IMPROVE- MENTS IN PERAMBULATORS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Miles at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th October 1881.
JOHN HENRY MILES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, trading as
Lloyd and Company, Perambulator and Bath Chair Manufacturer. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PERAMBULATORS."
My Invention consists, first, in constructing and arranging the handles of
perambulators in the following manner, whereby the perambulator may readily be
propelled either from the front or the back.
I employ two handles, each of the said handles consisting of two rods, said rods
being respectively connected at one end to the sides of the body of the perambulator,
and connected together at their other ends by a cross piece which constitutes the
part of the handle grasped in propelling the perambulator. One of the said
handles is situated at the front and the other at the back of the perambulator. The
said handles are not connected rigidly to the body of the perambulator, but are
capable of turning the pin which connects them to the body so that each handle
can be raised and lowered independently. I prefer to make both handles turn upon
the same pins or centres at the sides of the body, but independent centres may be
employed. Each handle is capable of being fixed in either its raised or lowered
position by a screw or catch, or other equivalent means. By the use of one or
other of the bandles the perambulator may be propelled either from the front or
the back. When the perambulator is not in use both handles may be turned down,
when the perambulator occupies less room than an ordinary perambulator.
Where it is required that the handles may either be made independent of one
another or coupled together, I make them as herein before described, but joint
connecting rods on each side of the body to one of the handles, the three ends of
the connecting rods having hook like ends which may be engaged with pins on the
other handle so as to connect them together or liberate them from one another.
Or the handles may be connected by toggle joints, which in one position leave
the handles free to move independently of one another, and in another position
connect the handles together rigidly.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the construction and arrangement of parts
hereinafter described for changing the position of the body with respect to the

page_text: wheels, according as the perambulator is propelled from the front or from the
back. When the perambulator is propelled from the front, it is desirable that the
body should be moved somewhat nearer the front wheels. This I effect in the
following manner:-Two nearly vertical levers turn upon pins or centres on the
opposite sides of the body below the pins on which the handles turn, and their
upper and lower ends are so connected with the front handle and the frame work,
that when the said front handle is raised the body is moved towards the front
wheels, and when the said front handle is lowered the body is moved towards the
hind wheels or restored to its normal position. The weight being propelled is thus
brought into the most advantageous position for propulsion from front or from
back, according as the front handle is raised or lowered.
In place of changing the position of the body by means of levers, cams or
eccentrics may be used for that purpose.