Improvements in Breaks, Wagonettes, and other similar Vehicles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 28th May, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Breaks, Wagonettes, and other similar Vehicles.
I, ERNST GREEN of Bernburg, Anhalt in the German Empire, Carriage Builder,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in breaks, wagonettes and other similar
vehicles, and refers to a special construction of folding seat for the same.
In vehicles such as breaks, wagonettes and the like, which are accessible from
behind, the seats are generally fixed along the sides thereof. Many persons how-
ever cannot bear riding on side seats, and hence carriage builders have made many
attempts at remedying this defect. For instance breaks have been built in which
the rear seat is arranged transversely to the door and connected thereto in such a
manner as to turn sidewise and out of the vehicle when the door is opened. This
construction however is not satisfactory in practice, as it has the same defects as
the side seats besides other defects viz.: the door is hard to handle, the bearings
are complicated; and, moreover, should the door spring suddenly open, as often
occurs, the occupant of this rear seat would run the risk of falling out of the
break.
My invention has for its object to remedy these defects, by providing seats which
are placed transversely across the door and can be readily handled, while affording
every security.
The problem is solved by providing a seat which can be sidewise raised and folded
down upon the sides of the vehicle and can be readily and safely placed in position
on entering and leaving the vehicle.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side view of a vehicle in accordance with my invention with the seats
folded down and closing the body of the vehicle.
Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same.
Fig. 3 shows the seats in position ready to be used.
Fig. 4 is a cross section showing the seats raised to allow the passengers to
enter.
Fig. 5 is also a cross section showing all the seats raised.
Fig. 6 is a rear view showing the backs of the seats raised.
Fig. 7 is a rear view of the vehicle ready for use.
Figs. 8 & 9 show details of construction.
The door is placed as usual at the back of the vehicle and is provided with a
lock B Fig. 4. Across the front of the door is arranged the rear seat d, its two ends
resting upon the sides of the vehicle (Figs. 2 & 7). Only one end of the seat is
loosely placed upon one of the carriage sides, the other being connected to the other
side of the same by means of a strong hinge h (Figs. 5 & 6).
The front and the rear seat are made of two parts, the parts of each seat being
jointed together by a hinge so that the back can be laid on the seat board of the
front seat, while the seat board of the rear seat can be folded forward extending to
the folded down back of the front seat (Fig. 1) thus entirely closing the body of the
carriage. The side supports of the front seat are as well as the side supports of the
rear seat formed of jointed rods, while the back of the rear seat is formed of rods
jointed to the seat board, so that these supports can be folded or raised with the
utmost facility, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.
To facilitate the raising of the rear seat and to provide a firm support for the
same when folded down ready for use, the following arrangement has been devised:
the lock B is furnished besides its ordinary mechanism with an upright lever

page_text: terminating with a hook 6 (Fig. 8) which is pressed by a spring against the rear
end of the ordinary door bolt. The hooked end of this lever bears, when the door
is closed behind, the end of a bolt (Fig. 9) which is controlled by a spring, g
fixed below the underside of the rear seat and can be pushed back by hand from
the inside of the carriage. Against the underside of the rear seat bears moreover
the free extremity of a powerful spiral spring c (Fig. 4), this free end carrying a
roller (Figs. 5 & 6) guided in a groove e formed in the sheet metal strip covering
the bolt (Fig. 4).
When the vehicle is intended to be occupied by passengers the same is made
ready for use by folding back the seats from the locking position shown in Fig. 1,
into that shown in Fig. 3, that is to say without raising the back as already
effected in Fig. 3. When the door A is opened, the turning of the door handle
causes the lever to be moved back in the door lock as well as the door bolt a, so
that the hooked end of the lever b releases its hold upon the bolt k of the rear seat,
the spring c raises the rear seat (Figs. 4 & 5) and the vehicle can now be conveniently
entered.
C
After the occupants of the vehicle have all entered the same the door is closed
again from inside and the rear seat is lowered, whereby the hooked end of the
lever b (Fig. 5) which projects from the door, snaps again under the bolt k at the
underside of the rear seat thus firmly holding the seat in its depressed position
upon the sides of the vehicle. The backs of the front and rear seat being now
raised the occupants can be now seated without fearing that the door may fly
open.
When leaving the vehicle the hand is placed under the rear seat and the bolt k
is withdrawn so that the hooked end of the lever b may release the door while the
spring c raises the seat the door can then be opened from inside in the usual
manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
In breaks, wagonettes and other vehicles entered from behind, the arrangement
of a seat placed across and in front of the door and automatically lowered into
position when a locking mechanism is released by a spring c fixed to its underside,
substantially as described and shown in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 12th day of April 1892.
JAMES STEVENSON.