IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE BEDSTEADS AND IN SACKING BOTTOMS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of March, in the fourteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my exors,
adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to timo and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE BEDSTEADS AND IN
SACKING BOTTOMS," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):
-
This Invention, which has been communicated to me by my Foreign Corre
spondent as aforesaid, relates,-
First, to a novel mode of constructing portable bedsteads, whereby they
may be folded up and packed in a small compass for facility of conveyance;
and,
Secondly, to an improved mode of making and attaching the sacking
bottoms to bedsteads.
The improved bedstead, which constitutes the first part of the present Inven-
tion, consists of a series of upright posts made either of wood or metal, and
connected together by arrangements of levers constructed on the well-known
lazy tongs principle, and adapted in such a manner that the uprights may be
always retained in a vertical position, and be firmly braced together. The
several parts are so constructed and arranged that the bedstead does not
require to be taken to pieces in order to be folded up and packed, and it
occupies so little space that the bedstead, sacking, blankets, sheets, and every
thing connected therewith, can with facility be packed in a small leather
trunk or portmanteau. In order, however, that the Invention may be fully
understood, I have in the accompanying Drawings shewn several views of the
bedstead as well when extended for use as when packed up for conveyance.
Fig. 1 represents a side view of the bedstead folded up and packed with
the sheets, blankets, and sacking in a leather portmanteau; Fig. 2 is an end
view of the same. In both these views the portmanteau or case containing
the bedstead is shewn in section. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bedstead
extended with the improved sacking adapted thereto ready for use; Fig. 4 is
a longitudinal or side elevation, and Fig. 5 an end elevation of the same.
a, a, a, a, are the corner posts which are in this instance made of metal tube.
b, b, b, b, are short vertical side posts which are shewn in the Drawing as
made of wood, but may, if preferred, be made of iron or brass tubing. These
posts are connected together longitudinally by a series of levers c, c, c, c, c, c,
as seen best in Fig. 4; and these levers are jointed together at their centres
at d, d, d, d, d, their lower ends being jointed at e, e, e, e, to the lower end of

page_text: the vertical posts b, b, and corner posts a, a, while their upper ends are
secured to the sliding rings f,f, which, not being fixed to the posts a, a, and
b, b, are left free to move up and down thereon. The posts a, a, and b, b, on
both sides of the bedstead are connected together transversely by another
series of levers 9, 9, 9, 9, (Fig. 5) which are attached or jointed to the same
parts of the posts a and b as the levers c, c, but at right angles thereto, that
is, the lower ends of the levers 9, 9, are secured to the fixed rings e, e, at the
lower ends of the posts, and the upper ends of the levers g, g, are jointed to
the sliding rings ff, so that all the levers must act simultaneously. The
corner posts a, a, are tubular, as before mentioned, and contain other tubes
h and i, as shewn in Figs. 4 and 5, and in the enlarged sectional view, Fig. 6.
I prefer to make these tubes fluted, as shewn best in the sectional plan view,
Fig. 7, in order that they may possess greater strength, and for the purpose
of preventing them from turning round in each other; and when the middle
tube h is drawn up, it is held in the elevated position shewn in the Drawings
by the spring catch j, Fig. 6. At the upper part of this tube h there is a ring,
hook, stud, button, or other fastening 1, for the purpose of supporting the head
part of the sacking, as shewn at Figs. 4 and 6. A third tube i is enclosed
within the tube h, and when drawn up is retained in its elevated position by
the spring catch k. From the upper end of these tubes or rods i, i, curtains or
musquito nets may be supported, if required, as shewn by the red lines in
Figs. 4 and 5.
The improved sacking, which forms the second part of the present Inven-
tion, is shewn best at Fig. 3. The improvement consists in inserting gores,
gussets, or pieces m, m, m, m, in certain parts of the sacking, for the purpose
of making hollows for the reception of certain projecting parts of the body,
such as the shoulders, hips, knees, &c. The sacking is furnished at each
corner, and at other places along the sides, as at n, n, with hooks, whereby it
is supported from the corner and side posts, as shewn in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.
It will be seen in Fig. 4 that the head part of the sacking is raised up so as
to support the head of the person reposing thereon in a comfortable position
without the use of a pillow or bolster.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to ine
by my Foreign Correspondent, and the best means with which I am at present
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion,
that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrange-
ment or construction of parts herein shewn, as they may doubtless be varied
without departing from the nature and object of the present improvements;