IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING SURFACES FOR LYING, RECLINING, OR SITTING UPON
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hunter Meriwether, of Morley's Hotel,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRODUCING SURFACES FOR LYING, RECLINING, OR SITTING UPON."
Sealed the 31st October 1854, and dated the 22nd August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hunter Meri-
wether at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd August 1854.
I, WILLIAM HUNTER MERIWETHER, of Morley's Hotel, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare that the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING SURFACES FOR LYING, RECLINING, OR SITTING UPON,'
to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in forming the bottoms and sides of
bedsteads, chairs, sofas, and any other article on which it may be desired to lie,
sit, lean, or recline, of metallic wires, which are bent into an undulating or zig-
zag form, so as to have considerable elasticity, and yield to the pressure by the
opening of the zig-zag or undulated wires, and regain their form whenever the
pressure is withdrawn. These wires must be more or less strained in forming
the article, and in most cases may be tightened by tempering screws, so as to
produce the degree of stillness which may be desired.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hunter Meriwether in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HUNTER MERIWETHER, of Morley's Hotel, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, hearing date the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hunter Meriwether, Her special licence that I, the said William
Hunter Meriwether, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Hunter Meriwether, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING SURPACES FOR LYING, RECLINING, OR
SITTING UPON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Hunter Meriwether, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hunter Meriwether, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists in forming the bottoms and sides of
bedsteads, chairs, sofas, and any other article on which it may be desired to
lie, sit, lean, or recline, of metallic wires, which are bent into an undulating or
zig-zag form, so as to have considerable elasticity, and yield to the pressure by
the opening of the zig-zag or undulated wires, and regain their form whenever
the pressure is withdrawn. These wires must be more or less strained in
forming the article, and in most cases may be tightened by tempering screws,
so as to produce the degree of stiffness which may be desired.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The Drawing, Figure 1, represents a plan of the bottom of a bedstead
constructed according to my Invention, and in like manner may the bottoms,
backs, and sides of chairs, sofas, and other articles on which it may be desired
to recline, sit, or lean on, be constructed. a, a, is the framing of the bedstead;
b, b, are two bars or rails, to which the zig-zag metal wires c, c, are affixed,
which I do by preference, by their being passed through mortices in the bars
b, b, as shewn at Figure 2. For this purpose I fix two pins or uprights c, e,
on a suitable bench, as shown at Figure 3. The zig-zag wires, being in the
hard state, are bent round the pins e, and in doing so the wire is caused to
cross at the middle, as shown; the whole is then bound together and removed
from the pins; and in order to soften the parts which have been bent round
the pins, those parts are heated, by which means the ends of the bends, which
are received by the bars b, will be soft, whilst the other parts of the wires are
hard and elastic. d,d, are screws, by which the zig-zag wires may be put into
a state of more or less tension; or in place of screws, other means may be
resorted to for adjusting the strain on the zig-zag wires. The Drawing shows
the forms of undulation of the wires which is used by me, but the form of the
undulation may be varied; and although other means may be resorted to for
bending the wires into the desired undulations, I prefer to employ fluted
rollers, the flutes and the ridges being of the form of the intended undulations
or zig-zags to be given to the wires. These fluted rollers are to be geared
together to keep them correct, and it is desirable to haves grooves in them
according to the size of the wire, in order to guide the wires correctly through
between the rollers. By this means of constructing the bottoms of bedsteads,
and the bottoms, backs, and sides of chairs, sofas, and other articles on which
it may be desired to lic, sit, lean, or recline, very cheap and elastic bottoms,
backs, and sides will be produced; and I claim the application of zig-zag or
undulating wires for such purposes.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Hunter Merriwether, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
WILLIAM HUNTER MERIWETHER. (L.S.)