Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Closing the Doors of Hansom Cabs and other Vehicles.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 5th Nov., 1890-Accepted, 6th Dec., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Closing the Doors of
Hansom Cabs and other Vehicles.
I JOSEPH LATHAM of 21 Newman Street, Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Coach Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention consists in an arrangement of apparatus whereby the driver of a
hansom cab, omnibus, or other vehicle, may, from his seat, open and close the doors
or door.
Many apparatus for effecting this object have been invented, but in most cases
arrangements of chains, pullies, racks, and pinions have been employed. To this class
of apparatus there are obvious objections; for instance, the chains. stretch, and the
teeth of the racks and pinions break off, thus rendering the apparatus useless..
Arrangements of levers have also been suggested, but being exposed to the action
of the atmosphere &c., they have rapidly deteriorated and become useless..
"
Now according to my invention, I employ an arrangement of levers and rods which
I place inside the vehicle, between the walls and the lining, the whole being operated
by a handle, which extends upwards within reach of the driver, and works transversely
of the vehicle.
Inside the vehicle I mount a rock lever, and on the pivot which passes through the
back the handle is keyed.
In a hansom cab, where there are two doors to be opened simultaneously, the opposite
ends of this rock lever are connected by rods to bell-crank levers pivotted on the side of
the body, each of which is connected by a rod with another bell-crank lever pivotted
at right angles to the former. One arm of each of these last named levers projects
through each door frame, and is connected by a jointed arm to the movable portion of
the hinge of its respective door.
This jointed arm passes through a slot in the fixed portion of the hinge, and is
tapped into the movable portion, the joint allowing of one portion of the arm folding
back on the other when the door is opened. The connecting rods
may, if desired, be
made adjustable, so that provision is made for tightening up loose joints, for
compensating for the wear of the hinge pins, and for timing the movement of the
doors.
:
In applying the invention to an omnibus with a single door, only one set of levers
will be necessary to actuate the door, but if desired, the other set may be made to
actuate or release a bolt or catch, to lock or unfasten the door.
Din 5th 1 of bam 1800
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant:
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Opening and Closing the Doors of
Hansom Cabs and other Vehicles.
I JOSEPH LATHAM of 21 Newman Street, Oxford Street in the County of
Middlesex, Coach Maker, 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 :-
This invention consists in an arrangement of apparatus whereby the driver of a
hansom cab, omnibus, or other vehicle, may, from his seat, open or close the doors

page_text: Many plans have been proposed for effecting this object, involving the use of chains
and pullies, or racks and pinions, but to such arrangements there are obvious
objections. For example, chains are liable to stretch, and the teeth of the racks and
pinions to break off, thus rendering the apparatus useless.
.
The use of levers has also been suggested, but so far as I am aware, no practically
efficient contrivance has been produced for the purpose, and no attempt has been made
to effect the simultaneous action of the abutting doors of hansom cabs by an
arrangement of levers.
"
In the accompanying drawing, I have shewn my invention as applied to a hansom
cab, Fig. 1 being a longitudinal section, shewing the " near side of the cab without
the lining; Fig. 2 a similar view of the "off" side of the cab; Fig. 3 a transverse
section on the line 1. 2 of Fig. 1, looking towards the back of the cab; and Fig. 4 a
sectional plan, taken on the line 3. 4 of Fig. 3. These figures shew an arrangement
of levers and rods which are placed inside the vehicle between the walls and the lining,
the whole being operated by a band lever, which extends upwards in front of the
driver, and works transversely of the vehicle.
This hand lever is shewn at A as made fast to a pivot pin a, which passes through
the back of the cab, and has affixed to its inner end a transverse rock lever B.
.
Pendent from the ends of this rock lever are link rods b b¹. The link b, on the off
side of the cab, is pivotted to a lever C, fulcrummed near the front end of the cab
side, and connected by a link c to the bell crank lever D. The link 6', on the near side
of the cab, is pivotted directly to the bell crank lever D¹. This bell crank lever, and
also the bell crank lever D on the opposite side, are pivotted at d' d on the cab sides,
the intermediate lever C being employed merely for convenience in structural
arrangement.
These two levers D and D' are intended to transmit motión simultaneously from
the hand lever A to the doors of the cab.
The positions of the two bell, crank levers are reversed, the shorter arm of one
projecting upwards, and that of the other projecting downwards, the object being to
reverse the direction of the pull or the thrust of the two levers. E E' is a pair of
horizontal bell crank levers mounted on brackets fixed to the sides of the cab, at about
the level of the top hinges of the doors. By means of links e e¹, the levers E E' are
connected to the levers D D', and thus the motion of the hand lever A is transmitted
to the front part of the cab.
These levers E E¹ are, at their forward extremities, connected by means of curved
link rods e² e³ with the moveable part of the upper hinges of the doors, openings being
made in the fixed part of the hinges for the curved link rods to pass through, and
connect with eyes attached to the moveable part of the hinges.
From this description it will be seen, that the driver, through the hand lever A,
will, from his seat, have complete control over the doors. By moving the handle in
the direction of the arrow Fig. 3, the cab doors will be thrown open to receive the
passenger, or permit of his alighting, and by reversing the movement of the hand
lever, the doors may be gently closed upon the incoming passenger.
The link rods e e¹ may be made adjustable in length to compensate for the wear of
the joints, and for timing the movements of the doors with respect to each other.
The arrangement just described, it will be understood, is in great part hidden by
the lining of the cab, so that it is not only protected from the weather, but it is
hidden from view of the passenger, and is not likely, therefore, in its movements, to
incommode him.
In applying the invention to an omnibus with a single door, it will be obvious that
only one set of the levers will be necessary to actuate the door, but if desired, a second
set may be made to actuate or release a bolt or catch to lock or unlock the door.
In applying the invention to covered vans closed at their end with swing doors, it
may be convenient to provide two independent arrangements of apparatus for closing
the doors separately.
In such case, the driver will be furnished with two hand levers A, each of which
will carry on its pivot pin a an arm B, in lieu of the transverse rock lever (Fig. 3).

page_text: but in other respects, the apparatus will be like that shewn in either Fig. 1 or Fig. 2,
and each door will respond only to the movements of its own lever A.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The arrangement of apparatus above described with reference to the drawing,
whereby the driver of a hansom cab is enabled, from his seat, to open, and also to close
the door simultaneously.
2. The application of the invention to omnibuses and other vehicles, of the modifi-
cations of door opening and closing apparatus above described.
Dated this 5th day of November 1890.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.