AN IMPROVED PORTABLE TABLE OR SEAT
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of" AN IMPROVED
PORTABLE TABLE OR SEAT."-A communication from abroad by Charles
Joseph Everickx, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 19th December 1865, and dated the 24th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th June 1865.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED PORTABLE TABLE OR SEAT," to be as follows:-
This improved table or seat consists of a series of blades or strips of wood
or metal held together by hinges, or by being attached to leather, cloth, or
other fabric,and of stretchers, by preference three, one of which extends across
at right angles to the line of the joints between the strips, while the other two
are carried at an angle from two ends of the table to one end of the central
stretcher, to which they are united. The stretchers fit by spring bolts to
tenons on the under side of the table. Three jointed legs are connected to
the stretchers and are brought together towards the centre, from whence they
extend outwards and form a strong tripod support. When taken apart the
legs and stretchers may be placed together; and the jointed strips may be
rolled over and round them, the whole occupying comparatively very little
space, and affording, when set up, a strong table or seat.
"

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-, the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 PORTABLE TABLE OR SEAT," (communicated to
me from abroad by Charles Joseph Everickx, of Paris, France), upon the
condition (amongst others) that 1, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,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 months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I,the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
This improved table or seat consists of a series of blades or strips of wood
.or metal held together by hinges, or by being attached to leather, cloth, or
other fabric, and of stretchers, by preference three,one of which extends across
at right angles to the line of the joints between the strips, while the other two
are carried at an angle from two ends of the table to one end of the central
stretcher, to which they are united. The stretchers fit by spring bolts to
tenons on the under side of the table. Three jointed legs are connected to

page_text: the stretchers and are brought together towards the centre, from whence they
extend outwards and forin a strong tripod support. When taken apart the
legs and stretchers may be placed together, and the jointed strips may be
rolled over and round them, the whole occupying comparatively very little
space, and affording, when set up, a strong table or seat.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a portable
table constructed according to this Invention; Figure 2 is a view, as seen
from below; Figure 3 is a similar view; and Figures 4 and 5 are elevations
shewing the legs and stretchers placed together ready for the jointed strips to
be rolled over and round them, as represented in Figure 6.
a is the top of the table or table proper, which may be round, oval, square,
or any other desired shape; it is composed of blades or strips of wood or other
suitable material held together by being attached to leather or cloth, or
otherwise; b, b,61, are three stretchers, one of which extends across at right
angles to the line of the joints between the strips, while the other two, b, b, are
carried at an angle from two ends of the table to one end of the stretcher 61.
to which they are united by a hinge or joint on which they are free to move
to a certain limit. The free ends of the stretchers b, b, fit by spring bolts / to
tenons d on the under side of the table a. Three jointed legs e, e, e¹, are con-
nected to the stretchers b, b, 61; the leg e¹ is connected to the stretcher 6' by a
joint, while the legs e, e, are received in slits or recesses in the stretchers 6, b
and are retained by spring bolts. The legs cross each other towards the
centre, from whence they extend outward and form a strong tripod support,
as seen in Figure 1; the legs may be held together at the point where they
cross each other by pins or otherwise. When required to fold the table,
disengage the legs e, e,from their slides by pressure on the spring bolts, bring
the stretchers b, b, near the middle stretcher 6' by disengaging them from the
tenons d, and fold the three legs; give a quarter turn to all these parts round
their central pivot c, so as to bring them in a line with the divisions of the
strips, and the strips may then be rolled over and round them, the whole
occupying comparatively very little space. The reverse movements take place
when it is required to open the table for use.
Figure 7 is an elevation of a seat fitted with a back, capable of being
folded and rolled up with the seat and legs; by unfastening the side pieces g,9,
they may be rolled up together with the bands h, h, inside the seat.
The improved portable table may be adapted for playing chess, draughts,
cards, or other games. Figure 8 represents such a table opened out; and
Figure 9 shows it rolled up. This table may be mounted ou legs.
Figures 10 and 11 represent two other shapes of game table. i, Figure 8.

page_text: is a cloth or other fabric attached to one side of the table a; so that it may be
laid upon the table when required for playing cards; o, o, are markers for
scoring the game.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim constructing
portabletablesorseats,substantiallyasherein-before describedand represented
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)