A BEDSTEAD, MACHINE, OR APPARATUS FOR THE RELIEF OF INVALIDES
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
RAWLINS, of Penton Place, Pentonville, in the County of Middlesex, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of April 1823, in the fourth year of His
reign, give and grant unto me, the said James Rawlins, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said James Rawlins, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "A BEDSTEAD, MACHINE, OR APPARATUS FOR THE RELIEF OF
INVALIDES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I,
the said James Rawlins, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the
said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the
same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Rawlins, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and.

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists in an improved mode of constructing a bedstead,
whereby the patient can be raised and the bed made without inconvenience to
him; also the upper part of the body and the lower limbs can be raised and
supported in various positions for the ease of the patients, and for various surgical
operations, and for enabling him to use the bed-pan for the offices of nature
with cleanliness and comfort to himself; and that my mode of constructing it
is as follows:-The frame of the bedstead is made as usual, but longer, and
the posts are all alike, and are turned with a shoulder at the top, on which the
frame of the tester rests, the centre of each post passing through the frame;
the tester frame is made with a smaller one above it, as shewn in the Drawing
hereto annexed, or without the upper one, as most agreeable to taste, but it
must be of sufficient strength to bear the strain of drawing up the frame (A)
with the patient lying thereon, and sufficiently broad to admit the curtain rods
to project so far beyond the posts, as that the curtains may draw round the
bed free from the bed cloths. The curtain rods are made of hollow brass;
the
ends pass each other a few inches, so that the curtains may fold over each
other, to prevent any partial draught of air. These rods are supported by the
ends running on to iron spindles fixed to the tester frame for that purpose,
two at the head and two at the foot. Each spindle is about eighteen inches
long and about half an inch in diameter, which will be generally stought
enough to bear the weight of the rods and curtains. Above the frame of the
bedstead is a moveable wooden frame (A) suspended from block pullies by ropes,
by which it is raised and lowered. It has a sacking bottom, tightened by cords,
after the usual manner of a bedstead; and in the middle of the sacking is a
circular hole about twelve inches diameter, for the purpose of introducing a
bed-pan beneath when required, the frame (A) being raised up from the bed
for that purpose. The length and breadth of this frame is so much less than
the frame of the bedstead as to admit its passing freely up and down between
the head and foot boards and the posts; but the breadth may, if required, be
enlarged to the breadth of the bedstead by knotching it at the corners, to free it
from the posts. About one-third down from the head of this frame is fixed a
wooden frame (B); it hinges on the frame (A), and is bedded in it, so as to. be
on a level with it. It has a sacking bottom like the frame (A); that end of
the sacking terminating at its hinges is sewed to the sacking of the frame (A).
The breadth of this frame is. nearly the breadth of the frame (A); it has a
head-board about twelve inches high, the upper part of which, about eight

page_text: inches, falls back, and is supported in any inclined position by a brass screw
quadrant; on each side of this frame is a solid upright cheek, which joins its
head-board, and is screwed on to its frame; they come about half way down
the sides of the frame. The use of this jointed head-board and the side
cheeks is to support the head of the patient in any position requisite for ease
or for surgical operation. This frame is raised on its hinges by one or more
ropes fixed at the back, which are conveyed over a block pulley fastened to
a bar across the middle of the tester frame; when raised it is supported by
the swing bracket fixed to it, beneath the legs of which drop into the racks
cut in the sides of the frame (A). The frame can be raised so high as to
support the patient in an upright sitting posture in a line with the lower
extremity of the hole; in the sacking is fixed a wooden frame (C); it hinges
on the frame (A), and is bedded in it so as to be on a level with it; it is of the
same breadth as the frame (B); the length of it varies with the length of the
frame (A); if that frame is about six feet and a half long, then the length of
this frame is about two feet nine or ten inches; it has a sacking bottom fastened
to the sacking of the frame (A) in the same manner as the sacking of the frame
(B), and a foot-board about nine inches high, the upper part of which, about
five or six inches, falls back, and is supported in an upright position by a hook
and eye; this frame is raised on its hinges by a hand hole cut into its foot-
board, and when raised up is supported by a swing bracket beneath in the
same manner as the frame (B); about eight or nine inches below the hinges
of this frame is another joint (a), as shewn in the Figure (D), which is a
Drawing of the frame (C), elevated at the joint (a); it is supported in this
position by the projecting ends of the sides of the frame dropping into the
racks of the frame (A). The use of these motions is to raise up the feet and
legs, with the knees straight or bent, as may be required for ease or any other
purpose. On the frame (A) is a folding matrass (E), jointed to correspond
with the joints of the frames (B and C), and a circular hole corresponding to
the hole in the sacking beneath a cushion (F) fits this cavity, and is fastened
in with a triangular strap and buckle beneath the sacking of the frame (A).
This matrass is made thick or thin, as most agreeable. Beneath the sacking
of the bedstead is an iron spindle (G), and on each end of it is fixed a wooden
roller (H); the diameter of the spindle is generally about one inch and a quarter,
but varies according to the weight it is intended to carry; the length is the same
as the length of the bedstead; at the head rail is a rotch wheel (I) fixed on the
spindle, and a stop to act upon the rotch fixed to the rail. The spindle is lot into
holes cut through the head and foot rails of the bedstead; the depth of the rails
are increased in the middle about two or three inches, so that the roller on

