An Improved Brace or Leg Tightener for Chairs or Stools.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 18th July, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 9th Sept., 1887.
Communicated from abroad by JAMES FRANKLIN SARGENT, of the City of Manchester,
County of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire, U.S.A., Manufacturer.]
Communicated from abroad by JAMES FRANKLIN SARGENT, of the City of Manchester,
County of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire, U.S.A., Manufacturer.]
An Improved Brace or Leg Tightener for Chairs or Stools.
I, SAMUEL SIDNEY BROMHEAD of 97, Newgate Street, London, E.C. Patent Agent,
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 chair-braces which are designed to firmly hold the rounds
and legs in their respective sockets.
The object of the present invention is to provide a brace which shall be simple in
construction cheap of manufacture, readily applied to either old or new chairs or stools,
and durable in use, and also to prevent the rounds and legs from becoming loose by
reason of shrinkage of the wood.
The invention consists of a series of spring-braces, the upper and lower ends of
which are respectively secured to a center plate and the legs, the plate being adjustable
upon a threaded rod, which is hooked over two wire rods which cross each other at
right angles and are suitably secured to the lower face of the chair seat or frame all as
will be hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a chair having my improvement attached
thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the manner in which the hook which supports
the plate passes over the transverse bars.
Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference refer to like parts,
A designates the seat of a chair or stool having legs B and rounds C, which are
socketed, respectively, in the chair seat and legs in the usual manner, with this
exception, that when my brace is employed it is not necessary to use glue in
the joints.
D is a series of spring-braces, which are secured at their lower ends to the chair-
legs, preferably by means of screws, while their upper ends have hooks, which pass
through perforations in the rim of the metal supporting-plate E, that has a central
aperture, e, through which passes a threaded rod, F, having a hook, f, that passes
obliquely over the two rods secured to the lower face of the seat or frame at the point
where they intersect, as clearly shown in Fig., 2.

page_text: The rods G have been secured to the seat and the hook f placed thereon, as shown
and described. The plate E is placed over the rod F, when the nut is given two or
three turns in order to support the plate upon said rod while the lower ends of the
spring-braces D are being secured to the legs, after which said nut is forced upwardly
upon the rod by means of a wrench of any well-known form adapted to that purpose
as far as may be necessary to draw the braces from the position indicated by dotted
lines to the position indicated by full lines.
After the springs of the braces have been partially drawn out by forcing the nut f
upwardly upon the rod F, that portion of the lower end of the latter which projects
below the nut is cut off with a pair of pinchers. The effect of the spring-braces,
after they have been secured in the manner described, is to exert a constant contracting
force upon the legs of the chair, thereby serving to draw them in upon the rounds in
case of shrinkage of the wood, which takes place more or less in all wooden structures,
and which it is essentially necessary to provide against in chairs and stools.
I have found, after applying my brace to a large number of chairs, &c., during the
past year, that the legs and rounds never become loose, and therefore never require
any further tension to be put upon the braces by adjusting the securing-nut.
I do not limit myself to the exact form and proportion of parts herein shown as an
embodiment of my invention, the essential features of which will be understood from
the foregoing description in connection with the drawings.
I am aware that it is old to secure a series of wires at one end to the seat of the
chair and at the other end to the legs, and to provide a straining device for securing
tension on said wires, and I do not desire to claim such construction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as the same has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :—
1. The combination, with a perforated plate having means for supporting it from
the lower face of the chair, of a series of spring-braces secured to the said plate and
to the legs of the chair, as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination, with a perforated plate supported from the lower face of the
stool or chair by means of a nut and threaded rod having a book at its upper end,
which passes over two rods connected at their ends to the seat at the point where they
intersect, of a series of spring-braces which are hooked to the periphery of said plate
and secured to the legs of the chair, as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In combination with the transverse rods secured at each end to the seat, the
threaded rod having a hook which passes diagonally over said rods at the point where
they intersect, a perforated plate on said rod, a series of braces secured thereto and to
the chair-legs, and a nut for partially overcoming the tension of the braces by being
tightened upon the supporting-plate, as and for the purpose set forth.
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, E.C.,
Patent Agent.