Improvements in Surgical Chairs.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd June, 1891-Accepted, 4th July, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Surgical Chairs.
I AARON POST GOULD, of No. 67 Tenth Street, Canton, in the County of
Stark and State of Ohio, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in surgical chairs, the object of which is
to provide a chair that may be made to assume the various positions required for
examination and treatment in surgical operations, and consists of the parts, and
combination of parts hereinafter described, and set forth in the claims.
Fig. 1 is a view of the chair in horizontal adjustment.
Fig. 2 is a view in which the back is shown in horizontal position, the seat and
leg rest being dropped down to their normal position.
Fig. 3 shows the back in horizontal adjustment, with the seat inclined, the leg
rest in normal position.
Fig. 4 shows the back, seat, and leg rest adjusted to the same inclination, with
the head rest lower than the foot rest.
Fig. 5 shows the back in horizontal adjustment, the seat raised and inclined, and
the leg rest dropped to normal position.
Fig. 6 shows the parts in ncrinal position, the chair tipped diagonally forward to
disclose the details.
Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of the rotary chair body support and locking
frame.
Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of a swinging locking frame or latch.
Figs. 9 and 10 are detached views of the seat frame and operating mechanism.
Fig. 11 is a detail view of the base of the chair, showing the stem of the body
support having a screw threaded connection with the tubular body portion of the
said base.
Figs. 12 and 13 represent enlarged detail views of parts.
The purpose of the positions shown by the figures of the accompanying drawings,
are well known to the profession, and will require no explanation, in a detailed
description of the construction of the chair. That I attain the object set forth
effectually and expeditiously, is fully shown and described.
Letter A represents the base of the chair, which is preferably made of cast
metal, the upper portion in the form of a tubular body a, from which the legs a¹ are
projected downwardly and outwardly, forming a broad base support.
The revolving body support B has a lower or stem portion a², cylindrical in
form, and adapted to rotate in the tubular portion of the base A, as shown in
Figs. 6 and 7. If preferred, the tube in the base, and the stem portion of the body
support, may be provided with annular screw threads adapted one to the other, as
shewn in Fig. 11, for the purpose of adjusting the body of the chair to any
height.
In the form shewn in Figs. 6 and 7, the shoulder a³ of the body support rests on
the flange a of the body portion of the base. For the purpose of arresting the
rotary movement of the body support, the clamping screw as, turned into a threaded
boss a on the side of the tubular body portion of the base, may be turned in against
the stem of the body support, by which the base and the body support may be held
in a rigid adjustment.
From the upper end of the stem a² of the rotary body support B, arms a' are
projected outwardly and upwardly, at the upper end of which there is formed a

page_text: pivotal connection as with the body frame C of the chair, about which it may be
rocked or vibrated. To fix the body of the chair at any desired inclination or
position, within the limits of vibration about the said pivotal connection a, there is
projected from the rotary body support B, a segmental rack a, having per-
forations a, or, if preferred, rack teeth or notches may be used instead of the
perforations herein shown. A dependent latch D is connected to and vibrates with
the body of the chair about the pivotal connection a³, said latch having a locking
pin or tooth adapted to the perforations 4. For convenience in operating said
latch, a foot piece is provided and a spring 62, the said spring holding the latch
in engagement with the rack, and by pressing the foot on the plate, the latch
may be disengaged, and the tooth withdrawn from the rack, and the chair body
vibrated over the base, and again locked in the desired adjustment.
The back section E, is supported between the arm supports F on pivots or
trunnions located near the upper rear portion, about which the said back section
may be vibrated from a horizontal to a vertical position, and held in adjustment by
turning the set screw against the curved arm, said arm having at its upper end
a pivotal connection with the back section, as 6, while the free end of said curved
arin is passed through the loop 7. An auxiliary rocking frame, by which the seat
may be raised and lowered, and by which the back section E and the scat section G,
have a pivotal connection, and which also is a means of locking the back and seat
in adjustment, is provided, and consists of an open V-shaped portion H, and two
arms d extending from the V-shaped portion, parallel to each other, and pivotally
secured to the sides of the back section near their lower ends, and to the sides of
the seat section near their rear ends, by suitable bolts or studs d², which extend
through perforations in the arms d. The V shaped portion of the frame, when in
position, is located beneath the seat section, and pointing toward the front and
downwardly.
The rock shaft J is pivoted to lugs projected from the seat frame K, by
means of the arms do, integral with the shaft, the outer end of the shaft terminating
in an operating crank d.
L
On the outer side of, and rigidly connected with the seat frame K, there is
provided cross bar L, a spring actuated catch R, formed of a rod sliding in
perforations in the depending lugs, secured to or integral with said bar. The
inner end of said rod has a depending catch hook d, adapted to take under the
arm which is a prolongation of the arm on the inner end of the shaft J,
when the said armis elevated for adjustment. The arm extends through a
slot at the vertex of the V-shaped portion of the rocking frame, and has a
sliding movement therein. A spiral spring / is secured on the rod between
the lug and a shoulder f³, and by its tension holds the catch ' in locking
adjustment.
The front of the scat section G is pivotally attached to the front inner face of
the arm support F¹ in a swinging adjustment, by means of a pair of depending
arms 6, loosely secured at the upper end on inwardly projecting studs or bolts f
on the inner face of the arm support F', and on studs or bolts set in the side of
the sent section near their front ends.
The pivotal bolts on each side are also connected with bolts f8 on the inner
face of the arm support F', below the bolts, by a jointed arm consisting of
sections and f'. The leg and foot rest section N is hinged to the seat section G
by means of corner extensions formed with elongated slots h', which embrace the
pivotal bolts f
The extensions h, after passing the bolts, are bent at right angles, and extend
rearward a short distance, terminating in open hooks h³, adapted to receive short
studs on the inner sides of the jointed arm section f.
The slots are sufficiently elongated to admit of the extension slipping
outwardly and upwardly enough to free the hooks 2 from the studs 3, and allow
the foot and leg rest section to depend in a free swinging motion from the bolts,
but when the hooks ² are engaged with the studs ³, the foot and leg rest section

