IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF STANDS FOR BASSINETTES OR CHILD'S COTS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Robert Wethered, of Belfast, in the County
of Antrim, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF STANDS FOR BASSINETTES OR CHILD'S COTS."
Sealed the 27th July 1866, and dated the 30th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Robert Wethered at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
January 1866.
I, EDWIN ROBERT WETHERED, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Gentle-
man, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF STANDS FOR BASSINETTES OR CHILD'S COTS," to be as
follows:-
I use a metal, or wooden frame supported horizontally upon legs raising it
above the level of the floor or ground, across this frame I lay several elastic or
spring slats fastened at each extremity to the frame, and upon them I place
an ordinary bassinette or cot rivetting or otherwise fastening it to the several
slats. Or I may use elastic attachments or springs fastened at one extremity
to the sides of the frame, and at the other extremity to the sides or bottom of

page_text: the bassinette or cot. A similar elastic attachment or spring may be also
fastened in either case at one extremity to the head or foot of the frame, and
at the other extremity to the bassinette or cot as before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Robert Wethered in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN ROBERT
WETHERED, late of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in Ireland, but now of
Shorncliffe, in the County of Kent, in England, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edwin Robert Wethered, Her special licence that I, the said Edwin Robert
Wethered, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edwin Robert Wethered, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STANDS FOR BASSINETTES OR CHILD'S COτs," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Robert Wethered,
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 Edwin Robert Wethered, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
. The said Invention consists in the means of supporting a bassinette or
child's cot upon a stand so as to render it susceptible of a vibratory or rocking
movement. The support. is afforded by means of several elastic or spring

page_text: slats or cords or attachments stretching across and along or depending from
the sides and from one or both ends of a horizontal frame raised upon legs
above the floor or ground, upon or to which slats, or cords or attachments the
bassinette or cot is set or fastened. The frame and legs may be made of a
metallic, wooden, or other similar material.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating the same or corresponding parts throughout
all the Figures.
Figure 1 is a plan of the stand; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the
stand; Figure 3 is a cross section of the stand and of the cot supported by it;
Figures 4 and 5 are details of the snug, and the slat, or cord or attachment;
and Figure 6 is a thumbscrew for fastening the legs to the frame.
A is the frame; B is the bassinette or cot; C, C, are the legs raising the
frame horizontally above the level of the ground or floor; a is a thumbscrew
by which the legs C, C, are fastened to the frame A; b, b, are snugs rivetted
to the frame at intervals corresponding with the position of and holding the
slats, or cords, or attachments; c is a pin with a conical head which sits into
a conical counter sink in the snug b; d is a tubular slat made of vulcanized
india-rubber and fastened to the end of the pin c by means of a wire or other
binder, as shewn in Figures 4 and 5; f, f, are rivets or straps made of metal,
wood, leather, hemp, or other similar material, attaching or fastening the
slats to the bottom of the bassinette or cot. A slot may be made in the snug
b so as to let the pin c laterally into the counter sink. But it is not necessary
that the slats should be of the material above described, or of the form shewn
in the annexed Drawings; solid elastic or coil spring slats or similar cords
or attachments depending from the frame, and fastened or attached at one
end to the frame, and at the other end to the bottom or side of the bassinette
or cot may be used. Neither is it necessary that the means of fastening or
attaching the slats or cords or attachments to the frame should be the same
as above described and shewn in the annexed Drawings; a hook and loop
or ring may be substituted for the snug and pin above described respectively.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what way
the same is to be performed or constructed, I hereby declare that I do not
claim as of my Invention, or the exclusive use of the several parts of the frame
or stand, herein-before described and referred to, except when the same are used
in and for the purpose of my said improvements, which I hereby declare to
consist in constructing a stand in which a vibratory or rocking movement is

page_text: imparted to the bassinette or cot-by means of elastic or spring slats or other
similar cords or attachments.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Robert Wethered, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
year of
EDWIN ROBERT WETHERED. (L.S.)