CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HOODS OR COVERINGS FOR PERAMBULATORS, BATH CHAIRS, CARRIAGES, AND VEHICLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Shaw, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HOODS OR
COVERINGS FOR PERAMBULATORS, BATH CHAIRS, CARRIAGES, AND
VEHICLES."
Sealed the 31st March 1868, and dated the 17th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward' Shaw at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th October
1867.
.
I, EDWARD SHAW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HOODS
OR COVERINGS FOR PERAMBULATORS, BATH CHAIRS, CARRIAGES, AND OTHER VEHICLES,
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the folding hoods or coverings employed at the
head of "perambulators," "bath chairs," carriages, and other similar vehicles,
and is designed for the purpose of enabling the user or attendant to raise or
lower such hoods by self-acting means instead of them having to be lifted by
hand and sustained by rods and knuckle joints.
The improvements consist in the application of rods secured to the front
framework of the hood of perambulators that are caused to project a short
length below the bottom of the hood on each side of the carriage; on this

page_text: projecting rod a small pulley secured to a connecting link is allowed freely to
act, the said link being attached by means of an india-rubber or other spring
to a hook or catch placed and secured near the back of the carriage, the mean
or central portion corresponding with the length of the projecting rod upon
which the connecting link shuts. Thus when the bowl of the link is at the
bottom of the projecting rod the spring will retain the hood in its highest or
open condition, and when the hood is closed the pulley and rod have slipped
to the top of such rod, which retains or keeps the hood in its closed condition.
By this means the hood is retained in whatever position it is placed whether
open or closed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Shaw in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
SHAW, 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 October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Shaw, Her special license that I, the said Edward Shaw, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Shaw, 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 Iuvention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HOODS
OR COVERINGS FOR PERAMBULATORS, BATH CHAIRS, CARRIAGES, AND OTHER VEHICLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Shaw, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their bands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Edward Shaw, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to the folding hoods or coverings employed at the
head of perambulators, "bath chairs," carriages, and other similar vehicles,
and is designed for the purpose of enabling the user or attendant to raise or
lower such hoods by self-acting means instead of them having to be lifted by
hand and sustained by rods and knuckle joints.
The improvements consist in the application of rods secured to the front
framework of the hood of perambulators that are caused to project a short
length below the bottom of the hood on each side of the carriage; on this
projecting rod a small pulley secured to a connecting link is allowed freely to
act, the said link being attached by means of an india-rubber or other spring
to a hook or catch placed and secured near the back of the carriage in the
mean or central position corresponding with the length of the projecting rod
upon which the connecting link slides. Thus when the bowl of the link is at
the bottom of the projecting rod the spring will retain the hood in its highest
or open condition, and when the hood is closed the pulley and rod will have
slipped to the top of such rod, which retains or keeps the hood in its closed
condition. By this means the hood is retained in whatever position it is placed
whether open or closed.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a scale of
about three inches to the foot, similar letters of reference being marked upon
corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a perambulator to which is applied
the improved arrangement of apparatus employed for keeping the hood or
"head" either in an elevated or lowered position.
Figs. 2 and 3 represent other modifications or arrangements of the
apparatus, being mechanical equivalents for the apparatus shean in Fig. 1.
In Fig. 1 a, a, is the body of the perambulator, and 6 the hood, being parts
of the carriage well known, detached portions of which are niso shewn in Figs. 2
and 3. In Fig. 1 c is a projecting portion of the framework of the hood b
which is alike on both sides of the carriage; to this frame the bar or rod d is
firmly secured at the points e, e'; on this rod the small pulley f slides, which is
secured to a connecting link 9 attached by means of the spring h to the hook,
stud, or catch i which is placed and secured near the back of the carriage in
the mean or central position corresponding with the length of the bar d upon
which the connecting link g slides. When the bowl of the link g is at the
lower end of the rod at the point e the sping will retain the hood with a

page_text: minimum amount of strain in its highest or open condition, and when the
hood is closed the pulley and link g will have slipped to the opposite end of
the rod to the point e', and the strain of the spring will also be at a minimum,
the greatest strain being at about the half distance on the rod between the
points e, e, whence it has a tendency to relieve itself and slide rapidly either.
to the top or bottom of the rod, in either of which positions it retains the hood
open or closed as desired.
In Fig. 2 the one end of the spring is attached to the rod i which slides
along on the friction bowls k, k¹, backwards and forwards as the hood is
raised or lowered, and in Fig. 3 a "tail spring" h is shewn, the pressure of
which is brought to bear upon the cranked end of the lever or rod which is
attached to the hood. frame,, the minimum pressure of such; spring also being.
when the hood is at its lowest or highest point.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it. to be. distinctly..
understood that I claim the arrangements. and construction of apparatus for
keeping hoods or heads of perambulators or other carriages in an elevated, or
lowered position, as herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in
the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Shaw, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witnessed by
JOHN L. DAVIES,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
EDWARD SHAW. (L.8.)