Improvements in and additions to two-wheeled vehicles
Year: 1885

page_text: I, SAMUEL ADAMS, of Adderley Road, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Coach Builder,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to Improvements in and additions to two-wheeled
vehicles and it is particularly applicable to such vehicles as are known as "dog-
carts" and similar vehicles, that is to say, such two-wheeled vehicles as are usually
constructed for carrying four persons two with their faces and two with their backs
towards the direction in which the vehicle travels. The chief object of my Inven-
tion is to provide means whereby such vehicle can either be used as an open
vehicle or readily partly converted into a closed or partly closed vehicle, which can
be easily entered and alighted from from behind.
According to my Invention I provide a loose covered body somewhat similar to
a hansom cab body but without the driver's seat, shafts or splash board and having
a seat for two persons across from side to side and a door or doors opposite to the
seat by which entrance to the same can be had and at each side of the seat a
window; windows may also be provided in the door or doors or to slide or fold
down towards the door or doors. The width of the said loose covered body is
about the same externally as the internal width of the vehicle with which it is to
be used. I make the back foot-board of the said vehicle and that part of the
bottom thereof to which it is hinged loose and separate from the body of the
vehicle so that they can be readily removed therefrom and readily replaced.
The back foot-board and the said part of the bottom and the ordinary back seat
of the said vehicle having been removed, I place the said loose covered body in the
said vehicle behind the ordinary front seat thereof so that the underside of the seat
of the said loose covered body rests on the bottom of the said vehicle; a catch or
other suitable device being provided for maintaining the loose covered body in
position. Occupants of the loose covered body will thus be seated with their backs
towards the occupants of the front seat of the vehicle and the direction in which
the vehicle travels and the door giving access to the body will be at the back of
the vehicle. I prefer to provide a sliding window above the seat of the loose
covered body so as to give ready communication between the occupants thereof
and the driver on the front seat of the vehicle.

page_text: Instead of a seat being provided across the loose covered body as above
described, seats may be provided at the sides of the same so that the occupants
thereof would sit vis à vis, or the seats may be in the corners or arranged in any
other suitable manner. I prefer to place the loose covered body so far over the
axle as not to overbalance the shafts and front part of the vehicle. The top
covering part of the loose covered body may be made detachable from the seat and
lower part thereof, so that the said seat and lower part can, if desired, be used
independently of the top covering part.
I prefer to make the body of the vehicle loose from the shafts, which latter are
braced together independently of the former, so that the body can be shifted on the
shafts and the position of its centre of gravity relatively to the axle thereby altered
when the loose body is attached or when the vehicle is partly loaded or ascending
or decending hills or under other circumstances. I arrange for the said vehicle
body to be shifted along the shafts by means of a suitable lever or levers or a
screw and hand wheel arranged to be operated by the driver without stopping the
vehicle, a catch or other suitable device being employed to maintain the body in
any desired position.
The said lever or screw for moving the body is preferably combined with and
connected to the brake so that by a single movement of the said lever or screw
when decending hills the body can be thrown further behind the axle simul-
taneously with the application of the brake to the wheel or wheels.

page_text: I, SAMUEL ADAMS, of Adderley Road, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Coach Builder,
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:-
My Invention has reference to Improvements in and additions to two-wheeled
vehicles and it is particularly applicable to such vehicles as are known as
"dog-carts” and similar vehicles, that is to say, such two-wheeled vehicles as are
usually constructed for carrying four persons two with their faces and two with
their backs towards the direction in which the vehicle travels. The chief object
of my Invention is to provide means whereby such vehicle can either be used as
an open vehicle or readily partly converted into a closed or partly closed vehicle
which can be easily entered and alighted from from behind.
According to my Invention I provide a loose covered body somewhat similar to
a hansom cab body but without the driver's seat, shafts or splash board and
having a seat for two persons across from side to side and a door or doors opposite
to the seat by which entrance to the same can be had and at each side of the seat
a window; windows may also be provided in the door or doors or to slide or fold
down towards the door or doors. The width of the said loose covered body is
about the same externally as the internal width of the vehicle with which it is to
be used. I make the back foot-board of the said vehicle and that part of the
bottom thereof to which it is hinged loose and separate from the body of the vehicle
so that they can be readily removed therefrom and readily replaced.
The back foot-board and the said part of the bottom and the ordinary back seat
of the said vehicle having been removed, I place the said loose covered body in the
Baid vehicle behind the ordinary front seat thereof so that the underside of the seat
of the said loose covered body rests on the bottom of the said vehicle; a catch or
other suitable device being provided for maintaining the loose covered body in
position. Occupants of the loose covered body will thus be seated with their backs
towards the occupants of the front seat of the vehicle and the direction in which
the vehicle travels and the door giving access to the body will be at the back of
the vehicle. I prefer to provide a sliding window above the seat of the loose
covered body so as to give ready communication between the occupants thereof and
the driver on the front seat of the vehicle. .
Instead of a seat being provided across the loose covered body as above described,
seats may be provided at the sides of the same so that the occupants thereof would
sit vis à vis, or the seats may be in the corners or arranged in any other suitable
manner. I prefer to place the loose covered body so far over the axle as not to
overbalance the shafts and front part of the vehicle. The top covering part of the
loose covered body may be made detachable from the seat and lower part thereof,
so that the said seat and lower part can, if desired, be used independently of the
top covering part.

