Improvements in or relating to Certain Articles of Furniture, such as Chests of Drawers.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1895-Accepted, 14th Dec., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Certain Articles of Furniture, such as
Chests of Drawers.
I GEORGE JOSIAH BODY, of 19 Station Road, Aldershot in the County of
Hampshire, Builder and Cabinet-maker, 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 object of this invention is to construct certain articles of furniture, such as
chests of drawers, chiffonniers, side-boards and the like, in such a manner that each
article may be folded up within a case formed by a portion of the article of
furniture itself, so as to protect the article from damage, when sent by rail or when
stowed within the hold of a vessel for example, and to enable it when required to
be packed into a far smaller compass than an ordinary article of furniture of a
similar character. This 1 effect without sacrificing very materially the capacity of
the article, whilst preserving its strength and rigidity.
And in order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to
describe the same, with reference to the drawings accompanying this Specification,
in which
'
Fig. 1 shews an end elevation, Fig. 2 a front elevation and Fig. 3 a back elevation
of my invention as applied to a chest of drawers, cupboard and mirror, for example,
these views shewing the article as it would appear when closed, in the form of a
chest. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the same as it would appear when partially
open. Figure 5 is a detail hereafter referred to.
P
The same letters of reference denote the same parts in all the views.
a shews top of chest, hinged at b, b. To the underside of the top a is fitted a
mirror c. This top a may be detached from the back of the chest, to which it is
hinged, as may be seen at Fig. 4. A detachable moulding e may be fitted to the
mirror c. f, g, and i shew folding flaps. The flaps ƒ and g are hinged together
at k, k, and the flaps h and i at l, l. To the flap g is hinged a piece m at n, so that
when the flaps are in the open position, the said piece m may be turned inwards,
and so hidden from sight. This is shewn enlarged in Figure 5. This piece m is
necessary, as it will be seen from Figure 4 that the flaps g and would be closer
together when both are in their fully open position than when closed as in Fig. 2.
The flaps fand i are hinged to the lower ends of the sides o of the chest of drawers.
shews the bottom of the chest when closed. This bottom p is hinged to the
back d at q, q, so that it may be turned down, as shewn at Fig. 4, to form the lower
half of the back of the whole article when open. At the ends of, and hinged to the.
bottom p are two flaps r, r. These may be turned into the position shewn at Fig. 4
in order to allow the flaps and i to be turned down, and also to give increased
stability to the article when open. The flaps and i have grooves & cut therein,
these grooves being on the outside when the article is closed, as at Fig. 1, and on
the inside when opened, as at Fig. 4. Shelves tt, provided with strips of metal at
their ends slide into and are supported by these grooves s (see Fig. 4). When the
chest of drawers is closed the shelves t t are stowed into a space, provided behind
the backs of the drawers u. Screws v, screwing into metal plates inserted in the
wood-work, hold the whole secure when closed. The flaps g and are kept closed
in either position by means of a lock or any other suitable device. The surfaces
exposed, when the chest is closed I prefer to have iron bound and painted, and
those exposed when open, polished or veneered as desired. Supposing the chest

page_text: closed, as at Figs. 1. 2 and 3 it is opened so as to form the chest of drawers and
cupboard in the following way :-
The screws are first withdrawn, then the bottom p turned until it is in the
same plane as the back d. Then the flaps rare turned down on to the piece p.
The top a is then raised or removed, the flaps f and i can now be turned upon the
hinges connecting them to the sides o. The flaps g and h are then turned inwards
upon the hinges kk, the piece m turned inwards and, the shelves t t having been
inserted, the piece of furniture is open and complete. The moulding (which
would be stowed in one of the drawers u) could then be fitted round the mirror.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Constructing certain articles of furniture, such as those herein before mentioned,
substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying sheet
of drawings, for the purposes set forth.
2. Constructing certain articles of furniture, such as those herein before described,
with flaps so as to form an outer casing or envelope when such articles are packed
up, for the purposes set forth.
Dated this first day of November 1895.
BROWNE & Co.,
9 Warwick Court, Gray's Inn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
BROWNE & Co.,
9 Warwick Court, Gray's Inn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.