Revolving Sofa Berths for use on board Ships and other Floating Vessels.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd July, 1892
Complete Specification Left. 21st Apr., 1893-Accepted, 27th May, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Revolving Sofa Berths for use on board Ships and other Floating
Vessels.
We, OLOF MELIN, Merchant, Captain CHRISTIAN ADOLPH PETTERSSON, &
CARL GUSTAF BERGDAHL Joiner, all of Thule Steam Ship Company Gothen-
burg, Sweden, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists in the construction of sofas which are to be used on board
ships so as that they shall be complete and stable as sofas, as if they had no other
purpose, but at the same time capable of conversion into complete and stable berths
by revolving them upon an axis.
We construct the axis in the form of two bolts or pins firmly attached to the
ends of the seat of the sofa, and resting upon a metallic slot firmly secured to the
arms of the sofa, or on board ship to the berth bulkhead, which slot is of such
construction as that both pins rest upon it in a stable condition as regards weight
applied above the sofa by persons sitting or lying upon it; but so that by lifting
in the front it is capable of being partially revolved, on which partial revolution it
again assumes the condition of being stable as regards weight applied above the
bed by persons sitting or lying upon it, but not as regards force as applied beneath
the front. The springs which serve for the sofa, when springs are used, we make
to serve the double purpose of springs for either sofa or bed.
Dated this Twenty-first day of July 1892.
J. JAMESON,
As Agent for Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Revolving Sofa Berths for use on board Ships and other Floating
Vessels.
OLOF MELIN, Merchant, Captain CHRISTIAN ADOLPH PETTERSSON, and CARL
GUSTAF BERGDAHL, Joiner, all of the Thule Steam Ship Co. Gothenburg,
Sweden, 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 :-
Our invention consists in the construction of sofas which are to be used on board
ships so as that they shall be complete and stable as sofas, as if they had no other
purpose; but at the same time capable of conversion into complete and stable berths
by revolving them upon an axis.
We construct the axis in the form of two bolts or pins firmly attached to the
ends of the seat of the sofa, and resting upon a metallic slot firmly secured to
the arms of the sofa; or on board ship to the berth bulkhead; which slot is of
such construction as that both pius rest upon it in a stable condition as regards
weight applied above the sofa by persons sitting or lying upon it; but so that by
lifting in the front it is capable of being partially revolved, on which partial
revolution it again assumes the condition of being stable as regards weight applied
above the bed by persons sitting or lying upon it, but not as regards force as applied
beneath the front. The springs which serve for the sofa, when springs are used,
we make to serve the double purpose of springs for either sofa or bed.
In the drawings hereto attached, Fig. 1 is a view of the sofa, as fitted in the cabin;
and Fig. 2 a view of the same as berth, the part marked A. A being simply turned
over. The manner of its revolution is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 is an inside
view of the sofa frame showing metallic slot F, G, and H, in which the bolts or

page_text: pins B and C and tongue piece E attached to the end of the seat of the sofa (as
shown in Fig. 4) work. The bolts or pins and tongue piece described are shown in
Fig. 3 in their position in the slot when the sofa seat is in the frame. D is the
front of the sofa in each view.
Fig. 5 is a separate view of the slot in which the pins and tongue piece move.
There is a tongue piece E attached to one of the pins and capable of revolving
upon it which fits loosely in the portion of the slot F so that it cannot however get
out of that portion of the slot unless the sofa be lifted entirely out of the frame,
and this tongue piece serves to keep the pin, to which it is attached, in such a
position as that it can move up and down that portion of the slot marked F Fig. 5.
It will be observed that on revolving the sofa, the bolt or pin C rises in the
portion of the slot marked F and the bolt or pin B consequently passes from
that portion of the slot marked G Fig. 5 to a position vertical under that portion
of the slot marked F, and, continuing the same motion, passes to that portion
of the slot marked H Fig. 5 on arriving at which position the pin or bolt C comes
again to rest on the bottom of the slot GH, and is thus, according to the proportion
of parts, practically stable. We may use, however, stops or latches or snecks to
secure it absolutely in the position in which it is placed, until the latches or
snecks are released. We prefer to employ fixed stuffing for the sofa, but loose
mattress for the berth, and to fit the berth with canvas sides, capable of being
laced over the mattress and bedding to keep them in place.
We prefer to use the outer canvas side attached by a spring arrangement to a
hook at each end of the berth as a guard for the occupant against the rolling of
the ship. We thus provide a more comfortable arrangement of cabin for day and
night than the arrangeinent usual on board ship.
In the drawings we have shown the frame of the sofa as removeable-this we
prefer for facility of cleaning the cabin in all parts but it is not an essential part
of our invention, as the slots described, may, if desired, be affixed to the bulkhead
of the berth, instead of to a loose sofa frame.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
The arrangement whereby, by revolution in the manner described, a sofa and a
berth on board ship are made interchangeable at will.
Dated this Twentieth day of April 1893.
J. JAMESON,
As Agent for Applicants.