IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- BATUS FOR SUPPORTING A PERSON IN BED OR WHEN RECLINING
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TAVERNER
JOHN MILLER, of Milbank Street, Westminster, Oil Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of December, in the sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Taverner John Miller, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Taverner John Miller, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Taverner John Miller, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
BATUS FOR SUPPORTING A PERSON IN BED OR WHEN RECLINING;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Taverner John Miller,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Taverner John Miller, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to

page_text: the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say :-
My Invention relates, first, to a mode of combining certain apparatus, and
applying the same to a bedstead, so that a person in bed or reclining thereon
may be supported, though the position of the person be from time to time
altered, the object being to obtain more ease and comfort to invalids when in
bed or reclining thereon.
And, secondly, my Invention relates to a mode of constructing bedsteads,
and combining therewith apparatus in order that persons in bed or reclining
thereon may obtain support in varied positions.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed,
in which the same letters of reference are used to indicate the same parts
wherever they occur.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents the side view of a bedstead, having apparatus applied
thereto, according to my Invention; Figure 2 shows an elevation of the head
of the bedstead, showing how the apparatus is applied thereto. The bedstead
shown is what is called a French bedstead; but apparatus according to my
Invention may be applied to other constructions of bedsteads.
The object of the Invention is, to obtain a back rest for a person reclining
when in bed, such back rest being capable of assuming varied inclinations,
according to the desire of the person using the same; and when it is wished
the back rest, with very slight exertion to the person in bed, will rise out of
the way
of the pillow and allow of the invalid resting on the pillow as if no
such apparatus were applied to the bedstead; and again, when the person
wishes to use the back rest, the same may be caused to descend and assume
such an inclination as may be found agreeable to the person reclining against it.
In Figure 1 parts of the bed clothes are shown to be turned back in order
that the position of the back rest may be better seen. The apparatus may be
temporarily affixed to a bedstead, or it may be constantly applied. I prefer
that the parts should be so arranged that they may be readily applied to
various bedsteads, and I have shown the parts in Figures 1 and 2 to be con-
structed with a view to that end. a is an upright affixed to the head of the
bedstead by means of the screw clamp b, which affixes the upright a to the
head rail of the bedstead; and the upright is further secured to the head-board
of the bedstead by the bar c, which is affixed to the board d. This bar has the
screw e affixed thereto, which passes through the plate f, and through the

page_text: upright a, and thus is the board d affixed to the head of the bed, and the
upright further secured; and g is a set screw which passes through the upright
and rests against the bar c, which causes the board d to press against the head-
board of the bedstead, or the upright may be affixed at the head of a bedstead
in any other convenient manner. h is the back rest, which consists of a quad-
rangular frame stuffed on the surface, and this frame is kept counterbalanced
at its upper end, the lower end being free to move to or from the head of the
bed, and owing to the mode of applying the back support to the back rest it
will offer proper support to the person reclining against it in its more or less
inclined positions. To the board d is applied the apparatus for causing the
back rest h, as it is caused to descend, to come behind the person, and the same
will assume a a more or less inclined position according as the lower end of the
back rest is drawn inore or less towards the person; and the arrangement of
the position of the back rest h, and the varying the position from time to time,
may be accomplished with ease, owing to the manner in which it is supported
behind, and to the circumstance of its being counterbalanced at the upper
end. is a cord which is fastened to the upper part of the upright a; this cord
passes under the pulley ; and over the pulley k, on the top of the upright a, as
is shown, the other end of the cord being affixed to the counterweight l.
Hence it will be seen that very little effort will be required to move down the
back rest, the weight only slightly preponderating over the back rest. The back
rest is supported at the back in the following manner:-m is a board which is
affixed to the board & by the screws n, n, and to this board is hinged the frame
o, which will be better understood by reference to Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8,
where some of the parts are shown on a larger scale, in order to their being
more readily understood. The frame o receives the sliding board p, there
being grooves to receive the projections p', which are to be affixed to the
board p; and there are grooves in the ends of the board p to receive the pro-
jections o¹ of the frame o. By this arrangement the board p will slide freely in
the frame o. The object of this arrangement is, that the back rest may go
well up out of the way, and when down the length of the frame between the
head of the bed may be controlled by the frame o to stand beyond the pillow.
I would, however, remark, that this sliding of the parts is not absolutely
necessary, though I believe it to be the best arrangement, and in place thereof,
simple rods hinged to the back of the back rest and to the head of the bed-
stead, or to parts in connection therewith, may be resorted to. The operation
of this part of the apparatus is, that when the back rest is caused to descend,
the back support or supports, being hinged. thereto and to the head of the
bedstead, will cause the lower part of the back rest h to come towards the back of

