Year: 1888

page_text: I, JAMES LEA, of Fernleigh, New Road, Bromsgrove in the County of Worcester
Accountant Surveyor etc., do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
My invention has for its object an improved seat for vehicles applicable also to
other purposes such for instance as to place upon the floor of a railway carriage or
upon the footboard of an engine so that where considerable vibration exists through
the shaking of such vehicles in travelling any person standing such as the guard or
engine driver of the train or letter sorters may do so with much greater ease comfort
and steadiness than heretofore or when used as a seat the vibration may be reduced to
a minimum so that a delicate person may travel long distances without difficulty i.e.
whether driving in an ordinary vehicle or riding in a railway carriage.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and easily carried into
practical effect I have appended hereunto two double sized sheets of drawings upon
which I have shewn a number of figures illustrating various kinds of seats by which
practical men will be enabled to adapt the invention to any required circumstances or
positions as I do not in any way confine myself to the sizes of the seats or stands
given nor to the particular manner in which they are shewn upholstered as this may
be varied to any extent to suit the liking of various persons.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my seats in its simplest form suitable for
one person to sit upon.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional elevation of the same seat with the cushion part k¹
removed.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same seat without the cushion.
Figure 4 is a sectional plan on the line A. B.
Figure 5 is another section plan showing a modification of the arrangement of the
springs.
Figure 6 is a broken off part sectional elevation of the spring E shewing the buffer
rubber e and the mode of securing it upon the base board H.

page_text: Figure 7 is an elevation of a compound cushion built up with a series of springs
as will be hereafter more fully explained.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of the compound cushion on the line C. D.
Figure 9 is an inverted plan of the top board N shewing the arrangement of the
india rubber tubular cushions R.
Figure 10 is an elevation of a modification of the compound cushion.
Figure 11 is a sectional elevation through the cushions of Figure 10.
The cushions shown by the first 6 Figures on Sheet 1 of the drawings are composed
of two boards H and K which may be made of any kind of timber but preferably of
hard timber, or from paper-machie or other suitable material which is sufficiently
stiff and firm to distribute any pressure which may come on any particular part to
other parts thereof. Between these two boards H and K I mount metallic or other
suitable springs E upon suitable projections or cores e or into recesses in the
boards Hor N or the springs may be fastened by staples or ordinary screws or hooks
but I prefer the cores which may be fastened by a single screw e or these cores might
even be made of india rubber but when they are not so made of india-rubber ! place
thereupon a buffer rubber e which acts as a sort of guard piece if the cushion is very
greatly compressed so as to prevent any knocking or sound the thickness of which would
be varied according to circumstances such for instance as the depth of the ledge m¹ which
runs around the board N the depth of which would vary according to circumstances.
In the cushion shewn by Figure 1 there are 4 springs E mounted between H and K.
Besides these I may mount one two three or more rubber buffers F which are
pieces of india-rubber tubing cut into lengths and fastened upon their edge by
any suitable fastening f¹ such for instance as a hook or pin and in some cases I
may use the supplemental stiffening board h¹. I may also stiffen these boards in
various ways such for instance as crossing the timber, making them in two thick-
nesses and the board might be dovetailed across so as to prevent fracture. The
pieces of webbing M are fastened to the boards H and N so as to bring the
springs E into slight compression but when the cushion is used as a seat or a
stand this webbing is loose. It will be evident that instead of the wobbing any
other textile material may be used and made continuous so as to entirely box the
springs in.
In
I do not confine myself in any way to the manner in which this webbing or other
textile material is used as the effect would be practically the same in all cases.
Figure 1 there are thus six springs :-four E springs and two F springs as shown
in plan Figure 4 but in the alternative plan Figure 5 a different arrangement is
shown as there are four F springs there, but it will be obvious to every one that a
great variety of modes of arranging the springs may be adopted without departing
from the principle of the invention.
1 also make compound. cushions such as shewn by Figures.7 to 11. In figures 7
and 8. the centre part of the cushion is composed of the boards K and N and indeed
is substantially the cushion shewn by the first four figures with the supplemental
board N mounted upon the top with short rubber tubes R placed upon the wood
cores and similar tube cushions r¹ may be placed under the bottom board H
likewise upon cores or these tubes may be cemented to the boards or fastened in a
number of ways. These figures 7 and 8 shew a plan which would be suitable for
building up special seats upon any suitable base already existing such for instance as
the floor or the base of a railway carriage seat the bottom rubbers acting practically
as legs thereto. I may however use another board S as shewn in Figure 10 in which
case the seat would be practically self contained and may be upholstered in any
suitable manner and the edges may be finished with webbing or any suitable textile
material.
The arrangement of the india-rubber tubes is shewn by Figure 9 but that may
be varied as more or less tubes may be used when desired according to the necessity
of each particular case such as the weight to be carried. In the case of Figures 10
& 11 the centre part may instead of having metallic springs E have the rubber
springs this modification being composed of three tiers of rubber springs R and

page_text: I may however only use two tiers or even more than three. I do not confine myself
to the number of tiers in the compound cushion nor to the particular manner in
which I arrange them. It will thus be seen that such cushions may be transmitted
by passengers from place to place when travelling or the seats may be manufactured
in this way and provided by railway companies for their passengers as also the seats
of coaches either moveable or fixed and permanent stands may be built upon the floors
of carriages or engines or removeable ones kept ready to apply at any moment indeed
there might be small recesses in the floor ready to receive them so that there would
be no movement sideways.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is :-
The improved seats or stands for vehicles consisting of two or more boards or
other substances H.K N, etc., with intermediate springs E, R, l mounted between or
upon them substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth and shewn upon the
drawings.
JOHN KENDRICK,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicant.