AN IMPROVED FOLDING BED TABLE FOR THE USE OF INVALIDS AND OTHERS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas McIsaac, of Putney, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FOLDING BED
TABLE FOR THE USE OF INVALIDS AND OTHERS."
Scaled the 1st July 1870, and dated the 18th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas M'Isaac at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th April 1870.
I, THOMAS MISAAC, of Putney, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
FOLDING BED TABLE FOR THE USE OF INVALIDS AND OTHERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in securing to the bed rail or other convenient
part of a bedstead a bracket on which is hinged a rod capable of turning
in any required direction. At the outer end of this rod is a knob, and
at a suitable distance therefrom a second hinge on which turns a crank.
Affixed to this crank is a bar of T or other suitable iron on the end of
which the table is supported, and is capable of sliding backwards and
forwards thereon, so that it can be placed in any desired position over

page_text: the bed. When the table is required to be used the rod is turned
upwards, and the bar carrying the table placed at right angles thereto,
so that it projects over the bed, the crank on the bar catching into the
knob on the rod, and being securely held thereon.
For wooden bedsteads the bracket is secured to the bed rail, but for
iron bedsteads a clamp is required to fasten the bracket to the rail, but
any other suitable means can be employed.
The folding bed table will be found invaluable for invalids, who
necessarily pass much of their time in bed, as it will serve both for
meals and for a reading table, and for other useful purposes, one of its
greatest advantages consisting in that it can be folded up and turned
out-of-the-way-under the-bed-or-elsewhere with- the-greatest-facility-
and rapidity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas McIsaac in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th October 1870..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
M ISAAC, of Putney, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs' and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas M'Isaac, Her special licence that
I, the said Thomas McIsaac, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thomas M'Isaac, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 IMPROVED FOLDING BED TABLE FOR THE
USE OF INVALIDS AND OTHERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas M'Isaac, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause

page_text: 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 Thomas M°Isaac, 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
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Figures on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in securing to one of the bed rails or other
convenient part of a bedstead a bracket carrying an arm, to which is
hinged a rod capable of being turned in any required direction. On the
outer end of the rod there is a moveable knob used as a holder, and to
the rod near the knob is jointed a cranked arm at the end of a metal bar
on which the table is supported, the table being capable of sliding
backwards and forwards on the bar, so that it can be placed in any
desired position over the bed. When the table is required to be used
the rod is turned upwards, and the table held securely in a horizontal
position over the bed by means of the knob and cranked arm, but when
not required to be used the table and rod can be folded up and turned
out of the way under the bed or elsewhere with the greatest facility and
rapidity.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are end,
side, and top views of one of my improved folding bed tables when in
position for use; Fig. 4 an end view shewing the table and parts con-
nected with it turned downwards; and Fig. 5 an end view of the same
moved under the bed.
In the various Figures, a represents the side rails of the bedstead, to
one of which is screwed or bolted the bracket b, which carries by means
of the screw and nut c the arm d, to which the rod e is jointed, there
being two or more holes for regulating the height. Near the top of the
rode is hinged the cranked arm g at the end of the tee-shaped bar h, to
which the table i is held up by plates, so that it can be moved to and fro,
and at the top of the rod there is a moveable knob l. The arm d is held
loosely by the screw and nut c to the bracket, so that the arm, rod, and
table can be swivelled in any direction; and at the top of the bracket
there is a projection m corresponding with a notched cap n fixed to the
rod e; and at the end o of the cranked arm g there is a recess p into which
the ping fixed to the knob is entered when the table is required to be

page_text: used over the bed. When the table is not in use it is folded up with
the rod e and placed out of the way, as shewn in Fig. 5, but when
required for use it is turned from under the bed to the position shewn
in Fig. 4, or to any other required angle, after which the table is turned
to clear the bracket, and the rod turned upwards until the notched cap n
passes over the projecting end m of the bracket; and as the rod falls the
notched cap covers the projection to keep the rod firmly erect, and at
the same time, or just after this operation is performed, the cranked arm
and table are turned until the end ọ shifts or raises the knob to allow
the recess to be so placed that when the knob falls the pin shall enter
the recess and hold the table firmly in a horizontal position. When the
table is again to be placed under the bed it is only necessary to slightly
raise the table to free the recess in the cranked arm from the pin in the
knob, and then turn down the rod and table, fold them together and
place them under the bed, the operation of turning being easily per-
formed when the notched cap is raised from the projecting end of the
bracket.
In the Drawings I have shewn the application of my improved folding
bed table to a wooden rail of a bedstead, but it is evident that it can be
also efficiently applied to iron bedsteads, couches, and articles of a similar
nature.
+
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention I claim, "The Improved Folding Bed Table for the Use of
Invalids and others," as herein described and illustrated on the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas M'Isaac, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.