IMPROVED STANDARDS OR SUPPORTS FOR BENCHES, DESKS, AND TABLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Blackburn, of the City of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
STANDARDS OR SUPPORTS FOR BENCHES, DESKS, AND TABLES."
Scaled the 22nd December 1869, and dated the 29th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Blackburn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th June 1869.
I, WILLIAM BLACKBURN, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED STANDARDS OR SUPPORTS FOR BENCHES, DESKS, AND TABLES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to standards which enable the boards connected
to them to be placed in inclined or horizontal positions for use as
desks or tables, and also in upright positions to be used as backs of
seats or stools, and the object of my improvements is to enable standards.
to be constructed with greater economy and efficiency than hitherto,
attained.

page_text: In one arrangement I make the upper part of each standard in the
form of a rib having at the top two recesses, and joint a flanged bar to
the rib by means of two links, there being a slot in the flange passing
over a pin fixed to the rib, and a boss on the flange and bar which can
enter the recesses; and it is to the flat part of the bar that the board
forming the desk, table, or back is fastened.
For a book desk one standard is sufficient, but for longer desks two or
more standards are used, as required, and the tops of the ribs are made
horizontal or inclined according to the angle the desk or table is required
to be. When the flanged bars are turned over and the boss of each
entered into its corresponding recess in the rib a desk or table is
formed, and when the boss is placed nearly upright and the boss entered
into its corresponding recess a back is formed for seats or stools.
In another arrangement of my improved standards I make a slot in
the upper part of the standard, and pass through it a pin fixed to two
lugs formed on the bar. When the bars of two or more standards are
turned to place the pins at the bottom of the slots the board fixed to the
bars forms a back of a scat, but when the pins are at the other end of
the slots the bars and board are horizontal, and if movable supports
jointed to the standards are placed under the bars the board is slightly
inclined. I modify this arrangement by having one lug only on cach
bar and using a screw and nut instead of a piu, so that the bar can
he placed at any required angle and held fast by the screw and nut,
thereby enabling the board fixed to the bar or bars to be used as a
reading desk.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Blackburn in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BLACKBURN, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant

page_text: unto me, the said William Blackburn, Her special license that I,
the said William Blackburn, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Blackburn, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED STANDARDS OR
SUPPORTS FOR BENCHES, DESKS, AND TABLES," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said William Blackburn, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 William Blackburn, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thercol, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to standards which enable the boards connected
to them to be placed in inclined or horizontal positions for use as desks
or tables, and also in nearly upright or slanting positions to be used as
backs of scats or stools, and the object of my improvements is to
enable standards to be constructed with greater economy and efficiency
than hitherto attained.
The manner in which this Invention is to be performed will be
clearly understood by the following particular description thereof,
reference being had to the figures and letters on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are end elevations of one
arrangement of my improved standards with the board connected to it
in different positions; Fig. 4, a back view of Fig. 3; Figs. 5, 6, and 7,
end elevations of another arrangement of my improved standards with
the board in different positions; Fig. 8, a back view of Fig. 7; and
Fig. 9, an end view of a modified arrangement for holding the bar and
5 board.
In the arrangement shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 I make the upper
part of each standard a in the form of a rib b, having at the top a recess c
and joint a flanged bar d, e, to the rib by means of two links f; there

page_text: being a slot-g in the flange e passing over a pin / fixed to the rib, and
it is to the flat part d of the bar that the board i forming the table, desk,
or back is fastened. The tops of the ribs are made inclined if the desk
is required to be permanently in a sloping position, but if it is to be
capable of being horizontal or inclined the top of each rib is horizontal,
as shewn in the Figures, and at the recessed end there is a moveable
prop or support k.
For a book desk one standard is sufficient, but for longer desks two
or more standards are used as required, and in all my arrangements the
standards are made of various heights for enabling the tables and desks
to be suitable for children and adults. When in each standard the
prop kis turned downwards and the flanged bar rests on the top of the
rib, and the boss j in the recess c, the board i is horizontal, as in Fig. 1,
and is suitable for a table, and when the bar is slightly raised at the
back, and the prop & placed under it, the board is inclined as in Fig. 2,
and can be used as a desk, but when the bar is turned forwards until the
flange rests against the part the board is slanting as in Figs. 3 and 4
for being used as the back of a scat.
k
In the arrangement of my improved standards, shewn in Figs. 5, 6, 7,
and 8, I make in the upper part of the standard ma slot », and pass
through it a pin o fixed to two lugs p cast to the bar q, which is
connected to the top of the standard by the two links r, and at the back
there is a moveable prop or support 8. When the bar or bars of one,
two, or more standards are so placed that the pin o is at the upper end of
the slot n, and the boss to which the links are jointed rests on the
part the board forms a table, as in Fig. 5. When the moveable prop
is placed under the bar the board forms a desk, as in Fig. 6, and when
.the bar is turned to place the pin o at the bottom of the slot n the board
forms the back of a seat, as in Figs. 7 and 8. I modify this arrangement
by having one lug only on each bar, and form in the lug a slot, in
which is placed a screwed pin fastened by a wing nut w, Fig. 9, so that
the bar and board can be placed at any required angle, and held fast by
the screw and nut. A book shelf in all the Figures is fixed to cach
standard, and a kneeling boardy, Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8, cau be attached in
such a manner that when not in use it can be turned up against the
desk standard out of the way, or be removed altogether.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,

page_text: I desire it to be understood that in standards or supports for benches,
desks, and tables I claim,-
First. The 'slotted flange on the bar to which the board is fastened, the
links for connecting the bar to the top of the standard, and the pin in
the slot for keeping the bar in its place, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3,
and 4.
Secondly. The slot at the upper end of the standard, the lugs for
holding a pin in the slot, and the links for connecting the bar to the top
of the standard, as shewn in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8.
And, thirdly. The slotted lug on the bar with the adjustable screw
and wing nut, as shown in Fig. 9.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Blackburn, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.