IMPROVEMENT IN THE APPLICATION OF SPRINGS TO WHEEL CARRIAGES
Year: 1817

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MANTON, of South Street; Grosvenor Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Coach Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition humbly represent to His present Majesty
King George the Third that I had invented a certain "IMPROVEMENT IN THE
APPLICATION OF SPRINGS TO WHEEL CARRIAGES;" His Majesty was. pleased to
issue His Letters Patent' under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twentieth day of January, in the fifty-seventh year of
His reign, which Letters Patent do give and grant unto me, the said William
Manton, and to my executors, administrators, and assigns, or to my servants
or agents, His said Majesty's especial licence to make, use, exercise, and vend
my said Invention within England, Wales; and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and to have and enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by
reason of the said Invention during the term of fourteen years from the date
of the said Letters Patént, by which His Majesty also requires and strictly
commands all His subjects whatsoever within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, that during the continuance of the said term of
fourteen years, they shall not, either directly or indirectly, make, use, or put
in practice my said Invention; or any part of the same, or in any ways
counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same; the said Letters Patent also
contain a proviso, obliging me, the said William Manton, to particularly

page_text: describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in fulfilment of the said proviso, I, the said William
Manton, have executed this instrument, by which I do declare that my said
Invention is described and ascertained in manner following, that is to say:-
My improvement in the application of springs to wheel carriages consists in
placing the springs which are to support the body of the carriage in a
transeverse or cross position, so that the length of the springs will be in a
direction from side to side of the carriage, as represented by the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and that each spring shall be fixed to the body, or suspended
part of the carriage, on one side thereof by one end of the said spring, which
spring shall extend crossways beneath the body of the carriage, and be
attached to the frame or carriage on the opposite side to that side on which
the other end of the same spring is fastened to the body of the carriage. This
is shewn in Fig. 1, which is a view of part of a gig body and the axletree, to
shew the application of the springs. A is the axletree; B, B, blocks fixed on
the axletree to support the shafts, which, with their cross rail C, C, form a
frame. Upon this frame the body D, D, is placed. a, b, is one of the springs,
and c, d, the other; both springs are bolted or otherwise firmly fastened to the
under side of the body D at their thick ends a and c; the other ends band d
of the springs are received in shackles, loops, or links, which are suspended
from the shafts or frame, and allow the ends b and d of the springs some play.
The same Figure also shews clearly how the springs cross each other, but a
sufficient interval must be left between the two springs that they will not
touch or rub against one another where they cross. The Figure is taken at
the hind part of the gig, and similar cross springs may be applied at the fore
part. The springs are suspended by the shackles, loops, or braces, in order
that the ends of the springs may expand and contract, that is, advance to and
recede from each other when the body rises and falls by jolts and irregular
motions.
Figures 2 and 3 shew the same improvement of cross springs for a four-
wheeled carriage. A, A, is the fore axle bed; F, the fore transome, which is
supported upon the fore axle bed, and united thereto by the perch bolt, in the
usual manner; on the top of the fore transom F, irons are bolted, which turn
up at B, B, and have heads at the upper ends to suspend the shackels band d

page_text: from; to these shackels the ends of the springs d, c, and b, a, are united in the
same manner as the last described.
.
Figure 3 is a side view of the fore part of the carriage, and shews how the
two springs a, b, and c, d, are placed a small distance apart, that they may not
rub together where they cross.
:
Figure 4 shews a plan of the fore transom, to explain how the irons B are
carried a little sideways when they turn up in order to hold the shackles, so
that the springs shall clear each other. The thick ends a and c of the springs
are fastened to a bar G, G, on the ends of which bar irons H are fastened,
and they go beneath the body D, D, of the carriage, and are firmly fastened
thereto, so as to fix the bar G firmly to the body. K, Figure 2, is an iron
brace, which is applied on the top of the bar G, to keep the same from
bending by the action of the springs. In some cases the springs may be fixed
immediately to the body of the carriage, as represented in the gig body,
Figure 1, and then, if there is sufficient substance of wood in the body, or
boot, or wherever the springs are to be fastened, there will be no necessity for
the bar G. But, be it observed, that the particular manner of attaching and
aflixing the springs in their places may be left to the discretion of the
workman, who must adapt the springs, in respect to their dimensions, weight,
strength, and mode of attachment, to their places, according to the particular
kind of carriage to which they are to be applied; for I confine my improvement
in the application of springs to wheel carriages to the placing of such springs
in a transverse direction when one end of each spring is attached to the body
of the carriage on one side (for instance, the left-hand side), and the other end
of the same spring is attached by a shackle to the carriage or frame on the
opposite side (for instance, the right-hand side), the manner of which has been
herein-before explained. In all cases, the springs being fixed fast at one end,
must be suspended by a shackle at the other end, to allow them play to
expand or contract.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Manton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventeen.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the
presence of
WILL. ALLWAY.
WILLIAM (L.S.) MANTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same. Eighteenth day of July;
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid. William Manton came before our.
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the. Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein: contained, in form above written. And.also
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according: to. the tenor of the Statute
in that.case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Eigliteenth day of July, in the year above written.