IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPANDING OR EXTENDING FRAMES FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Francis Zysel at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
October 1868.
I, FRANCIS ZYSEL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
EXPANDING OR EXTENDING FRAMES FOR FURNITURE AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be
as follows:-
The said Invention relates to a method of constructing expanding or
extending frames which may be applied to beds, tables, clothes-drying
horses, window blinds, and cornices, and other articles to render them
more convenient for general use.
I am aware that bedsteads and other articles of domestic furniture
have been heretofore constructed to fold or double up into a smaller
space than they occupy when in use, but the application of this principle
of construction has been limited to a few articles, and has rendered such
articles costly and frequently unsightly.

page_text: My Invention consists in the construction of a frame upon the
principle of the apparatus known as "lazy-tongs," which is mainly com-
posed of a number of short pieces jointed together in such a manner
that by compressing laterally the extremity of the apparatus the same is
extended or expanded lengthwise.
To more clearly explain the said Invention I will now describe its
application to a few other articles in common use. In a bedstead the
expanding frame should be arranged with the series of jointed pieces
to form the two ends of the bedstead; the said ends being united by
bars or rods, which support them and keep them parallel. The frame at
one side or end is provided with guideways or slots at right angles or
nearly so to the direction in which the said frame expands, and the end
piece of each series of joints is provided with a stud or pin which works
in the said guideway. Cords or bands should be also attached to the
frame to support the mattress and other bedding. I prefer to employ a
screw to effect the extension and contraction of the bedstead, which
screw is passed through bars, whereby the two sides or ends of the
expanding frame are united; one of the said bars being provided with a
suitable nut to fit the screw. When the bedstead is not in use the
frame, by means of the screw or other device, is contracted into a very
small compass. The bedding in ordinary cases need not be removed.
It desired the frame may be provided with a cover to serve as a table,
sideboard, or other piece of furniture.
In applying the said Invention to horses or frames for drying linen
and for other like purposes, the side of the frame in which the guide-
ways are formed may be secured to the wall outside a window or other
part of the building. The linen or other articles to be dried can then
be hung on cords, bars, or rods running across the frame, which may
then be extended by a screw, as already described, or by the simple
pressure of the hand. The horse may be provided with an adjustable
cover, which can be raised or lowered as desired, and under which the
frame may be sheltered from rain.
Blinds for windows may also be conveniently constructed upon this
principle to serve in the place of Venetian and other blinds now used.
In applying my Invention to window cornices I construct the
expanding frame with a fixed bar or bars extending across the window.
This portion of the frame, which is fixed at the top of the window, is

page_text: provided with a longitudinal guideway, at each of whose extremities one
end of a series of the jointed pieces is secured; the other end of the said
series being supported by a pin or stud fitted to slide freely in the said
guideway. The curtains are attached in any convenient manner to these
jointed pieces, which are operated by a cord and lever or other suitable
means to draw the curtains in either direction across the window.