IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTABLE CHAIRS AND SOFAS OR THE LIKE
Year: 1885

page_text: DE BUITICATION.
We CHARLES BAKER and GEORGE HOWARD CLACK both of the Firm of Baker
and Clack of Wells Road in the City of Bath Cabinet Manufacturers do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTABLE
CHAIRS AND SOFAS OR THE LIKE" to be as follows:-
The object of our Invention is to so construct or arrange the means whereby the
position of the back of a chair or sofa or the like relatively to the seats thereof
that the adjustment can be readily and evenly effected as desired by the user
without danger of jamming.
According to our Invention we effect the adjustment by means of a screw
passing through a screw nut and situated in one of the arms or sides of a chair or
sofa or like article of furniture. This sorew nut is preferably held so that it will
rotate but will not move longitudinally and it is rotated preferably by means of a
bevel wheel thereon with which gears another bevel wheel whose axis is brought to
the exterior or other part of the article of furniture where it can receive a handle
in convenient position for operation. The end of the screw is connected by links
or otherwise with the back of the chair or the like. If preferred however the screw
may be fixed longitudinally and may be rotated so as to cause the screw nut to
travel on it and in this case the nut will be attached by the links or otherwise to
the back of the chair or the like.
In the other arm or opposite side of the chair or the like is a device by which
that side of the chair or the like can be released when adjustment is to be effected
by the screw in the other arm but which device serves to support the side at which
it is situated after the chair or the like is adjusted. This device may conveniently
consist of a rod or bar which is connected by a link or otherwise with the back of
the chair or the like at the side opposite to that at which the screw or the nut is
connected. This rod or bar has ratchet teeth or recesses or projections of other
shape on it with which engage a spring click or pawl or other retaining catch or
holder which is furnished with a projecting knob and serves to hold the said rod
or bar in the position to which it has been brought. When it is desired to adjust
the back of the chair or the like the spring click pawl or holder is by pressing its
knob released from its engagement with the recesses or projections or ratchet
teeth of the rod or bar and at the same time the handle is turned by which the
screw or the nut is rotated and caused to travel longitudinally and adjust the
[Price 611

page_text: position of the back of the chair or other part of the article of furniture which
may be attached to the part relatively to which it is moved by a hinge joint or
otherwise. When the right adjustment is obtained the knob on the pawl or click
or holder is released and then the adjusted back or the like is held firmly in
position by the screw and nut on one side and the bar or rod and pawl click or
holder on the other side.
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agent for the said Charles Baker
and George Howard Clack.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
We CHARLES BAKER and GEORGE HOWARD CLACK both of the Firm of Baker
and Clack of Wells Road in the City of Bath Cabinet Manufacturers do hereby
declare the nature of this invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTABLE CHAIRS
AND SOFAS OR THE LIKE and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
"
The object of our Invention is to so construct or arrange the means whereby the
position of the back of a chair or sofa or the like. relatively to the seats thereof,
that the adjustment can be readily and evenly effected as desired by the user
without danger of jamming during adjustment.
According to our Invention we effect the adjustment by means of a screw
passing through a screw nut, and situated in one of the arms or sides of a chair or
sofa or like article of furniture.
.
This screw nut is preferably held so that it will rotate but will not move longi-
tudinally and it is rotated preferably by means of a bevel wheel thereon with
which gears another bevel wheel whose axis is brought to the exterior or other
part of the article of furniture where it can receive a handle in convenient position
for operation The end of the screw is connected by links or otherwise with the
back of the chair or the like. If preferred however the screw may be fixed
longitudinally and may be rotated so as to cause the screw nut to travel on it, and
in this case the nut will be attached by the links or otherwise to the back of the
chair or the like.
In the other arm or opposite side of the chair is a device by which that side of
the chair or the like can be released when adjustment is to be effected by the
screw in the arm but which device serves to support the side at which it is

page_text: ituated after the chair or the like is adjusted. This device may conveniently
consist of a rod or bar which is connected by a link or otherwise with the back of
the chair or the like, at the side opposite to that at which the screw or the nut is
attached This rod or bar has ratchet teeth or recesses or projections of other
shape on or in it with which engage a spring click or pawl or other retaining catch
or holder which is furnished with a projecting knob and serves to hold the said
rod or bar in the position to which it has been brought. When it is desired to
adjust the back of the chair or the like the spring click pawl or holder is by
pressing its knob released from its engagement with the recesses or projections or
ratchet teeth of the rod or bar and at the same time the handle is turned by
which the screw or the nut is rotated and caused to travel longitudinally and
adjust the position of the back of the chair or other part of the article of furniture,
which may be attached to the part relatively to which it is moved, by a hinge
joint or otherwise. When the right adjustment is obtained the knob on the pawl
click or holder is released and then the adjusted back or the like is held firmly in
position by the screw and nut on one side and the bar or rod and pawl click or
holder on the other side.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
The drawing represents the application of the Invention to the two arms of a
chair from which its application for analogous adjustments of parts of articles of
furniture will be readily understood.
Figure 1 is an elevation shewing the arm containing the adjusting device in
section and Figure 1ª is a sectional view of the other arm shewing the retaining
device therein Figure 2 is a plan shewing the two arms in section and Figure 3
is a similar view shewing a modification.
In the arm A there is a recess in which is fixed the collar B by means of a
stem b thereon passing to the underside of the arm and fixed by a screw nut b*
A screw nut C is capable of turning in this collar but is confined longitudinally by
the flange c at one end, and by a bevel wheel c* at the other end, passing through
this screw nut C is a screw D attached by a link d to the back of the chair which
is hinged at e to the seat of the chair Mounted in bearings in the arm of the
chair is a short shaft F having on its inner end a bevel wheel f and on its outer
end a handle f. This device situated in this arm A of the chair is as shewn, like
that described in the Specification of our application for Patent No 3985 of
28th March 1885. The arm Z of the chair is recessed and contains a bar or rod Y
fitted to slide longitudinally in a groove inside the arm when released and
attached at its outer end by means of a link z with the side of the chair back
opposite to that at which the link d of the screw in the other arm is attached.
The said rod or bar Y has in it ratchet teeth y with which engage a pawl or
retainer X provided with a knob x and pressed into engagement with the teeth y
by a spring w. When the chair back is to be adjusted the knob x is pressed
5 inwards with one hand whereby the pawl X is released from its engagement with
the teeth y and then with the other hand the handle f' is rotated whereby the
bevel wheel frotates the bevel wheel c² and the nut C in the collar B so that the
screw D is moved longitudinally in one or the other direction according to which
way the handle f² is turned and so the back of the chair can be inclined more or
0 less as desired. When the adjustment has been effected the rotation of the
handle is discontinued and the knob a is released so that the spring w returns
the pawl or retainer ✗ to its engagement with the teeth y of the rod or bar Y and
so the bar or rod is retained in position to support the side of the chair back at the
part at which it is situated the screw and nut supporting it at the opposite side.
5 As the adjustment is effected from one side only there is no liability to jamming by
inequality of motion on the two sides.

page_text: We do not limit ourselves to the precise arrangement of the screw and nut or
the notched bar and retainer as shewn in the drawing as they may be considerably
varied without departing from the nature of our Invention for example as shewn
in figure 3 the screw may be rotated by a handle or knob in front of one arm of
the chair and the nut be connected to the chair back by a link or other connections
and the push button & may project from the front of the other arm and on being
pressed in the direction of the arrow operate through the lever X* the lever X, of
which the catch a forms part, so as to release it from the notches
which is attached to the chair back as in the preceding case,
in the bar Y
•
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that
what we claim is
First. In chairs sofas or the like the combination of a screw adjusting appliance
at one side or part and at the opposite side or part a retaining device which
can be released when adjustment is to be effected substantially as hereinbefore 1
described.
is a
Second. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the adjusting
and retaining appliance for chairs sofas or the like substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in Figures 1, and of the accompanying drawings.
'
Third. The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the adjusting and 2
retaining appliance for chairs sofas or the like substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in Figure 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
Dated this Seventeenth day of Inno 100%