IMPROVEMENTS IN OMNIBUSES AND OTHER PASSENGER CARRIAGES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Roberts, of the City of Manchester,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OMNIBUSES AND OTHER
PASSENGER CARRIAGES."
Scaled the 30th September 1856, and dated the 2nd April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Roberts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
April 1856.
I, RICHARD ROBERTS, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN OMNIBUSES AND
OTHER PASSENGER CARRIAGES, to be as follows:-
These improvements consist, firstly, in jointing the fore axle to a vertical
pin or shaft, about which it swivels when the carriage is turned.
Secondly, supporting the fore end of carriage bodies on caoutchouc or other
springs resting on the above-named swivel pin.
Thirdly, contracting the guage of the fore wheels, to enable them to work
between instead of below the bottom side beams of the carriage, thereby
reducing its height, and permitting the lower steps for ascending to the front of
the carriage to be outside the wheels without projecting inconveniently.

page_text: Fourthly, widening the central portion of the roof of omnibuses, so as to
admit of a passage between the persons sitting on each side of it, and in
applying a hand rail at each side of the passage for the convenience of the
passengers and guard; also in projecting the covering boards of the outer
portions of the roof a few inches beyond the sides to afford room for the feet
of the passengers.
Fifthly, constructing the guard's canopy so as to form a convenient com-
munication between the sides of the roof, and extending the lower portion of
the risers beyond the body, for the purpose of supporting the canopy and the
foot step.
And, sixthly, in placing the fulcrum of the breaks further from the circum-
ference of the wheels, whereby the breaks are rendered more effective.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Roberts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ROBERTS, of the City of Manchester, Engincer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Roberts, Her special license that I, the said Richard Roberts, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Roberts, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
-the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
nd vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OMNIBUSES AND OTHER PASSENGER CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Richard Roberts, niy 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 sanie 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Roberts, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention of improvements in omnibuses and other
passenger carriages consists, first, in jointing the fore axle to a vertical pin or
shaft on which it swivels.
Secondly, in supporting the fore end of carriage bodies on caoutchouc or
other springs resting on the swivel pin.
Thirdly, in contracting the gauge of the fore wheels to enable them to
work between instead of below the bottom side beams of the carriage, and
to allow of steps being placed outside the wheels without projecting incon-
veniently.
Fourthly, in widening the central portion of the roof of omnibuses, so as to
admit of a passage between the persons sitting on each side of it, and in the
application of a hand rail at each side of the passage.
Fifthly, in causing the covering boards of the outer portions of the roof
of omnibuses to project beyond the sides to afford room for the feet of the
passengers.
Sixthly, in extending the lower portion of the risers beyond the body of
the omnibus for supporting the canopy and foot step, and in constructing the
guard's canopy to form a communication between the sides of the roof.
And, lastly, in placing the fulcrum of the brakes further than usual froni
the circumference of the wheels.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon.
In Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2 a side elevation, Figure 3 a front,
and Figure 4 a bind elevation, and Figure 5 a transverse section, of my
improved omnibus; Figure 6 is a view, partly in section, shewing my mode
of connecting the fore axle with the body of the carriage. In each of these
Figures the same letters indicate the same parts.
A, A, the body of the omnibus, consisting of the main bottom side beams
a, a, connected together at the fore end by the sheet-iron plate B and at the
after end by the plate C, surrounding the entrance, and the angle-iron c, which
is rivetted to the plate; D, D, inside seats, attached at their back to the
under side of the beams a, a, and supported at their front by the risers d, d,
which, together with the floor, are supported by the plate b at their frout end,

page_text: the angle iron c at their after end, the T-irons c¹ being their intermediate
supports; E, E, mouldings, to which the side stancheons are secured without
reducing their scantling by halving or otherwise, whereby stancheons of little
more than half the ordinary thickness are made to suffice, and space is
economised; the stancheons are covered externally as usual, and internally
with any suitable boarding; but where great strength and lightness are of
more importance than a little extra cost, I recommend the use for that
purpose of "hard vulcanized caoutchouc," which takes a good polish, and for
the interior would require no paint. F, F, foot boards framed to the tops of
the stancheons, and secured to the risers or beams f, f, which carry the seats
H, HI, forming part of the roof; h, h, are backboards (to the seats H, H),
made deep to strengthen the roof. The risers f, f, are framed as usual, except
that they contain only one row of ventilating openings, which being near the
upper side adinit of their lower rail being much deeper and stronger than
those in the present omnibuses. The lower rails of these risers project behind
the body of the omnibus to carry the gangway I (which also serves the
purpose of a canopy over the entrance) and the outer edge of the foot step J,
by means of the tubular hand rail j, through which water may pass from the
roof. K, a ladder for passengers to ascend to the roof; k, a ladder provided
'with a platform for the guard to stand upon; L, a funnel for ventilating the
interior, and which also serves to support the front end of the hand rails
1, l, the other end and middle of which are supported by pillars , ; M, M,
brakes suspended on studs secured to the body at such distance behind the
wheels as on the application of the brakes will cause the friction between them
and the wheels to add to the applied pressure; m, a bar for connecting the
brakes together and to the foot lever R; N, a swivel pin (jointed to the foro
axle N¹), guided by bushes o, o, in the sheet-iron plate B and cone n; P, a
collar on the pin N to support the tube p, upon which is a series of caoutchoue
rings separated by thin plates of iron) that serve as a bearing spring to the
front of the body; the rings under the collar P act as recoil springs to soften
the motion of the carriage. The tube p is prevented from turning with the
swivel pin N by the flat guide bar p¹, which fits a notch in the collar of the
tube p.
The guage of the fore wheels is made narrow enough to admit of
their working between the main beams a, a, and of steps being attached to the
axle and splinter bar outside the wheels, without the steps exceeding the
gauge of the hind wheels. O, the splinter bar, and O', the socket bar, which
are connected to the axle N¹ by the arms Q, Q; O" the pole; the steps q, q,
for ascending the front of the omnibus, are attached to the extremities of
the splinter bar and fore axle, and the steps q³, together with handles, áre fixed

