IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTATION OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE."
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard George Hodgetts of Birmingham in the County
of Warwick Manager of Works for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTATION OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER
ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard George Hodgetts
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th November 1882.
RICHARD GEORGE HODGETTS of Birmingham in the County of Warwick
Manager of Works " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTATION
OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE"
My invention has reference principally to the manufacture and ornamentation of
the pillars of metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture, but is also
applicable to the manufacture and ornamentation of other parts of metallic
furniture, such for example as the head and foot rails of metallic bedsteads
and cots.
I will describe my improvements as applied to the pillar of a metallic bedstead.
In order to make and ornament the upper portion or head of the pillar, I build
up the said head of parts combined and connected together in the following
manner.
I construct in the ordinary way the greater part of the pillar above the corner
block say four fifths of the length of the pillar and to the top of the said ordinary
part I fix an axial screwed rod of a length sufficient to pass to the extreme end of
the head of the pillar to be made. Around this screwed rod I first place a short
piece of fluted or other ornamental tubing the bottom of the fluted tubing resting
upon the shoulder of a tubular collar or mount cast on or made at the top of the
ordinary part of the pillar. This fluted tubing is fixed in its place by means of an
ornamental mount having a concave screw at its middle. This mount may be
made by contracting the metal from opposite ends leaving at the middle part a neck
in which the screw is made. A cast mount or a mount made from sheet metal by
ID 37

page_text: spinning may be used. By screwing this mount upon the axial rod described the
fluted tubing below it is fixed in its place and the head of the pillar formed and
ornamented
In order to complete the head of the pillar I make the vase or terminal
ornament of a fluted or ornamental piece of tubing similar to that described and a
cap or cover. The lower edge of the fluted piece of tubing of the vase fits upon
a shoulder on the top of the screwed mount described and after the tubular body of
the vase has been fitted in its place it is fixed by screwing the cap or cover over
the open end of the said tubular body the said cap having an internal axial concave
screw which takes upon the extreme end of the screwed rod on the pillar. In this
way the several parts forming the head and vase of the pillar are made and bound
firmly together.
The fluted or other piece of tubing at the head of the pillar and that forming
the body of the vase I prefer to make of the same ornamental character so that the
design of the head of the pillar and the vase shall harmonize.
The head and vase of the pillar built up or combined together as described may
be made of polished and lacquered brass as well as the other part of the pillar; or
the said head and vase parts may be combined with a black or painted pillar the
fluted tubing of the head and the vase parts being left unpainted. The fluted
tubing of the head and the vase parts may be made of glass china or earthenware
or other non metallic material. But these and other details may be varied
According to the pattern or design to be produced.
I ornament those parts of the pillar situated immediately above and below the
corner block and above the castor or bottom of the leg by means of fluted or other
pieces of metallic or non metallic tubing having a similar ornamental character to
those at the head and vase of the pillar. These pieces of tubing are slipped upon
_ the pillar_and_fixed by means of tubular collars or mounts which engage with the
upper and lower edges of the pieces of tubing. After the mounts and pieces of
tubing have been arranged in their places upon the pillar the whole of the parts
are secured together by means of a screw pin passed through one of the mounts
taking into the metal of the pillar.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Richard George Hodgetts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th April 1883.
RICHARD GEORGE HODGETTS of Birmingham in the County of Warwick
Manager of Works "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTATION
OF METALLIC BEDSTEADS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF METALLIC FURNITURE
"
My invention has reference principally to the manufacture and ornamentation of
the pillars of metallic bedsteads and other articles of metallic furniture, but is also
applicable to the manufacture and ornamentation of other parts of metallic
furniture, such for example, as the head and foot rails of metallic bedsteads
and cots.
I will describe my improvements as applied to the pillar of a metallic bedstead.
In order to make and ornament the upper portion or head of the pillar I build
up the said head of parts combined and connected together in the following
manner.
