CERTAIN. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRUCKS OR. CARRIAGES APPLICABLE TO USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEMUEL,
WELLMAN WRIGHT, of the Borough Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,..
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 Second day of August, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-six, in the seventh year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs.
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright,
His especial licence that I, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright, my exors,,
admors, and assigns,, or such others as I, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright,
my exors, admiors, or assigns, should at any time agreo 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 IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRUCKS OR. CARRIAGES APPLICABLE TO
USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging
me, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright, 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 in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the sant
Lemuel Wellman Wright, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
My improvements in the construction of trucks are designed to facilitate
the transposition of casks and other heavy packages in warehouses, vaults, or
other situations where they may require to be. shifted from place to place, and
piled one upon another, or taken down, and also for the purpose of lowering
or raising such casks or other heavy packages from or into carts, waggons, &c.
The several Figures of the accompanying Drawings exhibit different modifi-
cations of the Invention applicable to particular situations and circumstance.
Fig. 1 is a side view of the truck intended for riding and unriding hogsheads
of sugar in the storehouses of the West India Docks, and other warehouses;
Fig. 2 is a top or horizontal view of the same.
a, a, a, denote the side frames of the truck, to which the several parts
of the machinery are affixed; b, b, are the running wheels; c, c, is the
skid, upon which the cask or other heavy package is to be placed ;
d, d, are the double arms or angular levers attached to the frames d, d,.
by studs or pivots; the movements of which levers cause the skid to be
elevated or depressed. To the shorter arms of the levers d chains carc
connected by shackle bolts and staples. The reverse ends of the chains are
affixed by hooks or staples to the péripheries of the pullies'f, f. Upon the
axle of the pulleys f there are also affixed similar pulleys g, g; and chains h; h,
are passed round the pulleys g, g; one end of each being attached to the said
pulleys, and the other to brass sliding screw boxes i; i. These brass boxes
traverse upon a right and left hand screw j, supported in cross bars or bearings,
which connect the sides a of the frame together. By turning the handle k in
the direction of the arrow, the screw is made to revolve, and the brass boxes:
to approach the center; by those means the chains h turn the pulleys 'g round,"
and also tlie axle and the pullies f,f, by which contrivance the chains e are made
to draw the shorter arnis of the angular levers d, d, out of their perpendicular
positions, and consequently to throw up the longer arms of the levers, and
thereby to raise the skid e, é, as shewn at Fig. 3. In depositing or housing
hogsheads of sugar in warehouses, or what is termed riding them, the hogshead
is placed upon the truck in the position shewn at Fig. 1, and being brought to
its intended destination, the handle k is turned for- the--purpose of raising the
skid in the manner above described, which being elevated to its proper height,
the hogshead is then rolled off into its intended situation.. In..unriding or

page_text: taking down, the truck is placed against the hogshead, the skid raised, as at
Fig. 3, chains are then affixed to the hooks l, l, on each side of the skid, and
being carried forward are passed round the hogshead, and their ends brought
back and attached to the rotary barrels or shaft m.. when, by turning the
handle o, the hogshead will be progressively drawn from.its place on to the skid,
and the swinging arms p, p, confined by check chains, striking against the bilge.
of the cask, will prevent the truck from advancing. The hogshead may then be
lowered by turning the handle the reverse way to that described above, and
the truck brought into the position shewn at Fig., 1, when the truck with the
hogshead may be wheeled away to any other place. A moyoable skid q, q, is
occasionally attached to the truck, as at Fig. 1, resting upon pins r, r, on the
side of the frames a, a, for the purpose of rolling the casks on to the truck -
from the ground, and which operation is done by the windlass and chains, as
described in reference to Fig. 3.
Another modification of the truck is shewn in the Figs. 4, 5, and 6, which
construction is expressly designed for riding or piling hogsheads one upon
another. Fig. 4 is the position of the truck when taking on the hogshead
from a crane or other situation; Fig. 5 is a horizontal representation of the
same; and Fig. 6, the trunk in its elevated position, ready to roll off the
hogshead into its intended place.
The mode of raising the skid (which bears the hogshead) in this truck differs
from the former, and is effected by curved racks a, a, attached to the front
parallel arms b, b, into the teeth of which racks pinions c, c, (shewn by dots)
work, and these pinions are put in motion by a lever and click box d, attached
to the middle of the pinion axle, a, as shewn at Fig. 5; the lever and click box
is exhibited detached at Fig. 7, and the side of the box removed to shew the
interior. By raising the lever into the position shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 6,
the click e is made to force round the ratchett wheel f, and this ratchett being
affixed to the axle of the pinion causes them to turn and to raise the racks and
skid, as before described; a succession of strokes of the lever raises the skid to
its required height, and. palls g, g, dropping into the teeth of other ratchet
wheels h, h, affixed to the pinions, prevents, the re-action of the axle and
pinions. After rolling off the bogshead the skid is lowered by raising the
handle i, to which.chains are attached that withdraw the palls g, g, and click:e
from their several ratchet wheels, and the axle being thus released the parallel
arms and the skid immediately descend into the position shewn at Fig. 4.
A further modification of the foregoing contrivance is exhibited in Figs. 8, 9,
and. 10, which is a truck designed expressly for unriding sugar hogsheads and
other heavy packages. Fig. 8 is a side view of the truck with the skid

