Improvements in Folding Vehicles and in Axles for same, and in Springs for the same and for other Vehicles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 30th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Folding Vehicles and in Axles for same, and in
Springs for the same and for other Vehicles.
We WILLIAM USHER, Financier of "The Hawthorns" Ffynone and HENRY
KINSEY Engineer of 13 Terrace Road both of Swansea in the County of Glamorgan
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to folding vehicles and is in part an improvement upon the
folding vehicles described in Specifications to Letters Patent No. 3816 of 1889 and
No. 20,142 of 1889.
In forming vehicles according to our present invention we employ an arrangement
of pivoted bars upon the "lazy tong" principle to connect the sides and enable them
to be drawn together these irons being so arranged as to give support to the bottom
of the vehicle when open.
The vehicle may also be stiffened and supported when open and whilst being
closed by a bolt or bolts which passes beneath the bottom of same and is secured
by a cotter pin or other suitable means at the sides. This is withdrawn or thrown
out of position when the vehicle is closed and a second but short bolt and cotter
pin is employed to connect the two sides and keep the vehicle in position.
In constructing children's mail carts the seats are hinged at the sides and the
middle the back rest being also hinged at one side while the "lazy tong " arrange-
ment is placed between the back and front seat or the mail cart may be opened and
closed by using the iron bolt or bolts hereinbefore described. The handles or
shafts are pivoted at the sides and are adjustable to different heights by means of
pins which hold them in position and they can be thrown up and back between the
wheels and sides when so required.
In constructing trucks having a central pole we cause this pole to pass beneath
the bottom of the truck and secure it by a cotter pin so that it is removeable. For
the purpose of strengthening vehicles a hinged door or gate may be applied to
same between the end legs these doors swinging inwards when the truck is closed.
Where it is desirable that the truck or vehicle should have an axle we employ
either a loose one which is dropped into a part adapted to receive same connected
to the wheel carrying pins and is held therein by cotter pins or we pivot one side
of said axle to a part carrying the wheel pin and cause a hooked head or the like
on the other to engage with a pin on the corresponding part on the other side-the
hooked head being secured in some suitable way.
The springs we employ for our folding vehicles we form of an upper and lower
plate between which the axle block or wheel carrying pin or a part carrying said
pin is bolted or secured. The springs may be either each a single piece or plate of
metal or be composed of laminae as usual. The lower plate is bent round and has
its ends attached or held to the bottom of the vehicle or some other part while the
ends of the upper plate preferably overlap the ends of the lower and are capable of
movement in guides attached to the vehicle. Where the vehicle is without an
axle as described in Specification to the No. 3816 of 1889 before referred to a
sliding guide piece attached to the spring or wheel pin may be employed with
same, said guide moving in a stud or the like carried by the side of the vehicle.
Instead of employing the upper and lower spring plates the ends of which
overlap as described the two plates may be separate or be attached by a strap
piece, the axle block, or wheel carrying pin, being held between them.
It will be evident that such springs are adapted to other than folding vehicles.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Folding Vehicles and in Axles for same, and in
Springs for the same and for other Vehicles.
We, WILLIAM USHER, Financier of "The Hawthorns" Ffynone and HENRY
KINSEY Engineer of 13 Terrace Road, both of Swansea, in the County of
Glamorgan 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 :-
Our invention relates to folding vehicles and to the construction of folding axles
for same as well as to springs which are particularly adapted for same by reason of
their lightness but are adapted also for use with other vehicles.
In forming vehicles according to our present invention we employ an arrange-
ment of pivoted bars upon the "lazy tong" principle as illustrated in Figures 1
and 2 in which Figure 1 is a rear view of a truck when open and Figure 2 is a
similar view with the truck closed, the truck being such a one as is illustrated in
Figures 2 and 3 of our Specification to Letters Patent No. 20,142 of 1889.
According to the construction herein shown the lazy tong bars a are pivoted at the
top on the legs of the truck at points b b while the lower ends are free to slide in
slots cc on the legs the bars being so arranged that they cross each other at the top
in the centre where they form a support for the hinged bottom of the truck when
open. The bars are arranged on the inside of the legs so that they allow of more
room for the body of the person wheeling the truck.
In addition to the above arrangement or apart therefrom a childs mail cart or
other vehicle may be provided with the arrangement which is illustrated in Figure 3
where a long bolt d is passed through sockets underneath the bottom of the vehicle
to support the latter as well as to stiffen the whole such bolt being secured by a
cottar pine when the truck is open. To close the truck the sides of the truck are
forced together (the long bolt d maintaining them upright during the process) so
as to bring a fixed pin into the socket whereby the vehicle when in its closed
position is kept rigidly in position after which the long bolt is withdrawn.
In the construction of childrens mail carts illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 which
are respectively a side and end view partly in section and a plan the back and front
seats gy are hinged at the side and middle, the back rest g' is hinged at the side
and the "lazy tong" arrangement a is placed centrally between the back and front
seats and approximately beneath the hinged back rest, the bars being pivoted as in
Figures 1 and 2 to the fixed points at the top and in grooved plates cc extending
down between the seats. The foot boards or rests are also suitably hinged to
enable the vehicle to be closed. Such a vehicle may be provided with the bolts
shewn in Figure 3 if desired. To enable the vehicle to be adapted to different
heights of persons or children the handles or shafts may be pivotally connected to
the body of the vehicle as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 where the handle is
provided with a circular or segmental plate having a number of holes which is
pivoted to the framing of the vehicle by a bolt having a thumb nut. By loosening
the nut and raising and lowering the handle a stud carried by the frame may be
caused to engage with one of the holes of the plate and the thumb nut being
tightened up the handle is conveniently adjusted and held.
