Improvements in Fittings for Extending Tables.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Dec., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 24th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 30th Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fittings for Extending Tables.
We, SAMUEL HILL, of 260 New John Street West, Cabinet Bar Fitter,
and WILLIAM HANDS, of 4 Albion Street, Manufacturer, both in the City of
Birmingham, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the manner in which we construct and arrange fittings
for attachment to extending tables such as dining room tables, whereby we
are enabled to obtain a long range of movement of the table frame with a com-
paratively short movement of the screw or rack and pinion employed for producing
the motion.
In carrying our invention into effect we construct our fittings in one manner
as a series of slides or channels which we cause to be attached to slide bars or
members of the table or frame, and we provide corresponding projecting slides
or tongues to work into these slides or channels, so that one slide bar has the
channel or groove provided upon it and the other the tongue for working within
the
groove.
We arrange these slides and channels in a manner to permit of a telescopic system
of movement to be produced so that if desired one slide can commence to move after
the other has made its full movement, or we arrange then such that the single
movement of the screw causes an equal movement of each slide, and thus a much
longer movement of the table.
We prefer to form our slides of metal in the form of a flanged channel or trough
and we make the necessary screw holes for attaching these flanged channels or
troughs to the ordinary members or bars in convenient lengths. We make the
companion flange plates either as plain metal strips or bars which we attach to the
companion sliding bars or we form them of timber upon the bars themselves or as
separate pieces to be attached thereto.
The screw we make in any ordinary manner to be actuated by a lever or
handle from the end of the table in the usual way now employed for the ordinary
extending tables. Or we arrange the screw so that it may work into a nut or
nuts carried upon the joint or joints of a lazy tongs arrangement of levers, the
motion of the screw being thus multiplied by the lazy tongs levers to cause a much
greater movement of the slides and the table frame. We sometimes actuate the
slides on the tongs by means of a rack and pinion action, the pinion spindle being
arranged within the end of the table frame so that it may be turned by the ordinary
form of handle or lever.
We make our channel or groove slides for attachment to the sliding bars or the
table frame preferably of steel, brass or other suitable metal, and we vary the forin
and shape of the flanges and the grooves to suit any particular requirement.
Dated this 21st day of December 1892.
MARKS & CLERK;
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fittings for Extending Tables.
We, SAMUEL HILL, of 260 New John Street West, Cabinet Bar Fitter,
and WILLIAM HANDS, of 4 Albion Street, Manufacturer, both in the City of
Birmingham, do hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to the manner in which we construct and arrange fittings
for attachment to extending tables such as dining room tables, whereby we are
enabled to obtain a long range of movement of the table frame with a com-
paratively short movement of the screw or rack and pinion employed for producing
the motion.
In carrying our invention into effect we construct our fittings in one manner
as a series of slides or channels which we cause to be attached to slide bars
or members of the table or frame, and we provide corresponding projecting slides
or tongues to work into these slides or channels, so that one slide bar has the
channel or groove provided upon it and the other the tongue for working within
the groove.
We arrange these slides and channels in a manner to permit of a telescopic system
of movement to be produced so that if desired one slide can commence to move after
the other has made its full movement; or we arrange them such that the single
movement of the screw causes an equal movement of each slide and thus a much
longer movement of the table.
We prefer to form our slides of metal in the form of a flanged channel or trough
and we make the necessary screw holes for attaching these flanged channels or
troughs to the ordinary members or bars in convenient lengths. We make the
companion flange plates either as plain metal strips or bars which we attach to the
companion sliding bars or we form them upon the bars themselves or as separate
pieces to be attached thereto.
The screw we make in any ordinary manner to be actuated by a lever or handle
from the end of the table in the usual way now employed for the ordinary extending
tables.
Or we arrange the screw so that it may work into a nut or nuts carried upon
the joint or joints of a lazy tongs arrangement of levers, the motion of the screw
being thus multiplied by the lazy-tongs levers to cause a much greater movement of
the slides and the table frame.
