IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS, Coms CONCHIES AND SORAS, COTS, COUCHES, AND SOFAS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Lawson, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and Richard George Hodgetts, of Birmingham afore-
said, Manager of Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS,
Coms CONCHIES AND SORAS.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Lawson and Richard
George Hodgetts at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th
February 1879.
EDWARD LAWSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
and RICHARD GEORGE HODGETTS, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manager of Works.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS, COTS, COUCHES, AND SOFAS."
Our improvements are applicable chiefly to metallic bedsteads, cots, couches, and
sofas, but are also applicable to bedsteads, cots, couches, and sofas made of non-
metallic materials.
We will describe our Invention in connection with a metallic bedstead.
In making a metallic bedstead having an elastic sacking of woven wire or a
sacking of other elastic or flexible fabric, the sacking is ordinarily attached at its
shorter sides to rods or bars which are kept at the distance apart necessary to give
the required tension to the sacking by the ends of the said rods or bars being fixed
to other rods or bars parallel to the longer sides of the sacking. The sacking and
its supporting bars thus form an independent structure, which may at pleasure be
attached to and detached from the framing of the bedstead.
By this, the ordinary method of construction, there are employed two nearly
parallel framings, namely, that of the sacking and that of the bedstead, and our
Invention has for its object to simplify the method of connecting elastic or flexible
sackings to bedsteads.
In constructing a bedstead according to our Invention we make the framing in
the ordinary way, that is, of four bars or rails of angle iron connected with the
pillars by corner blocks and dovetail junctions, as is well understood, and we
011

page_text: connect the elastic sacking to the framing of the bedstead in the following
manner:-
We attach one end of the sacking to a rod or bar, and the other end we connect
to a roller of the same length as the rod or bar described. On each of the side rails
of the bedstead we fix two brackets or bearings, the said brackets being situated
respectively near the ends of the rails, their upper ends being a little above the
horizontal plane of the framing. The bar described connected with one end of the
sacking is attached by its ends to its bearings near one end of the bedstead, by
preference the foot end, and the roller to which the other end of the sacking is con-
nected is supported by and works in the bearings at the head of the bedstead. One
end of the roller is provided with a ratchet wheel, and that bearing in which the
end of the roller with the ratchet wheel works is provided with a pawl which takes
into the said ratchet wheel. By means of a winch the roller may be turned and the
sacking tightened. When it is desired to give great tension to the sacking a train
of two or more pinions or toothed wheels may be employed.
A metallic bedstead of the ordinary construction can be immediately converted
into one having our improvements by lifting the ordinary side bars from the corner
blocks, and substituting therefor side bars having the brackets or bearings and other
parts described.
The method of construction we have described in connection with a metallic bed-
stead is applicable to bedsteads made of non metallic materials, as well as to cots,
couches, and sofas, metallic and non metallic.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Lawson and Richard George Hodgetts in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th August 1879.
EDWARD LAWSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
and RICHARD GEORGE HODGETTS, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manager of Works.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSTEADS, COTS, COUCHES, AND SOFAS."
Our improvements are applicable chiefly to metallic bedsteads, cots, couches, and
sofas, but are also applicable to bedsteads, cots, couches, and sofas made of non-
metallic materials.
We will describe our Invention in connection with a metallic bedstead.
In making a metallic bedstead having an elastic sacking of woven wire or a
sacking of other elastic or flexible fabric, the sacking is ordinarily attached at its
shorter sides to rods or bars which are kept at the distance apart necessary to give
the required tension to the sacking by the ends of the said rods or bars being fixed
to other rods or bars parallel to the longer sides of the sacking. The sacking and
its supporting bars thus form an independent structure, which may at pleasure
be attached to and detached from the framing of the bedstead. By this, the
ordinary method of construction, there are employed two nearly parallel framings,
namely, that of the sacking and that of the bedstead; and our Invention has
for its object to simplify the method of connecting elastic or flexible sackings to
bedsteads.
In constructing a bedstead according to our Invention wo make the framing
in the ordinary way, that is, of four bars or rails of angle iron or tubing connected
with the pillars by corner blocks and dovetail junctions, as is well understood, and
we connect the elastic sacking to the framing of the bedstead in the following
manner:
We attach one end of the sacking to a rod or bar, and the other end we connect
to a roller of the same length as the rod or bar described. On each of the side rails
of the bedstead we fix two brackets or bearings, the said brackets being situated
respectively at or near the ends of the rails, their upper ends being a little above the
horizontal plane of the framing. The bar described connected with one end of the
sacking is attached by its ends to the bearings near one end of the bedstead, and
the roller to which the other end of the sacking is connected is supported by and
works in the bearings at the other end of the bedstead. One or both ends of the
roller is or are provided with a ratchet wheel, and that bearing in which the end of
the roller with the ratchet wheel works is provided with a pawl, which takes into
the said ratchet wheel. By means of a winch the roller may be turned and the
sacking tightened. When it is desired to give great tension to the sacking a train
of two or more pinions or toothed wheels may be employed.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing
the manner in which our Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in plan of upperside, the frame
of a metallic bedstead and the pillars of the same, furnished with appliances con-
structed according to our Invention for connecting the woven wire or other elastic
or flexible sacking to the said frame, and for maintaining and adjusting the tension
of the said sacking; Figure 3 represents in side elevation a portion of the fixed rod
or bar, situated by preference at the foot end of the bedstead frame, and Figure 4 is
a cross section of the same; Figure 5 represents in back elevation, and Figure 6 in
side elevation, partly in longitudinal section, the rotating rod, bar, or roller, and
appliances connected therewith, situated at the head end of the bedstead frame;
and Figure 7 represents cross section of the rotating rod or roller and part of the
elastic sacking.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are drawn to a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2.

