IMPROVEMENTS IN NURSERY SWINGS AND COma
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Slack, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Water Filter Manufacturer, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN NURSERY SWINGS AND COma"
Sealed the 8th May 1863, and dated the 13th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Slack at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
November 1862.
I, JAMES SLACK, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Water Filter Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NURSERY SWINGS AND COrs," to be as follows:-
In order to make swings and cots self-acting or partially self-acting. I
hang the cot of carriage on pivots so as to avoid friction as much as possible,
and to the top part of the framework or cross head I affix a balance weight
adjusted so as to counterbalance the weight of the child in the swing, then
when it is set in motion the balance weight and the swing being so adjusted
will continue its motion for a considerable length of time without domestic
superintendance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Slack in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th May
1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SLACK, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Water Filter
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Slack, Her special licence, that I, the said James
Slack, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Slack, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN NURSERY SWINGS AND COTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Slack, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Slack, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in swings, swing chairs, beds,
cots, and other similar articles for nursery, house, or other use, and for recrea-
tion and other purposes, whereby the same are rendered self-acting or capable
of maintaining the motion imparted to them for a considerable time without
domestic or other superintendence.
The improved swings are made in a portable form, and these as well as the
cots and other articles when required can be fitted with spring or other power
to give the starting motion. The motion thus or otherwise imparted is rendered
self-maintaining by the improved and counterbalancing principle of construc-
tion described in the following explanation of the portable swing. This swing

page_text: I form with two or more upright side pieces, pillars, standards, or side
frames, with transverse or cross tie pieces at top or bottom, or both; from the
head pieces or from the tops of the standards or side supports I suspend the
seat or chair of the swing by suitable slings, in or upon which the seat can be.
raised or lowered and fixed as desired in order to obtain the necessary
equilibrium. To the tops of the slings I fix an arched or otherwise formed
head so as to oscillate with the slings, and at the top of this head I fix or fit,
so as to adjust, a weight to counterbalance the occupant of the swing and seat.
The oscillating heads & slings can be formed in one piece or in several parts,
and fitted together and be suspended from the standards or side or head
frames as circumstances may require. When the tops of the standards or
side supports are connected by a cross head piece, I form the slings with an
eye at each side through which the cross head passes, and which thus forms the
support and centre of oscillation; the same result may be obtained when there
is no cross head frame by hanging the swing upon two short studs or pivots
fixed to the side supports; the slings may also be formed with or without a
stretcher piece at the head, according as the general character of the design may
require; I also hang the slings in suitable eyes, openings, or recesses in the
side supports upon similar studs or pivots projecting from the sides of the
slings. In each of the above-mentioned cases, in order to reduce the friction,
I form the respective centres of support & oscillation upon the knife edge
and link or scale beam principle.
Another mode in which I hang the slings for reducing the friction to the
minimum consists in forming short studs on both the side supports, and also
on the sides of the slings; in each of these studs I cut a slit vertically, in which
I fit and fix by a pin rivet or screw a short length of flat steel hoop or spring;
upon this spring the swing is suspended, and oscillates after the manner of a
clock pendulum; the same result may be obtained when the side supports are
connected at the top by a cross head frame by forming an eye or opening in the
sides of the oscillating slings and a slit in the cross head (the latter passing
through the former as before described), and fixing the steel suspension spring
therein. In order to moderate the vibrations or oscillations of the slings I
connect the same or the seat or oscillating head or arms projecting therefrom
with the side supports or otherwise by any suitable elastic material of such
length and strength as shall be sufficient to receive the excess of momentum
in one direction, and give the same in umpetus in the other or opposite
direction, and vice versa. I also propose to accomplish the same object by
fitting ordinary springs at the centres of motion or elsewhere when required.
In place of carrying the oscillating, head with the counterbalancing weight

page_text: vertically above the standards, the weight may be fixed upon or suspended
from an arm or arms projecting from the slings laterally at any desired angle.
These arms are made to elongate when greater counteracting weight is
required. The weight at the top of the oscillating head is so fitted that it is
capable of being also elevated when required for the same purpose. In using.
this improved spring the infant is placed in the chair or seat (which may be
formed plain or framed, stuffed, and covered, and is fitted with a safety strap
across the front), the counterpoise is then adjusted either by sliding the seat
with its occupant up or down, or raising or lowering the head weight, or moving
both until they are in equilibrium or nearly so, the necessary momentum is
then given by the attendant either by hand or if fitted with power mechanism
by applying the same, as the case may be, when the swing will continue in
motion without further attention for from 30 to 40 minuits in one case, or
from 1 hour to 1 hours in the other, more or less. The motive power for
giving the necessary first impetus to my improved slings I propose to obtain
from a coiled or other spring or weight operating through a suitable train of
ordinary wheelwork in connection with a pendulum-pawl and ratchet at the.

page_text: construction, I hereby further declare that I do not restrict myself to the
precise modes of carrying my said improvements into effect as shewn upon the
Drawings, or herein described, as the details are capable of being variously
modified in practice.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Slack, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JAMES SLACK. (L.S.)