IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINING OR CONNECTING THE PARTS OF THE HEAD, FOOT, AND SIDE RAILS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND COTS, AND METALLIC RAILING FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE. TO THE CONNECTING OF METALLIC ORNAMENTS TO ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE
Year: 1872

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to James Lewis, of Birmingham, in the County
+
of Warwick, Metallic Bedstead Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINING OR CONNECTING THE PARTS OF THE HEAD,
FOOT, AND SIDE RAILS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND COTS, AND METALLIC
RAILING FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE.
TO THE CONNECTING OF METALLIC ORNAMENTS TO ARTICLES OF METALLIC
FURNITURE."
Sealed the 9th August 1872, and dated the 22nd March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lewis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.
22nd March 1872.
I, JAMES LEWIS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
3 Metallic Bedstead Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINING OR CONNECTING THE PARTS
OF THE HEAD, FOOT, AND SIDE RAILS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND COTS,
AND METALLIC RAILING FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
:

page_text: FURNITURE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists principally of the improvements herein-after
described in joining or connecting the parts of the head, foot, and
side rails of metallic bedsteads and cots, and metallic railing for various
purposes.
My Invention is also applicable to the connecting of tubular or
partly tubular metallic ornaments to the pillars and other parts of
metallic furniture.
I will first describe my Invention as applied to the joining of the
parts of the head or foot rail of a metallic bedstead. These rails as
ordinarily constructed consist of a series of vertical tubes connected
to horizontal tubes by T shaped tubular junction pieces and fixing
screws, the said fixing screws passing through holes made in the
junction pieces and horizontal tubes, and taking into screw boxes at
the ends of the vertical tubes. This method of connecting the tubes
of the rail is costly in consequence of the number of parts required,
together with the accuracy of fitting which is necessary to produce a
good connection.
My Invention consists of the following method of connecting, the
vertical tubes to the horizontal tubes of the rail whereby I am enabled
to dispense with the ordinary fixing screws and screw boxes, and also
with the holes usually drille din the junction pieces and horizontal
tubes.
In joining or connecting the vertical tubes to the horizontal tubes a
of the rail according to my Invention I employ T shaped tubular
junction pieces, and I fix or secure the said junction pieces on the
tubes by compressing or indenting parts of the metal of the said
junction pieces upon or into the tubes, that is to say, I place the
horizontal branch of the tubular junction piece on that part of the a
horizontal tube at which a vertical tube is to be joined to it, and I
place the end of the vertical tube in the vertical branch of the junction
piece. By the operation of a pair of percussive tools or by pressure'
portions of the metal on either side each branch of the junction piece
are indented, displaced, or pressed inwards, the displaced or indented a
parts being compressed upon or forced into the vertical and horizontal

page_text: tubes respectively. The junction piece is thereby fixed securely to the
two tubes, and the said tubes are firmly joined together. In this way
the series of vertical tubes are connected to the horizontal tubes. I prefer
to make the indentations or compressed or displaced parts of the junction
pieces at opposite sides of each of the branches of the junction piece, so
that the tubes are fixed at opposite points, but I do not limit myself to
the number, position, or mode of forming the indentations or displaced
portions for fixing the junction piece to the tubes of the rail. The parts
of the ornament of the junction pieces may be so designed that the
indented or displaced portions form parts thereof.
•
In making metallic railing for various purposes I join or connect the
tubes of which it is composed in the manner described with respect to
a bedstead rail.
Rails or railing composed of rods instead of tubes may be joined or
connected in the manner described.
My Invention is applicable to the joining of tubes or rods by means
of junction pieces having more than three branches.
In applying my Invention to the joining or connecting of tubular or
partly tubular metallic ornaments to the pillars and other parts of
metallic furniture, I indent, compress, or displace portions of the metal
of the said ornaments so as to fix them upon the pillar or part of the
furniture to be ornamented in place of casting, pinning, soldering, or
brazing the said ornaments to the pillar or other part as usual.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Lewis in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEWIS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Metallic Bedstead
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two,

