Improvements in Cots and Bedsteads Provided with Rising and Falling Rails.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Dec., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 25th July, 1899-Accepted, 9th Sept., 1899
Improvements in Cots and Bedsteads Provided with Rising and
Falling Rails.
We, THOMAS PERRY AND SON, LIMITED, of Highfields Works, Bilston, in the
County of Stafford, Engineers and Bedstead and Safe Manufacturers, and HENRY
GARNER, of 17, Sycamore Road, Handsworth, in the said County, Foreman in
the employment of the said Company, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to cots and bedsteads in which side or end rails, or both
side and end rails, are fitted to slide along vertical guides, for the purpose of
lowering them out of the way, and of returning them again into their normal
position to act as guards, and are held in their normal or upward position by
suitable appliances; and has for its object improved means for use in fastening
or securing the rails in their upward or normal positions.
The above object is effected, according to this invention, by means
of catches which project backwards Ol' inwards from the ends of the
rails, and which for the purpose of securing a rail in its upward position are
passed through slots formed through the sides of the adjacent tubular corner
pillars. These catches are each formed with a shank sufficiently long to pass
through the corresponding slot of a pillar, and with a head to come behind the
metal at the lower end of the slot. Each head is formed, preferably, of the width
of the shank, and with its sideway projection in a downward direction only.
The catches project from eye-pieces or sliders which surround the guide bars, and
the holes through these sliders are formed slotted in a direction at right angles
to the plane of the rail so that the eye-pieces can be moved somewhat inwards
and outwards. The rail is moved up and down with the eye-pieces pulled
outwards in relation to the guide rods; and, to engage the catches with the
pillars, they are first brought opposite to the slots thereof, and then the rail is
pushed backwards or inwards so as to move the slotted eye-pieces in sucli direc-
tion, and the catches are thereby pushed through the slots of the pillars. The
heads of the catches are, preferably, bevelled so that if a rail is not lifted quite
high enough to allow them to clear the lower ends of the slots as the catches are
pushed inwards, the bevelled portions of the heads, coming against such ends of
the slots, will cause the heads, and the rail from which the catches project, to
rise as they are pushed inwards. When the catches have been pushed properly
in through the slots of the pillars, and the rail then released, the rail falls
slightly and the catch heads are thus brought down behind the metal at the lower
ends of the slots, and thereby securely prevent the catches from being disengaged
from the pillars until the rail is lifted again to bring the catch heads above the
bottom of the slots of the pillars, or otherwise to clear them from portions of the
metal of the pillars behind which they have been lowered down.
It is preferred to form the catches as projections from the eye-pieces which
are at the upper ends of the rails; but this is not, of course, essential, as the

page_text: catches may project from either the upper or lower eye-pieces, so long as the
eye-pieces from which they project are formed with slotted holes to allow the
upper or lower portion, as the case may be, of the corresponding rail, to be
moved inwards and outwards for engaging the catches with, and disengaging
them from, the corner pillars.
According to a modification of this invention, the catches may be formed as
hooks which project inwards from the slotted eyes, and be engaged with eyes
fixed to the pillars when it is desired to secure a rail in its upward position.
The upper or lower end of the rail, as the case may be, has to be moved inwards
to engage the hooks with the eyes of the pillars, and outwards again to enable
the hooks to be passed clear of such eyes when the rail is moved from one posi-
tion to the other.
Dated this 9th day of December 1898
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicants.
CUMI LETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cots and Bedsteads Provided with Rising and
Falling Rails.
We, THOMAS PERRY AND SON, LIMITED, of Highfields Works, Bilston, in the
County of Stafford, Engineers and Bedstead and Safe Manufacturers, and HENRY
GARNER, of 17, Sycamore Road, Handsworth, in the said County, Foreman in
the employment of the said Company, 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:-
This invention relates to cots and bedsteads in which side or end rails, or both
side and end rails, are fitted to slide along vertical guides, for the purpose of
lowering them out of the way, and of returning them again into their normal
position to act as guards, and are held in their normal or upward position by
suitable appliances; and has for its object improved means for use in fastening
or securing the rails in their normal or upward positions.
