Year: 1899

page_text: I, HAYDN BROWN, of Kent Lodge, Queen's Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex,
Physician and Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of folding seats, tables and
the like, of simple but strong form, the essential feature of which consists in
connecting to the underside of the top of the seat or table by a flexible or jointed
attachment three or more legs the upper ends of which are formed partly flat
to fit against the underside of the top, and partly with a projecting tongue that
fits into a corresponding slot formed through the top; the part where such tongue
is formed being situated at or near the outer edge of the leg while the inner
edge is connected to the top by the before mentioned jointed attachment.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing shews by way of example a circular seat
with three legs constructed according to my said invention with the legs fixed for
use. The top of the seat a is formed with three slots b, b, b, and to the centre of its
underside are attached by a jointed connection the inner edges of the three
legs c, c, c, the attachments being made of such a form that when the seat is in the
folded position the legs can all lie flat against the top a as shewn at Fig. 2,
the seat thus occupying very little space. When required for use, each leg
is brought with its projecting tongue d into engagement with one of the slots
of the top, as at Fig. 1, when, owing to the attachment of the inner edge com-
bined with the hold afforded by the tongue and slot the feet will be securely
held and will afford a sufficient support. If necessary the legs may be secured in
this position either by a button pivotted to the top edge of the tongue which
is turned so as to lie across the slot when the tongue has been fitted in, or a
sliding bolt or spring catch may be provided on the under side of the top taking
into a hole or notch in the leg.
Instead of forming slots in the top of the seat, the underside may have two
blocks fixed thereto with a space between them for the leg to fit into, this would
in that case be without a projecting tongue at top. Or such blocks may be provided
on each side of the slot, to afford additional side support to the leg.
The slots may either be formed open at the outer end as shewn or they may be
closed.
When applying the invention to a four legged stool or table the slots would
be arranged in angular positions at each corner.
The top may either be a solid piece as shewn or it may be built up of two
thin plates of metal or other material secured together a small distance apart by
distance pieces.
When applying my invention to steps, the top plate of the steps would have
one, or it may be two legs attached thereto, by a jointed fastening and arranged

page_text: to fit with a tongue into a slot therein in precisely the same manner as above
described, so as to act as the back support of the steps.
1
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
VIKING Stats, Steps.
I, HAYDN BROWN, of Kent Lodge, Queen's Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex,
Physician and Surgeon, 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:―
My invention relates to an improved construction of folding seats, tables and
the like, of simple but strong form, the essential feature of which consists in
connecting to the underside of the top of the seat or table by a flexible or jointed
attachment three or more legs the upper ends of which are formed partly flat
to fit against the underside of the top, and partly with a projecting tongue that
fits into a corresponding slot formed through the top; the part where such tongue
is formed being situated at or near the outer edge of the leg while the inner
edge is connected to the top by the before mentioned jointed attachment.
Fig. 1 of the drawing accompanying my Provisional Specification shews by way
of example a circular seat with three legs constructed according to my said inven-
tion with the legs fixed for use. The top of the seat x is formed
with three slots bbb and to the centre of its underside are attached
by a jointed connection the inner edges of the three legs C C C
the attachments being made of such a form that when the seat is in the
folded position the legs can all be flat against the top a as shewn at Fig. 2,
the seat thus occupying very little space. When required for use, each leg
is brought with its projecting tongue d into engagement with one of the slots
of the top, as at Fig. 1, when, owing to the attachment of the inner edge com-
bined with the hold afforded by the tongue and slot the feet will be securely
held and will afford a sufficient support. If necessary the legs may be secured in
the position either by a button pivotted to the top edge of the tongue, which
is turned so as to lie across the slot when the tongue has been fitted in as
shewn at e Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings or a sliding bolt or spring catch
may be provided on the under side of the top taking into a hole or notch in the
leg as at f Fig. 4.
Instead of forming slots in the top of the seat the under side may have two
blocks gg Fig. 5 fixed thereto with a space between them for the leg to fit into
as shewn, this would in that case be without a projecting tongue at top. Or such
blocks may be provided on each side of the slot, to afford additional side support
to the leg.
The slots may either be formed open at the outer end as shewn or they may be
closed as at Fig. 6.
When applying the invention to a four legged stool or table the slots would
be arranged in angular positions at each corner as at Fig. 7.
The top may either be a solid piece as shewn at Figs. 1 to 7
up
or it
may be
built of two thin plates of metal or other material secured together a small
distance apart by distance pieces as shewn at Fig. 8.
When applying my invention to steps, the top plate of the steps would have
one, or it may be two legs attached thereto, by a jointed fastening and arranged

page_text: to fit with a tongue into a slot therein in precisely the same manner as above
described, so as to act as the back support of the. steps.
Fig. 9 shews such an arrangement of steps in which the legs c c are made to fit
between blocks g g fixed on the under side of the top plate h, being held in position
by hooked stays i.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. An improved construction of folding seats, tables, and steps wherein the
legs are attached at their inner end by a flexible or jointed connection to the
top part and are made to fit with their outer part either into slots, formed through
the top or into grooves formed on the under side thereof so that when the legs
are disengaged from the said slots or grooves, they can be turned on their flexible
or jointed connection so as to lie flat against the top substantially as described.
2. Folding seats, tables, and steps, constructed as herein described with
reference to the drawings.
Dated this 18th day of September 1800