IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS, AND THE ORNAMENTS OF THE PILLARS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Whitehouse, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS, AND THE ORNAMENTS OF THE PILLARS
"
Sealed the 2nd July 1861, and dated the 20th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Whitehouse at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1861.
I, JOHN WHITEHOUSE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS, AND THE ORNAMENTS OF
THE PILLARS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF LIKE MANUFACTURE,"
to be as follows:-
My improvements in the manufacture of door and other knobs consist,
firstly, in making the necks of the said knobs of an internal core or foundation
of cast or malleable část iron, or other, hard and cheap metal or alloy, and
casing the said necks with a shell or casing of thin sheet brass. I make the
shell or casing by first raising a disk of sheet brass by means of dies or raising
tools into a cup-like form, and afterwards closing the said cup upon the core
by the process called spinning, that is, by forcing the thin sheet metal shell

page_text: into contact with the core by means of a lathe and turning tools, as is well
understood. The body of the knob is fixed to the neck in the usual way.
My improvements in the manufacture of door and other knobs consist,
secondly, in manufacturing such knobs as have bodies of china and metallic
necks by making the neck of a thin shell of brass of the required form. The
said neck is placed on the body of the knob, and a square or screwed spindle
being inserted in the knob, melted type metal or other easily fused and cheap
alloy is poured into the neck at a small hole at the end of the neck, and the
shell and the recess in the body of the knob filled therewith. Or, a screwed or
square core may be inserted in the shell and fixed therein by the type metal or
other alloy cast therein.
My improvements in the manufacture of the ornaments of the pillars of
metallic bedsteads and other articles of like manufacture consist in making the
necks or the upper and lower parts of such of the said ornaments as are fixed
on the summits of the pillars in the manner described with respect to knobs,
that is, of cast or malleable iron or other hard and cheap metal or alloy
covered with a thin shell of sheet brass. When the said terminal ornament
has the general figure of a knob with an ornamental summit as well as an orna-
mental neck, I make the said summit and neck in the manner described with
reference to the necks of knobs. I make the middle part or body of the orna-
ment of a tubular piece of metal, the upper and lower ends of which are
respectively closed upon the top ornament and the neck. The said closing is
effected by a pair of dies, the top ornament being supported during the action
of the said dies. ..
My Invention consists further in making such other ornaments used on the
said pillars as have a bulbous figure or a figure that may be produced by, turn-
ing, by covering an internal core of cast iron or other hard and cheap metal or
alloy with a thin casing or shell' of brass by the process of spinning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Whitehouse in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WHITEHOUSE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,"
the said John Whitehouse, Her special licence that I, the said John
Whitehouse, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Whitehouse, 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.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS, AND THE ORNA-
MENTS OF THE PILLARS OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS, AND OTHER ARTICLES CF LIKE
MANUFACTURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jolm
Whitehouse, 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 John Whitehouse, 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists of the several improvements herein-after par-
ticularly explained and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in the
5 manufacture of door and other knobs, and the ornaments of the pillars of
metallic bedsteads, and other articles of like manufacture.
My improvements in the manufacture of door and other knobs consist,
firstly, in making the necks of the said knobs of an internal core or foundation
of cast or malleable cast iron or other hard and cheap metal or alloy, and
casing or covering the said iron or other necks with a shell or casing of thin
sheet brass. The body of the knob is fixed to the neck, made as described in
the usual way.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents an elevation, Figure 2 a vertical section,
and Figure 3 a plan, of the upper end of a core or foundation for the neck of.
a door knob to be afterwards cased or covered with thin sheet brass.
I make
the core or foundation,. Figures 1, 2, and 3, by casting, the said core or
foundation being made of cast or malleable iron, or other hard and cheap
metal or alloy. After the casting of the core or foundation I turn a groove a
in its upper edge, as represented, into which groove the edge of the body of the

