AN IMPROVEMENT IN FOUR-WHEELED CARRIAGES.”
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Dakers, of the City and County of
Aberdeen, North Britain, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
FOUR-WHEELED CARRIAGES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Dakers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th October 1874.
I, JAMES DAKERS, of the City and County of Aberdeen, North Britain,"
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN FOUR-WHEELED CARRIAGES," to be as follows, that is to say:—
This Invention, which relates to an improvement in four-wheeled
carriages, has reference to that class of carriages known as low open
carriages and phaetons, in which the seats are opposite each other, and
both on the inside of the carriage body.
:
The Invention consists in forming the back part of the front seat
moveable on a hinge joint, and providing it with one or more folding
struts, so that this back part of the seat can be turned upwards into a

page_text: horizontal position, in which it is supported by the struts, and thereby
becomes converted into an outside driving seat, so that the objection
which exists in relation to carriages of the class referred to, namely, of
the driver sitting on the inside of the carriage is obviated.
In connection with the folding and convertible seat a folding footboard 5
is provided, it being also attached to the front part of the body of the
carriage by a hinge joint, so that when the carriage is being driven from
the inside it is folded back out of use, but when the scat is raised so as to
constitute an outside driving seat the footboard is folded out.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Dakers in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DAKERS, of the City and County of Aberdeen, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
38th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Dakers, Her special license
that I, the said James Dakers, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Dakers, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FOUR-
WHEELED CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Dakers, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Dakers, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
My said Invention, which relates to an improvement in four-wheeled
carriages, has reference to that class of carriages known as low open
carriages and phaetons, in which the seats are opposite each other, and
both on the inside of the carriage body.
The Invention consists in forming a portion or the whole of the back
part of the front seat moveable on a hinge joint, and providing it with
one or more folding struts or supports, so that the said moveable portion
can be turned upwards into a horizontal position, and thereby become
converted into an outside driving seat.
In connection with the folding and convertible seat a footboard
folding on a hinge joint is provided at the front part of the carriage
body.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I-
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into.
effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figures 1 and 2 are
part side elevations of the front portion of an open carriage of the class
to which my said Invention is applicable, Figure 1 being a view of the
carriage with the folding or moveable seat in position for the carriage
being driven from the inside, and in which position the said folding
seat a and its cushion 6 form part of the back of the front seat ċ of the
carriage; Figure 2 shews the folding seat a turned upwards into the
horizontal position, whereby it is converted into an outside driving seat,
and thereby the objection which pertains to carriages of the class herein-
before referred to, namely, of the driver sitting on the inside of the
carriage, can when desired be obviated. The seat a is attached to the
front part of the carriage by a hinge joint at e, on which it is capable of.
being raised and lowered into either of the positions shewn. When in
its raised position the seat a is supported by struts d placed either at

page_text: both sides of the seat, or at the central back portion thereof, and these
struts d are hinged or jointed at the middle and at both ends, so as to
render them capable of being folded into the position shewn at Figure 1
of the Drawings, when the seat a is lowered. A folding footboard g is.
also attached to the front part of the carriage body by a hinge joint at h...
and when the folding and convertible seat a is at its raised position, and:
the carriage is being driven from the outside the said footboard g is
folded or raised into the position shewn at Figure 2 of the Drawings, in
which position it is supported by one or more struts i. When the seat a
is at its lowered position the footboard g is folded backwards flat against
the carriage frame at k, and the strut or struts i are or may also be
arranged to fold downwards upon the footboard by attaching them to
the board by hinge joints.
In lieu of attaching the footboard to the carriage by a hinge joint it'
may, if desired, be made separate from the carriage frame, and removed.
when the carriage is being driven from the inside, and instead of making
the driving seat a extend across a portion merely of the front part of the
carriage the said seat may extend across the entire breadth of the said
front portion, but it is preferred to constitute the seat a a seat for one
person, as under this arrangement when the seat is at its raised position
accommodation is left for one person on each side thereof on the interior
front seat c of the carriage.
The rail surrounding the driving seat a may either be fixed rigidly, as
shewn at 1, Figures 1 and 2, or it may be hinged or jointed, and capable
of folding downwards upon the seat a when the same is at its lowered
position, and forming part of the back of the front seat of the carriage.
This arrangement is illustrated at Figures 3 and 4 of the Drawings,
Figure 3 being a view of the seat a and its rail in their raised positions,
and Figure 4 a view as folded downwards when the carriage is being
driven from the inside.
i
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a modified arrangement of the struts by
which the folding and convertible driving seat is supported in its raised
position. Under this arrangement in lieu of causing the joint at the
centre of the struts to fold upwards, as shewn at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4,
the said joint is caused to fold downwards, as shewn at p, Figure 6.
Other equivalent means may however be employed in folding the seat a,
it being here understood that I do not confine myself to the arrange-
ments of struts herein-before described and shewn, as the same may be.
2

page_text: otherwise varied without departing from the essential feature of my said
Invention.
The struts or supports constructed under either of the arrangements
set forth may or may not, as desired, be enclosed within casings when in
their lowered positions.
The rail r, Figure 6, is attached by a hinge joint to the folding seat,
and when the seat is raised the rail is folded across, it underneath the
driver's cushion, so as to give the front part of the carriage the appearance
shewn at Figure 5.
The same arrangement may, if desired, be adopted with reference to
the rails, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would observe
in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First. The arrangement whereby the whole or a portion of the back
part of the front seat in that class of four-wheeled vehicles known as low
open carriages and photons is moveable on a hinge joint, the same being
provided with one or more moveable struts or supports, whereby the seat
can be turned upwards into a horizontal position and converted into
an outside driving seat, substantially as herein-before described and
shewn.
Second. Providing the front part of such carriages with a moveable or
folding footboard, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before