AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEDSTEADS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
BEDSTEADS." A communication from abroad by Tyler Howe, of Cam-
bridge Port, Massachusetts, in the United States of America..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
BEDSTEADS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel mode of making the bottom of bedsteads
elastic or yielding, and at the same time remove the tendency which the slats
or laths have to sag or sink in the middle. To the under side of each lath, two
rods are attached, the same being laid parallel on the lath, and in such position
that the inner ends of both rods pass across the centre of the lath. These rods
are cut from a coil of wire and without losing the curved set; one end (which
is free) is passed under a staple fixed in the lath, and the other secured by a
nail or rivet to the lath. The action of these rods will be to give the lath a

page_text: curved set upwards, and when a downward pressure is applied thereto the free
ends of the rods will slide in the staples and allow the lath to give to the
pressure, but as soon as this pressure is removed the tendency which the rods
have to take the curved form will ensure the lath rising again in the middle.
Through a lateral hole made in each end of the lath a wire is passed, and the
ends are bent down at right angles, forming thereby a rocking strut. The
ends of these struts enter tapered holes made for them in cross pieces in the
bedstead frame. Thus the laths will lie parallel with the sides of the bedstead,
and they will be free to move slightly in the direction of their length.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her_most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVE.
MENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEDSTEADS," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention as communicated to me by foreign correspondent, relates
to a novel arrangement for rendering the bottoms of bedsteads elastic or
yielding, and at the same time removing the tendency which the slats or laths
have to sag or sink in the middle.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view of so much of a bedstead
frame and bottom as will serve to explain the application of this Invention;
Fig. 2 is a vertical section upon the line A, A, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3. is an under-
side view of one of the slats detached; Fig. 4 is an end view of the same, and
Fig. 5 shews a spring or lifter detached from its slat or lath.
C, C, (Fig. 1,) are the side rails, which may be the rails of the bedstead or
rails to rest upon them; D is an ordinary bar placed across the frame or
bedstead at the foot; E, E, are cross bars of wood about two inches square,
with tapered holes H bored into them about one inch deep, one balf inch at
the top, and one eighth inch at the bottom, and at proper distances apart to
admit what may be termed rocker pivots, hereafter to be described. The slats
or laths B are made of wood, about five feet long, three inches wide, and three-
eighths of an inch thick; these dimensions may be varied, but the slats should
be made thin so that they may yield readily and adjust themselves to the form
of the recumbent body. F are pieces of spring metal (cut, by preference,
from a coil of wire, No. 5 gauge,) about thirty inches long, shaped in the
form shewn in Fig. 5. Two of these springs are applied to the under side of
each slat, as shewn in Fig. 3, one end being secured firmly with the convexed
or bowing side of the spring against the slat, while the other end is pressed up
against the slat, and secured by a staple which will allow of its sliding as the
slat is pressed down. These springs serve to bow or curve the slats up, and
give the bed, when made, a full and plump appearance; they also give the
slats such elasticity as will ensure their regaining their proper position as soon
as they are relieved of their load. G are the "rocker pivots," formed of wire
of about No. 6 gauge, and made about three inches longer than the width of
the slats B. The wire to form the pivots is passed through holes made
laterally through the slats near their ends, and their ends are bent down at
right angles with the part in the slat, and parallel with each other. These
pivots are placed in the sockets H of the bars E, and serve to suspend the
slats on the bars E, and allow them to spring freely and noiselessly, and move
slightly in the direction of their length; they also serve as stops to prevent
too much springing or bending of the slats B, and allow of the slats being
very readily attached and detached. When detached from the bars E the

page_text: pivots may be conveniently turned parallel with the length of the slats, whereby
the slats will admit of being packed in a very small compass for trans-
portation.
:
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improvement in
the Construction of Bedsteads," as communicated to me by my foreign corres-
pondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I
claim supporting and giving elasticity to the slats or laths of bedsteads in the
manner and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)