IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus APPLICABLE TO OMNIBUSES AND OTHER CARRIAGES FOR COMMON ROADS AND TRAMWAYS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Carter Stafford Percy
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th September 1875.
I, WILLIAM CARTER STAFFORD PERCY, of the Oity of Manchester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus APPLICABLE TO OMNIBUSES AND OTHER CARRIAGES
FOR COMMON ROADS AND TRAMWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in certain improved apparatus for protecting
the outside passengers on omnibuses and other carriages.
The sheets a, see Fig. 1, forming the roof are both wound on one
roller 6 revolving in bearings fixed to uprights c which can be moved
up and down by racks and pinions in sockets e. The outer ends of the
sheets a are provided with rods d, connected at each end to levers f
which are jointed to bushes g sliding on the uprights c. On turning
the roller 6 to unwind the sheets a the bushes g are raised by pulleys on
the roller b, and chains and the levers f connected to the rods & keep
the sheets a extended to form the roof, as shewn in Fig. 2. The legs
of the passengers are protected by aprons / wound on rollers i, each

page_text: containing a spring of india-rubber or other material, the torsion of
which rewinds the apron when released, as shown in Fig. 3.
For milk carts and other small vehicles, see Fig. 4, the roof a is
wound on the roller b supported in the standard c, and the rods d
supporting the roof are held by uprights fixed to the body of the
cart.
Another part of my Invention consists in making the stick c of the
umbrella or other roof a in two parts, as shewn in Fig. 5, supported in
an india-rubber socket j, to give it elasticity.
In making roofs for lurries and other similar carriages, as shewn in
Fig. 6, I wind both sides of the roof sheet a on a single roller b, as in
omnibus roofs, and I support the rods d on swivel brackets / jointed to
the uprights c and to the cross stay; these brackets may have joints to
open like a parallel rule, see Fig. 7. When the roof sheet is wound up
the rods fit in bearings in the uprights.
The breaks for stopping the omnibus or other carriage, see Fig. 8,
are connected to a lever / actuated by the driver; this lever acts on the
rod m, on which is an incline which depresses the lever n, and this lever
forces down the skids s which bear on the ground; the skids are
released by springs o.
The destination of the omnibus is indicated by lamps of different
colours, and by figures or letters placed on the bearings of the roller b
on which the roof sheets a are wound, as shewn in Fig. 1.
My improvements in carriages to run on tramways, shown in Fig. 8,
consist in making the wheels with ordinary tyres instead of making the
tyres with flanges, as now customary, and in applying a small guide
wheel q at each side of the carriage; these guide wheels fit in grooves
in the tram rails, and they are supported in arms r jointed to the axle;
they can be lifted up or lowered by a lever / actuated by the driver, and
by a chain passing around guide pulleys.
When the carriage is on the tram rails the guide wheels q are lowered
into the grooves, and when the carriage is turned off the rails to run on
the common road they are lifted up.