IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING CHAIR BEDSTEADS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Griffin, of Holloway, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING CHAIR BEDSTEADS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Griffin at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd November 1876.
SAMUEL GRIFFIN, of Holloway, in the County of Middlesex.
IN FOLDING CHAIR BEDSTEADS."
"IMPROVEMENTS
My Invention relates to folding chairs of the kind which are constructed to form
either a bedstead or chair, as required, and my Invention consists in constructing
the cabriole or other ornamental legs of such chair bedsteads, whether of cast or
wrought metal or of wood, with a joint so arranged as to allow of such legs being
folded down for convenience in packing for transport or storage. It also consists
in providing a means of locking the legs when in the extended position, thereby
dispensing with the use of the stretchers usually employed with folding legs for
keeping these legs extended. Hitherto in chair bedsteads of this kind the folding
legs have been perfectly plain, and when ornamental, cast, or other legs have been
used they have been rigidly fixed and not adapted to fold down against the frame
of the chair.
According to my Invention I construct cabriole and other ornamental legs,
whether of wrought or cast metal or of carved wood, each with a knuckle or crank
joint by which it is pivoted to the seat frame of the chair so as to admit of the leg
being folded down close against the said frame, and with a projecting shoulder or
horizontal flange to form an abutment for the cross bar of the seat frame. When
the leg is extended or opened out this shoulder or flange is at right angles to the
knuckle of the joint so as to afford a lateral support to the leg which is fixed in this
position either by means of a lug on the flange or shoulder to receive a stud or
button engaging with the cross bar, or by a stud or button on the cross bar taking
into a slot in the said flange, or in other suitable manner so as to lock the leg
firmly in position, and thus avoid the use of stretchers and cross bars between the
legs to keep them rigid. I may however in some cases prefer to use jointed

page_text: stretchers instead of or in addition to locking the legs by means of studs or other-
wise, as above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Griffin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd May
1877.
SAMUEL GRIFFIN, of Holloway, in the County of Middlesex.
IN FOLDING CHAIR BEDSTEADS."
"IMPROVEMENTS
My Invention relates to folding chair bedsteads, that is to say, folding chairs con-
structed to form either a bedstead or chair, as required, and it consists in jointing
the ornamental legs to the scat frame so as to fold against the same, and providing
in connection with such joint a horizontal shoulder or arm forming an abutment for
the leg against the seat frame, together with a means of locking the legs to the seat
frame, and thus securing them rigidly in the extended position without the use of
stretchers usually employed with folding legs. In chair bedsteads of this kind
hitherto in use, the legs if made to fold have been perfectly plain rods extended by
stretchers, the whole being unsightly and therefore usually concealed. On the
other hand the legs when of ornamental design have always been rigidly fixed to
the seat frame, and consequently subject to all the disadvantages, such as
cummbrousness and liability to breakage when packed for transport or storage, which
it is the object of jointed legs to avoid.
My Invention is applicable to legs of any of the usual ornamental forms, such as
"cabriole" legs, whether made of malleable, cast, or wrought iron, or other metal,
or of carved wood. The leg is hinged to the side bar of the seat frame by a knuckle
or crank joint to admit of its being folded close against the said frame, and is formed
with a horizontal shoulder or extension at right angles to the knuckle joint which
comes under the front cross bar of the seat frame, and is secured rigidly thereto by
a rotating "stud" somewhat like those used in iron bedsteads for attaching the
laths, as shown in the accompanying Drawings, or other locking device may be
used.
Figures 1 and 2 represent side and front elevators respectively of the chair
bedstead arranged as a chair; and Figure 3 shows a top plan of one of the orna-
mental legs detached.
A is the seat frame, and B, B, are the "cabriole or other ornamental legs, each
jointed by a pin at C to the side bar of the seat frame. The leg B is formed with a
knuckle c for the pin joint, which is at the end of a rearward extension of the leg,
the joint being situated a short distance from the corner of the frame along the side
bar, as shown, so as to allow of the leg being folded close against the under side of
the seat frame, as represented in dotted lines in Figure 1. The leg is also formed
with an extension at right angles to the other, and having a flat horizontal surface
b, b, which abuts against the front bar a of the seat frame, as seen in Figure 2, and
is firmly secured thereto by a "stud" D pivoted on the extension b, b, of the leg,
and engaging when turned round with the front bar of the seat frame; or the
position of this fastening may be reversed, that is to say, it may be mounted on the
front bar a and engage with the extension of the leg, or I may use a sliding bolt,
spring catch, screw, or other form of fastening.
In order that the fastening may remain secure and the leg perfectly rigid at all
times, a constant strain is kept upon it by slightly springing the leg outwards at
the joint, as shown in Figure 4, so that before it is locked the surface b, b, does not
lay quite flat against the cross bar a, but requires some force to bring it close up to
be fastened. E is the back; and F, F, the jointed arms of the chair; G, the back

page_text: legs made to fold in the ordinary way, and extended by diagonal stretchers H; I is
the extension of seat frame to form a bedstead.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, jointing legs of the kind specified, and
securing them rigidly to the seat frame of chair bedsteads, substantially as and for
the purpose herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Griffin, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
S. GRIFFIN. (L.S.)