We sometimes actuate the slides on the tongs by means of a rack and pinion action,
the pinion spindle being arranged within the end of the table frame so that it may
be turned by the ordinary form of handle or lever.
We make our channel or groove slides for attachment to the sliding bars or
the table frame preferably of steel, brass or other suitable metal, and we vary
the form and shape of the flanges and the grooves to suit any particular
requirement.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan of upper side (with the top or leaf of the front half
removed) an extending table in its normal or collapsed position containing fittings
constructed and arranged according to our invention;
Figure 2 represents the same in its expanded state ready to receive the loose
leaves;
Figure 3 represents a cross section of Figure 1 and Figure represents a cross
section of Figure 2;
Figure 5 represents a longitudinal section of the table Figures 1 and 3 drawn to
a larger scale; and
Figure 6 represents in cross section, drawn to a larger scale, a set of the slide
bars constituting one side of the movable frame of the table.
Although we have only represented three sets of slide bars at each side of the
table, yet we wish it to be understood that any number of sets of slide bars may be
employed according to the amount of expansion required in the table.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the
drawings..

page_text: a is the front fixed half of the table and is the rear or movable half of the
table, the frames of the said halves carrying the legs c c as usual; d d is the pair
of slide bare fixed to the front half a of the table and e e is the pair of glide
bars fixed to the rear movable half of the table, and ff is the intermediate pair
of slide bars engaged and sliding upon the pairs of slide bars d d and e e.
The pair of rear slide bars e e, is coupled together by the cross bar g and the
intermediate pair of slide bars ff is coupled together by the cross bar h.
The three bars d, fe constituting the set at opposite sides of the table are engaged
together and slide telescopically upon one another in the following manner.
The outer bar d and the middle bar f have each on its abutting face a tongue i
and the abutting face of each of the slides f and e is provided with grooves k for
engaging with and sliding upon the tongues ii on the other faces of the slide bars
as will be understood by an examination of the enlarged cross section Figure 6.
The tongues ii are made of trough shaped strips of sheet metal having flanges
projecting at opposite edges of the trough, the said flanges constituting the tongues
proper with which the grooves & in the other slides engage. The trough shaped
flanged strips forming the tongues of the slide bars are made in long lengths and
are fixed by screws to the slide bars, the trough parts of the strips being filled with
pieces of wood. The grooves k in the faces of the slide bars e fare made by fixing
separate wooden strips ef' to the said bars the inner edges of the said strips e¹ fi
being grooved for fitting upon the flanges or tongues i, i of the other slide bars as
seen in Figure 6.
The slide bars e and fare actuated so as to expand or contract the frame of the
table by the lazy tongs arrangement of levers represented. The said lazy tongs
arrangement of levers is marked 1, 1. The front end levers are jointed at m, m to
the fixed frame of the front half a of the table and the rear end levers are jointed
at n, n to the cross bar g coupling the slide bars e, e of the moveable rear half b of
the table, and the crossing joint of the levers at about the middle of the series
is jointed at to the cross bar h of the intermediate pair of slide bars f, f: The
several crossing levers 1, of the lazy tongs arrangement are opened out or
lengthened and closed or collapsed and the table extended or contracted in the
following manner. At the fixed half a of the table is a short screw q having only
a rotary motion, the said short screw being turned by the winch or handle q' of the
ordinary kind. On one of the crossing joints of the levers and near the front end,
a screw box r is fixed in which the screw 7 works. By turning the screw q in one
direction the screw box r advances on the said screw, and the levers of the lazy
tongs arrangement are brought parallel and virtually lengthened, the said levers
carrying with them the cross bars hand the rear half b of the table as represented
in Figure 2. As the frame of the table is expanded the sliding bars d, e, f
and d, e, f are simultaneously extended, their engaged and abutting faces working
upon one another in the manner before described. That is to say, as the table is
expanded the intermediate slide bars f, f slide outwards upon the bars d, d fixed to
the front half a of the table, while the slide bars e, e fixed to the rear half of the
table slide outwards upon the intermediate slide bars f, f. When the frame of the
table has been thus expanded, the required number of loose leaves may be fitted upon
it in the ordinary way.
