CERTAIN NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES AND THE WHEELS OF CARRIAGES
Year: 1802

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FREDERICK BAUER, of Swithin's Lane, in the City of London, Doctor of Physic;
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of May, in
the forty-second year of His reign; give and grant unto me, the said George
Frederick Bauer, his especial licence that I, the said George Frederick
Bauer, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES AND THE WHEELS OF CARRIAGES;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said George
Frederick Bauer, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within one calendar month after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had)
may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Frederick Bauer, do hereby declare that my said Invention is
described in manner following, that is to say :-

page_text: The advantages by which these new-invented waggons and the wheels
belonging thereto are distinguished from others, consist in :---
That first, this machine, without losing its solidity, can be made much
lighter than a common waggon, which is destined to carry an equal heavy
load;
Secondly, it consists in diminishing considerably the friction; and,
Thirdly, in the elasticity of those particular wheels which are destined for
carriages only, by which, however, the same regulation in the inner part of the
nave may have place as with those of waggons. The friction round the axle-
tree by the motion of a waggon can be diminished in two ways: either that,
on a certain thickness of the axletree and height of the wheels, the wheels are
made higher; or that by a certain height of the wheels and thickness of the
axletree, the axletree being the part that bears, the friction be diminished.
The more the periphery or circumference of the axletree nears itself to its
centre, that is, the thinner the axletree is, the smaller is the friction at an equal
height of the wheels; and, as the wheel works like a lever upon the diminution
of the friction, therefore the friction must be less perceptible by a higher wheel
than a lower one when with both the axletree is of the same thickness. Con-
sidering that a wheel of twelve feet in circumference turns itself round an
axletree of twelve inches periphery then the friction, by equal pressure and
equal smoothness in the interior of the nave, will be just as strong as if a
wheel of six feet periphery turn itself round an axletree of six inches, and
require the same strength to overcome the said friction. If you will diminish the
friction by very great wheels in order to facilitate the horses, the necessity
thereby arises to make the wheels very heavy, otherwise they will not be solid
enough; which weight of the wheels, particularly if it touches their circum-
ference, which is the case in England where they are obliged to have very
broad jaunts, will be found to be a great hindrance on going up hill. Would
you diminish the friction by making the axletree thinner in the common
waggons, then the necessary strength would be lost. The construction of the
ordinary waggons will not admit of this. By my new-invented waggon,
however, the diminution of the friction takes place in the latter and
way,
the waggon loses thereby not the least in its strength, altho' it will be by
half lighter than an ordinary waggon. which carries an equal load. The
distinct delineation of the Drawings annexed will make all this clear.
Figure I. is a waggon for a single horse, by which everything essential is
expressed, except the racks or sides, which are left out, because. they must be
constructed according to the different uses they are intended for, or may be
made as on the ordinary waggon.

page_text: Figure II. represents the back part of the waggon of Figure I., looking at
it from above; and
Fig. III., the fore part of the waggon, also seen from above downwards.
The wheels are left out at both the latter Figures. a, a, a, a, Fig. II. and
Fig. III., are the spaces betwixt which the wheels are to be placed. One
may see that this waggon has no axletrees as the common waggons have, each
wheel has thereby, as one might say, it's own axletree b, b, b, b, which goes
by c, c, c, c, is thrust through the beam d, d, d, d, through the nave of the
wheels, and then through the beam e, e, Fig. III., which at the back of the
waggon, Fig. II., under the great beams w, w, is hid, where it is fastened
by f f f f by a screw p, p, p, Fig. II. and Fig. IV. These axletrees
must be of very good iron, and must be turned; they have before a hook-like
bend 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, Fig. II., Fig. III., and Fig. IV., with which when they are
properly fastened, and fit between two eminent nails h, h, h, h, Fig. I.,
whereby it is prevented that they cannot go round at the same time with the
wheel, as these axletrees are propt on both their ends. They may be made
much thinner than the axletrees of the common waggons.
On the waggon,
Fig. I., Fig. II., and Fig. III., for a single horse, which is destined to carry
thirty cwt., they are no thicker than of an inch. On a waggon for four
horses of the same construction, which carries 100 to 120 cwt., they are no
thicker than one inch, and even then strong enough on a common waggon as
used hitherto, which is to carry 30 cwt., the axletrees must be at least two
inches thick, otherwise they are strong enough. If the axletrees of a waggon
are three times as thick as on another then the wheels must be also three times
as high as those of the other when the friction is to be the same at an
equal load; against such a construction of wheels there are difficulties in the
way which will make their existence impossible. But in order to diminish the
friction round the axletree, and to provide at the same time for its strength, I
have invented a singular construction in the inner part of the nave, which is
clearly represented by Fig. IV.
Fig. IV., shewing a nave cut through horizontally with its axletree after a
large scale. I have the nave bored from one end to the other in a cylindrical
manner. The diameter of the hole in the nave for a single-horse waggon is,
throughout, an inch; then I drive in each end of the roll a brass box K, K;
this box is one and an eighth inch long, and one inch thick; the hole
throughout is but of an inch in diameter. In their hole the axletree 1, 1,
will just fit, which is also but of an inch thick where the boxes end, towards
the inner part m, m. There is round the axletree between this and the nave
a space n, n, and the nave does not touch there the axletree, which thereby

