the middle of this fixing plate a knuckle is jointed, the said
knuckle being capable of rotating or swivelling on the said plate. To
this knuckle two other knuckles situated on the end of a short arm are
jointed, the joint resembling that of an ordinary hinge. To the free end
of the said short arm another arm is jointed, the joint being formed like
that of an ordinary hinge. The last named arm tapers towards its
unjointed end and terminates in one or more sharp points. To the joint
which connects the two arms together a metal loop is jointed, the pin or
axis of the joint by which the two arms are jointed together constituting
the axis on which the said loop is fixed and turns. To this loop the cord
by which the picture is suspended is attached.
When it is wished that the picture shall hang flat against the wall or

page_text: suspended from the back, the two arms are folded upon one another, the
pointed arm being outwards, and the folded arms make the same angle
as the cord. with the vertical side of the frame in consequence of the
power which the said arms have of rotating or swivelling upon the base
or fixing plate.
When it is wished to incline the picture forward at a greater angle the
folded arms are turned or swivelled so as to bring the loop to its lowest
position. By then raising the folded arms vertically in a plane per-
pendicular to the back of the frame and at the same time opening out
the pointed arm or separating it from the other arm, the point of the
pointed arm may be placed against the frame at any required distance
above the fixing plate.
I prefer to fix the two parts of the apparatus at the back of the frame
at a point distant from the top of the frame about one-third the length
of the vertical side of the frame. I do not, however, limit myself to
this position.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying
Drawing the manner in which my Invention may be carried into
effect.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation (partly in section) and front
elevation apparatus constructed according to my Invention for suspend-
ing pictures and mirrors, and for other like purposes. Figures 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, and 7 represent parts of the same.
Figure 8 illustrates the use of the apparatus when the picture or
article requires to be hung flat or nearly flat against the wall, and
Figure 9 illustrates the use of the apparatus when the picture or article
is required to be inclined from or to make an angle with the wall.
The apparatus represented in Figure 1 is used in duplicate, that is,
each vertical side of the frame is provided with the said apparatus
Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.
The said apparatus consists of two metal arms a, b, and a fixing or
base plate c, the said fixing or base plate being secured to the back of
the frame by preference a short distance from the top of the vertical side
thereof. To the middle of the base plate c (shown separately in Figure 4)

page_text: -
a knuckle d is jointed by a joint which permits the said knuckle to
b
rotate or swivel upon the said base plate. The knuckle d is shown
separately in Figure 5. The swivel joint of the knuckle d consists of a
nearly conical head d³, which works in the conical seat c² in the baso
plate c (see the sectional part of Figure 1). The short arm a of the
apparatus is jointed to the knuckle d by engaging the pair of knuckles
a², a², on one of its ends with the said knuckle d, and passing a joint pin e
through the said engaged knuckles. The other or top end of the short
arm a has similar knuckles a³, a³, to which is jointed the long arm 6 of
the apparatus, the said arm 6 having a middle knuckle 6* upon it, which
engages between the said knuckles a³, a³, on the arm a, as represented,
the whole being jointed together by the joint pin ƒ (shown separately in
Figure 7). Jointed to the joint pin fis a loop (shown separately in
Figure 6), to which the cord i (see Figures 8 and 9), by which the
picture is suspended, is attached. The arm has the figure represented,
or it may be taper, and its free end terminates in a point or points. By
an examination of Figure 1 it will be seen that the compound jointed
arm a, b, has the power of swivelling or rotating upon the base plate c,
and the parts or branches of the said compound arm are also capable of.
turning on their joints independently of one another.
In using the apparatus when it is wished that the picture shall hang
flat or nearly so against the wall the arms a, b, arc folded upon one
another in the manner illustrated in Figure 8, the said folded arms a, b,
making the same angle as the suspending cord i with the side of the
frame k by the swivelling of the said arms a, b, upon the base plate c.
In using the apparatus when it is wished to incline the picture forward
at a greater angle the folded arms a, b, are turned or swivelled on the
knuckle & of the base plate until the loop h is brought to its lowest
position. The folded arms a, b, are next raised vertically, and opened
out, that is, the long pointed arm is separated from the other arm a,
and the point of the arm b is placed against the back of the frame kat
any required distance above the base plate c, as illustrated in Figure 9.
In proportion as the distance between the base or fixing plate c and the
place where the point of the arm 6 is placed increases the angle which
the two arms a, b, make with each other becomes greater, and the sus-
pending loop is brought proportionately nearer to the back of the
frame. The loop h, from which the picture is suspended, may thus be
adjusted to any required distance at the back of the frame by simply

page_text: changing the position of the point of the arm b, the more distant the
suspending loop is from the back of the frame & the more the uppor
part of the picture will incline from the wall. The pointed end of the
arm 6 fixes itself against any part of the frame at which it is placed,
the whole weight of the picture tending to fix the said arm b in its
place.
Although generally the apparatus described and illustrated is used in
duplicate, yet when the article to be suspended permits of the required
attachment of the base or fixing plate to the back instead of to the
frame or edge the said apparatus may be used singly, the single base
plate being attached midway between the vertical sides of the picture or
article.
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 apparatus
for suspending pictures and mirrors and for other like purposes herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to
say, apparatus consisting essentially of a compound jointed arm carrying
the suspending loop, the said compound arm being capable of swivelling
or rotating on the base plate to which it is jointed, and the branches of
the compound arm of folding upon or opening out from one another, the
said compound arm and base plate being used either in duplicate or
singly, and constructed and combined or arranged substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Sydney Smith, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
CHARLES SYDNEY SMITH. (L.S.)
Witness,
HENRY SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.