Year: 1855

page_text: which I joint to the hind frame in such a manner that it will fold down within
the hind frame, and secure it in position by means of a spring catch or catches.
When a double seat is required, a folding back may be applied to the forward
part of the carriage. I propose to mount this folding carriage upon two pairs
of wheels, to the front pair of which I apply a peculiar construction of guiding
apparatus. Connected to the front corners of the carriage frame are two
forked or slotted arms, between the forks of which the fore wheels are
respectively mounted. These two levers are connected together at their inner
ends by a cross. bar, which at about the middle of its length is secured by a
suitable spring to a cross bar in its rear, which bar forms the fulcrum for the
fore and hind frames to turn on when the carriage is to be folded up. This
spring will give the fore wheels a tendency to run in a line parallel with the
sides of the carriage; but when the carriage is guided to the right or left the
spring will yield, and allow the wheels to take the required direction; the spring
will then act upon the carriage body, and draw it into a line with the diverging
wheels. The like arrangement, with a slight and obvious modification, may be
employed when only one steering wheel is used.
I also propose to apply this "locking apparatus," as it may be termed, to
four-wheel carriages drawn by horses; and in that case I connect the shafts by
means of a vibrating slotted arm to the front bar of the carriage frame. This
arm has its fulcrum on the front bar, and a pin on the cross bar that connects
together the two forked levers (as before mentioned), plays in the slot of the
arm, and transmits the lateral motion of the shafts to the fore wheels. When
a traction or guiding handle is applied to the carriages of children and invalids,
I employ the like arrangement of slotted arm..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters: Patent, filed
by the said Henry Nunn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
NUNN, late of Mabledon Row, Burton Crescent, New Road, in the County of
Middlesex, but now of Lyon Street, Caledonian Road, in the same County,
Whitesmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Nunn, Her special license that I, the said Henry Nunn, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Nunn, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARRIAGES
FOR INVALIDS AND CHILDREN, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO
STREET CABS AND OTHER. CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henry Nunn, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Nunn, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Carriages for
Invalids and Children" relates, firstly, to a novel mode of constructing the.
framing of carriages of this kind, the object being to render several parts of.
the same capable of folding up, so that the carriage may be more portable or
easy of transport than those of the ordinary construction, when required to be
removed from one locality to another. To attain this object I construct the
main body of the carriage of two curved metal frames, which I joint together
and shape so that they will fold the one within the other. The arms and back
of the carriage I form of a third 'frame, which I joint to the hind frame in such
a manner that it will fold down within the hind frame, and secure it in position
by means of a spring catch or catches. I propose to mount this folding
carriage upon two pairs of wheels. The wheels of the front pair are adapted
to a peculiar construction of guiding apparatus, consisting of a movable frame
connected to the front corners of the carriage frame. This guiding apparatus.
consists of two forked or slotted arms, between the forks of which the fore.
wheels are respectively mounted, and these two slotted arms are jointed by
means of pins or studs to a parallel bar fixed to the front part of the carriage.
At the opposite end of the slotted arms is another cross bar, to which they are
jointed, for the purpose of keeping them always parallel to each other.

page_text: .
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of my improved carriages extended ready
for usc.
***
… ד:
a, a, a, a, is a curved bar of iron, to which the body b, b, b, of the carriage
is jointed at 1, upon which point the body turns when it is desired to fold up
the carriage. Another curvell bar c; c, c, is jointed at 2 to the fore end of the
curved bar a, a, and forms the fore part of the carriage. It will be seen that
the-hinder end of the curved bar a is bent under so as to form a kind of
inverted C spring, to the extremities of which is secured "the axletree of the
hinder wheels d, d. A bent tie bar e will prevent the inverted C spring from
Being strained, and this part of the carriage from being deranged or injured
by any accidental concussion. It will of course" be understood that there
are curved bars a, a, and ec, on each side of tlic carriage, and the bars
c, c, on either side are connected together in front by a pair of cross bars fi
seen best in Fig. 2, which represents a plan view of the under part of this
portion of the carriage, shewing the method of inounting the fore wheels," and
constructing the guiding or steering apparatus. The fore wheels g, g, are
mounted in bearings in the slotted or forked arms h, h, (see Fig. 2,) which
arms turn on pins or studs 3, 3; in the cross bars f; of the fore carriage. In
order to preserve these slotted or forked arms h, h, in a parallel position,
they are connected together at their inner ends by a cross bar i
In order to keep the body b, b, and the fore part c, c, of the carriage in their
respective positions, they are connected together by means of jointed tie rods j, j,
which are permanently attached to front'curved side bars c, c, by pins or studs
at 4, and are attached to the body of the carriage b, b, by means of thumb
screws 5; and when the latter are taken out, the tie rods may be detached from
the body, and being jointed in the middle at 6, will fold back, and lie down
against the curved arms c, c." When it is desired to render the carriage portable,
a pair of curved arms k, k, are adapted to the back of the carriage, for the pur-
pose of propelling the same from behind. These arms k, k, are jointed to the
carriage at 7, in such a manner that they may be turned down, as represented
by the red line k', when not in use. For the purpose of supporting the arms
k, k, in their elevatel position, (as shewn in the Drawings,) curved supports or
struts 1, 1, are jointed to the arms k, k, at 8, and are attached by studs at their
lower-ends to the boily b, b; of the carriage at 9. "The curve of the arms 1, 1, is
precisely the same as the upper curve of the armis k, k, so that when the former
are detached from the carriage body at 9, they may be turned back, as repre-
sented by the red curved line 7, until the stud at their lower end takes into a
lole at the upper end of the curved arms k. To secure additional steadiness.
in the arms and, a spring catch m is adapted thereto. This catch is jointed