page_text: carries the load where it is the strongest, that is, near the points where it goes
through the beams d, d, d, d, and e, e, Fig. II. and Fig. III., and is even
supported on both sides. On the outside of the nave, on both sides, the boxes
are a little thicker, and are a little prominent above the wood of the nave o, 0,
Fig. IV. They, therefore, make there a somewhat elevated circle of, brass,
which, through its retracted periphery, removes itself as little as possible from
the centre of. the wheel, whereby the friction on the sides of the beams d, d, d, d,
and e, e, Eig. II. and Fig. III., which are lined with iron, will be almost
trifling. In the concave between the axletree and the inner part of the
nave n, n, Fig. IV., I put a mixture of one third tallow and two thirds of oil,
of which, by the motion of the wheels, there will always be some part of it
going sideways between the brass boxes and the axletree, which will make it
go and keep it very smooth. In taking off a wheel, then, you unscrew the
screw p, p, p, Fig. II., III., and IV., from the axletree, lift the waggon
through a windlass, and take off the wheel 7, 7. Fig. IV. shews a hole where
the spokes stick. The rest of Fig. I., II., and III. is easily to be under-
stood. The hind part of the waggon, Fig. II., is placed with the part on the
part. s of the fore: waggon, Fig. III.; in such a manner that the holes t,
Fig. II., and t, Fig. III., meet each other; through both an iron spigot is put,
which contracts the waggon, and is fastened below by a screw. The cross
beam u, Fig. III., commer, to lay under the beam v, Fig. II. w, w, Fig. II.,
are the.great beams upon which the load lays immediately. y, y, Fig. III.,
are the places where the thill is fastened, between which the horse goes. The
thill is left out by this Figure, because one may imagine one there, as is
seen after Fig. I. You see here, Fig. I., Z, that the thill is bent upwards on
the iron I; the horse carries part of it; on the hook 23 the chain traces are
fastened, and on the hook 3 the breeching is fastened. The perpendicular
line from 2 to 4 shewing about the distance of the point of the collar of a
middle-sized horse, where the chain traces are fastened from the ground 4,
therefore, the point of height of the acting faculty 2 and 5 shews the direction
which the acting faculty in 2 gets by the crooked thill. The line of the
direction of the power 2, 5, therefore, makes a straight angle with the line.5
and 6. This last line is the line of gravity of the wheel a, which in a
horizontal superfices shews the lever line of the centre of the wheel down to 6,
whereby the horse acts immediately in one line upon the wheel, which is
paralel with the ground; therefore, nothing is lost of the power, which
would have been the case if the direction of the power was oblique, and with
the ground made an angle like the line from 2 to 7. At 8 the thill beams
have a joint, and are moveable upwards and downwards.

page_text: Fig. V. represents a wheel looking at it from before or from behind, which
belongs to Fig. VI. and Fig. VII. You observe on both sides of the nave-two
iron spigots 99, which form one single piece of iron, which passes through the
nave and is fastened therein immovable. The spigots, therefore, at the
motion of the wheel, move round along with it, and go under the
beams 10, 10, 10, 10, Fig. VI. and Fig. VII., in boxes of brass. By this
disposition the friction is also lessened; but the first method with the
moveable axletree, as in Fig. I., is preferable, and can also be made use of
by these two-wheelled waggons..
Fig. VI. and Fig. VII. represent this two-wheelled waggon, which is
destined for three horses, and on which the racks or sides are also left out.
Between the thills 11, 11, 11, the fore horse goes, and carries part of the
waggon by the irons 12, 12, 12, through a chain or strap as on a common
waggon. By the hooks 13, 13, 13, the fore horse draws, and by the
hooks 14, 14, 14, it holds back on going downwards. The two other horses
go somewhat sideways behind the fore horse at 15, 15, 15, and draw
by 16, 16, 16; when the waggon goes down hill then the two hind. horses
assist through the hooks 17, 17, 17, Fig. VI. and .Fig. VII., in backing.
This waggon is very useful in broad roads; and what concerns..it's wheels,
they may be also constructed like those of Fig. I.
Fig. VIII. represents a wheel of the waggon, Fig. I., looking at it from behind
or from before; other waggons of four wheels destined for more horses- will be
constructed like the one from one horse, Fig. I., only that the horses go two
and two, and the waggon, therefore, must have two thills.
Figure IX. represents a wheel, on which, instead of wooden spokes, they are
of leather. The nave of this wheel, 18, consists of one solid piece of brass, and
is in its interior just made like the nave of the wheel of Fig. I., but if required
it can be made on single-horse chaises or carriages to fit a common axletree,
which Figure X. shews. The leather of the straps which makes the spokes
must be strong and even throughout. Before the straps are drawn through
the holes on the iron circle 20, 20, 20, etc., Fig. IX. and Fig. X., and through
the holes of the nave 21, 21, 21, etc., Fig. X. and Fig. XI., they must be put
in water, and then, by means of tools, they must be drawn and fastened very
tight, and at last be varnished; by this method the wheels become very
solid. Instead of leather straps one may also use strings or chains. These
wheels are merely for use of carriages, or for the transportation of sick persons,
because, by their elasticity, they make the shock in riding over rough ground
and stones hardly perceptible. On Fig. X., which shews an elastic wheel from
before, you see four leather spokes 22, 22, 22, 22, in their directions.

page_text: Fig. XI. represents the nave of an elastic wheel looking at it from before,
with its holes 21, 21, 21, 21, for the straps on a larger scale. As the
mechanism of these new-invented waggons and wheels is applicable to all
kinds of carriages, I have only mentioned the most essential, which is easily
to be understood. The wheels may be made as broad as the laws of this
country require it. The utility and simplicity thereof are shewn by the
Drawings, and will be found by the application.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Frederick Bauer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fifth day of June, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid George Frederick Bauer came before
our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.