IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PORTABLE CHAIRS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Clift, of Kentish Town, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
PORTABLE CHAIRS."
Sealed the 7th August 1866, and dated the 9th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Clift at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
February 1866.
I, THOMAS CLIFT, of Kentish Town, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PORTABLE CHAIRS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture and con-
struction of portable chairs, the object being to enable them to be taken to
pieces and put together in a short time, and to facilitate their transport, as
when in separate parts they can be packed in a small compass.
I propose to construct chairs of wood or metal in separate divisions or parts,
and to unite those parts by suitable fastenings so as to form as solid, strong,
and firm a chair as if it were bolted, screwed, or glued together according to
the ordinary method of construction.
The frame of the chair is made of the usual form, and secured by dovetail
joints or rebates and screws. The seat is hinged to the front of the frame,
and is secured to the back of the frame and to the cross bar of the back of
the chair by a thumbscrew. The back of the chair is formed in a solid piece
or pieces fastened by dovetails and screws, and the standards are let into the

page_text: back of the frame by mortices or inwardly rebated joints. The standards of
the back may be further strengthened by supports for the arms extending
from the front of the frame to the back and attached to the back.
The legs are screwed into the frame by means of brass or metallic male
and female screws; it will thus be evident that chairs made on this principle
are rendered easily portable and capable of being put together in a very short
time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Clift in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
CLIFT, of Kentish Town, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Clift, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Clift, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Clift, 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 PORTABLE CHAIRS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Clift, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Clift, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of portable
chairs, the object being chiefly to enable them to be taken to pieces and put

page_text: together in a short time, and to facilitate their transport, as when in separate
parts they can be packed in a small compass.
I propose to construct chairs of wood or metal in separate divisions or
parts, and to unite those parts by suitable fastenings so as to form as solid,
strong, and firm a chair as if it were bolted, screwed, or glued together
according to the ordinary method of construction.
I will now proceed to describe my said Invention, reference being made to
the annexed Drawing, which represents one example of construction.
The Drawing is a vertical section of the chair in three parts.
a repre-
sents the cushion, and 6 the frame of the seat; c is a brass or metal clamp
with a stud d terminating in a screw e; f is the back of the chair
having a mortice g and space h for the purpose of receiving the tapering
stud d and screw 6. The stud fits firmly in the mortice, and is secured by a
nut.d' inserted at the back of the chair, and tightened up to the mortice, thus
holding the seat and back together. Or I reverse the arrangement by
screwing in the seat frame a mortice of brass or metal, or by inserting a
metallic square mortice and securing it by screws. I then insert a taper plug
in the back of the chair and bring the two together; I then secure the stud
or plug in the mortice by a pin passing through both, the head of the pin
terminating on a level with the cushion and being adjusted by hand. A small
flat spring underneath the frame gears in a notch in the lower extremity of
the pin, and can also be adjusted by hand. By these means the back and
seat can readily be attached or detached.
The leg of the chair may be provided with a male screw to turn in a
female screw set in the frame, but this is not new. I prefer to provide the
top of the leg with a stud k, having a flat spring 1 screwed in a recess on its
face; this spring projects from the stud and is furnished with a tooth or
indent m. The seat frame is provided with a metallic recess or mortice n,
into which the stud k is inserted; the indent m springs into the cavity o in
the mortice, and the leg is secured; to release it the head p of the pin or
slide q is pushed which forces back the indent. Other springs may of course
be applied, the principle of the Invention being the same. I also reverse the
arrangement for securing the leg to the frame by forming a stud on the frame
and a mortice in the leg; these improvements are of course applicable to sofa
chairs or sofas.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I claim as my Invention the improved
methods of constructing chairs so that they may be easily taken to pieces or
put together, and thus rendered very portable, without limiting myself to the

page_text: precise details and configuration of parts described, reserving the right of
other modifications substantially the same as those specified and shewn
herein.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Clift, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. C. H. SIEVIER,
Clerk to Messrs. Prince & Co.,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
THOMAS CLIFT. (L.S.)