US367683A - Table-leg - Google Patents

Description

(ModeL) A. E. THAYER.

TABLE LEG.

Patented Aug. 2, 1887.

2 e I a WITNESSES (5 061 I I QWDL 1 ml Q UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

AUSTIN ELBRIDGE THAYER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TABLE-LEG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No. 367,683, dated August 2, 1887. Application filed August '28, 1886. Serial No. M13341. (Modem To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, AUsTIN ELBRIDGE THAY- ER, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Table- Legs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in whicl1 Figure 1 is a perspective view of one corner .of a table provided with my improved knockdown leg, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the leg.

In the manufacture of certain kinds of 'fur-* niturc as tables, desks, some kind is supported upon legs it has been the desire of manufacturers for years to make a leg that could be removed from the body for the purposes of shipping, storage, &c., and be again replaced without weakening the construction. A great many socalled knockdown legs have been put upon the market from time to time, but only with partial success, as the devices used for securing the parts of the leg together have proved defective or too expensive or complicated for general adoption.

This invention relates to that class of legs; and it consists inthe improved construction and combination of parts whereby the leg is quickly and cheaply made, easily removed, and rigidly held in place when put together, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, A represents the top portionof the leg, which is also the corner-post of the frame upon which the table-top is secured, and which is provided with a cylindrical recess or socket, B, in its lower end, and with a screw-threaded aperture, C, in one side, leading into said socket. This post or top portion of the leg can be made of wood or metal, and of any desired shape or size, and be secured to the table top or frame in any desired manner; but I prefer to make it of a rectangular block of wood and to chamfer its inner corner, as shown at D, and to place the aperture 0 in this chamfered &G.--Wh(3le abody of bears against the side of portion. It can be further provided with the ordinary channels or grooves, E E, in two of its faces, or other equivalent means for securing the ends of the frame-pieces to it.

The lower part of the leg F, or leg proper, is made of any desired pattern; but the top is provided with a dowel, G, of such a size as to fit snugly within the socket B, with the shoulder II on the top of the leg, formed by the dowel, resting against the bottom of the post or top port-ion, A. The dowel G is held in place in the socket B by means of a wooden set-screw, I, in thescrew-threaded aperture or perforation O, the outer end of which is provided with a short cross-arm, J, by means: of which a firm grip can be taken by the operator, and the inner end of the screw is fiat and the dowel and forces it against the opposite side of the socket, thus securing a broad and firm support on both sides. By having the inner corner of the post ehamfered, and having the aperture Clocated in that portion, a neater leg is secured, and the screw I is made to project diagonally from the side pieces of the frame, which gives plenty of room for operating it in removing or re placing it. i

It has been efforts to secure a tenon or by means of a screw passing through an aperture of a larger diameter than the screw and having its sides smooth and securing the end of the screw. in the body of the tenon have proved failures, for the reason that, in large tables especially, the leverage of the leg in moving them from one place to another soon causes the thread of the screw to partly break the fiber of the wood, and thus permit the leg to become loose, as the support of the dowel or tenon is all upon one side, and that the side where the screw enters it. To tighten it again, it is necessary to give the screw a turn, which brings the threads against the partly-broken fibers; but the same cause that loosened it when the fibers were unbroken will loosen it again by breaking them still more, until finally they are broken off entirely and the screw will not hold the leg in place at all. This plan also necessitates the placing the leg always in the same position that is, with the holes registering; but even then, if the screw enters found by experience that all dowel in a socket the wood differently from what it was in be fore, the threads will destroy the fiber of the wood and ruinits usefulness, and if other holes are bored in the tenon after the first oneshave been destroyed they will soon weaken the dowel, so as to cause it to be broken off, and

thus destroy it in that way; but by the use of my improvement the dowel can be placed in the socket in any position, and if it becomes loosened from shrinkage or use a slight turn of the screw secures it as firmly in place as ever, and by having the end of the screw hearing against the dowel a larger screw can be used, thus givinga larger bearing-surface, and also permits of larger threads being cut on it, which gives a firmer hold in the post, as is requisite in wooden screws, and it also prevents the mutilation of the dowel,which would prevent the easy removal and replacement of seams the dowel in the socket. A wooden screw 20 also avoids the possibility of rust, which would result with an iron screw.

Having thus described my invention, I claim In a knockdown table-leg, a top portion 2 having a socket in its lower end and a screwthreaded' aperture leading into said socket, a leg the upper end of which is provided with a dowel, a wooden screw the inner end of which is flat, and a crossarm in its outer end. 0

In testimony that I claim the foregoing asiniy own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUSTIN ELBRTDG E THAYER.

Wit nesscs:

JOHN D. BEATTY, R. DALE SPARHACWK.

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