AN IMPROVED LOOSE CLIP AND SOCKET JOINT, APP- AND, APPLICABLE TO BEDSTEADS, SOFAS, CHAIRS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FURNITURE AND OF FENCING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Eli Ironmonger, of No. 1, Friar Gate, Derby, in the
County of Derby, Auctioneer and Upholsterer and Furniture Dealer,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED LOOSE CLIP AND SOCKET JOINT, APPLI-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Eli Ironmonger at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
May 1863.
J, ELI IRONMONGER, of No. 1, Friar Gate, Derby, in the County of Derby,
Auctioneer and Upholsterer and Furniture Dealer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED LOOSE CLIP AND SOCKET JOINT,
APPLICABLE TO BEDSTEADS, SOFAS, CHAIRS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FURNITURE AND
OF FENCING," to be as follows:-
My apparatus consists of a circular, square, or otherwise shaped ring or
band, or of a portion of such a ring or band, encircling or fitting round the
pillars, legs, or posts of bedsteads, sofas, chairs, and other articles of furniture,
the shape of the inside of such ring or band, or portion thereof, and the shape
of such pillar, leg, or post, at the part encircled, corresponding with each other.
Each ring or band, or portion of ring or band, has on the outside one or more
wedge-shaped or otherwise shaped clips, in which are fitted wedges, secured.

page_text: to the clips by a nut screwed on a screw placed in a recess or recesses in the
wedges and clips. These wedges may be cast at one end, and each forms part
of a socket, which receives one end of a square, round, or otherwise shaped
piece of wood or metal, which forms the side of the bed or other article of
furniture, and on the side of the socket is a clip to receive a rail, upon or to
which the laths of the bed or such like parts of other articles are laid or
secured; the other ends being secured in like manner to a rail at the other
side, so that the sides of the bedstead or other piece of furniture do not bear
the weight of the laths, mattress, bed, or the like, hence the sides which are
seen may be made light and may be ornamented. I prefer to construct the
clips, sockets, and wedges of malleable iron, cast iron, brass, or zinc. And
where the pillars or posts form part of a fence or fencing I employ, instead of
the wood bar or rail, a bar, wire, or chain, or bars, wires, or chains, which
form the bay or length between such posts or pillars.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Eli Ironmonger in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EL IRON-
MONGER, of No. 1, Friar Gate, Derby, in the County of Derby, Auctioneer and
Upholsterer and Furniture Dealer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Eli Ironmonger, Her special licence that I, the said Eli Ironmonger, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Eli Iron-
monger, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED LOOSE CLIP AND
SOCKET JOINT, APPLICABLE TO BEDSTEADS, SOPAS, CHAIRS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
FURNITURE AND OF FENCING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Eli Ironmonger, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or theirr or one of their hands and seal, should particularly describe
aud ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office on or before the Tenth day of December 1863.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Eli Ironmonger, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an appliance which is intended for connecting parts
of furniture or fencing. This appliance, which I call a loose clip and socket
joint, consists of a circular, square, or otherwise shaped ring or band, or
portion of ring or band, which I call ring clip, which fits closely upon, around,
or partially around a post, leg, bar, rail, or similar support, and is formed at
its outer edge with one or more recesses, sockets, mortices, or clips of a wedge,
dovetail, or other shape, into or upon which are fitted portions of articles of
furniture or of fencing, or sockets intended to receive portions of articles of
furniture or of fencing, and which sockets may have other sockets cast or
formed thereon to receive other portions of such articles, and the ends or parts
of the portions or sockets which fit into the mortices or recesses in the ring or
portion of ring are of wedge, dovetail, or other shape to correspond with and
fit closely in the said mortices, clips, or recesses. The rings or portions of
rings may, if desired, be screwed by countersunk screws and nuts to their
supports. I prefer to construct the rings and sockets of malleable or cast
iron, or of brass or zine. The Invention may be applied to fencing by fitting
the rings, or portions of rings, or, as I will call them, ring clips, round
posts or pillars, the mortices, recesses, or clips of such rings or portions of
rings, or ring clips holding the ends of bars, rails, wires, chains, or partitions
forming the bays or lengths between such posts or pillars; one end of the
chain, wire, bar, or partition may be held thus, and the opposite end secured
in any ordinary manner.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan, and Figure 2 a side view
illustrating my Invention, applied to a bedstead or similar article of furniture.
A is a ring closely fitted round a bed post. In this ring are cut two wedge-
shaped recesses or clips A', in which are fitted the wedge-shaped ends of
sockets B, C; the socket B receives one end of a side rail, supported in like
manner at the opposite end, the socket C receives one end of the head or foot
rail; C¹ is a socket cast on one side of the socket C, and receiving one end of
a rail D, the other end of which takes into a similar socket held in like
manner at the other end of the bed; on these rails D, and on other parallel
rails D, held in like manner, are laid the laths E, which are kept in place by

