AN IMPROVED COMBINED COT AND CARRIAGE OR PERAMBULATOR
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jost Kern, of Oxford Street, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMBINED COT AND
CARRIAGE OR PERAMBULATOR."
Sealed the 8th October 1872, and dated the 13th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jost Kern at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th May 1872.
I, JOHN JOST KERN, of Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “AN IMPROVED
COMBINED COT AND CARRIAGE OR PERAMBULLTOR," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to enable a child or invalid in a cot
or bed to be placed on a carriage without being disturbed. The ends
.
of the springs of the carriage form the bearings of the front and back
axles, and the springs are kept at their proper distance apart by having
cross bars bolted to them, and to these bars is fixed a longitudinal bar.
with turned-up ends provided with holes, pins, recesses, knobs, or screws
for supporting or suspending the cot; or instead of having the bar
support both ends of the cot it may be of half the length to support
only one end, the other end being supported by a bearing between the

page_text: handles; or to the cross bars are fixed longitudinal bars having at the
back turned-up ends provided with any description of bearings by which
the cot can be supported or suspended.
To enable the cot to be rocked when required, and also to ensure
safety, I fix to a hole in the central cross bar a piece of india-rubber |
tubing having at both ends a ring connected to the parts where the cot
is supported or suspended, and as the cot is removeable it can be used on
a stand in the nursery.
In order to enable the carriage to be used as a perambulator the bars
which support the cot have to be removed, and also the handles, and :
then the body of the perambulator fixed on.
In one arrangement the bolts of the front cross bar have to be
unscrewed and let through the footboard of the perambulator, the body
of which is connected to springs. The handle will be fixed in the back
of the body, and may be either folding or straight, and if two handles 1
are used the ends must be where the cot handles have been, above
the two springs, but using the same bolts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Jost Kern in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN JOST
KERN, of Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Jost Kern, Her special licence that
I, the said John Jost Kern, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Jost Kern, 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 COMBINED COT AND CARRIAGE
OR PERAMBULATOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: John Jost Kern, 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 I, the said John Jost Kern, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of illustrative Drawings and to the figures and letters
of reference marked thereon, the same letters referring to like parts in
all the Figures (that is to say) :-
The objects of this Invention are, first, to enable a child or invalid
; in a cot or bed to be placed on a carriage without being disturbed;
secondly, that the carriage after removal of the cot can be used when
a perambulator body is fixed thereon as an ordinary perambulator; and
thirdly, that if the carriage is used as a nursery stand the cot can in
one arrangement by being divided form a single, or without being
divided, a double perambulator. The ends of the springs of the carriage
form the bearings of the front and back axles, and the springs are kept
at their proper distance apart by having cross bars bolted to them, and
to these bars is fixed a longitudinal bar with turned-up ends provided
with holes, pins, recesses, knobs, or screws for supporting or suspending
the cot; or instead of having the har support both ends of the cot,
it may be of half the length to support only one end, the other end
being supported by a bearing between the handles; or to the cross
bars are fixed longitudinal bars having at the back turned-up ends pro-
vided with any description of bearings by which the cot can be supported
or suspended.
To ensure safety when the cot is required to be rocked I fix to a
hole in the central cross bar a piece of india-rubber tubing having at
both ends a ring or button hole connected with pins or studs on the cot.
As the cot is removable it can be used on a stand in the nursery.
In order to enable the carriage to be used as a perambulator the
bar or bars which support the cot have to be removed, and also the
handles, and then the body of the perambulator fixed on the carriage.

