Improvements in Folding Berths for Use on Board Ship, in Railway Cars, and in other Situations.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 24th Aug., 1889-Accepted, 28th Sept., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Folding Berths for Use on Board Ship, in Railway
Cars, and in other Situations.
We ISAAC CHORLTON of 19 Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Spring Mattress Manufacturer, and GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of Manchester
aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
extent
Our said Invention relates to folding berths for use on board ship, in sleeping cars
and in other situations where their employment is desirable, and consists primarily
in improved arrangements for facilitating the stowing away and the rigging out for
use of such berths. In a berth made in accordance with our invention the frame for
carrying the elastic metallic or other mattress surface may be of any suitable or
ordinary construction but we prefer to make it with tubular sides and angle iron ends
the connection between the said tubular sides and angle iron ends being effected by
a plug or stud having a head and held in position by a pin, bolt or cottar as described
and illustrated in our specification of Letters Patent No. 13640 of 1885. In our
improved construction of berth we increase the thickness of the heads of the studs
and turn a groove in each head. The said grooved heads on one side of the frame
serve as pivots for the frame to turn on, and on the other side they engage with
supports which carry the front of the frame at the times when the berth is turned
down and in use. The supports with which the said back pivots engage consist of
brackets secured to the partition bulkheads or ends of the berth. Those brackets
have a longitudinal slot into which the pivots are dropped through a gap from above
and in which they are capable of moving backwards and forwards to an
corresponding to the length of the slot. The bracket is of such a thickness as to
enter the turned groove in the pivot and the pivot rides on this in the slot. The
supports for sustaining the front side of the berth are secured to the partitions or
bulkheads at the same level as the pivot brackets. Into these supports the aforesaid
grooved stud heads are dropped when the berth is prepared for use. The chief
reasons for giving the hereinbefore described longitudinal play to the back pivots is
that thereby the berth can be pulled forward so as to allow the front studs to clear
and pass the front supports when the berth is being turned into a horizontal plane.
When the front studs have been lifted clear above the front supports the back pivots
are pushed back in the slots and the front studs are dropped into the front supports.
When the upper berth is folded down and the lower berth allowed to remain the lower
berth serves as a couch and the surface of the folded down upper berth presents a
cushioned back. The berths or frames could however be folded up instead of down.
A guard rail is hinged on the side of each berth and when the berth is in use the end
of this guard rail is thrust into a socket attached to the partition or bulkhead whereby
the guard rail is securely held. When the berth is folded away the end of the guard
rail is thrust into a socket or hole attached to or formed in the frame itself or it may
be held by a set screw. Thus the rail is kept from swinging with the motion of the
vessel. When the berth is folded either up or down, catches secured to the woodwork
behind, engage with the front studs and hold the berth securely so as to prevent
oscillation. A clip or catch might also be employed to lay hold of the inner side of
the berth and prevent the pivots from moving to and fro in the back brackets. We
may arrange for the said catches and clips to be moved simultaneously to secure or
to release the berth mattress frame when folded up or down, this simultaneous move-
ment being effected from a rod or actuator so that a single person could effect the
raising and lowering of the mattress or berth frame, or we may provide spring catches
or clips whereby the frame would be automatically locked when folded up or down.
As the front supports are open above and the longitudinal pivot supports have gaps

page_text: above as aforesaid it will be understood that the whole mattress frame can he
unshipped and removed by merely lifting it clear of the supports and pivots. The
bedding could be contained in a knapsack pillow which when rolled up would serve
as a cushion when the berth is used as a couch. Although we have described our
improved berths as chiefly applicable for ships purposes will be understood that they
may be used in sleeping cars and in other situations.
Dated this 23rd day of November 1888.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Folding Berths for Use on Board Ship, in Railway
Cars, and in other Situations.
We ISAAC CHORLTON of 19 Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Spring Mattress Manufacturer, and GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of Manchester
aforesaid, Engineer, 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 and accompanying drawings:
:-
Our said Invention relates to folding berths for use on board ship, in sleeping cars
and in other situations where their employment is desirable, and consists primarily in
improved arrangements for facilitating the stowing away and the rigging out for use
of such berths.
To render our invention more clear we will now proceed to describe the same
particularly with reference to the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.
