AN IMPROVED DESK TABLE FOR THE USE OF BEDRIDDEN PERSONS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Wilhelm Walcker, of Ruc Rochechouars, No. 42,
Paris, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED DESK
TABLE FOR THE USE OF BEDRIDDEN PERSONS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Wilhelm Walcker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th April 1875.
I, WILHELM WALCKER, of Rue Rochechouars, No. 42, Paris, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED DESK TABLE FOR THE USE OF BEDRIDDEN PERSONS," to be as follows:-
:-
In the combined desk table which forms the subject of my present
application for Patent I propose to furnish to the world an article of
furniture capable of simple and easy manipulation which will enable
invalid and other persons to cat and read comfortably while in
bed.
This article of furniture is formed of two principal parts, the desk
table proper and its foot or column. The first is a table top attached by

page_text: a joint towards one of its ends to an upright, which is adjusted to slide
in the foot. This upright is furnished with a rack, into which a small
pinion gears, which is worked by means of a winch keyed upon a small
shaft adjusted at the top of the foot. By turning the winch one way or
the other the desk table is raised or lowered more or less. A little catch
arrangement stops the table at the desired height. The horizontal baso
of the foot or column is prolonged laterally for a certain length to give
to the article all the stability required. The projecting part of this base
goes under the bed when the article is in use, which brings the desk table
above in front of the person in bed. According as the table is horizontal
or inclined it serves as an eating or writing tablo, or as a reading
desk.
This desk table can be constructed in different manners; thus, the
vertical upright can turn upon the platform at the base. The different
parts of the table and of its foot or support can be of wood or of iron,
or of rattan or Malacca cane interlaced or otherwise combined.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Wilhelm Walcker in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 21st October 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILHELM
WALCKER, of Rue Rochechouars, No. 42, Paris, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Wilhelm Walcker, Her special
license, that I, the said Wilhelm Walcker, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Wilhelm Walcker,
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 DESK TABLE FOR THE USE OF BEDRIDDEN PERSONS," upon the

page_text: condition (amongst others) that I, the said Wilhelm Walcker, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Wilhelm Walcker, 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 :-
•
In the combined desk table which forms the subject of my present
application for Patent I propose to furnish to the world an article of
furniture capable of simple and easy manipulation which will enable
invalid and other persons to eat and read comfortably while in
bed.
This article of furniture is formed of two principal parts, the desk
table proper and its foot or column. The first is a table top attached by
a joint towards one of its ends to an upright, which is adjusted to slide
in the foot. This upright is furnished with a rack, into which a small
pinion gears, which is worked by means of a winch keyed upon a small
shaft adjusted at the top of the foot. By turning the winch one way or
the other the desk table is raised or lowered more or less. A little catch
arrangement stops the table at the desired height. The horizontal base
of the foot or column is prolonged laterally for a certain length to give
to the article all the stability required. The projecting part of this base
goes under the bed when the article is in use, which brings the desk table
above in front of the person in bed. According as the table is horizontal
or inclined it serves as an eating or writing table, or as a reading
desk.
This desk table can be constructed in different manners; thus the
vertical upright can turn upon the platform at the base. The different
parts of the table and of its foot or support can be of wood or of iron, or
of rattan or Malacca cane interlaced or otherwise combined.
The annexed Drawings will enable the construction and action of my
improved desk table to be well understood.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 a lateral elevation thereof.

page_text: The foot or pedestal is composed of a platform base a, towards one end
of which is fastened the vertical hollow column" b. In this column an
upright c is adjusted, to slide on the top of which is jointed the table
proper d. This table top pivots at f, and it is held firm in any of the
positions which it may assume by means of an arc of metal g, upon t
which the pressure screw / bears. The upright c is provided with a
rack i, which gears into a little pinion j keyed upon a shaft k adjusted in
the top of the hollow column b of the pedestal. A winch serves to
actuate the pinion j in one direction or the other, so as to raise or
lower desk table d. A little catch m stops the table at any desired 1
height.
As I have before explained the base a of the pedestal goes underneath
the bed, so that the table proper will be above and in front of the person
in bed, enabling him to eat or write when the table is in the horizontal
position, and to read when it is in an inclined position.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,—
The construction and employment of my improved desk table as herein-
before described and shown in the annexed Drawings.
Secondly. The combination of parts as described, especially the
appliances for facilitating the sloping of the table top as a reading desk,
as shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Wilhelm Walcker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
]
Witness,
¸ⱭH. ARMENGAUD,
No. 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
Paris.
W. WALCKER. (L.S.)