IMPROVE- MENTS IN CASTORS OR FEET FOR VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FURNITURE."
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathaniel Smith Bailey, of High Street, Bloomsbury, in
the County of Middlesex, Commission Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CASTORS OR FEET FOR VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FURNITURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathaniel Smith Bailey at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th December 1876.
:
NATHANIEL SMITH BAILEY, of High Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Commission Agent. 'IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTORS OR FEET FOR VARIOUS
ARTICLES OF FURNITURE.
This Invention consists in producing a foot or castor which is capable of being
adapted to the legs of various articles of furniture, the object being to prevent the
article of furniture when drawn over a carpet from tearing or injuring the same,
or from making a disagreeable noise when the article is moved about on a hard
surface, such as a parquet flooring or a marble or paved floor.
"
The Invention is more particularly applicable to chairs, but it may also be
adapted to other articles of furniture. To this end I construct the feet in the form
of a kind of elastic button, with a rounded face on which the article of furniture
rests. This button is by preference made of what is known as junction rubber,"
that is, vulcanized or mineralized rubber, which is partly hard and partly soft and
elastic, so that it will yield slightly when pressure is applied; or these feet may be
made of soft wood or papier maché covered with a piece of leather. These feet
may be attached to the extremities of the legs of the chair in various ways.
simplest way of so doing (when the foot is in the form of a simple button-made of
junction rubber) is to pass a long screw through the middle of the button into the
centre of the leg of the chair. In order that the screw should be countersunk so
that it shall not project or scratch on the floor, the central part of the button is
recessed.
The
Another mode of attaching the feet to the legs of the chair is by constructing
the feet with flexible sockets, into which the legs may be inserted and held there
by screws or other fastenings. A hole should be made through the centre of the
button to allow the air to escape from the socket, when the foot is adapted to the
foot of the chair.

page_text: As a modification of this the foot may. be secured to a rigid socket made of metal,
which may itself be secured to the leg of the chair by means of screws through
its side like an ordinary roller castor.
Instead of securing the foot to the socket these two parts may be made separate,
the socket being provided with an inner flange or shoulder on to which the
"button" may be dropped and will be held in place when the leg of the chair is
inserted in the socket, and secured therein by means of cross pins or screws which
will be screwed into the leg of the chair.
From the foregoing explanation of my Invention it will be understood that the
feet or castors may be made of various forms and may be secured to the legs of the
article of furniture in various ways, I do not therefore mean to confine myself
rigidly to the modes above set forth, as the form and mode of securing the feet may
be varied without departing from the nature and object of my Invention, as above
clearly set forth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Nathaniel Smith Bailey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
June 1877.
NATHANIEL SMITH BAILEY, of High Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Commission Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTORS OR FEET FOR VARIOUS
ARTICLES OF FURNITURE."
This Invention consists in producing a foot or castor which is capable of being
adapted to the legs of various articles of furniture, the object being to prevent the
article of furniture when drawn over a carpet from tearing and injuring the same,
or from making a disagreeable noise when the article is moved about on a hard
surface, such as a parquet flooring or a marble or paved floor.
The Invention is more particularly applicable to chairs, but it may also be
adapted to other articles of furniture. To this end I construct the feet in the form
of a kind of elastic button with a rounded face, on which the article of furniture
rests. This button may be made of what is known as "junction rubber," that is,
vulcanized or mineralized rubber, which is partly hard and partly soft and elastic,
so that it will yield slightly when pressure is applied; or these feet may be made
of soft wood or papier maché covered with a piece of leather. These feet may be
attached to the extremities of the legs of the chair in various ways, several of which
are shown in the accompanying Drawing.
4
Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the lower part of the leg of a chair, representing the
simplest way of adapting the improved foot or castor to the end of the leg of the
chair. In this case the foot a is constructed in the form of a simple button made of
junction rubber or other suitable material, and is received in a countersunk recess
made in the end of the chair leg. A long screw bis passed up through the middle
of the button a into the centre of the leg c of the chair. In order that the screw b
should be countersunk, so that it should not project or scratch on the floor, the
central part of the button is recessed as shewn in the Drawing. As the button
itself is countersunk in the chair leg, it will be seen that it is supported laterally
and cannot very easily be displaced.
Figures 2 and 3 are sectional views, representing another mode of attaching the
feet to the legs of the chair. This is effected by constructing the feet a with flexible
sockets a*, into which the legs of the chair may be inserted and held there by
means of screws or other fastenings which are passed transversely through the
socket a* into the wood. A hole may, if desired, be made through the centre of
the button, as shewn at Fig. 3, to allow the air to escape from the socket when the
flexible foot is adapted to the leg of the chair; Fig. 2 represents the lower end of
the front leg of a chair; and Fig. 3, a view of the hind leg which stands at an
anglo.

page_text: Fig. 4 is a sectional view of part of a chair leg, shewing the foot secured in a
rigid socket d made of metal, which may itself be secured to the leg of the chair by
means of transverse screws passed through its side in the same way that ordinary
roller castors are usually secured. The foot a may be secured in any convenient
manner to the socket d, so as to form one piece which can be secured by transverse
screws in the manner explained, or the foot may be attached to the leg by means
of a screw b, as shown in the Drawing, in which case the socket d only affords a
lateral support to the foot.
Instead of securing the foot a to the socket & these two parts may be made
separate, as shewn at Fig. 5. The socket d is provided with an inner flange or
shoulder d*, on to which the button may be dropped and will be held in place
when the leg of the chair is inserted in the socket, and secured therein by means
of cross pins or screws which will be screwed into the leg of the chair.
From the foregoing explanation of my Invention it will be understood that the
feet or castors may be made of various forms and may be secured to the legs of the
article of furniture in various ways, I do not therefore mean to confine myself
rigidly to the modes above set forth, as the form and mode of securing the feet may
be varied without departing from the nature and object of my Invention as above
clearly set forth; but that which I consider to be new and therefore wish to claim
as the Invention secured to me, by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, the adaptation
to the legs of chairs and other articles of furniture, of feet or castors made of some
soft or yielding material, as and for the purposes herein set forth, and in contra-
distinction to the hard and rigid substances usually employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathaniel Smith Bailey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the 9th day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
N. S. BAILEY. (L.S.)