page_text: knob is pressed, as herein-after explained. I make the shell or casing with
which the core or foundation is to be covered by raising a disc of sheet brass,
by means of dies or. raising tools into a cup-like form, as illustrated in elevation;
and section in Figure 4 of the Drawing. I take the cup-like shell, Figure 4,
and placing it upon the core. or foundation, Figures 1, 2, and 3, its closed end
being against the smaller end of the core or foundation, close the said cup or;
shell upon the core by the process called spinning, that is, by forcing the said:
thin.metal shell into contact with the core by means of a lathe and turning.
tools, as is well understood.
A neck of a door knob, made as described, is represented in vertical section.
and elevation respectively in Figures 5 and 6, in which Figures the cast-iron-
or other core or foundation is marked b, and the thin brass shell or casing is
marked c.
The brass casing c is now perforated in its middle, for the purpose
of forming the hole for the spindle. The neck, Figures 5 and 6, is now ready.
to be connected to the body of the knob, which is effected by forcing the edge.
of the said body into the groove a in the neck, the edge of the body being
pressed into the groove by means of a pressing tool in the usual manner.
<':
Figure 7 represents in elevation, Figure 8 in plan, and Figure 9 in section,,
a body of a knob to be connected to the neck, Figures 5 and 6.
Figure 10 represents in elevation a finished door knob, made according to
my Invention; Figure 11 is a vertical section of the same. After the body
and neck have been connected together a concave screw is tapped in the.
side of the neck for the screw to engage in, by which the spindle of the knob
is secured in the said knob.
My improvements in the manufacture of door and other knobs consist.
secondly, in manufacturing such knobs as have bodies of china and metallic.
necks, by making the neck of a core or foundation of cast or malleable cast
iron, or other hard and cheap metal or alloy, and covering the said core with:
a thin shell of brass, or making the said neck of a shell of brass of the required.
form without an internal core, and fixing the said necks male in either of the .3
ways described to the china. bodies in the manner herein-after described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
. Figure 12 represents in elevation, and Figure 13 in vertical section, a neck
of a knob made according to one of the improvements constituting this part of
my Invention; Figure 14 represents a plan of the upper side, and Figure 15.3
a plan of the lower side of the neck. The said neck is made of a core or
foundation e of cast or malleable cast iron or other cheap metal or alloy, which
core. is covered with a casing or shell f of brass by spinning as described with.
respect to the neck Figures 5 and 6. At the side of the square hole g in the..

page_text: axis of the neck, a groove h is made. The upper part of the core e has pins
or projections i, i, made on it, the said pins or projections ensuring the proper
connection of the neck to the china body, as herein-after explained.
In fixing the china body of the knob represented in elevation and section in
Figures 16 and 17 to the neck, Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15, I place the said
body and neck together in the manner represented in section and plan in.
Figures 18 and 19, the pins or projections i, i, on the neck, occupying part
of the recess made in the china body l. . A square or other shaped spindle m
is then passed through the neck into the recess k in the body 7, as represented.
in Figure 18. When the parts of the knob are in the position represented
in Figure 18, melted type metal, lead, or other easily fused and cheap metal,
or alloy is poured into the neck through the hole or groove h, and the said.
neck, groove, and recess in the body of the knob are filled with the said fused
metal or alloy as represented in vertical section in Figure 20. The holes in;
the body of the knob indicated in dotted lines are also filled with the fused,
metal or alloy. The metallic neck and china body are thus securely fixed¸
together. After the metal or alloy has solidified, the temporary spindle m is
withdrawn from the knob, thereby forming the square or other shaped hole,
for the true spindle of the knob. The knob is then finished. iu the ordinary:
way. In place of casting the type or other metal into a neck consisting of a.
core covered with a shell of brass as last described, I take a thin shell of brass,
raised of the required shape, similar to the shell f fixed on the core or found-,
ation e (see Figures, 12 and 13), the said shell having a square opening and
groove in its axis as described with reference to the said neck, Figures 12, 13,
14, and 15. I place the said metal shell upon the china body in the manner
represented in Figure 18, but without a core, I insert into the axis of the
said shell a square or screwed spindle. I then pour melted type metal, or.
other easily fused metal or alloy, through the groove in the neck into the
said neck and into the recess in the china body, and fill up the said neck,
and recess with the type or other metal, and thereby fix the said neck to the
china body. The spindle in the knob is afterwards removed, and the space.
into which the true spindle is inserted thereby formed.
My improvements in the manufacture of the ornaments of the pillars of
metallic bedsteads and other articles of like manufacture, consist in making
the necks or the upper and lower parts of such of the said ornaments as are:
fixed on the summits of the pillars in the manner described with respect to
knobs, that is, of a core or foundation of cast or malleable cast-iron, or other:
bard and cheap metal or alloy, the said cores or foundations being, covered
with a thin shell of brass...

