A New or Improved Device for Automatically Looking against Revolution the Wheel or Wheels of a Perambulator or similar Vehicle.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 20th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Device for Automatically Looking against
Revolution the Wheel or Wheels of a Perambulator or similar
Vehicle.
GEORGE GOPSILL 43 Hall Road Handsworth Birmingham Wholesale Jeweller &c.
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
A Crank Lever specially made and fixed on the Axle, in front of a specially made
Cog or Slotted Wheel, cast on or otherwise fixed on, the Hub of one or more Wheels
of any Carriage driven by hand, such as perambulators etc. The Lever & Cog wheel
being so placed that the Lever shall by its own weight fall into one of the slots of
said Cog Wheel, & the Lever to be connected with a suitable Cord or Wire passing
through necessary Rings or Pulley Wheels, fixed at proper angles, either on the body
or other parts of the Carriage to within a short distance of the driving handle; so
that when the cord is pulled right up to the handle, the Lever is raised out of the
Slot in Cog Wheel, thus allowing the Wheels of Curriage to move; as when the
Lever is in Slot of Cog, the wheels are fixed.
I will now describe my invention and its action by aid of reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a perambulator showing its wheel locked by means of the action
of this invention as herein described; that is to say, I fix on the axle A a crank
lever B made specially to fit and I bolt it firmly to the axle by means of ordinary
clip bolts C. The said lever B is placed in front of and near to the slotted wheel D
which is cast on to the hub E of the wheel F of the perambulator.
The tongue of lever B is so arranged on its own pin or axle that by its own weight
or it might be by the action of a spring it will fall into one of the slots of the slotted
wheel D and so prevent the rotation of the perambulator wheel F.
I connect the lever B by means of a cord G or wire (or any other suitable
material) and pass the cord through screw rings I (which act as guides) to within a
hort distance of the driving handle H of the perambulator.

page_text: The end of the connecting cord G I fix to a loop or ring J of leather or other
suitable material; this loop JI support by means of the upper ring I or otherwise.--
Fig. 2 represents a perambulator with its wheel F free to move by the action of
this invention and showing the lever B released from the slotted wheel D by means
of the connection G.
Fig. 3 represents an enlarged size of the lever B and part of axle A &c.; this
lever I preferably make of cast malleable iron but it may be made of any other metal
and either wrought or cast or otherwise.
Figs. 4 represent an enlarged size of the hub E with the slotted wheel D cast on
it; this I also preferably make of cast malleable iron but it may be made of any other
metal and either wrought, cast or otherwise and it may be made to screw on to a
wood hub.
Fig. 5 represents a clip bolt separately to a large size.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Device for Automatically Locking against
Revolution the Wheel or Wheels of a Perambulator or similar
Vehicle.
I GEORGE GOPSILL of 43 Hall Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Wholesale Jeweller, 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 :-
The object of my invention is to obtain a simple and inexpensive device or arrange
ment of parts which when applied to a perambulator or similar hand wheeled vehicle
will automatically skid. or lock against revolution one, or it might be more than one,
of the wheels thereof immediately that the person wheeling the vehicle releases his or
her hold of the steering or driving handle.
In carrying my invention into effect I cast or otherwise fix upon the hub of one of
the wheels of the vehicle a notched or toothed wheel and I mount upon a centre of
motion carried by a fitting fixed or clamped on to the fixed axle or axle tree a cranked-
lever one end of which is so weighted or sprung and arranged that it will normally
engage one of the spaces or teeth of the notched or toothed wheel and which is by a
cord, chain or other suitable connection attached to its other end and passing through
suitable. guides and terminating in a bar, loop or ring near the steering handle,
rendered capable of being moved and held clear of the notched wheel by a person
wheeling the vehicle whilst should the vehicle be left unattended the end of the lever 1
will fall into one of the spaces in the notched wheel and thus prevent the vehicle
accidentally moving.
If desired I may employ a similar arrangement of parts in connection with several
of the wheels of the vehicle and I may if preferred dispense with the notched or
toothed wheel and cause the end of the cranked lever to fall between and engage the
spokes of the wheel.
And in order that my said invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings, fully to
describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a perambulator or similar vehicle having my inven-
tion applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a similar but separate view of parts.
Figure 3 is a plan and
Figure 4 is an inner end view thereof.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the notched wheel and part of the hub separately.
Figure 6 is an edge view showing a slotted wheel attached to a wooden hub..

