A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF INFLATING AIR MATTRESSES AND AIR CUSHIONS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Adams Knight, of the "International Patent
Agency," No. 4, Symond's Inn, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF INFLATING AIR
MATTRESSES AND AIR CUSHIONS."-A communication from abroad by John
Mellier, Cabinet Maker, of St. Chamond (Loire), France.
Sealed the 2nd April 1861, and dated the 4th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Adams Knight
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th October 1860.
I, JOHN ADAMS KNIGHT, of the "International Patent Agency," No. 4,
Symond's Inn, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OP
INFLATING AIR MATTRESSES AND AIR CUSHIONS," to be as follows:-
This mattress is made of india-rubber cloth or other impervious material,
and may be inflated and disinflated as may be required; but the main features
of my mode for effecting this operation are as follows:-I place two springs
inside the mattress in a separate compartment, either at the head or at the
opposite end of the mattress. These springs are made to work by opening
and depressing them, and thus I cause air to be drawn into the compartment
through a valve opening outwards, said valve being made of a piece of leather.
The air is then forced from the compartment into the main part of the

page_text: mattress through another valve which exists in the separating partition. This
action will be readily understood by comparison with that of the bellows, and
thus the mattress is filled with air to any desirable extent. For letting the air
out, or disinflating, I use india-rubber or other elastic tension pieces, that are
fixed to the top and bottom of the mattress, and tend towards drawing them
together. Thus, on opening the valves herein-before described, or any other
suitable outlets, the tension pieces draw the top and bottom of the mattress
together, thus expelling the air which has been forced in.
This mattress may be applied to any domestic purposes, and may be made
double. When used for military purposes in the field the springs may be
dispensed with, and the air is drawn in by drawing the two sides of the
mattress asunder in the manner of bellows, there being loops or rings fastened
on them for that purpose, and the tension pieces acting as before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Adams Knight in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ADAMS KNIGHT, of the International Patent Agency, No. 4, Symond's Inn,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Adams Knight, Her special licence that I, the said John
Adams Knight, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Adams Knight, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF INFLATING AIR MATTRESSES AND
AIR CUSHIONS," being a communication to me from abroad by John Mellier,
Cabinet Maker,,of St. Chamond (Loire), France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that. I, the said John Adams Knight, 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,

page_text: 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 John Adams Knight, 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 fol-
lowing statement :-
In addition to and for the better understanding of the statements contained
in my Provisional Specification, I will now fully describe the manner in which
this Invention is or may be carried out.
On the annexed Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan of an air mattress ;
Fig. 2, an elevation of the same; Fig. 3, plan of a double mattress; Fig. 4,
elevation of the same; Fig. 5, steel spring, closed; Figs. 6 and 6ª, elastic
band, contracted and stretched; Fig. 7, end view of valve; Fig. 8, front
elevation of a mattress, serving as a shelter or tent; Fig. 9, end elevation of
the same; Fig. 10, front view of a camp bed.
By reference to the Drawings, Figs. 1 to 7, it will be perceived that the
mattress is a kind of sack or bag made of india-rubber cloth, or other air-tight
material, of such shape that when inflated the head portion forms a swelling
or raised part, acting as a cushion. This bag or sack is divided into two
compartments a, b. In the small compartment a I lodge two or more steel
springs c, which may be acted upon by pressure. The two valves d, d',
opening in contrary directions are attached, the former to the outer face of the
compartment, and the latter to the inner face of said compartment, that is
to say, to the partition dividing the two compartments. Thus it will be seen,
that by alternately compressing and releasing the steel springs c, and with
them the top of the mattress, air is pumped continuously into the com-
partment a, and thence expelled into the compartment 6, the modus operandi
being similar to that of a common pair of bellows. The small bands e of
india-rubber or other elastic material are attached at suitable distances to the
top and bottom of the mattress, and serve both for facilitating the expulsion of
air when it is desired to disinflate the mattress, and for keeping it level in its
inflated state. The position of the bands in the inflated and collapsed states
of the mattress is fully shewn at Figs. 6 and 6* respectively. When the
mattress has to be disinflated or made to collapse, nothing more is required
than to keep the valves open, and assist the collapsing action of the elastic
bands, and the escape of the air by pressure on the top of the mattress, this
collapsing action being moreover furthered by transverse elastic bands 9, which
are fastened across the whole breadth of the mattress.

page_text: The double mattress (Figs. 3 and 4), which is intended for two persons;
consists of two mattresses, made each of them as above described, which are
united by the compartment h, which itself has its double division with its
spring and its two valves. By this arrangement the two halves of the double
mattress are made independent of each other, so that the weight or stirring of
either one or the other of the bed fellows shall not disturb the other bed mate.
The mattresses herein-before described are intended for use in ordinary
bedsteads. They may be emptied at suitable intervals for the purpose of
renewing the condensed air contained in them.
Figs. 8, 9, and 10, represent two different applications of this mode of
inflating air mattresses to camp or military purposes. Figs. 8 and 9 shew a
kind of sheltering tent mattress, which is for two soldiers lying bead to head.
This mattress is made up of two distinct parts, and thus when disinflated may
be carried by the men, and be used by them as water-proof capes; after
having been inflated and made ready for resting use, the two parts are united
by means of a pole driven into the ground, as shewn by the Drawing. It is
to be observed that in this portable mattress the steel springs may be dispensed
with, and the air pumped in by mere manual action, by alternately drawing
asunder and letting go the two sides of the mattress. The sheltering tent is
made of india-rubber or other suitable cloth, which is attached to the mattress.
Fig. 10 shews this mattress as forming part of a portable iron bedstead, which
can be folded by means of joints and hinges suitably applied. The mattress
being collapsed, and the bedstead folded together with the sheltering cloth,
which is permanently attached to the same, the whole implement will only
occupy a very small space, and thus become a desirable article for travelling
and the field.
I claim the mode of inflating or filling mattresses and cushions with air by
means of compartments, springs, elastic bands, and valves, or their equivalents,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Adams Knight, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN ADAMS KNIGHT. (L.S.)