IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELED CARRIAGES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Herbert Maberly, of Stowmarket, in the
County of Suffolk, Master of Arts, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELED CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 30th June 1857, and dated the 1st January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Herbert
Maberly at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st January 1857.
I, FREDERICK HERBERT MABERLY, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk,
Master of Arts, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELED CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-.
I propose for the safety, comfort, and convenience of carriages, small and
great, and for the prevention of the unpleasantness arising from the dirt of the
wheels, to bring the wheels within the framing of the carriage, by which
means I lower the body thereof, so that it may be entered and quitted with
comparative safety to what is the case from the present construction of
carriages. The same provision is applicable to carts and waggons, and all
carriages of the like kind.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Herbert Maberly in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
HERBERT MABERLY, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk, Master of Arts,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederick Herbert Maberly, Her special license that I, the said
Frederick Herbert Maberly, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Frederick Herbert Maberly, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELED
CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Herbert Maberly, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Herbert Maberly, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and forming part of this my Specification, and to the several
Diagrams drawn thereon, whereon similar letters of reference are placed to
denote similar parts (that is to say): -
Figure 1, in the accompanying Drawing, shews a side elevation of an
omnibus on improved principle; Figure 2, a plan view of the same through
the line A, B, at Figure 1; Figure 3, side view of a street cab or brougham;
Figure 4, end view of the same; Figure 5, side view of a two-wheeled cab;
Figure 6, side view of spring for two-wheeled cab; Figure 7, elevation and
plan of hinge for door carriages of every description.

page_text: Figure 1 represents an omnibus constructed upon my new principle, having
the hinder wheels a let in under the body of the vehicle, in places b made for
their reception, the object of this being that the body may be placed con-
siderably lower than otherwise; and if the doors are on the sides of the
omnibus, and open the contrary way to what is commonly the case, the same
may be left as entered without fear of injury or of dirt from the wheels; as
once out of such carriages, which you have only a step to take to be so, and
you are clear of everything. The doors of these omnibusses, if public ones,
may be behind, as commonly the case, though the wheels are thus blocked
out, and so the bodies lower than otherwise, and thus only one step into them
is necessary, and so they are quitted and entered most easily and safely. This
is accomplislied by dividing the hind axletree into two parts, making two short
axletrees of it, each confined between two springs on the same, the one
fastened to tho inside framework of the omnibus, and the other to the outer
side of the same, and the wheel on each axletree working between two plates,
one on each side, to keep the wheel steady and in its proper position. Or, this
is managed also by a whole axletree, so formed as that, the omnibus may be
lowered according to my plan. And thus the seats on the roof of such omnibus
may be safely covered without fear of the omnibus being thereby blown over
in a storm, and not only so, but the passengers be so protected from rain,
et cetera, on the outside, that they shall ride there as comfortably nearly as
those in the inside of the omnibus. And thus I cover these seats, which I
claim under my Patent, namely, by spring roller water-tight blinds, placed so
that they may be drawn down in the proper direction for sheltering the
passengers, and to shoot off the water somewhat after the manner shewn at 7*
in the Drawing R, R, being roller blinds as aforesaid, extending the whole
length of the omnibus if the seats are lengthways, but otherwise, if otherwise,
and either in two parts each, or in the whole, and so that they may be
momentarily drawn down, and as momentarily drawn back to their places as
needed. The roofs themselves of private omnibusses, and where the whole is
not wanted to sit on, may be made moveable in the whole or part by throwing
one part of the roof back on the other, and simply by a water-tight leather
joint and a small strip of leather round the edges of the part thus thrown
back, and so that when the same is returned to its place again on the omnibus
or carriage, the wet and air are effectually excluded, and this simple method
of making an enclosed carriage an open one I claim under my Patent. The
fure part of the omnibus, (Figure 1) I have placed on a circular (or nearly so.)
tram e, to which the fore wheels are attached by their springs and axles, and
which tram works in grooves appropriate for it, and which upon the whole

