CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES CALLED OMNIBUSES
Year: 1858

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Blake Ayshford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
April 1858.
I, THOMAS BLAKE AYSHFORD, of No. 1, Britannia Road, Walham Green,
Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES
CALLED OMNIBUSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of improvements in certain parts of carriages called
omnibuses, whereby greater comfort and convenience is afforded to passengers
travelling by such omnibuses than has hitherto been adopted in the construc-
tion of such carriages, and also in so constructing the front portion of such
vehicles as to enable passengers to ascend and descend with greater ease &
freedom than they now can do from the ordinary carriages or omnibuses as at
present made. For this purpose the seat which usually runs along the roof
of the omnibus, and is commonly called the "knifeboard," I divide into com-
partments or separate seats by a rail of timber, iron, or other suitable material
at any convenient distance from the seat itself. This rail I construct in a zig-
zag or serpentine form, so that each passenger is divided from his neighbour
by such rail, & obliged to sit in an opposite direction. Thus, supposing the
omnibus to be travelling from north to south, & that the first passenger faced
the east, the next would face the west, the next the east, and so on alternately
according to the number of seats or compartments so arranged, which would be
governed by the length of the omnibus; in this way I not only obtain more

page_text: comfort and convenience for each passenger, but also bring the top weight more
directly into the centre of the vehicle. In front of each seat I also form a small
foot board, in such a position as to give more comfort to the passenger occupy-
ing such seats, and also allowing a clear and unobstructed gangway for the
purpose of enabling the other passengers to pass and repass without interfering
or annoying those passengers who may be seated. The four seats at the front of
the carriage or omnibus, which are placed two on either side of the driver's seat,
I construct in such a way that more comfort & greater convenience is obtained
by passengers occupying such seats, and by the way in which they are formed
and fixed upon the omnibus, more room is given to passengers getting up and
down. The front portion of the omnibus I form by cutting off the corners,
giving it an appearance similar to three sides of an octagon. Over the part
forming one corner or side of the octagon, on either side of the omnibus, I
place a seat, receding back from the other, or two centre seats, a suitable dis-
tance, to suit circumstances. The whole of these seats I divide seperately by
means of a rail made of any suitable material, which gives each passenger his
proper share of room. By the arrangement of keeping back, the two outside
seats, more room is given at the two ends of the footboard, & any pas-
senger ascending or descending is not obliged to inconvenience himself or
the outside passenger, as is now generally the case in carriages or omnibuses
of the present construction.