IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTABLE CHAIRS CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES communicated to him.
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Hasoltine Lake
and Co Patent Agents Southampton Buildings, London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTABLE CHAIRS CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC
PURPOSES communicated to him. from abroad by William Shields Liscomb
of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America, Gentleman,
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th August 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTABLE CHAIRS CHIEFLY
DESIGNED FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES communicated to me from abroad by
William Shields Liscomb, of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
Gentleman
This invention relates to chairs which are specially adapted for use in a
photographer's or artist's studio.
Chairs as heretofore constructed for various special uses, including such as have
been adapted for use in the studios of artists and photographers have not had rigid
and unyielding backs or back-rests capable of a vertical adjustment, coupled with
a capacity for such an angular adjustment as would afford a variable depth of
seat from front to rear of the chair; or in other words, no chair has heretofore
been provided with a rigid or unyielding back or back-rest, capable of being
variably located forward of the rear line of the chair seat, so as to thereby
practically reduce the area of the seat, by lessening the distance between the
front edge thereof, and the vertical plane occupied by the back-rest, the latter
at the same time being capable of a corresponding depression toward the surface
of the seat.
.
I am aware that head-rests have heretofore been so constructed as to enable
them to be adjusted vertically, as well as angularly, and that their head-pads have
been pivotted to their standards, but they are so organized as to be applicable in

page_text: -
all cases to chair-backs, and as hereinafter indicated many of them may be applied,
if desired, to the rigid back pad standard or to the back pad of the improved
chair. I am also aware that such head-rests have had standards composed of
slotted plates and clamping bolts, and also that spring chair-backs with non-
pivotted back pads, have heretofore embodied base-blocks in which the spring
chair back standards could be vertically and angularly adjusted; but it is obvious
that a photographer's chair should have a firm, rigid, or unyielding back in order
to ensure good results. I am also aware that piano-stool backs have been so
constructed as to be capable of being located and adjusted at various points over
the scat, forward of the base-block; but in a piano-stool a spring back is essential, 1
and that feature is provided for, mainly by means of a base-block backed up by a
spring, and partly by an additional spring between the back pad and standard.
According to this invention the chair has a back rest pad pivotted to a standard,
which is in turn pivotted to the chair seat at the rear edge thereof, and each of the
said pivotal connections is provided with a clamping or locking device by which 1
the back rest pad and the standard are locked rigidly together and to the chair,
affording as firm and reliable rearward support as any good chair back of ordinary
construction. For affording oxtremes in adjustment, the standard and back pad
are vertically adjustable.
The improved chair enables a small child to gracefully occupy a portion of the
seat, but to nevertheless have. a. firm and comfortable rearward support. By a
variation in adjustment it can be readily adapted for use by a full grown person,
because the distance between the front edge of the chair and the vertical plane
occupied by the back pad can be varied at will, and also because the said back
pad can be located near the surface of the seat for a child, and properly elevated!
and even rearwardly inclined for the largest persons, and in both cases the pad can
be made to conform to the proper rearward inclination of the body, because the
said pad is pivotally connected to the standard.
In the use of the improved chair by a lady, her dress will offer no obstruction to
the proper contact of her back with the back pad, and it therefore cannot prevent
a comfortable rearward support, because although the seat may be fully occupied
from front to rear, the back pad can be moved forward beyond, but above, her
bustle and caused to firmly bear against her back, without unduly crumpling or
disarranging the skirts of her dress.
The chair seat is also capable of use as a foot-stool, in which case the back pad
serves as a seat for a small child, thus affording an extraordinary elevation as is
sometimes desirable; and the said back pad can also be covered with drapery
to serve as an elevated arm-rest or standard for persons desiring pictures in a
standing position, in which case the chair proper serves as a mere base for the
standard.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a side view of a chair constructed according to this invention.
Figure 2 is a rear view of the same.
Figures 3 and 4 are a side and rear view respectively illustrating a modification
of this invention.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are views illustrating another modification.
Figures 8 to 12 show the various positions of the chair when in actual use.