I construct in the ordinary way the greater part of the pillar above the corner
block, say, four fifths of the length of the pillar, and to the top of the said ordinary
part I fix an axial screwed rod of a length sufficient to pass to the extreme end of
the head of the pillar to be made. Around this screwed rod I first place a short
piece of fluted or other ornamental tubing the bottom of the fluted tubing resting
upon the shoulder of a tubular collar or mount cast on or made at the top of the
ordinary part of the pillar. This fluted tubing is fixed in its place by means of an
ornamental mount which may have a concave screw at its middle. This mount may
be made by contracting the metal from opposite ends leaving at the middle part a
neck in which the screw is made. A cast mount or a mount made from sheet metal
by spinning may be used. By screwing this mount upon the axial rod described
the Aluted tubing below it is fixed in its place and the head of the pillar formed and
ornamented.
.
In order to complete the head of the pillar I make the vase or terminal ornament
of a fluted or ornamental piece of tubing similar to that described and a cap or
cover. The lower edge of the fluted piece of tubing of the vase fits upon a
shoulder on the top of the screwed mount described and after the tubular body of
the vase has been fitted in its placo it is fixed by screwing the cap or cover over the
open end of the said tubular body, the said cap having an internal axial concave
screw which takes upon the extreme end of the screwed rod on the pillar. In this
way the several parts forming the head and vase of the pillar are made and bound
firmly together.
The fluted or other piece of tubing at the head of the pillar and that forming
the body of the vase I prefer to make of the same ornamental character so that the
design of the head of the pillar and the vase shall harmonize.
The head and vase of the pillar built up or combined together as described may
be made of polished and lacquered brass as well as the other part of the pillar; or
the said head and vase parts may be combined with a black or painted pillar, the
fluted tubing of the head and the vase parta being left unpainted. The fluted
tubing of the head and vase parts may be made of glass, china or earthenware or
other non metallic material. But these and other details may be varied according
to the pattern or design to be produced.

page_text: I ornament those parts of the pillar situated immediately above and below the
corner block and above the castor or bottom of the leg, by means of fluted or other
pieces of metallic or non-metallic tubing having a similar ornamental character to
those at the head and vase of the pillar. These pieces of tubing are slipped upon
the pillar and fixed by means of tubular collars or mounts which engage with the
upper and lower edge of the pieces of tubing. After the mounts and pieces of
tubing have been arranged in their places upon the pillar the whole of the parts
are secured together by means of a screw pin passed through one of the mounts
taking into the metal of the pillar.
1 will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a bedstead pillar made and ornamented according
to my invention; Figure 2 represents the pillar before the ornamental parts are
applied to it; Figure 3 represents the parts of which the head and vase or terminal
ornament of the pillar are built up or composed and Figure 4 represents the
separate parts of which those portions of the pillar situated immediately above
and below the corner block and above the castor or bottom of the leg are built up
and ornamented; Figure 5 represents the head and vase part of the pillar drawn
of the full size and Figure 6 represents that part of the pillar situated above the
corner block and the leg of the pillar drawn of the full size.
The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
a is the ordinary tubular rod constituting the body of the pillar and b is the
corner block. At the top of the body of the pillar an axial screwed rod c is fixed.
In making and ornamenting the upper part or head of the pillar I fix to the top
of the body a of the pillar a metallic mount d made of sheet metal as represented
or made by casting The mount & may be fixed in its place by forcing it upon the
top of the pillar the nearly closed end of the mount resting on the top of the
pillar; or the mount d may be fixed to the pillar by screws or by casting it upon the
pillar. Around the screwed rod c I place a short piece of fluted or other ornamental
tubing e made by preference by drawing, the bottom of the said piece of tubing e
resting upon the shoulder d (see Figure 5) of the tubular collar or mount d.
Upon the fluted tubing e an ornamental sheet metal mount is supported, the said
mount being made in two pieces and joined together at its middle by spinning.
The manner in which the contracted bottom of the mount fenters the top of the
fluted tubing e is best seen in Figure 5. Upon the upper shoulder of the mount fa
second piece of fluted tubing g, similar to the tubing c. but shorter, is supported the
top of the fluted tubing g being closed by a cap or cover h having a hollow axial
screw h³ which is screwed upon the axial screwed rod c of the pillar a. The said
piece of tubing g and cap or cover constitute the vase or terminal ornament of
the pillar. By the fixing of the cap or cover h upon the open end of the fluted
tubing g by means of the screwed rod c and hollow screw h² the several parts h, g, f
and e forming the head and vase of the pillar are bound firmly together and secured
in their places.
