IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERAMBULATORS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTSAREARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Blanchflower Gedge, of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERAMBULATORS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO
Scaled the 12th May 1871, and dated the 17th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Blanchflower
Gedge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th March 1871.
I, WILLIAM BLANCHFLOWER GEDGE, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERAMBULATORS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of an additional seat so arranged and con
structed that it can be folded up and pushed away out of sight under the
ordinary seat when not in use, but can be drawn out and used at any time
when the perambulator or other carriage is required to carry an extra
person. The additional seat is made lower than the principal or ordinary
seat, and the sides are hinged thereto and made to fold inwards over the

page_text: cushion, so that when thus folded over the whole seat (which is carried
on slides on the bottom of the perambulator or other carriage), can be
pushed under the main seat and will be entirely hidden by the valance.
The back of this additional seat is hinged to the scroll or front part of
the perambulator or carriage, so that when the said seat is not in use
the back is turned down on this hinge and lies flat on the floor of the
perambulator or carriage, and is covered and protected by the foot rug.
All that has to be done when the additional seat is required is to raise
the back on its hinges, until it rests against the scroll or front part
of the perambulator or carriage, and then draw out the seat and raise
the two sides or elbows and it is then ready for use. When not required
fold down the two sides, push the seat under the ordinary scat, fold down
the back, and cover it with the rug.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Blanchflower Gedge in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BLANCHFLOWER GEDGE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Blanchflower Gedge, Her
special license that I, the said William Blanchflower Gedge, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Blanchflower Gedge, 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, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERAMBULATORS, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Blanchflower Gedge, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or

page_text: 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 Blanchflower Gedge, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings
(that is to say) :—
This Invention consists of an additional seat so arranged and con-
structed that it can be folded up and pushed away out of sight under
the ordinary seat when not in use, but can be drawn out and used at
any time when the perambulator or other carriage is required to carry
an extra
person.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in the Construction of Perambulators which Improvements are
also applicable to other Carriages, I will now proceed to describe more
in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be carried into
practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly understood,
I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and
have marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding
with those in the following explanation thereof :-
The Drawing represents the application of my Invention to a
perambulator only, but it will be evident to any competent person that
it is equally applicable to other kinds of carriages wherein it is required
occasionally to carry an extra person.
Fig. 1 represents a side clevation of a perambulator fitted with my
improvements, the seat being shown as drawn out and arranged to
accomodate an extra person; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; and
Fig. 3 is a section of the perambulator showing the extra seat folded
and pushed back beneath the ordinary seat; Fig. 4 is a vertical section
through the two seats; Fig. 5 is a front view of the extra seat; and
Fig. 6 a plan view of the latter with the sides folded down.
The additional scat a, a, is made lower than the principal or ordinary.
seat b, b, and the sides c, c, are hinged thereto and made to fold inwards
over the seat a, a, the cushion d, d, being removed and placed beneath
the same, as shown at Fig. 4, so that when thus folded and arranged

page_text: the whole scat (which is carried on rollers or on slides on the bottom
ff of the perambulator or other carriage) can be pushed back under
the main scat as seen at Fig. 3, and will be entirely hidden by the
valance. The back g, g, of this additional scat is hinged to the scroll
or front part of the perambulator or carriage, so that when the said
scat is not in use the back g, g, is turned down on its hinges as shown
at Fig. 3, and is covered and protected from the feet by the foot rug.
All that has to be done when the additional seat is required for use is
to raise the back g, g, on its hinges until it rests against the scroll or
front part of the perambulator or carriage, and then draw out the seat
a, a, and raise the two sides or elbows c, c, and replace the cushion d, d,
and it is then ready for use. It may be secured by a thumbscrew or
catch if required. When not required remove the cushion d, d, and
place it under the seat a, a, fold down the two sides or elbows c, c, and
push the whole under the ordinary seat, then fold down the back g, 9,
and cover it with the rug.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
for "
Improvements in the Construction of Perambulators, which Im-
provements are also applicable to other Carriages," together with the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention,
the application to perambulators and other carriages of an additional
seat so constructed that it can be folded and pushed away under the
main seat, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Blanchflower Gedge,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.
WILLIAM BLANCHFLOWER GEDGE. (L.S.)
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
-Patent-Agent,-
Manchester.