Improvements in or connected with Bedsteads, Mattresses, Berths, or Hammocks.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 6th June, 1891-Accepted, 15th Aug., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Bedsteads, Mattresses, Berths,
or Hammocks.
We, THOMAS EDMUND WALE, & ALFRED EDMUND WALE, of the firm of
T. E. Wale & Son Atlas Works, Oozell Street, Birmingham in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of our said invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described &
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object: improvements in woven wire mattresses,
bedstead bottoms & hammocks by which the elasticity or spring of woven wire or
other such metallic spring mattresses is increased and further to provide such dove-
tail castings as will readily assist the connection of mattresses or bed bottoms direct
to the head and foot of a bedstead. Another part of our invention consists of
means for tightening up the centre and sides of woven wire so as to prevent two
sleepers rolling together or off the outside edge and further to so connect two parts
of a woven wire or spring mesh together that it may be doubled up crossways,
without damaging the mesh and by another part of our invention the bottom head
and foot of a bedstead are so connected together that it may be folded up and thus
the same sides and ends are always kept together and risk of getting them mixed
up is avoided.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried
into practice we have appended hereunto four double sized sheets of drawings upon
which we have fully illustrated the nature of our various improvements.
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a cross section and Figure 2 is a general view of a woven
wire mattress the mesh or sacking A. of which is supported by a number of spiral
or coiled springs a' which are so arranged as to give a curved surface and elevate
the mesh both lengthwise as well as crosswise. These springs a' are supported by
the cross pieces D which are curved and are in turn supported by the steel plate
springs which are attached to the sides A' of the mattress A. The sides A may
be either supported by the angle iron E of the bedstead as shewn on the right hand
side of Figure or additional elasticity may be obtained by the wire or Hat steel
springs F which are made to support the sides A' of the mattress as shewn on the
left hand side. In Figure 3 a modification of the spring dis shewn the spring in
this case being a coiled spring 2 having its bottom end supported by the iron.
support which is suspended from the mattress side A. Figure 4 is an elevation
of a similar arrangement in which two springs d² & dare used and Figure 5 shews
the cross piece D suspended by the springs d' and d³ the ends of which are attached
to the T-shaped plate which is attached to the cross piece D a view of which is
shewn by Figure 54. The springs F instead of being supported by the bedstead
side E may be suspended from the pillars in a similar way to that described to the
sides and any number of springs may be used.
Figure is a view of the mattress in which the woven wire mesh A is elevated
at the sides a & centre at the end or cross bar B being provided with the blocks
or projecting pieces which may be formed in one with the end piece B as shewn
in Figure 7 and Figure 8 those in Figure 7 being finished off wedge shape to
prevent a sharp projection at the edge. The blocks may be made in any of the
forms shewn by 1, 2, 3, 6, and, in Figure 9 and fixed on to the ends B
separately and may be formed of wood or metal and fixed before or after the mesh
Is on. By any of these means the mesh is tightened in the parts where required in
a simple cheap & effective manner while it improves the appearance and to
some extent prevents two sleepers from rolling together into the centre or off the
outside.

page_text: On Sheet 2. Figures 10 to 21 inclusive, illustrate patterns of our improved
dovetailed castings H suitable for fitting to the ends of the sides of mattresses or
bed bottoms to enable a spring mattress to be connected direct to the head & foot
ends of bedsteads. We are aware that dovetail castings have been so used before
but the particular arrangements and shapes herein described while being simpler
are much more efficient than those at present in use. In Figure 10 a very simple""
form is shewn in which the screw is cast in the plate and the holes 2 are
provided for enabling the casting to be screwed to the end. Figures 11, 12, 13, 18,
19, & 20 are simply retained in position upon the end of the side by the same bolt g,
that fixes the cross bar B to the sides A as illustrated by Figure 24 to which the
casting shewn by Figure 19 is attached the bolt a passing through the holes /* which
are provided for it. In Figure 25 a bed bottom is shewn having a tennon and tongue
in which case the casting shewn in Figure 15 would be applicable for use and by
this arrangement a greater amount of lateral adjustment for the dovetails is secured
the casting H being screwed or bolted to the top and bottom of the side A' thus
leaving the sides A¹ free to move on the cross bar B the flanges ³ being sufficient
to hold the castings laterally firm at the dovetail end similar flanges being provided
in the other cases for a similar purpose. The casting shewn by Figure 14 is
retained in position by screws or bolts passing through the holes 5 which are
provided for the purpose in the flanges 43. The casting shewn by Figure 16 in
addition to being secured by the usual cross bar bolt which passes through the
hole is provided with holes to allow of being screwed to or bolted through the
side A at that point. Figure 21 shews a casting having the projecting screw so
as to receive an angle bar of iron or steel instead of the usual cross bar of wood &
a similar casting may be provided to a mattress without the dovetail. Figure 22 is
also made to receive a metal cross bar and is provided with a socket for the.
reception of a tubular side. Figure 23 is formed with the socket to receive à
tubular side and is formed flat at the top to receive a flat cross bar which may be
secured by a projecting screw he and nut as shewn by Figure 23 or by forming a
tapped hole and screw pins. In the case of Figures 22, 23 & 234 the dovetail
may be cast on the end of the tubular sides or may be on the angle iron side but we
prefer the loose mallable castings. Figure 20 illustrates how most of the ends may
be made with a projecting car having the hole through which the usual
tension bolt passes into the movable cross bar of the mattress or bed bottom by
which means a great saving in the cost of these castings is effected & by means of
the key the bed bottom can be made slack or tight at will. In Figure 17 several
spikes 13 are cast on at the back of the dovetail so that upon being driven into the
end of the side and bolted or screwed in position by screws or bolts through the
holes great rigidity is obtained. Figures 11, 18, & 19 are fitted on by means of
first sawing a groove across the end of the side to allow of the insertion of the
flanges which is afterwards firmly secured in position by the usual cross bar
bolt.
Sheet 3, illustrates an improvement by which the sides and ends of bedsteads are
held together when taken down thus preventing the sides and ends becoming mixed
up while in the retail warehouse or during household removals. In effecting this
object we fix one end of the bars or iron strips K upon a pin which forms a pivot to
the sides of the bedstead bottom at the other ends being similarly fixed to the
legs at so that when the bedstead is taken down as shewn in Figure 27 the
head M and foot N may be folded under the bottom as shewn in Figure 28 in
which position they may be tied or fastened in any convenient way so as to form a
compact and portable bedstead capable of easy packing and removable. The
strips or struts K may be above the bedstead bottom as shewn by dotted lines k³ in
Figure 26 in which case they would be fixed outside the sides and legs and the
head & foot would in that case fold on to the top of the bedstead bottom instead of
underneath.
་ ས་
On Sheet 4 Figure 29 shews a view of the underside of a woven wire mattress
which is strengthened by woven wire bands our improvement consisting of means