page_text: will be subject to such changes as are determined by the combined action of the
arms 68 and the jointed arms ff?.
For the purpose of holding the feet of the patient in a suitable position for
certain classes of operations, stirrups P are provided, the stems n of which are
secured in longitudinal adjustment in the rotary adjustable clamps o³, provided
with a tail nut o, for the purpose of clamping the stem n of the stirrup in any
desired longitudinal adjustment, and also for the purpose of locking at the same
time the clamp in any desired rotary adjustment.
By the above construction, the stirrups may be adjusted and locked in any
desired vertical or angular adjustment.
A chair constructed as herein before described, may be operated as follows;-
presuming the chair to be in normal position as shown in Fig. 6. If now the
curved arm be released, and the back section pressed backward and down,
pivoting as a lever over the trunnions, the seat and leg rest sections may be
raised to a horizontal plane with the back section, the lower end of the back being
pivoted to the arm d of the rocking frame H, by which the seat is moved forward.
and up:
This motion of the scat section will also, by the combined action of the
arms 8,6, and f, and the bent extensions, with their hooked ends in engage-
ment with the studs ³ on arm 6, gradually elevate the leg rest section, in which
position the parts may be secured by turning the screw against the curved arm /.
The patient being now on the chair, for certain operations, the feet may be secured
in the stirrups P. If now the spring catch R, d, be released from engagement
with the rocking frame, and the crank turned to a vertical position, the seat and
leg sections may be dropped away from the person, to position as shown in Fig. 3,
and when the chair is so occupied, for the purpose of better illuminating the
subject, the body of the chair may be rotated on the base A, the stem a of the
body support B, turning in the tubular portion of the base A, and may be fixed in
adjustment by the handle screw a³.
And if required the lower portion of the patient's body may be raised by
disengaging the latch D from the rack a³, and rocking the body of the chair back
over the pivot as of the body support B, or, if required, when the body of the chair
is so rocked or tipped back, the seat section may be raised up, as shown in Fig. 5,
to support the patient, the back section raised to a horizontal position, and the
hooks released from the studs will allow the leg and foot rest to depend in a
swinging position over the bolts f³.
Or, with the parts in position as shown in Fig. 1, by releasing the latch D from
rack a, the position may be changed to that shown in Fig. 4, by which the head of
the patient may lie placed below the feet.
Or when back, seat, and leg rest sections are in normal position, as shown in
Fig. 6, by releasing the locking latch D, the body of the chair may be rotated or
rocked vertically about the horizontal body supporting pivots aš, and fixed in
adjustment by the latch D engaging the rack a'. And the chair, when in any of
the positions that it may be made to assume, may be rotated horizontally about a
vertically supporting pivot.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. In combination, a tilting back section, a seat section having a swinging
movement independent of its tilting support, a swinging leg rest section, connections
between the back seat and leg rest sections which communicate the movements of
the back section to the seat and leg rest sections, and a support common to the
several sections, and having a tilting movement backward of a vertical line
substantially as set forth.
2. In combination, a tilting back section, a seat section having a swinging
movement independent of its tilting support, a swinging leg rest section, connections
between the back seat and leg rest sections, which communicate the movements of

page_text: the back section to the seat and leg rest sections, to throw 'the' several sections into
substantially a horizontal plane, and a support common to the several sections, and
having a horizontally rotary adjustment, and a forwardly and backwardly tilting
adjustment, the backward tilt extending backward of a vertical line, substantially
as set forth.
3. In combination, a tilting back section, a seat section having a swinging
movement independent of its tilting support, a swinging leg rest section, connections
between the back section and the seat and leg rest sections, which communicate the
movements of the back section to the seat and leg rest sections, a swinging frame
for adjusting the seat section, a swinging frame actuating device independent of the
back section, and a support common to the several sections, and having a
horizontally rotary adjustment and a forwardly and backwardly tilting adjustment,
substantially as set forth.
4. In combination, a tilting back section, a seat section having a swinging
movement independent of its tilting support, a connection between the back and
seat section, through which the back section controls the movements of the seat
section, and a support common to the two sections, and having a tilting adjustment
backward of a vertical line, substantially as set forth.
5. In combination, a tilting back section, swinging seat and leg rest sections,
controlled in their movements by the back section, and a support common to the
several sections, and having a horizontally rotary adjustment, a forwardly and
backwardly tilting adjustment, and a vertical adjustment, substantially as set
forth.
Dated this 2nd day of June 1891
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.