page_text: the spindle may work quite free from the sacking of the bedstead.
A block
is screwed on underneath the head and foot rails after the spindle is admitted,
which support the ends of the spindle. On each of the rollers is fixed two
staples, and to these staples are tied or otherwise attached the ropes which
support the frame (A); one end of each rope is attached to one of these
staples, from whence it passes over a block pulley fixed at the corner beneath
the sacking of the bedstead, and from thence up by the post over the lower.
one of the two block pullies above the frame (A); it then descends and passes
through the eye of a shank terminating in a nut and screw, which shank is
passed through an eye fixed at the corner of the frame (A), and the shank
is screwed beneath it; the rope then ascends again and passes over the upper
block pulley fixed to the tester frame, and the end is spliced to the strap of
the block pulley beneath; each of the block pullies fixed to the tester frame
are so fixed as near the posts as may be, that the ropes may work per-
pendicularly. The mode of fixing the tackle with these block pullies is called
in nautical language a Burton whip; a shifting handle goes on each end of
the spindle, by which the frame (A) is raised and lowered, and with the rotch
and stop at the head it is supported at any elevation. In ordinary cases one
person can wind the frame up with the patient lying on it, but in case of
great weight it is better to use both handles. If it is wished to use the bed-
stead without the frame (A) it is but unscrewing the eye-shanks at the corners
of the frame (A), and untying the ropes at the rollers, and the frame may
be taken away; this may be done in about fifteen minutes, and it may be
replaced in about the same time. The spindle may be fixed to go down the
middle of the bedstead, as shewn in the Drawing, and which I consider the
most eligible way; but it may be made to go across the bedstead, in which
case it would fit into the side rails, and wind at the sides instead of at the
head and foot, or the spindle may be shortened by a bar across the bedstead
parallel with the head and foot or side rails to receive the other end of the
spindle. If made in this way it would turn with one handle only, and the
ropes would be all drawn to one end; in this way the strain on the handle
would be so great that it would require considerable power to wind it up, and
on that account it would not be eligible so to construct it. There are head
and foot boards (K) to the bedstead, which push into grooves cut into the
posts, and are fastened in with buttons. A loose folding frame (L) is occa-
sionally used, the lower leaf of which has two racks, and to the upper leaf is
fastened a swing bracket; when the upper leaf is raised the legs of the
bracket dropt into the racks in the lower leaf, and thus support it at any
elevation. The use of this folding frame is to turn and support the patient

page_text: on this side by passing it between the matrass (E) and the frame beneath.
There are two loose brass pins which drop into holes sunk in the sides of the
frame (A). These pins stand up about one inch and a half, and against them
the folding frame presses; these prevent it slipping out from under the
matrass by the pressure of the patient's body; as this frame is loose it may be
used on either side. The bedstead is made of wood, but it may be made of
metal, if preferred, and the sackings may be made of any material suited to
the purpose, or lath or solid bottoms may be substituted for the sackings. The
various proportions above described are such as I have found best to answer
the purposes intended, but they may be varied.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Rawlins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.
5
JAMES (L.S.) RAWLINS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of October, in
the year of our 1823, the aforesaid James Rawlins came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord One