IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEDSTEADS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cyrus Copus, of Kennington Park Road, in the
County of Surrey, Upholsterer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEDSTEADS."
Sealed the 14th November 1865, and dated the 18th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cyrus Copus at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th May 1865.
I, CYRUS COPUS, of Kennington Park Road, in the County of Surrey,
Upholsterer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEDSTEADS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture bedsteads that will have
as little tendency to harbour vermin as iron bedsteads, and will yet retain the
sightliness of the present Arabian and French wooden bedsteads. To attain
this end I combine wood and iron in the construction of bedsteads in such a
manner as to form all the joints of metal. Thus I take an ordinary iron
frame and apply thereto, if a French bedstead be required, two wooden ends
constructed in any approved ornamental way, and I connect these end pieces
to the metal frame preferably by passing screws through the end bars of the
frame and screwing them into a strong cross bar in the end pieces, and to
increase the stiffness of the attachment I may apply metal brackets below the

page_text: frame, hinging the same to the ends and connecting by a button or otherwise
to the under side of the frame. This arrangement admits of the iron framing
being hidden completely by the bed furniture, and consequently of the appear-
ance of the wooden French bed being retained, while the cleanliness of the metal
bedstead is ensured. For Arabian bedsteads I adopt the same arrangement
for connecting the footboard or end to the metal frame as that above described,
and to the canopy frame I connect a wooden or other ornamental cornice by
hooking it or otherwise attaching it to the canopy frame, so that it may be
readily removed for the purpose of cleaning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Cyrus Copus in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CYRUS
COPUS, of Kennington Park Road, in the County of Surrey, Upholsterer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Cyrus Copus, Her special licence that I, the said
Cyrus Copus, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Cyrus Copus, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BEDSTEADS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Cyrus Copus, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 1, the said Cyrus Copus, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :
The object of this Invention is to manufacture bedsteads that will have as
little tendency to harbour vermin as iron bedsteads, and will yet retain the
sightliness of the present Arabian and French wooden bedsteads. To attain
this end I combine wood and iron in the construction of bedsteads in such a
manner as to form all the joints of metal, while in French bedsteads the
lead and footboards will be retained; and in Arabian bedsteads the cornice.
and footboard of the ordinary or any approved construction will be retained. -
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in plan view, and Fig. 2 in
partial longitudinal section an Arabian bedstead constructed according to this
Invention. A, A, is an ordinary rectangular iron frame with dovetail joints
and metal laths; it is supported at back by metal pillars B, B, which carry
an iron canopy frame C. At its front end the rectangular frame A is..sup-
ported by being attached to a footboard D. The way of effecting this attach-
ment is shewn best at Figures 3, 4, and 5, which represent the coupling in
face view, plan, and section. The footboard having been constructed in any
approved plain or ornamental manner, has fitted to it three or any required
number.. of socket plates a, a, which are secured by wood screws. Tho
sockets of these plates are tapped to receive severally a screw b, which screws
are passed through holes made in the lower flange of the end bar of the angle
iron framing, and entering the socket plates a bold the footboard fast to the
metal frame. To increase the stiffness of the attachment I may apply metal
brackets as shewn at c, Figure 1, below the frame a, securing the same to the
footboard by means of a bolt or screw, and connecting them in a similar
manner to the under side of the frame. To the canopy frame C I connect
an ornamental cornice E, formed of wood, or it may be other suitable material.
This cornice when curved I form by preference in two parts, one part of
which is shewn detached and in plan at Figure 6, and has attached to it a
central ornament to hide the junction of the parts. Attached to the canopy
by screws is a series of hooks d, d, which serve to hook on to the canopy
frame, and yet allow of the cornice being readily removed for the purpose of
cleaning. This arrangement it will be readily understood admits of the metal
framing being bidden completely by the bed furniture, but when an orna-
mental strengthening metal head piece is introduced it may be left uncovered
if thought desirable. By my Invention, therefore, while the elegant appear-
ance of the wooden Arabian bedstead is retained, that great desideratum in
wooden bedsteads, viz., cleanliness, is as effectually secured as in metal
bedsteads.

page_text: When making French bedsteads according to this Invention I substitute a
headboard (precisely similar to the footboard D in construction and fitting)
for the iron pillars B and corniced canopy, and in this case also the appear-
ance of a wooden bedstead with the cleanliness of a metal bedstead will be
secured.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of Improvements in the
Construction of Bedsteads," 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 the novel combination of parts above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cyrus Copus, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
CYRUS COPUS. (L.B.)