IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO OMNIBUSES, STAGE COACHES, AND OTHER SIMILAR VEHICLES TO INDICATE THE DISTANCE EACH PASSENGER TRAVELS AND THE AMOUNT OF HIS FARE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Moritz Auerbach, of the City of London, Commis-
sion Merchant and Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
TO BE APPLIED TO OMNIBUSES, STAGE COACHES, AND OTHER SIMILAR VEHICLES
TO INDICATE THE DISTANCE EACH PASSENGER TRAVELS AND THE AMOUNT OF
HIS FARE." A communication from abroad by Eduard Schroder and
Julius Amuel, both of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 1st May 1860, and dated the 26th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Moritz Auerbach at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1859.
I, MORITZ AUERBACH, of the City of London, Commission Merchant and
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO OMNIBUSES, STAGE COACHES, AND OTHER SIMILAR
VEHICLES TO INDICATE THE DISTANCE EACH PERSON TRAVELS AND THE AMOUNT
OF HIS FARE," (a communication to me from abroad by Eduard Schroder
and Julius Amuel, both of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia,) to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an apparatus to be applied to omnibuses, stage
coaches, and other similar vehicles which travel a fixed route, and carry a
number of independent passengers, who get into and out of the vehicle at

page_text: different places on the journey, and each of whom pays his or her own
particular fare, and is intended to indicate to each passenger the fare to be
paid, and also to the proprietor the sum of all the fares paid during the
journey or the day's work.
The apparatus consists principally of a suitable train of toothed gearing
actuated by an endless chain passing round a grooved pulley and round the
nave of one of the wheels of the vehicle.
The apparatus is provided with a number of fare dials, all of which are
numbered and correspond with the seats of the vehicle which are numbered
also. Each seat is connected to its own particular dial, and is fixed on a
hinge at front and provided with a spring which keeps it in a vertical position
or nearly so as long as it is unoccupied; the weight of the passenger occupying
the seat brings it into an horizontal position, and keeps the corresponding dial
in gear with the revolving train of toothed gearing so long as the seat is
occupied, but as soon as the passenger rises the seat rises also, and throws the
dial out of gear, which is then returned to "zero" by a spring. Each dial
thus indicates to the occupant of its corresponding seat the distance he has
travelled and the fare which he has to pay. It is proposed for the sake of
simplicity and uniformity that a regular tariff of so much per half mile or mile
should be adopted, but it will be readily understood that by a suitable arrange-
ment of the toothed gearing the apparatus may also be adapted to indicate any
other regular or irregular scale of charges.
The apparatus is also provided with another dial for the information of the
proprietor, which adds together all the fares received, and indicates the sum
thereof at the end of the journey or of the day's work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Moritz Auerbach in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MORITZ
AUERBACH, of the City of London, Commission Merchant and Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Moritz Auerbach, Her special licence that I, the said Moritz

page_text: Auerbach, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Moritz Auerbach, my executors, administrators, 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO OMNIBUSES, STAGE COACHES, AND OTHER
SIMILAR VEHICLES TO INDICATE THE DISTANCE EACH PASSENGER TRAVELS, AND
THE AMOUNT OF HIS FARE," being a communication to me from abroad by
Eduard Sehroder and Julius Amuel, both of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I; the said Moritz
Auerbach, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
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 Moritz Auerbach, do hereby declare tlie
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to an apparatus to be applied to omnibuses, stage-
coaches, and other similar vehicles, which travel a fixed route, and carry a
number of independent passengers, who get into and out of the vehicle at:
different places on the journey, and each of whom pays his or her own particular
fare, and is intended to indicate to each passenger the fare to be paid, and also
to the proprietor the sum of all the fares paid during the journey or the day's
work.
The apparatus eonsists principally of a suitable train of toothed gearing
actuated by an endless chain passing round a grooved pulley, and round the.
nave of one of the wheels of the vehicle.
The apparatus is provided with a number of fare dials, all of which are
numbered and correspond with the seats of the vehicle, which are numbered
also. Each seat is connected to its own particular dial, and is fixed on a
hinge at front, and provided with a spring, which keeps it in a vertical position
or nearly so as long as it is unoccupied. The weight of the passenger
occupying the seat brings it into an horizontal position, and keeps the corre-
sponding dial in gear with the revolving train of toothed gearing, so long as