page_text: gives, may be, greater steadiness to the carriage and makes it less likely to
overturn than otherwise, but the fore part of such carriage may be connected
with the hinder in the ordinary way, or after the manner as hereafter shewn in
the cab or brougham.
At Figure 3 will be seen the side elevation of an ordinary street cab or
brougham, having the wheels partially as exhibited within the body of the
vehicle and plane pieces faced with iron along the sides of the cab, as they
must be along the sides of the omnibusses constructed in this plan to protect
the sides of the one and of the other from the chafing of the wheels, et cetera, of
other carriages, and which I claim as part of provisions for safety cabs and
omnibusses. This Figure exhibits the wheels as brought within the carriage,
so that there is a plain side outward clear of the wheels, and so that the
carriage is brought as near to the ground as possibly. And the manner of doing
this in such cases I claim as in regard to all other carriages. When the
wheels are placed as in this Drawing, a whole straight axletree is all that is
required, even for the hind wheels of a cab or like carriage that does not open
behind; if otherwise, an appropriate axletree would be required, or the axle
would need to be divided as aforesaid in the case of the omnibus, and which
division of the axletree as aforesaid I claim as part of my Invention (when so
applied). It is not needful for the fore axle to be thus divided, but if it is so
it must be dealt with somewhat after the manner of the hind axletree when so
divided, with liberty given still to the fore wheels to receive the necessary
'turning to bring the carriage round, though by the cutting away alone of a small
part of the lower part of fore carriage this may be accomplished. And with
the carriage brought thus low and the wheels thus protected, and especially,
as will be further shown, in any case of danger, even in that of horses running
away, and particularly as the doors are hinged on the opposite side to what is
generally the case, the carriage is easily and safely left. If the wheels are not
plane wheels, but spoke ones, and needing it, I then place a spring-hinged
guard beside the same, so that there shall be no danger from them in getting
out or in, under any circumstances. This may be done in regard to the fore
wheels, or they may be guarded by pieces beside them with larger half circles
than the wheels as to their upper parts, and so formed that properly suspended
they would protect from danger, and from the flying dirt of such wheels. As
said in regard to omnibusses, these carriages may be converted from enclosed
ones to open ones, and this may in like manuer be accomplished by spring
roller water-tight blinds, drawn over and back again on the tops of these
carriages, and this I claim as to these and such like carriages, as in regard to
the former spoken of. I support the bodies of these carriages by spiral springs

page_text: in preference to the common ones (though common ones will answer and may
be used). And these spiral springs I claim as applicable both as springs to
the fore and to the hind part of the carriage, and after the manner exhibited
and explained, see Figure 4 for this, which exhibits the back of a cab with
these spiral springs on the hind part of the back, as described. There are two
pieces of wood plated with iron fastened one above the other, with down bolts
fixed in them, and which bolts pass through the axletree and through pipe
boxes within spiral springs, and on which the spiral springs play, and which
spiral springs and pipe boxes are above the axle and rest upon it, the pipe
boxes preventing the further descent of the carriage on either side than the
springs will safely allow. Besides the afore-named provisions for the hind
wheels, there is a guide, a plain piece of iron firmly fixed on the middle of the
axletree, and which plain piece plays up and down through the upper iron
plated piece of wood, and thus keeps the carriage steady and from sinking
otherwise than equally on either side (or nearly so), however unequally the
weight may be placed within or without the carriage. The hind wheels of
street cabs being placed further back than those of omnibusses, I place
wings i, shewn by dotted lines, Figure 5, as a guard to the said wheels, which
wings binged to the body of the carriage, have light springs to keep them in
their place as guards to the hind wheels, something of the same kind there is
hinged to the fore part of the carriage to protect the fore wheels, with springs
keeping them in their places, but allowing them to fall back as needed to
permit the shafts to come round with the horse, as they are turned about to do
this; or pieces on the outside of these wheels may be suspended from the
springs and covering the whole of the upper part of these wheels and best
part of the lower part of the same, and so as to prevent any danger or
any of the unpleasantness of the dirt cast up by the wheels. In regard to the
fore carriage, there is a down bolt fixing the same to the other part of the
carriage, allowing the fore carriage to turn thereon, and above this axletree
there is a plate of iron passing from the upper part of the spiral spring on the
outside to the same on the other; through this the down bolt passes, and being
fixed in the axle plays upward as the springs are depressed. There are bolts
passing through pipe boxes within the spiral springs, and which bolts are fixed
in the upper plate, and play thus, downward through the axletree as the
springs are forced downwards, the pipe boxes preventing too great play on
either side, as too great a strain on either spiral spring.
Figure 5 this shews how cabs and other vehicles with two wheels may be
constructed so as to have the door of the same either before or behind the
wheels, (or at the back of the carriage with the short axles,) with the driver in

