AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR APPLICABLE TO FALLING CARRIAGE HEADS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR APPLICABLE TO FALLING CARRIAGE HEADS."-A
communication from abroad by Simon Beery, of Urbana, State of
T
Sealed the 26th August 1873, and dated the 2nd April 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd April 1873.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR APPLICABLE TO FALLING CARRIAGE
HEADS," to be as follows:
-
This Invention relates to a rest or support for the bows of buggy and
other falling carriage heads or tops, and consists of a thick tube of soft
vulcanized rubber with a thickened rib or elevation along the upper
surface, mounted on a bolt or rod projecting from the side of the seat

page_text: of the carriage in such position that the bows will fall upon it when the
head is turned back or opened. A washer of like character is placed at
each end of the tube of rather larger diameter for the outer bows to
cushion against. The hole through the tube is made square or of any
angular shape and fits on a bolt of corresponding shape to prevent
turning, so that the enlargement forming the cushion on the top will
not turn out of place.
of the carriage in such position that the bows will fall upon it when the
head is turned back or opened. A washer of like character is placed at
each end of the tube of rather larger diameter for the outer bows to
cushion against. The hole through the tube is made square or of any
angular shape and fits on a bolt of corresponding shape to prevent
turning, so that the enlargement forming the cushion on the top will
not turn out of place.
The rubber tube is secured on the bolt by a nut on its end. The
object is to have a cushion for the bows to rest on so as to lessen the
effects of the shocks and strains they are subject to.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, 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 seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special
licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville
Clark, 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN OR APPLICABLE TO FALLING CARRIAGE HEADS,” a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Simon Beery, of Urbana, State of Ohio,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alexander Melville Clark, 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 Inven-

page_text: tion, 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 Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto 'annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-

page_text: Figure 4 is a cross section of a prop and bolt showing a modified form
of the rest for the bows projecting from the main body.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 are side elevations, and Figures 8, 9, and 10 are
sections of different forms of washers for fitting on the ends of the
blocks when made in long pieces and cut to the lengths required to form
the flanges or collars of the ends. Similar letters of reference indicate
corresponding parts.
A represents the body of the block which by preference I make in the
form of a cylinder with an elevated or projecting rib B of oval or any
approved form on one side for the cushion or rest for the carriage 1
bows C; D represents the collars or flanges at the ends; E represents
the square, or it may be other polygonal shaped hole made through the
centre of the block longitudinally by which to fit it on a similarly formed
bolt F, projecting from the side of the carriage body, as shown in
Figure 1, so that the bows will rest on the prop block when the top is
turned down as represented. The body A, projecting rib B, and the
collars D, may all be formed together in one piece in any suitable or
required length, but as the requirements as to length vary materially I
prefer to make the parts A, B, in long pieces without collars, and make
separate collars in the form of washers G with finished edges D, and 1
clamp them against the ends of the blocks A, B, which I cut from the
said long pieces in the exact length required in each case. These washers
may have a flange H on the face fitting against the block to partly or
wholly overlap it, as in Figures 5, 7, 8, and 10, or they may be made
without, as in Figures 6 and 9.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
1st. A carriage prop block composed of india-rubber or other equivalent
elastic material substantially as enecified

page_text: 4th. A carriage prop block composed of india-rubber and made in a
body portion A, B, and separate washers C, D, and combined together,
in the manner described.
5th. A carriage prop block, substantially as described, having a
polygonal hole through the centro longitudinally, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
HENRY W. DEWEY,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)