AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC JOINTS FOR BEDSTEADS, AND APPLICATION OF SUCH JOINTS TO CERTAIN PARTS OF BEDSTEADS
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Alliston and Richard
Swift at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 1st July 1863.
We, THOMAS ALLISTON, of No. 237, Euston Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Iron Bedstead Maker, & RICHARD SWIFT, of No. 2, Hardy
Terrace, Hounslow, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC JOINTS FOR BEDSTEADS, AND
APPLICATION OF SUCH JOINTS TO CERTAIN PARTS OF BEDSTEADS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates chiefly to the mode of and apparatus for manufac-
turing or casting what are known as the "corner joints" of bedsteads, which
serve to connect together the side and end pieces of the frame of the bedstead
to which the laths or sacking for the reception of the bedding are attached.
These joints consist of a hollow box (which may be of a circular or other
form according to the fancy of the manufacturer) attached to the lower part
of the pillar or "leg" of the bedstead, such boxes being provided with vertical
slots or mortises set at right angles to each other into which the vertical sides

page_text: of the end and side pieces (which are made of angle iron) are dropped, their
horizontal sides overlapping each other at the ends and having holes in their
extremities, through which passes a screw pin standing up inside the box.
When these pieces have been thus dropped on to the screw pin at right angles
to each other, the upper half of the pillar (which is provided at its lower
extremity with a female screw for the purpose) is .screwed down over them,
thus constituting a firm and secure joint.
In carrying out our Invention we fix the lower part or leg of the bedstead,
(which consists of a drawn or wrought iron tube) into a mould or chill, which
is provided with an orifice for its reception, and fits it sufficiently true to
prevent the escape of fluid metal, the tube being held in a vertical position
by means of a bracket above fixed to the framing of the apparatus. This
metallic mould or chill, the interior configuration of which corresponds to the
exterior form of the box to be cast, and in which the tube is inserted, is
adjusted so that the tube shall lie in the centre of the mould. This mould
may consist of two or more parts clamped together and is perfectly smooth
inside so as to insure the good delivery of the casting, it is also made to fit
the plate, on which it rests so closely as not to allow of the escape between it
and the plate of any fluid metal. An annular core having projections corres-
ponding to the slots or mortises to be formed in the box, is screwed on to the
bed plate, and the screw pin is placed in an orifice made for its reception in
the centre of the core, the screw pin being adjusted in the core previously to
placing the leg therein; the mould may now be closed, and the fluid metal
poured into its cup or hole in the ordinary manner. When sufficiently
cool the casting may be delivered as usual by unclamping the several
parts of the mould. A space is left between the top of the core and the
mould to allow of the fluid metal being run in round the pin at the
top and forming a plate for securing the pin in the leg. In forming the
upper part of the joint a metallic boss having a wrought-iron female screw
in its centre is cast on to the lower extremity of the upper half of the pillar,
and for this purpose a metal mould or "chill" made in two or more parts
and corresponding in internal configuration to the boss to be cast is employed.
In one end of the mould or "chill" the iron pillar is fixed in a frame as
before in a vertical position, and the other portion of the mould has a move-
able pin projecting from its centre for the reception of a screw nut on to
which the metal boss is to be cast. The nut having been adjusted in its
proper place the mould may be closed and the fluid metal poured in. On
the casting being delivered from the mould, and the moveable core pin

page_text: removed, the screw nut will be found to be firmly imbedded in the centre
of the boss.
It will be understood that this description of screw joint may be applied to
other parts of bedsteads besides those above mentioned; it would of course be
found necessary to vary the position of the slots or mortices or even to dispense
with them altogether to suit the configuration of the parts.