IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTORS FOR FURNITURE
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
PANNELL FORLONG, of Bristol, Button Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of February, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Pannell Forlong, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Richard Pannel Forlong, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Richard Pannell Forlong, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CASTORS FOR FURNITURE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Richard Pannell Forlong, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said
Richard Pannell Forlong, do hereby declare that the
proviso, I, the said
nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Castors for Furniture" consists in
making the rollers of castors of glass instead of metal or other material, of
which they have hitherto usually been made, and the horns and socket or plate
of nickel silver instead of brass or iron. The advantage of thus making the
roller of the castor of glass, and the horns and socket or plate of nickel silver,
is that when such castors are adapted to any articles of furniture or to the
legs or supports of musical instruments, such as pianofortes, the appearance of
the castor is much improved, and the instruments are by this means insulated,
and the tone much improved and increased in power.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a side view of a glass
wheel or roller for a castor, and Fig. 2 is an edge view of a castor complete,
the wheel being mounted on a spindle between the horns, which are made of
nickel silver. The wheel a is made in a metal mould, and a hollow or solid
brass or other metal spindle 6 is inserted at the moment the glass is placed
(in a soft or moulten state) in the mould; by this means the hollow or solid
spindle 6 becomes firmly fixed in the glass, and it only remains to grind the
periphery of the wheel in order to make it perfectly round, and also to grind
and polish the sides to make them flat and run true in the horns of the castor.
The sides are ground and polished in ordinary manner, but to make the
periphery true I find it advisable to grind the wheel in an apparatus similar to
.that shewn in Figures 3 and 4, which represent a side and edge views of the
apparatus I employ for this purpose. The glass wheel is seen at a, and is
mounted on the points of two spindles.d, d, the ends of which enter the hollow
spindle b.of.the glass wheel, and are furnished with two cheeks c, c, covered
.on the inside with leather to prevent them from slipping; the cheeks of theso
spindles when properly screwed up firmly hold the glass wheel, and carry it
round with them and the spindles d. The periphery of the glass roller is
:brought into contact with a grindstone or wheel e, on the axle of which are two
pullies.f, one on each side of the wheel e; from these pullies fa band passes
to and,drives a second pair of pullies g on the spindles & that carry the glass
wheel. From this arrangement of parts it will be seen that upon communi-
.cating rotary motion to the grindstone or wheel e, the pullies ƒ and g will
cause the glass wheel a to rotate at a moderate speed in the opposite direction,
and the grindstone e will accurately grind the periphery of the glass wheel a.
It should be understood that the bearings of the spindles & are made slightly

page_text: adjustable by means of screws, so that as the periphery of the glass wheel is
ground away it may be pushed forward and kept in contact with the wheel e;
and in order to prevent the driving bands or straps of the pullies ƒ and g from
becoming loosened by this adjustment of the bearing, these pullies are made
slightly conical to compensate for the adjustment.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim, as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, making the wheels or rollers of castors of glass in
place of metal, as has heretofore been generally the case.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Pannell Forlong, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
RICHARD PANNELL (L.S.) FORLONG.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of August, in the
5 year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Richard Pannell Forlong came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.