The above object is effected, according to the preferred form of this invention,
by means of catches which project backwards or inwards from the ends of the
rails, and which for the purpose of securing a rail in its upward position are
passed through slots formed through the sides of the adjacent tubular corner
pillars. These catches are each formed with a shank sufficiently long to pass
through the corresponding slot of a pillar, and with a head to come behind the
metal at the lower end of the slot. Each head is formed, preferably, of the width
of the shank, and with its sideway projection in a downward direction only.
The catches project from eye-pieces or sliders which surround the guides, and
the holes through these eye-pieces are formed slotted in a direction at right angles
to the plane of the rail so that the eye-pieces can be moved somewhat inwards
and outwards. The rail is moved up and down with the eye-pieces pulled
outwards in relation to the guide rods; and to engage the catches with the
pillars, they are first brought opposite to the slots thereof, and the rail is
pushed backwards or inwards so as to move the slotted eye-pieces in such direc-
tion, and the catches are thereby pushed through the slots of the pillars. The
heads of the catches are, preferably, bevelled so that if a rail is not lifted quite
high enough to allow them to clear the lower ends of the slots as the catches are
pushed inwards, the bevelled portions of the heads, coming against such ends of
the slots, will cause the heads, and the rail from which the catches project, to

page_text: rise as they are pushed inwards. When the catches have been pushed properly
in through the slots of the pillars, and the rail then released, the rail falls
slightly and the catch heads are thus brought down behind the metal at the lower
ends of the slots, and thereby securely prevent the catches from being disengaged
from the pillars until the rail is lifted again to bring the catch heads above the
bottom of the slots of the pillars.
According to a modification of this invention, the catches may be formed as
hooks which project inwards from the rails and be engaged with eyes fixed to
the pillars when it is desired to secure a rail in its upward position. The upper
or lower end of the rail, as the case may be, has to be moved inwards to engage
the hooks with the eyes of the pillars, and outwards again to enable the hooks to
be passed clear of such eyes when the rail is moved from one position to another.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood, we will now proceed
to describe practical applications of the same with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cot or bedstead, shewing a side rail fitted
thereto after the manner of this invention, the left-hand half of the rail being
shewn in its downward position and the right-hand half in its upward position.
Figure 2 is an end view, to a larger scale, of the left-hand corner of the cot or
bedstead, shewing the side rail in its downward position. Figure 3 is a corre-
sponding view to Figure 2, but shews the side rail secured in its upward position.
Figure 4 repeats, to a still larger scale, a portion of Figure 3, parts thereof being
shewn in section. Figure 5 is a sectional plan taken in the plane indicated by
line of Figure 4. Figure 6 is a section taken on line y y of Figure 7, shewing
the modified form of the invention in which a hook projects inwards from a rail
and is engaged with an eye fixed to a corner pillar; and Figure 7 is a section
taken on line y'y' of Figure 6.
AA are the corner pillars to each of which is fixed, in the usual or any con-
venient manner, a vertical guide rod a. The rail B is formed with eye-pieces bb¹
at its lower and upper corners, respectively, through which pass the guide rods a.
The eye-pieces b, which are the lower, are formed with plain holes which are
just an easy sliding fit around the rods, but the eye-pieces are formed with
slotted holes c so as to admit of the upper portion of the side rail being moved
sideways towards and from the corner pillars.
Referring specially to the modification shewn by Figures 1 to 5 inclusive,
are catches which project inwards from the eye-pieces b', and these catches are
formed with downwardly projecting heads d. Slots are formed through the
corner pillars in such positions that when the rail has been raised slightly higher
than its normal or upward position, that is to say, against the brackets C which
hold the upper ends of the rods a, the heads d' of the catches are immediately
opposite to the slots e. If, when the rail has been so raised, it is moved inwards,
the heads of the catches will pass through the slots, and when the rail is
released it will fall slightly and thus bring the heads behind the metal at
the lower ends of the slots whereby the rail is securely prevented from being
moved accidentally outwards again. The heads dare, preferably, bevelled, as
shewn, so that if the rail is not lifted quite high enough to allow them to clear
the lower ends of the slots as the catches are pushed inwards, the bevelled por-
tions of the heads, coming against such ends of the slots, will cause the heads,
and the rail from which the catches project, to rise as they are pushed inwards.
