AN IMPROVED METHOD OF LOCKING OR SKIDDING' THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES FOR THE PURPOSE OF RETARDING OF ARRESTING THE PROGRESS THEREOF
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Peake, of Derby, in the County of
Derby, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
LOCKING OR SKIDDING' THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES FOR THE PURPOSE OF
RETARDING OF ARRESTING THE PROGRESS THEREOF."
Sealed the 7th June 1861, and dated the 10th December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Peake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
December 1860.
I, THOMAS PEAKE, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
LOCKING OR SKIDDING' THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES FOR THE PURPOSE OF RETARDING
OR ARRESTING THE PROGRESS THEREOF," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to enable the coachman or driver of a vehicle,
whether the same be mounted on two wheels or on four wheels, to lock or
"skid" either one, two, or all of the wheels without dismounting from his seat
for that purpose, or requiring, the aid of another person to place the shoe or
skid under the wheel as is at present generally practised, and to render such
operation more certain, simple, and effective than heretofore. To effect this
object it is proposed to use a shoe or "skid", of the ordinary kind, and. to
connect same by a chain to the under side or body of the vehicle as usual.
The principal features, of novelty in this Invention consist in connecting
such said shoe, or. skid with a system of rods and levers, extending therefrom

page_text: to the seat of the driver or other suitable part of the vehicle, conveniently
placed for the driver to operate upon, that is to say, in a line with the axle of
the wheels of the vehicle, and in a horizontal line with the centre of the axle
and between the wheels thereon. I connect to the under part or body of the
vehicle a cross axle or spindle capable of revolving in bearings; upon one end
of said cross axle or spindle I securely fix a lever made with two arms similar
to the letter V inverted; the extremities of these arms I connect by bolts and
nuts to the side of the shoe or skid. I also affix to or form on the boss of this
V-shaped lever a short lever, and connect same by a rod to another lever, the
handle or upper end whereof extends to the driver's seat, and on that side
thereof most convenient to him; the lower end of this lever is connected by a
pin to the body of the vehicle; by pushing this lever from him or pulling
it to him, as the case may be, the shoe or "skid" will thus be brought under
the wheel, the chain of the shoe or "skid" taking the entire strain thereon..
The above method applies only to one wheel; in order to operate similarly on
the opposite wheel, other similar levers and.a rod.must be employed, and for
the sake of convenience I. propose to place. them by the side of the former
levers and rod; but in this instance I fix the aforesaid short lever and V-shaped
lever on the cross axle, and by these means I am-enabled to bring the shoe or
skid of the other wheel into operation, and thus lock both wheels, if desired;
and this system, if necessary, may be extended to all of the wheels of four-
wheel vehicles to enable- the driver to withdraw the shoe or skid from the.
wheel. The vehicle must be moved backward slightly, as, is now practised.
SPECIFICATION.in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Peake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th 2
June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
PEAKE, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord 3
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of. Her
reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give. and grant .unto
the, the said Thomas Peake, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Peake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Peake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should. at 3
any time agree with, and no-others, from time to time. and at all times

page_text: 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 "AN IM-
PROVED METHOD OF LOCKING.OR SKIDDING' THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES FOR THE
PURPOSE OF RETARDING OR ARRESTING THE PROGRESS THEREOF," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I; the said Thomas Peake, my executors or administra
tors, 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 Thomas Peake, do bereby declare the
nature of my said Invention; and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-.
:.
I
This Invention is designed to enable the coachman or driver of a vehicle,
whether the same be mounted on two wheels or on. four wheels, to lock or
"skid" either one, two, or all of the wheels without dismounting from his
seat for that purpose; or requiring the aid of another person to place the shoe
or skid under the wheel, as is at present generally practised, and to render
such operation more certain, simple, and effective than heretofore. To effect
this object it is proposed to use a.shoe or "skid" of the ordinary kind, and to
connect same by a chain to the under side or body of the vehicle as usual.
:
The principal features of novelty in this Invention consist in connecting such
said shoe or skid with a system of rods and levers extending therefrom to the
seat of the driver, or other suitable part of the vehicle, conveniently placed for the
driver to operate upon, that is to say, in a line with the axle of the wheels of
the vehicle, and in a horizontal line with the centre of the axle, and between
the wheels thereon. I connect to the under part or body of the vehicle a cross
axle or spindle capable of revolving in bearings; upon one end of said, cross
axle or spindle. I securely fix a lever made with two arms similar to the
letter V inverted; the extremities of these arms I connect by bolts and nuts
to the side of the shoe or skid. I also affix to or form on the boss of this
V-shaped lever a short lever, and connect same by a rod to another lever; the
handle or upper end whereof extends to the driver's seat, and on that side
thereof most convenient to him.. The lower end of this lever is connected by
a pin to the body of the vehicle; by pushing this lever from him or pulling. it
to him, as the case may be, the shoe or "skid" will thus be brought under
the wheel, the chain of the shoe or "skid" taking the entire strain thereon.