page_text: the seat is occupied, but as soon as the passenger rises the seat rises also, and
throws the dial out of gear, which is then returned to "zero" by a spring.
Each dial thus indicates to the occupant of its corresponding seat the distance
he has travelled, and the fare which he has to pay. It is proposed, for the
sake of simplicity and uniformity, that a regular tariff of so much per half
mile or mile should be adopted, but it will be readily understood that by a
suitable arrangement of the toothed gearing the apparatus may also be adapted
to indicate any other regular or irregular scale of charges.
The apparatus is also provided with another dial for the information of the
proprietor, which adds together all the fares received, and indicates the sum
thereof at the end of the journey or of the day's work.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more in detail the manner of carrying the same into practical effect,
and in order clearly to illustrate the same, I have annexed hereunto four Sheets
of Drawings of the apparatus, as arranged for an omnibus or vehicle with
twenty-four seats; and I would here remark, that as the essential principles of
this Invention are similar to those of an Invention communicated to me by the
same persons, and for which I have obtained Letters Patent, No. 2681,
bearing date the same day as the Letters Patent herein-before in part recited,
a full Specification and Drawings of which are filed on the same day that the
present Specification and Drawings are filed, I shall confine myself principally
in the present Specification to describing those points wherein this Invention
differs therefrom, in order to adapt the mechanism to indicate separate fares
for a number of independent passengers, each occupying a separate seat, and
paying his or her own fare.
In Sheet 1 of the Drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a side view of the
apparatus with the casing removed; and Figure 2 is a section through about
the centre of the same; and Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are detached side views
and sections of the different spindles, with their respective accompaniments.
Sheet 2 represents a front view of the dial with the face removed, except
from that part which corresponds with seat No. 20.
In Sheet 3, Figures 1, 2, and 3 shew that part of the apparatus whereby
it is connected with the carriage seats, and with one of the carriage wheels.
Sheet 4 shews the mechanism for indicating the distance and fares, and the
centre dial for shewing the receipts in pounds, shillings, and pence.
On account of the large number of seats in an omnibus, the apparatus is
divided into two groups, which are connected, and which are put in motion by
a wheel of the carriage. In the centre of each fare table group is a central
table for the receipts, with three dials at the side of each other, one for the

page_text: sum in pence, the second for the sum in shillings, and the third for the sum in
pounds. The transmission of the sums from one dial to the other is effected in
the same way as between the dials V and X, as described in the Specification
of the Letters Patent, No. 2681, above referred to. Around the central table
are the numbered fare tables for the passengers and the conductor. In the
centre of this group on the same axle with the central table for the receipts is
a central wheel A (Figure 1, Sheet 3), similar to the wheel Q described in the
Specification referred to. However this wheel has no teeth like the large
teeth on wheel Q, as it receives its motion direct from the carriage wheel by
means of an endless chain B, B. This wheel A has but one tooth a, which by
its revolution puts all the fare tables in motion by means of spindles b, b.
These same spindles transmit at the same time this motion to the central table
for receipts, as shewn at Sheet 4. In order that the fare tables shall stand still
as long as the corresponding seats are not occupied, there is a mechanism
attached to each axle by means of which its respective dial is brought out of
action. This is done by the shifting tooth a on the central driving wheel A,
which is driven backward whilst it passes by the corresponding pinion without
acting upon it. This mechanism, which consists of a T-shaped bolt c*, c*,
(see Sheet 3), sliding with a stud or pin in a spiral formed groove d, d, which is
in such connection with the seats that the bolt is pushed outwards when the seat
stands vertical, and on the contrary is pushed back when the seat is horizontal.
The respective dial is therefore put in motion when the seat is horizontal, that
is, when it is occupied, and on the contrary is not acted on when the seat
stands vertical, that is, when it cannot be occupied. The seats are so arranged
that they can be brought by the passenger into the horizontal position, but
not into a vertical position. The latter is to be left to the conductor without
injuring the credibility of the proprietor's check in the least; for if the con-
ductor neglects this (bis duty) he is only injuring himself, as the sum will
thereby become higher on the central dial for the receipts, and never can be
lower than the real sum. The conductor can from where he stands bring the
seats again into vertical position.
Figures 2 and 3, Sheet 3, shew the mechanism by which the seats may be
brought from a vertical into the horizontal position. As the passengers must
not be allowed to move their seat at pleasure up and down, it is so arranged
that it can only be moved by turning the plate A' (one of which is in con-
nection with each of the axles c, c,) by means of a string. If a seat is to be
occupied, the conductor has to bring it from the vertical into the horizontal
position by turning this axle by the square pin. By the turning of this pin
at the same time the mechanism is brought from position, Figure 2, into position

