IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, BEDSTEADS, AND OTHER ARTICLES TO SIT AND RECLINE ON
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Hallen Cottam and Henry Richard Cottam,
of Old St. Paneras Road, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, BEDSTEADS, AND OTHER ARTICLES TO SIT AND
RECLINE ON."
Sealed the 30th May 1856, and dated the 25th March 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Hallen Cottam
and Henry Richard Cottam at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 25th March 1856.
We, GEORGE HALLEN COTTAM and HENRY RICHARD COTTAM, of Old St.
Pancras Road, do hereby.declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN, THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, BEDSTEADS, AND OTHER ARTICLES TO SIT
AND RECLINE ON," to be as follows:--
This Invention has for its object, improvements in the manufacture of
chairs; bedsteads, and other articles to sit and recline on. For these purposes,
in forming and putting the parts together, and for obtaining ornaments, con-
nections, or joints therein at small, cost; zine or other soft metal, or metal
melting at a lower temperature, than bruss, is used, in order to form castings
on iron tubes, rods, or parts of which iron chairs, bedsteads, and other articles

page_text: to sit and recline on are formed, and then such soft or low-melting metal parts
are coated by depositing metal thereon from solution. When enlargements
are required to the legs or other parts of such articles of furniture, those parts
of the iron are enlarged into a core bar, and metal. whether of iron, brass, or
of low-melting metal, is cast thereon, thus producing a light enlargement on
the parts of such articles. In making folding chairs, in order that they may
fold more compactly and conveniently, each chair is made of two rectangular
frames, connected by suitable axes and stops, so that in opening to form a seat
they cross each other, as has heretofore been done. The seat is hinged to the
front rail of one of the frames, and is arranged in such manner that when
the two parts of the frame of the seat are folded together, the seat passes
through the back and over the back rail, and folds downwards. The back is
formed of a third frame, which is connected to one of the lower or scat
frames, and is made to fold forwards and downwards, and is stopped from
going too far back when opened out by projections at the lower parts of the
frame, below the axes of its motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Hallen Cottam and Henry Richard Cottam in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
ALLEN COTTAM and HENRY RICHARD COTTAM, of Old St. Pancras Road,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Ierself, Ier heirs and suecessors, give and grant unto us, the
said George Hallen Cottam and Henry Richard Cottam, Her special licence
that we, the said George Hallen Cottam and Henry Richard Cottam, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said George
Hallen Cottam and Henry Richard Cottam, our 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHAIRS, BESTEADS,

page_text: AND OTHER ARTICLES TO SIT AND RECLINE ON," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said George Ifallen Cottam and Henry Richard Cottam,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our
or their hands and scals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them,
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 we, the said George Ifallen Cottam, on behalf
of myself and Henry Richard Cottam, 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):-
The first part of our Invention consists in an improvement in connecting
together and ornamenting the different parts of the frames of metal bedsteads,
chairs, and other articles to sit and recline on. Heretofore the parts of the
frames of such articles have been connected and ornamented by placing the
parts to be connected or ornamented in suitable moulds (either of sand or
iron), and casting iron thereon. Now, this Invention consists in using zinc, or
other metal melting at a lower temperature than brass, in place of iron, for
making such castings, and in afterwards coating them by depositing on to
them brass or other metal by the electrotype process.
The following is the manner in which we prefer to carry this part of our
Invention into effect:-
The parts of the frame on which the ornamental or connecting casting is
to be made are cleaned, as in the usual manner, and enclosed in a closely
fitting mould of brass, of such interior form as to produce the casting required
when the metal (which we prefer should be zinc) is poured into it. As soon
as the casting is sufficiently cool it is removed from the mould, and at once
plunged in the depositing bath, and by connecting it with a galvanic battery,
and by the use of suitable solutions, brass or other metal is deposited on to it
by any processes known to electro-platers.
By the use of zinc, or other metal melting at a low temperature, we are
enabled to use brass moulds for making the castings, as before mentioned, and
thus we are enabled to obtain a greater amount of finish than can be obtained
when casting iron in moulds of sand or iron; and we are able to render such
castings ornamental by coating them with brass or other bright metal, in place
of coating them with paint and varnish, as is necessary when iron castings aro
usel, to render their defects less apparent.

