Year: 1888

page_text: I, GEORGE SCRATTON, of The Vicarage, Stickford, in the county of Lincoln, Clerk
in Holy Orders, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to carriages, carts, wagons and other vehicles for travelling
upon common roads, and it comprises a novel arrangement of wheels and springs as
hereinafter described.
According to my said invention, each wheel (any suitable number of which may be
employed) has its axis at one end of a lever which is pivotted to the end of a fork or
bracket depending from the body of the vehicle. The other end of the said lever is
arranged in connection with a spiral or other spring in such a manner as to allow the
said lever to yield or give when the wheel passes over any obstruction or inequality in
the road and also to ensure that every wheel shall always be in contact with the ground
and bear a proportion of the load.
When a vehicle is provided with only two or more wheels in a single axial line the
fork carrying the lever can be made rigid relatively to the body of the vehicle. When,
however, more than two wheels arranged in .different axial lines are employed, the
fork or forks of the front wheel or wheels is or are mounted in such a manner as to
rotate on a vertical axis or vertical axes, so that each wheel and the lever on which it
is mounted will move according to the direction in which the vehicle is travelling in
the same manner as a caster wheel.
Amongst the advantages of my invention are that comparatively light wheels can
be employed; that the heavy axles and springs heretofore used can be dispensed with;
and that by dividing the pressure of a heavy load between a number of wheels as
hereinbefore described the roads are much less worn by vehicles of this construction
than by wheels arranged in the ordinary manner.
DJ 101.
T1 1009
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant..

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Carriages and other Wheeled Vehicles.
1, GEORGE SCRATTON; of The Vicarage, Stickford, in the county of Lincoln, Clerk
in Holy Orders, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
My invention chiefly relates to carriages, carts, wagons and other vehicles for
travelling upon common roads, and it comprises a novel arrangement of wheels and
springs as hereinafter described.
According to my said invention each wheel (any suitable number of which may be
employed) has its axis at one end of a lever which is pivotted to the end of a fork or
bracket depending from the body of the vehicle. The other end of the said lever is
arranged in connection with a spiral or other spring in such a manner as to allow the
said lever to yield or give when the wheel passes over any obstruction or inequality in
the road and also to ensure that every wheel shall always be in contact with the ground
and bear a proportion of the load.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same with
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle provided with wheels and springs according
to my invention, and
Figure 2 is a front view of the same.
a is the body of the vehicle, and b, b are the forked wheel-standards or brackets, the
said standards being provided with upwardly extending pins or shanks c. c which are
carried in sockets or otherwise suitably supported in the body of the vehicle so that
the wheel standards can move on their vertical axes to correspond to the direction in
which the vehicle is travelling.
d, d are the levers at one end of each of which a wheel is mounted. The said levers
are pivotted at d to the said forks and are bent to embrace the, wheels, so as to carry
the wheel-axles at both ends.
e, e are the springs, two of which are arranged in conjunction, with, each, wheel.
These springs are connected to the levers d, d, at or near, to the ends opposite.to, those
in which the wheels are carried and also to the wheel standards. so, that when in
travelling the wheels strike stones or other obstructions the said, springs will yield and
allow the wheels to rise, the levers oscillating upon their pivots..
Although I prefer the arrangement of springs shown, it is to be understood, that
they may be arranged in any other suitable manner and be of any, desirable, construc-
tion provided they serve to allow the wheel carrying levers, to, oscillate, upon, their
pivots, and at the same time maintain the said levers in their normal positions against
the pressure of the weight or load.
The vehicle shown in the drawing is provided with only two pairs of wheels, those
of each pair being in axial line. If desired however one pair or several pairs can be
Also in some cases three or more wheels may be arranged in the same axial
used
line.

page_text: When all the wheels of a vehicle are in a single axial line, the forks carrying the
same can be made rigid relatively to the body of the vehicle. When however the
wheels are arranged in different axial lines, the forks of the wheels in the back row
are advantageously fixed.
Amongst the advantages of my invention are that comparatively light wheels can
be employed, that the heavy axles and springs heretofore used can be dispensed with,
and that by dividing the pressure of a heavy load between a number of wheels as
hereinbefore described the roads are much less worn by vehicles of this construction
than by wheels arranged in the ordinary manner.
Although I have described my improvements as applied to vehicles for common
roads it is to be understood that they are also applicable to trucks or trollies for use
on railway platforms, warehouse floors and the like and to heavy furniture in lieu of
the ordinary casters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) The combination of the forked wheel standard b, the lever. d pivotted to the
said fork and carrying a wheel, and the spring, all substantially as, and for the
purposes, described:
(2) The improvements relating to the wheels and springs of carriages and other
vehicles, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.