IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING CHAIRS, STOOLS, TABLES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FURNITURE TO FLOORS
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick William Burton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
January 1864.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM BURTON, of 20, Somerset Place, New North Road,
in the County of Middlesex, Ornamental Carver, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING CHAIRS, STOOLS, TABLES,
AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FURNITURE TO FLOORS," to be as follows:-
In the cabins of ships and other vessels it very often occurs, and particularly
during rough weather, that the chairs, stools, tables, and other articles of
furniture get shifted, the chairs and stools often being tilted over.
The object of the improvements is to obtain greater security to such
articles by retaining them in an upright position, and yet allowing them or
some of them, as chairs and stools, a certain amount of freedom to admit of
their being shifted to a limited distance on the floor. For this purpose the
article is secured to the floor in such manner as to admit of slight movement
in various directions without permitting it to be tilted' over.
By one method I apply to the article, as, for instance, a chair or stool, and,
by preference, at or near the centre thereof, a peg or stud descending down-

page_text: wards, with a head to pass into and be held by the sides of a groove in a plate
affixed to the floor, by which, whilst the chair or stool may be turned round
on such pin, or be slided to and fro in the direction of the groove, it can only
slide inthat direction, and is prevented from being tilted over. Tables may have
two or more of such headed studs, and the plates having the grooves in them
to receive the studs are formed at one end thereof, or at suitable positions or
intervals, with enlarged openings to admit of the withdrawal of the head of
the stud for the removal or replacing of the article. The studs may be
formed to slide in a tube or socket, or on a jointed arm, or with a slight
spring to admit of a slight play, or to admit of their descending, if desired,
below the level of the feet of the article to which they are applied into a
groove flush with the level of the floor, and then when out of the groove to
rise out of the way. To prevent the too free withdrawal of the studs from
their grooves they may be formed in relation to the inlet passages so that
they can only be introduced or withdrawn in one particular position. In place
of employing a groove for the stud to slide in, the stud may be formed on a
plate or tube capable of sliding on a bar or frame carried by the chair or other
article whilst it simply turns in a stationary plate fixed to the floor; or the
studs may be affixed by a plate to the floor, or be capable of sliding up and
down in such plate, and be capable of sliding in or upon parts carried by the
article to be held. The studs in all cases may have play to admit of their
sliding into and out of working position. In like manner may other articles
of furniture be held from tilting, yet so as to be readily removeable.
Another method of connecting chairs and other articles of furniture is by
means of a jointed link or links or a chain, one end of which is connected to
such article so as to turn upon a pin joint or swivel some distance from the
floor, say, as in the case of a chair, about fifteen inches from the floor, whilst
the other end is connected by a pin joint or swivel to the floor. This jointed
link or the chain is of length that will admit of a slight play without per-
mitting of a tilting over of the article held. In the case of a chair a lifting
play of one and a half inches will admit of sufficient side or endway shifting
for ordinary purposes without tilting, but the amount of play may be varied.
To give a slight extra play in a direction from front to back of a chair, the
end of the jointed link or chain connected to it may be attached so as to be
capable of a sliding motion; a similar sliding motion may also in some cases
be admitted to the end connected to the floor. In some cases the amount of
play may be obtained by the use of springs of steel or other elastic substance
in the connecting means.
The connections to the floor may be by eyes or

page_text: hooks or bolts attached to plates having under plates or horns, which when
passed through boles in the floor may be there held so as to embrace the under
as well as the upper side of such Hoor by screws or other suitable means. In
shops, assembly rooms, and other places the improvements will be found
particularly useful in limiting the extent of shifting of the chairs or stools.