Improvements Casters, or Bottoms of Furniture, Stands, Walking Sticks, and other Articles.
Year: 1888

page_text: in Feet.
Termin
TOT
CHIC
1055
Improvements
Casters, or
Bottoms of Furniture, Stands, Walking Sticks, and other Articles.
I, ALEXANDER GILMOUR of 85 Coltart Road, Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Stationer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention relates to a device for attachment to the legs or supports of furniture
(such as chairs, couches, stools, bedsteads, tables, etcetera) walking sticks, umbrellas
and other articles, with the object of preventing noise and jar, or wear and tear to a
carpet or floor covering.
Hitherto the legs of articles of furniture such as aforesaid, have generally either been
provided with casters, or have been left without any terminal device. When provided
with casters, the furniture can be moved about an apartment with considerable
facility without lifting it, and the constant movement thereof is not only very destruc-
tive to the carpet or Hoor covering, (or to the floor itself, when no covering is used),
but it is frequently productive of a great amount of noise.
When no casters or their terminal devices are provided, the destructive action and
noise is still greater.
Now the object of my invention is to provide a cap, ferrule, block on the legs or
supporting surface of chairs, couches, etcetera, or to walking sticks, umbrellas and
other articles, preferably made of soft material, whereby a soft surface is presented
between the article of furniture, and the ground, and noise, wear, etcetera, is
obviated.
In practice, I sometimes provide blocks or tips which are socketed to the legs,
supports, etcetera, of furniture, sticks and other articles, and are simply held in place
by friction, or by glueing, or the socket may be screw threaded. In other cases
I employ a holder or plate secured to the leg or stick by a screw and provided with
a claw-shaped rim, the block or terminal being inserted in the holder by pressure, the
clawed rim holding it firmly in place. As a further security, a hole may be bored,
preferably at an angle through the holder, which passes through the terminal and
holds the latter firmly in place. In another arrangement I use a collar clawed at one

page_text: end. The terminal which is provided with an annular rib is inserted in the collar at
the plain end, and is prevented from passing through the collar by the said claws.
The collar is then inserted on the end of the leg, stick, etcetera, and firmly secured in
place by screws.
In the case of furniture, which it is desired to move about an apartment without
lifting it from the ground, I use a caster of any convenient description, but instead of
a plain roller, I provide a disc of metal, wood, or other material having a rim or tyre
of rubber or other soft substance. The periphery of the disc may be U-shaped, and a
ring of rubber forced on and glued in place, if found necessary.
Dated this 12th day of May 1888.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Feet, Casters, or Terminals for the Legs or
Bottoms of Furniture, Stands, Walking Sticks, and other Articles.
I, ALEXANDER GILMOUR of 85 Coltart Road, Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Stationer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The invention relatos to a device for attachment to the legs or supports of furniture
(such as chairs, couches, stools, bedsteads, tables, etcetera) walking sticks, umbrellas,
and other articles, with the object of preventing noise and jar, or wear and tear to a
carpet or floor covering.
Hitherto the legs of articles of furniture such as aforesaid, have generally either been
provided with casters, or have been left without any terminal device. When provided
with casters, the furniture can be moved about an apartment with considerable
facility without lifting it, and the constant movement thereof is not only very destruc-
tive to the carpet or floor covering, (or to the floor itself, when no covering is used),
but it is frequently productive of a great amount of noise.
When no casters or their terminal devices are provided, the destructive action and
noise is still greater.
Now the object of my invention is to provide a cap, ferrule, or block on the legs or
supporting surface of chairs, couches, etcetera, or to walking sticks, umbrellas and
other articles, preferably made of soft material, whereby a soft surface is presented
between the article of furniture and the ground, and noise, wear, etcetera, is obviated.
This object I attain as follow, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in
which,
Figures 1 to 10 inclusive, illustrate the invention as applied to an ordinary
furniture leg;
Figures 1, 3, 5 and 7 being sectional elevations,
Figure 9 a front elevation, and
Figures 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, plan views of the underside of the legs shewn respectively
in Figures 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Figure 11 shews how the invention may be applied to a
walking stick or umbrella stick.
In these, A is the leg, A¹ is the walking stick or umbrella stick, B is a block of
india rubber or other slightly yielding substance. C, C₁ and O2 are plates or ferrules,
and c c¹³, are screws for securing the blocks B, B, to the legs or bottoms.
The blocks B as shewn in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, and in Figure 11, may be
formed of a hemispherical shape, and are attached with their flat side uppermost to
the furniture leg or bottom. Or the curved side of the blocks may be elliptical or
parabolic in cross section. They may be provided on their straight face with a
screwed stem 61, Figures 1 and 11, which is screwed into the leg or stick. Or they
may be formed with a rib 2 (preferably semi-circular in cross section) which is sprung
into an annular groove in a metal plate or ferrule such as C, C. Or the shank of the

page_text: block (Figure 7) may be inserted in a ferrule or recessed plate C², having snugs or
projections e, which engage the furniture leg. The block and plate are firmly secured
to the leg by a screw the projections e preventing the said block and plate from
revolving on the leg. The plates or ferrules C and C¹ may be secured to the leg or
bottom of the article in any suitable manner, such as by screws c, c¹, c, or by nails,
rivets, or bolts, the precise nature of the securing device depending upon the shaft of
the leg end, and the material of which it is composed. I sometimes provide a screw e³
(Figure 3) which engages the rim of the block, and prevents it rotating. The
blocks B not only reduce the wear and tear on the carpet or floor, and lessen the
noise due to pushing the furniture along the floor or floor covering, but they offer
such an amount of resistance to any attempt at pushing the article along, that it
becomes preferable to lift the latter into position.
When applying the invention to a walking or umbrella stick, it is preferable to use
the form of block set forth in Figures 1 and 2. The way in which the block is
applied to the stick may be seen from Figure 11.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
:-
1. A terminal for the leg or bottom of an article of furniture, consisting of a
block B of india rubber or similar yielding substance having a rounded or curved
end, which rests upon the floor or floor covering and a central stem which is
screwed into a hole in the underside of the said leg or bottom, so that the said
article of furniture may be moved about with a minimum amount of noise and
wear in the floor or floor covering.
2. In combination with a pad of elastic material of suitable shape, the plate or
ferrule such as C C or Chaving an annular groove or recess at the lower part,
into which the pad is sprung or inserted and secured by the elasticity of the flange
either alone or aided by a screw such as C³, and nails or screws for the purpose
of attaching the ferrule and thereby the pad to a leg or bottom of furniture, stand,
or other article, substantially as described and shown.
3. A walking or umbrella stick or the like provided at its lower end with a
noiseless stop or ferrule, such as B, secured thereto by means of a stem such as b¹.
Dated this 22nd day of September 1888.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.