IMPROVEMENts in Ships' BERTHS AND SOFAS.”
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lorenzo Dow Newell, of the "Castle & Falcon,"
Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENts in Ships' BERTHS AND SOFAS.”
"
Sealed the 24th June 1873, and dated the 11th February 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lorenzo Dow Newell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th February 1873.
I, LORENZO Dow NEWELL, of the "Castle & Falcon," Aldersgate
Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' BERTHS AND SOFAS," to be as
follows:-
-
This Invention relates to ships' berths and sofas (the latter being
referred to hereafter) that are pivoted so as to maintain a horizontal posi-
tion when the ship either rolls or pitches, and consists in having the pivots
at the ends of the berth mounted on slides, whereby the berth may be
adjusted against the side of the state room, and fastened thereto when

page_text: not occupied, and not required to oscillate to then have all the free
space in the room in front of the berth for other purposes, and whereby
the said berth may be drawn away from the side of the state room
where it will have space to swing in without striking when it is to be
occupied.
The Invention also consists in an adjustable balance weight and
apparatus for shifting it, whereby a person in the berth can readily
maintain the centre of gravity by shifting the weight as he moves in
the berth.
The Invention also consists of a convenient mode of fastening the
berth against the side of the state room by a rod running through the
lower part of it and fastening in the side of the state room.
The principal objection to oscillating berths is that they have, as
heretofore arranged, to be suspended so far from the side wall of the
state room, in order to swing clear, as to seriously lessen the space
afforded by the small state rooms for other purposes, but such berths
largely add to the comfort of passengers when they can be used, and
it is important to devise ways of removing all objections to them. I
therefore propose while pivoting my berths in the transverse axis or
near it to a frame, and pivoting the said frame at the ends, as such
berths have been arranged before, to mount the end pivots on slides
arranged to move the berth toward or from the side wall of the state
room, the said slides moving on supports preferably attached to the walls
of the state room, but they may be supported in any other approved
way. Thus I am enabled to have my berths occupy no more room
when not required for use by sliding them back against the wall than
the ordinary permanent berths do, and by sliding them forward previous
to retiring when it is not so essential to have all the room in front, I
have the berths not subject to the motions of the vessel; sufficient space
is had at the ends of the berths for swinging in that direction. To
prevent too much motion at the sides in case the occupant shifts his
weight too far from the axis I apply cushioned stops to the sides of the
berths to come against the under side of the frame. The stops arc
however placed low enough not to interfere with the regular action of
the berths in maintaining the horizontal position.
The berths will be fastened in either position by any suitable means,
say by pins passing through the sliding bearings into the supports. A

page_text: counterbalancing weight is suspended in guides under the bottom of
the berth so as to move readily in the endwise direction of the berth to
regulate it as the occupant may shift about; at each end a cord is
attached, which cords pass over guides in opposite directions to the
inside of the berth, where they hang, so that the occupant of the berth
may have command of the weight while in it, and adjust said weight to
balance whether lying or sitting. For fastening the berth to the side
wall of the state room when it is shoved back against the wall I have a
long rod or bolt passing through the berth and engaging behind to a
plate, into which it is screwed. This long rod affords a convenient
means of reaching the wall of the state room from the front of the berth
to fasten it. The berth has sufficient depth below the pivots to maintain
its centre of gravity when it is partly filled with the bed, and the occupant
is either lying or sitting on the latter.
'
The peculiar construction of these berths is such that two adjacent,
one over the other, require no more space than ordinary ships' berths.
The ship's sofa consists of a framework much on the same principle as
the berths, but being hung at the ends only, having the same sliding
gear for shifting its position attached to the sides of the cabin, its back
portion being constructed so as to form at pleasure either a back when
used as a sofa or the top when used as a berth; the counterbalancing
weights in this case move from side to side and are placed at the bottom,
as before.
To facilitate the getting in and out of the berth or sofa after being
drawn out from the side of the cabin I fix a rod, the length of the berth
or sofa, having a moveable or adjusting handle with an extending or
shortening movement of the rod in connection with it, the ends of the
said rod pass when extended into the sides of the cabin, and enabling
the occupant to make the berth or sofa secure before entering, and after
so doing, can be readily unfixed and the berth or sofa released to its
proper movement. This bar or rod is fixed at the side near the top of
the berth, and at the side near the bottom of the sofa,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Lorenzo Dow Newell in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LORENZO
Dow NEWELL, of the "Castle and Falcon," Aldersgate Street, in the
City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Lorenzo Dow Newell, Her
special licence that I, the said Lorenzo Dow Newell, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Lorenzo
Dow Newell, 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 SHIPS' BERTHS AND SOFAS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Lorenzo Dow Newell, 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 Lorenzo Dow Newell, 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 :—
My Invention consists in mounting the universal motion apparatus,
used for suspending berths, couches, &c. in ships to neutralize the
pitching and rolling action, on supports or bearings arranged so that
the berths and couches can be confined against the side walls of the
room when it is not needed to have them swing as in calm weather
when the water is smooth, and during such times as it is more desirable

