AN IMPROVED SELF-BALANCING AND SUSTAINING Berth, Sora, or Lounge FOR VESSELS.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED SELF-BALANCING AND SUSTAINING Berth, Sora, or Lounge
FOR VESSELS. ."-A communication from abroad by William Von
Auer, of Flatbush, and Richard Trested Coombs, of Brooklyn,
both in the County of Kings and State of New York, United States
of America.
Sealed the 16th November 1875, and dated the 7th June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th June 1875.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
5 County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SELF-BALANCING AND SUSTAINING
BERTH, SOFA, OR LOUNGE FOR VESSELS," to be as follows:-
: -
The object of this Invention is to produce a self-balancing berth
in ships, which though capable of remaining in a horizontal position

page_text: during the vibrations of the vessels will be supported in such a way
that it cannot be tilted if the weight on it should be greater on one side
or end than the other; and it consists in combining with the berth,
which is transversely pivoted in a swinging plane, a system of balanced
levers which bear against the under side of the berth for supporting it
lengthwise, and to prevent it from violently tilting on its transverse
pivots, though allowing it to swing moderately and slowly on such
pivots.
Another object of the Invention is to make the berth, though the
same is suspended, practically as long as the cabin in which it is
placed.
The berth, which is made of suitable length and width, is hung between
the side bars of a vibrating frame, the connection between the berth and
the frame being made by pins or trunnions that project laterally from
the sides of the berth into bearings provided for their reception in the
side bars of the frame. The berth can thus swing lengthwise on these
pivots. The frame is provided at the ends of its side bars, with upwardly
projecting yokes, which at their upper parts are hung on pins fastened
to the opposite partitions of the cabin. On these two pins, which are in
line with and opposite each other, the frame is supported so that it can
vibrate, and with it the berth, in a lateral direction. The distance
between the berth and the pins is such that in vibrating on said pins
the berth will describe a large circle, and attain therefore a gentle
motion, whereas heretofore when the supporting frame was pivoted
about on a horizontal line with the berth a tilting motion was produced
whenever the occupant would sit or lie on one side of the berth, and
consequent discomfort was experienced. The yokes are preferably braced
to the sides of the frame. To one side of the frame is attached a hook,
by means of which the frame can be locked to one of a series of eyes
that project from the side of the cabin, or vice versa, so that the occu-
pant of the berth may at any suitable time lock the frame, and prevent
it from vibrating on its pivots. Beneath the berth are two cross bars
constituting part of the frame, and serving respectively as pivots for two
levers, the upper ends of which are provided with friction rollers that
are in contact with the bottom of the berth, while their lower ends are
pivoted to a weighted connecting bar. The weight of this bar tends to
equalize the position of the levers, and to hold the berth always in a
horizontal position lengthwise; but still, if the ship should rock in the

page_text: direction of the length of the berth, the weight of the bar, together with
that of the berth itself, will tend to retain a horizontal position without
regard to the rocking motion of the ship. If however the occupant of
the berth should apply more weight to one end than to the other, and
thus attempt to tilt the berth lengthwise, the weight of the bar will
serve to counteract such motion, and allow it to take place in such a
gentle manner as to render it perfectly safe, and at the same time the
weight will prevent the tilting motion from becoming as extensive as it
otherwise would, because the displacement of the weight by virtue of the
tilting motion of the berth will counteract the weight that tilts the
berth, thus arresting the motion. Moreover, the two levers, bearing
against the under side of the berth, will tend to support and steady the
same in its movements. As the side bars of the frame are braced and
joined only by the yokes above and by the cross bar below the berth
there is no part of said frame between the ends of the berth, and the
ends of the cabin and the berth can therefore be made the full length
of the cabin, which is an important advantage over the vibrating berths
heretofore proposed, which were necessarily as much shorter than the
cabin as the thickness of the enclosing frame which was interposed
between the ends of the berths and the cabin. In other words, the berth
is fully as long as the frame in which it hangs. The pivots on the frame
are placed nearer to the head than to the foot of the berth, for the
reason that the upper part of the body is heavier than the lower part,
the pivot being placed so as to balance the body on the vibrating
berth.
This Invention is applicable to sofas and ships' lounges as well as to

page_text: ་
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence
that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED SELF-BALANCING AND SUSTAINING BERTH, Sofa, or
LOUNGE FOR VESSELS," a communication to me from abroad by William
Von Auer, of Flatbush, and Richard Trested Coombs, of Brooklyn, both
in the County of Kings and State of New York, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Melville
Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to produce a self-balancing berth in
ships, which, though capable of remaining in a horizontal position during
the vibration of vessels, will still be supported in such a way that it
cannot be tilted if the weight on it should be greater at one side or end
than at the other, and consists in combining with the berth, which
is transversely pivoted in a swinging plane, a system of balanced
levers which bear against the under side of the berth for supporting it
lengthwise, and prevent it from violently tilting on its transverse
pivots, though allowing it to swing, moderately and slowly on such
pivots.

