AN IMPROVED COMBINED TRAVELLING BAG AND CHAIR
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd July 1869. - A communication from abroad by Léandre
Quetineau, Civil Engincer, Emmanuel Adolphe Halphen, Charles
Jacob Halphen, and Ernest Halphen, Merchants, all of Paris, in
the Empire of France.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMBINED
TRAVELLING BAG AND CHAIR," a communication, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to a small apparatus, which I call a
"travelling bag chair," which is designed for use by second. and third-
class railway travellers, and which may also be used upon garden benches
and other seats. Great discomfort is experienced by third class tra-
vellers in sitting upon a hard substance, and fatigue is experienced by
those of the second class, which like the former do not find any support
for the arms. By means of my apparatus these various and very
important inconveniences are obviated, and at the same time the means.

page_text: are afforded for a traveller to carry and keep with him a small quantity
of linen, papers, and provisions in a pocket provided for the purpose.
The said apparatus is composed, firstly, of a frame B, A, D, C, which
forms the seat; secondly, of another frame B, E, F, C, which forms the
back, and which is united to the seat at the points B and C by hinges
on the end of a round rod, which forms a pin or bolt; thirdly, of two
standards or uprights G, H, and G', H', Figures 2 and 3; fourthly, of a
rod J, J', Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, of an abdominal form; fifthly, of two
arms G, N, and G', N', fixed by a button to the extremities G and G of
the standards, above which they turn on a pivot; sixthly, of a flat iron
rod H, H', fixed at the lower edge of the frame of the seat, and designed
to receive and support the hinges fixed to the standards. The parts
above described, with the exception of the rods H, H, and B, C, are of
angle or L iron, the opening of the angles being inward and facing each
other. At the flat interior portion of the seat are fixed two movable rings
K, K', to receive a handle Z and a hinged fastening L designed to receive
in its eye the button M of the back. The abdominal cross piece J, J',
is engaged by the eye in a ring bolt with two branches fixed to the
point J of the standard and can rest suspended parallel with J, H, so
that when required the extremity J can be brought to the small mortise
of the standard G¹, H'. The framing of the apparatus being thus
constructed (see Figure 3), I place upon the seat B, A, D, C, a stuffed
cushion of silk or other material, and fix the same upon the lower edge
of the angle iron by means of nails with large heads rivetted in the holes
formed for that purpose. Upon the part B, E, F, C, forming the back
is also in like manner placed a covering of silk or other material (see
Figure 2), behind which is added, as shewn in Figure 1, a pocket whose
flap or cover is closed by means of the elastic straps P, P. Upon this
large pocket I place another pocket of small dimensions designed to
contain letters, tickets, and other small articles. This small pocket also
has a flap or cover, and may be opened without opening the large pocket
or disturbing the arrangements thereof, so that the tickets may be readily
accessible. The arms G, N, and G', N', are enveloped in a stuffed
covering for the support of the arms of the traveller; their extre-
mities N, N', are fitted in a small mortise in the back, where they are
maintained by means of a notch or tooth, which is adjusted by the
weight of the body. When the chair is opened, as in Figure 2, and the
traveller seated thercon desires to fold up the apparatus he disengages

page_text: the extremity J¹ of the rod from its mortise, disengages the extremity N
of the arm from the mortise of the back, turns the arm on its pivot from
without to within around the point G, and lays the support G, H, which
turns at the point G upon the hinge, and takes the direction H, B, upon
the cushion, the arm is then placed according to B, C, and the rail J, J',
is placed diagonally according to B, D. He proceeds in the same
manner for the other side, that is to say, in disengaging the extremity N'
of the arm from the mortise of the back, making it turn from without
to within around a poiut G, arranging according to H', C, the support
G', H', and placing according to C, B, the arm G¹, N', near the
other G, N. All the movable parts being thus arranged upon the
cushion the back B, E, F, C, is closed like a book cover, and is secured
by the button M, which engages with the fastening I, and leaves upper-
most the pockets and their accessories, as shown in Figure 1. To open
the apparatus upon the seat I disengage the fastening L from the
button M, and raise the back till the notch of the hinge arrests it. I
then raise the supports and secure in their mortises the ends N and N¹
of the arms and then sit down, and if I desire to sleep or to render the
apparatus more secure I arrange the rail J, J', by placing its extremity J¹
in its mortise. As shewn in Figure 1 everything placed in the large pocket
as well as the tickets in the small pocket, are behind the traveller when
seated and within his reach, and the covering of the back is strengthened
and all danger of injuring any of the contents is prevented by the
inclination given to the part B, E, F, C, which produces a space between
the latter and the vertical division of the compartment of the carriage.
A sufficient fullness of the back covering. permits without difficulty the
closing of the apparatus, and the laying of the adjustable parts upon the
cushion. For a similar purpose it is necessary that the material of the
cushion without straining its points of support should be capable of yielding
to the weight of the traveller when the apparatus is used upon a concave
scat. The hinges which connect the base of the standards to the flat
rud H, H', should have triple joints, so as to maintain firmly the vertical
standards in their resistance to a lateral movement. As indicated by
Figure 1 the "travelling bag chair," which with all its fittings weighs
very little, is by means of the handle Z very conveniently carried, and is
of a pleasing appearance, and when covered with some impermeable
substance (such as leather cloth) may be exposed to the rain without
danger of injuring the articles contained in the pockets. The arm G, N,
is fixed to the standard by means of a hinge, shewn in Figure 6, pivotted

page_text: to and turning around a rivet on the part d, and allowing it to be laid
upon the cushion in the most convenient manner. To the part N of the
arm is adapted a small bolt (Figures 7 and 8) riveted by the part f
under a piece sliding in a groove, and whose extremity d fills up in the
mortise of the back the space made for the entrance of the arms
(Figure 9), it also prevents the accidental escape of the arm from the
mortise. The opening of the pocket instead of being at the exterior of
the back may be made in the interior of the same, and the stuffed flap
which covers the said opening being above the joint of the frame will
serve to prevent inconvenience from the hardness of the metal. The
small ticket pouch or pocket is below the opening of the large pocket,
and compartments may be added for separating the contents, sce
Figure 9.