IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF CONSTRUCTING AND CONNECTING PARTS OF BEDSTEADS, COUCHES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FURNITURE TO WHICH SUCH IMPROVEMENTS MAY BE APPLICABLE, AND ALSO IN THE MEANS OF ATTACH- ING KNOBS OR HANDLES TO DRAWERS, DOORS, AND OTHER PARTS OF FURNITURE
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HICKMAN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of January, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Hickman, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Hickman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said John Hickman, my executors, admi-
nistrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales;
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF CONSTRUCTING AND
CONNECTING PARTS OF BEDSTEADS, COUCHES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FURNITURE TO
WHICH SUCH IMPROVEMENTS MAY BE APPLICABLE, AND ALSO IN THE MEANS OF ATTACH-
ING KNOBS OR HANDLES TO DRAWERS, DOORS, AND OTHER PARTS OF FURNITURE;""
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
John Hickman, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, parti-
cularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's.High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,

page_text: as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hickman, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in the means of constructing and connecting
parts of bedsteads, couches, and other articles of furniture, and in the means
of attaching knobs or handles to drawers, doors, and other parts of furniture,
consists, in the first place, of a new or improved mode of connecting the head,
foot, and side rails of bedsteads to the pillars, whereby the ends of two rails
may be properly secured and held in their places by means of a single screw.
One mode of effecting this object consists in letting the screw into the corner
pillar of the bedstead from the inner angle thereof, the ends of the screw
being made to bear against and force forward iron or metal tongues fixed in
the end of the head or foot and side rails, and which tongues are let into a
socket in the corner post, and there firmly secured and held in their proper
places by the corner screw before mentioned. This mode of constructing and
connecting the parts of bedsteads and couches is shewn in the accompanying
Drawings at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, represent two
other modes of effecting the same object.
Fig. 1 represents a horizontal section taken through the rails and corner
post of a bedstead constructed upon my improved plan, and Fig. 2 is a vertical
section of the same. In these Figures a and a* are parts of the head or foot
rail, and one of the side rails of a bedstead, and 6 is the corner post or pillar
to which the rails are secured in the manner hereafter explained.
Figures 3 and 4 represent plan and side views of the end of one of the
rails, each end of which is furnished with a projecting tongue c, one end of
this tongue being let into a hole made in the end of the rail, and secured
therein by a pin or stud d, or by an ordinary screw. The projecting part of
this tongue c is hollowed out, so as at its extremity to present an internal
shoulder, against which the inner end of a screw e, at the internal angle of
the corner post or pillar b, is made to bear (as seen in Fig. 1). The corner
post or pillar b is furnished with a metal plate f, which is secured to its inner
angle by ordinary wood screws (as seen in Fig. 2). Two horizontal holes or
recesses i, i, are made in the sides of the corner post b, for the purpose of
receiving the projecting ends of the tongues c of the rails a and a*. It will

page_text: now be seen, that, in order to secure the rails to the corner post, the tongues
c, c, must be inserted into the holes or recesses i, i, of the post, and then the
screw e is to be screwed into the angle of the post, as shewn in the Figures,
its inner end being made to bear against the shoulders of both the tongues c, c,
and force them forward until the ends of the rails are jammed hard up against
the corner post, when the three parts will be screwed firmly together.
Figures 5 and 6 represent horizontal and vertical sections of another plan
of securing the rails to the corner post. In this instance the corner post b is
furnished with a projecting pin c, which is secured therein by screwing or
otherwise. The outer end of this pin c is slotted, and is made to enter a hole
or socket i, i, made in the end of the rail a or a*. A vertical hole j is made
in the rail for the purpose of receiving a wedge piece 9, which, when inserted
into the slot of the pin c, and driven down with force, draws the rail forward,
and forces it up against the corner post, which, for the purpose of making the
joint more secure, is cut away or countersunk so as to form a recess to receive
the end of the rail, and in some measure assist in supporting the same.
Figures 7 and 8 represent horizontal and vertical sections of another mode
of connecting the rails and corner post. In this instance a right and left-
handed screw e is made to act in female screws or nuts set diagonally or
angularly in the side rails a and a", as shewn at Fig. 7, the ends of the side
rails having a knob or projection formed thereon, which, being made to take
into corresponding recesses made in the corner post, will, when the screw e is
properly screwed up by the square centre part, draw the rails towards the
corner post, and by causing the projections thereon to enter the recesses of
the post, will secure the several parts firmly together, and support the rails in
their proper position.
My next improvement relates to a mode of arranging the iron laths for the
sacking of bedsteads, so that they may be simultaneously tightened by the action
of a screw or screws.
Fig. 9 represents a plan view of a bedstead, with my improvements adapted
thereto. a, a, a, a, are the corner posts or pillars; b, b, b, b, the rails; c, a
centre lath to which several pairs of laths, similar to those shewn at d, d, are
jointed; only one pair, however, are shewn in the Drawing. The other ends
of these laths d, d, are jointed to the side rails by studs or buttons, or in any
convenient manner. One end of the centre rail c is connected to the head or
foot rail by a stud or button; the other end of the lath c is furnished with a
shoulder piece f, through which a hole is made, and tapped so as to form
a female screw. The rail 6 carries a, shoulder, and is furnished with a male
screw e, which, by taking into the female screw at the end of the lath c; will,

page_text: when it is screwed up, draw back the lath c, and gradually tighten the
laths d, d.
Figures 10 and 11 represent a mode of fastening iron laths of metallic bed-
steads to the rails. is a side rail of a metallic bedstead, and d, d, the ends
of two iron laths. The side rail is furnished with staples 9, 9, and at the ends
of the laths holes h, h, are made, each being furnished with tongues, which,
when the holes are placed over the staples g, g, enter the same, and prevent
the laths from becoming detached from the rails, and hold them in their proper
places.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved means of attaching
knobs or handles to doors or drawers, and consists in making the shank or
spindle of the knob or handle in such a manner that, when introduced into
the hole or socket in the drawer or door intended to receive the same, the
shank or spindle may be made to assume a wedge or dovetailed shape, the
hole or socket in the door or drawer being suitably made to admit of so doing.
The shank or spindle of the knob or handle may be made either round or
square, and should be divided by two cross cuts made with a fine saw, as
shewn at Fig. 13 in the Drawing, so as to allow the four quarters of the
shank to be expanded when inserted into the hole, and by filling the same to
hold the knob or handle securely in its place.
Fig. 12 represents a vertical section taken through part of a drawer or door,
with a knob or handle fixed therein upon my improved plan; and Fig. 13 is
a back view shewing the mode of securing the knob in its socket. It will be
seen that the hole or socket in the door or drawer is made conical or wedge-
shaped, and when the shank is inserted therein a wooden or metal peg must
be driven from behind into the centre of the shank or spindle for the purpose
of expanding the same, and causing it to fill the hole or socket, in which it
will then be securely held.
Having now described my Invention, and the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion,
that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrange-
ment or construction of parts herein shewn and described, as they may doubt-
less be varied without departing from the nature and object of my improve-
ments; but that which I consider to be new, and therefore desire to claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,-
First, the several modes herein shewn and described, or any mere modifica-
tion thereof, whereby the rails of bedsteads may be secured to the corner posts
or pillars; and I claim also securing laths to the frame of a bedstead in the