IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES RUNNING ON TWO WHEELS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS. PATENT to William Botwood, of No. 105, St. IIelen's Street,
Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES RUNNING ON TWO WHEELS.”
Sealed the 3rd-November 1866, and dated the 10th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Botwood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th May 1866.
.I, WILLIAM. BOTWOOD, of No. 105, St. Helen's Street, Ipswich, in the
County. of: Suffolk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES RUNNING ON TWO WHEELS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in carriages or vehicles
running on two wheels, and consists in so connecting the shafts with the
vehicle, as herein-after described, that the motion of the horse may be much
less felt than heretofore, and also that the length and height of the shafts may
be adjusted to the size of the horse intended to be used and the body of the
vehicle remain level whether the horse be tall or short. I arrange the shafts
to pass along each side of the body of the vehicle and to enter sockets at the
back thereof; the fore parts of the body on each side are also connected with
the shafts so that the shafts are able to pivot on the points of attachment.
The shafts are made of elastic wood, such as lancewood, and at each step of

page_text: the horse they are free to bend from end to end over the fulcrums or pivots
which connect the fore part of the body to them. In consequence of the
spring of this long length but little horse motion is communicated to the body
of the carriage. The bending of the shafts in this manner could not take
place freely were they rigidly connected to the body at their hinder ends, but
their slight to-and-fro movement which the sockets admit enables the portions
of the shafts behind the pivots or fulcrums to bend as described. The sockets
are lined with leather to prevent noise, and the shafts are tipped with brass
at their rear ends to cause them to slide more freely in the sockets. The
pivots or fulcrums are pins projecting from the body on each side and passing
through loops fixed on the shafts,
For the purpose of adjusting the length of the shafts to correspond with
the length of the horse, the loops on the shafts are made of considerable
length so as to allow the shafts to move a distance lengthways on their pivots
or fulcrums, and there are locking levers jointed to the shafts to hold the
pivots or fulcrums at either end of the loops, or it may be in a position inter-
mediate of the length thereof. Springs keep these locking levers down except
when they are purposely raised to shift the shafts in or out. To give the
adjustment required for the height of the horse the sockets at the hinder end
of the body are arranged so that they can be raised or lowered by means of
screws. The sockets are formed at the two ends of a bar passing across
under the body from side to side through guides which allow it to rise and
fall vertically; in these guides screws are fitted so that they can be turned by
moveable handles, but the screws cannot otherwise move independently of the
body. The screws pass through the socket bar through holes formed with
corresponding screw threads, so that by turning the screws the socket bar is
moved up towards or down away from the body, and thus the required move-
ment is given to the shafts about their pivots or fulcrums.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Botwood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the s
9th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BOTWOOD, of No. 105, St. Helen's Street, Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One

page_text: thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Botwood, Her special licence that I, the said William Botwood,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Botwood, ny executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES RUNNING ON TWO WHEELS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Botwood, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Botwood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:→
This Invention has for its object improvements in carriages or vehicle s
running on two wheels, and consists in so connecting the shafts with the
vehicle, as herein-after described, that the motion of the horse may be much
less felt than heretofore, and also that the length and height of the shafts may
be adjusted to the size of the horse intended to be used and the body of the
vehicle remain level whether the horse be tall or short. I arrange the
shafts to pass along each side of the body of the vehicle and to enter sockets
at the back thereof; the fore parts of the body on each side are also con-
nected with the shafts so that the shafts are able to pivot on the points of
attachment. The shafts are made of elastic wood, such as lancewood, and
at each step of the horse they are free to bend from end to end over the
fulcrums or pivots which connect the fore part of the body to them. In
consequence of the spring of this long length but little horse motion is com-
municated to the body of the carriage. The bending of the shafts in this
manner could not take place freely were they rigidly connected to the body
at their hinder ends, but the slight to-and-fro movement which the sockets
admit enables the portions of the shafts behind the pivots or fulcrums to bend
as described. The sockets are lined with leather to prevent noise, and the

page_text: shaft and the centre for the lever d' are formed in one forging which is
clipped on to the shaft. The rear ends of the shafts are clothed with tubes or
ferrules of brass and they pass through iron sockets ; these sockets are lined
with leather to prevent noise; they are both connected to a cross bar e', and
holes are bored through the bar and tapped with a screw thread; f.f, are
screws passing through these holes; they are carried in frames g fixed to the
bottom of the body, and are squared at their lower ends to receive a key by
which the screws are turned to raise or lower the sockets e to adapt the shafts
to the height of the horse; h, h, are the front step irons; they are clamped
to the shaft, and have the draft hooks formed on them, as is more clearly
shown at Figure 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Botwood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.