page_text: Figures 21 and 22 represent. in elevation and section the core or founda-
tion for the neck of a terminal.ornament; Figure 23 represents the said core
or foundation covered with a shell of brass by spinning; thereby forming the
neck of the ornament. The summit or body of the ornament represented in
elevation in Figure 24, and plan in Figure 25, is made by raising in dies,
and the said summit or body is .connected to the neck of the ornament. by
pressing its lower edge into the groove in the neck as described with respect
to knobs; Figure 26 represents a finished ornament made according to
my Invention. After the two parts of the ornament have been connected
together, the said ornament is placed in a lathe, and the groove r is formed in
the body or upper part of the ornament by a pressing tool, and the ornament
is then finished in the usual manner.
Figure 27 represents in elevation another terminal ornament made accord-
ing to my Invention, the said ornament having the general figure of a knob
with a pointed body. When the terminal ornament has the general figure
of a knob with an ornamental summit as well as an ornamental neck, I make
the said summit and neck of cores or foundations of iron, or other cheap metal
ór alloy, and cover them with shells of brass. I connect the said summit and
neck to a middle part or body in the manner described with respect to the
necks of knobs; Figure 28 represents in elevation the three parts of an
ornament of this kind; n is the summit of the ornament, and o is the neck
or lower part of the said ornament, each of the said parts n'and o being
made of a core of iron, or other cheap metal or alloy, and covered by spinning
with a shell of brass; p is the middle part or body of the ornament raised
from sheet brass. The upper and lower edges of the said body pare
respectively closed in the grooves in the said summit and neck, and the three
parts connected together. The said closing is effected by a pair of dies, the
top part n being supported during the action of the said dies by a slit tube
or tubular spring in the upper die.
Although I have only represented three differently shaped terminal orna-
ments for bedsteads and such like articles made according to my Invention,
yet this part of my Invention is applicable to all such terminal ornaments for
bedsteads, and such like articles as have the general figure-of knobs.
My improvements in the manufacture of the ornaments of metallic bedsteads
and such like articles, consist further in making such other, ornaments used on
the pillars of the said bedsteads or other articles as have a bulbous or a ring-.
like figure, or a figure that may be produced by turning. This part of my
Invention consists in making the said ornaments of an internal core of cast or
malleable iron, or other bard and cheap metal or alloy, and covering the said

page_text: core with a casing or shell of brass by the process of spinning. Figure 29
represents in elevation one of the said ornaments made of an internal core of
iron, or other metal or alloy, and covered with a casing of brass; Figure 30
represents an elevation of a pillar of a metallic bedstead having on, it orna-
ments differing in shape from that represented in Figure 29. The said
ornaments are marked q, and are made of a core of iron or other metal or
alloy covered with a casing or shell of brass.
Although in the foregoing description I have only described the cores or
foundations of the parts of the knobs and ornaments as covered with a shell or
casing of brass,. yet any other ductile metal or alloy may be employed in place
of brass.
2
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 do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the accom-
panying Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the improvement in the manufacture of metallic door and other
knobs, herein-before deseribed and illustrated in Figures 1 to 11, both inclusive,
of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the necks of the said
knobs of an internal core or foundation of cast or malleable cast iron, or other
hard and cheap metal or alloy, and covering the said iron or other necks with
a casing or shell of brass or other ductile metal or alloy by the process of
spinning.
Secondly, the improvements in the manufacture of such door and other
knobs as have china bodies and metallic necks, herein-before described with
reference to Figures 12 to 20, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, making the necks of the said knobs of a core or foundation of
cast or, malleable cast iron, or other hard and cheap metal or alloy, and
covering the said necks with a casing or shell of brass or other ductile metal
or alloy by the process of spinning; or making the said necks of a metal shell
without a core, the said necks made in either of these ways being fixed to the
china bodies of the knobs by casting type or other easily fused metal or alloy
into the said necks and bodies, in the manner herein-before described and
illustrated in the Drawing.
Thirdly, the improvements in the manufacture of the terminal ornaments of
metallic bedsteads and other articles of like manufacture, herein-before de-
scribed and illustrated in Figures 21 to 28, both inclusive, of the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, making the necks, or necks and summits, of the said
ornaments of cores or foundations of cast or malleable cast iron, or other hard

page_text: and cheap metal or alloy, and covering the said cores or foundations with
casings or shells of brass or other ductile metal or alloy by the process, of
spinning.
Lastly, the improvement in the manufacture of the bulbous or ring-like
ornaments used on the pillars of metallic bedsteads and other articles of like
manufacture, herein-before described and .illustrated in Figures 29 and 30 of
the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the said ornaments of an
internal core or foundation of cast or malleable cast iron, or other cheap metal
or alloy, and covering the said core or foundation with a casing or shell of
brass or other ductile metal or alloy by the process of spinning..
In witness whereof, I, the said John Whitehouse, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN WHITEHOUSE. (L.S.)