IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE TIME A PUBLIC CARRIAGE IS AND IS NOT ENGAGED FOR HIRE
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Antoine Chavanes, of 8, Rupert Street, Haymarket,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE TIME A PUBLIC CARRIAGE IS AND IS NOT
ENGAGED FOR HIRE."-A communication.
Sealed the 31st October 1854, and dated the 3rd June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Antoine Chavanes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd June 1854.
I, ANTOINE CHAVANES, of 8, Rupert St., Haymarket, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE TIME A PUBLIC CARRIAGE IS AND IS NOT
ENGAGED FOR HIRE" to be as follows:-
The apparatus is composed of the principal parts of a clock. The apparatus
has two dials, one of which indicates by hands twelve hours, as an ordinary
clock; the other is moveable, and rotates once in the twelve hours. There are
two hands or instruments, each bearing a tracer, and according as one or other
is brought into contact with the second dial it will be marked for a time
thereby. When the apparatus is not in action one of the hands marks; but
when the seat of the carriage is occupied, it brings the other hand or marker
into action, and it continues to mark so long as the passenger is in the carriage;
and there is an instrument shown on the outside to indicate that the carriage
is engaged. On the other hand, when the passenger quits the carriage the
other marker comes into action, and at the same time the outside instrument

page_text: is changed, to indicate that the carriage is unengaged; hence, the owner of
the carriage will readily ascertain on the return of the carriage how long it
has been engaged for hire. In cases where the passenger only departs from
the carriage for a time, the driver can, by a cord, retain up the engaged signal,
and yet allow of the time of the engagement being marked by the proper
marker.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Antoine Chavanes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTOINE
CHAVANES, of 8, Rupert Street, Haymarket, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Antoine Chavanes, Her special licence that I, the said Antoine Chavanes,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Antoine
Chavanes, 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
APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE TIME A PUBLIC CARRIAGE IS AND IS NOT ENGAGED
FOR HIRE," (communicated to me from abroad) upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Antoine Chavanes, 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 Antoine Chavanes, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to register by self-acting means the length
of time that a public carriage is occupied, for the information of the proprietor
of the carriage or other person, and as a check on the driver; and also to show,

page_text: by means of a plate, raised and lowered by self-acting means, and visible from
the outside of the carriage, whether such carriage is or is not engaged. And
in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a section of a double-seated carriage with the apparatus
applied thereto; Figure 2 is a plan of part of the same apparatus; and Figures
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 show detailed views of the same apparatus. Figure 8 shows
a section, and Figure 9 a back view, of the clock and registering apparatus.
This clock has two faces, one on the front and the other on the back; on the
front face the time is indicated by hands, in the usual manner; but the back
face A consists of a disc, of slate or other material, which revolves once in every
twenty-four hours, and on which the hours may be marked accordingly. The
method of communicating the required motion to this disc will be understood
by any clock-maker. On this disc A, two tracers, b and c, alternately mark, the
one on the back and the other on the front; these tracers are fixed on springs
B and C, which at one end are supported by the standard a. D is a bell
crank lever, which throws the tracers in and out of action when operated on
by the cords i and i', which are in connection with the seats of the carriage, as
will hereafter be fully explained. To the lever D is also connected the rod d¹,
in connection with a sliding frame F, which carries the two cog wheels f and fi
on the same axis; thus, when the lever D is depressed to the wheels f and f¹ are
brought down upon the wheels g and g', and thus motion is for the time com-
municated to the disc G, on which disc are marked the fares by the hour,
which, as the disc rotates, become visible through a slot in the front face, as is
shown at Figure 12. When the cords i, i¹, are relaxed, the lever D again
rises, and the wheels f, f', are thrown out of gear, and the disc G, by the
action of the spiral spring h, jumps back to the starting point.
I will now proceed to describe the manner in which a person sitting on either of
the seats of the carriage will act on the lever D. H, (Figures 1 and 4,) shows
the back seat of the carriage, which works on hinges, and when not occupied
is slightly raised by the spiral spring O, but when occupied it descends, and, by
means of the link I, gives motion to the bell crank lever J, to the end of which
is connected a cord i, of catgut, covered with wire, which passes under the
pullies to the lever D. In a similar manner the other seat K¹ is fixed on
hinges, and kept up when unoccupied by the spring k; when depressed it com-
municates motion to the lever A, which turns on the centre 1. To the end of
the lever is connected a cord, which, after passing over the pulliesj, proceed to

page_text: the lever D. Thus, when either of the seats of the carriage is occupied, the lever
D is acted upon; a line is traced by the point b, (Figure 8,) on the disc A, and
the fare-showing disc G is thrown into gear; also, to the lever J is connected,
by the adjusting screw L, the cord m', acting on a plate, which is seen through
a glass M in the back of the carriage. The way in which this plate is moved
is fully shown at Figure 3, and the object of it is to indicate when the carriage
is occupied. There is also connected to the plate a cord m from the lever le³,
which in a similar manner raises it. The arrangement of all these cords is
clearly shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Figure 6 shows a catch which is attached to the seats. n is the bolt, on
the stem of which is the spiral spring n. When the seat is depressed the
inclined part of the bolt comes against and catches under the pin n', and thus
the seat is held down until the bolt is withdrawn, by the driver pulling the
knob P, which is connected to the bolt by the cord pl, as shown.
The clock Q is covered by a metal case, to prevent the driver from having
access to it. Figure 10 shows in plan an arrangement of bolt by which the
case is fastened on. The two bolts and are connected together by the lever
s, turning on the centre s', and on the end of the bolt r are two studs, on to
which the key, Figure 13, fits. Thus it will be seen, that by putting the key
over the end of the bolt 7, then turning it partially round, so as to lock it
into the bolt, and afterwards pulling the key, both bolts are at the same time
withdrawn; and similarly, by pushing the key, they are again shot.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not claim any
of the mechanical parts separately; but what I claim is, the combination of
apparatus for registering by self-acting means the length of time that a
carriage is occupied, and also the combination of apparatus for showing by
self-acting apparatus when such carriage is or is not occupied.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antoine Chavanes, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Second day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
GEO. PITT,
4, Old Square.
ANTE CITAVANES. (L.S.)