IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STALLS AND BOXES OR SEATS OF TREAD. WHEEL AND CRANK SHEDS OR HOUSES, AND OTHER LIKE SHEDS OR HOUSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Martin, of the Firm of Martin and Cham-
berlain, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Architects, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STALLS AND BOXES OR SEATS OF TREAD.
WHEEL AND CRANK SHEDS OR HOUSES, AND OTHER LIKE SHEDS OR HOUSES."
Sealed the 2nd July 1867, and dated the 8th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Martin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
January 1867.
I, WILLIAM MARTIN, of the Firm of Martin and Chamberlain, of Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Architects, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STALLS AND BOXES OR SEATS OF
TREADWHEEL AND CRANK SHEDS OR HOUSES, AND OTHER LIKE SHEDS OR HOUSES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is so to construct and arrange the stalls and
boxes or seats of tread wheel and crank sheds or houses that prisoners or others
having to labour at the said treadwheels or cranks may pass to and from their
places at the treadwheels or cranks without seeing each other, and without
leaving vacant places at the tread wheel or crank; and, further to give to

page_text: the officer in charge of the prisoners or persons at the tread wheel or crank
the means of fastening and unfastening the doors of the stalls and boxes, or
seats, and thereby to direct the ingress and egress of the prisoners or persons,
as well as to enable the said officer to inspect the said prisoners or persons,
both while they are at the treadwheel or crank and in the boxes or seats.
My Invention is also applicable to sheds or houses in general in which it is
required to separate prisoners or other persons engaged in associated labour.
In arranging the stalls and boxes or seats of treadwheel and crank sheds or
houses according to my Invention I place the boxes or seats opposite the
stalls, but instead of making the divisions of the boxes or seats in the same
vertical planes as the divisions of the stalls, I place each of the said divisions
of the boxes or seats midway between two divisions of the stalls; to each of
the divisions of the boxes or seats two doors are hinged, the said doors closing
respectively against the divisions of the stalls. By this arrangement of the
stalls and boxes, or seats and doors, the prisoners or persons can be made to
work and pass from the stalls at the treadwheel or crank, and return without
seeing each other.
The method of working with my improved stalls and boxes or seats is as
follows: The prisoners or persons are divided into three groups, two of the
groups being at the treadwheel or crank at the same time, and one group
occupying alternate boxes or seats, and resting. At the required time the
officer in charge opens the doors of the unoccupied boxes or seats, and every
alternate person passes from the treadwheel or crank into the said boxes or
seats. The doors admitting them being closed, and the doors of the boxes or
seats in which the persons who have been at rest being opened, the latter pass
to the treadwheel or crank, and the normal condition of two-thirds of the persons
at work, and one-third at rest is restored. At the prescribed time the second
group occupying alternate stalls at the treadwheel or crank retire to the
unoccupied boxes or seats, and the occupants of the alternate boxes having had
their time of rest pass to the treadwheel or crank. By repeating the opera-
tions described the persons at the treadwheel or crank are made to perform
the work required of them, and have the usual intervals of rest in the boxes
or seats without seeing each other. At each change from the tread wheel or
crank to a box or seat the person does not pass to the box from which he
came, but to that next it, and the whole company is thus made to perform a
slow rotation through all the stalls and boxes or seats.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MARTIN, of the Firm of Martin and Chamberlain, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Architects, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eight day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Martin, Her special licence that I, the said William
Martin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Martin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 STALLS AND BOXES OR SEATS OF TREADWHEEL AND CRANK SHEDS OR HOUSES,
AND OTHER LIKE SHEDS OR HOUSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Martin, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 William Martin, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is so to construct and arrange the stalls and boxes
or seats of tread wheel and crank sheds or houses that prisoners or others
having to labour at the same tread wheels or cranks may pass to and from their
places at the treadwheels or cranks without seeing each other and without
leaving vacant places at the tread wheel or crank.
My Invention is also applicable to sheds or houses in general in which it is
required to separate prisoners or other persons engaged in associated labour.
In arranging the stalls and boxes or seats of treadwheel and crank sheds
or houses according to my Invention I place the boxes or seats opposite the

