IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SEAT FITTINGS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE CABINS OR SALOONS OF STEAM AND OR VESSELS." OTHER SHIPS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Ashbury, of Grosvenor Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE SEAT FITTINGS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES,
APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE CABINS OR SALOONS OF STEAM AND
OR VESSELS."
OTHER SHIPS
Sealed the 4th February 1873, and dated the 27th November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Ashbury at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th November. 1872.
I, JAMES ASHBURY, of Grosvenor Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE SEAT FITTINGS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES,
APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE CABINS OR SALOONS OF STEAM AND OTHER SHIPS OR
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
the seats for railway carriages and other vehicles, or for the cabins or
saloons of steam and other ships or vessels, whereby such seats can be

page_text: readily converted into beds or couches when required, and as readily
restored to their normal conditon.
In applying this Invention to a railway carriage for example, the
compartments will require to be made larger than at present, that is to
say, the distance between the backs of the opposite seats should be
increased, and some or all of the seats in a compartment may be con-
structed so as to form beds or couches according to this Invention.
For this purpose the seat and back are framed separately, and are both
hinged to a transverse fixed rail framed with or secured to the sides of the
carriage. The seat and its corresponding back when in their normal
position present the usual appearance, the back resting in an upright or
nearly upright position against the back of the compartment which may
or may not be padded. The hinged back is padded or stuffed on both
the front and rear sides, the front padding serving as the back of the
seat, and the rear padding as the bed or reclining surface when adjusted
for that purpose.
The arm rests of the seat when used are hinged to
the back so as to turn upwards slightly, and are supported when in their
normal position by hinged supports jointed to the arm and to the frame
of the seat, the front portion of the seat itself is supported by legs
provided with india-rubber tyred rollers or castors and hinged or jointed
to the frame of the seat, each of such legs being connected by a
hinged rod or bar to the lower part of the frame of the moveable
back, which frame extends some distance below and in the rear of
the seat.
seats.
When a bed or couch is required the upper end of the seat back is
pulled forward and downwards on its hinges into a horizontal or nearly
horizontal position, the seat proper being simultaneously lowered nearly
to the floor out of the way of and underneath the back, whilst the arm
rests are thrown upwards to such an angle as will enable them to clear the
The end of the frame which forms the bed when thus adjusted
is supported by a pair of legs hinged thereto, which fold close against
the front portion of the back when raised into its normal position.
That portion of the frame which corresponds to the head of the bed or
couch is provided with extra padding or stuffing, in order to form
a rest or support for the head of the passenger when reclining
thereon.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Ashbury in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ASHBURY, of Grosvenor Street, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire,'
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Ashbury, Her special license
that I, the said James Ashbury, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Ashbury, my executors,
administrators, or 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
THE SEAT FITTINGS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES, APPLICABLE
ALSO TO THE CABINS OR SALOONS OF STEAM AND OTHER SHIPS OR VESSELS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Ashbury, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Ashbury, 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement
of the seats for railway carriages and other vehicles, or for the cabins or
saloons of steam and other ships or vessels, whereby such seats can be
readily converted into beds or couches when required, and as readily'
restored to their normal condition.
!

page_text: In applying this Invention to a railway carriage for example, the
compartments will require to be made larger than at present, that is
to say, the distance between the backs of the opposite seats should be
increased, and some or all of the seats in a compartment may be
constructed so as to form beds or couches according to this Invention.
For this purpose the seat and back are framed separately, and are both
hinged to a transverse fixed rail framed with or secured to the sides of
the carriage. The seat and its corresponding back when in their
normal position present the usual appearance, the back resting in an
upright or nearly upright position against the back of the compartment
which may or may not be padded. The hinged back is padded or
stuffed on both the front and rear sides, the front padding serving as
the back of the seat, and the rear padding as the bed or reclining
surface when adjusted for that purpose. When arm rests of the seat
are employed they are hinged to the back of the seat, so as to turn
upwards slightly, and are supported when in their normal position by
hinged supports jointed to the arm and to the frame of the seat
respectively. The front portion of the seat itself is supported by legs
provided with rollers or castors having india-rubber tyres. These legs
are hinged or jointed to the frame of the seat, each leg being connected
by a hinged rod or bar to the lower part of the frame of the
moveable back, which frame extends some distance below and in the
rear of the seat.
When a bed or couch is required the upper end of the seat back is
pulled forward and downwards on its hinges into a horizontal or
nearly horizontal position, the seat proper being simultaneously
lowered nearly to the floor out of the way of and underneath the back,
whilst the arm rests are thrown upwards to such an angle as will
enable them to clear the seats. The end of the frame which forms the
bed when thus adjusted is supported by another pair of legs hinged
thereto, which fold close against the front portion of the back when
raised into its normal position. That portion of the frame which
corresponds to the head of the bed or couch is provided with extra
padding or stuffing, in order to form a rest or support for the head of
the passenger when reclining thereon.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to described the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,

