AN IMPROVED PRESS BED
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PRESS BED."-A communication from abroad by Charles Michel
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th September 1869:
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son,.
of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PRESS BED," a communication to me from abroad by
Charles Michel Fleury, of Chartres (Eure et Loir), France, Gentleman,
to be as follows:-
The press bed, the subject of this Invention, is composed of a press or
cupboard of deal, oak, or any suitable material, opening with folding

page_text: doors closed by a lock, and with or without ornament. The folding
doors when opened form an alcove displaying the bed, and along the
top of the inside of these doors may be placed a rod to carry curtains.
The press may further contain one or more shelves or even clothes pegs,
if the height of the ceiling will permit. The shelves may be furnished
with drawers, and in the upper part of the press is placed a ventilator.
The bed frame of wood or iron with a sacking or bands is held to the
press by a bar, at each end of which are pivots turning in bearings
either in folding the bed into the press or unfolding it for use. When
folding the bed into the press the front divides of itself into two parts
kept together by hinges and the feet fall of themselves beneath the bed,
which is kept in this position by means of a hook at the back of the
press or cupboard. When the bed is unfolded for use the legs fall by
their own weight into their proper position on the floor. The dimensions
of this press bed will depend upon the space at disposal and the size of
the person for whom it is intended; it may even be made so small as to
form a child's toy. The bed frame may receive a paillasse, mattress,
and a feather bed by giving a proportionate depth to the press or
cupboard.
.
The object of this Invention is to simplify as much as possible the
furniture of the working classes in great centres, where lodgings are
very dear and space circumscribed, by sensibly diminishing the space
now occupied by the bedstead and creating by means of the shelves
placed within the press a convenience which may serve as a chest of
drawers without occupying its room. Thus this press or cupboard may
be set up whereever there is an unoccupied space against the walls of
an apartment proportioned to the height of its occupant, forming a bed
by night which rapidly disappears, it being only requisite to make the
bed, raise it, and close the folding doors. This press is put together
with screws, so that in moving it may be taken to pieces like an ordinary
bedstead.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenticth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Gedge, 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 lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED PRESS BED," a communication to me from abroad by
Charles Michel Fleury, of Chartres (Eure et Loir), France, Gentleman,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward
Gedge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Edward Gedge, 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 :-
The object of my Invention is to combine a press bed in such a
manner that it shall occupy very little space and that the bedding may
be hidden away very rapidly. Such an arrangement is of special
advantage to the working classes, they having mostly but little space in
their habitations and being often obliged to fit up every night a bed

page_text: which must be put away the next morning; and this applies also to
children's cradles. In addition to the trouble and annoyance of this
daily shifting there results a wear and tear of the bedding that becomes
in the long run very costly to workmen.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a press bed embodying my Invention,
shewing press open and bed made; Figure 2 is a section at A, B,
Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section at C, D, Figure 4; Figure 4 is a front
elevation shewing press open and bed raised; Figure 5, front elevation
of press bed closed; Figure 6, side elevation of child's cradle; Figure 7, 1
section at a, b, Figure 6.
My improved press bed is composed of a paneled frame of wood or
other material. It is intended to enclose the bed in its daily position,
and to form at night an actual alcove in the apartment itself, forming,
as it were, two rooms in one. Seven principal parts combine in its 1
construction, namely,―
1. The back partition intended to rest against the wall of the room.
It has on its lateral and upper sides three projections intended to enter
grooves made for that purpose in the pieces herein-after mentioned to
which they are easily but closely fastened. This partition receives at
about 2 inches from its base on each inner side an iron hook intended
to be dropped into corresponding ring screw or eye bolts placed inside
the lateral sides of the press to complete the fastening. Lastly, in the
middle style, always inside and at a height regulated by the dimensions
of the press bed, this same partition receives a ring screw or eye bolt
carrying an iron hook having a double use; it mainly serves to close
and secure one of the doors of the press, but may also be employed to
secure the bed when it is raised and it is nevertheless desired to leave
the press open.
2. The two lateral sides.-Each of these sides is composed of two
equally proportioned but distinct parts joined by two hinges which per-
mit their closing inwards. The sides united by the hinges are bevil
edged to permit one part to fold completely on to the other when they
are taken down, and fold back to a right angle when they are set up. An
opening may be formed in one of these sides, and receive a piece of glass
or a blind. One of the doors is provided interiorly with a screw, ring,
or eye bolt or staple to receive the hook above mentioned; the other