page_text: The above method applies only to one wheel; in order to operate similarly
on the opposite wheel, other similar levers and a rod must be employed, and
for the sake of convenience I propose to place them by the side of the former
levers and rod; but in this instance I fix the aforesaid short lever and
V-shaped lever on the cross axle, and by these means I am enabled to bring
the shoe or skid of the other wheel into operation, and thus lock both wheels,
if desired; and this system, if necessary, may be extended to all of the wheels
of four-wheel vehicles, to enable the driver to withdraw the shoe or skid
from the wheel. The vehicle' must be moved backwards slightly, as is now
practised.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of Drawings
accompanying these Presents, and to the numeral figures and letters of
reference marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of a vehicle, with
my improvements adapted thereto; Figure 2 is an end view at A of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a plan view of a détached portion herein-after referred to;
Figures 4 and 5 respectively exhibit a side elevation and edge view of parts
drawn to a scale of half full size. At each of the foregoing Figures I employ
similar letters of reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such
parts appear or can be seen at each of such said Figures respectively. A is
the body of a vehicle; B, the wheels thereof; C, C', axles on which said
wheels are mounted, and revolve'in the usual way; D, a' spindle connected to
the hindermost axle C by straps of metal E; G, G¹, is a cranked lever adjusted
-loosely upon one end of the spindle D; the longer arm of this lever is formed
in two parts to enablė.same to be either lengthened or shortened as desired;
and to the lower end of the part G₁, I connect, by a] bolt and nut H, a
quadrant-shaped piece of metal I, to which I affix an ordinary shoe or skid K.;
L' is a chain, one end of which is fixed to said shoe or skid, and the other end
to the body of the' vehicle, as usually practised; M-is a rod or bar connected
by one end to the cranked lever G, and by the other end to a lever handle N,
capable of vibrating upon a pin or bolt O passed through same, and a bracket
fixed to the body of the vehicle, as at Figure 1; P is a locking plate, shewn
in plan view at Figure 3, the lever handle N passes through the slot 1 in said
plate, and by means of a spring a on the lever is held locked in one or other
of the notches at each end of said slot according to the direction-in which the

page_text: lever handle is moved, either for bringing the shoe or skid under the wheel, as
denoted by dotted lines at Figure 1, or for lifting it therefrom and holding it up
as there exhibited, the length of the lever handle G being such as to be con-
venient of access by the driver of the vehicle; or, if desirable, a similar
arrangement might extend to the back of the vehicle, and thus be under the
control of the conductor. Suppose, for example, it were an omnibus, as in some
cases it might be desirable to skid or lock both of the hind wheels, I propose
to effect this by fixing a short arm Q (see Figure 2) upon the spindle D, and
connect another lever handle R thereto similar to that marked N, before
described. The lever handle R passes through the second slot in the locking
plate P, and thus the driver can, if necessary, lock both wheels; or the same
arrangement may be under the control of a person at the back of the vehicle.
I would here observe that by making a slot i in the plate I, the shoe or skid
has liberty of movement upon the pin or bolt H in the event of its meeting with
any obstruction, or to allow for the uneveness of the surface of the road or
street over which the vehicle has to pass.
In adapting the foregoing arrangements to the fore or front wheels of a
vehicle, the levers employed for raising and lowering the shoe or skid must be
so adjusted and connected as to act upon the front wheels in whatever position
they may be with respect to the hind wheels, in other words, to allow of free
alteration of position of the front wheels on the turn plate, which will be
readily understood by a practical coach builder. I would recommend that
both shoes or skids should operate simultaneously on the front wheels.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention of "An Improved
Method of Locking or Skidding the Wheels of Vehicles for the Purpose of
Retarding or Arresting the Progress thereof," and in what manner the same is
to be performed, I would remark in conclusion that I do not claim the exclusive
use of any of the separate parts above mentioned and referred to, except in so
far as the same may be employed in combination and for the purposes of my
said Invention, which I hereby declare to consist in the combination of parts
above described and represented for the skidding of wheels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Peake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOMAS PEAKE. (L.S.)