page_text: Figures and are respectively back elevations of a vehicle body illustrating
modified forms of terminals to the connection from the lever.
In the several figures of the drawings like parts are indicated by similar letters
of reference and Figures 2 to 7 are drawn full size.
a represents the body of the vehicle, represents the driving or steering handle,
c represents the springs, & represents the axle or axle tree and e represents the
wheels.
In the arrangement represented at Figures 1 to 5 I cast upon the hub e' of one of
the carrying wheels e a wheel f formed with a number of notches or recesses f³, or
they might be teeth, in or on the periphery thereof and I mount upon a pin or centre
of motion g carried by a fitting g fixed to the axle d, a cranked lever one end of
which is so weighted and arranged that it normally engages one of the spaces or
teeth of the notched or toothed_wheel f. The other or cranked end of the cranked
lever g is attached to a cord, chain or other suitable connection which passes
through suitable guide rings, or it might be over pulleys i fixed to the body a of the
vehicle and is carried up near to the handle b where it terminates in a flexible bar h¹
supported at each end by an eye b' projecting from the handle b.
The fitting g is formed of two cheeks connected together by a web or distance
piece at the upper part and a similar but longer web or distance piece 9 near the
lower part and such web or distance piece 9 at each end thereof terminates in
flanged studs or projections 9*.
The fitting g below the web g' is shaped to fit over and embrace the axle d with
the web gresting thereon and it is securely clamped in that position by means of
twin bolts g which pass over the flanged studs or projections g of the web o' and are
at their lower ends threaded to receive nuts g', a plate or washer 98 being interposed
between the axle d and the nuts g': or the fitting 9 may be otherwise fixed or secured
to the axle or axle tree d.
In the modification of parts represented at Figures 6 and 7 in which the notched
or it might be toothed wheel f is shown attached to a wooden hub such notched
wheel is formed with a back plate which at its periphery projects in the form of a
flauge fand is provided with a number of screw holes through which screws f³ are
passed into the hub e¹; or in order to obtain a neater appearance the flange f³ might
be dispensed with and the screw holes might be formed through the back plate at the
bottom of the notches or recesses f¹ as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 7.
In the modification represented at Figure 8 the connection h from the lever g
terminates in a loop formed by turning back and "seizing" the end of the
connection but in that shown in Figure 9 the terminal is supposed to be a ring
formed of hard or comparatively hard india rubber, or of wood or metal; it will be
evident however that the terminal may be of other form and material.
The action of the device is as follows:-
The normal position of the lever g₁ being in gear with the notched, recessed or
toothed wheelf it is necessary in order that the vehicle may be wheeled to hold the
lever g' out of action and for this purpose the person wheeling the vehicle grasps the
flexible bar together with the handle or holds the loop or ring upon a finger or
thumb or on the hand or wrist whilst grasping the handle band thus through the
connection h acts upon the cranked end of the lever g' and thereby raises and retains
the other end of such lever clear of the notches or recesses for teeth of the wheel f,
as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1.
When however the vehicle is left unattended the terminal of the connection h
will be released and the lever g¹ will consequently fall into gear with the notched
wheel and thus prevent the vehicle accidentally moving.
In some cases more particularly for the sake of cheapness I may dispense with the
notched wheelf and by slightly modifying the form and length of the lever g¹ cause
it to engage the spokes of one of the carrying wheels e and in lieu of utilising the
weight of the lever to normally retain it in one position I may employ a spring for
that purpose as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2, and if desired I may apply my
invention to several wheels e of a vehicle as will be readily understood.

page_text: It will be evident that my invention may be readily applied to a vehicle in course
of construction or to an existing vehicle and in the latter case it may be preferable in
order to facilitate such application to dispense with the notched wheel and cause the
lever g¹ to directly engage the spokes of the wheel e as hereinbefore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. A perambulator or similar vehicle provided with a cranked lever g' mounted
upon an axis of motion g² carried by a fitting g on the axle or axle tree d of the
vehicle one end of which lever normally gears with a notched or toothed wheel f
fixed to or forming part of the hub el of a wheel e, or engages the spokes of such
wheel e and the other end of which is acted upon by a connection terminating
near the handle b, to hold the lever g¹ out of gear at the times desired all in manner
substantially as herein shown and described.
2. A device for attachment to the axle or axle tree d of a perambulator or similar
vehicle consisting of a fitting g having mounted upon a centre of motion g' carried
thereby, a cranked lever g' one end of which is capable of gearing with a notched
wheelf fixed to or forming part of the hub e¹ of a wheel e or of engaging the spokes
of such wheel e and the other end of which is capable of being acted upon by a
connection such as h such fitting g being so formed at its lower part as to embrace
the axle or axle tree d and with studs or projections go to receive twin bolts g' fitted
with nuts g' and plates or washers g³, or equivalent fastening means, all in manner
substantially as herein shown and described.
1000