CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON OR ADDITIONS TO PARK OR OTHER GATES
Year: 1826

page_text: PARKER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PARKER, of Knightsbridge, in the County of Middlesex, Iron and Wire Fence
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of May, in the seventh year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Parker, His especial licence that I, the said John Parker, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Parker, my exors,
aditiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON OR
ADDITIONS TO PARK OR OTHER GATES;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, obliging me, the said John Parker, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Parker, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist in

page_text: a rail or carriage way, which I call a track, laid under and connected with a
gate, and extending beyond it on either side in such manner that when the
wheels of a carriage about to pass. through the said gate roll on to the said
track at one side the weight of the carriage causes the gate to open, while
the same weight, when placed on that part of the track which is at the oppo-
site side of the gate, by the passing on of the carriage, causes the gate to shut
after it. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John
Parker, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be
performed by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to
say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 represents my said carriage way or track as it would appear when
looking down upon the road from a height above it. A is the gate; B, the
post to which it is hung; C and D, two stops to retain the gate in an open
position; E, the post to which the catch is fastened, which holds the gate when
shut; F and G are the two tracks for the carriage wheels to run upon, and I
designate that marked F as the gate track, and that marked G as the catch
track. These tracks are wooden trunks or cases laid down in the ground with
the upper part level with the surface, and contain machinery herein after
described. HI, II, are two iron plates, united at e, e, by two hinges, and K, K,
are two corresponding plates and hinges at the other end of the gate track.
The parts marked I and J are also iron plates, and all these plates will be
more particularly described hereafter.
Figs. 2 and 3 represent elevations of the two tracks, with one side removed
to shew the machinery within them. Fig. 2 represents the gate track;
and it should here be stated that the parts coloured lilac are those connected
with the movement of the catches or stops, and those coloured blue are
the parts connected with the gate. 1 is an iron plate turning on a hinge
at r, and acts upon the crank lever L, which pulls the rod M, and this rod M
acts upon the stop c, as will be more clearly shewn hereafter. H, H, are the
two iron plates before described, furnished with the hinges e, e, in the middle,
and supported at each end in the manner here shewn, which, it will be observed,
allows of a certain play of these plates when a superincumbent weight is
applied. This play of the plates causes them to act on the crank lever N,
which pulls the rod O, and this rod is fastened to a toothed wheel at P, which
works into a pinion wheel fixed on to the bottom of the king post of the gate,
thereby causing the gate to open when the plates H, H, are pressed upon.
R, R, are mere balance weights, to bring the crank movements back to their

page_text: original positions. The mechanical arrangement is repeated at each side of
the gate, and I do not therefore think it necessary to describe the ends S
of the track F, since it corresponds in every particular with the end T already
described. Fig. 3 represents the catch track. E is the post to which the
gate catch is fastened; t is the catch; J is a plate hung on a hinge at u,
and acting on the crank lever Q. which pulls the rod V, which rod is con-
nected by means of the crank W with the catch t, as will be better explained
hereafter. The end S of this track is also similar to the end T, and therefore
needs no further explanation.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent a plan of the machinery as it is placed in the casing,
with the carriage track or upper part of the casing taken off. And first
of Fig. 4. X, X, are the side arms or branches of the casing which lead
to the stops C and D, which stops, it has been before observed, keep the
gate open when it is once thrown back; L is the crank lever which pulls
the rod M; this rod moves the crank Y, which crank pulls the rod Z, which
communicates with another crank, which last-mentioned crank lifts the
stop, as shewn by Fig. 7, which is a side elevation of this movement. N is
the crank lever which pulls the rod o, and it will be seen by this Figure
that the rod o is fastened to one side of the toothed wheel P, so that when
the rod is pulled, the toothed wheel moves round and puts in motion
the pinion, here shewn working into it, and which pinion being fastened to
the lower end of the king post of the gate, of course opens the gate to either
side, according as the toothed wheel is turned one way or the other by the
rods which are fastened to it. The end S, being only a repetition of the end
T, it will not be necessary to describe it. Fig. 5 shews the machinery of the
catch track. Q is the crank lever which pulls the rod V, and this rod, by
means of the cranks and lesser rods, here shewn as leading from it, acts upon
the main catch of the gate t, in the manner which will be better explained by
referring to the Figure 6 on the Drawing, where the dotted lines show the
position of the catch when raised to let the gate open; for it should be stated
that the gate spring g is not acted upon, but when it is required to open the gate
the catch is turned up out of its way. a, a, a, a, are the four guides to direct
the wheels along the tract; and is a friction roller, not shown in the other
Figures, but which is for the purpose of better supporting the toothed wheel
P as it moves round; h is the pivot on which the bottom of the king post rests
and turns.
Having now described the various parts of my said Invention, I will proceed
to explain the effect produced upon it by the wheels at each side of a carriage

page_text: as it passes over the track, and for this purpose I will suppose a two-wheeled
carriage to be passing in the direction of the arrow shewn on the Drawing,
between Figures 2 and 5, and the gate to be in its shut position. It will be
seen, on reference to this Drawing, that as soon as the off wheel of the
carriage gets on to the plate I the lever L will be acted upon, and this will
raise the stop C, which it is true at this time is a matter of no importance, but
the motion is necessary in other situations, as will be explained hereafter, and
of course every time a wheel passes over the plate I the stop C will move
whether necessary or not. When the off wheel has passed over the plate I
it gets on to the plate II, and at the same time the near wheel gets on to the
plate J. Thus the lever Q is acted upon by the near wheel, and this raises
the catch of the gate t, and allows it to open, while the off wheel is acting
upon the lever N, and this, as has already been shewn, pulls round the toothed
wheel P and causes the gate to open. The opening of the gate causes it to
swing back against the stop D, and there it is held till the off wheel arrives at
the plate I, at the end S of the track, when the stop D is raised, and the gate
is thus forced, and falls to in its former position. By this it will be seen that
if the carriage were passing in a contrary direction, the action of the stop C,
before described, would be necessary to free the gate, and let it fall to after it
had been opened, while the action on the stop D would in that case be entirely
needless. It should be observed, that the off wheel, as it passes over the plate
K on its way off the track, has no effect upon the toothed wheel P, because
the gato is held fast by the stop D, and it may also be stated that the near
wheel as it passes over the plate J, on its way off again, raises the gate catch
t, but to no effect, because the gate is at that time held open, but the balance
weight on the lever Q restores the catch t to a proper position to receive and
fasten the gate before it is released from the stop D.
Now, whereas I claim as my Invention the machinery hercin-before
described, laid under and connected with a park or other gate, for the purpose
of causing the wheels of a carriage in passing over the said machinery to open
the gate, pass on without interruption, and shut the gate again after they have
passed, without requiring any manual assistance. And such machinery for
the purposes aforesaid being, to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely
new, and never before used in that said part of His said Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said Dominion of
Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of my said Invention, and that I do verily believe this my said
Specification doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise

page_text: with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent con-
tained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privi-
lege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Parker, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of Novem-
ber, in the year of our Lord 1826, the aforesaid John Parker came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.