page_text: carries the lock. The two lateral parts which form the sides of the press
have in their vertical side a groove to receive the projection of the back
partition; their upper part on the contrary has a projection intended to
enter the top of the press herein-after mentioned. A ring, screw, or eye
bolt placed interiorly at about 2 inches from the base of each of the
lateral sides receives the corresponding hook of the before-mentioned
partition. Any other mode of uniting the parts may be adopted.
3. The top intended to unite and hold in its grooves the several sides
of the press, and also pierced with an opening to ventilate it.
4. Two flat wooden bars to be placed the one at the top, the other at
the bottom of the press to strengthen it. The upper bar carries a rod
for curtains.
5. The bedstead modified as follows:-At the lower part of the front
of the bedstead and in its thickness fixed by two outside hinges is a false
or shifting base intended to support it when in use. The opposite side
has at each lower angle a piece of metal composed of a flat part laid on
the wood, and cut at right angles at its extremity, where it forms two
arms serving to carry two small rollers or casters to facilitate moving the
bedstead. These rollers are so placed that according to the angle formed
by the elevation of the bedstead as it is being raised it is either the first
or the second which facilitates the impulsion in such a manner as to aid
the movement while preventing any stoppage. These rollers or casters
run in grooves fitted against the lateral sides of the press, so as to leave
all requisite space between the bottom of the bed and the floor; in
fact, the height is exactly equal to the depth given to the false base
above mentioned; it is however dependent upon the requirement of the
spot and individual tastes.
When open and prepared for repose this press bed presents the
appearance shown, Figure 1, really forming an alcove, and having suffi-
cient unoccupied space to admit of drawers, shelves, portmanteaus, and
other articles.
Its details are best shewn in the side view, Figure 2. G, bed; R, cur-
tain; E, false base lowered and resting on the floor; H, one of the
grooves, in which slide the casters or rollers I; P, one of the doors of
the press; J, one of the lateral sides; K, curtain rod; L, one of the
hinges uniting the door with the lateral side.
The press is also shewn in sectional side view, but closed at Figure 3,
M indicating the hooked rod intended to keep the bed in this position.

page_text: Open but prepared for closing it presents the appearance shown, Figure 4,
where the bed is shewn raised and upheld by its catch. E, bottom of
bed; F, false base, which in the ascending movement has folded on
itself by its own weight. This Figure gives an idea of the space left
between the bedstead and the top of the press and of the uses to which
it may be put, the space beneath the bedstead will receive the chamber
utensils, boots, and other articles. The bedstead turned up and the
doors closed the press bed presents the appearance shown, Figure 5, and
it need scarcely be observed that this article of domestic use forms no
unsightly object, that it may be made of the richest materials, and of
shapes and dimensions to accord with the apartment which is to
receive it.
In addition to its other advantages this press bed may be taken to
pieces for removal, and set up again with marvellous ease. In fact, it
is constructed and upheld, but by the mutual assistance of its parts, all
of which may be fitted together and taken apart by hand without the
aid of any tool, the hinges and the rollers not needing to be displaced.
This press bed may also be set up without a back partition, that is to
say, with only the doors and lateral sides, these latter resting against
the wall, which in this case would form the back of the press, and one
or other of the sides might be set on a pivot, and the press turn round
this axle on rollers.
This arrangement would in case of illness permit the invalid to be
tended from both sides of the bed without inconvenience, allow a fier
ventilation, and facilitate sanitary operations in sick rooms.
Lastly. The lateral side opposite the pivot may be fixed to the wall by
hooks or other fastenings.
This modified apparatus offers not only the advantages above
mentioned, but also presents the same appearance as the press bed
illustrated on the Drawing, none of the other parts being modified.
As an application arising from this system, I will now describe a novel
construction of cradle.
Arranged with a view to facilitate and lighten the maternal cares
exacted by an infant this cradle offers, besides the advantages inherent
to the press bed itself, that of receiving motion from the natural move-
ments of the child's body.
In Figure 6 A indicates the cradle suspended in the usual way on
pivots B on each of the sides of the said cradle; on the exterior are

page_text: fitted, according to requirement, one or several spiral springs C, the
other ends of which are attached to the frame or bedstead supporting the
cradle; the object of these springs is to communicate or check the
motion according to the side which receives the impulsion; in fact, the
swinging motion is obtained by the reiterated movements of the child in
the desire to shift its position. Supposing the child to be placed in its
cradle, and that it leans towards the right, the springs of this side
will contract upon themselves, and those of the left side will lengthen
to a corresponding extent; these latter in returning to their normal
position necessarily cause a traction which is communicated in the
reverse direction to the opposite side, and vice versa until the impetus
weakens and the cradle stops, or that a fresh movement of the child
reproduces the same effect. Motion is given by a very slight impression,
the pivots being so placed that very little weight is needed to disturb
the equilibrium, and the child having a tendency to constantly shift its
position it will rock itself whenever it would otherwise require to be
rocked.
I would further remark that the spiral springs by their elasticity give
to the cradle a very quick and durable rocking motion.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
communicated to me as aforesaid, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the use of any particular metal or material, nor to
any precise dimensions of parts in the construction of this improved
press bed, and that I claim the combination of the various parts of the
press, and the construction of the bedstead in relation thereto, substan-
tially as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.