IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUR-WHEELED VEHICLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Knight, of the Town and County of
Huntingdon, Coach Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FOUR-WHEELED VEHICLES."
Sealed the 12th November 1869, and dated the 5th July 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Knight at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th July 1869.
I, JOHN KNIGHT, of the Town and County of Huntingdon, Coach,
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FOUR-WHEELED VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved construction of carriage:
applicable to broughams, waggonettes, and other four-wheeled vehicles,
by which improvement more perfect command may be had over the
horse or horses when the carriage is on the lock in turning round, while:
the turning of the carriage is also facilitated.

page_text: Hitherto when a carriage is on the lock the driver has little command
over the horse or horses by reason of the inconvenient position in
which he is placed with respect thereto when turning the carriage round
suddenly.
In carrying out my Invention I make the rear part or body of the
carriage separate from the box or coachman's seat, and connect them
by means of a locking plate placed directly beneath said seat. The
latter I mount on the axle of the fore wheels, so that the whole of the
box or driver's seat may move to the right or to the left at an angle
with the body of the carriage when the latter is turning. By this means
when the horse or horses turn the shafts in one direction or the other
the driver's seat, and consequently the driver will be turned therewith,
so that the horse or horses will always be in front of the driver, who will
be further enabled to see approaching vehicles when turning the carriage
in a crowded thoroughfare.
By mounting the driver's seat directly on the fore axle, as above
described, I am enabled to dispense with the under carriage framework
hitherto employed in four-wheeled vehicles for carrying the locking
plate; springs, however, are interposed as usual between the axle and the
fore carriage or box. The locking plate, which I make preferably semi-
circular in form (with a corresponding form of driver's seat), is provided
with a pin or pivot, on which pin is jointed a central frame or support
projecting from under the body of the carriage to which it is fixed. One
or more lugs formed on this support rest on the edge of the locking
plate, so as to connect the two parts of the carriage securely together,
and at same time allow the necessary freedom of motion in turning.
In waggonettes, phaetons, and other similar four-wheeled carriages
the fore wheels. have hitherto presented an obstruction to ladies mounting
to the front seat by reason of their position on either side of the footboard,
but by my improved construction of carriage I am enabled to place said
wheels considerably more to the rear than usual, and thus facilitate
access to the fore part of the carriage. The fore wheels may also be
made of larger diameter than usual, and almost equal to that of the
hind wheels by reason of the locking plate, and consequently the
support or bridge, being raised, up to within a short distance of the
driver's seat.

page_text: The Invention may also be applied to vans by mounting the driver's
seat on a framing carried on the fore axle, so that the driver will turn
with the horses, as before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Knight in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th January 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
KNIGHT, of the Town and County of Huntingdon, Coach Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Knight, Her special licence that
I, the said John Knight, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Knight, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 FOUR-
WHEELED VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Knight, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Knight, 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 Sheet of Drawings here-

page_text: !.
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
My Invention relates to an improved construction of carriage
applicable to broughams, waggonettes, and other four-wheeled vehicles,
by which improvement more perfect command may be had over the
horse or horses when the carriage is on the lock in turning round, while
turning of the carriage is also facilitated.
Hitherto when a carriage is on the lock the driver has little command
over the horse or horses by reason of the inconvenient position in which
he is placed with respect thereto when turning the carriage round
suddenly.
In carrying out my Invention I make the rear part or body of the
carriage separate from the box or coachman's seat, and connect them by
means of a locking plate placed directly beneath said seat. The latter
I mount on the axle of the fore wheels, so that the whole of the box or
driver's seat may move to the right or to the left at an angle with the
body of the carriage when the latter is turning. By this means when
the horse or horses turn the shafts in one direction or the other the
driver's seat, and consequently the driver, will be turned therewith, so
that the horse or horses will always be in front of the driver, who will
be further enabled to see approaching vehicles when turning the carriage
in a crowded thoroughfare.
By mounting the driver's seat directly on the fore axle, as above
described, I am enabled to dispense with the under carriage framework
hitherto employed in four-wheeled vehicles for carrying the locking
plate; springs, however, are interposed as usual between the axle and
the fore carriage or box. The locking plate, which I make preferably
semicircular in form (with a corresponding form of driver's seat), is
provided with a pin or pivot, on which pin is jointed a central frame
or support projecting from under the body of the carriage, to which it is
fixed. One or more lugs formed on this support rest on the edge of the
locking plate, so as to connect the two parts of the carriage securely
together, and at same time allow the necessary freedom of motion in
turning.
T-
ACCORotton wheaton
and

