IMPROVEMENTS IN CONNECTING CARRIAGE STEPS TO THEIR SHANKS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Thring Phipson, of the Firm of Frederic Selby
and Company, of Balsall Heath, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturers,
and George Frederick Abel, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Coach
Smith, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN CONNECTING CARRIAGE STEPS
TO THEIR SHANKS."
Sealed the 25th July 1879, and dated the 13th February 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Thring Phipson and
George Frederick Abel at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
13th February 1879.
ERNEST THRING PHIPSON, of the Firm of Frederic Selby and Company, of Balsall
Heath, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturers, and GEORGE FREDERICK ABEL,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Coach Smith. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONNECTING CARRIAGE STEPS TO THEIR SHANKS."
Our Invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in connecting
carriage steps to their shanks, the said shanks being secured to the carriages in the
ordinary way.
By our Invention the junction of the separable carriage step with its shank is
made very firm and strong; the connection and disconnection of the carriage step are
easily effected, and the connecting parts are readily manufactured.
Our Invention is specially applicable to carriage steps in which the step is made
of cast iron and the shank of wrought iron, but our Invention is also applicable to
the connection of wrought iron and other steps to their shanks, and to carriage steps
of various kinds.
We will describe our Invention as applied to the connection of a cast iron gridiron
carriage step to its shank; we make on the outer end of the wrought iron shank of
the carriage step a vertical dovetail block; the top of the said block is, by preference,
on a level with the upper face of the shank, the said block extending considerably
below the lower face of the said shank. The position of the block on the shank
may, however, be varied; the sides of the block where it joins the shank are in-
clined or have a dovetail figure, the face of the block being flat. The said vertical
dovetail block on the end of the shank is narrowest at its top where it joins the
shank, and expands downwards to its base or lowest part. We make the said

page_text: vertical dovetail block by forging or stamping from the end of the shank in any
convenient way. We make at the back of the cast iron gridiron (or other) step,
and at the middle thereof, a dovetail seat or socket of a size and shape proper to
receive the vertical dovetail block on the end of the wrought-iron-shank The said
-seat or socket projects downwards from the treading face of the step, the top or
narrowest-end-of-the-hollow dovetail of the seat or socket being on a level with the
said treading face. The said dovetail seat or socket may either be made in a swell
or projecting part situated_at_the.middle-of-the back edge of the step; or the said
sent or socket may be made at the back of the step within the outline of the tread
-part-of-the step, we-prefer-the-first-described-position of the seat or socket as the
tread part of the step is thereby left clear.
In connecting the separable carriage step to the shank fixed on the carriage the
bottom or widest part of the step is brought over the upper or narrow end of the
dovetail block on the shank, and the said step is depressed, and its seat engaged
with the said block. The step is thus connected very firmly with the shank,
the greater the pressure put upon the step the tighter it becomes wedged upon
the dovetail block. By raising the step vertically it may be withdrawn from
the dovetail block of the shank, and the two parts disconnected from one another.
We do not limit ourselves to any particular form of the dovetail block on the
end of the shank, and the seat or socket at the back of the carriage step has the
figure of the said dovetail block, and its seat may be varied.
Where desirable the dovetail may be fixed in the socket by a pin or cotter.
Instead of making the dovetail block on the end of the shank, and the dovetail
socket in the step, the positions of the parts may be inverted, that is, the dovetail
socket may be made in a block on the end of the shank, and the dovetail block
made on the step.
Although in ordinary cases one of the fastenings described is sufficient, yet in
special cases two of the said fastenings may be employed, one of the said fastenings
being at one side of the step, and the other at the opposite side, or both fastenings
may be at the same side.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ernest Tring Phipson and George Frederick Abel in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd August 1879.
ERNEST THRING PHIPSON, of the Firm of Frederic Selby and Company, of Balsall
Heath, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturers, and GEORGE FREDERICK ABEL,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Coach Smith. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONNECTING CARRIAGE STEPS TO THEIR SHANKS."
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein after described in connecting
carriage steps to their shanks, the said shanks being secured to the carriages in the
ordinary way.
By our Invention the junction of the separable carriage step with its shank is
made very firm and strong; the connection and disconnection of the carriage step
are easily effected, and the connecting parts are readily manufactured.
Our Invention is specially applicable to carriage steps in which the step is made.
of cast iron, and the shank of wrought iron, but our Invention is also applicable to
the connection of wrought iron and other steps to their shanks, and to carriage.
steps of various kinds.
We will describe our Invention as applied to the connection of a cast iron gridiron
carriage step to its shank.
We make on the outer end of the wrought iron shank of the carriage step a
vertical dovetail block; the top of the said block is, by preference, on a level with.
the upper face of the shank, the said block extending considerably below the lower
face of the said shank. The position of the block on the shank may however be
varied. The sides of the block where it joins the shank are inclined or have a
dovetail figure, the face of the block being flat. The said vertical dovetail
block on the end of the shank is narrowest at its top where it joins the shank, and
expands downwards to its base or lowest part. We make the said vertical dovetail
block from the end of the shank by forging or stamping in any convenient way.
We make at the back of the cast iron gridiron (or other) step, and at the middle
thereof, a dovetail seat or socket of a size and shape suitable to receive the vertical
dovetail block on the end of the wrought iron shank. The said seat or socket
projects downwards from the treading face of the step, the top or narrowest end of
the 'hollow dovetail of the seat or socket being on a level with the said treading
The said dovetail seat or socket may either be made in a swell or projecting
part at the middle of the back edge of the step, or the said seat or socket may be
made at the back of the step within the outline of the tread part of the step. We
prefer the first described position of the seat or socket, as the tread part of the step
is thereby left clear.
face.
In connecting the separable carriage step to the shank fixed on the carriage the
bottom or widest part of the seat in the step is brought over the upper or narrow
end of the dovetail block on the shank, and the said step is depressed, and its sent
engaged with the said block. The step is thus connected very firmly with the
shank, the greater the pressure put upon the step the tighter it becomes wedged
upon the dovetail block. By raising the step vertically it, may be withdrawn
from the dovetail block of the shank, and the two parts disconnected from one
another.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which our Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan of upperside a gridiron carriage step, and its shank
connected together according to our Invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the
same; and Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same; Figure 4
represents in plan, and Figure 5 in section, the step and its shank disconnected
from each other; Figure 6 represents a back elevation of the step detached; and
Figure 7 represents an end elevation of the dovetail block on the shank.

