Improvements in and relating to Collapsable Bedsteads, Sleeping Berths, and the like, specially applicable to Ships' Berths.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd June, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 4th Mar.. 1895-Accepted, 1st June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Collapsable Bedsteads, Sleeping
Berths, and the like, specially applicable to Ships' Berths.
1, ANDREW HENRY BAIRD, of Oriel Chambers, 14 Water Street, Liverpool in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My present invention relates to that class of collapsable berths described in the
Specification to Letters Patent granted to me, numbered 20816, and dated
30th November, 1891; and the object is to so construct the berths that a rectangular
or approximately rectangular framework serves both to support the beds, and to
form the connecting links between the uprights, the arrangement being such that
each pair of berths may be separately collapsed by folding up the said frames and
rotating the end rails about pivots, the said frames and end rails being housed
between the uprights when collapsed.
I will describe my invention as applied to ships' berths for steerage passengers.
Each set of berths is supported by two parallel ranks of upright bars guided at
top and bottom by suitable guides, and opposite pairs of the uprights of the two
ranks are rigidly connected by bars or stays which form the division rails to
laterally separate the berths; there are two rows of berths in each set; a lower
row, and an upper row in which the berths are vertically over the lower berths.
There are separate beds for each berth and each bed is supported by a rectangular
frame work preferably of angle iron; each frame is pivoted, at opposite ends of
one of its long sides, by fixed pivots, to opposite uprights of the ranks and the
frame is also pivoted at opposite ends of its other long side, by sliding pivots, to
the adjacent opposite uprights; the sliding pivots of the frames of the lower row
of berths are connected by vertical links to the corresponding sliding pivots of the
frames of the upper row. It will be seen that when the uprights are collapsed, the
frames fold into a vertical position hinging about the pivots, the movable pivots
sliding along the uprights by which they are guided; this arrangement, in con-
junction with the top and bottom guides of the uprights, ensures the parallelism of
the latter as they collapse. The pivots are so located that when the uprights are
collapsed, so as to be in contact, the frames are housed between them.
In order to form the head and foot ends of the berths I provide end rails
pivotally attached by means of brackets to each pair of adjacent uprights of each
rank; the pivots are formed by long vertical pins aud, when the berths are
collapsed, one of the said pins is withdrawn and the end rails are turned hori-
zontally about the other pivot and are so shaped and pivoted that they also are
housed between the uprights when the latter are collapsed.
It will be seen that in this arrangement one pair of berths or any desired number
of pairs of berths may be collapsed at pleasure.
In some cases, to follow the shape of the ship and to take fullest advantage of
the space, a set of berths instead of being rectangular in plan may be the shape of
a parallelogram with an acute angle, this of course necessitates a corresponding
departure from the strictly rectangular shape of the bed frames.
Where there is insufficient head room there may only be a single row of berths,
and, while I have described my invention with reference to ships' berths for

page_text: steerage passengers, it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to other
cases where collapsable berths may be used.
Dated this 1st day of June 1894.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26, Castle Street, Liverpool,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in and relating to Collapsable Bedsteads, Sleeping
Berths, and the like, specially applicable to Ships' Berths.
1, ANDREW HENRY BAIRD, of Oriel Chambers, 14 Water Street, Liverpool in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My present invention relates to that class of collapsable berths described in the
Specification to Letters Patent granted to me numbered 20816,, and dated
30th November, 1891; and the object is to so construct the berths that a rectangular
or approximately rectangular framework serves both to support the beds, and to
form the connecting links between the uprights, the arrangement being such that
each pair of berths may be separately collapsed by folding up the said frames and
rotating the end rails about pivots, the said frames and end rails being housed
between the uprights when collapsed.
I will describe my invention as applied to ships' berths for steerage passengers,
reference being made to the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in
which;-
Figs. I and II are, respectively, an elevation and a plan of the general
arrangement showing some of the right hand end berths collapsed. Fig. III is an
elevation of a modification, the view being analogous to Fig. 1. Figs. IV to IX
are more detailed views, to a larger scale, of the arrangement of Figs. I and II;
of these larger scale views, Figs. IV, V, and VI are, respectively, an elevation,
a plan, and an end elevation of an upper and a lower berth un-collapsed, and
Figs. VII, VIII and IX are, respectively, an elevation, an end elevation, and a
sectional elevation (on the line A. A.) showing the berths when collapsed.
In the views drawn to a larger scale the plan and end elevations only show one
end of the berths, the other end being exactly similar, and in Figs. V and VI, the
end rails are, for clearness, omitted; for the same reason the bed frames of the two
berths on the left hand, adjacent to the two shown, are inclined as though these
berths were partly collapsed.
Each set of berths is supported by two parallel ranks of upright bars 1 guided
at top and bottom by suitable guides 2, and opposite pairs of the uprights of the
two ranks are rigidly connected by bars or stays 3 which form the division rails to
laterally separate the berths; there are, as shown in Figs. I and II, two rows of
berths in each set; a lower row, and an upper.row in which the berths are vertically
over the lower berths.
There are separate beds for each berth and each bed is supported by a rectangular
frame work which I will term the bed frame.; each frame is pivoted, at opposite
ends of one of its long sides, by fixed pivots 4, to opposite uprights. of the ranks,
and. also at opposite ends of its other long side, by sliding pivots 5, to the adjacent
opposite uprights; the sliding pivots of the frames of the lower row of berths.are
connected by vertical links 6 to the corresponding sliding pivots of the frames of
the upper row.
The bed frame may consist of a rigid rectangular frame adapted to turn, as a