page_text: to the ends of the cabin, and not be in the way of the supporting
frame.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical longitudinal
section of the improved self-balancing berth; Figure 2 is a vertical
tranverse section thereof; and Figure 3 is a top view of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
projecting yokes b,
The letters a, a, represent the ends of the cabin, between which the
berth is hung. B is the improved berth of suitable length and width
hung between the side bars of a vibrating frame C. The connection
between the berth B and the frame C is made by pins or trunnions a, a,
that project laterally from the sides of the berth into bearings provided
for their reception in the side bars of the frame C, as clearly shown in
Figure 2, and also in Figure 3. The berth can thus swing lengthwise
on the pivots a, a. The frame C has at the end of its side bars upwardly
which at their upper parts are hung on pins d that
are fastened to the opposite partitions of the cabin A. On these two
pins d, which are in line with and opposite each other, the frame C is
supported so that it can vibrate in a lateral direction, and with it the
berth. The distance between the berth and the pins d is such that in
vibrating on said pins d the berth will describe a large circle, and attain
therefore a gentle motion, whereas heretofore when the supporting frame
was pivoted about on a horizontal line with the berth a tilting motion
was produced whenever the occupant would sit or lie on one side of the
berth, and consequent discomfort experienced. The yokes b are pre-
ferably braced to the sides of the frame C in the manner clearly indicated
in the Drawings. To one side of the frame C is attached a hook e, by
means of which the said frame can be locked to one of a series of
eyes ff, that project from the side of the cabin, or vice versà, so that
the occupant of the berth may at any suitable time lock the frame C,
and prevent it from vibrating on its pivots d, d. Beneath the berth B

page_text: are two cross bars 9, 9, which constitute part of the frame C in the manner
clearly indicated in Figures 1 and 2. These two cross bars serve respec-
tively as pivots for two levers D, E. The upper ends of both these
levers are provided with friction rollers that are in contact with the
bottom of the berth B, while their lower ends are pivoted to a weighted
connecting bar F. The weight of this bar tends to equalize the position
of the levers D, E, and to hold the berth always in a horizontal position
lengthwise; but still if the ship should rock in the direction of the length
of the berth the weight F, together with that of the berth itself, will
tend to retain a horizontal position without regard to the rocking
motion of the ship. If however the occupant of the berth should apply
more weight to one end of the berth than to the other end, and thus
attempt to tilt the berth lengthwise the weight of the bar F will serve to
counteract such motion, and to allow it to take place in such a gentle
manner as to render it perfectly safe, while at the same time the weight F
will prevent the tilting motion from becoming as extensive as it other-
wise would be, because the displacement of the weight by virtue of the
tilting motion of the berth will counteract the weight that tilts the
berth, thus arresting the motion. Moreover the two levers D, E, bearing
against the under side of the berth, will tend to support and steady the
same in its movements. As the side bars of the frame C are braced and
joined only by the yokes above and by the cross bars g below the berth
there is no part of said frame between the ends of the berth and the ends
of the cabin, and the berth can therefore be made the full length of the
cabin, which is an important advantage over the vibrating berths here-
tofore proposed, which were necessarily as much shorter than the cabin
as the thickness of the enclosing frame which was interposed between
the ends of the berths and the cabin. In other words, the berth B is
fully as long as the frame C, in which it hangs. It will be observed that
the pivots a are placed nearer one end of the berth than the other, that
is, nearer to the head than to the foot i of the berth, for the reason that
the upper part of the body is heavier than the lower part, the pivot being
now placed so as to balance the body on the vibrating berth.
The pivots a and d are made by preference with knife edges at their
contact or bearing surfaces, as indicated by dotted lines in Figures 1
and 2, for the purpose of avoiding unnecessary friction.
This Invention is applicable to sofas and ships' lounges as well as to

page_text: Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The vibrating berth B hung by transverse pivots a in the vibrating
frame C, and combined with the levers D and E, which are pivoted to
the vibrating frame C, and joined by the weighted connection bar F, so
that their upper ends bear against the under side of the berth B, sub-
stantially as specified.
2nd. The berth B pivoted between the side bars of the vibrating
frame C, and extending with its ends as far as the ends of said frame, as
set forth.
3rd. The combination of the fastening hook e with the vibrating
frame C of a balancing berth or sofa, substantiatly as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.