Improvements in Folding Mailcarts and similar Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Folding Mailcarts and similar Vehicles.
ROBERT RIACH THOM, Free High Manse, Kilmarnock, Scotland, Minister of the
Free Church of Scotland do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
This invention relates to mailcarts or similar vehicles, and consists in improvements
whereby the vehicle can be folded in a simple and easy manner so as to occupy but a
small space. I secure this by combining in the same vehicle stub axles, one or
more trebly hinged backboards, trebly hinged footboards, seats composed of cloth,
carpeting, leather or other flexible material fastened to and stretched between the
sides, and stays formed of similar material fixed securely to the sides and extending
downwards at an angle to the plane of the seat. The cloth or other seats and stays
are so proportioned and attached, and are of such dimensions that when the sides of
the vehicle are fully opened, the flexible material is tightly distended. In some
cases I provide means for simultaneously tightening the stays when they become in
any degree slack.
Improvements in Folding Mailcarts and similar Vehicles.
I, ROBERT RIACH THOM, Free High Manse, Kilmarnock, Scotland, Minister of the
Free Church of Scotland do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
"This invention relates to mailcarts and similar vehicles, and consists in a simple
method by means of which the vehicle can be quickly and easily folded together .so
that it shall occupy a very small space, and thus be convenient for transport and
storage. I attain this object by the various means and contrivances hereafter fully
described, for the fuller explanation of which reference is made to the accompanying
drawings.
Fig. 1. A perspective view of the 'vehicle when opened out.
Figs. 2 and 3 'shew the construction of the joint and fastening connecting the two
parts of 'a 'folding 'shaft.
Fig. 4 'shews the construction of a folding frame for supporting an awning.
Fig. 5 shews'a method of tightening the stays when these are at opposite ends of
the vehicle.
Fig. 6 shews'a 'method of tightening the stays when these are in the middle of

page_text: The vehicle consists of two side frames A a, a¹, a² connected by a backboard C which
is in two halves that are hinged to each other at c¹, and at their other ends hinged to
the opposite side frames. The sides of the vehicle are further connected by two
footboards D D which are similarly divided, and are hinged in the middle in such a
manner that the middle of the footboard is depressed, as described and claimed in
my former Patent 21817, 1896. In some cases I adjust the central hinges of the back-
board in the same way so that the backboard in conjunction with the backstay
hereafter described is automatically kept in a distended condition.
The main wheels E rotate on stub axles e which are securely fixed at e³ to the side
frames. There are also small safety wheels e¹ which run in forks e², and at the
other end there are safety spurs H. The seats are of cloth, carpeting, leather or
other similar material fastened to the side frames, and are of such dimensions that
when the vehicle is opened out, the cloth or other flexible material is in a distended
condition.
To assist in keeping the vehicle firm and rigid when distended, and to lessen
the strain upon the hinges, I employ stays of cloth, carpeting, leather or similar
material fixed to the opposite sides of the vehicle, and of such dimensions as to
be tightly distended when the vehicle is opened out. These stays can be fixed in
different positions;-from side to side between the lower part of the middle standards,
or preferably from side to side between the lower halves of the opposite end standards.
In the latter case the stays can be formed by the downward combination of the
material forming the seats. In some cases I employ a permanent backstay B2 of
similar flexible material which lessens the strain upon the hinges of the backboard.
In order to avoid the inconvenient projection of the centre of an ordinary hinge,
sometimes use central hinges of cloth, leather or other flexible material. In order to
tighten up the end stays if they should become slack I sometimes employ the
following contrivance. To the inner side of the cloth or other material constituting
the stay I affix a short upright bar B³ of wood or similar material. To this bar I
attach the two ends of a cord G Fig. 5, of such length that the loop thus formed can
be stretched to nearly half the distance between the stays. A similar arrangement
being made at the other end, the two loops are connected by a hook. When it is
required to tighten the stays, one of the loops is twisted until it is thereby sufficiently
shortened to afford the necessary tension. When the stays are fixed to the middle
standards I prefer to use screw nails or screws B6, passing through the bars B', and
stays B to tighten the stays by drawing them closer to each other, as shewn in
Fig. 6.