page_text: whole, into the vertical position about the fixed pivots, which is the arrangement
shown in Fig. III; or the long side, opposite which the fixed pivots are attached,
may be fixed and the other three sides connected together and adapted to pivot
about the fixed side, which mode of construction is the one shown in Figs. I and II
and IV to IX, and is the one I prefer, inasmuch as the fixing of the long side
enables me to rigidly connect it to the opposite uprights with the result that the
stability of the arrangement is much increased.
Referring now to Figs. IV to IX;-7 is the fixed side of the bed frame, and is
formed by a tee iron connected to opposite uprights by lugs bolted to the
brackets 8, which latter are permanently secured to the uprights 1; the other three
sides of the bed frame are formed by the two end bars 9 and the movable side
bar 10, and the frame is pivoted to the uprights by the fixed pivots 4 and sliding
pivots 5, the former being attached to the brackets 8 and the latter to the sliding
pieces 11. The two sliding pieces on each upright are, as before mentioned, con-
nected together by the links 6, and are thereby caused to move in unison. It will
be seen therefore that when the uprights are collapsed, the bed frames fold into
approximately vertical position hinging about the pivots, the movable pivots
sliding along the uprights by which they are guided, and it will also be noted that
the bed frames, in addition to carrying the bed and forming connecting links
between the uprights, are in conjunction with the guides 2 adapted, in virtue of the
mode of articulation described, to preserve the parallelism of the uprights as they
are collapsed.
In order to form the head and foot ends of the berths I provide end rails 12
pivotally attached to adjacent uprights by means of the brackets 8; the pivots are
formed by vertical pins 13, and, when the berths are to be collapsed one of the
said pins is withdrawn and the end rails are turned horizontally about the other
pivot and are thus housed between the uprights when the latter are collapsed.
The division rails 3, which laterally separate the berths, are also connected at their
ends to the brackets 8, and, being parallel to and immediately over the fixed sides 7
of the bed frames, they are connected to the latter by the straps 14, to which the
lee boards (not shown in the drawings) are screwed.
The arrangement of the berths when collapsed is clearly shown in Figs. VII,
VIII and IX, from which it will be seen that the carrying of the end rails and
division rails from the bracket 8 is necessary in order to allow the end bars 9 of
the bed frame to come into approximately vertical position when the berths are
collapsed. The end rails may consist, as shown in these figures, of a top tube with
lugs at opposite ends and a lower bar with twisted ends attached to the tube by
vertical straps 15.
It will be observed that the fixed and movable long sides of the bed frame are
attached respectively to the brackets 8 and end bars 9 by single bolts, and that the
division rails and end rails are also attached by a single pin to the brackets 8, the
object being to allow the berths to be skewed or racked, so that in plan the bed
frames take the shape of parallelograms with more or less acute angles to suit the
contour of the ship in which they may be placed; I find this of great importance
when the berths are used on board ship.
In Fig. III a simplified form of my invention is shown; in this case the end
rails are dispensed with, the bed frames raised, and the bed suspended therefrom,
so that the bed frame forms the end rails and division rails; in this arrangement
the bed frames may consist of a rigid rectangular frame adapted to hinge as a
whole about the fixed pivots.
It will be seen that in the arrangement shown in Figs. I, II, and III, any
number of pairs of berths may be collapsed independently.
The bed itself may be a spring bed as shown in the left hand berth of Figs. 1
and II or canvas as shown in the other berths of the same figures, or any other
form adapted to be readily collapsed.
Where there is insufficient head room there may only be a single row of berths,
and, while I have described my invention with reference to ships' berths for

page_text: steerage passengers, it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to other
cases where collapsable berths may be used.
It is also to be understood, of course, that I make no claim herein to any feature
described in my prior Specification aforesaid, but,
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is ;-
1. The herein described improvement in collapsable berths supported by two
ranks of uprights whose upper and lower ends are guided, which consists in utilising
the bed frames, which support the beds, to tie the opposite uprights of the rows
together and to form the pivoted links adapted to connect the adjacent uprights
and to preserve their parallelism-as-they are collapsed; substantially as described
and illustrated.
2. In collapsable berths, in combination; two ranks of uprights guided at their
upper and lower ends; rectangular bed frames adapted to tie the opposite bars of
the uprights together and to pivotally connect the adjacent bars; swivelling end
rails to form the head and foot portions of the berths; division rails to laterally
separate the berths; and brackets such as 8 adapted to carry the end and division
rails so as to allow a clear space for the bed frames to hinge into an approximately
vertical position when the berths are collapsed; substantially as described and
illustrated.
3. In collapsable berths, in combination; the uprights; the hinging bed frames
with pivots at one long side fixed to the uprights, and pivots at the other long side
fixed to pieces adapted to slide along the uprights; the tie rods connecting the
sliding pieces; swivelling end rails; division rails; and brackets such as 8 to
carry the end and division rails; substantially as described and illustrated.
4. In collapsable berths the mode of connecting the sides of the bed frames, the
end rails and the division rails, to the rest of the structure by single pivots at their
opposite ends, so that the berths may be racked or skewed to conform with the
contour of the space in which they are placed; substantially as described and
illustrated.
5. The improved collapsable berths substantially as described and illustrated in
Figs. I and II and IV to VIII.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1895.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26, Castle Street, Liverpool,
Agents for the Applicant.