When the screw is turned in the direction necessary to
contract the table, the lazy tong levers take the collapsed position represented in
Figure 1 and the movable parts have motion given to them in a direction the reverse
of that described when expanding the table.
9,
Instead of actuating the lazy tongs arrangement of levers by a screw and screw
box as represented, a sliding rack with inclined teeth fixed to the said levers may
be employed. In this case the sliding rack is worked by a worm on an axis
above the rack, the teeth of the worm taking into the inclined rack teeth of
the sliding rack and giving it either an advance or retiring motion according as
the table is to be expanded or contracted. The worm axis is rotated by a winch
or handle.
Instead of moving the slide bars d, e, f simultaneously they may be made to move

page_text: one after the other in expanding or contracting the table. In this case the rear
ends of the lazy tong levers are jointed to the cross bar of the rear movable half of
the table, the intermediate jointing of the lazy tong levers being dispensed with,
and the slide bars are provided with stops as herein after described.
The slide bars constituting part of our invention and the rear half of the table
may be actuated by screws of the ordinary kind instead of by the lazy tongs
arrangement of levers represented.
When the slide bars are required to have stops to limit the extension and closing
of the bars we adopt the arrangement represented in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of
the drawings; Figure 7 representing in plan of underside and Figure 8 in longi-
tudinal section the set of slide bars in their closed position and Figure 9
representing in longitudinal section the same in their partly extended position.
Figures 10 and 11 represent cross sections of Figure 9 taken on the dotted lines
indicated. In these modified slide bars the stops for limiting the inward motion of
the bars are markeds, s³, 83 and the stops for limiting the expansion of the bars
are marked and t. The stops 5, 52, consist of metal plates fixed outside and
near the front ends of the bars as seen in Figure 7. The stops for limiting the
expansion of the bars consist of projections t, t on the inner ends of the two
bars df having the shape of and sliding in the troughs of the trough plates or
strips and of the end stops t2, t fitted in and made to fill the ends of the troughs.
When the two slide bars d, fare extended to their full extent the projecting stops t, t
of the bars bear against the fitted in stops t, t' and the further outward motion of
the said bars is arrested. When the two bars e, f are closed, the stops on the bar f
bears against the stop s on the bar d and the stops on the bar e bears against the
stop on the bar f as seen in Figure 7.
The tongues and grooves or the engaging parts of the faces of the slide bars may
be modified in the manner seen in cross section in Figure 12. In this case one of
the abutting faces of the bars is provided with a trough shaped flanged metallic
strip and the face of the other bar with a grooved metallic strip, the flanges of the
said trough strip being engaged with the grooved metallic strip in the manner
represented in the drawings.
g now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
nanner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
as our invention of "Improvements in fittings for extending tables" :-
First. Actuating the movable parts of extending tables by the adaptation
thereto of a lazy tongs arrangement of levers, the said lazy tongs arrangement of
levers being applied to the ends of the table and slide bars and operated substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the accom-
panying drawings.
Secondly. The several arrangements herein before described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings for engaging together the abutting or bearing faces of
the slide bars of the frames of extending tables; that is to say, the combination
with the abutting faces of the said slide bars of trough shaped flanged metallic
strips with the flanges or tongues of which grooves in the bearing faces of the adjacent
slide bars engage substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4
and 6; also the stop arrangement of the said slide bars herein described and
illustrated in Figures 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11; also the modification represented in
Figure 12 in which a trough shaped flanged metallic strip on the abutting face of
the slide bar engages with a grooved metallic strip on the abutting face of the
adjacent slide bar.
T: 09-1 1. £A
1000
SAMUEL HILL.
WILLIAM HANDS.