A PORTABLE METALLIC SPRING MATTRESS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas Clark, of No. 11, Cottage Place,
City Road, St. Luke's, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"A PORTABLE METALLIC SPRING MATTRESS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th March 1857.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS CLARK, of No. 11, Cottage Place, City Road, St:
Luke's, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A PORTABLE METALLIC SPRING MATTRESS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of a portable metallic spring mattress is made entirely of
metal, so that the air can pass freely through, and prevents the harbouring of
bugs and other vermin.
The mattress is formed of an iron flat frame, the size required, with straps
of iron rivetted across at distances to form a bearing for the spiral springs to
be fixed by means of staples and rivets. The tops of the springs are then
covered with open plated iron straping, which is fixed to the springs and to
each end of the frame. The mattress is made to double by means of rule
joints of about six inches thick, or to suit any kind of bedstead.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Thomas Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS CLARK, of No. 11, Cottage Place, City Road, St. Luke's, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Thomas Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Thomas Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Thomas Clark, 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 "A
PORTABLE METALLIC SPRING MATTRESS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Thomas Clark, 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 William Thomas Clark, 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
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of a metallic spring mattress consists in forming the mattress
entirely of metal, and without any stuffing or covering, such as used in ordinary
spring mattresses, whereby the harbouring of vermin is prevented. The use
of such mattresses is conducive to cleanliness, and is not only especially
adapted for hospital and barrack purposes, but is also of advantage in private
houses, as being conducive to health and comfort, and is, moreover, com-
paratively economical.
It consists of a rectangular frame of metal, having numerous cross bars,
forming the bottom or rest for the springs, which are rivetted or otherwise

page_text: a side view thereof. The flat bars 1, l, are secured one to each part of the
latticework of the mattress, and are jointed to opposite ends of the link m.
Thus, when in position, as at Fig. 1, by passing a small bolt through the over-
lapping parts of 1, 1, and between the laths k, k, and through the link m, the
whole is held firmly together. The length of the link m will depend some-
what on the thickness of the mattress, and must be such as to embrace the
double thickness when folded, as at Fig. 3.
When the mattress is not required to fold, each side lath is made of one
piece from end to end, and without the cross bars k, k. When the mattress
is made separate from the bedstead, it may be made to fold, as before
described; but generally I prefer it as at Fig. 6, in which the side rails a, a,
cross bars c and h form a rigid frame supporting the springs which support
the diagonal laths 9, 9, all as herein-before described.
I have described the framing and laths of the mattress as being of iron, as
being most suitable and economical, but any other metal may be used for the
purpose..
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, to be
protected by the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent is, constructing
metallic spring mattresses entirely of iron or other metal, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, William Thomas Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.