IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER PURPOSES.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Atkins, of the Firm of Robert Walter
Winfield and Company, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchants and Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER PURPOSES.'

page_text: greater uniformity and neatness of appearance in the said castors can
be obtained than by the ordinary method of manufacture.
Instead of making the socket of the castor by the process of casting
as usual I form the same from shect metal. I take a disc of sheet metal
of the requisite size and thickness, and by means of dies and tools
worked in a press I fashion the said disc by what is commonly called a
raising process into the required cup-like form; or I make the socket
of the castor from metal tubing cut into suitable lengths, and closed at
one end in a lathe by a spinning process, or by means of dies and tools
worked by a press or stamp.
I make the part of the castor called the horns from sheet metal by
cutting from sheet metal of suitable thickness blanks of such a figure
that when bent by means of tools in a press the said blanks acquire the
required form; or I take a strip of sheet metal and by means of a
draw bench I give it the figure, or nearly the figure, of three sides of a
square or rectangular tube. By transverse divisions the drawn metal
may be divided into portions which require but little shaping to convert
them into the horns of a castor. The horns are connected to the socket
or plate of the castor by a pin fixed to the socket or plate by rivetting.
The pin is first rivetted to the socket or plate, and the horn is then put
on the pin and works on a shoulder on the pin. A washer is next put
on the pin, the end of which is rivetted, and the parts are thereby firmly
fixed together.,

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Atkins, Her
special license that I, the said James Atkins, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as. I, the said James Atkins, 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Atkins, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 month next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Atkins, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
the manufacture of the horns of castors for furniture and other purposes,
whereby greater uniformity and neatness of appearance in the said horns
can be obtained than by the ordinary method of manufacture.
=
Instead of making the horns of the castors by the process of casting
as usual I form the same from sheet metal by the methods herein-after
described. According to one method I cut from sheet metal of suitable
thickness blanks of such a figure that when bent by means of tools in a
press the said blanks acquire the required form. According to another
method I take a strip of sheet metal, and by means of a draw bench
I give it the figure, or nearly the figure, of three sides of a square or
rectangular tube. By transverse divisions the drawn metal may be
divided into portions which require but little shaping to convert them
into the horns of a castor,

page_text: Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, edge view, and section the blank of sheet.
metal, from which a horn is to be made according to the first described
method. The said blank is cut from sheet metal by means of cutting
tools worked in a press. From the central part a of the blank the
bridge or connecting plate of the horn is made, and from the wing or
side pieces b, b, the horns or bearing pieces of the castor are made.
Figure 2 represents the blank Figure 1 after it has been pierced at
the centre part a for the connecting pin of the plate or socket, and at
the wing pieces b, b, for the bowl pin. The pierced blank Figure 2 is
placed in a press, and by the operation of the tools of the said press the
said blank is bent at the dotted lines c, c, so as to bend the side pieces
or wings b, b, parallel to one another and at right angles to the central
part a.
* After the blank Figure 2 has been subjected to the bending operation
described it assumes the form represented in side elevation, front cleva-
tion, and plan in Figure 3. The horn of the castor is thereby com-
pleted. In the said Figure 3 the horns proper are marked b, b, and the
connecting plate or bridge is marked a. d is the piercing in the central
part of the plate a, through which the pin for connecting the horn to
the socket or plate of the castor is passed, and e, e, are the piercings in
the horns for receiving the axis of the bowl or roller of the castor.
Figure 4 represents in elevation and Figure 5 in section a plate castor, a
and Figure 6 in section a socket castor, the horns of the said castors
being made according to my Invention. The horns a, b, of the said
castors are connected to the plate a² or socket a³ by a pin f. The said
pin is first fixed to the plate or socket of the castor by rivetting, the
part a of the horn is then put on the pin f and works on a shoulder on ;
the pin. A washer his next put on the pin and the end of the pin is
rivetted against the said washer. The parts are thereby fixed firmly
together...
The socket or plate and the method of connecting the horns to the
soul anatent on plate constitute no nant of my Invention

page_text: In making castor horns according to the other method constituting.
part of my Invention, namely, from drawn plates having the figure of
three sides of a square or rectangular tube, I form by the ordinary drawing
process effected in a draw bench a plate, having the shape represented
n Figure 7, that is a plate or tube consisting of three sides i, i, k, the
two sides i, i, being parallel to one another and at right angles to the
In making castor horns according to the other method constituting.
part of my Invention, namely,' from drawn plates having the figure of
three sides of a square or rectangular tube, I form by the ordinary drawing
process effected in a draw bench a plate, having the shape represented
In Figure 7, that is a plate or tube consisting of three sides i, i, k, the
two sides i, i, being parallel to one another and at right angles to the
side k.
In making horns from the tube or drawn plate Figure 7 it is cut
transversely at the dotted lines p, p, the divisions at p, p, being inclined
to the side k, as represented.
Figure 8 represents a piece cut from the tube or drawn plate Figure 7.
To convert the blank or piece Figure 8 into a horn the parallel sides i, i,
are in succession cut out or shaped in a press so as to give the said
sides i, i, the usual figure of the horns of a castor.
Figure 9 represents the partly made horn after one of the parallel
parts i, i, has been cut or shaped in the press, and Figure 10 represents
the horn after the other part has been cut or shaped in the press.
The horn is finished by piercing the hole in the centre of the bridge
plate k for connecting it to the socket or plate of the castor, and the ends
of the liorn parts i, i, are also pierced for receiving the bowl pin.
Figure 11 represents a finished socket castor provided with a horn.
made as last described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as my Invention.
First. The improvement in the manufacture of the horns of castors
for furniture and other purposes herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say,
making the said horns from blanks of sheet metal bent or fashioned and
pierced, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The improvement in the manufacture of the ho.ns of castors
for furniture and other purposes, herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say,
making the said horns from drawn plates or tubes having the figure, or

page_text: nearly the gure, or three sides of a square or rectangular live, arviatg
the said tubes by transverse oblique divisions, and cutting or shaping the
sides of the divided parts and converting them into horns,, substantially
as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Atkins, have hereunto set ·5
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
GEORGE FREDERICK ASSINDER,
Cambridge Street Works,
Birmingham.
JAMES ATKINS. (L.S.)