page_text: Figure 3, and the T-shaped bolt c*, c*, is drawn back by the spiral groove d, d,
in the back of the plate. When the omnibus begins to move on, and the
central driving wheel A is brought into motion by the chain B, the tooth a will
catch into the pinions on the spindles 6 and e, and thus turn the corresponding
dial, and also the central dial for the receipts, the distance of one cipher. But
if on the contrary the seat be unoccupied, the tooth a is pressed back by the
T-shaped bolt c*, c*, in order to avoid the respective pinions (see Sheet 3). In
order that the dials corresponding with the occupied seat shall not be turned one
cipher before the omnibus has gone a certain distance, there is yet a second
stopping arrangement applied somewhat in the form of a sickle f, f, Sheet 3.
It rests with its tooth on the periphery of a ring F, which is fastened to spur
wheel E, (see also Sheet 4). When this tooth lies on the periphery of the ring,
this stopping mechanism presses tooth a likewise back to prevent its catching
into the pinion on the spindle b, b; but if on the contrary the tooth falls into the
notch of this ring, the catch f, f, is pressed back by the tooth a so as to admit of
its turning the respective pinion and its corresponding dials, consequently the
dial plates will turn by one cypher as often as the tooth falls into the notch of
the ring F during the journey.
The distance which an omnibus has to run between each two movements
of the dials depends on the number of teeth in wheel E, and as these wheels
may be different in one and the same apparatus, it is possible to divide the
passengers into different ranks or classes, with the different fares for them.
As the central dial for the receipts is worked by every turning, without.
regarding which spindle may be set in motion, but the dial plates for the
fares only by that spindle with which they correspond, the central dial must
therefore shew the sum of all that has been indicated on all the dial plates.
together. The apparatus sums up the amount in shillings and pounds on the
dials G and H, Sheet 4.
.
When the passenger has alighted, the conductor has only to bring the seat
into the vertical position whereby at the same time, by means of a pin g
and catch h, the respective dial plate is brought back again to 0 (zero),
and its corresponding wheel E is turned so far back that the tooth of the
sickle-shaped catch f, f, lies again in the notch of the ring F as soon as the
seat is re-occupied, and the respective dial plate advances again one cipher
further. But in order to prevent the central dial for the receipts from going
back also, the pinions that connect the fare dials with the receipt dial are
provided with catches, so that they can only act in one direction. The same
is the case with the central driving wheel to prevent the apparatus from
working backwards when the carriage goes backwards.

page_text: Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
"Improved Apparatus to be applied to Omnibusses, Stage Coaches, and other
similar Vehicles to indicate the Distance each Passenger travels, and the
Amount of his Fare," together with the manner of carrying the same into
practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as the Invention
communicated to me, the arrangement of mechanism or apparatus shewn in
the Drawings and above described, or any mere modification or variation
thereof operating in substantially the same or in a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moritz Auerbach, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
Sol. and Patent Agent,
1, Serle St., Lincoln's Inn.
MORITZ AUERBACH. (L.S.)