IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas George Shaw, of Dartmouth Row, Black-
heath, in the County of Kent, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas George Shaw
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the-
6th June 1857.
I, THOMAS GEORGE SHAW, of Dartmouth Row, Blackheath, in the County
of Kent, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS," to be as follows, that is to say:
My object is to construct a light and portable bedstead, suitable for travel--
lers, emigrants, soldiers, and other persons, which shall occupy a small space
when not in use, be extended and prepared for use in a very short time, and.
raise the person occupying the bed to such a distance from the floor or earth.
as to greatly diminish the chance of his suffering from damp or wet. These.
objects I propose to accomplish by making a series of light frames or boxes,.
constructed and united in such a manner that they can slide one into the other
after the manner of a telescope, and these frames or boxes may be made of
wood, metal, or any other suitable material. I cover each frame or box of
this series on its upper surface with canvas or other light and flexible mate-
rial, so that when the apparatus is extended, it presents a yielding, dry, and
comfortable bed and when closed up or collapsed it resembles a light trunk,

page_text: portmanteau, or knapsack. A few of the advantages to be derived from this
arrangement are, that by its use the soldier, emigrant, or traveller may secure.
a dry and comfortable bed, instead of being compelled to sleep upon the bare
and damp earth, and the poor man, whose home is small and confined, may
possess a cheap and comfortable bed, occupying when not in use no more space
than an ordinary trunk or portmanteau. ·
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas George Shaw in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GEORGE SHAW, of Dartmouth Row, Blackheath, in the County of Kent,
Merchant, send greeting.
-
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the.
year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas George Shaw, Her special licence, that I, the said Thomas
George Shaw, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas George Shaw, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS" (being a communication from.
abroad), upon the condition (amongst others). that I, the said Thomas George
Shaw, 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 Thomas George Shaw, do hereby
<leclare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This Invention has for its object the construction of a light and portable

page_text: bedstead, suitable for travellers, emigrants, soldiers, and other persons, which
can be rapidly and easily prepared for use, and which will allow space for such
a stratum of air between the sacking, canvas, or other material upon which
the occupant rests, and the floor or earth upon which the bedstead is placed, as
will greatly reduce the risk of injury being sustained from damp.
These objects I accomplish by making a series of light frames or boxes,
composed of wood, metal, or any other suitable material, and constructed of
such sizes and united in such a manner as they can slide one into the other,
after the manner of a telescope. I cover each frame or box of this series on
its upper surface with canvas or other light material, so that when the bed-
stead is extended, it presents a yielding, dry, and comfortable bed, and when
closed up or collapsed it resembles a trunk, portmanteau or knapsack.
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of such bedstead when closed up;
Figure 2, the same form of bedstead when opened for use; and Figure 3, a
perspective view of one of the frames or boxes; and in each of the Figures
the same letters denote the same parts.
A is the cover of the bedstead when closed, which also forms the pillow
when the bed is extended for use; B, the box, into which the frames or boxes
G, H, I, K, slide; C, C, standards, made of iron or any other suitable mate-
rial, hinged at D, which support the cover A when in use, as shewn in
Figure 2; S, quadrant hinges, which unite the cover A to the lower box B,
and which may also support the cover A instead of the standards C when the
bedsted is used on soft ground; F, F, shallow drawers, fitted in the cover A,
forming convenient receptacles for articles for use when travelling; G, H, I,
frames or skeleton boxes (represented in perspective in Figure 3), gradually
diminishing in width, in order that one may slide into the other; K, a box,
which may be used for packing blankets, or other necessaries; L, a fall-down
door, closing up the box K and fitted with a lock, which secures the door L
and also the cover A when the bedstead is closed up; N, N, groves, cut
nearly the whole length of each side of the inner surface of the frames
B. G, H, I, in which the guide pins P slide; P, guide pins, attached to the
frames or boxes G, H, I, K, as shown in Figure 3.
From the edges of the cover A, canvas or other material is stretched and
nailed, or fastened by any convenient means upon the sides R, R, leaving a
space underneath at E to allow the canvas or other material to yield to the
pressure of the head. The boxes B and K, and the sliding frames G, H, I,
are also covered with canvas or other material upon their upper surfaces,
stretched from side to side and uniled thereto, or fastened by any convenient
means.

page_text: The mode of preparing the improved bedstead for use is as follows:-The
bedstead being in the position represented in Figure 1, the cover A is thrown
back until the ends of the standards C rest upon the floor or earth, or the
quadrant hinges S prevent it going any further; then, by drawing the front of
the box K in a direction at right angles to its surface, it is withdrawn from
within the frame or box I, as far as the guide pin P, working in the groove N,
will allow it to advance; the force being continued, the frames or boxes:
I, H, G, are successively withdrawn, as far as the guide pins P will allow them
to advance, when the bedstead will be ready for use. When the bedstead is
intended to be carried as a knapsack, the whole of the parts are made smaller
than they otherwise would be; the cover or pillow A is dispensed with, and
straps (similar to knapsack straps), or curved supports, are attached to the
exterior box or case B.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the details contained herein; but what I
claim is, the construction of a bedstead composed of a series of light frames or
boxes G, H, I, K, one side of each of such boxes being formed of canvas or
other material, and the whole of them being arranged to slide one into the
other, and into an exterior box B, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas George Shaw, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
THOMAS GEORGE SHAW. (L.S.)