IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DESKS, SEATS, AND MUSIC STANDS, APPLICABLE TO THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Redmayne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th December 1872.
I, THOMAS REDMAYNE, of Sheffield, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF DESKS, SEATS, AND MUSIC STANDS, APPLICABLE TO THE USE
OF SCHOOLS AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that form of desk (especially applicable
to the use of schools) in which the board or plane surface which forms
the desk is capable of being adjusted and fixed either in a horizontal
position so that it may serve as a table, in a position inclined at a
suitable angle to serve as a desk, or in a nearly vertical position to serve
as a back to the seat which is ordinarily arranged in connection with
such desks; or by my arrangement it may be adjusted and fixed at any
desired angle intermediate between those just described.
My Invention is also applicable to music stands, reading desks, or
other articles in which the angle of a board or plane or other surface is
required to be altered. It consists of an improved method of adjusting
or altering the angle of the board or other surface described, and of

page_text: fixing the same when adjusted. By this method the position or angle of
the board is more readily altered and adjusted as required than in
arrangements for this purpose as heretoforė used, and when fixed it is
entirely free from any shaking or oscillation.
In order to carry out my Invention I make one or more standards or
frames to carry the desk, which standards I prefer to make so that they
may also serve to support the seat. These standards spring from a plate
or base which I prefer to make of iron or other metal, but which (as
well as the standards themselves) may be made of wood, or partly of
wood and partly of metal, or of any other suitable material.
One of the standards springing from the base described I make carry
a scat or one end of a seat, which I prefer to make of wood and which is
bolted or screwed to a cross piece, flange, or T arm at the top of the said
standard. This standard may be made of any height to suit the various
ages and heights of the children or other persons using the seats.
At a convenient distance from the standard, supporting the seat or end
of a seat as described, I form a longer standard to support the top of a
desk (or one end of such top), which desk top I also prefer to construct
of wood. Near to the top of the longer standard described I make or fix
a frame to hold a book shelf which I prefer to construct of wood, and
the said frame also contains suitable parts to carry and secure in its
place a wheel made slightly conical at its periphery for the purpose
herein-after described. The parts carrying such wheel consist of. a
circular recess made slightly conical at its periphery, into which the
wheel above described fits. When the wheel is forced with sufficient
pressure into the recess the friction between their peripheries is sufficient
to hold the wheel perfectly firm and secure, but when the pressure
holding the wheel and recess together is withdrawn the former is able to
revolve easily within the latter. In order to apply the necessary
pressure I make a central bolt passing through suitable holes in the
centres of the wheel and the recess, and having an external nut or han-
dle so that when the nut or handle is screwed up the wheel is held
tightly in the recess, and when it is unscrewed the wheel is released so
that it can revolve.
Sometimes I make a loose handle or key to the nut described.
At or near a suitable part of the periphery of the wheel described is
formed. or attached a double arm or transverse band, to which may be
screwed or otherwise attached the top of the desk, stand, or table..

page_text: By the arrangement described, when the nut is unscrewed the top of
the desk or other article can be adjusted to a horizontal or other desired
angle and can then be firmly fixed by tightening the nut and thus
drawing the wheel into the recess.
Where the desk is of such length that a frame or standard is required
at each of its ends, I make in each standard a similar arrangement to
that described, but I arrange the conical wheels each in the same
direction so that when the nuts are tightened each wheel is drawn in the
same direction into its recess.
Sometimes I form the wheel upon the frame or standard and the
recess is attached to the board or desk. Instead of wheels and circular
recesses as described, segments of wheels and of recesses may be used
where advisable.
By my Invention the angles of desks or of boards for other purposes
as described, can be readily altered and fixed at any angle required
without the necessity for raising them in order to do so, and without
notches or teeth for fixing them, and perfect rigidity is secured in such
desks or boards when they are adjusted and fixed.
Suitable marks or indications may be made upon the wheels, recesses,
or frames described, in order to determine any particular angle at
which it may be desired to fix the desk tops or boards.
Sometimes I arrange the standards which carry the seat and the desk
tops and adjusting arrangement described, so that their height may be
altered. In order to do this I make each standard of two parts, the
upper part sliding vertically in the lower part, and I arrange suitable
bolts, screws, or catches so that the seat or the desk top may be fixed
or secured at any desired height. Or sometimes instead of making the
upper parts of the standards described so that they can be raised
vertically, I make one or both of them so that they can be raised
diagonally in such a manner that when raised the seat and desk are
separated further apart, and thus made suitable in every proportion to
the heights of the persons using them. Seats and desks which are used
at one time for children may thus be adapted at other times for the use
of adults.
The accompanying Drawing is in illustration of my Invention.
Figure 1 is an elevation of one end of a scat and school desk; and

page_text: Figure 2 is a cross section of a part of the same through the
line A, B.
C is a base carrying the standard D, upon which the seat E is fixed;
F is a longer standard, to the upper part of which the shelf G is fitted.
The upper part of the standard D has formed upon it the circular recess
H, Figure 2. J, Figure 2, is a wheel the periphery of which fits into
the recess H, and can be drawn into the latter or released from it by
means of the screw K for the purposes already described. The wheel J
is shewn passing through a hole in the shelf G; Lis the desk top or
board which is attached to the wheel J by the bracket M.