Improved Self-locking Joint for Folding Shafts of Mail Carts and other Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Apr., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 6th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 2nd Apr.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Self-locking Joint for Folding Shafts of Mail Carts and
other Vehicles.
HARRY MITCHELL, 30, Sidwell Street, Exeter, Domestic Machinery Dealer,
GEORGE THOMAS STEER, 41, Oxford Street, St. Thomas, Exeter, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
By having two side plates bolted to shaft with two stationary bolts on body side
and one swivel bolt on folding handle the joint cut bevel.
Between swivel bolt and bevel end of shaft a spring catch to be fixed the same to
engage with holes in side plates, when in position.
To alter same pull catch back by means of a knob and lift handle.
HARRY MITCHELL.
GEORGE THOMAS STEER.
Improved Self-locking Joint for Folding Shafts of Mail Carts and
other Vehicles.
We, HARRY MITCHELL, of 30, Sidwell Street, Exeter, Domestic Machinery
Dealer, and GEORGE THOMAS STEER, of 41, Oxford Street, St. Thomas, Exeter,
Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to an improved self-locking joint for folding shafts for
mail carts and other vehicles.
According to the invention we provide the folding shaft with two side plates
bolted to the fixed or body end of the said shaft and to which the folding portion of
the shaft is pivotally connected by a swivel bolt. The meeting ends of the two
parts of the shaft are cut on the bevel and the end of the movable portion is pro-
vided with a spring bolt or catch which automatically engages with the side plates
when the folding part of the shaft is turned into its operative position.
To enable the invention to be fully understood we will describe it by reference
to the accompanying drawing, in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of our self-locking joint:
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 Figure 1:
Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 Figure 1; and,
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the opposite side of the joint to that illustrated in
Figure 1 and shewing the shaft in the folded position.

page_text: a is the fixed or body end of the shaft and b is the folding portion thereof. The
adjacent ends of the two parts a and b are bevelled as shewn so that when the said
bevelled ends are in contact the two parts lie in the same straight line.
c, c are
the side plates, the said plates being, as above described, rigidly secured to the
part of the shaft by the bolts d, de is the swivel bolt by means of which the
part b is pivotally secured to the side plates c, c.
The spring catch, which we employ for automatically locking the two parts of
the shaft together in the position shewn in full lines in Figure 1, comprises the
bolt which is formed at one end with a knob or handle f and at the other end
with a square extension f the outer face of which is bevelled and which is formed
with a notch f³. The bolt f works in a metal socket g which has screwed into it
the screw g¹, the said screw g¹ projecting inside the said socket and into the notch f
in the extension f² so as to limit the movement of the bolt. h is the spring for
normally forcing the bolt into the position shewn in Figure 3, the said spring
abutting at its two ends against the inturned end g of the socket g and the inner
end of the bolt extension respectively. The side plates c, c are provided respec-
tively with a slot c¹ up which the bolt f can pass and a square hole c² to receive
the extension f2.
When the shaft is folded the part 6 has the position shewn in dotted lines in
Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 4. To lock the two parts a and b together the
latter is turned in the direction of the arrow in Figures 1 and 4 so as to bring the
two parts in alignment and at the same time spring the catch f into the hole c².
To fold the shaft the bolt f is disengaged from the hole c² by means of the knob or
handle and the part 6 can then be turned back into the position shewn in
Figure 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
The described self-locking joint for the folding shafts of mail carts and other
vehicles hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 5th day of January 1898.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.