Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 26th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 2nd Oct., 1897
We, JETHRO FOOT, and ROBERT JETHRO FOOT, of 62, New Bond Street, in the
County of London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in and connected with chairs and back rests
and has for its object to provide a chair of simple construction which can be easily
converted from an ordinary easy chair into a rocking chair and vice versa and the
back and seat of which can be adjusted at any suitable inclination and also to provide
chair backs or back rests more easily and accurately adjustable than those heretofore
made.
According to our invention we form a chair of a support or stand having brackets
upon which the seat of the chair rests and can rock as hereinafter described each side
of the said seat being attached to the said support by means of a spring on each side
of the supporting bracket.
The back of the chair is hinged to the back of the seat and is provided with a
spring or springs which normally holds or hold the said back upright. The arms of
the chair are hinged to the back and seat of the chair so as to allow of the backward
movement of the chair back which is provided with suitable means for locking it in
any desired position or at any inclination: we also provide the seat with means for
locking it so as to prevent it from rocking, such means preferably consisting of a
sliding rod or bar attached to the said seat and sliding in a guide in which it can be
locked when desired.
In connection with our improved chair we provide a foot support designed, when
not in position on the chair, to serve as a stool or ottoman. The said stool is provided
with means whereby it can be hinged to the front end of the chair and also with means,
such as a pivoted frame whereby it can be supported in the chair at any suitable
inclination, the said pivot frame being designed when the stool is not hinged to the
chair to be folded up underneath the former.
In practice we find it advantageous to employ in connection with our improved
chair a head rest pivoted to the upper end of the back of the chair in such a manner
that it is held in any desired position by the friction of the pivots, and we also find
it advantageous to provide the chair seat with knife edges adapted to rock in the
supporting brackets which are so arranged that it is not possible to crush the hand
when the seat is rocking.
It will be obvious that our hinged back can be employed with fixed seats and also
that it can be advantageously employed in lieu of existing back rests for use by
invalids and other persons on beds, couches and the like.
Dated this 26th day of November 1896.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4. South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: We, JETHRO FOOT and ROBERT JETHRO FOOT, of 62, New Bond Street, in the
County of London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the saine is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in and connected with chairs and back
rests and has for its object to provide a chair of simple construction which can be
easily converted from an ordinary easy chair into a rocking chair and vice versa and
the back and seat of which can be adjusted at any suitable inclination and also to
provide chair backs or back rests more easily and accurately adjustable than those
heretofore made.
According to our invention we form a chair of a support or stand having brackets
upon which the seat of the chair rests and can rock as hereinafter described each side
of the said seat being attached to the said support by means of a spring on each side
of the supporting bracket.
The back of the chair is hinged to the back of the seat and is provided with a
spring or springs which normally holds or hold the said back upright. The arms of
the chair are hinged to the back and seat of the chair so as to allow of the backward
movement of the chair back which is provided with suitable means for locking it in
any desired position or at any inclination: we also provide the seat with means for
locking it so as to prevent it from rocking, such means preferably consisting of a
sliding rod or bar attached to the said seat and sliding in a guide in which it can be
locked when desired.
In connection with our improved chair we provide a foot support designed, when
not in position on the chair, to serve as a stool or ottoman. The said stool is
provided with means whereby it can be hinged to the front end of the chair and also
with means, such as a pivoted frame whereby it can be supported in the chair at any
suitable inclination, the said pivot frame being designed when the stool is not hinged
to the chair to be folded up underneath the former.
In practice we find it advantageous to employ in connection with our improved
chair a head rest pivoted to the upper end of the back of the chair in such a manner
that it is held in any desired position by the friction of the pivots, and we also find
it advantageous to provide the chair seat with knife edges adapted to rock in the
supporting brackets which are so arranged that it is not possible to crush the hand
when the seat is rocking.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe it by reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a chair made according to our
invention:
Figure 2 is a back view of the same;
Figure 3 is an underside view of the foot stool: and
Figures 4 and 5 are views of details drawn to a larger scale.