page_text: we improvements in Dmps Derins and Sojas.
to utilize the space in the room for other purposes, but also so that when
it is desirable to have the berths and couches suspended on their pivots
free to remain level while the vessel rolls and pitches they can be readily
unfastened and drawn away from the side walls on slides into the free
space where their action will not be obstructed by the wall. For this
purpose I have the pivots at the ends of the berths or couches mounted
on bars or supports arranged on ways attached to the end walls of the
room, so that the said supports can slide forward and backward the
requisite amount, say a foot more or less.
In the case of a berth, which is suspended in the plane of its transverse
axis from a frame, which is pivoted on these sliding supports at the ends,
I make the end pieces of this frame wide enough at the middle to extend
as low, relatively to the berth, as it is desired to have the pivots, and
arrange the pivots directly under or on the lower edges, and form the
bearings therefor in the upper edges of the sliding supports, so that I
economize considerably in space and am thus enabled to make the berths
longer than they could be if the journals or pivots projected from the
sides of these end pieces.
To hold the berths in position against the side walls when they are
not wanted to hang free on their pivots I have a rod running through
the bottom frame to the wall, and screwing into a nut fixed therein, by
which I screw them fast, and in order to be able to adjust the berths
readily so as to present this rod to its hole rightly to fasten the berths I
have a cleat on the wall on to which the berths may be shifted at the
rear edge when the rods are to be screwed up, and these cleats may
have a couple of sockets," and the berths a couple of projections on
the bottom of the frame to drop into said sockets and hold the berths
temporarily in case the sea is rough, so that they might otherwise be
thrown off the cleats before they could be fastened by the screws.
I propose to use slide bolts on the front of the berths or couches to
enter the end walls of the room for temporarily locking them against
swinging when getting in or out; these will be on the upper portion of
the berth but on the lower portion of the couch or sofa. The couch or
sofa I will only mount on pivots at the ends to neutralize the rolling
motion, so that I can use it to sit on when not wanted for a couch
or bed.

page_text: bolts for locking the berth when free on the pivots to facilitate ingress
and egress. The bolts are withdrawn after getting in the bed. K is the
counterpoise weight; L, the way on which it slides; M, cords for
shifting it; N, bumpers for limiting the motion on the pivots B. O,
Figures 4 and 5, is the couch frame, which I arrange on pivots P at
the ends only; these I arrange on slides E on cleats G the same as in
the arrangement for the berths, so as to slide them forward and back-
ward in the same manner. H represents the cleat on the side wall,
and I the projections and sockets for holding it temporarily while
securing the screw rod G. J represents the locking bolts; P, the foot
rests; Q, the rods by which the foot rest is suspended. The dotted
lines P¹ and Q¹ shew the way in which these are folded up when not
used. R is the back of the couch, which is hinged to the frame at the
top S and arranged to swing up and fasten over the top of the couch,
as shewn in Figure 5. When the couch is used as a sofa this back R
is swung down against the side of the permanent back. This back and
the bottom will be upholstered like a sofa.
Having thus described and shewn the nature of this my said Invention,
and the mode of carrying the same into effect, now what I claim and
desire to be secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent are the following:-
First. Berths, couches, and sofas suspended on pivots and mounted on
slides arranged to slide from and to the side of the room, substantially
as specified.
Second. The combination with said sliding and pivoted berths,
couches, &c. of a fastening rod G¹ and fastening nut in the wall of the
room, substantially as specified.
Third. The arrangement of the end pieces D, pivots E, and slides F,
as described for economizing space.
Fourth. The combination of locking bolts J with the sliding and
swinging berths, couches, &c. arranged to lock them temporarily while
entering and leaving them, substantially as specified.
Fifth. The cleats H on the wall and projections and sockets I on the
berths and couches combined with the cleats, substantially as specified.
Sixth. The sliding counterpoise K and cords M arranged with the
berth, as specified.

page_text: Seventh. The folding foot rest for a sofa or couch suspended on pivots,
as described.
Eighth. The folding back R of a sofa or couch arranged as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lorenzo Dow Newell, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
LORENZO DOW NEWELL. (L.S.)