CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO CARRIAGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREVENTING. HORSES FROM STARTING, AND FOR STOPPING OR RESTRAINING THEM WHEN RUNNING AWAY OR DESCENDING HILLS
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
THOMAS, of No. 36, Saint James's Street, in the City of Westminster and
County of Middlesex, Boot Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventh day of June, in the first year of Her reign, and in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert
Thomas, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Robert Thomas, my executors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Robert Thomas, my executors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my.
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO
CARRIAGES FOR THE PURPOSE OF PREVENTING. HORSES FROM STARTING, AND FOR
STOPPING OR RESTRAINING THEM WHEN RUNNING AWAY OR DESCENDING HILLS;'
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso. obliging me, the said
Robert Thomas, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar

page_text: months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Thomas, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in apparatus to be attached to carriages for
the purpose of preventing horses from starting, and for stopping or retarding
them when running away or descending hills, consists in the adaptation of an
apparatus to carriages, whether on two or four wheels, by means of which the
horse or horses may be drawn up or tightly curbed in, so as to prevent their
proceeding, by means of a cord to be connected to the bit or curb, such cord
being wound round a rotary barrel, when the barrel has been thrown into
of the running wheels, which may be done by any person riding
gear
with one
on or in the carriage.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents the front elevation of a
pair of wheels mounted upon their axle in the ordinary way, the improved
apparatus being connected therewith. Fig. 2 is a horizontal view of the
same. Figures 3 and 4 are elevations similar to Fig. 1, shewing the apparatus
in different stages of its action. Figures 5 and 6 represent the apparatus
detached and drawn upon an enlarged scale, the former Figure shewing
the parts partially in section and out of action, the latter being also
Similar letters of
partially sectional, and exhibiting the parts in action.
reference point out the same parts in all the Figures. a, a, is a shaft or
spindle of metal placed horizontally and parallel to the stationary axle of the
running wheels, the said shaft or spindle turning freely, and is capable of
sliding in brackets b, b, fixed to the stationary axle. A tube c, c, attached by
its flange to the tube d, embraces the spindle, but allows the spindle
to turn and move freely within it. d is the other tube of larger diameter
capable of sliding over the spring f, which tube constitutes the barrel
for the cord or band e to be wound upon, this cord or band being intended
to be connected by a pair of branch cords or reins direct to the curb or bi
in the horse's mouth, and also, if required, to the bearing rein and to loop:
Withi
passed over his ears, as shewn by the blue lines in Figs. 7, 8, and 9.
the tubed the, open worm spring fis placed, coiled around the spindle
and having one of its bearings against the end of the tube c, an
a

page_text: the other bearing against a collar fixed on the spindle. At the
outer end of the spindle a similar open worm spring his attached,
having one of its bearings against the bracket b, and the other bearing
against a nut and washer i on the outer end of the spindle. The reverse end
of the spindle a has a pinion k firmly secured upon it, and upon the inner
rim of the nave of the running wheel a ring of teeth is also fixed, in order
that when the pinion is slidden into gear with the rim of teeth the
rotary motion of the running wheel may communicate a similar motion to the
spindle a and to the barrel d for winding up the cord. The tubes c and d are
connected in the following manner :-A coupling collar m is placed upon the
tube c, which embraces a slit or groove in the end of the tube d. A cord n is
attached to a stud fixed in the tube c, and is intended to draw the tubes c and d
along for the purpose of locking the latter to the spindle, the tube c being
guided by a feather inserted into a slit in it. A pin i is passed through the
spindle at o, o, for the purpose of being acted upon by the clutch p, p, at the
end of the barrel d, when that barrel is slidden onward. The cord n, attached
to the sliding tube c, is carried under a guide pulley q, and conducted to the
seat of the driver or to any other part of the carriage that may be required.
Indeed, I prefer that this cord n, when the apparatus is applied to a coach,
should have three branches, leading to the box seat, the hinder part or dickey,
and to the interior of the carriage, as shewn by the red lines in Figs. 7 and 8.
The apparatus being now described, I proceed to shew the manner in which
it is brought into operation. In the first instance it will be perceived, in
referring to the quiescent state of the apparatus shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 5,
that the power of the spring h forces the spindle a back, and thereby keeps
the pinion out of gear with the toothed rim on the running wheel, and also
that the force of the spring f keeps the tubes c and d back, and prevents the
clutch p, p, from locking against the pin o, o, fixed on the spindle a; consc-
quently, under these circumstances, which is the ordinary position of the
apparatus), no connection existing between the barrel d and the running
wheel, the carriage proceeds as usual, and the cord e hangs loosely, see Fig. 7,
without affecting the horse. But in the event of the horse or horses starting,
or getting into a greater speed than may be desired, the driver, or any other
person riding on or within the carriage, takes hold of the ends of the branches
of the cord n, and draws it up until, by the sliding of the tubes c and d, as
described above, the clutch p, p, is brought into contact with the pin o, o, as.
shewn in Figures 3 and 6, and thereby couples the spindle a with the barrel d.
The barrel d not being enabled, by the arrangement of the parts, to slide
further, the draft of the cord n will now act upon the spindle (the abutment

