NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF BUILDING OR CONSTRUCTING WHEELED CARRIAGES, AS ALSO FOR MAKING OR CONSTRUCTING WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1818

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THEODORE KOSTER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the
Fifteenth day of January, in the fifty-eighth year of His reign, reciting that
I, the said John Theodore Koster, had, by my Petition, humbly represented
unto His said Majesty that I had, by great study, invented a "NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OF BUILDING OR CONSTRUCTING WHEELED CARRIAGES, AS ALSO FOR MAKING
OR CONSTRUCTING WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES," which would be of public utility
and advantage, and praying His Majesty to grant me, my exors, admors,
and assigns, His Letters Patent for the sole exercise of my Invention within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, for the term of
fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent, was graciously pleased
to condescend to my request; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that if I, the said John Theodore Koster, should not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's Court of Chancery
within two calendar months next immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advan-
tages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly cease, determine, and become

page_text: void, as in and by the said Letters Patent, relation being thereunto had, may
and will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Theodore Koster, in compliance
with the said proviso, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention to be as herein-before set forth, a New or Improved Method
of Building or Constructing Wheeled Carriages, as also for Making or Con-
structing Wheels for Carriages; and I further declare the principle to be
as follows, that is to say, that my said Invention doth consist principally in
causing the greatest part, or in preference the whole, of the weight of the
vehicle and its load to rest upon the two extremities of the axletree or
axeltrees outside the wheels, in place of between the wheels, as now practised,
to effect which purpose other methods may devised, but that which I have
adopted in the first instance is as follows:-
For carriages of burthen, as a cart, I make the body somewhat wider than
the truck on which the wheels are to go, and let the outside piecos of the
bottom thereof rest upon and be firmly fixed to blocks of wood or metal
perforated to receive the axletree, which is perfectly straight, and which being
introduced through them and through the naves of the wheels, is secured
from coming out or turning round by a small bolt or pin passing through
the block and the end of the axletree, or by making the ends of it square,
with a screw and nut, or other methods, and it is thus easily removeable for
any purpose. The wheels may be either of the usual construction, or of that
hereafter described; the naves, whether of wood or iron, should be somewhat
longer than usual, the spokes placed as near the outward end as practicable,
and the other end projecting inward towards the centre of the body. The
rim or felloe should be perfectly cylindrical, whether broad or narrow. The
wheels may be kept in their places either by linch-pins through the axletree or
through the nave, and running in a groove in the axletree, and they may be
greased either by removing the axletree or by pouring oil or any liquid grease
through an aperture in the nave. If the wheels are required to be high they may
protrude through an opening in the bottom of the body, and be covered with
a cap or case; if low wheels only are required, they may run entirely under
the body. The body of a waggon may be constructed exactly in the same
manner, and a break being made at the point where the fore wheels lock, the
fore part may be raised sufficiently high for the fore wheels to go under it, and
swivel entirely round by means of a horizontal circle like any other carriage
without a perch. For the fore wheels to answer the purpose of an under car-
riage, an open rectangular frame may be made of the required size and strength,
and the outside pieces thereof rest upon blocks as before described.

page_text: For light carts and waggons, springs, either what are called grasshopper or
eliptic, or any other forms, may be applied between the body or between
the frame and the blocks or other supports; and for coaches, chariots, &c.,
frames rectangular or varied in shape may be adapted to each pair of wheels,
the outside pieces thereof resting upon springs, and these upon the blocks or
other supports, as before described. The fore and hind frames may be
connected with a perch straight or crane-necked, or by the body only, or in
any other manner, and the usual or any different shaped bodies may be placed
or hung upon them in any manner whatever. In all cases I would place
the point of draught as low as practicable, so as to give the greatest possible
inclination to the line of traction upwards towards the shoulder of the horse,
and to accomplish this the shafts or pole, or by whatever else the carriage
is drawn, especially if on two wheels only, may be attached to the ends of
the axletree, or to the blocks immediately under or over the axletree; and
the body of a cart on this construction is peculiarly convenient for the appli-
cation of the rack, many years partially in use, for elevating the fore part of
the body going down hill, as in this with the same facility and by the same
means it may be depressed in going up hill.
My new or improved method of making or constructing wheels is principally
adapted to carriages of burthen, and doth consist in making the rim or felloe
an entire circle of cast or maleable iron of the required breadth and thickness,
with sockets, mortises, or other contrivances in the interior thereof cast with
or welded to it, and corresponding to the number of spokes and open on one
side; then into the nave, whether of wood or metal, I drive or fix the
required number of wooden spokes, and placing the ends of them altogether
into the said sockets or mortises in the rim, I wedge them tight, and secure
them by rivets, screw bolts, or other methods.
The better to illucidate the understanding of the foregoing descriptions the
following outline Sketches are subjoined.
First, the side elevation of a cart fixed solidly on blocks with wheels of the
new construction, and a plan of the bottom or platform of the body.
Second, side elevation of a light waggon on springs, wheels of the usual
construction with iron naves and not dished, and a plan of the fore frame or
under carriage.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and eighteen.
JOHN THEODORE (L.s.) KOSTER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of March, in the
year of our Lord 1818, the aforesaid John Theodore Koster came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according!
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighteen.