IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC BEDSTEADS, COTS, AND COUCHES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Atkins, of the Firm of Robert Walter Win-
field and Company, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchants and Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
METALLIC BEDSTEADS, COTS, AND COUCHES."
Sealed the 8th May 1868, and dated the 19th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Atkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th December 1867.
I, JAMES ATKINS, of the Firm of Robert Walter Winfield and Company, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchants and Manufacturers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
METALLIC BEDSTEADS, COTS, AND COUCHES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in making the half testers of half tester bed-
steads and cots moveable in the following manner :-I connect the half tester
to a horizontal axis supported by the head pillars of the bedstead or cot, the
said half tester turning upon the ends of the said axis. To the said moveable
half tester a core or cbain is attached and passes over a pulley on the fixed
head frame and hangs down in front of the head panel. By pulling or
relaxing the said corn or chain the half tester can be raised or lowered over
the head of the bed or cot, or be folded back against or over the head panel.

page_text: The half tester may be fixed at any desired height by attaching the cord to a
button or other fastening on the head panel.
My Invention consists, secondly, in making the ornamental pillars of
metallic bedsteads, cots, and couches, in the following manner :-I make the
said pillars of fluted or reeded tubes made by the ordinary process and either
taper or of uniform diameter throughout. I take metallic ornamental strips
and lay the said strips in the concave part or trough of the flutes or reeds,
securing the said strips by turning their ends, in the ends of the tubes and
fixing them by soft solder. The said ornamental strips may either be placed
in each of the concavities of the fluted or reeded tube, or in alternate con-
cavities, or in such of them as it may be desired to ornament.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in the following method of making the head
and foot panels of metallic bedsteads, cots, and couches. Instead of making
the said panels of open ornaments inserted in frames of rods, or tubing as is
usual, I make the said panels of a continuous sheet of iron, or brass, or other
metal raised into any required ornamental shape by stamping. Or instead of
making the said panels of one sheet of metal I make them of two or more
sheets raised by stamping, and connected together so as to form a continuous.
or nearly continuous panel. By this method of manufacture the panels can
be made to resemble upholstery work or carving, and when properly painted
can scarcely be distinguished from upholstery work or carved work. Panels
made according to my Invention are inexpensive and have a highly ornamental
appearance. Further they strengthen the head and foot rails and destroy the
slender and fragile appearance which metallic bedsteads, cots, and couches have
which are made in the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Atkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES ATKINS,
of the Firm of Robert Walter Winfield and Company, of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Merchants and Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
"reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Atkins, Her special licence that 1, the said James Atkins,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jamės
Atkins, 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, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC BED-
STEADS, COTS, AND COUCHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Atkins, 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 James Atkins, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:
My Invention consists, firstly, in making the half testers of half tester
bedsteads and cots moveable in the following manner :-I connect the half-
tester to a horizontal axis supported by the head pillars of the bedstead or
cot, the said half tester turning on the ends of the said axis. To the said
moveable half tester a cord or chain is attached and passes over a pulloy or
pulleys on the fixed head frame and bangs down in front of the head panel.
By pulling or relaxing the said cord or chain the half tester can be raised or
lowered over the head of the bed or cot, or be folded back against or over the
head panel. The half tester may be fixed at any desired height by attaching
the cord or chain to a button or other fastening on the head panel or rod.
My Invention consists, secondly, in making the ornamental pillars of
metallic bedsteads, cots, and couches in the following manner:-I make the
said pillars of fluted or reeded tubes made by the ordinary process, and either
taper or of uniform diameter throughout. I take metallic ornamental strips
and lay the said strips in the concave part or trough of the flutes or reeds,
securing the said strips by turning their ends in the ends of the tubes and
fixing them. The said ornamental strips may either be placed in each of the
concavities of the fluted or reeded tube or in alternate concavities, or in such
of them as it may be desired to ornament.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in the following method of making the
head and foot panels of metallic bedsteads, cots, and couches. Instead of
making the said panels of open ornaments inserted in frames of rods or