page_text: to the carriage body, and a stud at the end of the catch takes into a hole made
in the arm-l, as shewn in the Drawing. In order to prevent the: carriage froin
tipping back when any person gets in, pendent arms are adapted to the curved
arins a, a, and being niade of the same curve, as the armis a, they mayr(when
the carriage is not in use) be turned back out of the way as shewn by: the
segmental-red line-in Fig
"A foot board; shewn by dots at o; may be adapted to the carriage and jointed
to the curved arms c, so as to admit of being folded up when required, or if
desired an additional seat may be adapted to the fore part, and if made tolfold
úp will not materially increase the bulk of the carriage when packed-up for
transport
plantas
d
"When it is required to fold up the carriage so as to render it portable, this
may be effected by detaching the spring catch-m, and folding back the arms 1, 1;
against the arms' kik, as denoted by the red line
The arms k, k, may then
be brought down under the body of the carriage, as indicated by the red-line ¹.
The thumb screws 5 5, must then be removed in order to release the body
6, from the jointed tie rods, which may then be folded up, as denoted by
the red lines The bodyrb,b; of the carriage, as also the fore part c,"c; being
thereby released, may be turned over, the former on the centre 1; in, the direc
tion indicated by the red lines and the latter turned under on the centre 2,
as indicated by the red lines c. The several parts of the carriage will then be
brought into the positions shewn in Fig. 3, which represents the carriage
folded up ready for packing or removal from one place to another!
When carriages upon the principle above described are intended for the use
of grown-up persons or to be drawn by a pony or horse, some of the parts may,
if required; have a little additional support given to them, as, for instance, the
inner end of the slotted or forked arms h, h, may be provided with a strut,"as
at pFig.1, anda,quadrant, bar, asat q. Figures, 1, and 2; and when the
carriage is to be drawn by an animal; it will be necessary to adapt altug bar to
the fore part of the carriage, as shewn at Figuresil and 2; for the purpose
of receiving a pair of shafts: This bar extends back to the binder cross bar,
which connects the inner ends of the slotted or forked bars h, h, together, and
a 'perch bolt or pin passes through the tug bar near the outeruend, as shewn
at 10. To the tug bar r is adapted a quadrants,which works in the space
between the front cross bars f, f, of the fore carriage, and at the outer end of
the tug bar is a socket or eye t, whereby shafts may be attached to the carriage.
In order to bring back the wheels of the fore carriage into their proper position
after they have been moved out of the parallel position by running in a curved
line, I adapt a strong vulcanized india-rubber spring to the front cross bars f, f.

page_text: This spring is made in the form of an endless band, and is passed round two
pins, as shewn by dots in Fig. 2. Two other pins, one at each extremity of
the quadrants, are made to act against the india-rubber spring, which will be
extended and stretched out, as shewn in the Drawing, whenever the fore wheels
are moved out of a right line parallel with the line of draught, as shewn by the
dotted lines in Fig. 2. The spring will therefore always have a tendency to
bring back these parts into their normal position, and will continue acting on
the quadrant till this is effected.
That part of my Invention which I intend to apply to street cabs and other
carriages is that connected with the fore part of the carriage, as shewn best in
Fig. 2. By the employment of this arrangement or mode of constructing the
fore carriage, I am enabled to turn a carriage with greater facility than when
the fore carriage is constructed in the ordinary manner.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Carriages for Invalids and Children," I would observe, that although I have
described the best means with which I am acquainted for carrying the same into
effect, I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the details herein
shewn and described, as they may doubtless be varied in some particulars
without departing from the nature and object of my Invention.
In conclusion, I claim, first, the general arrangement and construction of
parts herein shewn and described, or any mere modification thereof, whereby
the several parts may be made to fold over and fit into each other, so as to
render the carriage more portable and convenient for packing than ordinary
rigid carriages.
Second, I claim the construction of and mode of adapting the fore carriage
to the other part of the vehicle, and also the application of this construction of
fore carriage to the vehicles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Nunn, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
HENRY NUNN. (L.S.)