Improvements in the Construction of Beds, Bedsteads, Mattress Frames, and Ships' Berths.
Year: 1888

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Beds, Bedsteads, Mattress
Frames, and Ships' Berths.
We ISAAC CHORLTON. of 19 Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Spring Mattress Manufacturer and GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of Manchester,
aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
:-
Our said Invention relates principally to bedsteads having tubular or angle iron side
members and angle iron or other ends and provided with head and foot ends as is
well understood. When bedsteads of this description have to be packed for transport
the head and foot ends require to be entirely disengaged from the bed bottom or mat-
tress frame the attachment being effected either by means of the well known dovetail
joint or by other suitable means. There are therefore these disadvantages that the
bedstead when packed or when dismounted consists of at least three and frequently of
more than three separate portions which when the bed is to be erected have to be
fitted and secured together generally by unskilled hands, and frequently at the risk of
breakage of the parts or loss of the attachments. According to our invention the
aforesaid head and foot ends, that is to say the supports which reach to the floor and
the frames or parts at the head and foot of the bed which rise above the level
of the bed bottom, are hinged to the corner bracket so that the said end frames can
be folded down on the top of the bed bottom and the supports turned up against the
lower side of the bed bottom. Thus when it is required to prepare the hed for
transport it is only necessary to fold these several parts parallel with the bed bot-
tom and mattress and it is ready for packing. To hold the hinged head and foot
ends and supports in their vertical positions we employ hasps or catches of a
suitable construction and sufficiently strong to resist the strain which would be put
upon them when the bed is occupied. We might make such a hasp or catch as a
spring catch or lock concealed within the corner bracket or in the butt brackets of the
hinged portions. An ornamental knob or button might project from the corner brackets
or from each of the butt brackets upon pressing which the hinged portions would be
released from the spring catches and allowed to fold down. In the case of bedsteads
having side members of metal tubes attached directly to the corner brackets by means

page_text: of plugs or studs projecting from the corner brackets (the angle iron ends being held
between the ends of the tubes and the corner brackets) we square the roots of the said
plugs or studs for a distance equivalent to rather less than the thickness of the angle
iron ends and also square the holes in the angle iron ends through which the plugs
pass so that the squared root of each stud occupies the squared hole in the angle
iron end. This construction prevents working of the parts at the corners and stiffens
the whole bedstead or frame. When a bel or mattress frame is constructed with
hinged head and foot ends as herein before described, we might render the hinge
pins and consequently the ends and supports easily removable and the mattress frame
thus denuded of supports and ends could be placed upon an ordinary bedstead or
could be attached to the uprights of a range or tier of ship's berths and the corner
bracket to which the ends and supports are hinged could be constructed with special
reference to these subsidiary uses of the bed or mattress frame. Our invention is
chiefly applicable to metallic bedsteads and mattress frames having metallic mattresses
either adjustable or non-adjustable but is also applicable to bedsteads of composite or
other construction and carrying ordinary mattresses, sacking or paillasses.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1888
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Beds, Bedsteads, Mattress
Frames, and Ships' Berths.
We ISAAC CHORLTON of 19 Blackfriars Street, Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Spring Mattress Manufacturer, and GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of Manchester afore-
said, Engineer, 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 and accompanying drawings:-
Our said Invention relates primarily to bedsteads having tubular or angle iron side
members and angle iron or other ends and provided with head and foot ends as is
well understood. When bedsteads of this description have to be packed for transport
the head and foot ends require to be entirely disengaged from the bed bottom or
mattress frame the attachment being effected either by means of the well known
dovetail joint or by other suitable means. There are therefore these disadvantages
that the bedsteads when packed or when dismounted consists of at least three and
frequently of more than three separate portions which when the bed is to be erected
have to be fitted and secured together generally by unskilled hands, and frequently at
the risk of breakage of the parts or loss of the attachments. According to our
invention the aforesaid head and foot ends, that is to say the supports which reach to
the floor and the frames or parts at the head and foot of the bed which rise above the
level of the bed bottom, are hinged to the corner bracket so that the said end frames
can be folded down on the top of the bed bottom and the supports turned up against
the lower side of the bed bottom. Thus when it is required to prepare the bed for
transport it is only necessary to fold these several parts parallel with the bed bottom
and mattress and it is ready for packing.
In order to render our invention more clear we will now proceed more particularly
to describe it with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bedstead made in accordance with our invention and
having head and foot ends capable of being folded down upon the mattress surface the
view representing the bedstead as it appears when in use.
Fig. 2 represents the same bedstead as it appears when the binged head and foot ends
are folded against the mattress surface which is shewn in the drawing to consist of
woven wire, but which may be of any other material.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of one of the corner brackets showing the mode of
hinging the head and foot ends.
Fig. 4 is a view at right angles to Fig..3.
Fig. 5 shows the square neck on the plugs which extend from the corner brackets
and Fig. 6 is an end view of the plug showing the square neck more fully, while Fig. 7
shows a part of the angle iron end with the square hole which is occupied by the
square neck of the plug.
Referring to the said Figs. it will be seen that the illustrated bedstead has tubular
sides a and angle iron ends b although of course we do not confine ourselves to

