Improvements in Berth Guards and Ladders.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 7th July, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 7th July, 1891-Accepted, 5th Sept.,
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Berth Guards and Ladders.
1891
I, JOSEPH PLAUT of 56 South Elm Street, Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, in the
County of Hamilton and State of Ohio, United States of America, Jeweller, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN BERTH
GUARDS AND LADDERS, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
This invention pertains to berth guards and ladders for use in sleeping-cars,
steamers, &c., and my improvements will be readily understood from the following
description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of two upper and two lower berths of an ordinary
sleeping-car fitted with my improved ladder and guard, the device appearing at the
left as a ladder and at the right as a berth-guard;
Fig. 2, a perspective view of a portion of one of the ladder-rails, showing the
preferred method of securing the ladder-rungs to the rails;
Fig. 3, a perspective view of an exemplifying hook at the ends of the ladder-
rails;
Fig. 4, a side elevation of a portion of one of the head-boards or partitions
between the berths, illustrating a form of attaching device to receive the hooks of
the berth-guard; and
Fig. 5, a perspective view of one of the straps employed to secure the ladder to
the upper berth.
In the drawings, A indicates the usual lower berths of a sleeping car; B, the
usual upper berths; C, the usual curtain-rail over the berths; D, the usual head-
boards or vertical partitions between the berths; E, hook-bars in mortises at the
front edges of the head-boards above the upper berth and forming attaching
devices for the ladder; F, short straps, a pair on the front edge of each upper
berth, one end of each strap being permanently secured to the berth, while the
other end is arranged to button to the berth; &, a ladder, shown at the left of
Fig. 1 as arranged for use as a ladder proper in getting into and out of the upper
berth, and shown at the right as arranged for use as a front guard for the upper
berth to prevent the sleeper from being thrown out; H, the rails of the ladder,
formed of any suitable material; J, the rungs of the ladder, formed, preferably, of
twisted rope-strands or wire, those rungs passing through transverse holes in the
ladder-rails; K, a button at each end of each rung outside the ladder-rail, the
strands of which the rung is formed being run through the holes in the button,
the button thus preventing the rung from pulling out of the ladder-rail; L, a hook
secured in any suitable manner at each end of each ladder-rail.
When the ladder is in the position shown at the left of Fig. 1, it is held to the
upper berth by the straps F, the lower end of the ladder hanging freely down
beyond the lower berth, but not necessarily attached thereto. In this condition the
ladder can be used for getting into and out of the upper berth.
When the ladder

page_text: is to be used as a berth-guard, its ends are engaged with the attaching devices on
the head-boards, as will be readily understood from right-hand portion of Fig. 1.
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. In a berth guard and ladder, the combination, substantially as set forth, of an
upper berth, vertical partitions at the head and foot of the berth, provided with
attaching devices, a ladder provided with hooks at its ends to engage said attaching
devices when the ladder is disposed horizontally, and fastenings at the front edge of
the berth to engage the ladder when disposed vertically.
2. In a berth guard and ladder, the combination, substantially as set forth, of
ladder-rails H, provided. with end fastening devices, buttons K, and stranded
ladder-rungs J, engaging the ladder-rails and buttons.
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.