IMPROVED PORTABLE FRAMES AND JOINTS FOR TABLES AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR BUILDING PURPOSES AND THE LIKE
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Whiting, of Lewisham, in the County, of
Kent, Cabinet Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVED PORTABLE FRAMES
AND JOINTS FOR TABLES AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR BUILDING
PURPOSES AND THE LIKE."
Sealed the 22nd August 1865, and dated the 27th February 1865:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Whiting at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
February 1865.
I, CHARLES WHITING, of Lewisham,in the County of Kent, Cabinet Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED PORTABLE
FRAMES AND JOINTS FOR TABLES AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR
BUILDING PURPOSES AND THE LIKE," to be as follows, that is to say: -
In constructing these frames and joints, I form dovetails or tongues and
sockets of metal, the former to slide in and out of the latter, making a self-
fastening joint capable of being instantly detached, so that the sides, ends, and
supports of tables and other articles of furniture or sides and ends of other
frames thus formed can he separated and packed together in a portable form,
occupying only about the space of the aggregate bulk of the parts.
dovetails and sockets are let into, formed with, or covered by the woodworkof
The
Price 81

page_text: the frames and supports; the latter may be formed of metal also when
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Whiting in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WHITING, of Lewisham, in the County of Kent, Cabinet Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February,in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles Whiting Her special licence that I, the said
Charles Whiting, my executors, administrators, and assigns,or such others as
I, the said Charles Whiting, 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 "Iм-
PROVED PORTABLE FRAMES AND JOINTS FOR TABLES AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE
ALSO FOR BUILDING PURPOSES AND THE LIKE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Whiting, 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 Charles Whiting, 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 portable frames and joints for or the application
of the same to tables and other articles or structures, the said frames and
joints being also applicable for temporary or portable buildings or other
erections.

page_text: In constructing these said frames I form the joints with mortices or sockets,
and tennons, dovetails, or tongues of brass, iron, or other metal, cast, rolled, or
pressed to the required section, the latter being made to simply slide or drop
in and lift out of the former. For tables of the better class I prefer to make
the male and female parts of the joints of brass or cast malleable iron, but for
ordinary purposes common castings may be used. The metal sockets are letinto
the pillars
or legs or supports, and the tongues fixed to the ends of the side and
end frames, and except when the supports and frames are made entirely of
metal the joints and bearers of that material are concealed by the mahogany
or other woodwork of the table.
When it is required to make the frames so that they can be lengthened as
in the case of dining tables, the sockets are made in triple form, or the
frames are made with changing sides of extra length. By this means the
length may be increased sufficiently for general purposes, but where great
increase of length is required, the end may be taken out and extra sides, end,
and supports added.
Another mode of making tables constructed upon this plan to elongate will
be found described where reference is herein-after made to the accompanying
Drawings, which Drawings also show the mode of applying the said plan of
construction to temporary and portable building frames.
.Frames formed in the manner herein described, whether applied to tables or
other articlesorstructures or buildingsor othererections,canbeinstantaneously
fixed together, and separated and packed together in a portable form, thus
occupying only about the space of the aggregate bulk of the parts.
EXPLANATIONS OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing A.-This Drawing is intended to illustrate the application of my
said improvement in the formation of frames for tables and other similar
articles or structures.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation through the centre of the pillar and joint
(taken at the line C, D, Fig. 3).
Fig. 2 is also a sectional elevation taken at the line A, B, Fig. 3, and shows
the face of the socket.
Fig. 3 is a plan view at C, D, Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a section showing the mode of forming the sides and ends, and
sliding tops for dining or elongating tables.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the flat flange or plate joint, which I use in con-
junction with those of the socket and tongue herein described for increasing
the strength of the joints. Where the letters of reference are repeated on this