page_text: blocks placed between the two end laths, and secured to the rails D; Fis
webbing or similar fabric connecting the laths. By this arrangement the
laths (with the mattress and bed resting thereon) are supported by the rails D
instead of by the side rails, which may therefore be made of light material,
such as wrought or cast iron plates or strips, which may be pierced, sunk,
stamped, embossed, painted, or otherwise ornamented. The side, head, and
foot boards of the bed or similar article may be held at both ends in grooves
or recesses formed in clips or rings, screwed or otherwise secured to the head
or foot posts; a pair of such clips is shewn in side and edge view, Figures 4
and 5, Figure 4 being the upper clip, and Figure 5 the lower clip.
Figure 3 exemplifies the Invention applied to fencing, or divisions of
articles. A is a ring, or as I call it a ring clip, encircling a pillar, and
formed with wedge-shaped recesses or clips, in which are fitted wedges B
terminating in forks, to which are screwed or rivetted boards, rails, or
partitions forming the divisions of the fencing, the opposite ends being held in
the same manner. By this arrangement a room or space might be divided or
fenced off into, say, four compartments or divisions.
Figures 6 and 7 represent a ring A, formed with a recess to receive the
wedge-shaped end of a socket B, and also with a clip B', fitted into a mortice.
of corresponding shape at the end of a rail, socket, or other article.
Figure 8 shews the Invention applied to the framing of a chair or similar
article. A is a ring or ring clip encircling one leg or pillar, and formed with
two recesses, in which are fitted socket wedges B and B³, that is to say,
sockets wedge-shaped at one end, or having wedge-shaped shanks; the socket
wedge B receives one end of a side rail, on which is a ring clip B', into which
is fitted a socket wedge B2, which receives the end of a cross rail; one or
more such rails connect the sides together; the socket wedge B³ receives one
end of a front or back rail.
Figures 9 and 10 are plan and front view of a modification in which the
ring (or portion of ring) A, instead of entirely encircling a pillar, embraces only
a small portion of its periphery, and is secured to it by screws; B is a rail,
wedge-shaped at one end, which fits into a mortice or key in the piece or
ring clip A.
In the modification, Figure 11, the mortices to receive socket wedges, or
ends of portions of furniture or fencing, are formed in a piece A, attached to
a pillar or wall by a screw pin, the head of which lies in a countersunk hole
in the piece A; the pin is held by a nut and washer at the back of the wall
or pillar; and Figure 12 shows a modification in which the piece A has at
back a boss, stul, or pin let into the wall or pillar, and secured by a screw.

page_text: The appliance may be modified by forming the ring without mortices or
recesses, but with pins or projections, upon which the articles to be connected
are fitted. Figures 13 and 14 exemplify this modification. A is a ring
formed with pins or studs B, upon which rails, boards, or other parts of
furniture or fencing are fitted, having holes or recesses therein, by which they
are passed over the pins or studs.
Figure 15 shows an octagonal ring or band A, in mortices in which are
fitted wedges B or C; the wedges B form or receive the ends of rails, boards,
or other partitions, and the wedges C are provided with loops or hooks, which
hold the ends of chains, boards, wires, or ropes, the opposite ends thereof
being held in like manner. The Invention is applicable in the above manner
for connecting parts of stable or other fittings. The Invention is particularly
applicable to fencing when it is desirable to construct it in such manner that
it may readily be taken down for cleansing or storing, and replaced when
required. The appliance may be ornamented as desired, and for further
ornamentation, rings or fillets of stamped, pierced, or otherwise ornamented
material may be placed above the ring, which may be painted or otherwise
ornamented to correspond.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim as of my Invention the
loose clip and socket joint or connecting appliance herein-before described,
having its parts arranged and combined in manner herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Eli Ironmonger, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Office,
Nottingham.
ELI IRONMONGER. (L.S.)