The handle may
further be thrown up and turned back between the wheels and sides when so
required. This construction of adjusting device is simple and economical in con-
struction and is therefore well adapted for such vehicles as childrens mail carts but
the arrangement both of the lazy tong and seats and the adjustable handles or
shafts is also adapted for light carts or traps.
Where it may be desirable to strengthen the body of a folding vehicle when
open we may employ a hinged flap or gate piece ; as shewn in Figure 9. between

page_text: the legs said gate being carried by hinges and held closed by pins j¹¹ engaging in
eyelets as shewn. In place of arranging the gate between the legs it may be
arranged between dropper posts about midway of the vehicle beneath the floor so
as to support same, and be out of the way of the folding axle if the vehicle is
provided with one. The lazy tong arrangement shewn in Figures 1 and 2 may be
similarly placed on dropper posts if desired. A convenient form of such a folding
axle is illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 in which one end of the axle k which is
bifurcated for the purpose is pivoted to a part / carrying the wheel pin while the
other end which is correspondingly shaped carries a pin which enters a slot m in
the tongue of the corresponding part / carrying the other wheel pin, and in addition
has a hole which registers with a corresponding hole in the tongue and through
which a pin n is placed to secure same when the truck is open. In place of the
axle carrying a bifurcated part the arrangement may be reversed, the part
carrying these and the axle the tongue, in which case one of the latter would have
a slotted or booked head which would engage with a fixed pin such as m on the
bifurcated part and be secured by a loose pin such as n. In the case of a folding
vehicle it is desirable to make the parts as light as is consistent with strength and
for this purpose we may employ the springs illustrated in Figures 12 and 13, which
shew respectively a side elevation and a part of an end view of a folding truck
having a folding axle k constructed in accordance with our invention.
The springs
are composed of an upper and lower plate which may be either each a single piece
or plate of metal or be composed of laminae as usual. In the spring shewn in
these figures the lower plate o is attached to a block carrying the wheel pin / or it may
be the axle proper, and is bent round and has it ends firmly attached or held to
the bottom of the vehicle preferably by bolts as shown and in addition by clips p p
the back of which are held up to same by bolts or screws which pass through the
plate o to the bottom of the vehicle or some part of the framing.
The upper
plate o is shorter and is secured to the upper part of the axle or the block of same
its ends being free to move in the clips or guides pp with the motion of the vehicle.
When the vehicle is without an axle some of the guiding slide pieces may be
employed such as illustrated in the Specification before referred to or in the
Specification to Letters Patent No. 3816 of 1889 or the arrangement shewn in
Figure 14 may be used. This consists of a guide plate y carrying the wheel pin
and attached to the side of the vehicle by bolts which pass through slots rr in said
plate so that the latter is enabled to rise with the movement of the spring to which it is
attached. This guide plate q may also be used as an additional support where an
axle is employed, the pin in this case being dispensed with.
In Figure 15 the upper and lower plates are secured to and spaced apart by the
block while beneath the lower plate o is secured a box s through which the axle
passes. Bolts passing through the flanges of the box, the springs, and the block,
hold all the parts together. Instead of employing the upper and lower spring
plates the ends of which overlap the two parts o o' may be placed farther apart and
both ends of each may be secured or one end of each may be secured and the other
end be free but supported. The plates are attached by a strap piece t which may
carry as in Figure 16 an axle pin and be attached to the vehicle by bolts passing
through the slots r or the strap piece may be directly connected to an axle as in
Fig. 17 which shews the upper and lower parts o ol of the spring formed of laminae
instead of single plates. It will be seen in this figure that one end of each spring
is fixed while the other end is free but is supported between pins or frictional
rollers u u.
In Fig. 18 a spring is shewn formed of a single bent plate o one end of which is
secured to the vehicle while the other end is free to move in clips or guides p the
axle or pin being carried by a block s attached to the spring.
It will be evident that such springs are adapted to other than folding vehicles
and that they may be attached to plain cranked and other axles in many different
ways to those described and illustrated.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
-
1. A folding vehicle provided with pivotted bars on the "lazy tong" principle
arranged between posts or legs the bars being adapted when open to support the
bottom of the vehicle, substantially as described.
2. A folding vehicle provided with a removeable stiffening bolt and a fixed bolt
or pin on one side engaging in a socket on the other when the vehicle is closed
substantially as described.
3. A folding vehicle or mail cart provided with a lazy tong arrangement of
pivoted bars placed between folding seats, and a folding back rest substantially as
described.
4. The pivoted handle or shaft having a perforated plate or segment adjustable
on the framing by means of a stud and tightening.nut substantially as described.
5. A folding vehicle having a hinged gate piece attached to posts arranged
to strengthen the vehicle and support the bottom when open substantially as
described.
6. The folding axle for folding vehicles constructed substantially as described
and illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11.
7. A spring for vehicles composed of a bent plate or plates one end of which is
fixed and the other end free substantially as described.
8. A spring for vehicles composed of an upper and lower part, one having its ends
bent around and secured, and the other having its ends free and adapted to slide in
guides or the like with the movement of the vehicle substantially as described.
9. A spring for vehicles composed of two parts connected by a strap piece to
which is attached the axle pin or axle both ends of each spring being fixed or one
end of each being fixed and the other end being free but supported substantially as
described.
Dated this 30th day of January 1892.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.