IMPROVE- MENTS IN BEDSTEADS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Pratt at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th November 1878.
"
WILLIAM PRATT, of Bradford, in the County of York, Upholsterer. IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BEDSTEADS."
The object of this Invention is to produce a combined wooden and metalic bed-
stead, possessing lightness and ridgidity.
:
The present metalic half tester bedstead is of very shaky constriction, owing to
the lightness of metal employed in the making of the iron head pillars and iron
tester frame. There is also another objection which my improvement will remedy,
and that is, the difficuty of attaching the draperies to the iron frame work. This
last objection has been remedied hitherto by putting a complete French bedstead
under a separate wood head frame and canopy, which is fixed to the wall, and to
which the hangings and draperies are attached.
By my improved bedstead, which is a combination of wood and metal, there is no
need of the inetalic head rail or wooden canopy attached to the wall. The half
tester and head portion of the bed I make of wood, whilst the foot is of metal; the
sides are composed of wood and metal combined, wood where it is necessary to
attach hangings or draperies, and metal at the jointing together of the structure,
thus giving lightness and ridgidity.
WILLIAM PRATT, of Bradford, in the County of York, Upholsterer. IMPROVE-
"

page_text: very unstable construction, owing to the lightness of the metal employed in the
making of the iron head pillars and iron tester frames. There is also another
objection-which-my-improvement-will-remedy, and that is, the difficulty of attaching
the draperies to the iron framework; the last objection has in some cases been
remedied, first, by placing light-wooden frames inside the bed head, and on the top
of the tester-frame, and attaching the draperies to these; second, by placing a coin-
plete "French" bedstead under a separate canopy, with wood head frame fixed to
the wall, and to which the hangings are attached.
By my improved bedstead I avoid the .necessity of extra wooden frames, or a
separate fixed canopy and head frame, as before described. The bedstead is practi-
cally a wooden half tester bedstead. with a metallic-foot end, the whole- of the
framework, with the exception of the foot end, being of wood bolted together in a
similar manner as is usual in wooden half tester bedsteads, and the metal foot end
being attached to the wooden sides of the bedstead by a metal plate fitting a
corresponding indenture or projection on the foot end. The head tester and sides
being of wood will facilitate the arrangement of the draperies, and will insure the
same firmness as in a wooden bedstead, whilst a canopy of wood or metal may be
fixed to the wooden frame of the tester, thus adding to its attractive appearance.
Such being the nature and object of this my Invention, I will now proceed to
describe the same by reference to the Drawings hereunto annexed, which I have
marked with letters of reference.
Figure 1 represents the side elevation of a combined wood and metal bedstead;
Figure 2 is a part plan of the same, and Figure 3 is an enlarged plan, shewing my
improved connection of the wood side with the metal foot part. Similar letters
represent similar parts.
The foot of the bed, which is composed of metal, is represented by the letter A ;
the sides B are formed of wood, and are attached to the foot A by means of a metal
plate C, which is secured to the end of B by means of screws; each of these plates
is formed with a dovetailed projection D, which fits into a corresponding recess
formed in the metal foot A. The posts E, which support the canopy at the head of
the bed, are also of wood, and are secured to the sides in the usual manner, and
thus I am enabled to construct a bed possessing rigidity with lightness of
materials.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which I
carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I believe to be
novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before
in part recited Letters Patent is;-
The combination of wood and metal in a half tester bedstead, and the arrange-
ment by which the wood sides of a bed are connected to the metal foot, substantially
as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Pratt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
Witness,
JOHN WAUGH,
Engineering & Patent Office,
23, Tyrrel Street,
Bradford,
Yorks.
WILLIAM PRATT. (L.S.)