A indicates the chair seat which may be largely varied in form and construction,
but I prefer it to have a heavy rigid frame, or to be composed of solid wood, so as
to enable the back portions to be reliably secured thereto by bolts or screws. The
legs of the chair may be also varied in character, but the chair, as a whole, should
be of sufficient size and strength to accommodate persons of at least ordinary size
and weight.
I will first describe the chair shown in Figures 1 and 2. An important feature
is the pivotal base-block B which in some form is always an essential element in
the chair. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the said base-block bas an angle plato a
for obtaining a firm connection by means of screws or bolts to the chair-scat A,

page_text: b
and integral with the said angle plate is a heavy car 6 having a bearing face on one
side thereof, which is radially serrated as at b'.
The back standard C, as shown, is composed of two flat bars or plates c,
correspondingly slotted longitudinally. The lower plate c has a circular radially
serrated bearing surface on one side near its lower end, which is coincident to the
serrated face 6 of tho base-block ear b, and the said plate has also a hole in the
centre of its serrated bearing surface, loosely occupied by a strong thumb-screw d,
which is tapped into and through the heavy ear b; it will thus be seen that tho
plate c can be inclined forward or backward, and firmly clamped, the coincident
serrations contributing to a firm and rigid connection between the said plate and the
base block B. The upper plate c¹ of the standard has a longitudinal slot corre-
sponding with that in the lower plato c, and it has near its lower end an integral
stud c² which projects laterally from one side thereof and occupies the vertical slot
in the lower plate c, but can freely slide therein. A strong thumb-screw is passed
through the slot into the upper end of the lower plate c as clearly shown. The
back rest standard can thus be vertically lengthened and the two plates firmly
clamped, and it can be tilted edgewise rearwardly, like many back rest standards
as heretofore constructed; it can also be tilted forward so as to overlie the seat of
the chair, and be firmly locked or clamped at any desired angle, and this capacity
in a back rest pivotted to the seat of a chair has never before been provided, and
such construction as affords the said novel capacity for forward adjustment
constitutes a characteristic feature of this invention.
The back-pad D may be variously constructed as to material form and dimensions,
but as a rule it should not be large enough to be visible from the front when the
chair is occupied. It is, however, essential that it be pivotted to the standard C,
but it is to be understood that back-pads have not only heretofore been pivotted to
standards of some kind, but they have also been capable of a fixed angular
adjustment with relation to their standards. As hero shown the arms fof the back
pad branch from a circular plate fl, and are integral therewith, and one face of the
said plate is radially serrated for obtaining a good bearing contact with a similarly
serrated face coincident therewith on the side of the upper end of the standard C,
the back pad being locked in position by the strong thumb-screw g which freely
passes through a hole in the standard and is tapped into a hole in the back pad
plate fas clearly indicated. In some cases the locking device at the junction of
the back pad arm and standard can be dispensed with without departing from the
nature of this invention, but in this case the top of the standard is preferably
curved forward and the back pad hinged directly thereto.
While I prefer the construction of the parts as thus far described I have illus.
trated in Figures 3 and 4 certain modifications in construction. In the said
Figures the back pad D and its connection with the standard C and also the
pivotal base B are as before described. Instead, however, of having the standard C
constructed in two parts, it is here shown as being in one piece with parallel ribs
on one side thereof and between which there is a long slot, the space between the
ribs and on each side of the said slot serving as a bearing surface for a clamping
block h, having a circular and radially serrated bearing face for the coincident
serrated face of the ear of the base-block. The thumb-screw & passes loosely'
through the clamping block h as clearly indicated in section in Figure 4, and is
tapped into the ear of the base-block as before described, so that when the said
screw is tightly turned, the standard is firmly clamped between the outer flange of
the screw and the clamping block, and the latter is also tightly clamped against
the ear, thus providing for the vertical, the forward, and the rearward adjustment
of the standard, and for firmly locking it in any desired position of adjustment.
