Improvements in Ships' Berths, Mattress Frames, Couches, and other Articles of Furniture for use on Board Ship.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 19th July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 18th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 23rd May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ships' Berths, Mattress Frames, Couches, and other
Articles of Furniture for use on Board Ship.
We ISAAC CHORLTON of 17 Blackfriars Street Manchester in the County of
Lancaster Spring Mattress Manufacturer and GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of the
same place Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Our said invention relates primarily to berths for use on board ship and has
for its object to render such berths more comfortable for the occupant by sus-
pending the berth in such a manner as to neutralise or minimise the motions of the
vessel. The mattress frame or carrier may be of any suitable material or con-
struction and at each end we attach a stretcher, bow or end member and at the
centre of the said stretcher we rigidly attach a coiled helical spring the upper end
of the spring being secured to a socket which is pivotted upon a stud to a bulkhead
or to a suitable beam, bar or bracket arranged to carry the pivot stud. The pivot
stud allows the berth to swing at right angles to its length and the flexible spring
allows of motion in the direction of its length and in every other requisite direction
radially and at an angle to the pivot. Thus when the ship is rolling or pitching
the elastically suspended berth swings in obedience to every possible motion of the
vessel the motions being thus minimised and the comfort of the occupant increased.
When the arrangements will not permit of movement of the berth in the direction
of its length, we dispense with the springs aud pivot the end stretchers directly to
the bulkhead or beam so that the berth swings freely at right angles to its length.
Although we consider that the elasticity of the springs gives a valuable element of
softness and powers of quick recovery to the suspended berth we might nevertheless
attain a sufficient result by suspending the berth from universal joints or pivots
which would allow movement of the berth in any direction, or we might connect
the suspending end bars or stretchers to the mattress frame by elastic or spring
connections, the said stretchers being themselves suspended to the aforesaid
pivots.
The spring employed for the purposes of our invention might be coiled helical
springs as described or they might be made of vulcanised rubber. Locking devices
may be employed to hold the berth steady while the occupant is entering and
leaving the berth. The invention is applicable to seats, couches and other articles
of ships furniture.
Dated this 18th day of July 1890.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ships' Berths, Mattress Frames, Couches, and other
Articles of Furniture for use on Board Ship.
We ISAAC CHORLTON of 17 Blackfriars Street Manchester in the County of
Lancaster Spring Mattress Manufacturer and GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of the
same place 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 and accompanying drawings :-
:-
Our said invention relates primarily to berths for use on board ship and has for
its object to render such berths more comfortable for the occupant by suspending
the berth in such a manner as to neutralise or minimise the motions of the vessel,

page_text: To render our invention more easily understood we will here refer to the annexed
sheet of drawings which illustrate the invention clearly.
Fig. 1 is a.. side view of a berth, showing a mattress frame suspended by springs
in accordance with our invention.
Fig. 2 is a cross section of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 illustrates a modified arrangement.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate springs links and other suspending media.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the mattress frame or carrier a may be of any suitable
material or construction for example it may consist as shown of tubular side
members and angle end members supporting a mattress surface of woven wire.
At each end of the frame a we attach a stretcher or end member b which may
either be of the inverted V shape shown in full lines or of the bow shape shown in
dotted lines and at the centre of the said stretcher or bow we attach a coiled helical
spring the upper end of the spring heing suspended upon a stud d projecting
from a beam, bulkhead or other support e or upon or to a suitable beam bar or
bracket arranged to carry the stud . The springs c allow the berth to swing in
all directions radially and at an angle to the stud. The spring c has an eye at the
top to engage with the stud d and a hook at the bottom to engage with the bow b
as shown separately at Fig. 4 of the drawings. In Fig. 5 a similar spring is shown
but instead of being a coiled spiral spring as in the case of Fig. 4 the spring may
be of rubber. The spring may be either fixed rigidly to the supporting stud or it
may be suspended loosely therefrom so as to have a rocking motion in addition to
the elastic movements due to the nature of the spring itself. Instead of connecting
the portions b by springs c to the stud d we might place springs c between the bows
or members and the mattress frame a. Such an arrangement is illustrated at
Fig. 3.
The bow or member bis pivotted on the stud d and can therefore swing
freely from side to side while the springs give the requisite all round motion to
the mattress frame. The mattress frame might also be suspended by the means
shown at Fig. 6 viz. the links c¹ the upper ends of which are formed with a ball c
which lies in a cup or socket d¹ formed in the stud d. The lower ends of the links
engage by means of attached hooks c³ with the bows or members 6 at the top and
bottom of the mattress frame. It will be seen that the ball and sockets give the
requisite all round freedom of motion to the links and suspended mattress frame.
When the ship is rolling or pitching the elastically suspended berth swings in
obedience to every possible motion of the vessel the motions being thus minimised
and the comfort of the occupant increased. Although we have mentioned rubber
as a suitable substitute for the helical spring c we might in some instances use a
non-elastic but flexible body such for example as a piece of rope.
Locking devices may be employed to hold the berth steady while the occupant
is entering and leaving the berth.
The invention is applicable to seats, couches and other articles of ships furniture.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. Suspending swinging ships berths, seats, couches and other articles of ships
furniture by means of elastic or flexible media such as coiled springs or rubber
springs or rope so as to give an all round yielding motion to the suspended berth or
other article substantially as described and shown.
2. Suspending swinging ships berths, seats, couches and other articles of ships
furniture by means of links having ball and socket points of suspension so as to give
the required all round swinging motion to the suspended berth or other cognate
article substantially as described and shown.
לו.' נ..
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CA
11001
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.