page_text: being at the collar-g)-and-draw-the-spindle-onward -until-it-has.slidden-suffi
ciently far to put the pinion in gear with the toothed wheel in the running
wheel. It will now be perceived that as the running wheel goes round the
spindle a, with the barrel d; will be made to revolve, and that the cord e
attached thereto (and at its other ends connected to the bit or curb of the
horse or the bearing rein) will be made to coil around the barrel d; as shewn
at Figures 4 and 6, and by so coiling cause the branch cords or reins to be
drawn tightly and bring up the horse.
Fig. 7 represents a four-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse, the improved
apparatus being attached thereto, but very imperfectly seen, as it is desirable
to conceal the apparatus as much as possible from public view. The draw-
ing-up reins or cords e pass from the bit or curb in the horse's mouth, or from
the bearing rein, in any convenient way under the carriage to the barrel d,
upon the spindle a, and in this Figure it is to be supposed that the apparatus
is not thrown into gear, as the horse has but just started off; but in the event
of it becoming necessary to check the speed of the horse, the driver, or some
person within that carriage, draws the cord n, which throws the apparatus into
gear in the way described, and brings the horse up, as shewn at Fig. 8. It is
necessary to add, that if the cord e leading from the curb or bit of the horse
were to be immediately coiled upon the barrel d with the speed with which
the barrel is made to turn when thrown into gear with the running wheel, that.
the horse would be drawn up too suddenly; I, therefore, connect the cord e to
another cord passed round a spring barrel not shewn in the Drawings, so that
while the corde is winding round the barrel da length of cord is given
out from the spring barrel, which thereby causes the tension of the rope
upon the curb or bit to operate gradually and to temper the check until the
horse has had time to feel the force exerted upon him, and quietly to submit
to its restraint. And, further, I would remark, that as soon as the driver or
other person in the carriage lets go the cord n, that the springs f and h, being
free, force back the spindle a, thereby throwing the pinion k out of gear, and
also unlocks the barrel d from the spindle, when the apparatus assumes the
inoperative position shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 5. And as a further security
against the horse rearing up on being checked by the above-described appa-
ratus, I apply loops of catgut or cord over his ears, these loops being connected
to the check cord e, which, when brought into action, will pull the loops tight
upon his ears, and prevent his rising.
Fig. 9 is a representation of the head gear of the bridle shown on a larger
scale than in Figures 7 and 8. a¹, a¹, are the side or check pieces of the
bridle, which are in this instance made hollow for the ends of the loops b, b¹,

page_text: to be passed down them to the check cord e¹ at the bit a¹. i is a coiled spring,
its ends being attached to both the loops for the purpose of drawing up the
loops when the apparatus is out of action, and thereby relieve the horse from
the pressure on his ears.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Thomas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-eight.
AN
REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of December, in
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Robert
Thomas came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Seventh day of December, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight.