US50840A - Elastic support for beds - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

JAMES PERRY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ELASTlC SUPPORT FOR BEDS, SEATS, 80C.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,8110, dated November 7, 1865 antedated November 2, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J AMEs PERRY, of Brooklyn,in the county of Kin gs,in the State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Elastic Supports for Beds and analogous uses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a clear and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is the production of exible sphero-form seats, beds, and supports for persons in sitting and incumbent positions, and to proportion the degree of iexibility and rigidity of the parts, so that they shall be maintained in their proper positions under all the circumstances attending their use, to give ease and comfort to the persons occupying the same, and to give rotund and elegant position to the cushions, pads, mattresses, and bedding, of seats, bedsteads, &c., when they are unoccupied.

Ordinary slats that are thin enough to be easily flexible soon acquire an inverted curvature by use, and such inversion is disagreeable; and, furthermore, cushions, mattresses, and

' bedding lying on or connected to such supports lack the elegance that reverted and elevated curvature of surface imparts to them.

I obtain the requisite degree of strength and rigidity in the sphere-form supports by arching and disposing some of the parts edgewise with respect to the weights and strains they are to sustain, and combining therewith springs and strips in such manner as to leave each sprin g and compound slat to move proportionally to the stress upon it, and the whole spheroform support to vibrate Within certain limits. I prepare a number of springs and arched ribs. These ribs are each shaped and connected in such manner as to produce a flexible beam or elastic compound slat, and a number of these are mounted by the aid of the springs in the.

frame of a chair, sofa, car, or carriage seat, bedstead, or cradle to form the exible sphero- `form supports. Two or more of these flexible beams or compound slats may be used in some instances on which to support the others near their ends; and in other cases each spheroform support may be suspended directly from pins or other supports by flexible links made of rubber or other suitable material.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation by the aid of the drawings.

The same letters refer to corresponding parts in all the drawings.

Figure l represents the parts composing the elastic compound slats of which my flexible sphere-form supports arein part composed, and the description of these and of the effect of the weight W acting thereon illustrates the principle of operation and its application to the purposes herein set forth.

I shall new describe the parts and construction of Fig. 1, and next describe theparts and construction of the other drawings7 and Ithe application of the inode of operation thereto:

Figs. 2 and 3 represent a portion on a largerscale. Fig. 2 is a section of the strip a at the line II H, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view.

- Referring to the marks of reference, a is a strip or slat. bis a rib. c c are rubbersprings. d cl d d are transverse supports, and a weight. The strip a is a half-inch thick', tW'o and one-fourth inches wide, and six feet long. rllhe rib b is three-fourths of an inch thicl'and curved to a circular, elliptic, or other curve of more or less convexity, and deep enough to give ample strength to support the strain to which it may be sifbjected when in use. Its` length is nearly equal to the distance between the supports d 1, and its lower edge at the ends are semicircular, as shown in Fig. 2. The rubber springs c may be made similar to rings cut from rubber pipe, and they are to be passed under the semicircular ends of the ribs b b, Fig. 2, and up into the strip a and over the semicircular stay c e, Figs. 2 and 3. The springs c c may be made of metal, ofthe conic spiral form, and combined with the springs c c in the manner indicated, so as to transfer a part of the weight from the slat c to the transverse beams d', the spring c' being allowed to act between the supports d' d and the projections fj on the ends of the rib b. The snpports d will act as a positive stop to prevent the rib b from descending so low as to destroy the spring c under any circumstances. Thin and narrow slats a may be strengthened by gluing the piece g on the under side at the points where the springs c enter them. The springs c and c', or one of each' pair, act at each extremity of each rib b. When the wei ght W is removed the flexible beam or compound slat becomes arched, rising in the center until the strip a conforms to the curve of the upper edge of the rib b, to be again straightened when the weight W is again applied. lt is obvious that a less weight laid on the compound slat at the same point will produce a less depression ot' it, or the same weight laid on several similar slats will have a like effect; also that the tlexibility of the strip a itself increases with the weight, as its points of support recede, until it touches the curve of the rib b at only a single point, as at m, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4: A represents another modification of myinvention. It is an elastic compound slat like that above shown, except that the springs c are omitted and the ends of the ribs b rest on transverse slats of like compound con struction, the ends ot' which are seen at t'.

Fig. 5 represents a bedstead having its front side removed, showing a compound slat of the construction ot'Fig. 4 resting on like compound slats fi fi, applied thereto. It may be entirely covered with conical springs, one of which is indicated at Z.

Fig. 6 represents another form of my invention. It is a bedstead having its front side removed, showing a compound slat, B, divided in the middle. The half-ribs Z) b are centered by the pins J J at the large end ofeacl1,while the contractile springs 7c k, fixed on the crosspiece a, under the middle ot' the strip a, force up the rods S S against the under edge of the ribs b b at their inner ends and deilect them upward until the strip a conforms to the curved edges of the said ribs Z) b. They may be kept in place endwise by screws passing through cross-pieces t tinto elongated holes in the slats and ribs under them.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the constructions represented in Figs. 5 and 6. It shows the longitudinal slats A or B resting on transverse supports t i at the ends, and a number of the conical springs Z Z Z Z. The slats A or B may be attached to the transverse pieces t' t' by pins, or they may lie in recesses in t' t', or they may be retained by a rack. (l, on the supplementary figure by the side of Fig. 7, represents the construction of a simple transverse support, with attachments 1 2 3 4, leaving recesses between them for centering the ends ofthe ribs Z) b. This rigid and curved transverse support may be substituted for the flexible transverse beam or support z', (shown in Figs. 5 and 6,) and Fig. 9 represents a side View of a frame analogous to that in Fig. S, with the end supports a n, extended quite across, so as to support all the slats A directly. The mattress 0 rests on or is secured to the compound slats A or B, Figs. 5, 6, the whole forming a combination consisting of the ordinary hair or hairand-spring mattress combined with a number of the elastic compound slats resting on transverse supports or the abutments n n n n.

Fig. 10 represents a car or carriage seat unframed. It has longitudinal slats of the construction shown in Fig. 4, one of which is broken to show the work below. The slats rest on abutments a a. The transverse bars p p 19 p are connected to the frame by the ilexible rubber links c c c c, suspended from pins (not represented) driven in theframe directly over the ends ofthe bars p, (the plan shown in Fig. 12, in which p represents the bar.)

Fig. ll represents one of the longitudinal compound slats combined with the barspp 19 p and links c c c c, to give additional security to the former where this is deemed requisite.

Fig. 12 is a cross-section, on a longer scale, of the end ot' one of the compound slats and supports shown in Figs. 10 and 11. The rubber spring is indicated by o, while p represents the bar and q the pin above it.

Fig. 13 represents the frame of a chair and the plan of two sets ot' the elastic compound slats a a. a a, crossing each other at right angles. They are supported by the pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and S, the ends ot' the ribs b b b Z) being connected under the pins by the flexible links c c c, Fig. 12. The strips a a, for small seats, may be made of hoop-iron, and they may rest by their ends on the frame over the pins 1, 2, 3, &c.

Fig. 14 is a plan, and 15 a section, of a seat which may rest upon the compound crossslats in the frame represented by Fig. 13, con structed of the elastic strips of hoop-iron a a a a and conic springs Z Z Z Z and curved disk and the double conic spring c and support d'.

Fig. 16 represents a rubber spring, c, made by cementing or lashing two buttons, q q, one in each end of a piece oi' elastic pipe. It also,

Y1n common with Fig. 2, represents the mode of securing the said spring to the slot a, and the use ot' the tie g before referred to, to strengthen the former Where it is weakened. by the enlarged parts made by the buttons q q, which rest on seats in the slat above the tie g.

Fig. 17 represents the mode ot' constructing the spring 7c, (see Fig. 6,) and also a mode ot` securing it to the transverse piece r and rod S. The spring lc is formed of a piece of elastic pipe, having one end enlarged, by turning over and cementing a portion of itself on the external surface of the other part, and by lashing the rod S inside at the other end. The enlarged end is secured to the transverse r, by expanding the thimble u inside ot the en larged part of the spring k, through which the x kl rod S plays as the ribs b b (see Fig. 6) rise and fall.

Fig. 1S represents the frame of a sofa or lounge having the abutments n u extended across each end, on which to rest the elastic compound slats of the construction herein described, or to support a frame containing the flexible sphero-form support and cushion.

I do not limit myself to the precise arrangements as herein described.

WVhat I claim7 and desire to secure by Lctters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. The strips a, arched ribs b, and elastic supports c, arranged as represented, whether the spring c be supported by a pin7 d, or attached to the adjacent part of strip u, as and for the purpose specied.

2. Supporting the compound slats a b c on li l l JAMES PERRY. Witnesses:

OHAs. A. PERRY, H. UHRIs'rENsEN.

Images