AN IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1880

page_text: OR
LETTERS PATENT to Vickers Henry Jones, of Coventry, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR FURNITURE AND
OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vickers Henry Jones at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd April 1880.
VICKERS HENRY JONES, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR
FURNITURE AND OTHER PURPOSES."
.
My Invention has reference to the horns of castors for furniture and other
purposes, that is, to the part of the castor which turns or swivels on the pin or
axis of the castor, and the forked portion or arms which support the pin or axis
on which the bowl or roller turns.
The horns of the castor are ordinarily made by casting.
My Invention consists in the following method of manufacturing the said horns
or swivelling part of the castor :-
I take a strip of strong sheet metal of a sufficient length to form the horns and
the bearing which turns upon the pin or axis of the castor, and of a breadth equal
to the breadth of the horns to be made. By means of dies and tools worked in a
press I bend the middle of the strip into a conical tubular form, that is, I give it a
size and shape suitable for fitting upon the pin or axis of the castor. The other
portions of the strip are turned or folded outwards near their middle, the turned or
folded parts making a nearly right angle with the unfolded parts. The said turned
or folded parts have holes made near their ends, in which holes the axis of the
bowl or roller is fixed by rivetting or otherwise.
When I make the horns from sheet iron I prefer to operate upon it in a heated
state.
By my Invention the horns of castors are made of great strength, and the
manufacture is economical.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Vickers Henry Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
October 1880.
VICKERS HENRY JONES, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturor.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASTORS FOR 5
FURNITURE AND OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention has reference to the horns of castors for furniture and other
purposes, that is, to the part of the castor which turns or swivels on the pin or axis
of the castor, and the forked portion or arms which support the pin or axis on
which the bowl or roller turns.
The horns of the castor are ordinarly made by casting.
My Invention consists in the following method of manufacturing the said horns
or swivelling part of the castor.
1
I take a strip of strong sheet metal of a sufficient length to form the horns and
the bearing which turns upon the pin or axis of the castor and of a breadth equal 1
to the breadth of the horns to be made. By means of dies and tools worked in a
press I bend the middle of the strip into a conical tubular form, that is, I give it a
size and shape suitable for fitting upon the pin or axis of the castor. The other
portions of the strip are turned or folded outwards near their middle, the turned or
folded parts making a nearly right angle with the unfolded parts. The said turned 2
or folded parts have holes made near their ends, in which holes the axis of the
bowl or roller is fixed by rivetting or otherwise.
By my Invention the horns of castors are made of great strength, and the
manufacture is economical.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the 2
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation the horns or swivelling part of a castor
with its bowl or roller, the said horns and its bearing being made from a strip of
sheet iron or other sheet metal according to my Invention.
In the said Figure 1 the forked portion or horns of the castor are marked a, and 3
the bowl or roller is marked d, the said bowl or roller being supported by the pin
or axis e passed through the lower parts of the said horns; b is the slightly
conical tubular bearing which fits and swivels upon the fixed pin or axis of the
castor.
In making the said horns a and bearing 6 I proceed as follows:-
3
I cut out at a press or stamp from a strong strip of sheet iron or other shect
metal a blank of the kind represented in Figure 2, and at the rounded ends of the
said blank I pierce holes f, f, for receiving the bowl or roller pin or axis of the
finished castor. I take the pierced blank, Figure 2, and by the use of bending
tools give it the form represented in Figure 3, that is to say, the blank is doubled 4
or folded at its middle, the folded arms or parts a, a, being brought nearly parallel
to one another, the bend being nearly semi-circular. By a further operation
effected in a pair of dies or tools, the semi-circular bend or fold is fashioned or bent
into the tubular form represented in Figure 4, and marked b. The partly shaped
horns have now the general figure of a strong lynch pin. I take the partly shaped
horns, Figure 4, and by a further operation effected in dies or tools, I give the
tubular part 6 the conical figure represented in section in Figure 5 and elevation
in Figure 6, and at the same time expand the upper end of the said conical tubular
part b, and form a rim around the exterior of the said part. The bearing of the
borns for fitting upon the pin or axis of the castor is thereby completed. The
nearly parallel parts a, a, of the partly made horns are next bent or twisted
outwards near their junction with the bearing b, the bent or twisted parts a, a
making nearly a right angle with the unfolded parts a², a³, as seen in Figures 1, 5,

page_text: 6, 7, 8, and 9. The bent or twisted parts a, a, are situated parallel to one another,
and constitute the horns of the castor, the piercings ff, in the lower ends of the
said folded parts or horns a, a, receiving the pin or axis e (Figure 1) of the bowl
or roller d of the castor, the said pin or axis being fixed in its placo by rivetting or
otherwise.
Figure 7 represents in front elevation, Figuro 8 in back elevation, and Figure 9
in plan the finished horns or swivelling part of the castor made as described.
By an examination of the said Figures 7, 8, and 9 the manner in which the parts
a, a, are bent or twisted outwards so as to make a nearly right angle with the
unfolded parts a², a³, and the said bont or twisted parts a, a, brought parallel to
one another will be readily understood.
When I make the horns from sheet iron I prefer to operate upon it in a heated
state.
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 do not limit myself
to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of my Invention.
But I claim as my Invention of "An Improvement or Improvements in the
Manufacture of Castors for Furniture and other Purposes."
Making that part of the castor called the horns or swivelling part and the
conical tubular bearing which turns upon the fixed pin or axis of the castor from a
single strip or blank of strong sheet iron or other sheet metal by the processes or
combination of processes, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Vickers Henry Jones, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness.
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
VICKERS HENRY JONES (LS.)