IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING OR CONVERTIBLE AND COLLAPSIBLE BEDSTEADS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clarke at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th January 1880. A com-
munication from abroad by Joseph Picot, of Paris, France.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING OR CONVERTIBLE AND COLLAPSIBLE
BEDSTEADS." [A communication from abroad by Joseph Picot, of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to improvements in folding bedsteads, and in folding or
camp bedsteads convertible into reclining and arm chairs.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood, I have illustrated
it in the annexed Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an improved
camp bedstead; Figure 2 is a cross section of the frame on line 1-2, Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows the bedstend folded for transport.
Figure shows details of the connections of the cross bars; Figure 5 is an
elevation on a larger scale of one leg and its connection with the side rail of the
bedstead; Figure 6 is a cross section of the leg on line 3-4, Figure 5, but on a still
larger scale; Figures 7 and 8 show different views of a mode of fixing the legs of
bedsteads and articles of furniture of various kinds.
In the above Figures the same letters of reference indicate the same parts.
The camp bedstead shown in Figures 1 and 2 is constructed of longitudinal or
side rails a made in 3 pieces, jointed together so as to fold one on the other, and
connected by cross rails b. The cross rails b are made each in two parts jointed
together on a hinge c, as shown in Figure 4, and locked in line with one another
when the bedstead is set up by means of a sliding ring d on the one part being
slipped over an extension of the other part.
In camp bedsteads as heretofore constructed, the side rails are usually in one
piece, but by making them in 3 pieces the bedstead may be folded up into a very
small space.
The legs are connected to the side rails, as shown in Figure 5, so as to be folded
beneath the same. The leg has a stud received in a bayonet slot of a sleeve or
socket f, jointed by ears g to the part of the bedatead. The leg passes through
the socket f, and its upper end, shown in dotted lines, is received in a socket i in h,
thereby connecting fand h rigidly together. If the leg is partly twined and drawn
out until its stud reaches the lower end of the slot in f, its upper end is drawn
quite out of socket i, and may be folded beneath the side rail of the bedstead. The

page_text: leg is made with any number of ribs, as shown in Figure 6, for the sake of lightness,
and it may be of any metal or other suitable material.
The head of the bed is supported at the desired inclination by straps k, by
shortening which the bed may be converted into a reclining chair, and into a seat
by shortening them still more and folding up the foot end j after having laid the
legs i along the side rail.
The improved connection represented in Figures 7 and 8 is shown as applied to
a bed. It consists of a socket m having a slot n and furnished with an ear o,
by which it is jointed to another similar socket in the case of a folding bedstead.
The diameter of the socket at the bottom end is rather greater than at the
orifice, and when the wooden leg of the article of furniture has been placed therein,
a wedge or key of hard wood or metal is driven in at slot n through the end of
the leg, which is thus expanded and locked firmly in the socket. Instead of
driving in a key a wedge or point may be fixed at the bottom end of the socket,
which enters and splits the end of the leg when the latter is driven in, thus
expanding or dovetailing it in the socket as before.
Figure 9 shows a slotted socket capable of being employed in a number of cases
where jointed legs are required.
The legs in the above described bedsteads may be fixed instead of jointed or
folding when the bed is intended for household use, and is not required to be
frequently transported. In applying the improvements to bedsteads for household
use, the construction shown in Figures 10, 11, 12, 13 is preferred.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of the bedstead; Figure 11 is a plan of same; Figure
12 is a section of same on line 1-2, Figure 1; Figure 13 is a plan of the bedstead
half closed. In these four Figures the same letters of reference indicate the same
parts.
In this arrangement the side rails a are jointed at the ends at b to the head and
foot posts c, and are jointed at the middle of their length by a joint similar to
that shown in Figure 4 for the cross raila. These joints b and d enable the
bedstead to be folded by bringing the head and foot frames close together. As the
head and foot frames do not fold down, the struts e are jointed at f to the side
rails a and furnished with a socket g at the upper end capable of turning on the
post o so that the struts e can follow the movement of the rails a when the bedstead
is folded, as in Figure 13. The side rails a are not on the same level, so that the
one can pass over the other when the bedstead is folded, but their difference of
level is only equal to the depth of the iron rail a itself. If however, it is desired
that the two side rails should be on the same level when the bedstead is opened
out for use, and yet pass one over the other when closed, the bayonet joint slot of
the sockets shown in the Drawing may be replaced by a helical slot in which a
stud, rivetted to the posts c, would work, so that as the side rails a turn by their
joints b on the posts c, the one rail would be raised and the other lowered until
they are level with one another. Instead of a helical slot any other equivalent
device may be adopted, for instance, a friction roller carried by the socket and
running on a helical surface on the post or vice versa. The legs h may be jointed
like those in Figures 1, 2, and 5, and one or more may be placed at intermediate
points of the side rails to support the middle part of the bedstead. The stretchers i
are in two halves, each jointed at k to the side rails a, their other ends being
connected at the middle of the bedstead by a pin l. Each half can fold against its
side rail a, as shown in Figure 13. Any other suitable arrangement of stretchers
may be used, for instance, they may be rule jointed and made in one piece, especially
in narrow bedsteads, and for greater rigidity they may be halved together, or the one
part may have a T or fork embracing the other so as to prevent any movement
after the parts are connected. The arrangement shown in the Drawings is only
given as an example of one of the ways in which the Invention can be carried into
effect.
To fold the bedstead the rings m are slid off, the stretchers i are folded as in

page_text: Figure 13, and the head and foot frames moved towards one another, the side rails
folding at their joints and passing one over the other until the side rails and
stretchers are folded flat between the head and foot frames, and the latter are
brought quite close together.
This bedstead presents the following advantages:
(1). It is folded without dismounting any part or using loose keys.
(2). It folds into a very small compass.
(3). Its construction is very simple, as the head and foot frames are not jointed
as usual, and the struts are permanently attached.
(4). It is cheap and easily operated.