IMPROVEMENTS IN FRICTION JOINTS OR FASTENINGS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James White, of East Street, Red Lion Square, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FRICTION JOINTS OR FASTENINGS."
Sealed the 16th June 1854, and dated the 29th December 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James White at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
December 1853.
I, JAMES WHITE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FRICTION JOINTS OR FASTENINGS" to be as follows:-
The Invention consists simply in introducing in the joint a disc plug or
piece of cork, against which the metallic surfaces are made to work, and
thereby create sufficient friction in the joint to hold the several parts stationary
until force is applied to move them.
The improvement is applicable to all purposes where friction is required to
hold the parts stationary, as for instance, the drawers of telescopes, the joints
of compasses or callipers, the joints of cheval or toilet glasses, the centre
pins of card tables, and other purposes, where a steady and even motion is
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James White in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th
June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WHITE, of East Street, Red Lion Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James White, Her special licence that I, the said James White, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
White, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN FRICTION JOINTS
OR FASTENINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said James
White, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 I, the said James White, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to produce an inexpensive metal joint, which
shall have all the advantage of smooth action which the best ground joints
present, without the liability of being deranged by corrosion. My Invention
is applicable to all purposes where friction is required to hold the parts
stationary, as for instance, the joints of telescope stands, the joints of com-
passes, callipers, cheval or toilet glasses, the centre pins of card tables, and
other uses, where a steady and even motion is required. The Invention
consists simply in forming the joint hollow and filling the space with a
packing of cork, which is caused to bear tightly against the contact metal
surfaces.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing, this improved joint is represented under
several modifications to illustrate its application to the varied uses for which it
may with advantage be employed. Figs. 1 represent in three views a joint
suitable for toilet or other swing looking glasses. a is a bracket, furnished with
screw holes for facilitating its attachment to the frame of the glass. Affixed
to this bracket is a barrel b, provided with a flange c, through which screw
holes are made to permit of its attachment to one of the side standards of the
glass. Through the boss of this barrel the stem of a cap piece d passes, the
extremity of which stem is threaded for the purpose of screwing into a
threaded hole made in the bracket a. The barrel b is filled with cork packing,
as shewn at c, and the requisite degree of stiffness is given to the joint by
screwing up the cap piece before securing the joint in position. To prevent
this cap piece from working loose, a key is driven in between the screw and
the bracket a.
Figs. 2 represent in cross section and plan view the improved joint, as con-
structed for carrying the top of a card table which is required to swing round
in a horizontal plane. a is the plate, to which the table top is secured by
screws; b, the barrel, which is fastened down to the frame of the table by means
of screws which pass through the flange c; and d, the cap, with its central stein,
the axis of which is the centre of motion of the joint.
Figs. 3 shew the joint as applied to a button for fastening cupboard and
other doors.
Fig. 4 shews in side view, Fig. 5 in cross section, and Fig. 6 in back view,
the Invention as applied to a central jointed support for glasses and music or
reading stands.
The stem, which is let into or otherwise secured to the standard of the glass
or book-stand, is composed of two hollow counterpart pieces a, b, provided each
with an arm c; the sockets of which arms project inwards, and are secured
in position by means of solder or otherwise. In the head of the hollow stem
a, filling pieces of cork c are placed, and between them an arm or lever f is
gripped; the sockets d, which are screwed together (by the male screw of one
socket taking into the female screw of the other, as shewn at Fig. 5), forming
the fulcrum for the lever f. The required amount of stiffness is given to the
joint before applying to it the bracket which is to carry the glass, and it is
effected by turning round one of the counterpart pieces a, b, while the other is
stationary, until the cork binds sufficiently tight against the lever f to hold it
in position against the counteracting weight of the glass or other article it is
designed to support. When these parts a and b are thus screwed up, the
bracket 9 is jointed at its lower end to the fixed arms c, c, and at its upper end

page_text: to the links h, which are themselves jointed to the end of the lever f. The glass
when attached to the bracket g'may be readily adjusted to any required angle,
as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4.
Fig. 7 shews in side elevation, and Fig. 8 in partial sectional elevation, an
arrangement of reading stand, wherein cork is used in the shape of a friction
plug for retaining the stand in position, and also as a packing for the holding
down pins to work in. a is a tubular stem, capable of turning in the pillar b,
which carries it. This stem is arched at its upper part, and at its extremity it
is jointed to a bracket c, to which the board or rest for the book is secured.
Pendent from a horn with which the bracket c is provided, is a rod d, which
projects through a slot cut in the arch of the stem a, and carries at its inner
end a plug of cork e, which fits the bore of the tube and works up and down
therein. The cork is confined between two buttons on the rod, and by turning
the lower button, which is tapped, and works on a thread formed on the end of
the rod, the cork will be compressed, and caused to bind tightly against the
inner surface of the tube. By the friction of contact therefore between the
plug and the tube surface, the stand may be retained at any required inclination.
Fig. 9 is a partial plan view, shewing the pins f, f, which are employed for
holding down the leaves of an open book. The stems of these pins pass through
boxes fitted with cork packing, and they are capable of being elevated or
depressed to suit the thickness of book upon the stand.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "Improve-
mens in Friction Joints or Fastenings," I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim the constructing of friction
joints or fastenings, as above described, whereby I am enabled to dispense with
the necessity for skilled labour in the fitting of the faces or contact moving
surfaces of such joints.
In witness whereof, I, the said James White, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES WHITE. (L.S.)