With the two forms of pivotal connection shown, at the junction of the standard
with the pivotal base, clamping screws are usod and as a rule they are to bo
preferred to any other form of locking mechanism but other means may be
employed for controlling the standard adjacent to the pivotal base without
departure from the nature of this invention, and I have illustrated in Figures 5 to 7

page_text: inclusive an arrangement of locking mechanism which will serve a good purpose,
and although many other suitable contrivances might be illustrated by me, they
are deemed unnecessary for the purposes of this specification. In these Figures the
standard C has its rear edge angularly serrated or toothed as shown. The pivotal
base block has a slotted arm inclined slightly upward, and at its outer end it is
provided with a slotted ear for the reception of the two pivotted pawls i one above
the other, and each engaging with the teeth of the standard respectively above and
below the arm of the base blocks. Each pawl has a thumb piece at i¹ and a spring k
is arranged to bear against both pawls, and to cause their ends to be forced forward
against the standard. A bolt 2 passes through the slotted neck of the base, and
preferably also through a rectangular block occupying the slot of the standard, and
it serves as a pivotal bearing for the standard, and as an abutment between which
and the ends of the pawls, the standard is firmly held. The upper pawl.resists
rearward pressure on the back rest, and also prevents it from falling downward
through the base block, but the lower pawl is relied upon for preventing the
standard from falling forward when inclined toward the front edge of the chair,
and it also prevents the standard from being unduly lifted, and the two thumb
pieces when grasped by the hand throw the pawls free from the standard, when the
latter is to be raised or inclined either to front or rear.
In illustrating the varied use of my chairs in Figures 8 to 12 inclusive, I have
with one exception selected the preferred construction, shown in Figure 1, and it
will be readily obvious that either of the modifications shown may be used if
-desired.--
In Figure 8 the back pad is depressed and advanced over the seat, affording
proper depth or space between the front edge of the seat and the vertical plane
occupied by the back pad to enable a child as shown to be comfortably seated, and
to have a firm rearward support. The use of some one of the well-known.
vertically adjustable foot rests will always be advisable for children.
In Figure 9 the back pad is elevated and slightly inclined rearwardly to
accommodate the man as shown, but it is to be understood that when thus adjusted
the chair resembles many prior chairs containing a provision for rearward and
vertical adjustment of the back rest.
In Figure 10 the back pad is somewhat elevated, and advanced toward the
front of the chair scat so as to properly support the back of the lady as shown,
and also so as to amply accommodate the bustle and dress below the pad and
standard, thus obviating the undue crushing or rumpling of the dress, and
preventing the bustle and dress from obstructing a comfortable contact of the
back of the person with the pad.
In Figure 11 the standard is in a vertical position, the pad depressed, but
turned upward so as to occupy a horizontal plane for serving as an elevated
seat for the child as shown, the chair seat then serving as a foot stool, thus
enabling a child to be elevated for high range work with the camera, as is
sometimes desirable.
In Figure 12 tho back pad occupying a horizontal plane as in Figure 11 is fully
elevated, and when covered with drapery as shown, it serves as an arm rest or
standard for a person in a standing position.
In the use of the improved chairs it will be understood that head rests may be
employed as heretofore, and that they in no manner pertain to this invention. I
deem it desirable that head rests be applied to my back pads, and many of the
well known adjustable head rests may be used therewith.
The importance of having a comparatively light but rigid standard for the
back rest is obvious, and for that reason I prefer the use of plates applied edgewise
as shown.
It is to be understood that while I construct the entire chair substantially as
shown the improvements herein before described, may be applied to any suitable
chair without departing from the nature of this invention.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my

page_text: foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it
understood that I make no specific claim to any of the separate devices now
shown and described, nor to any combinations thereof, except they be constructed
and organized substantially as shown and described, so as to serve their purpose
in affording a reliable rigid or unyielding back support for a person occupying a
chair provided therewith, and also so that the back supporting pad can be located
in various vertical planes between the front and rear edges of the seat, but
I claim
The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a chair-seat, a
pivotal base-block rigidly secured at the rear edge of the said seat, a rigid
back-supporting standard pivotted at the said base-block and united and combined
therewith and with the chair substantially as described, to permit it to be vertically
adjustable, and also angularly adjustable forward of the said base block and over
the chair seat, a back-pad pivotted to the said standard, and a locking device for
rigidly connecting the standard to the base-block, whereby the back-pad can be
located and rigidly held in varied vertical planes between the front and rear edges
of the seat and correspondingly depressed or elevated, as set forth.
'
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this seventh day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
SAR