Fig. 1 is a view of a wooden or other partition, bulkhead or end carrying the
several brackets and catches for hanging and supporting our improved ships berth
mattress frames. Fig. 2 shows the same bulkhead with two mattress frames A and B
in place, one of the said frames A being turned up against the back; and the other
mattress frame B being turned down as when in use. Fig. 3 is a front view of the
berth showing the mattress frames A and B in the respective positions they occupy in
Fig. 2. The remaining Figs. are explanatory detail views. In a berth made in
accordance with our Invention the frame for carrying the elastic metallic mattress
surface a may be of any suitable or ordinary construction but we prefer to make it
with tubular sides 6 and angle iron ends c the connection between the said tubular
sides and angle iron ends being effected by a plug or stud d as illustrated in Fig. 4
the said plug or stud having a head d¹ and being held in position in the tube by
means of a pin bolt or cottar as fully described in our specification of Letters Patent
No. 13640 of 1885. In the present instance we increase the thickness of the heads d'
of the studs and turn a groove in each head. The said grooved heads on the inner
side of the frame serve as pivots for the frame to turn on and on the front side they
engage with supports which carry the front of the frame at the times when the berth
mattress is turned down and in use. The supports with which the said back pivots
engage consist of brackets e secured to the partitions, bulkheads or ends of the berth.
One of these brackets e is shown in side view and in section at Fig. 5 of the drawings.
It will be seen from the sectional view that the bracket e has an upright lip or ledge e¹
which enters the groove formed in the head d' of the plug d. The brackets e have a
longitudinal slot into which the pivots d¹ are dropped through a gap at the top and in
which they are capable of being moved to and fro to an extent limited by the length
of the slot the pivot sliding on the upright portion e'. The supports f for sustaining
the front side of the frame are secured to the partitions or bulkheads at the same level
as the back pivot brackets. These front brackets fare illustrated by the example in
side view and section at Fig. 6. They are of the same type as the back pivot
brackets e except that no slot or other provision is made for longitudinal play of the
pivots. The grooved plug heads d' at the front of the frame are dropped into these
supports when the frame is turned down and the berth prepared for use. One of
the reasons for giving the aforesaid longitudinal play to the back pivots is that

page_text: thereby the frame can be pulled forward when the front has been raised so as to
allow the front grooved plugs to come in front of and clear the supports fand thus
permit of the frame being turned down as well as up. When the frame is being
replaced in its horizontal position the front is lifted above and clear of the supports f
the frame is pushed back in the slots of the brackets e and the front studs are dropped
into the supports f. When an upper berth is folded down in this manner and the
lower berth is allowed to remain in its horizontal position the said lower berth serves
as a couch or sofa and the folded down upper berth presents an elastic back. The
berth may however be folded up as well as down. In Fig. 2 for example the berth A
is shown folded up. Automatic catches g are provided and are fixed to the bulkheads
or partitions. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of one of the said catches. The two
claws g g are pivotted to the plate and the tails of the claws g¹ g² have a
block of india rubber or other suitable resilient body or spring placed between
them the tendency of the rubber or spring being to keep the claws closed. The outer
ends of the claws do not come together but are sufficiently open to separate when
the grooved plug heads are pushed against them, so that when the berth A is turned
up as shown in Fig. 2 the grooved plug heads enter the catches and are automatically
held thereby. When turned down the berth is similarly caught and held. A guard
rail h is hinged on the side of each berth and when the berth is in use, the end of
the upper member of the guard rail is thrust into a socket i which is secured to the
partition or bulkhead whereby the guard rail is securely held. When the berth is
folded away the end of the guard rail is thrust into a hole in the angle iron end of
the berth or into a socket attached thereto or otherwise the guard rail might be held
in position by a set screw. The rail is thus prevented from swinging with the motion
of the vessel. Additional clips or catches might also be employed to lay hold of the
inner side of the berth and prevent the back pivots from moving to and fro in the
back brackets. We may arrange catches and clips to be moved simultaneously to
secure or to release the berth mattress frame when folded up or down, this
simultaneous movement being effected from a rod or actuator so that a single person
could effect the raising and lowering of the mattress or berth frame. As the front
supports are open above and the longitudinal pivot supports e have gaps above as
described it will be understood that the whole mattress frame can be unshipped and
removed by merely lifting it clear of the supports and pivots. The bedding could be
contained in a knapsack pillow which when rolled up would serve as a cushion when
the berth is used as a couch. Although we have described our improved berths
as chiefly applicable for ships purposes it will be understood that they may be used in
sleeping cars and in other situations.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
(1) The general arrangement construction and combination of parts comprising the
improved folding berths substantially as described and shown.
(2) In folding berths of the indicated nature providing the ends of the mattress
frames with projections having grooves the said grooves engaging with front and rear
brackets or supports attached to the bulkheads, partitions or ends the rear brackets
being formed with slots to permit of traverse of the frame substantially as described
and shown.
(3) The automatic spring catches for holding the berths when turned up or down
substantially as described and shown.
(4) In combination with folding berths of the indicated nature the front supporting
brackets and rear brackets, the latter formed with a longitudinal way or slot to
permit of traverse of the frame substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 23rd dave of Avanst 1880
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.