page_text: front and before the wheels or just over them, that the carriage should be so
balanced as neither to press too much on the back or the underneath fore part
of the horse. For this purpose the axle is attached to the carriage by a spring
fixed on the axletree, and so the carriage itself, after the manner in which the
barrows of the London luxters are fixed on their axletrees, though in my case
I should assist these springs by spiral ones above the axle and between the
carriage and the same. The shafts to be fixed firmly on to the fore part of
such carriages, and of course to be very stout or strong.
At Figure 7 will be seen a linge of a peculiar construction, preventing the
possibility of getting the fingers jammed, or almost getting anything fixed
between the hinged part of the door and the post, too frequently the case with
the common joints. This joint is made by a pin passing from above the door of
the carriage to the bottom side plate of the same, and behind the door also, and
fixed to the upper and lower part of the carriage and then by a strip of copper,
brass, or iron, the whole length of the door being bent round this fixed pin,
and the sides of this copper, brass, or iron, being let in the one side to the
inner side of the door, and the other to the outer side of the door, and then
rivetted through the door in several places to each other, and so fixed firmly
on the door, and thus a safety joint is formed so that no harm or evil can
follow from this joint in opening or shutting the door, while instead of allowing
the opposite side of the door to fit close to its post, I pack both this part of
the door and so the post against which it shuts, and so neither here, as not at
the back edge and hinged part of the door, can any one sustain any injury
from the forcible shutting of the door, too commonly the case, and on railway
carriages particularly, and these provisions for such safety I claim as those of
my safety carriages.
I have thus described my Invention, and what I claim under the same,
which claims are hereafter concisely expressed. The bringing down the
carriages nearly to the ground, and particularly by a division of the binder
axletree, and so that they may have a covering to their roofed seats without
langer, and which particular covering, as set forth, I especially claim, as also
the covering set forth for converting a carriage from an enclosed one into an
open one, and the reverse.
I claim also, the bringing the wheels within the carriage after the manner
set forth, so that there is a plane side to the carriage divested of all fear of
wheels in getting in or out, and of the same and from dirt or danger, while the
sides of such carriages are protected on their outsides by wooden picces plated
with iron, or by iron alone passing along the sides laterally, and fixed to the
same, which I claim conjointly with the other parts.

page_text: I claim also the spiral springs, as set forth and used for the purposes of
springs to carriages.
Also the manner of fixing a two-wheeled cab to its axle by means of the
barrow spring, and the superadded spiral one, and by which the carriage may
be placed backwards or forward with the driver's seat in front, and the doors to
the same opened either before the wheels or behind them, (or at the back by
use of the short axles,) which also I claim for this end, and whereby the
balance of the carriage may be preserved.
I claim also the hinge joint as set forth, and the packing of the fore part
of the door and its post. The plane wheel I have already claimed under a
former Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Herbert Maberly, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
W. E. GEDGE.
F. II. MABERLY. (L.S.)