page_text: .
In one arrangement the bolts of the front cross bar have to be
unscrewed and let through the footboard of the perambulator, the body
of which is connected to springs. The handle will be fixed on the back
of the body and may be either folding or straight, and if two handles
are used the ends must be where the cot handles have been, above the
two springs, but using the same bolts.
The accompanying Drawings illustrato the principal features and
arrangements of this Invention, and are referred to in the following
description thereof :-
In Fig. 1, A, A, are the springs of the carriage, the ends of which
form the bearings of the front and back axles, and the springs are kept
at their
distance apart by having cross bars bolted to them, and
proper
to these cross bars is fixed a longitudinal bar B, which is continued
backwards and upwards, and divides about midway of its height into
a fork O, the extremities of the fork forming bearings for a cross bar D,
forming a handle. This handle in one arrangement is made with a
joint. below the fork C so as to fold down under the end of the carriage.
On the back cross bar are two slots a, and on the front cross bar is a
slot b, to be herein-after referred to.
In Fig. 2 is shown the cot in the stand, in which it is supported by :
tho studs c at its front and back extremities, and the studs c are
provided with a square or round hole to admit of the support of a curtain
rod or canopy.
i
When it is required to place the cot upon the carriage, as shewn
in Fig. 3, a curved bar or support E is introduced into the slot 6 on
the front cross bar, and a thumbscrew is passed through the bar E,
the front cross bar and the slot 6 thus firmly securing the said bar upon
the carriage. In the upper end of this support is a slot or hole to
receive the studs c on the front extremity of the cot, the stud on
the back of the cot resting in the fork C of the handle, and the studs c
may be further secured in their respective supports by screw nuts the cot
· can be reversed to avoid exposure of the face of the child or invalid to
the sun or wind.
Another method of hanging the cot in the carriage or stand is shewn
in Fig. 3. On the fork C of the handle is riveted or otherwise fixed a
knob or stud, and a knob or stud is fixed upon the front bearing E.

page_text: An eye or link (see Fig. 3') is passed through 1, over either of the
knobs or studs above referred to and let drop to 2. The cot studs c are
then passed through 1 and let drop to 3, the weight of the cot keeping
the respective knobs or studs at the upper and lower extremities 2 and 3
of the link, and thus is formed a perfectly safe support for the cot, and
securing a double action by swinging.
To further secure the cot and to avoid too much swinging I fix on the
middle of the carriage under the cot by means of a screw or bolt an
india-rubber or other ball, and one or two india-rubber bands, the ends
of which having holes therein "button on" to knobs on each side of the
cot, by which means the swinging is regulated.
In another arrangement for preventing excessive swinging a band of
india-rubber or other substance is attached to the back of the cot and
passed round the handle.
Fig. 4 is a detached view of the perambulator body with springs F
fixed to the back under part thereof, but I do not confine myself to the
use of springs of the particular shape here shewn, as other springs, such
as for instance those shewn at Figs. 4 and 4', may be used.
When it is required to use the perambulator body upon the carriage,
(see Fig. 5) the ends of the springs F are introduced into the two slots a
on the back cross bar, and by means of a thumbscrew passed through a
hole & in the footboard of the perambulator body, the front cross bar,
and the slot 6 (the support E having been previously removed) it is
firmly fixed upon the carriage. By this arrangement great facility is
secured for removing or replacing the perambulator body or cot upon
the carriage.
To further secure the perambulator body on the carriage to the back
of the body is fixed a metal stud, on the end of which turn "butterfly
ends" G, the outer plate or button of which passes through and to tho
back of the fork O of the handle, so that the forked part of the handlo
comes between the plates, buttons, or ends G, which are then turned
round and further secures the body on the carriage. The metal stud
upon which are the "butterfly ends" G is provided with a square or
round hole to admit of the support of a curtain rod or canopy.
In another arrangement of my cot perambulator (see Figs. 6, 6³,
and 6), a perambulator body, Fig. 6, is used, so formed that when a

page_text: .
supplementary piece or body, Fig. 6", is fixed or joined thereon by any
suitable mechanism they will form a cot, Fig. 6º. The part, Fig. 6, of
this so formed cot is firmly fastened to the carriage (which may be of
any well-known or ordinary construction), and the supplementary pieco
or body, Fig. 6º, is attached to the part, Fig. 6, therefore no rocking 5
movement can be obtained, and the cot cannot be removed from the
carriage to the stand in the nursery. The child need not however be
disturbed if the carriage is used as a nursery stand, in which caso a
jointed or a short handle may be made use of. To form a perambulator
the supplementary piece, Fig. 6", is removed and a seat is fixed in the 1
remaining half, Fig. 6. For forming a double perambulator, or one to
carry two children, the two parts forming the cot, Fig. 6', remain together,
and two seats are fitted in, leaving ample room for the legs of the
children in the middle or between the two seats.
Instead of the cross bars (see Fig. 1) for holding the springs at a 1
proper distance apart, the springs as shewn, or two back and two front
springs for supporting the axles of the wheels, are fixed to and are held.
at their proper distance apart by a board, and the slots a and b are
screwed or otherwise fixed upon the said board in the same relative
· position for receiving the extremities of the springs F, the thumbscrew 2
and the support E, as before described.
Having now described my said Invention I claim, the improved com-
bined cot and carriage or perambulator, or any mere modification of the
same as herein described and shewn on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jost Kern, have hereunto set 2
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
TAH
TANG