IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Walter Winfield, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Merchant and Manufacturer, and John Jackson,
of Birmingham aforesaid, Press Tool Maker, for the Invention of
Sealed the 22nd January 1856, and dated the 1st September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Walter Winfield
and John Jackson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st September 1855.
We, ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Merchant and Manufacturer, and JOHN JACKSON, of Birmingham
aforesaid, Press Tool Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
METALLIC FURNITURE" to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, in the following methods of connecting the
horizontal rails of metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture
with the upright pillars of the same. We cast upon the pillar a conical block,
the smallest end being uppermost, the said block having two "fins" thereon,
in vertical planes, and at right angles to one another, the narrowest ends of
the said fins being uppermost. On the ends of the rails we cast blocks having

page_text: dovetails, which dovetails engage with the before-mentioned fins, and secure
the said rails to the pillar. That vertical face of each block in which the
dovetail is made is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees to the rail, so that when
the two rails meeting in the same pillar are in their places, their inclined ends
abut against one another, and from the extent of bearing surface great stability
results. Or we form the fins and dovetails in the blocks cast on the ends of
the rails, and cause the said rails to engage together, and afterwards drop the
said engaged rails on the pillar, the said pillar passing through a hole in the
engaged corners. A conical block on the pillar engages in the said hole.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in constructing the sacking of metallic
bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture as follows:-Instead of
making the said sacking of laths wholly detached from the rails, and capable
of being connected with the said rails by buttons or studs, we connect one end
of each lath permanently with the rail forming one side of the bed frame, and
make the other end of each lath capable of being readily attached to and
detached from the other rail. The laths may also be jointed for the purpose
of portability in packing, and when so jointed, the laths may be attached at
both ends to the rails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Walter Winfield and John Jackson in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 26th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
WALTER WINFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant
and Manufacturer, and JOHN JACKSON, of Birmingham aforesaid, Press 'Tool
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Robert Walter Winfield and John Jackson, Her special licence that we,
the said Robert Walter Winfield and John Jackson, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Walter Winfield
and John Jackson, our 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,

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert Walter Winfield and
John Jackson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us
or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Robert Walter Winfield and John
Jackson, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
.Our Invention consists, firstly, in the following method of connecting the
horizontal rails of metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture
with the upright pillars of the same. We cast upon the pillar a, Figure 1, a
conical block b, the smallest end of the said block being uppermost. The said
block has two fins c, d; the said fins are in vertical planes, and are situated
opposite to each other, or inclined at any angle to suit the angle to be given to
the horizontal rails. Figure 2 represents a plan of the block represented in
elevation in Figure 1, and the several parts are indicated in Figure 2 by the
same letters as in Figure 1. On the ends of the horizontal rails f, g, Figure 3,
we cast blocks h, i, of the form represented. The said blocks have dovetails
c, c, shewn in plan in Figure 3, and in elevation in Figure 4. The said dove-
tails e, e, engage with the fins c, d, Figures 1 and 2, and secure the horizontal
rails to the pillar. Figure 5 represents, in plan, the pillar a, conical block b,
fins c, d, blocks h, i, and rails f, g, in the relative positions which they occupy
when the fins c, d, are engaged in the dovetails in h, i. That vertical face of
each block in which the dovetail is made, marked respectively h', ', in Figure 3,
is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees to the rails on which it is situated, so
that when the two blocks meeting in the same pillar are in their places,
their inclined ends h¹, i, abut against one another, as seen in Figure 5, and
from the extent of bearing surface great stability results. We sometimes
modify this part of our Invention in the following manner :-We form a
dovetail or dovetails in one of the blocks h, i, and a fin or fins on the other of
the said blocks h, i, and we cause the rails f, g, to engage together by means
of the said fins and dovetails, and we afterwards drop the said engaged rails on
the pillar, the said pillar passing through a hole in the engaged corners; a
conical block on the pillar engages in the said hole. This modification of this

page_text: part of our Invention will be understood if, by reference to Figure 5, the parts
b, c, and d be supposed to be cast in one piece with the part i, in which case
the fin c carried by the part i will engage in the dovetail in the block h. The
parts b, c, d, and i may be cast in one piece on the vertical pillar.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in constructing the sacking of metallic
bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture as follows:-Instead of
making the said sacking of laths wholly detached from the rails, and capable
of being connected to the said rails by buttons or studs, we connect one end of
each lath permanently with the rail forming one side of the bed frame by
means of a joint, as represented in Figure 6, and make the other end of each
lath capable of being readily attached to and detached from the other rail.
The laths may also be jointed for the purpose of portability in packing, and
when so jointed, the laths may be permanently attached at both ends to the
rails. Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 illustrate this part of our Invention. In
Figure 6 the laths are permanently fixed at one end to one side rail, and are
connected to the other side rail by means of a button. In Figure 7 the laths
are divided in the middle, and fixed permanently by their ends to the side
rails. When the sacking is put together, the laths are joined together again
at their middle by means of buttons. In Figure 8 the laths are jointed in
the middle, and fixed permanently by joints to the side rails. Figure 9 ropre-
sents a vertical section of the sacking, Figure 8. The modification represented
in plan, in Figure 10, and in vertical section in Figure 11, differs from the
modification represented in Figures 8 and 9 only in the respect that the laths
consist of a number of jointed pieces, which construction affords great con
venience in packing.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of our said Invention; but we claim,-
Firstly, the method herein described, and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5 of the accompanying Drawing, of connecting together the vertical pillars
and horizontal side rails of metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic
furniture, that is to say, by casting or fixing on the said vertical pillar a
conical block having fins, which said fins engage in dovetails on the ends of
the horizontal rails, the said rails abutting against each other at their ends."*
Secondly, engaging the side rails together by a dovetail and fin on the ends
of the said rails respectively, and passing the vertical pillar through the joined
part of the said engaged rails, or casting one end of one of the engaged rails
ou the said pillar, as herein-before explained.

page_text: Thirdly, the methods herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, and 11 of the accompanying Drawing, of constructing the laths used
for the sacking of metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture,
and of attaching them to the framing of the said articles.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Walter Winfield and John
Jackson, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-fifth day
of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-six.
Witness,
W. C. AITKEN.
ROBERT WALTER WINFIELD. (L.S.)
JOHN JACKSON.
(L.S.)