An Invalid Chair or Couch.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 1st July, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 31st Mar., 1890-Accepted, 7th June, 1890
An Invalid Chair or Couch.
I, THOMAS MATTHEW GISBORNE of Walton Burton on Trent England having no
calling or trade do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The seat & footboard of this chair or couch are made to move or work together,
so that when pressure is brought to bear on the seat by the person using the chair or
couch, the footboard rises and when pressure is taken off the seat the footboard sinks,
maintaining in all its movements a position parallel to the floor on which the chair or
couch stands & this operation is effected by connecting the footboard to a fixed
point by a bar or link in a position parallel to a line drawn between the hinge or
pivot on which the seat works & the hinge by which the footboard is connected to
the seat.
Dl
Th
2
+000
T. M. GISBORNE,
Walton, Burton-on-Trent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Invalid Chair or Couch.
I, THOMAS MATTHEW GISBORNE of Walton Burton on Trent in the County of
Stafford Esquire of no calling or trade 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 :-
My invention consists essentially of three parts which may be adapted to any
already made chair or may be made with a chair at its manufacture. These parts
are (I) a loose seat attached to the chair by a hinge or binges (II) a double footboard
jointed from side to side (that is not from front to back) and attached to the seat by
rods or plates of metal or wood in such a manner that when the footboard is
resting flat on the floor the seat shall be in an inclined position, and (III) a
rod or rods of metal or wood each attached at the one end by a hinge
to the footboard and at the other end by a hinge or pivot and necessary
fixtures to the frame of the chair. To shew how these several parts are used I will
take a chair with an ordinary frame the seat of which may be say seventeen inches
from the floor and about sixteen inches from front to back. I make a loose seat A
and fasten a bar across from side to side under the seat A. I fix to the chair
on either side, two metal or wooden sockets B or eyes raised in this case about
three inches from the chair and I make the ends of the bar under the seat A
rest in these sockets 13 or eyes and thus form pivots on which the seat can rock
backwards and forwards. I also make a double footboard G C consisting of two flat
solid or framed boards which are jointed together with knuckle hinges K so that
when one footboard is held horizontally with that side upwards on which the feet are
to rest the other footboard will also be held in a horizontal position. 1 lay this
double footboard on the floor, one part of it G which I call the back footboard under
the chair and the other part C in front of the chair and I place the hinged joint
immediately below or somewhat in front of the front edge of the front rail
of the chair. I tilt the seat A forward so that the front of the seat A is on the front
edge of the front rail. I fasten rigidly to the seat A bars, or plates R, bent
at such an angle that they shall reach down from the front of the seat to
the footboards and I fasten them by hinges H to the back footboard G. I then
measure the shortest distance from one of the pivots B of the seat A to
line connecting these hinges H on the footboard or that line produced, and
[ Price 6d1

page_text: I make one or more rods P of metal or wood which I call parallel motion rods
each of at least that length and I fasten by hinges D one end of each of
these parallel motion rods P to the back footboard G. I then measure back from the
hinge or pivot B in which the seat works, on a line parallel to the floor a distance
equal to the distance between the hinges H on the front of the back footboard G by
which it is attached to the seat and the hinges D on the back footboard to which the
parallel motion rods P are attached. This point having been found I make with wood
or metal the necessary attachments F to the chair to provide pivots E to which the
upper ends of the parallel motion rods are pivotted. It will be seen that a parallel
motion is thus formed between a line connecting E D and a line connecting BH and
that the back footboard must always maintain a position parallel to the floor. It will
now be found that if the seat A be tilted backwards and consequently the front edge
of the seat A which is resting on the front rail is raised-the back footboard G will be
raised and drawn forward G¹ and as the back of the back footboard is held by the
parallel motion rods P the back footboard will still continue parallel to its original
position. And from the manner in which the two footboards G and C are attached
to each other with knuckle joints K the front footboard will also he raised and
projected forward in a position C parallel to its original position.
We will now suppose the chair at rest with the footboards on the floor and the
seat A tilted forward. The person using the chair stands on the footboard and sits
down in so doing the weight of the body depresses the back part of the seat A and
raises the front part, and it by its attachments R R R to the hinges H on the foot-
board it raises the footboards and the feet of the person using the chair. In rising
from the chair the weight of the body is thrown on the footboard C which sinks and
in so doing tilts the back part of the seat upwards and assists the occupant to rise.
I have so far described the movements of the apparatus mainly when used as an
invalid couch, but when used as a chair it is desirable that the front footboard should
sometimes not remain horizontal but be tilted somewhat upwards. This may be done
by a strap or some other convenient connection between the front footboard and a
stud or similar attachment on the chair frame close to the seat so as to be conveniently
placed for the hand of the user. It will be found that according to the length of this
strap or connection the front footboard when raised will be more or less tilted, again
resuming the horizontal position when lowered to the floor. This connection is so
arranged that it can be loosened at the seat while the chair is in use, so that the
apparatus can be changed from a chair to a couch or from a couch to a chair at any
time even while in use. The details of the construction of the apparatus may be very
much varied to suit the requirements of users.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is :-
I. The use of a footboard connected to the seat of a chair or couch in such a
manner that when the user places weight on the footboard in the act of rising the
seat shall assist to lift the user into an upright position.
Il. The use of a parallel motion connected with the movement of a seat substantially
as described which shall keep a moving footboard always parallel to its original
position in all its movements.
Dated this 28th day of March 1890.
THOMAS MATTHEW GISBORNE.