IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRACKETS AND CASTORS FOR FURNITURE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Pitt and Edwin Turner Davies, of Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Brass Founders, for the Invention of.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRACKETS AND CASTORS FOR
FURNITURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Pitt and Edwin
Turner Davies at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th March 1856.
We, WILLIAM PITT and EDWIN TURNER DAVIES, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Brass Founders, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention. for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRACKETS AND
CASTORS FOR FURNITURE," to be as follows, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists in economizing brass in the manufacture of the
above-named articles by substituting an inferior metal zinc as the base, and
afterwards coating the article made of zinc, with brass by electro deposition,
and if necessary, subsequently electro-gilding the surface. The brackets are
made of sheet zinc, bent into the requisite form; and in making the sockets of
castors, to which part of the castor our improvements are more immediately
applicable, we first subject a flat disc of zinc to the operation technically
termed "spinning on a chock," in the same manner as dishes and covers are
worked into form, by which it is hollowed or shaped to the suitable form, and

page_text: a good outer surface is imparted to the zinc; or if greater substance of metal
be required, we cast the socket in zinc and afterwards roll the outer surface,
having transferred the casting on to a chock by means of a small smooth roller
brought up to press closely on the outside of the casting, by which means the
pores of the metal are closed and an even outer surface is given to the socket,
such as would be necessary for the subsequent operations of plating by
deposition.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Pitt and Edwin Turner Davies in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 23d September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
PITT and EDWIN TURNER DAVIES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Brass Founders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Pitt and Edwin Turner Davies, Her special license that we, the
said William Pitt and Edwin Turner Davies, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others' as we, the said William Pitt and Edwin Turner
Davies, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agreo
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the time therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BRACKETS AND CASTORS FOR FURNITURE," upon the condition,
amongst others, that we, the said William Pitt and Edwin Turner Davies,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Iuvention, and in what manner
the sanie was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Oflice within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Pitt and Edwin Turner
Davies, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the

page_text: Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Our Invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of brackets of
the description ordinarily employed for suspending cornice poles, curtain and
picture rods, hats and garments, and other analagous purposes, and the
sockets and horns of castors used on the feet of tables, chairs, couches, and
other articles of furniture. Our improvements are with the view to economize
the more expensive metal, brass, of which these articles have hitherto been
made, and to produce them with all the appearance and durability of brass in
a cheaper metal, which will nevertheless be sufficiently strong for all the
purposes to which these brackets and castors are generally applicable.
In carrying out our Invention, firstly, as regards the brackets, we take a
metal inferior in expence to brass, such for instance as zinc, and using it in
the sheet form, we make the bracket of the requisite shape by either of the
methods of bending it up, shewn in the Drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
.
Figure 1, it will be seen, is formed in three separate pieces of equal thickness,
which are afterwards soldered together at (a, a, a.) The form shewn in
Figure 2 is made of one piece, bent as seen in the Drawing, and soldered only
at (6); and that represented at Figure 3 being in two pieces, soldered at the
points marked (c, c.) Having thus produced in zinc the form required for
the bracket, we subject it to the process of "brassing" or the electro-deposition
of a coating of brass; after which it is lacquered, or if it be desired still
further to heighten the color and appearance, it may be electro-gilded. Sheet
iron may also be used as the base from which to form the articles, care being
taken that a good surface be obtained for the subsequent processes of brassing
and gilding. Figure 4 shews this bracket complete. The form of bracket
shewn at Figure 5, which is the shape usually employed for suspending hats
and garments, is made of solid zinc or iron rod bent into form, after which the
knobs (a, a,) which are of cast zine, are screwed on, and the back plate (b),
which is formed of sheet zine, is soldered into its place; the whole is then
polished or burnished, and coated with brass (and if necessary, gilded,) by
electro-deposition, as before described.
Figures 6 and 7 shew a plan and elevation of the socket of a castor, the
form of which we make either by casting zinc in a suitable 'mould or moulds,
or of sheet zine by the operation known in the trade as "spinning upon a
chock," in the same manner as metal dishes and covers are made. By this
process the socket is hollowed out or shaped to the necessary form, and a
good external surface is given to the zinc. Greater substance of metal may,
if required, be gained by casting the seeket in zinc, but the casting must then

page_text: be transferred on to the chock of a lathe in order that the external surface may
be rolled smooth, which we effect by employing a smooth roller mounted on the
slide of the lathe, which roller is slid up gradually until it presses closely on
the outer surface of the cast socket; the pores of the metal are thus closed, and
a good external surface is obtained ready for the subsequent process of brassing
and gilding if desired, as before detailed with reference to the manufacture of
brackets.
In making the part termed the horns of castors, we cast them first in
suitable moulds, and use either pure zinc, or if that be found too brittle, we
put into the pot with it a very small quantity of soft solder, which, as is well
known, consists of a mixture of lead and tin; this will make the metal closer
in grain, and better suited for the purpose. The article after being taken
from the mould is dressed and finished by brassing and gilding, as specified with
respect to the before-mentioned articles.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is practically to be carried into effect, we wish it to be clearly
understood that we do not confine ourselves to these precise details, but that
which we claim and desire to have secured to us by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is, the manufacture of brackets, and the sockets and
horns of castors used for the purposes of furniture by making them of metal
less costly than brass, or of zinc, and afterwards coating them with brass, and
gilding them if required by electro-deposition, so as to obtain the appearance
of solid brass at a considerable reduction of cost.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Pitt and Edwin Turner
Davies, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day
of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-six.
WILLIAM PITT.
(L.S.)
EDWIN TURNER DAVIES. (L.S.)
WILLIAM PITT.
(L.S.)
EDWIN TURNER DAVIES. (L.S.)