Improvements in Castor Attachments for Bedsteads and other Articles of Furniture.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 19th Nov., 1889-Accepted. 21st Dec., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Castor Attachments for Bedsteads and other
Articles of Furniture.
-
I, RICHARD CANE of 2
Middlesex, Manufacturer, do
follows:-
Bridge Road, South Hampstead in the County of
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
This invention relates more particularly to castors for heavy bedsteads, which are
applied thereto for the purpose of enabling the servant to move the bedsteads easily
about the room when required, but the invention is also capable of application to
other articles of furniture.
.
The ordinary castors applied to the bedstead legs are of necessity furnished with
but small wheels, as large ones would project inconveniently far into the room, and
therefore to move a heavy bedstead is a work of considerable labour, and a source of
much injury to the carpet.
It has therefore been found desirable, either to provide a kind of tramway for the
wheels, or to introduce beneath the bedstead, at the corners of the frame which
carries the bedding, auxiliary-castors having wheels of a considerable diameter, and in
the latter case to transfer the support of the bedstead from the ordinary bedposts to
these auxiliary wheels.
Hitherto the auxiliary castors have been carried upon bars placed across the
corners of the frame beneath the bed, and fixed in position by means of a bolt, which
necessitates drilling the side angles of the bedstead. The application of these castors
has been a matter of considerable difficulty, as the adjustment as to height must be
accurate, in order only just to raise the bed legs clear of the floor. Consequently, the
removal of the bedstead to the workshop has been necessary for the manufacture of a
special set of castors to meet each case.
According to my invention, I make detachable auxiliary castors, which can be
easily applied to any bedstead without drilling, and adjusted to any ordinary height
required by means of screws.
My castors, which are of a height approximately suitable for most bedsteads, are
attached to the underside of a metal bar, which bar is carried by and pendent from
another bar, being secured parallel thereto by adjusting screws, by means of which
the distance between the bars, and consequent height of the castors, can be regulated.
The upper
bar is fixed to the bedstead across the corner of the frame, the ends of the
bar being recessed to receive the angle iron. A pivotted arm is provided about the
middle of the length of this upper bar, carrying on its end a clamp, by means of
which it is secured to the chill of the bed-post, and all the parts thereby kept firmly
in position. The adjustment screws are arranged to clamp the bar, at its recessed end,
onto the angle irons of the frame.
A bedstead fitted with a set of four castors as above described, adjusted in height by
the adjustment screws, so as just to clear the permanent castors from the floor, can be
moved about the room without trouble, by reason of the large diameter of the
castor wheels. At the same time, the auxiliary, castors are readily detached, and
can be fitted, if desired, to another hed, and regulated to the proper height by
increasing or. diminishing the distance between the parallel bars forming the castor
support.
Dated this 19th day of February 1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Castor Attachments for Bedsteads and other
Articles of Furniture.
I RICHARD CANE of 2 Bridge Road, South Hampstead in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, 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 more particularly to castors for heavy bedsteads, which are
applied thereto for the purpose of enabling the servant to move the bedsteads
easily about the room when required, but the invention is also capable of application
to other articles of furniture.
The ordinary castors applied to the bedstead legs are of necessity furnished with
but small wheels, as large ones would project inconveniently far into the room, and
therefore to move a heavy bedstead is a work of considerable labor, and a source of
much injury to the carpet.
It has therefore been found desirable either to provide a kind of tramway for the
wheels or to introduce beneath the bedstead, at the corners of the frame which
carries the bedding, auxiliary castors having wheels of a considerable diameter, and in
the latter case to transfer the support of the bedstead from the ordinary bedposts to
these auxiliary wheels.
Hitherto the auxiliary castors have been carried upon bars placed across the
corners of the frame beneath the bed, and fixed in position by means of bolts,
which necessitates drilling the side angles of the bedstead. The application of these
castors has been a matter of considerable difficulty, as the adjustment as to height
must be accurate, in order only just to raise the bed legs clear of the floor. Con-
sequently the removal of the bedstead to the work-shop has been necessary for the
manufacture of a special set of castors to meet each case.
According to my invention, I make detachable auxiliary castors, which can be
easily applied to any bedstead without drilling, and adjusted to any ordinary height
required by means of screws.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, of which
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the castor and its attachment ;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation; and
Fig. 3 a plan view, the part of the bedstead to which the castor is applied being
indicated in dotted lines.
The castor wheel a is mounted in a fork a secured to the lower end of a vertical
pivot rod A, passing upward through the metal bracket B to a bearing in the under-
side of the flattened metal bar C, to which the arms of the bracket B are rigidly
secured.
D is another metal bar or plate slotted at either end (see Fig. 1) to receive the angle
irons of the bedstead, and supported by the collars of the adjustment screws dd,
which pass through it, and work into tapped holes in the bar C. d d are other
.screws which serve as additional supports to the bar D, and also as clamping screws
to secure it in position. E is a slotted plate of a form best shown in the plan view
Fig. 3, secured by a set screw passing through the slot to the upper bar D. Eis
another plate carried beneath the plate E by the screw e pendent from the latter.
el is a clamping screw working in a tapped hole in the plate E¹, and bearing against
the under side of the plate E.
In applying a set of these auxiliary castors to a bedstead, the height is first so
regulated by the screws between the two flattened bars C and D, that the slotted ends
of the latter can be slipped into the angle irons in the position best seen in Fig. 3,
without lifting the bedstead. The clamping plates E E are then clamped onto the
chill, which is usually cast onto the pillars of metal bedsteads, and into which drop
the lugs at the ends of the angle irons. The effect of this clamping is to hold the
angle irons in place, and to prevent the plate D from coming free from them. The

page_text: clamping is effected by first tightening the screw e as much as possible, and after-
wards advancing the screw e which had been before partially withdrawn. The
distance between the bars C and D can now be increased by means of the screws d d,
and the bedstead legs are thereby lifted clear of the floor, as shown in Fig. 2, the
weight of the bed being taken by the wheels of the auxiliary castors.
For perfect
security, the screws d' d are tightened up, and the angle irons are thereby firmly
secured within the recesses of the bar D, while at the same time the adjustment
screws d d are supported against lateral strain. In this way, a set of four
auxiliary castors may be readily fixed at the corners of the bedstead and adjusted to
support it perfectly steadily even on a crooked floor.
The castors are made to approach nearly to the height of an ordinary bedstead, which
is about the same in all cases, so that it will not be necessary to make the adjust-
ment screws longer than a few inches, which will give sufficient additional height to
just clear the permanent castors upon the bed post from the floor, which is all that is
required.
The wheels of my detachable castors are preferably of hard wood, while the framing
and attachment may be cast iron; other material may however be substituted if
desired.
Under some circumstances, a wooden cross bar, provided at its ends with metal
clamps to embrace the angle irons, may be substituted for the bar D and its adjust-
ment screws. In this case, the adjustment is effected by inserting thickening pieces
between the castor frame and the underside of the wooden bar, to which the said
castor frame may be bolted in any convenient manner, after the bar is fixed in
position.
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 :-
A detachable castor for bedsteads and similar furniture constructed and arranged
so as to be capable of vertical adjustment substantially as herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 19th day of November 1889.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.