CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CABRIOLETS AND OMNIBUSES
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
ROUTLEDGE and ELIJAH GALLOWAY, both of Water Lane, in the City of London,
Gentlemen, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Nineteenth day of December, in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Thomas Routledge and Elijah Galloway, His especial license, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Thomas Routledge and Elijah
Galloway, our exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Thomas Routledge and Elijah Galloway, our exors, 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, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CABRIOLETS AND
OMNIBUSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we,
the said Thomas Routledge and Elijah Galloway, or one of us, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the
said Thomas Routledge and Elijah Galloway, do hereby declare the nature
of our 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):-
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, exhibit elevations, sections, and
plans of our improvements, that is to say, Figures 1, 2, and 3 shew one ar-
rangement of our improved cabriolets, in which it will be unnecessary to
describe all those parts which are common and well known. It will be seen
that the body of this cabriolet is much lower than that of those generally in
use. The axle a, a, is straight, extending across the body and under the
seat b, b. c, c, are the springs which may be variously constructed, not essen-
tially different from those in common use. d, d, are two rollers or small
wheels, which do not touch the ground when the cabriolet is running, but if
the horse should fall they will then come in contact with the ground, and pro-
bably prevent the cabriolet from being overturned; or one roller may be sub-
stituted, which would then be placed at a point exactly between the two now
represented. e, e, is an improved sliding head or hood (shewn in its seat in
Figure 2); it is made to slide freely in grooves, and can be drawn out to the
position shewn by the dotted lines f, f, and is prevented from coming further
by stop pins x coming in contact with stop pins y; there is a sort of hinge
formed of cloth or leather across the sliding head o at z, so that when the said
head is in the position f, f, it can be turned downwards, and being of a cor-
responding curvature with the front of the cabriolet h, h, it can be shut down
and secured by any usual mode of fastening. The shafts, the dashing, iron,
and the curved part j, j, are relatively secured to each other by bars of iron
laid over them, and securely bolted or rivetted through the ward, as is well
known to coach builders. The wheels are on the principle of a Patent granted
to Joseph Gibbs, dated the Fourth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-four, and which Patent has been assigned by the said
Joseph Gibbs to Thomas Routledge, party hereto. We do not, however,
confine ourselves to the use of this kind of wheel, as other descriptions of
wheels may obviously be used.
Figures 4 and 6 are elevations, and Figure 5 a section of another modifi-
cation of our improvements in cabriolets. In this arrangement there is no
axletree, the arm on which the wheel revolves being either welded or other-
wise securely affixed to the upright bars k, k, the lower ends of which bars are
secured to the springs 1, 1, and the upper ends to the spring m, m, which

page_text: extends across the head or top of the carriage. The Drawing will sufficiently
indicate the general arrangement of the other parts.
Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 exhibit our improvements in omnibuses. The body,
instead of having straight and parallel seats with an entrance behind, is divided
into two equal parts a, b. The passengers therefore enter at either side into
the space c and through the doorways o, o, sitting on the circular seats d, d, d, d,
as will be clearly seen by the sectional plan, Figure 9, and which therefore it
is unnecessary more minutely to describe. The wheels are all of equal size,
and in turning the carriage they all lock, thus differing from other four-wheel
carriages, the fore wheels only of which can lock. The mode in which this
improvement is effected may be thus explained. e, e, are two springs on the
top of each body, which springs have a hole through their centre, or are fitted
with a socket secured to them by a clip or other well known means, turn
freely on the pivots f,f, which pivots are securely fixed on the top of the
bodies a, b; the ends of these springs are also securely attached to the vertical
bars g, g, to which vertical bars are welded or otherwise securely affixed the
arms h, h, upon which the wheels revolve. Underneath the carriage there are
also springs i, i, of corresponding dimensions with those above the carriage,
viz, e, e.
The two springs e, i, and the vertical bars g, g, form together the
parallelogram g, e, f, g, i, h, Figure 8, which turning in the pivots f and j,
can be made partially to revolve round the imaginary axis dotted red in
Figure 8, and of course with the parallelogram the wheels upon the arms h, h,
will also move round the said imaginary axis.
Now turning to the Diagram, Figure 10, which represents a plan of the
omnibus as if it were turned upside down, there will be seen a connecting
rod k attached to pins on the springs i, i, there being holes in the connecting
rod ends so that it may move freely on them. If, then, the parallelogram and
wheels No. 1 (Figure 10), be moved into the position of the blue dotted lines,
then the parallelogram No. 2 would be also moved into the position of the
blue lines there shewn, and therefore the wheels would assume the position
there shewn by the blue lines. Or if the parallelogram No. 1 be moved in
the opposite direction into the position of the red lines, all the parts would
assume the positions shewn in red lines. The pole is attached to the
frame 1, 1.
Figure 11 is a Diagram which explains the principle of an indicator for
ascertaining the distance travelled by a cabriolet or omnibus. n is the nave
of the wheel, to which the excentric o is affixed on the end nearest the
carriage; it will be readily understood that each revolution of the wheel com-
municates a reciprocating motion to the lever p, which again gives motion to

page_text: ',
the pall v, which pall moves the ratchet wheel 9 one tooth for each revolution
of the wheel. This ratchet is fixed to some part of the body of the carriage,
and communicates its motion to a train of wheelwork, well known in similar
instruments, and which causes a hand or pointer to record the number of
revolutions made by the wheel, and the diameter of the wheel being known,
the index can be graduated so as to shew the distance (in miles, yards, or other
And,
known distances) which the carriage moves over.
Lastly, in order that we may be clearly understood as what constitutes our
improvements in cabriolets and omnibuses, we hereby declare that we lay no
.claim to the Invention of such parts of the cabriolets as have been previously
used and are well known; but we claim in them an improved combination of
parts, some of which are new and some old, which combination of parts, as a
whole, give superior safety as well as other advantages.
And in regard to the omnibuses herein described we claim as our Invention
the dividing the body into two parts, whereby passengers may enter at either
side of the platform between the said bodies. We claim also the mode of
suspending the body and locking the wheels in the manner described; and we
also claim, finally, the application both to the cabriolets and the omnibuses of
the indicator for measuring distances, though we wish it to be understood that
we do not claim the invention of such an instrument, but merely its application
in the manner described and for the purposes intended.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Routledge and Elijah Galloway,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day of June, in
the woor of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.