An Improvement in Tables Fitted with Folding Legs.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 1st Mar., 1893-Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Tables Fitted with Folding Legs.
I, HENRY BESSELL, of 2 Meadow Street, in the City and County of Bristol,
Cabinet Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention which relates to tables fitted with legs capable of being folded or
turned back under the table top, consists in an improved method of and appliance
for holding the legs rigid while in the vertical or unfolded position.
According to this invention the cross rail uniting the pairs of legs at each end of
the table is slotted from the bottom upwards at or about midway between the legs.
At each end of the table frame is a fixed bolt to which is connected, by a hinge
joint, a screw on which is a binding nut preferably non-removable from the screw.
The legs are hinged to the table top and when turned back thereunder they are
secured towards the feet by buttons.
When it is desired to turn the legs to the vertical position the screw is depressed
on its hinge and forms an angle with the bolt. After the legs have been turned
down the screw is moved on its hinge into the slot in the cross rail. This brings
it into the same plane as the bolt to which is, as aforesaid, attached. The nut is
then screwed up and rigidly binds the legs in the vertical position. In tables
sufficiently broad, more than one bolt and screw may be adopted for making the
legs rigid when vertical.
When the legs are to be turned under the table, the nut on the screw is slackened
and the legs are then free to be moved back on their hinges.
Dated this 18th day of May 1892.
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Bristol Bank Buildings, Bristol, Chartered Patent Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Tables Fitted with Folding Legs.
1, HENRY BESSELL, of 2 Meadow Street, in the City and County of Bristol,
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:-
This invention relates to tables fitted with legs capable of being folded or turned
under the table top. This invention consists in the use in such tables of a specially
designed knuckle-jointed screw bolt fitted with a binding nut; the nut and bolt
being arranged for holding the table legs in the unfolded or normal position. By
slackening the nut and withdrawing it along the bolt to a sufficient extent the table
legs are made free to be folded or turned up below the table top so as to lie parallel
therewith or approximately so.
According to one arrangement comprised in this invention the cross rail coupling
the pair of legs at each end of the table is slotted from the bottom upwards at or
about midway between the sides of the table. In a recess made for it in the frame
of the table at each end thereof fits the unthreaded part of the knuckle-jointed
screw bolt aforesaid. The screw threaded portion extends in the slot in the cross
rail beyond which is the binding nut. The legs are hinged to the underside of the
table top. When in the vertical position the legs are held rigid by screwing up

page_text: the binding nut on the bolt which lies approximately horizontal. When it is
desired to fold the legs the nut is screwed back on the bolt and when the nut is
withdrawn sufficiently to enable it to clear the cross rail, the screw threaded part
of the bolt is turned down on the joint. The legs are then turned inwards and
upwards on their hinges and lie against the underside of the table top.
In another arrangement the legs are hinged at the sides of the table frame;
and under a third method the legs are slung on a cross bar and the knuckle-
jointed screw bolts are arranged at the side so as to allow the nuts to bind on the
table frame. Under this last arrangement the legs overlap when folded and lie
parallel with one another instead of end to end.
In the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings, Fig. 1 represents a part
section of a table fitted with folding legs and having applied the knuckle-jointed
screw bolt a in the provision of which this invention consists.
One end only of the table is shown, but it is to be understood that both ends are
arranged and fitted alike. The section is taken midway between the table sides so
that in the example illustrated in Fig. 1 there is one bolt only at each end and
such bolt is centrally situated. It lies in a slot a' cut or otherwise provided for it
in the cross-rail b which couples the leg at one side of the table to that at the other
and is hinged as at 6' to the table top. Part of the bolt a is screw threaded and
part plain. The plain part is passed into a hole in the table frame 62, and the head
projects beyond at the outside or may be countersunk. The screw-threaded part
extends through the slot a' to beyond the inner face of the cross-rail 6 and is fitted
thereat with a binding nut c which, when screwed up, tightly holds the cross rail b
and legs d vertical as seen at Fig. 1.
с
When it is desired to fold the legs under the table top, the nut c is loosened and
drawn back and the screw threaded part of the bolt is turned down on its joint as
seen at Fig. 2. The cross rail b carrying with it the legs d is turned inwards and
upwards and the legs d are thus raised into contact with the under side of the table
top. In this position they are retained by the buttons or bolts e. The action is
the same at both ends of the table. To restore the legs d to the vertical position
they are released from the restraint of the buttons e, and the cross rail 6 is turned
down on its hinge 6. The screw-threaded part of the bolt a is then raised into the
slot a' and the nut c is screwed up.
At Fig. 3, which represents a half plan of a table inverted, is shown a
modification under which the legs d are hinged to the table frame b³ as at d², and
two knuckle-jointed screw bolts a (one only of which is shown in the drawing) are
employed at each end of the table to hold the cross rail band legs d in the vertical
position. The second bolt is placed on the other side of the table in the same
position relatively to the leg on the said other side.
Under a further modification illustrated at Fig. 4, which represents a half-plan
of a table inverted, the legs are loosely hinged on rods fextending across the
table. The knuckle-jointed screw bolts a are applied to the legs d, the plain parts
of the bolts being contained in holes made for their reception in the upper part of
the legs. When the legs are vertical they are moved to their places at the sides
and the screw-threaded part of the bolt a is turned up into the slot a¹ in the
frame against the outer side of which the nut c is made to bind. Or the bolt
may be reversed, that is to say, the screw-threaded part may be made to take into
a slot in the leg and the plain part fitted into the frame of the table.
In the arrangement shown at Fig. 4 the legs d are overlapped when folded and
are not end to end as in the arrangement shown at Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:―
In a table having legs arranged to fold or be turned up under the table top, the
provision of knuckle-jointed screw bolts such as a with suitable nuts such as c

page_text: arranged to bind the legs in the vertical or unfolded position and capable of
permitting the legs to be folded or turned up under the table top, as hereinbefore
set forth with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings, or in any merely
modified manner.
Dated this 27th day of February 1893
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Chartered Patent Agent.