page_text: to the body. R is the brake lever, whose extremity is formed like the letter T
or L, so as to be conveniently worked by the foot. This lever is connected by
the link r, bell crank r, and links 7, 1, with the bar m, by which the brakes
are coupled. The operation of the brakes will be readily understood by
inspecting the Drawings, from which it will be evident, that, owing to the
situation of the point of suspension of the respective brakes being considerably
behind the wheels, their retarding power will be unusually great, and that
they will hang clear of the wheels when the lever R is not acted on. The
hind springs (made in the ordinary manner) are affixed to the under side of
the axle for the purpose of bringing the centre of gravity as low as practicable;
the axle is cranked for the same purpose.
I wish to remark that steel springs may be used instead of the rings of
caoutchouc, shewn and described, for supporting the fore end of the omnibus
or other passenger carriage. The mode of applying such steel springs does
not need to be particularly described, as any competent workman can make
the requisite application without instructions.
In Sheet 2, Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figure 2 a front, and Figure 8,
a hind elevation, and Figure 4 a plan, of a coach to which my improvements
are applied; Figure 5 shews the application of my improved springs to the
hind axle; and Figure 6 shews my improvements in wheels and axles, and a
similar arrangement of parts in connection with the fore axle, to that shewn
at Figure 6, Sheet 1, and which therefore need not be explained here further
than as regards the improvements in the wheels and axles.
The axle, see Figure 6, is jointed by its centre to a swivel pin N ; the
bearing portion of the axle is cylindrical, and of uniform diameter (except a
slight reduction in the middle to allow the oil to enter the bush) throughout;
the objects of which are to facilitate the construction of the axle and bush
and to provide a reservoir for oil within the axle, the weight of which is
reduced to that of the ordinary axle without decreasing its strength by
drilling a cavity of decreasing diameter or series of diameters from the
extremity of the axle to a little beyond the shoulders, where a hole is drilled
from the top of the axle through which oil is supplied to the interior, from
whence it descends through one or more holes in the under side near the
middle of the axle. This plan of making the reservoir for the oil in the axle
instead of the bush, as is now done, greatly facilitates the fixing of the bush
into the nave, whilst it leaves more wood in it, and does not reduce the
bearing of the axle at its root, where it is mostly taken away by the oil cavity
in the bushes now in use. The oil is prevented from running out of the

page_text: bush by leather washers in the ordinary way, but instead of the ordinary
wrought-iron washers I prefer washers for holding the wheel on the axle made
of malleable cast iron, which washers, being provided with recesses for the
wrought-iron nuts, enables the bolts to be screwed up by their head from
the outside of the wheel. The bush of the hind wheels may be solid at the
front, as is frequently the case, but as the fore axle protrudes beyond the
wheel a washer is required to retain the oil, which washer may be kept tight
by an elastic ring pressing against the step plate.
The spokes are recommended to be made of uniform thickness throughout
their length, with semicircular edges, as shewn at Figure 6*, Sheet 2, but in
one row only, of nearly twice the ordinary width at their base, with their front
edge in the plane of the "felloes" or rim, their extra width forming the
required spur to the wheel. By adopting this plan much thinner spokes than
those ordinarily used will give equal strength, whilst they may be made with
much greater facility.
In Figure 5, Sheet 2, are shewn in side elevation, and bind elevation, partly
in section, an arrangement of my improved spring adapted for the hind axle of
hackney and other coaches, in which S is the axle, to each end of which
is jointed a vertical bar S¹, on' which is a collar S", supporting the tube T, and
elastic rings T, which act as a bearing spring, and T" as a recoil spring.
Provision should be made for the unequal action on the springs, either by 'a
slot in the axle for the joint pin of one of the vertical bars S', or otherwise.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the details herein set forth; and I declare that I claim,-
First, jointing the fore axle of omnibuses or other passenger carriages to a
vertical pin or shaft about which it swivels.
Secondly, supporting the fore end of carriage bodies on springs resting upon
the swivel pin, also the use of recoil springs, as described.
- Thirdly, contracting the guage of the fore wheels to enable them to work
between the bottom side beams of the carriage, and to allow of steps being
placed outside those wheels without projecting inconveniently.
Fourthly, widening the central portion of the roof of omnibuses, for the
purpose described.
Fifthly, applying hand rails to the tops of omnibuses, as described.
Sixthly, causing the covering boards of the outer portions of the roof of
omnibuses to project, for the purpose described.
Seventhly, extending the lower portion of the risers f, f, beyond the

page_text: body of the omnibus for supporting the canopy and -foot step; also con-
structing the guard's canopy to form a communication between the sides of
the roof.
And, lastly, placing the fulcrum of the brakes further than usual from the
circumference of the wheels, for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Roberts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
o Witness,
II. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
RICHD ROBERTS. (L.S.)