AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF FOLDING CHAIR
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex," " Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
FOLDING CHAIR."-A communication from abroad. by Claudius Otignon
Collignon and Nicholas Collignon, of Closter Bergen, State of New
Jersey, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd June 1868.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the. County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
FOLDING CHAIR," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a new method of constructing chairs for
domestic use and for other purposes. The seat is supported by pivots

page_text: which pass through the side pieces of the chair; these side pieces form
the front legs and serve to carry the back of the chair. The back
legs are hinged to the side pieces so that they will fold up closely
thereto. The side pieces of the chair are connected together below the
seats by the rounds and above the seat by transverse slats, which slats
-are connected by straight rods or rounds forming the back. The side
pieces of the seat extend back and have pins in their ends to enter
longitudinal slots formed in the inner faces of the two back legs. These
back legs are connected together by rods or rounds in their lower part.
The pins in the back ends of the side pieces of the seat slide up and
down in the slots when the chair is folded up and when it is unfolded.
*SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
"Office on the 23rd December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
*County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREA'S Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators,
"and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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,
rand vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention, 'for "AN IMPROVED
CONSTRUCTION OF FOLDING CHAIR," being a communication to me from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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

page_text: 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto..
annexed, and to the letters, and figures marked thereon (that is-to.
say):
:-
This Invention relates to a new method of constructing folding chairs
for domestic use and for other purposes, the object being so to arrange
the parts of which the chair is composed that while structural strength
is secured the chair will admit of being, folded. up. into. a very small
compass when not in use...
In the accompanying Drawing Fig.. I represents the chair folded up ;",
Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the manner of its appearance when
opened out for use, and Fig. 3 represents the back. view of the chair
folded up. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts..
A is the seat supported by pivots which pass through the side pieces B
of the chair. The side pieces B form the front legs and also the back B'
of the chair. C, C, are the back legs hinged to the sides B'so: that they
will fold up closely to the side pieces B, as seen in Fig..1.. The-side
pieces B of the chair are connected together below the scats by the-
rounds.d and above the seat by transverse slats e, which slats are con-.-
nected by the straight rods or rounds f. The side pieces of the seat 'g
extend back and have pins h in their ends, as seen in the Drawing, to enter
longitudinal slots formed in the inner faces of the two back legs C. which.
are hinged to B. These back legs are connected together by rods.or
rounds in their lower part.. At the right hand of Fig. 3 one of the legs O
is broken away to shew the slot i which is formed therein. The pins h
in the back ends of the side pieces of the seat being inserted in the
slots i slide up and down thercin when the chair is. folded up..and
when it is unfolded. When the chair is open and in use, as seen
in Fig. 2, the seat A is a lever whose fulcrum is at the pivot j
on which it turns, and the point of resistance is the top of the slots i
in the back legs. The side picces of the chair may be united by slats

page_text: and rounds, as seen in the Drawing, or in any other suitable manner,
and so with the back legs C. The back of the chair and also the
scat may be upholstered or cushioned as may be desired. The hinges
for the back legs C are seen at k, k, but their position may be varied.
When the chair is folded the pin h will be at the lower end of the
slot i, as seen in Figures 1 and 3. By this arrangement of parts a chair
is formed which is very easy to sit on and very convenient for trans-
portation or for use in cottages or dwellings where it is an object to
economize room.
A modification of this improved chair is shown at Figures 4 and 5,
Fig. 4 being a side elevation of the chair showing the manner in which
it is constructed, and Fig. 5 a front view of the same.
A are bars or side pieces forming the front legs, and the principal
support of the slat and back; B is the seat which is attached to the bars
or side pieces A by pivot hinges, as seen at a¹; C, C, are the back legs;
these legs are hinged to the back of the side pieces A at d, d. Instead of
making a slot in the back legs to allow of the folding of the chair,
as represented in the first-described arrangement, slotted braces E are
used with the view of increasing the structural strength of the chair.
These braces are hinged to the front part of the seat, as seen at f, at onc
end, and jointed to the back legs by a pin at the other end, as seen at g.
The braces have cach a slot h in their outsides, and the side bars A aro
provided with pins i which work in the slots as the chair is folded.
With the parts thus arranged it will be seen, that by raising the scat
the chair will fold together so as to occupy a space but little greater
than the stands A alone. The side pieces of the seat may extend
back so as to bear upon the cross round J and be supported thereby
if desired, but it is not deemed an important feature. In some cases
the braces E may be used without the slots h, and in certain cases
the back legs may be dispensed with and the lower portion of the
braces be so formed as to answer for back legs, but this method of
forming the chair could only be adopted in very light or small chairs,
and for such chairs we prefer to dispense with the braces.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Construction of Folding Chair," as communicated to me from abroad,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it

page_text: to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim, constructing folding chairs, substantially as described, either
with or without the braces E as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
cight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lanc.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)