page_text: The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
and 7.
a is the gridiron carriage step, and b is the wrought iron: shank fixed to the
carriage. In the middle of the-back-of-the-step-a-is-a-dovetail-seat or socket c
having the form best seen in Figure 4.
The said seat or socket-c-is. formed in a swell or enlargement d made at the
middle of the back of the seat, the said: enlargement extending downwards con=
siderably below the treading-face-of-the-step. The top or narrowest end of the
hollow dovetail of the seat c is situated on a level with the treading_face-of-the-
-step-a-as_represented-;-e-is-the vertical dovetail block made on the end of.
the shank b. The said dovetail block e is of a shape proper to fit accurately in the
dovetail, seat c.in the step. It will be seen by an examination of the Drawing that,
the dovetail block e is narrowest at its top, and expands downwards.to its base or
lowest part.
•
The manner in which the separable carriage step a can be connected to the
shank b by bringing the widest end of the socket c in the step over the narrow end
of the dovetail block e, and depressing the said stop so as to engage its scat or
socket with the said dovetail block, will be understood by an examination of the
Drawing.
The disconnecting of the step a from the shank is effected by lifting the said step.
vertically, so as to withdraw its dovetail seat from off the dovetail block on the
shank.
Figure 8 represents in plan, and Figure 9 in back elevation, a carriage step made
according to our Invention, in which the back of the step has the form represented
in Figure 9, instead of the form represented in Figure 6.
We do not limit ourselves to any particular form of the dovetail block e on the
end of the shank b, and the seat or socket c at the back of the carriage step, as the
figures of the said dovetail block and its seat may be varied.
Where desirable the said dovetail block may be fixed in the seat or socket by a
pin or cotter; or the dovetail block may be fixed in the seat by bending the lower
part of the dovetail socket over the bottom of the dovetail block on the shank.
But ordinarily it is not necessary to fix the dovetail block in the seat or socket.
Instead of making the dovetail block on the end of the shank, and the dovetail
seat or socket in the step, the positions of the fastening parts may be inverted,
that is, the dovetail socket may be made in a block on the end of the shank, and
the dovetail block on the step; we prefer, however, the arrangement of the parts
represented in the Drawing. When the dovetail block is made on the step,
and the seat in the shank, the narrow side of the dovetail block is joined to the
seat.
Although in ordinary cases one of the fastenings described and represented is
sufficient, yet in special cases two of the said fastenings may be employed, one of
the two fastenings being at one side of the step, and the other at the opposite side.
or both fastenings_may_be-at-the-same-side of the step; Figure 10 represents in
plan a carriage step and its shank, in which the shank b is provided with two
dovetail blocks f, f, and the back of the step with two dovetail seats g, g, for
receiving the said blocks f, f; or one or more seats may be made at the side of the
step, or on opposite sides instead of at the back for receiving the dovetail block or
blocks on the shanks. In these cases the shank has the required length, and is so
bent that the block or blocks on its end may engage with the side seat or seats on
the step.
G
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we claim as our
Invention, the improvements in connecting carriage steps to their shanks herein
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say;
connecting carriage steps to their shanks by making one or more dovetail blocks on
the end of the shank, and one or more hollow dovetails or dovetail seats or sockets
on the step, the said dovetail seat or seats being engaged with and disengaged from

page_text: the said block or blocks on the shank, substantially as described and illustrated, or
reversing the positions of the dovetail block and seat or dovetail blocks and seats,
as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Ernest Thring Phipson and George
Frederick Abel, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty ninth
day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy nine.