page_text: articles so constructed. The folding heads of the bedstead are marked cc and the
folding feet are marked dd'. These are both hinged to the corner brackets e. These
corner brackets are fashioned as more clearly shown at Figs. 3 and 4. Each is formed
with jaws ff and the hinged parts of the head and foot c and d are recessed to fit the
jaws, hinge pins g being then inserted through holes bored to receive them. As the
hinges are placed to one side as shown in Fig. 3 the head and foot ends can
fold in one direction only, that is down upon the mattress surface. In the other
direction they cannot pass the perpendicular. To hold the parts cc' and dd'in the
perpendicular position shown at Fig. 1 we provide hasps or catches which are hinged
to or centered upon one of the folding parts, for example as shown in the drawing to
the parts cc while pins or studs i project from the other folding parts namely the sup
ports d d. When the supports and ends are erected as in Fig. 1 the hasps are moved
so as to lay hold of the studsi so that the parts ed and e' d' are securely connected together
when in use. When it is desired to fold the bed together for transport or packing
the hasps hare disengaged from the studs i and the ends and supports c. c¹ and d. d'are
folded against the mattress surface as shown in Fig. 2. The hasps or catches herein-
before described might be made of different forms so long as they fulfil the functions
of holding the hinged head and foot ends together when in their perpendicular
position. For example we might make such a hasp or catch as a spring catch or
lock concealed within the corner bracket or in the butts of the hinged portions.
Ornamental knobs or buttons might project from the corner brackets or from the
butts of the folding ends and supports, upon pressing which the hinged parts would
be released from the spring catches and allowed to fold down. In the case of such a
bedstead as we have-illustrated that is to say a bedstead having tubular sides and angle
iron ends, the corner brackets have plugs & which enter the ends of the tubular sides as
clearly shown in Fig. 3, the plug and tube being held together by a bolt or stud,
cotter or pin. The angle iron ends bare nipped and held between the ends of the
tubular sides a and the corner brackets e the plug passing through the vertical web
of the angle. To prevent working of the frame and to stiffen the whole structure,
we make the plugs & square at the root at the part marked the squared part
extending for a distance rather less than the thickness of the angle iron. The hole in
the angle iron is made square to correspond to the square neck of the plug. The
angle iron ends are thus prevented from turning on the plug and each corner is made
in a measure self supporting against torsive and other strains. Instead of being square
the root or neck of the plugs might be made triangular or polygonal in shape the
hole in the angle iron ends being made to correspond. The aforesaid improved con-
nection may be used in all constructions of beds, bedsteads, mattress frames, ships
berths, couches and the like in which tubular sides and angle ends or combinations
conversely arranged are used. When a bed or mattress frame is constructed with
binged head and foot ends as hereinbefore described, we might render the hinge pins
and consequently the ends and supports easily removable and the mattress frame thus
denuded of supports and ends could be placed upon an ordinary bedstead'or could be
attached to the uprights of a range or tier of ships berths and the corner bracket to
which the ends and supports are hinged could be constructed with special reference to
these subsidiary uses of the bed or mattress frame. Our invention is chiefly applicable
to metallic bedsteads and mattress frames having metallic mattresses either adjustable
or non-adjustable but is also applicable to bedsteads of composite or other construction
and carrying ordinary mattresses, sacking or paillasses.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
(1) In a bed or bedstead having metallic sides and ends the employment of head
and foot ends and supports hinged to the corner brackets in such a manner as to be
capable of being folded against or parallel with the frame or mattress surface and of
being turned up and secured in a perpendicular position, substantially as hereinbefore
described and shown.

page_text: (2) In a bedstead or mattress frame or berth in which plugs projecting from the
corner brackets are used to engage with and sustain the tubular sides and angle iron
ends, forming the root or neck of the said plugs of a square, triangular or polygonal
shape so as to fit a correspondingly-shaped hole in the angle iron end with the object
of preventing the angle iron from turning on the plug substantially as described and
shown.
(3) The general arrangement and combination of parts forming our improved bedstead
substantially as described and shown.