Improvements in Clamping Apparatus for Laying Parquet Flooring and for similar purposes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 24th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 22nd Oct., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Clamping Apparatus for Laying Parquet Flooring
and for similar purposes.
We, ROBERT ALLEN, of 12 Ralph Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, and JOHN EVANS, of 210 St. Pauls Road, Highbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Cabinet Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
-
In laying parquet flooring as ordinarily practiced the constituent elementary
parts or pieces with which it is intended to form the complete design or pattern are
cut to the desired shapes and are then covered with glue on their under sides and
edges and forced or held in their final positions on a prepared floor by means of a
chisel or other similar instrument driven into the boards of the floor.
Now this invention for improvements in clamping apparatus for laying parquet
flooring and for other purposes has for its principal object to provide a clamp of
simple construction which can be readily applied to the part it is desired to fix
without the same risk of injury to the piece or the floor as is the case where a chisel
is used.
In an apparatus or clamping device for laying parquet floors constructed accord-
ing to this invention a lever is fulcrumed to lugs or brackets on a sole plate provided
on its under side with teeth or claws which penetrate the floor boards to prevent it
sliding therecn, one arm of the said lever being connected to a sliding crosshead on
one end of the said sole plate while the other arm is provided with a screw, or a
handle and pawl or catch working in a rack, so that on the lever being actuated by
the screw or by hand the sliding crosshead is caused to advance and force the
elementary piece of the design firmly into its place where it is secured by glue and
by nails in the ordinary manner.
Dated this 22nd day of October 1890.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40,, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Clamping Apparatus for Laying Parquet Flooring
and for similar purposes.
We ROBERT ALLEN of 12 Ralph Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, and JOHN EVANS of 210 St. Pauls Road, Highbury in the County of
Middlesex, 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 :-
In laying parquet flooring as ordinarily practiced the constituent elementary
parts or pieces with which it is intended to form the complete design or pattern are
cut to the desired shapes and are then covered with glue on their under sides and
edges and forced or held in their final positions on a prepared floor by means of a
chisel or other similar instrument driven into the boards of the floor.
Now this invention for improvements in clamping apparatus for laying parquet
flooring and for similar purposes has for its principal object to provide a clamp of
simple construction which can be readily applied to the part it is desired to fix
without the same risk of injury to the piece or the floor as is the case where a chisel
is used and by which a better and closer joints shall be produced.

page_text: In an apparatus or clamping device for laying parquet floors constructed accord-
ing to this invention a lever is fulcrumed to lugs or brackets on a sole plate provided
on its under side with teeth or claws which penetrate the floor boards to prevent it
sliding thereon, one arm of the said lever being connected to a sliding crosshead on
one end of the said sole plate while the other arm is provided with a screw, or a
handle and pawl or catch working in a rack, so that on the lever being actuated by
the screw or by hand the sliding crosshead is caused to advance and force the
elementary piece of the design firmly into its place where it is secured by glue and
by nails in the ordinary manner.
In the accompanying four sheets of illustrative drawings:
Fig. 1 is a plan of a clamping apparatus for laying parquet flooring constructed
according to this invention and
Fig. 2 is a side elevation.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section and
Figs. 4 and 5 are end elevations of the same.
Figs. 6 to 18 are detail views.
The sole plate a is provided on its under side with cross grooves & in which are
secured plates e having spikes projecting below the under surface of the sole plate
and backwards towards its rear. Preferably the spikes at the front end of the sole
plate are slightly longer than those at the rear end. On the upper surface of the
bed plate is secured the casting d provided with a deep central groove e. A cross
head provided with a central slot g slides on the sole plate a and is guided by the
casting d. The cross-head projects beyond the sole plate a and its lower project-
ing edge is level with the bottom of the sole plate. Pivotted to the cross head fis
one end of a pair of toggle levers h h¹ working in the slot and groove e and whose
other end is pivotted to the rear end of the casting d. The levers h h are con-
nected by a pin which also serves to secure the head by which they are operated
and which is so designed that any pressure is transmitted from the screw / direct to
the levers and not through the pin which serves to retain the parts in their relative
positions. The screw works in a nut in the top of the casting d and bears on
bottom of the cup of the head i and two pins in the head take into a groove in the
end of the screw so that the screw can be rotated freely independently of the head
but carries the head with it in its upward motion. The pin connecting the head i
and levers h h projects beyond the head and works in curved guides m in the
casting d. The cross head may be shaped as shown in interrupted lines in Fig. 15
so as to bear on the blocks to be laid at their corners. The screw is operated by
means of the hand wheel n.
When laying a parquet flooring, the sole plate is placed at a convenient spot and
is firmly held there by the spikes e taking into the flooring on which the parquet
blocks are to be laid. The parquet block next to be fixed is then glued and placed
in position and is forced firmly against the adjacent blocks, already laid and fixed,
by operating the hand wheel n so as to lower the screw and joint of the toggle
levers and thus to force outwards the cross head against the said block which
is then secured by nails or in other desired manner. The screw is then operated in
the reverse direction to withdraw the cross-head and another block may be laid
in a similar manner. The spikes c prevent any backward motion of the sole plate
and are only forced deeper into the flooring as the pressure exerted increases. The
recesses o allow of the joints of the toggle levers with the casting and the cross
head being kept low and of the joint between the levers being forced past the
centre.
In a modified construction, the cross-head slides in the sole plate and is connected
by a link to one arm of a bell crank lever fulcrumed in lugs at the rear of the sole
plate. The other arm is operated by hand or by a screw passing through it and
bearing on a projection from the bed plate or in other convenient manner.
In a further modification the cross-head slides in the sole plate and is actuated
by a cam mounted in the sole plate and rotated by a handle or other convenient
means.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In clamping apparatus for laying parquet flooring and for other purposes, a
sole plate provided with projecting spikes adapted to hold the said plate and
prevent it from slipping backwards substantially as described.
2. In clamping apparatus for laying parquet flooring and for other purposes, a
cross-head arranged to slide in a sole plate and actuated by toggle levers or by a
bell crank lever or by a cam mounted on the sole plate substantially as described.
3. Clamping apparatus for laying parquet flooring and for other purposes con-
structed substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 24th day of August 1891.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
-40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.