IMPROVEMENTS IN SACKING AND JOINTS FOR BEDSTEADS
Year: 1860

page_text: Sealed the 14th June 1861, and dated the 22nd December 1860..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Cook and James
Stokes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 22nd December 1860.
We, EDWARD COOK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Bedstead
Manufacturer, and JAMES STOKES, of the same Place, Mechanic, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SACKING AND
JOINTS FOR BEDSTEADS," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in manufacturing two of the joints (at one end
of the horizontal frame) of bedsteads, with parallel motion, which admits (when
a bedstead with our improvements is erected) of the said end being moved
by two screws to and from the centre of the bedstead; the (fibrous) sacking is
looped or hemmed to slide on and cover the sides and ends so that when it is
in its place, and the sides and ends adjusted to the posts, a stretcher is put
between the sides, and the moveable end is screwed up; the sacking being of a

page_text: proper size, it can be adjusted to a great nicety, and is also capable of great
tension, and the sacking being round the horizontal sides and ends obviates
the necessity of studs, cords, rods, or any other appliances, and it is also
useful for attaching the valance. Another advantage is no holes are required
to be made in the angle iron or other framework for supporting the sacking,
so that to erect a bedstead we have only to slide the sides and ends into the
sacking, connect the joints, and tighten up two screws when the bedsteads are
erected ready for the mattress. We use the parallel moveable end to tighten
metallic laths for bedsteads, or strap or cords, or web work for the like
purpose. The parallel motion is obtained by dovetail parallel joints of the
ordinary form for metallic joint, excepting that the dovetail is not taper, and
its position is changed from perpendicular to horizontal. We purpose using
the Invention in part or altogether, both for wood and metallic bedsteads, and
having either the side or end, or both (of the bedsteads) moveable or sliding.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Cook and James Stokes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, EDWARD
Cook, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Bedstead Manufacturer,
and JAMES STOKES, of the same Place, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Edward Cook and James Stokes, Her special licence that we, the
said Edward Cook and James Stokes, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Edward Cook and James Stokes,
our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SACKING AND
JOINTS FOR BEDSTEADS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Edward Cook and James Stokes, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and

page_text: seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 we, the said Edward Cook and James Stokes, do
hereby declare the nature of our 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists of a simple mode of applying and tightening the
fibrous sacking for bedsteads, also for applying the tightening or stretching
apparatus or mechanism to any kind of sacking, laths, or supporters for
mattresses that may require tightening.
Figure 1 is a plan of the frame (or sides and ends) of a bedstead with the
sacking and joints put together in their proper position. A is the fibrous
sacking which covers the frame, except the corners B, B, and C, C; B, B, are
the corners with our new sliding joint, which said sliding joint is shewn full
size in plan, Figure 2, and in section, Figures 3 and 4; Figure 3 is a vertical
section through the dotted line a, Figuro 2; Figure 4 is a longitudinal
section through the screw b; Figure 2 and Figure 4 shew the sliding part c
to have about three-quarters of an inch to move outward or to tighten, but
the screw admits of a tightening range of four inches, or it may be made
more or less according to the length of the screw. It is generally known that
when the warp of plain woven fabric is stretched the weft becomes tightened
or narrowed; thus the sacking is made tight or tense all ways by the two
screw's b, b, Figure 1; Figure 5 is a transverse section (of the angle iron and
sacking) through the dotted line d, Figure 1; e, c, e, in Figures 2, 3, and 4,
are portions of the angle iron where it is fastened to the sliding part c; the
screws b, b, b, may be turned or put in motion by a bed key or turnscrew, as
the head may be made in various forms; it will be seen in Figure 1 that the
moveable end b, b, can be used for tightening any kind of sacking that may
be connected thereto.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the exact form of joint shewn in the accompanying Drawings,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of our Inven-
tion; but we claim the direct movement of the end or side of bedsteads
by sliding motion and screws for the purpose of tightening any kind of sacking

page_text: and laths, or supports for mattresses; we also claim the new mode of applying
the fibrous sacking to our improved joint as shewn in Figures 1 and 5.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Cook and James Stokes, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JOSEPH COOKE,
2, Bennett's Hill,
Birmingham.
(L.S.)
EDWD. COOK.
JAMES STOKES. (L.S.)