A SEAT OR CHAIR, FORMING ALSO A TRAVELLING BAG, FOR THE USE OF TRAVELLERS BY RAIL OR OTITED WAY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Gonez, of No. 15, Passage des Petites
Ecuries, Paris, France, Merchant Tailor, for the Invention of "A SEAT
OR CHAIR, FORMING ALSO A TRAVELLING BAG, FOR THE USE OF TRAVELLERS BY
RAIL OR OTITED WAY"
Sealed the 17th April 1863, and dated the 3rd November 1862. .
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Gonez at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd November.
1862.
I, LOUIS GONEZ, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, Frauce,
Merchant Tailor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
SEAT OR CHAIR, FORMING ALSO A TRAVELLING BAG, FOR THE USE OF TRAVELLERS BY
RAIL OR OTHER WAY," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide,persons travelling usually by third-
class or other conveyance, affording little comfort or accommodation, with a
comfortable seat or chair.
The portable chair or seat of my Invention is divided into three parts.. The
seat, properly so called, the back and the upper or hind part of the back so
arranged as to form a travelling bag, with lock and key. The main seat and
the back are comfortably padded, and are made to open and form an easy
chair, and to fold the one on the other when the traveller has arrived at his
destination, and assuming the shape and size of an ordinary travelling bag.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Gonez in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
GONEZ, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France, Merchant
Tailor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Louis Gonez, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Gonez, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Louis Gonez, 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 "A SEAT OR CHAIR,
FORMING ALSO A TRAVELLING BAG, FOR THE USE OF TRAVELLERS BY RAIL OR OTHER
WAY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Gonez, 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 Louis Gonez, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing hereunto annexed, and
forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference
placed thereon:-
The first requirement when travelling by railway is a comfortable seat, to
enjoy which it is necessary to travel first class; but motives of economy induce
many people to travel by third-class carriages, where little accommodation is
afforded. The object of this Invention is to provide such persons with a
portable apparatus, forming according to the exigences of the moment a
comfortable seat, or chair, or couch.
Figure 1 of the Drawing is a three-quarter view, shewing the iron skeleton.

page_text: It is divided into three parts, the seat properly so called, the back, and the.
upper part of the back. These three parts are united by two arrangements of
jointing; firstly, the part of the seat A, B, is united to the back C, D, by
square or compass-headed hinges E, E, (made of copper, brass, or other suit-
able metal,) the branches of which extend, say, two inches in one direction.
and about one in the other; the second joint is at the upper part.of the back
P, P, at the point F.. Thé pieces I, I, which I term elastic spiral springs.
assist this extreme part in moving either in a vertical.or a horizontal direction,<
having for axis of rotation the rod H', the dimensions of which are, say, of:
an inch in diameter by about 18 inches long.
i
In the combination of this apparatus two essential conditions were to be:
observed; the first, solidity; the second, the least possible weight, and there-
fore iron wire of about the of an inch in diameter, and very thin and flexible.
bars or plates of iron of about an inch broad, have been adopted. These
dimensions may be even further reduced, and a very strong apparatus be
nevertheless made. The size of the seat properly so called A,.B, is, say,
16 inches one way. by about 18 inches the other, of the back indicated by
E, D, about 16 inches by 18, and of the upper, part P, P, 18 inches one way
by about 6 inches the other. It will be understood that these proportions are
arbitrary, excepting relatively to each other, when the proportions given will
be found most convenient. The iron bars or plates G are placed at certain
distances to keep the sides apart, and at the same time to serve as cushion
support and spring. The rods H, say, of an inch in diameter by 13 inches
long, are soldered at their ends to the hinges E, E, to keep the parts rigid.
The hook or clasp M serves to close the whole apparatus, which then
assumes the form of a travelling bag, as shewn, Figure 5. Against the back
is fitted a pocket with compartments R, closed by the lock N, (Figure 5,) or
by a couple of buttons, and in which the traveller may place any objects indis-
pensable during the journey.
Figure 2 shews the apparatus complete, covered with its cushions, stuffed
with horse hair, wool, caoutchouc, or other stuffing material; Figure 3 shews
the different positions which this portable seat may occupy, either as a chair
when the carriage is fully occupied, or as a couch when one seat of the
carriage being at the entire disposal of the traveller he can take his ease, for
which purpose he throws down the back (see Figure 3), and the arrangement
of the apparatus indicated by the letters S, T, constitutes a comfortable couch.
Figure 4 shews again the clasp or fastening M, closing the whole apparatus.
Figure 5 shews the apparatus closed, to be carried like a travelling bag.
Figure 6 represents another arrangement with wooden framing, less compli-
:

page_text: cated than that made of iron, and less luxurious, but also cheaper A single
joint unites the seat to the back, and instead of folding inwards like the
précéding arrangement, it folds outwards; that is to say, back to back. The
dimensions of the back a, b, are about) 16 inches by 18, and of the seat, c, d, the
dimensions are the same: The uprights ese are joined to the back to support
the cushions. Figure 7: shews this: apparatus: covered with its cushions; it may
like the preceding form a couch. Figure 8, same apparatus reduced, to the
state of.a.travelling bag, to be carried by hand. As in the first arrangement,
a pocket: with compartments has been, reserved against the back, in which
necessaries for travelling may be packed. Figure 9, same apparatus, "closed
and fastened with a hook or clasp, lock, or otherwise. In this arrangement
the cushions are outside, not inside as in that first described, so that the seat
and the back: fold back to back.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention; and the means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to any precise shape of travelling bag, forming seat, chair, or
couch, or to any particular material in the construction thereof.
In witness whereof, I,. the said Louis Gonez, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.