When it is desired to lower the rail, it must first be raised slightly so as to
bring the heads of the catches above the metal at the bottom of the slots, and
then moved outwards so as to draw the catches clear of the slots.
If a vertically sliding end rail, as well as a side rail, is to be secured in its
upward position according to the modification just described, the slots to receive
the catches of the end rail may be formed through the thickness of the metal of
the corner pillars at a higher level than the slots to receive the catches of the
side rail; but when the corner pillars are of a sufficient size to allow the catch

page_text: heads to clear one another, the slots for the catches of both the side and end
rails may, if desired, be at the same height.
Referring now to the modified form of the invention illustrated by Figures 6
and 7, each upper eye is slotted as in the previously described modification,
and a hook is formed to project inwards from near each end of the side rail,
and is engaged with an eye g which is fixed to the corresponding corner pillar.
To engage the hooks with the eyes of the pillars, the rail is first raised suffi-
ciently high to allow of the inner ends of the hooks being brought over the holes
in the eyes by a sideway movement of the rail, after which the rail is first moved
inwards and is then lowered. The shanks of the hooks are, preferably, of such
length only as will ensure that the ends of the hooks will be brought immediately
over the holes in the eyes when the rail has been moved inwards sufficiently to
bring the inner ends of the slotted eye-pieces against the corner pillars, or the
outer ends of the slots through the eye-pieces against the guide rods.
In both forms of the invention illustrated, the catches or hooks have been
described as projecting from the upper portion of the rail, but this is not, of
course, essential, as the catches or hooks may, if desired, project from the lower
portion of the rail, in which case, however, the lower eye-pieces are formed with
slotted holes to allow of the sideway movement of that portion of the rail, while
the upper eye-pieces are formed with plain holes which are only of such size
as will admit of the eye-pieces being easily slid along the guide rods.
It will be seen that in moving a rail from its lower into its upper position and
fastening it therein, according to this invention, the rail itself only has to be
moved, no catches or the like having to be separately manipulated.
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: --
i
1. A cot or bedstead having a side or end rail which is capable of sliding along
vertical guides, and which may be moved into its upward position and fastened
therein by simply moving the rail itself, substantially as described.
2. A cot or bedstead having a side or end rail which is capable of sliding along
vertical guides and which is secured in its raised position by engaging portions
of the rail with the corner pillars or other fixed portions of the cot or bedstead,
the parts being brought into position for engagement by a sideway movement
of the rail after the same has been raised for the purpose, substantially as
described.
3. A cot or bedstead having a side or end rail which is capable of sliding
along vertical guides, and has portions thereof which may be engaged with the
corner pillars or other fixed portions of the cot or bedstead to maintain the rail
in its upward position, said rail having also slotted eye-pieces or sliders which
allow it to be. moved sideways to enable it to be engaged with the corner pillars
or other fixed portions of the cot or bedstead, substantially as described.
4. A cot or bedstead having a side or end rail which is capable of sliding along
vertical guides, and has slotted eye-pieces or sliders through which the guides
pass, which allow it to be moved sideways, and has catches which, as the rail
is pushed inwards, pass within slots formed in the corner pillars and when
lowered therein become so engaged with the pillars that they cannot be dis-
engaged therefrom without first raising the rail, substantially as described.
5. The means by which a side or end rail of a cot or bedstead which is capable
of sliding along vertical guides is attached or mounted in relation to such guides
and secured in its upward position, substantially as described and shewn by the
drawings.
Dated this 21th low of T. 1000
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicants.