US289115A - mcdonald - Google Patents

Description

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VAJJFXANDER Eli-MER MCDONALD, OF BROOKLYN, NXV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM Pr. JOHNSTON, OF SAIME PLACE.

AINFANTS SEM-.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,115, dated November 27], 1883. Application filed July 1G, 1853. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may conceive:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER ELMER MCDONA'LD, a citizen of the United States, temporarily residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Infants7A Seats, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and effective device for sustaining an infant in a sitting position and at the same time permitting it all desirable freedom of movement. When simply set upon the iioor a young infant is liable to fall over from weakness, and an infant that has begun infant is inevitably more or less hurt.

`viate these difficulties my invention provides to creep is liable to get into mischief or danger if not closely watched. `If confined in an ordinary chair, and the latter be overturned, the To ob a low seat set flat upon the floor, with a supporting back, to which a child may be conned by a belt. This back yields to the natural movements of the infant, and yet tends to retain the latter in an upright position.

In its simplest form my invention consists, essentially, of a bottom board or seat, which rests upon the floor, and a back hinged or Y pivoted thereto forward of. its rear side, with different positions.

a spring, which tends to press the back into a perpendicular position, and suitable stops to limit they forward and backward motion of the back and restrain it from being inclined to a reclining position.

My invention also consists in certain other features of construction, all as will be fully hereinafter 'set forth.

In the drawings which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure l is a perspective view `of my seat in its most approved form. Fi g.2 is a cross-section on line 2 2 in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section online 3 3 in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4L is a view of the belt for attaching the child to the backl of the seat.- Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are illustrative perspective views, showing an infant .secured in the seat and occupying three Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of the spring which sustains the fbaclr.. Fig. 9 is a perspective showing the spring and hinge combined. Fig.'`

.pendicular position.

10 is a side elevation of the seat on a small scale, showing the extent of inclination of the back. Fig. 1l is a fragmentary section cut through the hinge in the same plane as Fig. 3.

Referring to the several figures, and particularly toFigs. l, 2, 3, and l0, letA designate a bottom board or base-piece, vwhich is designed to rest fiat upon the floor, and B a back hinged or pivoted thereto and pressed by a spring into an upright or substantially per- This spring holds the back elastieally in that position, and gently resists any effort to press it forward or backward, and if it be deflected from the perpendicular,v the spring returns it to that position when released. The hinging of the back allows it a limited motion forward and back of the perpendicular, and stops are provided to keep it from being inclined to'o far. The infant is confined lto the back-B by a belt, D, Fig. 4, or by other suitable means, and the tension of the spring aids the child in retaining an upright position, as shown in Fig. 5. The child may readily overcome the light tension of the spring and lean backward, as shown inFig. 6, or forward to reach its toys, as shown in Fig. 7, the spring then aiding the child in resuming the upright position. It will then be seen that when the child wishes to incline its body in either direction, its weight aids it in overcoming the tensionv of the spring; and when it wishes to return to an upright position the spring aids it in lifting its weight. My improved seat is thus adapted to quite young and feeble-infants to enable them to sit up and play, and teach them to retain of Vthemselves the sitting posture; and it is none the less adapted to larger babies, who have reached the creeping age, to confine them safely in a comfortable position for a time, andso relieve the mother or nurse of the necessity of constantly attending them to keep them from mischief or' danger. n,

- The particular method of hinging the back to the bottom board vis not essential; but the method shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, andll has several advantages, and forms one feature of my invention. The back is formed with tenons a a on its lower side, which enter mortises cut jar or shock.

'2 seams through the board A a short distance forward of its rear edge, as shown. A hinge-rod or pins, b b, are then put through the tenons and the board A.' The tenons fitv the mortises loosely, so that the back A may be inclined forward or back of the perpendicular to about the extent denoted by the dotted lines in Fig. 10. When inclined to either extreme position the tenons'strike against the sides of the mortise, both above and below the hinging-aXis, as shown in Fig. 11, thus relieving the rod or pin b of all strain. In Fig. 3 the sides of the mortises are shown as lined with rubber cushions c c', in order that when the back is inclined the tenon shall strike-a soft, yielding stop and the back be brought to rest without In a recess in the board A, under the bottom edge of the back, is placed the spring or springs, two helical springs, d d, be-

, gether behind the same.

ing shown, with their opposite ends secured,

respectively, to the back and bottom board. The construction of these springs and their connection relatively to the back and bottom board is such that their tension acts to retain the back B in an upright or approximately perpendicular position, and to elastically resist any tendency to either push it backward orvpull it forward. Then two coiled springs are used, as shown, this result may be pro! duced by twisting them in opposite directions until their tensions are equal but opposite, and then connecting their opposite ends to the back and bottom board, respectively. This connection may be effected .by thrusting the ends of the springinto holes in the respective boards, as shown. This form of spring and its arrangement in a recess where it is out of sight and inaccessible, and where nothing can get caught or pinched in it, I consider preferable to any other, and it has the advantage of bringing the spring-so close tothe fulcrum or hinging-aXis that it acts at a great mechanical disadvantage, so that b ut little strength von the part of the infant will be required vto incline the back. Other forms of springs may, however, be used, if preferred, such as the leafspring shown in Fig. 8. The tenons a a are not absolutely essential if some other suitable stop is provided, in which case the backv might be securedv to the'base-piece by` 'the,springs alone, thus forming an elastic hinge. A cushion or pad, C, is preferably secured upon the back B in the manner of upholstery. The belt D passes through eyes e e 'on the back B, and its ends are buckled to- The belt may be provided with strings ff, to which the childs toys may be attached, and with a pocket, g, to hold a nursing bottle. The back B is set at some distance from the rear end, h, of the boardA, in orderto prevent the child from toppling over backward, which is very important. The board A might be made slightly would be able to rock a littleback and forth 5 but I prefer to make it fiat.

Fig. 9 showsthe sp ring and hinge combined. The hinge consists of a socket, fi, of cast metal, adapted to be let into a recess in the board. A, and in this is hinged a forked holder, which receives the bottom edge of the back B, .the tenons a w being omitted. The ends of the coiled spring are clamped between the metal parts land the wooden back and bottom board. "When the rubber cushions c c are used, as shown in Fig. 3, they are best arranged so that the back,when standing perpendicularly, is supported only by the spring d; but when inclined slightly in either direction it soon strikes the rubber, and is supported by both the spring and the cushion until inclined so far that the limit of compressibility of the cushion is reached, when it is gently stopped. The belt D need not be sold with the seat, but

ymay be supplied by the purchaser, it being only essential that the infant be in some way confined to the back, so that it cannot fall out forward or sidewise.

l am well aware that chairs for adults have had their backs hinged to their seats and pressed forward by springs; but such haveI been incapable of inclinin g forward of the per-A pendicular; also, that adults chairs for spe cial purposes have had spring-backs without stops; and also that'a tailors seat has had an adjustable back, with a spring to `keep it pressed back against a screw-stop, merely as a means of adjusting the inclination =of` the back. None of these are adapted for infants seats, as they are all either devoid-of stops to limit the forward movement of the back, or

IOO

the stops are so arranged that the back can have no movement forward of the perpendicular, and the springs act to force the back against the stops.

I am also familiar with the combined cradle and chair disclosed in the patent of EStOney,

No. 113,812, dated April 18, 1871, which hasl a back hinged to a bottom board and capable of being turned back until it is almost flat upon the latter and of being drawn forward tothe perpendicular and very slightly beyond,-and having a spring coiled ybehind the back and rio i tending to hold the latter at an angle of about as it would resist the efforts of the childtoas'- sume a sitting position and constantly tend to pull it backward. Its want of a stop to limit the backward movement of the back until it turns down nearly flat uponk thel board, and its" being provided with a stop to preventfthesback from inclining substantially forward Aof the perpendicular also unfit it for the use for which my seat is designed.

` It is essential to my invention that the spring shall act to press the back into a-l'ierpend'icular position, that stops be provided to prevent it from being inclined farther than forty-five degrees in either direction, and that the forward stop permit the back to incline'forward at least twenty degrees fromthe vertical. The actual inclination which is permitted in my seat is about twenty to twenty-five degrees forward and. about fifteen to twentyiive degrees backwardfrom the vertical; but a greater inclination may be permitted without detriment.

I cla-iin as my inventionl. An iniants seat consisting, essentially, of the combination of a bottom board, A, a back, B, hinged thereto forward of the rear end thereof, a springer springs connected to said back-and bottom board,and constructed, substantially as described, so as to press the baci; normally to a substantially perpendicular position and resist any effort to incline it forward or back thereof, and stops adapted to limit the forward and backward movement of the back in substantially the manner and to.

4provided with mortises, back B, hinged thereto, tenons a a on said back, entering said mortises and thereby forming stops to limit the forward and backward inclination of the back, while permitting the back to be inclined both forward and backward of the vertical,v and spring or springs d, connected to said back and bottom board, and constructed, substantially as described, so as to press the back normally to a substantially perpendicular position, for the purposes set forth.

1 3. The combination of bottom board, VA, provided with mortises, back B, hinged thereto, tenons a a thereon,entering said mort-isos, a mortise in the board A beneath and covered by the bottom edge of the back, and a spring or springs, d, coiled on said mortise and their opposite ends fastened to said bottoni board and back, respectively, substantially as set forth, whereby the spring is housed and acts at a great disadvantage of leverage,

In witness whereof l have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.V

ALEXANDER ELMER MGDONALI).

llfitnesses:

HENRY Conni-rrr, Gno. BAINTO w.

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