a is the support or stand for the chair and b, b are the brackets on each side of the
support, the said brackets having notches b', b¹ at their upper ends. c is the seat of
the chair and d, d are brackets secured to the sides thereof, the said brackets having
at their lower ends two lateral knife edge projections d¹, d' which enter the 4
notches b1, b in the brackets b, b so as to support the seat c. One of the two
projections on each bracket is arranged higher than the other thereon so that the
seat c is supported by either or both pairs of opposite projections according to its
inclination to the horizontal,

page_text: e, e are the springs which hold the seat in position on the support a, the said
springs being each connected at one end to the seat c and at the other end to the
support a. ff are the sliding rods or bars pivoted to the seat at their upper ends
and passing at their lower ends through guides or collars g, g on the ends of
screws g, g passing through the stand or support a. The said rods are provided on
their outer faces with rack teeth g², g² with which teeth g³, g3 on discs g, g' can
engage so as to rigidly hold the seat c at any desired inclination to the horizontal
when nuts h, h on the screws g', g¹ are tightened up. This arrangement is shewn in
Figure 4 which is a section through the fastening device.
By loosening the nuts h, h until the tooth rods f, are disengaged from the
teeth g³, it will be obvious that the seat c can be rocked on the support a, the two
pairs of opposite knife-edge projections alternately forming the fulcruin about which
the seat rocks, whilst the springs e, e tend to return the seat to the normal or horizontal
position.
i is the back of the chair, the said back being hinged to the seat at ', . j, j are
the springs with which the hinges, are provided for normally holding the back i
in an upright position. k, kare the arms of the chair which arms are hinged directly
to the back and indirectly to the seat c by the links so as to allow of the back-
ward movement of the back. I, are toothed curved bars hinged at their upper ends to
the chair back i and arranged to slide through guides , formed in fixed screws 12, 12
and to be rigidly secured therein by washers 13, 13 pressed into contact with the
bars, by nuts, so as to cause the toothed bars 1, to be gripped by the
teeth, on discs 1, and thus secure the back i at any desired inclination to
the seat c. This arrangement is shewn in section in Figure 5.
m is the head rest pivoted to the upper end of the back i of the chair by means of
the lateral brackets m', m¹ which can be rigidly held at any desired inclination to the
back by screwing up the knobs n, n so as to hold the head rest m in the desired
position.
so
o is the foot support which we use in connection with our chair, the said support
being made so that when detached from the chair it can serve as a foot stool or
ottoman. At one end the support o is provided with lateral projections p, p by
means of which it can be suspended to hooks q, q fitted to the seat c in such a manner
that when the support is detached they can be pushed back flush with the front of
the seat. The folding pivoted frame for holding the foot support at the desired
inclination to the seat comprises metal bars or strips hinged to the sides of the
support at r, r and each formed of two bars or strips, hinged together at
that they can be folded up as shewn in Figure 3 when the support o is used as a
detached foot stool or extended as shewn in Figure 1 when the foot rest is used with
the chair; 8, 8 are sliding rings or collars by means of which the bars or strips, z
are held rigidly together in their extended position. To adjust the inclination of the
support o to the seat c the free ends of the bars 72, 72 are provided with notches t, t
any one of which can be engaged in eyes u, u through which the bars, 1ª pass and
which are secured to the support or stand a.
As above stated the seat c is supported on the brackets b, b of the stand a at such a
height above the said stand that it is impossible for the person using the chair to pinch
his fingers between the seat and stand when rocking or when adjusting the inclination
of the seat or back.
It will be obvious that our hinged back can be employed with fixed seats and also
that it can be advantageously employed in lieu of existing back rests for use by invalids
and other persons on beds, couches and the like.
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. A chair comprising a stand or support having lateral brackets, a seat having
lateral projections by which it is supported on the brackets and springs connecting it
to the stand, a back hinged to the seat, arms hinged to the back and seat and means

page_text: whereby the seat and back can be rigidly secured at any desired inclination,
substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination with a chair of the kind described in Claim 1 of a head rest
secured to the upper end of the back thereof by adjustable lateral brackets, substantially
as described and illustrated.
3. The combination with a chair of the kind described in Claim 1 of a detachable
foot support adapted to be suspended to the seat of the chair and having a folding
pivot frame by means of which it can be secured at any desired inclination to the
chair, substantially as described and illustrated.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved chair and foot
support herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 26th day of August 1897.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.