Improvements in Head-rests for Dental and other Chairs or Couches.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1893-Accepted, 18th Feb., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Head-rests for Dental and other Chairs or Couches.
I, SAMUEL CHARLES GOLDSMITH WATKINS, of Montclair, in the County of
Essex, State of New Jersey, one of the United States of America, Dentist, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to an adjustable head-rest designed principally for chairs
used by dentists, but which may be adapted for other chairs, as for example invalid
chairs, or for chairs and couches employed in surgical operations.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a head-rest with a
divided cushion for supporting the head. Owing to the manner of dressing the hair,
it is difficult to provide a comfortable support for the head of a woman under
treatment when the ordinary concave head-rest is employed'; but the divided head-
rest permits of a space being left between the sections to accommodate the roll of
hair at the back of the head. The cushion of the ordinary head-rest is only
adjustable as a whole, and there is often difficulty in so supporting the head of the
patient with that rest that the practitioner cannot operate to the best advantage;
but where the cushion is in sections and each section is adjustable independently,
the support for the cushion being also separately adjustable by an universal joint,
the practitioner can adjust the cushion so as to place the head of the patient
in 'the best possible position.
The accompanying drawings show several forms of head-rest with a divided
cushion.
Fig. 1 is a front view, partly in section, of a head-rest with a divided cushion
mounted on a supporting bar connected by an universal joint with an adjustable
arm fixed on the chair; each cushion-section being made independently adjustable
so that the sections can be moved toward or from each other on the bar, and their
inclination varied.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, corresponding with Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a detail view.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modified form of supporting joint and clamp for the
cushion-section.
Fig. 6 represents a further modification.
Figs. 7 and 7 show another form of joint and clamp.
Fig. 8 illustrates a simpler and less expensive head-rest with a sectional cushion;
the sections being fixed in position.
Fig. 9 is a view of a construction similar to that represented in Fig. 8, except
that the sections of the cushion are independently adjustable on their supports.
In Figs. 1 and 2, is a jointed arm, which is secured at one end to a chair or
couch, and provided at its free end with a socket for receiving a ball y on the bar a
of the head-rest. The arm and ball-and-socket connection is already in use with
ordinary head-rests for dentists' chairs, and by themselves form no part of the
present invention.
The cushion which supports the head is in two sections b, which may be alike
and be mounted similarly on the bar a. On the under side of each cushion-
section is secured a disk c. This disk, which may be lenticular in form, is
embraced between two clamp-jaws d hinged together at d*, and coupled at that
point to a screw-threaded stem e. The stem passes down through a longitudinal
slot in the bar a, and has a locking lever e* screwed on its lower end. On one of
the jaws d is a stud d' (Fig. 2), which enters a central hole in the disk c, and forms
a pivot about which the disk turns.

page_text: When the lever ex is loosened, the standard supporting the cushion-section cam
he adjusted along the slot in the bar, and the angle of inclination of the upper face
of the cushion varied by causing the disk c to turn between the clamping jaws.
When the lever ex is screwed up tightly, the standard is clamped to the bar and
the jaws to the disk; shoulders d on the jaws bearing on the bar a. The disk c
may have in one of its faces a series of shallow indentations cx (Fig. 3) equidistant
from the pivot d¹ and adapted to receive a small stud or projection d³ (Fig. 2) on
the inner face of one of the jaws d. The jaws are thin and flexible, so that the
disk can be rotated when slightly clamped. The indentations cx and stud d³ then
act like a ratchet and pawl; the jaw carrying the stud springing back each time
the stud comes opposite an indentation.
In Fig. 2, the bar a is represented as bent or inclined laterally, and this is the
preferred form.
The balli
The construction illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 comprises a ball g fixed to the
cushion-section and gripped by a hinged clamp-socket h, which is adapted to be
drawn down into the socket in the bar a by the lever ex on the stem e.
and its socket permit the cushion-section to be brought into any desired position.
In Fig. 6, a hollow ball or cup i is fixed to the cushion-section b and embraces
a ball j; the cup working in another cup k, which rests on the slotted bar.
screw-stem e on the ball is provided with a lever ex to effect the clamping.
The
Figs. 7 and 7 illustrate a construction wherein the clamping of the standard on
the bar a is effected independently of the clamping of the cushion-section b on the
standard. The standard m has a screw-stem e and a lever e*. A perforated lug n
secured to the cushion-section b is gripped by perforated cheeks on the standard;
a clamping screw o passing through them, as shown.
Fig. 8 represents a simple construction wherein the adjustable mounting of the
cushion-sections on the bar a is omitted; the ball-and-socket connection with the
arm & being relied on.
In Fig. 9, the perforated lug n on the cushion-section b is gripped by cheeks m*
on the upturned ends of the bar a; the clamping screws o serving to lock the
cushion-sections after their independent adjustment.
The rest may be provided, if desired, with an auxiliary cushion 6x, shown in
dotted lines in Fig. 1, which fills the space between the sections ; such auxiliary
cushion being made readily removable. This auxiliary cushion may be employed
with advantage in the construction illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, where the sections b
cannot be brought close together.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim
1. A head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion to
support the head, such cushion being composed of sections so mounted that a space
can be left between the sections, substantially as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
2. A head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion to
support the head, such cushion being composed of sections mounted on a bar and
made adjustable toward and from each other, substantially as herein described.
3. A head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion to
support the head, such cushion being composed of sections mounted on a bar and
made independently adjustable as to the inclination of their upper or supporting
faces, substantially as herein described.
4. A head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion to
support the head, such cushion being divided into sections capable of adjustment
toward and from each other and also in respect to the inclination of their upper or
supporting faces, substantially as herein described.
5. A head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion to
support the head, such cushion being composed of sections each of which is
mounted adjustably on a bar and connected with its supporting standard by an

page_text: universal joint adapted to be clamped, substantially as described with reference to.
Figs. 4 and 5 or Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.
6. A head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion to support
the head, such cushion being divided into sections each of which is mounted
adjustably on a bar and has an adjustable device for enabling the obliquity of its
supporting face to be varied, and means for simultaneously clamping the parts after
the adjustments have been effected, substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
7. In a head-rest for dental and other chairs or couches having a cushion
divided into sections, the employment of an auxiliary cushion-section, such as b*,.
to bridge the space between the other sections, substantially as hercin described.
Dated the 17th day of January 1893.`
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C., Chartered Patent Agent.