page_text: Drawing, they indicate the same part of the frame or joint, as the case may
be, so that the following index applies to the entire Drawing.
a, the leg, pillar, or frame support; b, the metal socket, carefully fitted into
the support and firmly packed and bedded therein with red lead, glue, and
plaster or other suitable packing; c, the screw for securing the socket when
fixed in the required position; d, the tennon or tongue, which fits into the
socket, both being slightly taper from the tops; e, angle iron, or other metal
side and end bearing or sleeper, to which the tongues are secured by the
screws or rivets f, fg, the vertical side and end rails or frames of mahogany
or other wood fixed to the metal sleepers by the screws or treenails ; i, oak,
teak, or other hard wood horizontal covering piece, rail, or tongue, secured to
the metal sleepers and vertical side rail, aud along which the top leaves of the
table slide; the outer edge of the tongue enters a groove or rebate in the
longitudinal batten pieces i¹ screwed or fixed to the top leaves by screws or
otherwise; j, the socket and pillar head covering piece; this piece may be of
hard wood, similar to the side tongue rail, or it may be of metal cast upon the
socket. When made of wood it is covered by a thin plate of brass or other
metal k, the latter and covering piece being secured to the pillar head by the
screws, and giving strength to the upper portion. 1, a match plate ou the
end of the rail tonguei; mis a projection on the end of the side and end rail,
which projection enters a notch or groove m¹ in the side of the pillar head, so
that when the side is fixed it presents theappearance of a regular mortice and
tennon joint. n and n¹ are flat, flanged, and rebated plates, which are firmly
screwed to the pillars and side and end rails by the screws o,o; the object of
these plates is to diminish the depth and weight of the mortice or socket and
tongue castings, and to give increased rigidity and strength to the joint at the
bottom part of the rail. p, a hollow or recess formed by a core when casting
the socket piece to lessen the weight of metal; the hollow centre part q, q,
of these socket pieces are carried down below the sockets (or vice versa) so as
to get a better and firmer hold on the wood.
I should here explain that the sectional contour of thesocket pieces are such
that in letting them into the pillar, all that is required is to bore the 3 circula
holes 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, and 3, 3, 3, with suitable boring bits, and then cut out the
corners 4, 4, with suitable gouge and chisels; this peculiar form and mode o
fitting the metal to the wood, I claim as one of my improvements in applying
this principle of construction tothewood supporting pillars of tablesandother
structures with joints of this description.
By forming the sides with the tongues i, and the leaves with the rebated
batten pieces ¹,the leaves are prevented from twisting or winding, theedge o

page_text: the leaves at their joints are kept fat and level, while they are severany and
collectively free to slide along the frame as required, and capable of receiving
an additional leaf at the centre at one or at both ends, for elongation of the top
without any alteration or elongation of the frame, the tongue-pieces i and
battens giving support and strength to the overlap.
I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the application of my said
improved joints to bedsteads made wholly of metal; but that I restrict myself
in those articles to the wood and metal plan, as herein described, or to
modifications similar or analogous thereto.
Drawing B. Fig. 1 shows a wood pillar-head with a metal socket for a
triple joint.
Fig. 2 represents a similar socket with a quadruple joint.
It will be readily understood that these illustrations are sufficient to show
the mode of fixing the joints in frames where three, four,or any other numbers
of rails, girders, joists, plates, quarters, or bars, are required to be supported
on different sides of the column or pillar.
Fig. 3 shows a corner elevation of pillar and girder framing for temporary
or portable building. or other erections in which the joints are formed in a
similar manner to that before described.
Fig.4 is a sectionalelevation showing the pillarand girder jointsrespectively.
The same letters of reference are used in both Figures.
a,a,are hollow, solid, or otherwise formed supports; their lengths may be
varied as circumstances require; the ends of these supports are tapped to
receive the double-ended screw b, which is made of sufficient length to pass
through the socket pin c, and connect the top and bottom ends of the upper
and lower columns or supports, and bind the whole solidly and firmlytogether;
the bottoms of the columns are made polyginal, as shown atd, d, Fig. 3, so
as to be turned by a suitable strainer when connecting and disconnecting the
columns. e,e,are the side and end frames or girders, joists, plates, or quarters,
which are made with angle iron or other metal being wrought and solid, or cast
in with fitted tongues e', as before described. The rails or bars, girders, joists,
or quarters, may be made in skeleton frame to be covered with canvass,
boarding, corrugated irou, or other covering material, and the girders, &c.,
may be horizontal, perpendicular, or inclined, according as it is required to
form the sides or roofs of buildings or other erections therewith, or in place of
fixing the sides, ends, &c. with open frames, and covering the same may be
fixed entire (in panels or squares to the pillars direct.
Fig. 5 shows another modification of joint for tables, in which case is a
single socket, which is made to receive 1, 2, 3, 4, or more tongues b, b, the

page_text: whole of which are fixed by the centre hollow or solid plug c, and secured by
the screw d; the inside faces of these tongues are made to taper a little,
diminishing upwards, and the plug to cone diminishingly downwards, so
that when the plug is put in and secured in position by the screw, the
sides are positively fixed to the pillars, the tongues being prevented from
leaving the sockets until the centre screw is slackened; this centre cone or
binding plug is made of less depth than the socket, so that in case of any
shrinkage it can always be made perfectly tight by a turn of the screw; e, e, a
flange by which the centre socket is secured to the pillar by the screws f, f.
Having thus described and illustrated my said improvement, I hereby
further declare that what I more particularly claim and desire to secure by
the before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st, I claim the peculiar mode of forming and combining the wood and
metal sockets, or applying the same in constructing the elongating and other
pertable frames and tables, as herein described, or similar or analogous
thereto.
2nd, the form or application of the skeleton portable trames, as herein
described, in the construction of temporary and moveable buildings and other
erections.
3rd,such modifications of the details asthe varying circumstances in practice
may require.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Whiting, have hereunto set my
haud and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
CHARLES WHITING. (L. s.)