page_text: the person in the bed; and when reclined against, owing to the manner in which
the back support is placed, will cause the back rest, in the varied positions it is
capable of being caused to assume, will offer support to the person reclining.
The
Figure 9 shews a side view of a four-post bedstead, where the upright a
before described is dispensed with, and the parts of the apparatus are applied
to the head-board, and to the top head-rail of the bedstead, as is shewn. This
Figure shews the parts in a lowered position. Figure 10 shews part of a side
view of the same bedstead, the apparatus being raised out of the way so that a
person in the bed may lie down on the pillow. Figure 9 shews also a means
of combining arms with a back rest h, according to my Invention.
apparatus shewn in these Figures, which are similar to those before described,
are marked with the same letters of reference, and the description above given
will equally apply to the same parts in Figures 9 and 10. The arms r, r, are
capable of being raised out of the way, and of being brought down into the
position shewn in Figure 9. The arms are hinged at s, as is shewn, and t, t,
are two bent bars, which are affixed to the arms r, and at their other ends
they are combined together by the bar v, which acts as a counterbalance to
the arms. u, u, are two curved upright frames affixed to the beam at the
head of the bedstead, between each pair of which uprights u one of the bent
barst moves; and the arms when down are supported by the bars t and the
upright frames u. Figure 11 shews a side view, and Figure 12 a plan, of the
arms and apparatus connected therewith separately.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which consists in so
modifying the construction of bedsteads that the bedstead itself may be made
to act in a similar manner to the apparatus above described, as being applied
to ordinary constructions of bedsteads. In this instance the back rest is
composed of part of the bedstead.
Figure 13 shews a back view of the head of a bedstead constructed
according to my Invention; and Figure 14 shews a side view of the same
bedstead in section. A, A, is the lower framing of the bedstead, consisting of
a quadrangular frame mounted on casters. B is the back framing, as shewn.
C, D, are the two parts of the frame on which the mattress and bedding are
placed; these parts are hinged together; the part C is that part which becomes
the back-rest when elevated, and the part D is the part which supports the
person reclining against the back rest. The part D is mounted on four
castors, two of which are on each side, and move along the side rails A of the
bedstead. The part C is nearly balanced by means of a weight, the weight
slightly preponderating. The nearness of the state of balance in this apparatus
may be adjusted to the desire of the person in the bed by varying the weight

page_text: used. The part C is a quadrangular frame having a laced sacking, and the
part D is also a quadrangular frame, having laths to support the mattrass.
E and F is the foot-board. G is a cord which is made fast at H; it then
passes partly round the pulley I, which moves on an axis carried by the part
D; the cord G then passes under the pulley J, thence over the pulley K, then
under the pulley L, which is applied to the upper part of the frame C, thence
over the pulley M, then it is made fast to the weight, by which arrangement
not only is the head part C of the frames C, D, in a state of balance, or nearly
so, but the whole frame C, D, bedding, and the person reclining thereon, may
be moved with very slight effort. And supposing a person were reclining on
the bed, and the parts in the position shewn in Figure 13, by a moderate effort
the part C might be caused to descend to a horizontal, or more nearly a hori-
zontal, position, according to the wish at the moment; but as even such a
slight exertion as is required for such a change of position might not be
agreeably exerted by an invalid, I apply a cord N to the weight, which cord
passes over the pulley M, and the cord N is then brought down to the bed
and placed in a convenient position for the invalid to take hold of it when it
is desired to lower the part C; and the act of lowering the part C will cause
the part D to recede towards the foot of the bedstead. And in order that the
person in the bed may readily raise the part C, and, consequently, draw the part
D towards the head of the bedstead, I apply a second cord Q, which I affix
to the weight and pass under the pulley O and over the pulley P, down to the
person on the bed; and, owing to the parts being counterbalanced, and also
owing to the use of the rods o, which act similarly to the frame o before
described, but in this case it is not necessary or desirable to have parts similar
to the sliding board p before described, the rods o (one at each side of the
bedstead) are hinged at o' to the head framing of the bedstead, and at o* on
the frame C, by which arrangement the pressure of the back of the person
reclining against the part C being above and below the point at which the
rods o' are hinged to the part of the frame C, the frame C will offer suitable
support to the person, notwithstanding the position or inclination of the part C,
which constitutes the back rest, may be varied.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would wish it to be understood that I
make no claim to any of the parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the
precise details, provided the peculiar character of either
be retained; but what I claim is,―
part of my Invention
First, the mode of combining and applying apparatus to bedsteads for
supporting a person in bed or when reclining, as described in respect to
Figures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. and 10.

page_text: And, secondly, I claim the mode of combining apparatus for supporting a
person when in bed or reclining, as described in respect to respect to Figures
13 and 14.
In witness whereof, I, the said Taverner John Miller, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.