page_text: tubing as is usual I make the said panels of a continuous sheet of iron or
brass or other metal raised into any required ornamental shape by stamping
or pressing or rolling. Or instead of making the said panels of one sheet of
metal I make them of two or more sheets raised by stamping, or pressing, or
rolling, and connected together so as to form a continuous or nearly continuous
panel. By this method of manufacture the panels can be made to resemble
upholstery work or wicker work or carving, and when properly painted can
scarcely be distinguished from upholstery work, wicker work, or carved work.
Panels made according to my Invention are inexpensive, and have a highly
ornamental appearance.
Further they strengthen the head and foot rails and
destroy the slender and fragile appearance which metallic bedsteads, cots, and
couches have which are made in the ordinary manner.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawings tho manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in perspective, the
head of a metallic bedstead having a half tester constructed according to my
İnvention. a is a horizontal rod or axis, on the ends of which the half tester
6 turns. The said rod a is supported by the head pillars a. The joints by
which the half tester 6 is connected to the rod a are marked c. A cord or
chain & connected to the half tester at e passes over the double pulley f*, and
hangs down in front of the head panel. Rings f, g, h, on the cord or chain
d serve to fix the half tester bat any required height. In order to fix the
half tester it is only necessary to pass one of the rings f, g, h, on to the pin
or stud i on the rod or axis a, or on to a similar pin or stud on the lead
panel. The cord or chain d passes over the top of the upper pulley of the
double pulley f down the back of the said pulley underneath it and over the
top and front of the lower pulley of the said double pulley f', as will be
understood by an examination of Figure 2.
Figure 3 represents in elevation and cross section a pillar for a metallic
bedstead, cot, or couch ornamented according to my Invention. k is the
fluted or reeded tube which may either be taper or of the same diameter
throughout. 1, 1, are ornamental metallic strips laid in the concavities or
trough parts m of the tube k. The said strips are secured to the tube / by
their ends being turned in the tube at the extremities of the tube. The said
strips may also be secured to the tube at their middle or other part by means
of pegs on the under side of the strip being passed through holes in the tube
and their ends clinched by a tool passed down the tube.
Or the said strips
may be attached to the tube by rivets or screws.
The ornamental strips

page_text: may be placed in each of the concavities of the tube as represented, or in
alternate concavities, or in such of them as it may be desired to ornament.
Figure 4 represents in elevation a panel for metallic bedsteads, cots, or
couches, made of a continuous sheet of brass or other metal raised into an
ornamental shape in imitation of upholstery work, the said panel being formed
by stamping or pressing. Although I prefer to make the said panel by
stamping yet some ornamental patterns may be made by pressing, and others
when the ornament is not deep may be produced by rolling.
Figure 5 represents in elevation a portion of a side and foot valance made
in sheet metal in imitation of upholstery work, which may be used round the
frame of metallic bedsteads and cots to match the panels Figure 4.
Figures 6, 7, and 10 represent other patterns of metallic panels mado
according to my Invention. Figure 6 representing a metallic panel in
imitation of wicker work and upholsterer's work, and Figure 7 a metallic
panel in imitation of a carved wooden panel.
Figure 10 represents a metallic panel in imitation of upholsterers' work.
The metallic panel Figure 7 is made in three parts joined together by the
frame of tubing. Although I prefer to make the said panels in one piece or
sheet of metal yet they may be made of two or more pieces or sheets
ornamented by stamping, pressing, or rolling, and connected together by
rivetting or otherwise so as to form a continuous or nearly continuous panel.
Figure 8 represents in perspective the manner in which I connect the sides
of the metallic panels to their framing or to the pillars of the bedstead or
other article.
Figure 9 represents on a larger scale and in cross section the elge of the
panel in the frame or pillar. I make the frame or pillar n of an open jointed
I make a
tube, that is a tube the joint of which has been soldered up.
series of slits in the plain edge of the panel and turn the flaps thus made
alternately in opposite directions, as will be understood by an examination of
Figures 8 and 9. I then insert the edge of the panel in the tube n by a
sliding motion, and when the said edge of the panel is in its place in the
tube n, I fix it there by driving a rod or tube p into the tube or pillar n, tho
said tube or rod p pressing the flaps o against the inside of the tube or pillar
n, and thus wedges or fixes the said edge of the panel in the tube or pillar.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same inay
Le varied without departing from the nature of my Invention. But I claim
www Lavention

page_text: Firstly. Making the balf testers of metallic bedsteads and cots moveable
and capable of being supported at any required height, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. Making the ornamental pillars of metallic bedsteads, cots, and
couches by inserting and fixing ornamental metallic strips in the flutes or
concavities of fluted or reeded tubes, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. Making the head and foot panels of metallic bedsteads, cots, and
couches, of a continuous sheet or plate of iron or brass, or other metal raised
into the required ornamental shape by stamping, pressing, or rolling, or
making the said panels of two or more sheets or plates of iron or brass or
other metal raised into the required ornamental shape by stamping, pressing,
or rolling, and connected together so as to form a continuous or nearly
continuous panel, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Atkins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JAMES ATKINS. (L.S.)