page_text: stalls, but instead of making the divisions of the boxes or seats in the same
vertical planes as the divisons of the stalls, I place each of the said divisions
of the boxes or seats midway between two divisions of the stalls. To each of
the divisions of the boxes or seats two doors are hinged, the said doors opening
and closing in the manner herein-after explained. By this arrangement of the
stalls and boxes or seats and doors the prisoners or persons can be made to
work and pass from the stalls at the treadwheel or crank, and return without
seeing each other.
The method of working with my improved stalls and boxes or seats is as
follows: The prisoners or persons are divided into three groups or gangs, two
of the groups or gangs being at the treadwheel or crank at the same time,
and one group or gang occupying alternate boxes or seats and resting. At the
required time the officer in charge opens the doors of the unoccupied boxes
or seats, and every alternate person passes from the treadwheel or crank into
the said boxes or seats. The doors admitting them being closed, and the doors
of the boxes or seats in which the persons who have been at rest being opened,
the latter pass to the treadwheel or crank, and the normal condition of two-
thirds of the persons at work and one-third at rest is restored. At the prescribed
time the second group occupying alternate stalls at the tread wheel or crank
retire to the unoccupied boxes or seats, and the occupants of the alternate
boxes or seats having had their time of rest pass to the treadwbeel or crank.
By repeating the operations described the persons at the treadwheel or crank
are made to perform the work required of them, and have the usual intervals
of rest in the boxes or seats without seeing each other. At each change from
the treadwheel or crank to a box or seat the person does not pass to the box
or seat from which he came but to that next it, and the whole company
is thus made to perform a slow rotation through all the stalls and boxes
or seats.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure represents in transverse vertical section, and Figure 2 in plan a
double treadwheel shed or house, the stalls and boxes or seats of which are
constructed and arranged according to my Invention. As the said shed or
house consists of four compartments, all essentially alike, I will describe the
construction and arrangement and mode of working one compartment only,
which description will apply to the other compartments. h, h, are the divi-
.sions between the boxes or seats, and i, i, are the divisions between the stalls.
The manner in which the divisions are arranged with respect to the

page_text: divisions i will be understood by an examination of the plan, Figure 2; k, l,
are doors, the doors k being hinged to the divisions between the boxes or
seats, and the doors being hinged to the divisions between the stalls. The
said doors k, l, open in the directions indicated by the arrows respectively
marked on the said doors. The prisoners or persons occupying the seats and
stalls are divided into three groups, the individuals of which are respectively
indicated by the letters a, b, and c.
The individuals constituting the group a
occupy alternate boxes or seats, the intermediate boxes or seats being empty;
the individuals constituting the group 6 occupy alternate stalls; and the indi-
viduals constituting the group c occupy the stalls intermediate between those
occupied by the group b. When it is wished to remove the individuals of the
group 6 from the tread wheel m for the purpose of giving them rest and intro-
ducing the group a, who have completed their period of rest in the boxes or
seats, the officer in charge proceeds as follows:-The said officer causes
alternate doors 1 (that is, the first, third, fifth, and so on) to be opened, and
the persons composing the group 6 to pass from the stalls to the unoccupied
seats, that is, the seats intermediate between those occupied by the group a;
the doors being closed and the doors k (opening into the same stalls as the
doors just closed) being opened, the persons composing the group a are
caused to pass to the stalls just vacated by the group b, and the normal state
of things is restored, that is, the whole of the stalls at the treadwheel are
occupied while alternate boxes or seats aro occupied, two-thirds of the
prisoners or persons being at work upon the tread wheel, while one-third are at
rest. At the required time the persons composing the group c are permitted
to leave the stalls they occupy by the opening of those of the doors l, which
open into their stalls; they are thereby allowed to pass into the boxes or seats
marked a in the Drawing, but which in the change last described were vacated
by the persons composing the group a. The last-described doors / being closed
and the doors of the same stalls being opened the persons composing the
group b, which by the change last described had passed into the boxes or
seats intermediate between those marked a pass into the stalls vacated by the
persons composing the group c, the doors k being closed the normal arrange-
inent of the prisoners or persons is restored. By the arrangement and mode
of working described it will be seen that each of the groups of prisoners a, b,
and c occupy alternate stalls during one working period of time, and pass into
boxes or seats during the allotted time of rest, and that when the next working
period arrives they do not return to the stalls previously occupied but to those
next in succession. There is thus performed a slow rotation or passage by the
prisoners or persons through all the boxes or seats and stalls in the treadwheel

page_text: house or shed, which is effected without the prisoners or persons coming in
sight of each other. The officer who occupies the stage n (see Figure 1)
commands a view of the whole boxes or seats and stalls. The opening of the
doors k, l, can either be effected by the prisoners or persons occupying the
said stalls and boxes or seats at the command of the officer on the stage n, or
they may be opened by any mechanical appliance under the control of the
said officer at the stage n.
Although I have described and represented my Invention as applied to a
tread wheel shed or house, yet the construction and arrangement of stalls and
boxes or seats constituting my Invention may be applied to crank sheds or
houses, and other sheds or houses in which associated labour is carried on.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention the improvements in the stalls and boxes or seats of
treadwheel and crank sheds or houses, and other like sheds or houses herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
constructing and arranging the said stalls and boxes or seats, substantially as
described and represented, so that the prisoners or persons occupied at the
said treadwheels or cranks, or at other associated labour may pass to and from
their work without seeing each other, and without leaving any unoccupied
places where the labour is applied.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Martin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
H. MARTIN.
WILLIAM MARTIN. (L.S.)