A PILLOW AND BED DIVIDER
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Frederick Cooke Farquhar, of 24 and 25, Long
Acre, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "A PILLOW AND
BED DIVIDER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Frederick Cooke
Farquhar at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st May
1880.'
JOHN FREDERICK COOKE FARQUHAR, of 24 and 25, Long Acre, in the County
of Middlesex. "A PILLOW AND BED DIVIDER."
The primary object of this Invention is to prevent 2 or more persons when
sleeping in one bed from inhaling each other's breath.
To attain this end I provide a bracket, which can be securely fastened to the
head of the bedstead by straps or screws or otherwise, and in this bracket I make
one or more moveable brackets to slide of such shape and dimensions that they
shall divide the pillows or bolsters into one or more compartments, and so prevent
the breath from one person from affecting another person. These moveable
brackets I call pillow divider brackets, and they can be instantly removed when
required, so as not to interfere with the daily "making up" of the bed.
I also provide a means for entirely or partially separating 2 or more persons
from each other when sleeping in the same bed. This is effected by means of one
or more brackets attached to each of the pillow divider brackets and extending to
the foot of the bed, or to any intermediary distance. They can be fastened to the
foot of the bed by straps or screws, or otherwise.
Similar bed dividers can also be used as guards for protecting children from
being overlaid.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Frederick Cooke Farquhar in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th November 1880.
JOHN FREDERICK COOKE FARQUHAR, of 24 and 25, Long Acre, in the County
of Middlesex. "A. PILLOW AND BED DIVIDER."
The primary object of this Invention is to prevent two or more persons when
sleeping in one bed from inhaling each other's breath. To attain this end I provide
a divisable bracket, one half of which is composed of a base-plate, which is to lie
against and be secured to the head of the bedstead, and the other half of a plate
or arm which is to project out from this base plate and extend over the pillow or
bolster and formi a vertical partition to divide it into two compartments, and so
prevent the breath from one person affecting another person. The arm at its end
is formed to slide edgewise into a vertical groove or its equivalent formed in the
base plate, so that it can readily be detached and instantly removed when required,
so as not to interfere with the daily making up of the bed; or the same may be
hinged to the base plate, and thus be folded back for the same purpose. The
partition arms can also be used for entirely or partially separating two or more
persons from each other when sleeping in the same bed. This is effected by
extending the partitions to the foot of the bed or to any intermediate distance.
They can be fastened to the foot of the bed by straps or screws, or otherwise. Bed
dividers formed in the above manner can also be used as guards for protecting
children from being overlaid. The partition arms might be held in grooves or
sockets on the head of the bedstead instead of in grooves or sockets on a base plate
secured to the head of the bedstead. I also form the base plate with a horizontal
slot in it, so that the arm when not required to be used as a partition may be
slid into this horizontal groove and be then used as a table.
And in order that this my said Invention may be the more readily understood
and carried into practical effect, I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings
illustrative of my pillow and bed divider, and will now proceed to describe the
same by reference to the several Figures and letters of reference marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a front view, Fig. 2 a side view, and Fig. 3 a plan of the head of a
metallic bedstead shewing my improved pillow divider applied thereto. Fig. 4
represents a side view, and Fig. 5 a plan of the divider on a larger scale; and
Fig. 6 represents a plan, and Fig. 7 a front view of the base plate shewn detached.
A is the partition arm, and B is the base plate, to which it can be attached or
disconnected when desired. C is a vertical dovetail groove formed in the base
plate (see Fig. 6), into which the corresponding dovetail D projecting from the
arm A can be fitted when it is intended to use the arm as a divider. E, E, are
angle pieces formed in one piece with or firmly fixed to the base plate B, and
which serve to give lateral support to the arm A when it is fitted in the groove C
and used as a pillow divider.
The base plate B is firmly fixed to the head of the bedstead by means of screws
passed directly into the framework, in the case of a wooden bedstead, or battens
can be used at the back of the bedstead and screwed or wedged firmly to the back
of the base plate B; or other forms of screw clamps or cords, straps, or other
fastenings may be used to fix the base plate to the framework of the bedstead.
It will be obvious that there are many other ways of securing the partition
arm A to the base plate, for instance, as indicated in plan view, Fig. 8, in which
case button headed studs F are employed projecting from the back of the arm and
taking into suitable locking slots G formed in a metallic plate H secured to the
base plate, a front view of which is shewn separately in Fig. 9. In this case it is
preferred to have the angle pieces I formed in one piece with or firmly fixed to the

page_text: partition arm A; or the partition arm A can be hinged to the base plate, as
indicated in plan view, Fig. 10, and in front view, Fig. 11, in which case the arm
is folded back against the base plate, as indicated by the dotted lines, when it is
desired to make the bed or to discontinue the use of the divider; and to lock the
divider in its open position I prefer to have the angle piece on one side, marked J,
loose, and provided with button headed studs to fit into slots K (see Fig. 11), as in
the last mentioned modification.
Or again, the partition-arm A can be secured to the base plate, as shewn in side-
view, Fig. 12, and plan, Fig. 13, by means of studs L projecting above the top of
the latter and taking into holes formed in a metallic bracket-piece M secured to
the top of the partition arm, and in which case the said partition arm is locked in
position by means of a spring-latch N, which is simply depressed by pushing down
the projecting-piece O when it is desired to disconnect the arm from the base-
plate.
Fig. 14 is a plan, and Fig. 15 a side-view shewing the same method of fastening
as applied to using my partition-arm as a table or rest in bed, in which case the
partition arm 0 (which may be of any suitable shape) is fixed horizontally in
position. It will be apparent that any of the modifications hereinbefore described
can be used horizontally for the same purpose, the base plate being modified
accordingly.
I prefer to make my improved pillow divider of wood, but other suitable
material might be employed, and in some cases I form pads upon or otherwise
upholster the partition arm.
As before stated the partition arm A can be extended to the foot of the bed, to
which it can be securely attached by means of cords, straps, screws, or otherwise;
and by this means the pillow divider can be made to serve the purposes of a bed-
divider.
The appliances described are applicable to bed-steads that already exist, but in
making new bed-steads the pillow divider and the bed divider can be specially
incorporated in its manufacture, and made to slide on the framework of the
bedstead if desired.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, together with the best methods with which I am acquainted for carrying
the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details, relative proportions, or dimensions of the
several parts of my pillow and bed divider herein before described and illustrated
on the accompanying Drawing, as the same may be considerably varied without
departing from the Invention, but what I claim is,-
1st. The combination with the head of a bedstead of a readily detachable or
movable arm which projects out from it, so as to extend over the pillow or bolster
and form a vertical partition to divide it into two compartments, substantially as
and for the purposes described.
2nd. The combination of a partition arm with a base-plate secured to the head
of a bed-stead, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Frederick Cooke Farquhar, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this 29th day of November, in the year of
our Lord 1880
J. F. C. FARQUHAR. (L.S.)