An Improved Sofa-bed.
Year: 1894

page_text: An Improved Sofa-bed.
I, HENRY WHITESIDE, of the Parish of Sussex, in the County of Kings and
Province of New Brunswick, in the Dominion of Canada, Spring Bed Maker, 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:
In sofa-beds consisting of an upper seat frame, having a scat-back, hinged to a
lower seat-frame, supported by fixed legs, such fixed legs, as now used, are
necessarily short; in order that the sofa seat when used as such may not be too
high; and in cases where the seat-back is to furnish the support for one of the
frames of the bed, when used as such, the seat-back must be correspondingly low,
and, when the sofa-bed is used as a sofa, does not sufficiently support the back of a
person sitting on it and further the bed formed by such a sofa-bed is much lower
and closer to the floor than in the case of an ordinary bedstead. The object of my
invention is to overcome these inconveniences, by means of extension legs contained
in the fixed legs of such a sofa-bed making it possible to have the seat-back thereof as
high as may be necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and at the same time provide
that when the sofa-bed is opened for use as a bed, the side or frame thereof
supported by the fixed legs shall by means of the extension legs be sustained at the
same height or plane as the part or frame thereof supported by such seat-back;
and the bed may thus be elevated to the same height as in the case of an ordinary
bedstead.
In the accompanying drawing similar letters refer to similar parts in all the
figures.
Figure 1. is a perspective view of a sofa-bed embodying my invention when
closed for use as a sofa.
Figure 2. is a perspective view of the same, when opened for use as a bed.
Figure 3. is a section of one of the fixed legs G, and a portion of the frame C,
shewing the extension leg E. therein.
Figure 4. is a detail view of the curtain post .J.
The upper seat-frame A having the fixed back B is hinged at the front to the
lower seat-frame C so that it may open outwards that is to say so that the top
edge of the back B may rest on the floor and form a support for the portion of the
bed formed by the frame A. The lower frame C has at each end of it the fixed
legs D constructed as indicated in Figure 3. The free extension legs E may be
made of iron piping or of other metal or wood, I use iron piping say of an inch
in diameter (outside measurement). At their lower ends they have castors and at
their upper ends are provided with heads to prevent them from slipping all the
way through the fixed legs D. They are of such a length that when they have
dropped down so as to be under the spring bolt F the castors will rest on the floor
and form a support for that portion of the bed formed by the frame C, and sustain
the said frame C at the same height or plane as the frame A. On the opening of
the bed the extension legs E drop of their own weight as far as the under side
of the bolt F, when said bolt F is shot by the spring G across the head of the
extension leg E and prevents it slipping back. The cord H attached to the
bolts F arranged as indicated in Figures 1 and 2 serve to withdraw the bolts and
release the extension legs, when it is desired to close the bed and use it as a sofa.
The weight of the seat frames when the bed is shut holds the extension legs
steadily in position. The extension legs E, as appears in the drawing exceed in
length the fixed legs D, and when the bed is closed such excessive length is

page_text: -contained in openings for the purpose in the frame C. In sofa-beds made by me
embodying my invention, I make the seat-back say fourteen inches in height. In
such case the fixed legs D may be say seven inches long and the extension legs E
including the castors say eleven inches long, and the bolt F would be placed about
midway of the length of the said fixed leg. The wire spring G is fastened to the
frame C by staples and passes at the other end through an eye for the purpose in
the bolt F. The bolt F has also an eye for the cord H. The moveable centre
piece I is intended when the sofa-bed is opened for use as a bed to serve as a foot
board as indicated in Figure 2. The curtain posts J are provided with the oblong
slots K through which they are pivoted to the frames A and C, whereby when
the bed is closed they can be folded down and being at the back of the sofa are
concealed from view. These posts have at their lower ends the notches L by which
they may rest on the studs s and so be held upright. The curtain M is hung on
the cord N and when the bed is closed is folded between the frames A and C.
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 sofa-bed, the combination of an upper seat-frame having a fixed back,
and a lower seat-frame having fixed legs, with extension legs, substantially as and
for the purposes described.
.2. In a sofa-bed, the combination of the frame A, having the back B; with the
frame C, having the fixed legs D, and extension legs E; and the bolt F
operated by the spring G and cord H, substantially as and for the purposes
described.
3. In a sofa-bed, the combination of the curtain posts J having the slots K and
notches L, with the frames A and C having the pivots p and studs s, as and for the
purposes described.
Dated this Second day of April 1894.
EDWARD T. C. KNOWLES,
Agent.