page_text: the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
corresponding Figures.
.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section
of a portion of a first-class railway carriage shewing in side elevation
my improved moveable or adjustable seat and back in the normal
position or when used simply as a seat; Figure 2 is a transverse section
corresponding to Figure 1, of a portion of the same carriage shewing
in front elevation one of my improved seats in its normal position, and
another in its turned down or adjusted position for use as a reclining
couch or bed; Figure 3 is a corresponding longitudinal section of a
portion of the same carriage shewing in side elevation the position of
the parts of the said improved seat when turned down.
The rest of the Figures are details of some of the principal parts
shewn detached.
A represents the end or one of the intermediate partitions of a first-
class railway carriage, which with the exception of having a rather
wider compartment, so as to afford sufficient space for the accom-
odation of the seat when turned down in the position shewn in
Figure 3, may be of the ordinary construction. This partition may or
may not be padded as preferred, but in my Drawings I have represented
it as being padded at B. Each seat and back is framed separately,
C representing the framing of the seat proper, and D the framing of
the back. The seat frame C is hinged at a to a transverse rail E framed
with the sides of the carriage, whilst the frame D of the back of the
corresponding seat is also hinged at to the same rail E. The framing
of the back is prolonged beyond the hinge b, so as to extend below the
seat when in its upright or normal position, as shewn clearly in
Figure 1, and to this extended portion of the back frame there is
jointed at c on each side of the frame a connecting bar F (shewn in
detail side elevation and plan on a larger scale at Figure 4), the
opposite or outer ends of these bars being similarly jointed at d
to the corresponding legs G, G, which support the front part of the
seat frame C.
Figure 5 represents detail views of one of the two connecting pieces o
and d which are secured to the back frame and legs respectively, a
transverse pin passing through the forked eyes of the connecting bar F
and through the eye in each connecting piece forming the joint. The

page_text: legs G, G, are hinged or jointed to the eyes e secured to the under side of
the seat frame (such eye piece being shewn in detail at Figuré 6), and
rollers or castors f covered by preference with india-rubber tyres are
fitted to the bottoms of the legs to facilitate the folding of the legs
underneath the seat, as herein-after described. The arm rests or
supports H, H, are hinged or jointed at g, g, to the back frame, and
are held up when in their normal condition by the supports I, I, (shewn
in enlarged detail at Figure 7) such supports being hinged or jointed at
their upper and lower ends respectively to fixed eye pieces h and i
secured respectively to the under side of the arm rest, and to the upper
side of the seat frame. One of these eye pieces is shewn in detail at
Figure 8. K, K, are two legs hinged to the upper front portion of the
back frame for the purpose of supporting the end of the said frame
when adjusted to its horizontal position for reclining upon, as shewn
clearly in Figure 3. When the back is in its elevated or normal
position, as shewn in Figure 1, these legs K, K, fold down close to the
front of the frame so as to present no obstruction to the interior of the
compartment. The surface of the back frame is padded, as shewn at L
in Figures 1 and 3, so as to present when turned down to a horizontal
position (Figure 3) a comfortable surface to recline upon. The padding
at the end of the couch next the partition may be raised sufficiently
to form a pillow or support M for the head, such padding forming a
part of the general padding of the couch in lieu of being a separate or

page_text: sufficiently wide to form a couch for one person, and by providing such
couch with a moveable back of corresponding width and of a height
sufficient to afford the required length for reclining upon when turned
down, as herein-before described and illustrated in Figure 3, it is
obvious that additional sleeping accomodation may be obtained for
one or more persons, which arrangement will be found of great
advantage on board yachts and in the saloons of passenger ships and
steamers.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the use of the
hinged back and seat or couch with or without the hinged arm rests)
in combination with the hinged connecting rods and legs or supports
arranged together, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and illustrated in my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Ashbury, have to this my
Specification set my hand and scal, this Third day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
JAMES ASHBURY. (L.S.)