Improvements in or relating to Upholstery Work. Tufting
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 11th May, 1895
Improvements in or relating to Upholstery Work.
A communication from ALFRED FRESCHL, of the City and County of
Milwaukee, State of Wiscousin, United States of America, Manufacturer of
Tufting.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holboru in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The main object of this invention is to produce an article resembling in
appearance ordinary tufted work, but possessing greater flexibility, susceptible of
greater variation as to form or pattern, capable of different and wider range of
application, simple in construction and less expensive.
It consists of a novel article of manufacture and the method of making it as
hereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawing like letters designate the same parts in the several
figures.
Fig. 1 is a front view of a piece of the improved tufting; Fig. 2 is a sectional
view of the same; and
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the form employed for making the style of tufting
shown in Figs. and 2, including a piece of fabric or flexible material which
constitutes the facing or covering, and forining blocks to illustrate the method of
making the tufting.
Referring to Fig. 3, A designates the mold or form for making one style of
tufting. It consists of a suitable base having intersecting grooves a a, formed
therein and arranged according to the size, shape and pattern of the tufting it is
desired to produce, and partitions bb, of sheet metal or other suitable material set
edgewise in said grooves and forming compartments or cells B B, of the required
depth.
In making the tufting by this method, the fabric or other flexible material which
is to form the outside covering or facing F, is first spread face downward upon the
form and pressed into the several compartments B B progressively or successively
either with the fingers or with a forming block C. Each depression thus formed in
the facing F is filled with a suitable conforinable stuffing material D, and a piece M
of cardboard or other suitable material corresponding in shape and size with the
filled compartment and of sufficient stiffness to bind at the edges against the walls
of said compartment and to be held in place thereby, is inserted therein over the
filling and pressed down thereon flush with or slightly below the upper edges of the
partitious 6 b. By this means the filling is confined in the depression of the facing,
and the shape of that section which may be designated a "biscuit is preserved
during the progress of the work until the backing is applied.
If a forming block C is employed, it is pressed over the facing into a compart-
ment of the form and then removed, the depression in the facing being filled and
the filling confined therein by a piece M of cardboard as above explained.
It is preferable to thus complete the sections or biscuits one at a time since in
this way the withdrawal from any compartment of the form of the requisite:
material for making a section or biscuit therein by the simultaneous formation of
sections or biscuits in other compartments is prevented, and uniformity in the size
nd shape of the sections or biscuits is secured. When all the depressions in the

page_text: facing have been thus formed and filled and the filling in the several compartment<
covered with separate pieces of cardboard or other stiff material, a flexible
backing E of canvas or other suitable material is glued, pasted, cemented or
otherwise attached to the exposed folds of the facing F, over the upper edges of
the partitions bb, between the separate stiffening pieces M M.
The backing is attached to the facing around the sides or edges of the form, and
may be glued, pasted or cemented to the pieces M M, as well as to the folds of the
facing between them. After the glue, paste or cement has set or dried, the article
is removed from the form and for ornamental finish may be furnished at the inter-
sections of the creases or divisions between the sections or biscuits with tufts, nails
or buttons N N, as shown in Fig. 1.
By the employment of separate stiffening or foundation pieces for the individual
sections, the separate or progressive formation of the sections and the attachment
of the facing to the backing between and completely around the several sections,
my correspondent is enabled not only to produce more uniform and symmetrical
work, but secure flexibility and permanence in the form or shape of the sections,
the filling of each section or biscuit being entirely separated from that of the
adjoining sections and independently supported and the several sections being
joined together by flexible connections.
My correspondent is also enabled to employ fine or coarse materials, and to
utilize for the facing small remnants of a variety of materials which may be
arranged in various ornamental patterns.
The shape and arrangement of the sections or biscuits of the tufting are
susceptible of a wide range of variation by correspondingly varying the shape and
arrangement of the compartments of the form or mold.
Ordinary plaited tufting as heretofore constructed has been provided with a
continuous stiff backing or foundation common to all the sections, and the filling
of the several sections has not been separated, and consequently such tufting cannot
be bent without distorting the shape of the sections and injuring the appearance of
the tufting, nor conveniently applied to curved or uneven surfaces, whereas by the
employment of the separate foundation or stiffening pieces for the individual
sections, and completely separating the filling of the several sections and uniting
them by flexible connections as herein before explained, my improved tufting readily
adapts itself to curved and irregular surfaces without distorting or affecting its
component sections or injuring its appearance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the
same is to be performed 1 declare that what I claim is ;-
1. The method of making tufting which consists in spreading a piece of flexible
facing material loosely over a form having a plurality of compartments, pressing
the material into such compartments, filling the depressions thus formed in the
facing material with suitable stuffing material, individually covering the filled
depressions and confining the stuffing therein with separate pieces of stiff material,
and finally applying and permanently securing a flexible backing over the entire
article, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. The method of making tufting which consists in spreading a piece of flexible
facing material loosely over a form having a plurality of compartments,
progressively depressing the facing into such compartments one at a time, and
filling the depressions thus formed in the facing with a suitable conformable stuffing,
covering the filled depressions individually with separate picces of stiff material,
and finally applying a flexible backing to the entire article and cementing it to the
exposed folds of the facing between the several pieces of stiff material, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
3. As an improved article of manufacture, tufting which comprises a facing of
flexible material formed into biscuits or sections having flexible connections with
each other and filled with a suitable stuffing, separate pieces of stiff material

page_text: supporting the stuffing of the individual biscuits or sections in place and preserving
their shape, and a backing applied to the back of the article and secured to the
facing between said pieces of stiff material, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
Dated this 9th dor of Anril 1805
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.