page_text: •
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I prefer to make the body of the vehicle loose from the shafts, which latter are
braced together independently of the former, so that the body can be shifted on
the shafts and the position of its centre of gravity relatively to the axle thereby
altered when the loose body is attached or when the vehicle is partly loaded or
ascending or descending hills or under other circumstances. I arrange for the said
vehicle body to be shifted along the shafts by means of a suitable lever or levers or
a screw and hand wheel arranged to be operated by the driver without stopping
the vehicle, a catch or other suitable device being employed to maintain the body
in any desired position.
On the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 represents in side elevation and Fig. 2 in
part plan a dog-cart with which a loose covered body can be used according to my
Invention the back foot board and part of the floor of the vehicle being shewn
detached; Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation and Fig. 4 a back elevation of the
loose covered body separately for use with the dog-cart illustrated by Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 5 represents in side elevation the said dog-cart and loose covered body
combined together ready for use; Fig. 6 is a sectional plan of the said dog-cart
combined with a modified form of the loose covered body represented by Figs. 3
and 4; Figs. 7 and 8 represent side elevations respectively of the upper and lower
parts of the said loose covered body when made separately from each other.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several figures.
a is the loose covered body which is somewhat similar to a Hansom cab body
of which b is the seat extending preferably from side to side (see Fig. 3 and dotted
lines Fig. 6), c, d, are the doors for entrance, e, e, are the side windows and fis an
ordinary folding window above the doors. g is the body of the "dog-cart"
having its back foot-board h and the part of the floor of the vehicle to which
it is hinged at 1, 2, made separate from the body g so as to be readily removed
(see Figs. 1 and 2) and readily replaced and fixed for instance by bolts passing
through holes v, v, in the side plates w, w, and through the floor i; j, j, are the
wheels, k, k, are the shafts, t, t, are the springs and n, n, is the front seat of
the dog-cart.
In order to use the loose covered body a with the dog-cart g the back foot-
board h and the part i to which it is hinged are removed from the body g (see
Figs. 1 and 2) and the loose covered body a is placed in the back of the dog-cart
(see Fig. 5) far enough towards the front to balance it, the underside of the seat b
resting on the bottom i of the dog-cart, a catch or bolt (Fig. 3) or other suitable
means being provided for maintaining the loose covered body a in position.
Occupants of the loose body a can communicate with the driver by means of a
sliding or other window m."
The seat in the loose body a may be divided so as to form two seats o¹, 02, (see
Fig. 6) so that the occupants can either sit vis à vis or in the corners of the body,
a part p of the floor i corresponding to the space q between the seats o¹, o³, being
made loose from the floor i and removable with the back foot-board h as shewn by
dotted lines in Fig. 2.
In order that the seat b and lower part of the loose covered body a may be used
without the top covering part the latter may be made detachable from the former
(see Figs. 7 and 8) and arranged to be connected thereto by cottar bolts 8 or by
other suitable means.
The body g (see Figs. 1 and 5) of the dog-cart is preferably made loose from the
shafts k, k, (which latter are independently braced together and connected to the
springs t, t) so that it can be shifted thereon from its backward position (Fig. 1)
to its forward position (Fig. 2) when the body a is being used and so balance the
combined vehicle; but making the dog-cart body moveable on the shafts forms no
part of this Invention.
In applying my Invention to other two-wheeled vehicles which are similar to
a dog-cart I construct and arrange the loose covered body similarly as hereinbefore
described and illustrated except that such variations are made in the shape-and

page_text: construction of the loose covered body as would be necessary to adapt it to the
particular vehicle with which it is used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1 The employment, in the back of a dog-cart or other like two-wheeled vehicle,
of a moveable covered body substantially as described.
2nd A moveable body a, for use with a dog-cart or other like two-wheeled
vehicle, having a seat b or two seats o¹, o³, and a door or doors c, d, opposite such
seat or seats substantially as described and illustrated.
3rd The modified form of moveable body a illustrated by Figs. 7 and 8 in which
the seat or seats and bottom part are made loose and separate from the top covering
part substantially as described and illustrated.
4th Making the back foot-board of a dog-cart or other like two-wheeled vehicle
and that part of the floor of the vehicle to which the said foot-board is hinged,
loose and separate from the floor proper substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2.