page_text: The second part of our Invention consists in a method of making the legs
of bedsteads, chairs, and other articles to sit and recline on.
We prepare a mould, either in sand or other material, to correspond with the
form of leg which we wish to produce, and we take a bar or tube of iron of
sufficient stiffness to support the weight which the leg is to carry, and form
thereon a core, in the usual manner, of haybands and loom, to correspond to
the form of the mould; and so that, when the bar or tube with the core thereon
is introduced into the mould, and the metal is poured in, a thin shell of metal
is formed, attached to the iron bar or tube at the top and bottom. Thus tho
iron bar or tube supplies the strength and stiffness necessary, and forms, in
fact, the real leg. and the shell of metal cast thereon gives the same an orna-
mental appearance without adding much to the weight.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing shews a leg made according to this part
of our Invention. a is a metal tube; b is the core formed thereon; and c is
the shell of metal cast over the core. We would remark that the metal shell c
may be cast separately from the iron bar or tube a, and afterwards placed
and fastened thereon; but the process first described is the one which we
prefer.
The last part of our Invention consists in a method of constructing folding
chairs, in order that they may fold more completely and conveniently than
chairs heretofore constructed. Our improved chair consists of two rectangular
frames, connected by suitable axes and stops, so that in opening to support
the seat they cross each other, as is the case in some folding chairs constructed
before the date of this Patent. The seat of our improved chair is hinged to
the top rail of one of the frames before mentioned, and when the two frames
are folded together this seat passes through the back over the top rail of the
other frame, and folds downwards. The back of the chair is formed of a third
frame, which is hinged to the frame on which the back part of the scat rests,
and this back is arranged to fold downwards over and in front of the other
parts. The back is prevented from going too far back when the chair is
opened by projections on the lower part of its frame, below the axes of motion
which projections come in contact with the frame to which the back is
hinged.
Figure 2 shews a side view of a folding chair, arranged according to this
part of our Invention; and Figure 3 is a side view of the same chair when
folded together. a and are two rectangular frames, which are jointed
together at the point a. is a stop on the frame b, which prevents the
franies separating further than the position shewn at Figure 2. c is a frame
which forms the seat of the chair; it is hinged to the frame b at c', and when

page_text: the chair is folding it passes through the back and over the top rail of the
frame a, and folds downwards, as is shewn at Figure 3. is the back of the
chair which is hinged to the frame a at d'.
When the chair is open the back
is kept in its upright position by the stop d, which rests against the frame a.
When the chair is folded up the back folds forward in front of the other frames,
as is shown at Figure 3.
Figures 4 and 5 shew a chair very similar to that shewn at Figures 2 and 3;
but differing therefrom, in that the frames a and b are prevented from opening
wider than the position shewn in the Drawing by means of a stop projecting
on each side from the seat, so that the scat acts as a tye to the frames a
and b, and thus a stronger chair is obtained than when the stop is
employed.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we would have it understood that we do not confine ourselves
to the exact details described; but what we claim is,--
Firstly, the casting ornaments of zine, or other metal melting at a lower
temperature than brass, on to parts of the frames of metal bedsteads, chairs,
and other articles to sit and recline on, and afterwards depositing brass or
other metal on to such ornaments by the electro-type process.
Secondly, we claim the casting a shell of metal round a bar or tube of iron,
to form the leg of a bedstead, chair, or other article to sit or recline on.
Thirdly, we claim the method of arranging folding chairs, herein shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ifallen Cottam, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
GEORGE HALLEN COTTAM. (L.S.)