Instead of a backboard and backstay I sometimes make use of a double
backboard consisting of two back boards centrally hinged in the manner already
described and placed close to each other. By this arrangement the backboards can
automatically keep their distended position. To support an awning a folding frame
can be constructed in the following way. Two metal rods K Figs. 4 and 1, each
having an eye at its upper end are let into rings and sockets at the end of the
vehicle. To one of the eyes ¹ a metal rod 3 having a similar eye is attached
thereby, and the end of this latter rod having a stop or check near its extremity
enters the eye 2 of the upright rod on the opposite side. The connecting rod being
made longer than the width between the sides of the vehicle, the upright rods are in
their upper part bent outward and so by their elasticity keep the cross rod in
position. A similar arrangement is made at the other end of the vehicle. When the
vehicle is to be collapsed the free ends of the cross rods are liberated.
To render the vehicle more compact when folded, I employ folding shafts. These
can be constructed to fold and fix in any convenient way, but I prefer the following
contrivance. To the end of the part f Fig. 2 a metal sheath f¹ is fixed, the sides of
which rise considerably above f, and extend longitudinally beyond the dotted line
which indicates the end of f. The sheath has an opening f3 Fig. 2 on the under
side to receive the catch f Fig. 3, the said catch being attached to a spring fo which
works in a groove f*. The two parts f¹ Fig. 2 and F Fig. 3 are connected by a
pivot pin which passes through the hole f and through the half hinge or metal
loop f formed of a metal casting, or by the doubling of a metal plate or in any other

page_text: convenient way. When thus connected, the catch f" engages with the opening f³
whenever f and F are brought into line, and is relieved by pressing on the spring f³.
A hinge may be used instead of the half hinge or loop and pivot pin, but it is not so
strong.
The backboard of the vehicle can be fastened by any convenient form of catch.
By undoing this, folding the backboard & raising the footboards, the body of the
vehicle can be folded.
my
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;
1. In a folding mailcart or similar vehicle the combination of stub axles, trebly
hinged backboard, trebly hinged footboards, and seats of cloth, carpeting, leather or
similar flexible material fixed to the sides and tightly distended when the vehicle is
opened out, with stays of cloth, carpeting, leather or similar flexible material fixed
and arranged substantially as described and shewn.
2. In a folding mailcart or similar vehicle having stub axles, trebly hinged back-
board and footboards, with seats and stays of cloth, carpeting, leather or other flexible
material fixed, arranged and distended as described, a method of simultaneously
tightening the stays, by drawing them in the direction of each other, as fully shewn
and described.
3. In a folding mailcart or similar vehicle having stub axles, and seats and
stays of cloth, carpeting, leather or similar material fixed to the opposite sides and
stretched between them as described, with trebly hinged footboards, the contrivance
of a double backboard formed of two trebly hinged backboards that fold in opposite
directions, as fully described.
4. A folding mailcart or similar vehicle combining stub axles, seats and stays of
cloth, carpeting, leather or similar material fixed to the sides and stretched between,
trebly hinged footboards, trebly hinged backboard and a permanent backstay of
cloth, carpeting leather or other flexible material, all as substantially shewn and
described.
5. In a folding mailcart or similar vehicle the combination of stub axles, trebly
hinged backboard and footboards, seats and stays of cloth, carpeting, leather or
similar material arranged as described and shewn, with folding shafts, all as
substantially described and shewn.
6. In a folding mailcart or similar vehicle the combination of stub axles, trebly
hinged backboard having central hinge of cloth, carpeting, leather or similar flexible
material, seats and stays of the same and folding shafts, all substantially as
described.
7. For use in a mailcart or other vehicle, a folding and locking device consisting
of a sheath, a pivotted or hinged joint and spring catch constructed and operating
substantially as described and shewn, with reference to Figs. 2 and 3.
Dusted this 20th Ja M1007