page_text: in the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Lewis, Her
special licence that I, the said James Lewis, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Lewis, 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 JOINING OR CONNECTING THE PARTS OF THE HEAD, FOOT,
AND SIDE RAILS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND COTS, AND METALLIC RAILING
FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE
CONNECTING OF METALLIC ORNAMENTS TO ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Lewis, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 I, the said James Lewis, 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:-
My Invention consists principally of the improvements herein-after
described in joining or connecting the parts of the head, foot, and side
rails of metallic bedsteads and cots, and metallic railing for various
, purposes.
My Invention is also applicable to the connecting of tubular or partly
tubular metallic ornaments to the pillars and other parts of metallic
furniture.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the joining of the parts of
the head or foot rail of a metallic bedstead. These rails as ordinarily
constructed consist of a series of vertical tubes connected to horizontal
tubes by T shaped tubular junction pieces and fixing screws, the said
fixing screws passing through holes made in the junction pieces and

page_text: horizontal tubes, and taking into screw boxes at the ends of the vertical
tubes. This method of connecting the tubes of the rail is costly in
consequence of the number of parts required, together with the accuracy
of fitting which is necessary to produce a good connection.
My Invention consists of the following method of connecting the
vertical tubes to the horizontal tubes of the rail, whereby I am enabled
to dispense with the ordinary fixing screws and screw boxes, and also
with the holes drilled in the junction pieces and horizontal tubes.
In joining or connecting the vertical tubes to the horizontal tubes of
the rail according to my Invention, I employ T shaped tubular junction
pieces, and I fix or secure the said junction pieces on the tubes by
compressing or indenting parts of the metal of the said junction pieces
upon or into the tubes, that is to say, I place the horizontal branch of
the tubular junction piece on that part of the horizontal tube at which
a vertical tube is to be joined to it, and I place the end of the vertical
tube in the vertical branch of the junction piece. By the operation of a
pair of percussive tools or by pressure portions of the metal on either
side each branch of the junction piece are indented, displaced, or pressed
inwards, the displaced or indented parts being compressed upon or forced
into the vertical and horizontal tubes respectively. The junction piece
is thereby fixed securely to the two tubes, and the said tubes are firmly
joined together. In this way the series of vertical tubes is connected
to the horizontal tubes. I prefer to make the indentations or compressed
or displaced parts of the junction pieces at opposite sides of each of the
branches of the junction piece, so that the tubes are fixed at opposite
points, but I do not limit myself to the number, position, or mode of
forming the indentations or displaced portions for fixing the junction
piece to the tubes of the rail. The parts of the ornament of the junction
pieces may be so designed that the indented or disposed portions form.
parts thereof.

page_text: In applying my Invention to the joining or connecting of tubular or
partly tubular metallic ornaments to the pillars and other parts of
metallic furniture, I indent, compress, or displace portions of the metal
of the said ornaments so as to fix them upon the pillar or part of the
furniture to be ornamented in place of casting, pinning, soldering, or
brazing the said ornaments to the pillar or other part as usual.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, Figure 2 in end elevation, and
Figure 3 in cross section, a portion of a metallic rail for a metallic
bedstead or cot, or a metallic railing for various purposes, the parts of
which are joined or connected together according to my Invention.
Figure 4 represents one of the junction pieces separately, and Figures 5
and 6 represent the percussive or compressing tools which I prefer to use
in carrying my Invention into effect.
a is the horizontal tube, and b, b, are the vertical tubes to be joined to
the said horizontal tube. c, c, are the T shaped tubular junction pieces
into the branches of which the tubes a, b, are respectively placed and
fixed. The junction pieces c, c, are without holes at top. The tubes a, b,
are fixed or secured in the junction pieces c, c, by compressing or in-
denting inwards, on opposite sides, parts of the metal of the junction
pieces; that is to say, the horizontal tube a' is fixed in the horizontal
branches of the junction pieces c, c, by compressing or indenting the
metal at d, d, on opposite sides of the junction pieces c, c, upon or into
the said horizontal tube, and the vertical tubes b, b, are fixed in the
vertical branches of the junction pieces c, c, by compressing or indenting
the metal at e, e, on opposite sides of the vertical branches of the said
junction pieces upon or into the vertical tubes.
The displaced or indented parts of the junction pieces c, c, which
are compressed upon or forced into the tubes a, b, will be best seen by