page_text: to a waggonette, for example, but it is equally applicable to phaetons,
broughams, barouches, and other similar four-wheeled carriages.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a waggonette constructed according to
my Invention; and Figure 2 is a plan of the same, while Figure 3 is also
a plan, showing the position of the driver's seat when the vehicle is on
the lock.
A is the box or coachman's seat, which I construct separate from the
rear or body part B of the carriage, and connect them together by means
of a perch or crane C bolted to the body part B, and pivoted at the other
end to a cross bar at the lower and front part of the boot A. The box or
hoot A I mount directly on springs carried on the axle of the fore
wheels, to which the seat A is thus rigidly secured, and with which it
turns to the right or to the left (as shown in Figure 3) when desired to
change the direction of the carriage. The fore part of the carriage is
thus free to rotate independently of the rear part, and according to the
direction taken by the horse or horses, which are thus always directly in
front of the driver. The perch C is pivotted, as before mentioned, to the
fore part of the carriage by means of a pin a, as seen in Figure 4, which
is a part sectional elevation of the boot or box A on an enlarged scale,
and in Figure 5, which is a plan of the same, with the coachman's seat
removed. The body B of the carriage is carried, as usual, on the hind
wheels, and is further supported by the perch C, which bears on a sort
of locking plate b, carried on the framework c of the fore carriage. This.

page_text: plate 6, which I construct of angle iron, is of curved or semicircular
forin described from the centre or pivot a, and extending from one side
to the other of the box A, the rear part of which is also curved to corre-
spond. To the perch C is bolted a curved segment or clamp d of angle
iron, also curved to a circle described from the centre a, and the inner
surface of which bears on the upper surface of plate b. A curved
block e, bolted within the curved segment d and faced with metal, takes
under the plate b, and thus connects the two parts of the carriage rigidly
together, at same time permitting of the free rotation of the fore part, as
before described. Additional stays fare also provided to support the
body B at the sides and prevent oscillation as well as to avoid undue
strain on the perch C. These lateral supports fare preferably curved,
as shown, and are bolted at g, g, h, h, to lugs projecting from either side
of the central perch C to increase its rigidity; they are also bolted to
the clamp d, as shown. The driver's seat is supported on brackets at
the front part, and is placed at a sufficient distance above plate b to
permit of the fore carriage rotating, as shown in red lines in Figure 5.
Instead of a curved plate or block d I may employ one or more lugs i
formed on perch and taking over the edge of plate b, as shown in
moreover be placed above instead of below the
perch C, as before described, an opening or slot being provided as before
for the perch C.
Figure 6, which
By constructing vehicles as above described it will be seen that the
pivot a being placed over or near to the axle of the fore wheels, the
latter will, when the fore carriage is rotated, continue to occupy a
position equidistant from the centre line of the vehicle, which will thus
be at all times supported equally at either side.
In this construction of carriage I am also enabled to apply a brake (to
be operated by the driver's foot) to the fore wheels of the vehicle, which
brake may be mounted as shown in Figure 6, and applied either to the
nave of the wheel, as shown, or to the periphery, as usual.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. Constructing four-wheeled vehicles herein referred to so that
the box or driver's seat constituting the fore carriage may turn on its

page_text: own axis independently of the body or carriage proper, as and for the
purposes specified.
Secondly. I claim connecting the fore carriage of such four-wheeled
vehicles to the body by means of a perch or crane mounted on the
carriage body and passing over or under a locking or bearing plate
carried on the box or fore carriage, to the centre of which it is pivoted,
substantially in the manner shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Knight, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
A. M. CLARK,
Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
J. KNIGHT. (L.S.)