In order to bind the parts more securely together the middle tubular collar or
mount may be secured to the axial rod c in addition to being supported upon the
fluted tubing c. In this case, the screw of the axial rod c is lengthened and the
middle part of the mount fis furnished with a neck or contracted part having an
internal screw for screwing upon the lengthened screwed part of the axial rod c but
I have found the arrangement represented to answer well in practice.
In ornamenting the parts of the pillar above the corner block I slip upon the
body a of the pillar, a tubular collar or mount i which is supported upon the corner
block b; and above the said collar i I place a fluted (or other) piece of tubing k having
by preference the same ornamental character as the pieces of tubing e and g at the
head and vase of the pillar and I fix the said tubing k in its place by means of the
mount the flange of which is driven into the said tubing ; or the mount ? may

page_text: be fixed to the pillar by a screw. The manner in which the upper and lower edges
of the fluted tubing & engage with the shoulders of the mounts i and is best seen:
in the full size section Figure 6. The part of the leg a immediately below the
corner block b is ornamented in exactly the same way as the part immediately
above the corner block, namely, by means of the fluted or ornamental tubing h
which is held between the shoulders of the mounts, by the driving of the flange
of the mount into the tubing k². The front of the corner block is covered und
ornamented by the fluted trough piece or mount m of the ordinary kind.
The part of the leg a² immediately above the castor is ornamented in a similar
manner to those parts above and below the corner block b, that is, by means of the
fluted piece of tubing p held between the mounts or collars -q, r. The lower
mount seats itself on the solid collar on the part carrying the peg or axis on
which the castor n turns (see Figures 1 and 6) and the upper collar or mount q is
fixed in its place by driving it into the piece of tubing p or securing it by a screw.
Figure 7 represents in elevation a bedstead pillar constructed and ornamented
according to my invention as before described excepting that the fluted or
ornamental pieces of tubing are replaced by tubular pieces of glass, china
earthenware or other non metallic material.
Figures 8 and 9 represent the pillar drawn of the full size and Figure 10
represents a plan of one of the tubular pieces of glass, china or non-metallic
material. In the said Figures 7, 8 and 9 the tubular pieces of glass, china, earthen-
ware or other non-metallic material at the head and vase parts of pillar, replacing
the fluted pieces of tubing g and e, are marked g³ and e³ respectively and cast
mounts or collars d f, as represented, may be used instead of the sheet metal mounts
before described and represented. The tubular pieces of glass, china, earthenware or
other non-metallic material used for ornamenting the pillar above and below the
corner block and the leg and replacing the pieces of fluted tubing k, k² and
marked respectively ³, and p in Figures 7 and 9. The mounts 1, 12 and
fixed in their places on the pillar a and leg a² by screws as represented. The
other parts of this pillar are constructed essentially in the manuer hereinbefore
described and illustrated and corresponding parts are marked with the same letters
of reference.
p are
9 are
Although I have described and represented my invention as applied to the
making and ornamenting of the pillars of metallic bedsteads and other articles of
metallic furniture yet the methods described and represented may also be applied
to other parts of metallic furniture, such for example, as the head and foot rails of
metallic bedsteads and cots.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed I wish it to be understood that I claim as my inven-
tion of "Improvements in the manufacture and ornamentation of metallic bedsteads.
and other articles of metallic furniture.”-
First The construction and combination of parts hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings for making and ornamenting the head
and vase or terminal ornament of the pillars of metallic furniture; that is to say,
by means of pieces of fluted or ornamental metallic tubing or tubular pieces of glass,
china, earthenware or other non-metallic material in combination with metallic
mounts or collars and a screw cap, the said parts being secured together and to the
pillar-substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly-The construction and combination of parts here before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for ornamenting those portions of the
pillars situated immediately above and below the corner block and above the castor
or bottom of the leg; that is to say, by means of pieces of fluted or ornamental
metallic tubing or tubular pieces of glass, china or other non-metallic material fixed
between metallic mounts or collars substantially as described and illustrated.
Thirdly-The application of the said methods of making and ornamenting the

page_text: pillars of bedsteads and metallic furniture to the making and ornamenting of other
parts of metallic furniture such as the head and foot rails of metallic bedsteads aud
cots as described.
In witness whereof I the said Richard George Hodgetts have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twentieth day of Aprif in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT
.37 Temple Street
RICHARD GEORGE HODGETTS (L.s.)
Birmingham