AN IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING EASY CHAIRS, WHICH WHEN OPEN FORMS A SPRING BED
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Lloyd, of 82, Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Sqr., W.,
for an Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING EASY CHAIRS, WHICH
WHEN OPEN FORMS A SPRING BED."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Lloyd at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th February 1881.
ALFRED LLOYD, of 82, Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Sqr., W. "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN FOLDING EASY CHAIRS, WHICH WHEN OPEN FORMS A SPRING BED."
That as an easy chair, when used or shown as such, has the appearance and
comfort of an ordinary easy chair, and has not the unsightly appearance that is
general in Inventions of this kind, and it is so constructed with spiral or other
springs that when open and used as a bed persons lying thereon obtain the same
comfort as when on an ordinary spring bed.
The construction is as follows:-The seat is formed by two frames hinged together
by the front rails, the arms of the chair to be attached to the top frame of seat,
and when used as bed the said arms to act as rest (in place of legs) for head of
bed. The back is hinged on to the bottom frame of seat, and so constructed as to
act as rest (in place of legs) for foot of bed. All cross rails arranged that they shall
not cause any discomfort when used as a bed,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alfred Lloyd in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
August 1881.
"
ALFRED LLOYD, of 82, Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, W., Manufacturer's
Agent. AN IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING EASY CHAIRS, WHICH WHEN OPEN FORMS
A SPRING BED."
My Invention relates to improvements in folding easy chairs, which may be
opened out so as to form couches or spring beds, and the objects of my Invention
are that notwithstanding such convertability they shall present when used as
chairs very little indication of their double purpose, and when used as beds shall
afford the same comfort as would be obtained on an ordinary couch or single
spring bed.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a chair constructed
according to my said Invention folded up as a chair; Fig. represents the same
opened out as a couch or bed; Fig. 3 represents a side view of the same with the
covering removed; Fig. 4 shows the shape of the crossbars at the hinged joints,
and Fig. 5 represents a cushion; similar letters refer to similar parts throughout
the several views.
In constructing chairs according to my Invention I make three frames A, B,
and D, which are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 upholstered in the usual manner, and are
part shown in Figs. 3 and 4 without covering, and of which A and B when folded
up as a chair lie one on the other, and are united at the front by the hinges C, C.
The frame D is attached by hinges C¹, C', to the back of the frame A.
The legs
of the chair form part of the frame A, and the arms part of the frame B.. I con-
struct the frame B to lift and turn over on its hinges C, C, from the back to the
front, as shown in Fig. 2, in which position the arms rest on the floor and support
'the frame in a horizontal position to form the head of the bed. The upper part of
the back frame D may be constructed with a roll k, as shown in the Drawings, so
that when the back is let down on its hinges into a horizontal position it may be
supported by the roll resting on the floor, but this support is not absolutely
necessary, and a better appearance is obtained by making the said roll smaller, and
.so constructing the frames A and D about the hinges that the back frame D will
not let down below the horizontal position, but remains supported by its connection
with the central frame A. The hinges C, C, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and those at
the back, one of which is shewn at C¹, Fig. 3, but which are concealed in the
finished article by the covering, I prefer should be of wrought iron, and I construct
the parts of the frames A and D, where they meet each other below the hinges
C, C, of the shapes shown at h and i, as seen more particularly in Fig. 3, and
indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The cross rails of the frame A and the
cross rails of B and D, which are adjacent to them, I make of the shape shown in
Fig. 4, in order that when opened out for use as a couch or bed the edges of those
rails may be sufficiently below the surface of the couch or bed to escape being felt
by any one lying thereon. The seat springs in the frame B I secure between the
usual linen tapes both above and below, and I finish alike on both sides so as to
present an equally comfortable surface whether open or folded up. The arms L, L,
of the chair I construct so that their highest points, upon which when inverted
they will rest, are at the same distance above the level of the joints of the
hinges C, C, as these joints are above the floor, so that when opened as a couch or
bed the two frames A and B may lie evenly in one plane. On each arm I fix
under the covering a spring catch m, and at the corresponding point on the back
or frame D a plate with an opening, into which the latch passes and catches so as

page_text: to hold the back firmly in its place. When it is desired to convert the chair into
a couch or bed it is only necessary to press the buttons of the spring catches m on
each side of the chair and let the back down into a horizontal position, and then
turn over the part B on its hinges into the position shown in Fig. 2.
I also supply with the chair a small pillow, shown at N, Fig. 5, which serves as
a bolster for the bed, or will lie at the back of the seat of the chair and act as
a pad.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that what I claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is constructing chairs in the manner described which open
out into spring beds, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Lloyd, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
Signed and sealed by the above
named Alfred Lloyd, in the
presence of
NEWNHAM BROWNE,
Patent Agent,
91, Queen Street, Cheapside,
London, E.C.
ALFRED LLOYD. (L.S.)