page_text: The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
x, x, and h, h, represent the ordinary end and side rails or bars of the bedstead
frame, the said end and side rails being either made of angle bars or of tubes. The
said end and side rails are connected together by corner blocks and dovetail joints
as usual.
a is the fixed cross rod or bar, attached by preference to the foot end of
the bedstead frame, and b is the moveable or adjustable cross rod or roller, situated
by preference at the head end of the bedstead frame. To the said fixed and move-
able bars a, b, the ends of the elastic or flexible fabric c constituting the sacking is
connected, and between them it is stretched. The fixed cross bar a and the moveable
cross bar or roller b are each composed of two parts, marked respectively a, a³, and
b, b. The parts a, b, of the bars have each a nearly circular figure with a flat face
in cross section (see Figures 3, 4, 6, and 7), and the parts or strips a³, 6s, have each
a flat underface with a curved top. The said two parts of each of the bars are bolted
together by scrow nuts and bolts at d.
The flat opposed faces of the two parts of the bars constitute gripping or clamping
surfaces, between which the ends of the elastic web c of the sacking are gripped or
clamped, as seen in Figure 7. The ends of each of the bars a, b, are furnished with
shoulders at e, and the ends of the fixed or non-rotating bar a are provided with
square steinsf. The ends of the rotating bar or roller bare furnished with axles
constructed as horein after described, upon which the said bar or roller turns. On
the foot end of each of the side rails h, h, of the bedstead frame we cast or otherwise
fix a curved or straight bracket or bearing g, the said brackets or bearings g, g,
having the shape and position on the frame best seen in Figures 1 and 2. These
brackets or bearings are furnished with square holes or sockets, into which the
square stems ff, at the ends of the fixed or non-rotating bar a take, so as to secure
the said fixed bar in its place on the frame of the bedstead.
The rotating cross bar or roller b, to which the opposite end of the elastic web c
is connected by clamping the two parts of the bar together by screw bolts and nuts
at d, is supported by and turns in brackets or bearings i, i, cast or otherwise con-
nected at the foot ends of the side rails h, h. The said brackets or bearings i, i, have
nearly the same shape as the brackets or bearings g, g, at the foot ends of the rails
h, h, but the said brackets or bearings i, i, are constructed to receive the holding or
retaining appliances herein after described, and are provided with cylindrical holos. "
Those parts of the axles of the rotating bar or roller b immediately joining the
shoulders e of the said roller are inade square (see Figure 5) for the purpose of
receiving the ratchet wheels . The parts m of the axles are cylindrical, and turn
in cylindrical holes in the bearings or brackets i, i, while tho extreme ends n of the
axles are square or angular to receive a handle or key for giving rotation to the bar
or roller b. On the bearings or brackets i, i, pawls p, p, are situated, the said pawls
turning on pins or studs r fixed to the said brackets. The said pawls p, p, engage
with the ratchet wheels 7, 1, and prevent the back or return motion of the cross
bar or roller b after the elastic web c has been wound up or tightened to the required
extent.
When it is desired to give great tension to the sacking a train of two or more
pinions or toothed wheels may be employed, instead of giving motion directly to the
bar or roller b, upon which the elastic web or sacking is wound.
When bedsteads are employed having extended ends for the purpose of permitting
of the bedclothes to hang within the foot rail, the brackets i, i, are not curved to
the same extent as the brackets g, g, as illustrated in the Drawing.
Although we have described the fixed bar a as arranged at the foot end, and the
rotating bar or roller b at the head end of the bedstead, yet the positions of the said
fixed bar and roller may be reversed, that is, the roller may be situated at the foot
and the fixed bar at the head of the bedstead; and instead of using a fixed bar and
a roller, a roller may be used at each end of the bedstead frame. By constructing t
the parts for carrying the sacking according to our Invention, a metallic bedstead
of the ordinary construction can be immediately converted into one having our

page_text: improvements by lifting the ordinary side bars from the corner blocks, and substi-
tuting therefor side bars h, h, having the brackets or bearings and other parts
described and represented.
The method of construction we have described and illustrated in connection with
a metallic bedstead is applicatble to bedsteads made of non-metallic materials, as
well as to cots, couches, and sofas, metallic and non-inetallic.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we claim as our In-
vention of "Improvements in Bedsteads, Cots, Couches, and Sofas,"
-
Making the metallic or non-metallic elastic or flexible sacking of the said bed-
steads and other articles of an elastic or flexible web attached at its two opposite
ends or sides to a metallic rod and a metallic roller respectively, and forming on the
side rails of the bedstead frame or other article pairs of brackets or bearings in
which the said rod and roller are supported, those brackets in which the roller is
supported being provided with bearings in which the roller turns, and carrying
pawls which take into ratchet wheels on the ends of the roller, the parts being con-
structed, arranged, and used substantially as described and illustrated; also, the
modification, herein before described, in which two metallic rollers are used instead
of a metallic roller and fixed rod.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Lawson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
EDWARD LAWSON. (L.S.)