Improvements in Folding Beds.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 31st July, 1897
Improvements in Folding Beds.
I, ROBERT MONSON ANTHONY, of Sowers Street, Stamford, in the County of
Fairfield and State of Connecticut, one of the United States of America, Millwright,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to improvements in folding beds, and the object of the same
is to provide a folding bed which may be operated without the exertion and
inconvenience necessary to the operation of most of the folding beds now in general
use, said bed being adapted to be locked in any position desired.
The invention also consists in so pivoting the foot portion of the bed that the
same may be used for securing in position the bed clothes when the bed is to be
folded.
The invention consists in the novel details of construction hereinafter fully
described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a top plan view of my bed with the head portion sectioned
transversely.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, looking in the direction of the arrow in
Figure 1, the side piece and inner wall of the head section being removed to expose
the operating mechanism.
Figure 3 is a view of a portion of one of the sides, the foot piece and the lever
for moving the foot piece, dotted lines showing the foot piece in position for
securing the bed clothes upon the bed.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates a head section, which is
provided with a top 2, a bottom 3 and the side compartments 4 and 5. Extending
transversely through the lower portion of the head section is the operating shaft 6,
to which the side pieces 7 and 8 of the bed are attached. These side pieces are
secured to the shaft by means of the plates 9 and 10, which are screwed thereto
and provided with the sockets 11 and 12 through which the said shaft passes and
is secured.
Secured to one end of the shaft within the compartment 5 is the toothed
segment 13 which intermeshes with the worm gear 14 upon the shaft 15 which
extends longitudinally through said compartment.
Secured to the inner side of the compartment 5 is the angular casting 16, formed
with the arm 17, and passing through the side wall of the compartment 5, the
casting and the arm 17 is the crank shaft 18 having the crank 19. Upon this
crank shaft 18, and within the compartment 5 is the mitre gear 20, which meshes
with a similar gear 21 on the shaft 15.
As will be understood, when the crank is rotated the segment is operated through
the medium of the worm gear and the side pieces of the bed are raised or lowered.
The crank may be placed upon the end of the shaft 15, so that the bed may be
operated from the back instead of the side without departing from the spirit of my
invention. The segment has the lug 22 formed thereon in which one end of the
rope 23 is secured, said rope passing upwardly and over the pulley 24 journaled in
the bracket 25 attached to the top of the head section, and has secured to its opposite

page_text: end the balance weight 26. The opposite end of shaft & within the compartment
has secured thereto a perforated arm 27, and to this arm is attached a rope similar
to the rope 23, the pulley and its supporting bracket and the balance weight being
duplicated on this side of the bed. These balance weights extend within the
compartments 4 and 5 as will be understood, and are not exposed to view.
The forward end of the sides 7 and 8 are connected by the cross piece 28, and
pivoted to their opposite ends is the foot board 29. This foot board is pivoted to
the side pieces by the levers or rods 30, which are attached at one end to the foot
piece and curved at their opposite ends 31 where they are secured to the operating
disks 32 which are attached to the transversely extending shaft 35 journaled in the
side pieces of the bed. These operating disks are provided with the operating
handle 33. The foot piece is shouldered at 34 for the reception of the ends of the
side pieces as will appear from the drawings.
When it is desired to fold the bed, the side pieces are raised a slight distance by
operating the crank, and are held in position by the engagement of the worin gear
with the toothed segment. When in this position the operating discs 32 are
rotated by means of their handles 33, which swings the foot piece out of engagement
with the side pieces, and upwardly upon the top of the bed clothes where it may be
fastened. In this position the clothes are prevented from slipping from the bed
when the side pieces are swung upwardly into the head portion or section. Both
of the operating disks 32 being secured to the same shaft 35, when one is operated
the other will be correspondingly moved, so that the movement of the foot piece
will be even, and there will be no sticking occasioned by one side moving in
advance of the other.
From the above description it will be seen that I have produced a folding bed
which by its peculiar operating mechanism may be retained in any position either
opened or closed, or at an intermediate point, and in addition to this have so
pivoted the foot board that the same may be utilized as a securing means for
preventing the bod clothes from slipping out of position when the bed is folded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A folding bed comprising a head portion, sides, a shaft extended through said
sides and a head portion to which the sides are secured, a toothed segment on said
shaft, an operating shaft with a worm meshing with said segment for operating the
shaft and closing the bed, a foot piece adapted to swing out of the way when the
bed is to be closed, and a means for imparting motion to the operating shaft,
substantially as described.
2. A folding bed comprising a head section, side pieces adapted to close within
said section, a shaft extended through the head section to which the side pieces
are secured, a toothed segment on one end of said shaft, a shaft having a worm
gear intermeshing with said toothed segment, for operating the same and closing
the bed, ropes attached to one end of said shaft and having at their opposite ends
counter-weights, a foot piece for said bed pivoted to swing upwardly and out of the
way when the bed is to be closed, and a means for operating the worm gear for
closing the bed, substantially as described.
3. A folding bed comprising a head section provided with side compartments
and a top, a shaft extending through the compartments, side pieces secured to the
shaft, a toothed segment on one end of the shaft within one of the compartments,
a shaft extended longitudinally through said compartment, a worm gear on said
shaft adapted to intermesh with the toothed segment, a crank attached to said shaft
for operating the worm gear and raising the side pieces, and a swinging foot board
pivoted to the opposite ends of the side pieces, substantially as described.
4. A folding bed comprising a head section, a shaft extended transversely through
said head portion, side pieces secured to the said shaft, a foot piece, levers pivoted
at one end to the foot piece and curved at their opposite ends, a shaft extended

page_text: transversely through the side pieces adjacent to the foot piece, operating disks
upon the ends of said shaft to which the curved ends of the levers are secured,
operating handles upon the operating disks for moving the same and swinging the
foot piece out of engagement with the side pieces and upwardly upon the bed
clothes where it is adapted to be secured, and a means for operating the first
named shaft and swinging the side pieces within the head section, substantially as
described.
5. A folding bed comprising a head section having side compartments and a
top, a shaft extended transversely through the head section, side pieces secured to
the said shaft, a toothed segment upon end of the shaft and within one of the
compartments, a lug formed upon the toothed segment, a rope secured at one end
of the lug and extending upwardly over a pulley suitably journaled in the top of the
head section, a weight attached to the end of the rope, an arm attached to the
opposite end of the shaft within the other compartment, a rope secured to said arm
and extending upwardly over the pulley at the top of the head section, a weight
upon the end of the rope, a foot piece, a shaft journalled in the head section &
provided with a gear intermeshing with said toothed segment, and a means for
operating the shaft and swinging the side pieces and foot piece within said section,
substantially as described.
6. A folding bed comprising a head section formned with a top and with side
compartiments, a shaft extended through the head section, a toothed segment upon
one end of the shaft and within one of the compartments, a second shaft extended
longitudinally through the said compartment, and provided with a worm gear
intermeshing with the toothed segment, a casting attached to the inner wall of the
compartment, a short shaft extended through the side of the compartment and the
casting, a mitre gear carried by the short shaft, a mitre gear upon the worm gear
shaft adapted to intermesh with the first named mitre gear, a crank upon the end
of the short shaft for operating the mitre gears and swinging the side pieces
upwardly within the head section, and a foot piece attached to the side pieces,
substantially as described.
Dated this 20th day of March 1907