IMPROVEMENTS IN OMNIBUSES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR UPHOLDING THE WINDOWS OF OMNIBUSES AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher Hill, of the Great. Western Railway,
Chippenham Station, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OMNIBUSES,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR UPHOLDING THE WINDOWS OF OMNIBUSES AND OTHER
CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 22nd March 1859, and dated the 6th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th October 1858.
I, CHRISTOPHER HILL, of the Great Western Railway, Chippenham Station,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OMNIBUSES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR UPHOLDING THE WINDOWS OF OMNIBUSES AND
OTHER CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in omnibuses, and in
apparatus for upholding the windows of omnibuses and other carriages. For
these purposes I apply a raised footpath or platform from end to end of an
omnibus, the space below such footpath or platform being open or clear for
the feet of the passengers occupying seats. The platform or footpath is
supported from below by light iron brackets or stands. By these means
passengers may pass freely in and out of an omnibus without the other
passengers being liable to have their feet stepped on. In order that the
window of an omnibus or of any other form of carriage may be upheld in any

page_text: desired position, a strap is fixed thereto at its lower end, as heretofore; this
strap passes over a roller and under an excentric, which turns on suitable
necks or axes; this excentric is grooved or roughed where it comes in contact
with the upper surface of the strap, so that the weight of the window, when
partly raised, will, by drawing on the excentric surface, cause it to press the
strap strongly between its surface and the surface of the roller below, and thus
securely uphold the window. In order to relieve the strap from the pressure
of the roughed or grooved surface of the excentric roller, there is a projection
or handle on such excentric roller or on its axis, by moving which the
excentric surface is raised off or partially off the strap, and thus, by removing
the pressure from the strap, the window is allowed to descend to any distance
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Christopher Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTOPHER
HILL, of the Great Western Railway, Chippenham Station, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Christopher Hill, Her special licence that I, the said Christopher Hill,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Christopher Hill, 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
OMNIBUSES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR UPHOLDING THE WINDOWS OF OMNIBUSES AND
OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Christopher Hill, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Christopher Hill, do hereby declare the
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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in omnibuses, and in
apparatus for upholding the windows of omnibuses and other carriages. For
these purposes I apply a raised footpath or platform from end to end of an
omnibus, the space below such footpath or platform being open or clear for
the feet of the passengers occupying seats. The platform or footpath is
supported from below by light iron brackets or stands. By these means.
passengers may pass freely in and out of an omnibus without the other
passengers being liable to have their feet stepped on. In order that the
window of an omnibus or of any other form of carriage may be upheld in
any desired position, a strap is fixed thereto at its lower end, as heretofore;
this strap passes over a roller and under an excentric, which turns on suitable
necks or axes; this excentric is grooved or roughed where it comes in contact
with the upper surface of the strap, so that the weight of the window, when
partly raised, will, by drawing on the excentric surface, cause it to press the
strap strongly between its surface and the surface of the roller below, and thus
securely uphold the window. In order to relieve the strap from the pressure
from the roughed or grooved surface of the excentric roller, there is a projection
or handle on such excentric roller or on its axis, by moving which the
excentric surface is raised off or partially off the strap, and thus, by removing
the pressure from the strap, the window is allowed to descend to any distance
required.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a transverse section of so much of a body of an omnibus as
will enable me to describe the first part of my Invention. a, a, are the
seats on either side; 6 is the floor; and c is the footpath or platform on
which the passengers walk when entering and leaving an omnibus. The
feet of the passengers sitting on the seats on either side will be under the
raised way, and consequently not liable to be stepped on by passengers entering
or leaving the omnibus.
Figure 2 shows a section, and Fig. 3 a front view of apparatus used when
raising and lowering the windows of omnibuses and other carriages. d is the
window; c is the strap by which the window is raised; e is a roller over which

page_text: it passes; and f is an excentric roller, which is roughed where it comes against
the strap. The excentric roller has a handle g, by which it can be moved, so
as to relieve the strap from its pressure; so that the strap may be pulled on in
order to raise the window, or the window may be forced down. When the
surface of the excentric roller is in contact with the strap, it will prevent the
window descending, as the more the strap is pulled on by the weight of the
window, the more the strap will be nipped between the excentric roller and
the under roller.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,―
First, the application of central footpaths or platforms in omnibuses, as
herein described.
And, secondly, I claim the combined apparatus herein described for uphold-
ing the windows of omnibuses and other carriages.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 31st day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
CHRISTOPHER HILL. (L.s.)
Witness,
WILLIAM JORDEN REYNOLDS,
Saint Mary's Street,
Chippenham,
31st March 1859.