page_text: elevated, and a hogshead about to be taken down, which is called unriding;
Fig. 9 is an horizontal view of the same; and Fig. 10, the truck with
the skid and hogshead lowered ready to be wheeled away. The truck being
'brought to the pile of hogsheads, the skid is elevated, as shewn at Fig. 8,
by means of the winch a, which turns two pullies b, b, and to each of these
pullies a chain c, c, is affixed and passed round the loose pulleys d, d, the other
ends of the chains being attached to the two front parallel arms or levers e, e.
It will now be seen that by turning the winch a, and raising the. handle or
lever g of the break f, the chains will draw up the parallel arms e and raise the
skid, as seen at Fig. 8. The hogshead may now be drawn 'on to the skid by
means of chains, in the manner described above in reference to Fig. 3. The
skid with the hogshead upon it is retained in its elevated situation by the
friction brake f, the friction strap of which is attached to the hinder axle ; and
in lowering the hogshead to the situation shewn in Fig. 10, the weighted
lever g must be raised by hand, when the parallel arms and skid carrying the
hogshead will descend by their own gravity.
Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 14 represent another modification of the improved
truck designed for the purpose of stowing pipes or casks of wine, brandy,
rum, &c. in vaults and warehouses. Fig. 11 is a side view of the truck
bearing a pipe of wine; Fig. 12 is a horizontal view of the same. The
skid is raised by the lever or handle g actuating the click box exactly
in the same way as described above in reference to Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The
angular levers c, c, which carries the skid d, are worked by chains e, e.
These chains are attached to the pulleys f, f, on the spindle of the click box,
and at the reverse ends are made fast to the pulleys g, g, fixed on the spindle h.
To this spindle h is also attached two pulleys i, i, with chains leading
to the shorter arms of the angular levers c, c, and upon the same spindle h
there are also affixed two spur wheels k, k, taking into two corresponding
wheels 1, 1, on the spindle m, which carries two other pulleys n, n, similar
to i, i. To the pulleys n, n, chains are attached in like manner, leading to:
the other pair of angular levers e. The handle a of this truck is worked in
the same manner as that described in. reference to Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, which
raises the load to the height and into the position shewn at Fig. 13. Fig 14
is a horizontal view of the skid d, d, which is affixed to a circular plate p, and
'this plate, with the skid, turns round horizontally upon the platformi q, q.
Fig. 15 exhibits the top of the platform q, q, with the skid d, d, and its plate
turned round upon its center r into a position ready to deposit a cask upon the
heap in a lateral direction, or at right angles to its former position in Fig. 13,
'as shewn by dots in Fig. 15. At the back end of the skid there is a windlass
.
spur

page_text: of
and pulleys 8, 8, to which chains or ropes are to be attached for the purpose
drawing the casks on to the skid, or when the ropes are passed over the smaller
pulleys t, t, for drawing the casks off the skid on to the pile. Fig. 16 shews the
arms of the skid, by dots, turned upon their joints in order to allow them to
be introduced in confined situations under the bilge, when the casks are to be
taken down. The manner of expanding the skid and of lengthening it, for the
purpose of getting under the bilge of the cask, is shewn by dots in Fig. 14. A
friction break may be attached to the truck, Fig. 11, in the same manner as
described in reference to f, Fig. 9.
Having stated the objects of my improvements on trucks or carriages, and
the means by which those objects are effected, I now claim to be the sole
Inventor of trucks or carriages, to be used at wharfs or in warehouses, in
which the skid or bed is raised or lowered, and projected forwards or moved
backwards by the combination of screws, pinions, racks, levers, palls, and other
parts, in the manner described in the several Figures of the Drawings hereto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lemuel Wellman Wright, have here-
unto set my hand and scal; this Second day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.
Inrolled the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.