page_text: it will be seen that the displaced or indented parts d, d, e, e, of the
junction pieces are made to form parts of the ornament of the said.
junction picces..
I prefer to effect the indentation or displacement of the metal of the
junction pieces by means of a pair of compressing or percussive tools
worked in a fly or other press, but I do not limit myself to any particular
means of effecting the said indentation or displacement of the metal of
the junction pieces upon or into the tubes.
In the plan (partly in section) Figure 5, I have shown the acting
ends of a pair of tools of the kind I prefer to employ, the said tools
being represented in combination with a junction piece which has just
been operated upon by the said tools to connect the tubes of the rail
thereto. The moveable tool of the pair of tools, Figure 5, is represented
in Figure 6. f is the moveable tool worked by the screw of the press
in the ordinary way, and g is the fixed tool secured to the bed of the
press, the acting conical ends of the said tools f, g, being situated
opposite one another or in the same vertical line. The horizontal and
vertical tubes a, b, having been placed in their respective branches of
the junction piece. c, the said junction piece c is placed in a central
position upon the bed of the press and held in its place by hand, By
operating the fly or other press the moveable tool f is brought down
upon the junction piece c, and the metal of the said junction piece
indented, displaced, or pressed inwards by the said tool f. The junction
piece is at the same time forced upon the fixed tool g, and the metal
at the opposite side of the said junction piece indented, displaced; or
pressed inwards by the action of the said tool g. In this way the metal
at opposite points of the junction piece c is compressed upon or forced
into the tube, and the said tube thereby firmly fixed in the junction.
piece. The several tubes of which the rail or railing is composed. are.
joined together in the manner described.
➤
Although I have found that the tubes are firmly secured in tho
junction pieces by the displacing or indenting of the metal of the said
junction pieces at opposite points as represented in the Drawing, yet
where additional security is required the metal of the junction pieces
may be displaced or indented at more than two points, and although
in the Drawing the displaced metal of the junction pieces is only.
represented as being compressed upon the tubes, yet the said metal.

page_text: may be forced into the said 'tubes, and the method described and
represented of connecting the tubes to the junction pieces may be
employed where the junction pieces have more than three branches,
and where the rail or railing is composed of rods instead of tubes.
Figure 7 represents a tubular metallic ornament connected to the
pillar of a metallic bedstead. According to my Invention I connect the
ornament to the pillar i by indenting, compressing, or displacing parts
of the metal of the said ornament h, as before described with respect to
the junction pieces of a metallic rail or railing.
In Figure 7 the ornament h is fixed to the pillar by the indenting
or displacing of the metal of the said ornament at opposite points of the
annular flange k at the centre of the ornament, one of the indented
parts being marked 1. The said ornament may however be connected
to the pillar by indenting or displacing the metal at other parts, such as
at the ends h of the ornament or at other convenient parts.
Tubular or partly tubular ornaments of various patterns or designs
may.
y.be connected in this way to the rails and other parts of metallic
furniture as well as to the pillars of the said furniture.
•
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 illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention.
But I claim as my Invention the improvements in
joining or connecting the parts of the head, foot, and side rails of
metallic bedsteads and cots, and metallic railing for various purposes,
and also connecting metallic ornaments to articles of metallic furniture,
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, joining or connecting the tubes or rods of which the said
rails and railing are composed by means of T or other branched tubular
metallic junction pieces, parts of the said junction pieces being indented,
displaced, or 'pressed inwards so as to be compressed upon or forced into
the tubes or rods, substantially as described and illustrated; also con-
necting tubular or partly tubular metallic ornaments to the pillars and
other parts of metallic furniture by indenting, displacing, or pressing
inwards parts of the said ornaments so as to be compressed upon or forced

page_text: into the said pillars or other parts of the metallic furniture, substantially
as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lewis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JAMES LEWIS. (L.S.)