page_text: for tightening up such bands whether they be in the centre as shewn or at the edges
and is effected by fixing, the one end at of the band a to the wood or iron.cross
bar B of the mattress or bed bottom the other end a being fixed between a plate p³:.
and the winged nut P as shewn in section by Figure 30, or by other similar
arrangements so as to engage with the tension bolt p' which passes through the
wood or iron cross bar B and is provided with the head p² by which means the band
can be readily tightened with the aid of a key and thus the mesh is always kept up
along the centre or at the sides of the mattress. These bands are also applicable
to the strengthening of chain or spring mattresses and the details of the tightening
arrangement may be considerably varied.
In mattresses, seats, and other woven wire articles for sitting and reclining upon
such as hammocks and ships' berths, & especially in the case of folding bedsteads it
is necessary for the mesh to fold up close with the fold running across its surface to
effect which we weave the mesh in two or more lengths R & S Figure 31 the ends
of each coil of the wire being turned over into the loops and s which loops
engage with the loop of the next coil as shewn. The two lengths R & S are then
joined together by the coils T & T which are threaded round the turned up
ends s & of the coils S & R and also into each other as shewn thus forming a
strong hinge joint and allowing the woven wire mesh to be folded up at this point
but one or several coils may be used for connecting the two lengths together. In
the case of hammocks or ships' berths we may treat the ends of the woven wire
mesh in a similar manner as shewn by Figure 32 in which the ends of the coils are
turned into the loops the coil W being threaded across the whole length of the
mesh thus giving a good and smooth finish to the rough ends of the meshes. A rod,
metallic or other cord may be run through the coil W thus enabling the mesh to be
hung up to form a hammock or we may when threading the coils of wire over and
through the ends of the mesh also thread them into a metallic plate as shewn by
Figure 33 or several short metallic plates which are provided with holes to receive
the said wire coils W and these plates would be provided with means for attachment
to wood framing or as may be desired. The wire loop X may also be threaded
in the coil and thus form a means for suspending the webbing from a hook or
nail.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
:-
1st. The improvements in woven wire mattresses & bedstead bottoms for increasing
the amount of spring and improving the appearance: substantially as hercin set
forth and described with regard to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 5^.
2nd. The improvements in woven wire mattresses and bedstead bottoms consisting
of the elevation of the mesh for the purpose and by the means substantially such as
herein described and shewn with regard to Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9.
3rd. In improvements in woven wire mattresses & bedstead bottoms the castings
shaped in combination with the means for and mode of connection to the frame or
sides substantially as herein set forth and shewn upon Sheet 2.
4th. In improvements in bedstead bottoms the means for attaching the head and
foot to the sides: substantially such as and for the purpose herein set forth & shewn
upon Sheet 3 of the drawings.
5th. In improvements in woven wire mattresses and bedstead bottoms the bands a
tightened substantially such as and for the purpose herein set forth & shewn by
Figures 29 & 30.
:
6th. In improvements in woven wire mattresses bedstead bottoms, hammocks and
other such articles the cross joint formed in the mesh substantially such as herein
set forth and shewn by Figure 31.
7th. In improvements in woven wire for hammocks, ships' berths, &c., the means
for finishing off the ends of the mesh coils substantially such as herein set forth &
shewn by Figure 32.

page_text: 8th. The improvements in woven-wire mattresses, bedstead bottoms; hammocks,
seats and other such articles: substantially as and for the purpose herein-set forth
& shewn upon the accompanying four sheets of drawings.
Dated this 4th day of June 1891.
GEORGE BARKER,
77, Colmore Row, Biriningham, Agent..